Ahtal-Ka

Being able to wield multiple hunting weapons in the weapon-handling assessment was a definite plus.

Yet few people attempted it. Clearly, specializing in a single weapon and achieving something with it was already very difficult.

Amid the cracking blows striking the mechanical wyvern, more than half the candidates had finished their assessments.

Now it was the much-anticipated Aiden's turn.

Sword and shield, charge blade, heavy bowgun.

He carried and dragged the three training weapons over to the mechanical wyvern.

He raised a hand to signal to the Felyne operator on its back that he was ready, and the mechanical wyvern shuddered to life.

"Hah!"

Cries of exertion rang out alongside the sounds of slashing blows.

Indentations appeared one after another across the mechanical wyvern's surface.

Each time Aiden finished the assessment for one weapon, the three evaluators responsible for judging and recording rotated according to the weapon being used.

Facing the mechanical wyvern's thrusting head, Aiden angled the heavy bowgun's barrel aside, letting the shield mounted on its body take the collision.

Bang!

After his feet slid back slightly and he steadied himself, he swiftly folded the heavy bowgun, mounted it on his back, bowed, and left the field.

Cheers erupted, and thunderous applause rang out.

There was no need to check the assessment results. Everyone present knew that a hunter of formidable talent had been born at that moment.

"Leaping Slash, Rising Slash Combo, Diagonal Slash, Double Slash..."

Holding a training Insect Glaive, Li Le broke the moves down into small motions for a final practice run.

Based on the previous assessment order, he had thought he had little time left.

Then the only remaining candidate besides himself was called onto the field.

Li Le realized his position in the assessment order had changed. He had been moved to the very end.

He was a little curious why the instructors had arranged things this way.

Still, there was no loss in having more opportunities to practice and observe.

As the sun sank toward the mountains.

Li Le and Ahtal-Ka finally took the field for the finale.

Aiden, Lan Rui, Holo, Kaluo, Sanhua, and the trading company owners who specialized in purchasing insect materials.

Along with the large crowd of city residents gathered to watch, all called out their encouragement.

Sara, wearing a full set of Plesioth armor, entered the field with two other Insect Glaive hunters.

"Time to see the results of your training."

"Don't worry, Director!"

The mechanical wyvern's movements and mounted equipment differed depending on the hunting weapon being used.

After entering the field, the instructors attached several cloth bags to the mechanical wyvern's head, wings, hind claws, and tail.

"Li Le, these attachments are for testing Extract Essence. Since they aren't real monster extracts, they might harm you if absorbed into your body, so use this plug to block the injection port on your Insect Nesting Band before the assessment."

Instructor Kedon handed over a wooden plug as he finished speaking.

"You've thought of everything."

Li Le guessed that the Insect Glaive assessment required a rather unusual setup, which was why he had been placed last.

"If there are no problems, wave to the Felyne operating the mechanical wyvern, and you can begin your Insect Glaive handling assessment."

Kedon extended a hand to guide him.

"I have a question."

"What is it?"

"If the mechanical wyvern gets damaged, I won't be held liable for compensation, right?"

Kedon had not expected that to be what was troubling Li Le.

"Don't worry, Li Le. If you can seriously damage the mechanical wyvern with a training weapon, we hunter assessment instructors will only be pleased."

"Good... Felyne up there, be extra careful in a moment."

"Uh... thanks for your concern, meow."

It was the helmeted Felyne operator's first time encountering a candidate who worried about his safety.

Thump, thump~

A feline paw pulled down the lever.

Two plumes of black smoke rose from behind the mechanical wyvern's wings as it started up.

"Sisi, this mechanical wyvern is the hard work of many craftsmen. Outside assessments, you have to insert coins to use it for everyday training, so make sure you're very gentle when you touch it."

Li Le's words and gestures seemed to give Sisi some understanding.

Since the examiners were doing their utmost to consider the candidates' health, Li Le felt he ought to be more careful too, so as not to damage the facilities.

"Hah!"

Li Le pushed off the ground and leaped, drawing his Insect Glaive for a vertical slash.

His Leaping Slash struck the wooden Rathalos head directly.

Clack~

The hard, dry recoil sent pain through his callused palms.

But that slight pain and recoil-induced shift were not enough to throw his movements out of form.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The Insect Glaive spun rapidly in his hands. Li Le thrust his arms forward, sending the vertically revolving blade toward the wyvern's head.

Clack! Clack!

Wood chips scattered as he successfully executed a Rising Slash Combo.

"Senior Sara, Li Le's movements aren't just precise and fluid. His execution is exceptionally polished too. Do you know who taught and trained him?"

The middle-aged male hunter responsible for judging voiced his admiration and asked.

The Insect Glaive had only become an approved hunting weapon within the Guild and begun being promoted at its various branches within the past year.

As a fellow Insect Glaive user, he was naturally pleasantly surprised and curious about the newcomer Li Le.

"Li Le? I happened to meet him in the city. Honestly, I didn't teach him all that seriously. It's mostly down to his own hard work."

Sara turned his face aside and forced down the corners of his rising mouth, answering casually.

"No wonder, Senior Sara... Perhaps this is what it means for hunters to pass on their legacy."

The middle-aged male hunter sighed in understanding.

"Hah!"

Li Le planted the glaive's shaft against the ground and vaulted over it.

By the time he was upside down with his head toward the ground, the Insect Glaive in his hands had already begun sweeping around his body.

Whoosh~ Whoosh~...

Amid the repeated swishes of the glaive, he adjusted his orientation and descended toward the mechanical wyvern's wing.

Thump! Thump! Crack!

Two scraping swings and a downward slash that struck home successfully gave him support to push off.

"Hah!"

Li Le sprang into the air again, twisting his body to send the Insect Glaive in his hands swinging once more.

"The Insect Glaive's Dancing Vault isn't part of the basic handling assessment, is it?"

Surprise in her eyes, the female examiner hurriedly looked down at the assessment documents.

"Li Le probably wants to earn more evaluation points with advanced weapon techniques."

Kedon saw what Li Le intended.

"What a pity. He's even managed to pull off a Dancing Vault, only to be held back by his Kinsect..."

The female instructor lowered her head as she spoke.

"Don't be too discouraged. Li Le is still very young. As long as he's willing to return to the right path, he'll pass the hunter assessment someday. I just hope he understands Senior Sara's painstaking intentions sooner rather than later."

Kedon remained very optimistic about Li Le's future.

Landing from his Dancing Vault, Li Le took several breaths before turning the training Insect Glaive upside down.

He aimed at the wyvern's head and fired a Paintball from the built-in launcher.

Bang!

The Paintball burst.

A cloud of powder mixed with Power Nectar clung to the surface of the wyvern's head.

Tap, tap, tap~

Sisi's feet pattered as Sisi charged forward to stand before the wyvern's head.

Shing!

A sickle claw rose, and a sharp gleam flashed past.

Ting~

Yet the claw merely pricked the wyvern's head lightly before withdrawing.

"Huh? Even a flying Kinsect's impact would be stronger than that, wouldn't it?"

Sisi's touch, all thunder and no rain, left Aiden stunned.

"Sisi just doesn't want to damage the mechanical wyvern, meow."

Even without knowing the details, Kaluo saw where the problem lay.

"You mean... that Kinsect can damage the mechanical wyvern?"

Aiden could not believe it.

The invited judging team was also greatly surprised.

"As for this Paintball's target lock... there's no issue with the assessment procedure. The Kinsect did attack the marked part as required. It was just too gentle in its execution and lacked ferocity."

The middle-aged male hunter gave his evaluation.

"Ahtal-Ka is a new type of Kinsect. Ferocity isn't particularly important for it... Do either of you disagree?"

Sara asked.

"No."

The two immediately stated their position in unison.

When it came to handling an Insect Glaive, they might still have something to discuss with Sara.

But regarding Kinsects, Sara was currently the foremost authority. Neither had any room for debate.

"Well done, Sisi. Just one last item left: Extract Essence..."

"It's those cloth bags attached to it. Come on! Harvest!"

Li Le extended his arm.

Hiss, hiss!

Insect silk shot out.

After the precise hit, the cloth bag burst from the impact, releasing a cloud of pink powder.

Every hunter present was extremely familiar with the smell given off by the powder. It came from paintberries.

Spl at!

The bundle of insect silk, covered in marking powder, slapped onto the Insect Nesting Band.

So this was how they checked whether the extracts could be brought back...

Wings, hind claws, tail.

The white, yellow, and green powders attached to the mechanical wyvern burst in succession.

By now, the Insect Nesting Band on Li Le's arm was a riot of colors.

After raising his hand to signal, he left the field amid cheers.

Kedon confirmed that all four colors of powder had been successfully harvested, then marked the item "Can effectively harvest extracts and inject them into the candidate" as meeting the passing standard.

"Phew~ Finally over."

Li Le let out a long breath.

Kedon also knew how outrageous the conditions were. Looking troubled, he said, "Sorry, Li Le. There are still two assessments specifically for the Kinsect."

"Oh, no problem, Instructor Kedon."

"Uh... you probably don't know the assessment requirements for Ahtal-Ka yet, do you?"

"No. As long as they don't agitate or hurt Sisi, test whatever you like."

"Thank you for cooperating."

Kedon turned and called loudly, "Remove the mechanical wyvern's anchoring bolts! Ahtal-Ka's assessment is about to begin!"

The examiners immediately busied themselves. Seeing this, the satisfied residents who had been about to leave abandoned their plans to go home.

"Wait, what do you mean, remove the bolts?"

"Uh... see for yourself. I need to get to work."

With that, Kedon simply handed Li Le the headache-inducing assessment standards that were impossible to explain clearly.

"Drag the training mechanical wyvern twenty meters within one minute... Ah! What if it gets damaged while being dragged?"

After reading the first requirement, Li Le felt he needed to give Sisi a reminder.

After all, a full minute was a long time. There was no need to rush.

"Combine materials into a scent-tracking item similar to a paintball... This... however smart Sisi is, there's no way Sisi could know how to combine items!"

Li Le quickly spotted the problem.

"Who was so underhanded as to come up with an assessment that's impossible to pass..."

His gaze swept down to the signature at the bottom of the scroll, and Sara's name came into view.

Seeing that Sara was looking at him, Li Le immediately ran over.

"Ecology is harsh. I wasn't certain whether Sisi was ready, so I raised the customized standards a little."

Sara spoke first.

"But Sisi is just a Kinsect! There's no way he could combine items!"

"Hm?"

Seeing that Li Le had not questioned the equally absurd task of dragging the mechanical dragon at all, a trace of puzzlement flashed through Sara's eyes.

"I admit Sisi is very powerful, but have you considered this? Once you and Sisi leave the ecosystem around Dondorma and truly enter the wild, that strength will make Sisi especially conspicuous and bring disaster."

Li Le sank into thought at those words.

"If you pass the assessment, of course you can become a hunter. But from what I can tell, Sisi should still be a juvenile. I set the standards a little higher because I wanted to assess whether he was ready too."

"But... requiring him to combine an item to pass is just absurd! And a scent-tracking item similar to a paintball, at that. With a size requirement, even I'd find it very tricky to combine."

"If he manages it, wouldn't that prove Sisi is mature enough to handle all kinds of situations?"

Sara countered.

"Is that even possible...?"

Li Le turned back and looked at Sisi, who was carefully examining the mechanical dragon from its side.

"Li Le! The grounds are ready! Please guide your Kinsect through the assessment!"

Kedon's shout rang out.

"Director Sara, Ahtal-Ka will prove it to you."

"Mm. I'll wait and see."

Sara nodded as he spoke.

When Li Le returned after their conversation, Kedon was somewhat surprised to see that, rather than becoming dispirited, he had been fired up.

"Li Le, we don't know which of Ahtal-Ka's joints can't bear force. You should attach the connecting ropes."

"We won't need ropes, Instructor Kedon. Just have the Felyne driver get down first."

"Hmm... all right."

Hearing that they would not need ropes, Instructor Kedon initially thought Li Le was giving up, but asking the Felyne driver to get down contradicted that.

So he followed Li Le's suggestion and had the Felyne leave the cockpit on the dragon's back first.

"Kaluo! Get my beginner's Book of Combos ready!"

The sudden shout surprised everyone, but Kaluo, who heard it, resolutely carried out the order.

Holding the thick tome high, Kaluo sprinted toward the grounds.

Li Le took down the training Insect Glaive and fired several Paintballs in succession, hitting the mechanical dragon's various joints.

"Sisi! Silk bind!"

Hiss! Hiss! ...

Sisi raised the clawed tail at his rear, spraying strand after strand of silk.

Each time Sisi finished wrapping a joint tagged by a Paintball, he cut the silk and wound it around his raised sickle claw.

Once all eight strands of silk had been wound into place.

Sisi stepped forward on his insect legs and, under Li Le's guidance, turned around on the spot.

"Instructor Kedon, you can start timing now."

Only after Li Le reminded them did the stunned team of instructors remember that the assessment was still underway.

"Begin!"

Kedon swung his hand down and pressed his pocket watch to start timing.

Creak~ creak!

Insect legs stepped forward, and the silk pulled taut.

Sisi's legs sank deeper and deeper into the sand, as though the ground could no longer bear the pressure.

Clang~

Pulled by the silk, the mechanical dragon lowered its head, its wings swung down, and its whole body pitched sharply forward.

The platform supporting its body began moving slowly forward.

Scrape~ scrape~

The once bustling, noisy training grounds fell silent.

Only the friction of the platform grinding over the sand continued to sound.()