Mastering Momentum

This was Hayata's first real battle since she had resolved to become a hunter.

-The Mushroom Pig she had killed half an hour earlier didn't count.

Fortunately, her opponents were Shakalaka.

These creatures were even smaller than Felynes. Humans rarely felt afraid when facing opponents far smaller than themselves, and were less likely to lose control out of fear.

Unfortunately, her opponents were a whole swarm of Shakalaka.

These noisy little monsters were not only nimble, but knew how to work together. Hayata and Porkchop had to stand back-to-back and cover each other to keep the Shakalaka from ambushing them from behind.

To relieve his companions, Gordon charged into the Shakalaka formation like a Bullfango King at full speed. When he reached Hayata and Porkchop, the sight of her fighting made his mouth twitch.

Once she realized she couldn't yet wield her Sword and Shield freely enough to hit these agile Shakalaka, Hayata decisively abandoned her sword-focused approach.

Instead, she used both her sword and the Small Round Shield purely for defense, blocking the Shakalaka's attacks. Her sole means of counterattacking was, of all things, kicking.

The sight looked rather comical, but Gordon soon discovered that this "method of attack" was remarkably effective against the diminutive Shakalaka.

Her pointed greaves, reinforced with iron plates and hardened leather, were heavy and sturdy. With Hayata's strength, a kick might struggle to inflict any meaningful damage on a Shakalaka, but it could easily knock one back.

With survival rather than killing as her immediate goal, kicking these little creatures, barely taller than her knees, was indeed far more efficient than bending down to slash at them.

Even when she occasionally slipped up, Porkchop's help allowed her to recover quickly.

Hayata's clever, adaptable response came as a pleasant surprise to Gordon. In that case, he didn't need to hold himself back and hover over her like a mother hen guarding her chicks.

He only needed to injure and kill as many Shakalaka as possible, as quickly as possible, and they would surely break through.

After reminding Porkchop once more to protect Hayata, Gordon finally let loose. Shifting his feet, twisting his waist, and swinging his arms, he wielded his Great Sword within the Shakalaka encirclement, unleashing sweeping horizontal slashes.

Compared with the more powerful overhead slashes and Charged Slashes, which concentrated their force on a single point, broad horizontal sweeps were clearly better suited to the situation.

Gordon tore through their ranks like a whirlwind, shattering the Shakalaka's formation in an instant.

When there had only been one or two opponents, landing a hit with his Great Sword had been difficult. Now, however, Shakalaka crowded all around him. They got in one another's way and couldn't dodge in time, so the Buster Sword kept catching unlucky victims.

Any Shakalaka struck by the devastating Buster Sword, a weapon capable of cleaving through the flesh and bones of large monsters, instantly lost the ability to fight-even if it was lucky enough not to be cut in two.

Swinging his Great Sword continuously at such a rapid pace drained his stamina, but the succession of kills left Gordon exhilarated. More importantly, he felt he had begun to grasp a little of the knack behind what Amos called "mastering momentum."

It wasn't about forcing the sword onto a different path through brute strength.

It was about continually making fine adjustments with every joint and muscle in his body, guiding the blade's motion and bringing its momentum under control.

"Hah! Hya!"

The heavy Buster Sword cleaved straight through a Shakalaka that failed to dodge in time.

The massive steel blade didn't stop with its momentum still carrying it onward. Instead, his arms fed more power into it, changing its angle as it traced an even faster arc and easily slew another Shakalaka sneaking up from behind to ambush him.

Gordon immersed himself in that wondrous sensation, shutting out everything else.

The momentum that had once felt sluggish and cumbersome, doing nothing but prolonging his recovery after each attack and leaving more openings, seemed to become another pair of invisible arms. Even the once-heavy Buster Sword now felt light and nimble.

He delivered another bold but controlled swing, and the Shakalaka before him fell with a scream, joining the countless corpses strewn across the ground.

The few surviving Shakalaka around him finally broke. With terrified shrieks, they dove into the undergrowth and fled out of sight.

The Buster Sword, plastered with blood and mangled flesh, dropped heavily to the ground. Gordon looked at his trembling hands, utterly drained of strength, yet an overjoyed smile spread across his face.

From now on, the momentum generated by his Great Sword's considerable weight would no longer be a burden.

Seeing the Shakalaka retreat, Hayata, who had gritted her teeth and held on until now, finally gave way and slumped to the ground.

She hadn't yet undergone enough grueling training, and her stamina was still that of an ordinary person. After running all over the forested mountains for much of the day and then fighting a real battle, she had long since approached her physical limit.

The battle, however, was not quite over.

The King Shakalaka, whose individual fighting prowess surpassed that of its entire tribe combined, was actually holding its own against Amos, a High-Rank Hunter, even in single combat.

It lacked the Bullfango King's muscles, so powerful they seemed ready to burst through its skin, as well as the sharp fangs and claws typical of apex predators. Nor could it breathe searing flames and soar through the skies like a Rathalos.

Yet the terrifying strength bursting from its scrawny body, coupled with its eel-like agility, was enough to make it an opponent any hunter had to face with the utmost vigilance.

Amos spared a fraction of his attention to confirm that Hayata and the others had dealt with all the Shakalaka, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.

After several minutes of close combat, he had gained a rough measure of the King Shakalaka's strength.

Unlike ordinary monsters, Shakalaka possessed intelligence and understanding close to human levels. Their strength depended largely on their training and combat experience, leaving them with an extremely low floor but an exceptionally high ceiling.

The strongest among them could give even High-Rank Hunters a headache.

The King Shakalaka before him was powerful, but not beyond his ability to handle. The two youngsters over there had also received enough practice.

In that case, it was time to finish the fight.

Facing another frenzied barrage of scepter swings from the King Shakalaka, Amos abandoned his mostly defensive strategy. He suddenly pivoted and slid backward, the faintly glowing, ice-blue Long Sword in his hand tracing an elegant curve through the air.

Though his feet were planted on soil, he moved as if gliding over ice, with unbelievable smoothness.

"Foresight Slash."

Amos called out softly. As he slid clear of the King Shakalaka's swing, he also seemed to be gathering strength, waiting for the instant its attack missed, its previous force spent and fresh strength yet to gather.

As though springs had been fitted beneath his feet, he used the lingering momentum of his retreat to dart a long stride forward. The forked tip of the White Ape Cleaver flicked out like the tongue of a venomous snake.

It left a short but exceptionally deep wound in the King Shakalaka's shoulder.

A thin layer of white frost spread across the King Shakalaka's wound. The White Ape Cleaver's ice-element damage froze the injury, keeping it from bleeding much but also making its movements stiff.

"Gyaa!" the King Shakalaka shrieked.

This was the worst wound it had suffered that day. An ordinary Shakalaka would have lost all ability to resist that single strike, if it hadn't died outright.

Yet it reached out with a withered hand and clawed hard at its frozen wound. As it scraped away the frost, it used the intense pain to dispel the numbness caused by the freezing, bringing its body back under control.

Blood spurted from the torn wound, splashing across the King Shakalaka's bizarre headdress. Firelight flickered, and the gaze hidden behind its mask grew still more bloodthirsty and crazed.

"Gagakyaa!"