A Necessary Lesson

The two Shakalakas saw Gordon's attack miss and immediately began gloating, prancing around him and waving their arms.

The bizarre sight made Hayata's eyes widen. Were these two Shakalakas... dancing?

Seeing his pupil's confusion, Amos smiled and explained from beside her, "They aren't dancing. They're distracting their opponent, preparing for a surprise attack.

"Shakalakas are highly intelligent. They can tell Gordon is a 'hunter,' not some prey with no means of fighting back, so they're being cautious and using tactics."

"Then Gordon...?"

"Just keep watching. If Gordon couldn't even handle these little creatures, he wouldn't have reached two stars at such a young age."

Gordon was indeed perfectly calm. He was baiting the little monsters.

Burying his sword in the ground, unable to pull it free and helpless to respond? He wasn't foolish enough to do that anymore.

Sure enough, the Shakalakas took the bait.

On his left, the Shakalaka wielding an animal's thighbone as a warhammer suddenly hopped forward. When Gordon looked its way, it immediately leaped back again.

At the same time, the Shakalaka on his right, armed with a rusty metal shortsword, took advantage of its companion drawing the hunter's attention. It sprang into the air, shrieking as it swung its rust-covered blade at Gordon's chest and neck.

The corners of Gordon's mouth lifted.

With a light flick of his toe, he freed the Buster Sword, which had barely sunk into the ground. Following the momentum of the rising Great Sword, Gordon stepped back, continuing the upward swing as he turned the blade.

Rising slash!

The airborne Shakalaka had nowhere to dodge. The Buster Sword's sharp, hooked blade pierced its chest. Its withered body twitched twice, then went still, becoming a corpse hanging from the Buster Sword's edge.

Its companion's sudden death seemed to provoke the bone-wielding Shakalaka. With a strange cry, it charged forward again.

Gordon swung his Great Sword, flinging the Shakalaka's corpse off the blade, and met the charge.

The small Shakalaka was extremely nimble. Against the Great Sword's tremendous power but limited maneuverability, it successfully dodged one attack after another.

Gordon remained patient, letting momentum guide his steady swings. On his fifth strike, he finally caught an opening and killed the Shakalaka with ease.

Glancing at the two corpses on the ground, Gordon told Porkchop to keep watch, then crouched down and began carving.

Carving a Shakalaka was a simple process. Perhaps "carving" was the wrong word; "searching the corpse" was more accurate. After all, nobody wanted materials from the Shakalakas themselves.

Shakalaka hide, Shakalaka teeth-didn't those sound rather unsettling?

Instead, Gordon focused entirely on the two crude little hide bundles. These were the Shakalakas' travel bags, and nobody knew what might be inside. It was like drawing a prize.

Supposedly, someone had once found a precious material called a "wyvern gem" in one, but Gordon had only ever found things like bones that hadn't been gnawed clean.

This time was no different.

Looking thoroughly disgusted, Gordon tossed aside the two hide bags full of assorted rubbish, patted his legs, and stood up.

Meanwhile, Amos led a pale-faced Hayata over to him.

Corpses torn apart by the Buster Sword were hardly intact, and naturally weren't pleasant to look at. But this was precisely what Amos wanted Hayata to get used to.

In fact, Hayata had seen something similar just over a month ago. Back then, however, the joy of being rescued had dulled the impact of the bloody scene, and she hadn't dwelled on it.

Now, she felt as though she was about to throw up.

Noticing the girl's expression, Gordon couldn't help giving a wry grin. Naturally, he had been through this too.

Back then, Instructor Ernest's "teaching material" had been a Great Bullfango's corpse. The poor creature's head had been smashed to pieces all over the ground by the Instructor's Hammer.

Gordon had vomited all over the ground too.

That evening, when the Instructor roasted Great Bullfango meat for him, he had thrown up again.

After several rounds of that, such things no longer made him sick. Was Mr. Amos thinking along the same lines?

Watching Hayata cover her mouth with both hands, her face turning from white to green as she stubbornly held back her nausea, Gordon wondered:

Perhaps Mr. Amos would follow through with this shock treatment and have Hayata dissect a corpse next?

But he did not. Amos didn't consider himself quite that harsh. Seeing that Hayata was nearing her limit, he sent her aside to rest, then approached Gordon.

Gordon, who had been taking a little too much pleasure in her predicament, hurriedly composed his expression.

"Gordon, stay beside Hayata and look after her for me in a moment. Leave the next group of Shakalakas to me."

Amos's tone was quite mild, but his words filled Gordon with excitement.

"Great Sword users place great importance on 'strength,' but that doesn't mean they neglect 'technique.' Your approach to small monsters like Shakalakas is too crude. I'll demonstrate for you shortly."

"Yes!"

Gordon didn't mind the criticism at all. His eyes shone with anticipation.

True, Amos wasn't a Great Sword user, but his insight and experience as a high-rank hunter meant that even with an unfamiliar Great Sword, his skills would far surpass Gordon's current level.

Who could turn down personalized instruction from a high-rank hunter?

As for looking after the man's pupil, that was hardly any trouble. He could even carry her on his back. Including her armor, she still weighed less than his Buster Sword.

Normally, the bloody smell of the corpses would attract nearby monsters, but with Amos there, Gordon and the others weren't worried.

They rested where they were for a few minutes. Once some color had returned to Hayata's face, the group set off again.

This time, however, Amos took the lead, while Gordon and Porkchop "sandwiched" Hayata between them, protecting her from the front and rear.

Amos wasn't walking particularly fast, clearly slowing his pace on purpose. Following several meters behind him, Gordon devoted some of his attention to studying the man's footwork.

After a while, he couldn't help remarking, "Mr. Amos really is a high-rank hunter. That's impressive."

Along with her physical condition, Hayata's curiosity gradually returned to normal.

She followed Gordon's example, staring intently at Amos's back, and asked, "What's impressive? Is it because Teacher Amos's footsteps are so quiet?"

"Yes, more or less. Light and quiet, just like a cat. Did you notice? It isn't just where he puts his feet. He also avoids every branch that might scrape against him and make a sound. I couldn't manage that," Gordon said with genuine admiration.

As Hayata looked toward her teacher, Amos, a fresh measure of admiration and anticipation entered her gaze.

Just then, however, Amos abruptly stopped. He raised his right fist in a gesture to stay alert. At the rear of the group, Porkchop also twitched his nose from side to side, apparently catching a scent.

"The second group is here. There's quite a mix of sounds. There should be at least three," Amos said softly, slowly drawing the White Ape Naginata [Extreme] from his back.

As the ice-blue blade slid out of its sheath inch by inch, Gordon felt as though the temperature around them had dropped.

"Watch my movements."

With that low command, Amos crossed one foot past the other and advanced straight toward the five figures darting out of the forest's shadows.