The target was Blue Velociprey

Gordon noticed that although the older man was trying hard to keep a straight face and look as if this was nothing special to him,

the genuine smugness at the corners of his mouth was impossible to hide, even beneath his magnificent beard.

Deciding to give it a try, Gordon stepped up to the long table, gripped the Buster Sword's hilt with both hands, and lifted it with a short grunt. He leaned back slightly and tensed his body, adopting the standard Great Sword ready stance.

"Heh! That's not how you use this deadly beauty!"

The Blacksmith finally lost his composure. He strode over to Gordon, snatched the raised Buster Sword from his hands, and gave his sword arm a gentle flick.

Clang! Metal rang out.

Five gleaming, sickle-shaped blades sprang from the Buster Sword's smooth edge, joining the enormous hook at its tip to form its distinctive cutting edge.

"Now this is the Buster Sword's true form!" the Blacksmith declared proudly.

"Don't underestimate these gleaming little things. They're sharper than you could imagine. Know why the Buster Sword was designed so its claws could retract into the blade?

"It's to stop these little claws from tearing through the hunter's armor and flesh when they move around with it on their back!"

Amazed, Gordon took the Buster Sword from the Blacksmith and examined it closely before asking, "So how do I retract these blades?"

"Just turn the blunt side down and the cutting edge up, like you're putting the Great Sword onto your back, then give the hilt a shake. The mechanism inside will retract the blades automatically."

Gordon tried it the way the Blacksmith had described.

Sure enough, with another metallic ring, the metal blades-which readily brought a monster's claws to mind-retracted into the sword and vanished from sight.

"Heh heh. Just enjoy the beautiful sight of monster scales and flesh flying beneath her sharp claws," the Blacksmith said, grinning broadly to reveal a mouthful of gleaming white teeth.

"I can hardly wait!"

After hurriedly thanking the Blacksmith and saying goodbye, Gordon raced toward the training grounds with the Buster Sword, eager to experience how wonderful it felt to swing this Great Sword.

The Instructor seemed to have been waiting at the training grounds for some time.

The burly, middle-aged man patted a wooden post beside him, wrapped in worn leather and as thick as a grown man's thigh, and teased:

"I knew you'd rush over to try out your new weapon the moment you got it. I've even prepared a target for you. Come on, feel the power of a heavy weapon!"

Gordon smiled and, without another word, raised the Buster Sword in his hands.

Steel rang as the metal claws sprang out of the blade in unison. Gordon exhaled softly, steadied his breathing, then shouted.

"Hyaa!"

Every muscle in his body tightened. His shifting footwork drove his waist and upper body into a turn, his muscles and tendons taut as a fully drawn bowstring, channeling every ounce of strength into the Buster Sword before releasing it all at once.

The sharp claws sliced effortlessly into the hard, leather-wrapped wooden post, but that was only the beginning.

As he continued feeding strength through the hilt, adding to the Buster Sword's tremendous momentum, the man-high wooden target was effortlessly torn in two amid a teeth-grating ripping sound.

Countless tiny scraps of leather and wood scattered everywhere, leaving the training ground a mess.

Although he had been prepared for it, the Buster Sword's power still far exceeded Gordon's expectations.

With the Hunter's Knife, if I swung hard enough, I could probably cut through the leather around the post in one strike, right? But that would be the limit.

The Buster Sword's strike was not as simple as a "cut" or a "chop." It was a "tear."

He could already picture it: the instant those metal claws sank into a monster's body, its scales and flesh would be torn to shreds.

This was how a Great Sword attacked-brutal and direct.

"Not bad."

Arms folded across his chest, the Instructor said teasingly, "Now that you've got your new weapon and finished your basic Great Sword training, isn't it time to take a quest and put it into practice?"

Gordon rested the Buster Sword on the ground.

"I'd like nothing better!"

Slaying quest: Pacifier of the forest (★)

Objective: Slay 10 Blue Velociprey

Reward: 2,000z

Location: West Schrade Region

Time limit: 10 days

Blue Velociprey are everywhere in the West Schrade Hills, and they've nearly eaten all the Aptonoth and kelbi. Please eliminate some of them to reduce their numbers!

He accepted the quest from the village chief.

According to the Instructor, large cities such as Minegarde and Dondurma had dedicated Hunter Gathering Halls, which offered not only quest brokerage, lodging, and meals,

but also cute young receptionists!

By comparison, the dull old village chief, who always seemed muddleheaded, was about as boring as it got.

Tucking the parchment recording the quest into his Hunter's Notes, Gordon decided to head home first and set out as soon as he was ready.

Getting ready really meant nothing more than going home to put on his armor. As for hunting supplies, Gordon brought none; forging the Buster Sword had practically wiped out his savings.

The hunting grounds' camp would have supplies prepared by the Hunter's Guild anyway.

It wasn't as if he was going to hunt some dangerous large monster. Those supplies would be more than enough.

Unlike the excited Gordon, Porkchop looked rather nervous.

This was his first quest since becoming a hunting Felyne, and their targets were packs of Blue Velociprey, the greatest headache of all for Felyne communities.

Blue Velociprey were hardly formidable monsters. They were merely small carnivorous dinosaurs standing about a hundred and fifty centimeters high at the back. Individually, they were even weaker than a Great Bullfango and ranked among the lowest predators.

Even back when Gordon used a Hunter's Knife, he wouldn't have worried much about them, let alone now that he had switched to the Buster Sword.

For wild Felyne communities, however, these cunning, vicious creatures that worked together in packs posed an even greater threat than large monsters.

Almost every year, Felynes were injured or even killed by their jaws.

Noticing Porkchop's unease, Gordon patted his nutshell helmet.

"Don't worry. They're just bullies who pick on the weak. Once we're in the hunting grounds, your main job will be to help me keep watch. Leave those 'hill thugs' to me!"

Porkchop tightened both hands around his Felyne Pickaxe and shook his head vigorously. "I'll do my best too, meow! Their-their heads are fragile, meow. Father said that if you hit their eyes really hard with a Felyne Pickaxe, they'll go down, meow!"

"Ha! That's the spirit! What's a Blue Velociprey to us? Do you know why I specifically chose this quest?" Gordon asked with a grin, rubbing his nose with his thumb.

"Because we're out of money at home, meow? This quest pays pretty well, meow!"

"Uh, that's only one reason!"

Gordon waved his hands awkwardly. "Materials! It's for the materials! I want to get lots of blue velociprey hide, scales, claws, and teeth."

"Meow? To sell for money, meow?" Confusion spread across Porkchop's little furry face.

"..."

Gordon gave his partner a helpless look. "I'm not that obsessed with money. Well, enough guessing games. It's to make new armor.

"If we want to hunt stronger monsters, these 'kindergarten uniforms' we're wearing won't cut it. Our goal this time is to collect all the materials for the Blue Velociprey Armor Set!"