Lessons in battle

Surrounded by five Shakalaka, Amos moved slowly-sluggishly, even.

But Gordon could tell that this sluggishness was not a limitation of his abilities. He was deliberately slowing his movements, imitating the "heaviness" of wielding a Great Sword.

Even so, Amos remained utterly at ease as the Shakalaka attacked one after another.

He always dodged their attacks at the last possible instant, with the smallest possible movement.

He even had enough attention to spare to explain things to Gordon and Hayata. "Rolling carries you farther, but it also leaves a bigger opening. Use it carefully against small monsters or particularly agile ones.

"In situations like these, clever footwork and slight sidesteps work better."

Hayata looked enlightened, but Gordon, who understood how difficult that was, did not quite know how to react.

"Uh..."

His eyes understood. His brain understood. His body did not.

"A Great Sword swings slowly, and monsters won't stand still and let you hack at them." Amos sidestepped two Shakalaka attacking from either side in quick succession, then rested his Long Sword on his shoulder as though it were a Great Sword.

It was the stance for preparing a Charged Slash.

"So what you need to do is predict!"

As he spoke, Amos suddenly turned to one side and slowly brought his "Great Sword" down in a vertical slash.

Under Gordon and Hayata's astonished gazes, a Shakalaka leaped into what had been empty space just as Amos swung, almost as though it had been waiting to throw itself onto the blade.

"Gah!?"

Clearly terrified as well, the Shakalaka barely managed a scream before the icy blue edge of the White Ape Reaver cleaved it into two frost-covered halves.

"A skilled Great Sword user can charge an attack in a seemingly pointless spot, then wait for a monster to deliver its weak point to the heavy blade he's been charging, dealing a devastating blow."

He swept his long blade sideways, driving the remaining Shakalaka back, then looked at Gordon. "Did you understand that?"

Gordon quietly swallowed.

The technique Amos had shown him was simple enough in principle: predict a monster's movements in advance. The problem was, how could he possibly reach a level that seemed almost like seeing the future?

"Don't get hung up on how to do it, and don't get ahead of yourself and blindly imitate it. This is the result of countless battles' worth of experience building up until it becomes something more. For now, you just need to keep the concept in mind."

As he explained, Amos settled into another stance. "Now watch this."

He began slowly swinging his Long Sword again. "I can see that you already understand the basics of using momentum to make your Great Sword attacks flow together.

"But that isn't enough. You need to learn to harness that momentum and bring it entirely under your control, rather than letting it drag you around."

Gordon strained his eyes wide as Amos swung at empty air, then adjusted his body piece by piece, applying force little by little, from his feet and legs through his waist, back, and shoulders, all the way to his arms.

The blade, which had seemed to slip out of his control, gradually returned to it through those full-body movements. Finally, it curved into an uncanny arc, passing across a Shakalaka's throat with precision and elegance.

The angle, force, and timing were all perfect.

"The Great Sword emphasizes power, but you can't abandon technique entirely. Remember, control the momentum. Don't let the Great Sword's weight control you."

The deaths of their companions made the three remaining Shakalaka more cautious, and their attacks slowed.

Having finished his demonstration, Amos lost interest in continuing to spar with them. His footwork and swordplay abruptly accelerated, and several sharp flashes of cold light flickered past.

Almost simultaneously, all three Shakalaka fell to the ground, becoming corpses that gave off an icy chill.

Gordon swallowed again. Was this the strength of a high-rank Long Sword user?

"Don't forget. Control the momentum."

Amos casually flicked the frost-frozen blood from the White Ape Reaver, sheathed it, and walked toward the two of them.

"Two more have just shown up. They're yours. Give it a try."

"Right!"

Feeling as though he had grasped something, and itching to try it out, Gordon reached for the hilt of the Great Sword behind his shoulder and strode forward.

"Porkchop, sit this one out for now."

Porkchop, who had been about to follow, stopped in confusion. He looked hesitantly at Amos as the hunter passed Gordon. When Amos nodded, the still-conflicted Porkchop could only scratch his whiskers and return to Hayata's side.

Facing the Shakalaka that sprang out from the bushes and the shadows of the trees one after the other, Gordon immediately swept his Buster Sword sideways. Unsurprisingly, he missed.

These little creatures were easily among the most agile monsters he had ever fought.

Following his old habits, he would have shed the excess momentum after missing that horizontal slash and flowed into another sword move.

This time, however, he tried lowering his body into a rather awkward stance, letting the momentum carry his Great Sword through another full horizontal sweep at roughly knee height.

That was just the right angle to strike a Shakalaka.

Unfortunately, he missed again. His awkward movement even let the slightly out-of-control Buster Sword drag him into a stumble.

"Tch, no. That's not it."

Gordon clicked his tongue and rolled clumsily away from the Shakalaka's well-timed attacks, putting some distance between them.

"Will Gordon be all right?" Watching from afar, Hayata could not help worrying when she saw him scrambling.

Porkchop beside her was worried too.

He clutched the Felyne Pickaxe in his little paws, looking ready to rush in and rescue his master at any moment.

"Easy, easy. He needs to face a little danger to grow." Amos stopped Porkchop. "Two Shakalaka won't be enough to do much to him."

Meanwhile, seeing that Gordon was not as difficult to handle as they had expected, the Shakalaka grew bolder.

Gordon dodged left and right, getting a feel for and practicing the "small evasive movements" Amos had described, while thinking about how to make better use of his Great Sword's momentum.

Maybe this would work?

Gordon slashed again. The Shakalaka leaped away with shrill cries, then sprang back at him. After their brief exchange, they had already discovered the long recovery that followed a Great Sword attack.

This time, Gordon neither kept swinging to bleed off the momentum nor rolled to evade their attacks. Instead, he followed the pull of the Buster Sword's weight, taking a large step forward as he drove his body against the flat of the blade.

Iron Mountain Lean!

His shoulder armor struck the blade with a dull thud, injecting fresh force into the Buster Sword's broad, thick body and driving it forward like an enormous shield.

Clang!

The Shakalaka attacking head-on, already airborne in its leaping strike, crashed straight into the Buster Sword's broad, solid blade. The violent impact shattered its mask and even its bones in an instant.

At the same time, a rush of air came from behind his ear. The other Shakalaka, which had slipped behind him, seized the chance to attack.

Gordon bared his teeth, a hint of ferocity in his eyes beneath his bloodstained faceplate.

He reached out and caught the leg of the half-dead Shakalaka in front of him, battered by his Great Sword's Iron Mountain Lean, then twisted around and swung it behind him like a hammer.

"Gaaagh!"

Amid the Shakalaka's screams and the cracking of bones, the battle ended abruptly.