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Diving Wyvern!

Sensing the approaching impact, the Gypceros lying on the ground with its eyes closed gave a slight twitch of its eyelids.

But it still chose not to move.

Splurt!

The blade tip pierced solidly into the flesh at the side of its head.

After hitting hard bone, Li Le used the resistance to pull the blade free and flipped halfway around.

Once both feet were firmly on the ground, he swung the glaive down.

Crack!

A crack burst open in the rod-shaped organ on its crest under the blow.

Yet the Gypceros still lay with its head tilted, utterly motionless.

"Was it really dead?"

Just as Li Le began to wonder, the rumbling footfalls of the Seltas Queen's Ahtal-Neset came from behind.

"Whatever. Even if it's faking, it'll be dead for real soon."

Li Le held his Insect Glaive horizontally and fired a Paintball at the Gypceros's head.

Splat!

A wad of silk plastered itself into the bleeding wound he had just struck.

Li Le swung his arm back, pulling the silk wad toward him, then swung it through a half circle and flung it out again.

"Sisi! Ahtal-Neset Vault!"

Smack!

As it stuck to his arm and injected red extract, Li Le used the momentum to vault off his glaive, sharply tugging backward on the connected silk.

He flipped twice in midair, planted his feet on the Ahtal-Neset, and pushed off with both legs to leap again.

By now, he was almost at the cave ceiling.

Feeling the ground shake, the Gypceros roared and quickly pushed itself upright.

It lunged into a charging pounce, barely avoiding the Ahtal-Neset's stomp.

But immediately afterward, something sharp plunged into its back from above.

Li Le did not use the impact to vault again. Instead, he gripped the glaive with both hands and pressed down, driving its blade as deep as possible.

Once it was secure, he lowered his center of gravity into a half crouch and hooked one elbow around the shaft.

His free hand reached behind his waist.

Shing!

He drew his hunter's knife.

"Hah! Hah! ..."

Aiming for the gaps in the membrane, Li Le stabbed down hard.

Blood spilled out along the creases and folds between the rubbery skin.

Raaagh!

Roaring wildly, the Gypceros kept spinning on the spot, trying to throw Li Le off its back.

But he maintained his balance simply by slowing the pace of his stabs.

Looking at the uneven rock wall ahead, the Gypceros soon found another way to get rid of him.

But before it could try, the heavy footfalls drew near again.

Unable to spare any thought for the steadily deepening pain in its back, it could only force itself to charge away.

Splurt!

Blood suddenly sprayed out like a fountain.

Stabbing deeper and deeper, his movements already mechanical, Li Le had no idea what vital spot he had hit.

Feeling the Gypceros's body sink and pitch forward, he tossed his hunter's knife aside.

He wiped the blood smeared across his goggles away, stood, and pulled the glaive out with all his strength.

Shluck...

The blade came free.

The Gypceros could no longer hold on. It lost its balance and fell forward, sliding along the ground.

He drew his glaive back, ran closer, and used Leaping Slash.

Li Le leaped, slamming the descending blade into its head.

Crack!

Grayish-white fragments of keratin flew everywhere.

"Haaah!"

The sweeping strike of Tornado Slash followed close behind.

The bone blade lodged in a fractured gap in the protrusion at the tip of its nose, stopping the slash.

Li Le's body abruptly stiffened, but under the stimulation of the red extract, he did not yield to the force and retreat.

Instead, he shouted and unleashed all his strength, continuing the horizontal swing.

The muscles in his arms instantly swelled and bulged.

Crack!

The blade traced a white arc as it cut through the protrusion on the tip of its nose.

Unable to withstand the intense pain, the Gypceros, which had fallen onto its side, rolled backward once and collapsed again.

Before it could struggle upright, two immensely heavy insect legs came stomping down in turn.

Boom! Boom! ...

With every blow, the Gypceros's body sank a little farther.

By the time Sisi stopped, half its body was embedded in the ground.

"Is it really dead this time, meow?"

Kaluo cautiously approached and asked tentatively.

Sisi seemed doubtful too, aiming her raised insect leg at the Gypceros's head.

"Don't worry, Sisi. A Gypceros can't survive that kind of pounding."

Hearing Li Le say that, she lowered her raised, pillar-like leg beside it.

Next came carving the materials.

Sisi leaped out of the Ahtal-Neset and circled around, inspecting the rubber-baton-like tail and the claws on its feet.

Finally, she focused all her attention on the grayish-white, rod-shaped crest.

She seemed very interested in this impact-triggered flash organ.

"An Ahtal-Neset with a blinding flash would be nice, but you'd be affected too."

Li Le knew what Sisi was thinking, so he told her the problem.

Sisi raised her sickle claws and pulled them down in front of her.

"Closing the Ahtal-Neset's top cover would block it, but since it makes observing the outside difficult, getting the timing right for the flash would be hard. Besides, if you really want the Ahtal-Neset to produce a flash, there's actually a much easier, more convenient way."

After saying that, Li Le looked at the lure trap, still surrounded by insects.

Looking at the bright yellow Flashbugs flying around it, Sisi instantly understood and hurried toward the swarm.

"Kaluo, turn around."

"Huh? ...Okay, meow."

Whoosh! Whoosh! ...

Kaluo had only just turned around, not understanding why.

One brilliant flash after another erupted inside the cavern.

The man and cat looked back to see Sisi swaying slowly with her head lowered.

"You're so experienced, meow. Did you learn that from failing to combine flash bombs... All right, pretend I didn't say anything, meow."

Seeing the corners of Li Le's mouth turn down, Kaluo dropped the subject.

After discussing it for quite a while, neither the man nor the cat could bring themselves to start carving.

Their equipment had no need for Gypceros materials.

Dash extract and poison sacs were both very valuable materials.

But they had yet to finish carving the key materials for modifying the seagoing ship, and neither Li Le nor Kaluo wanted to make any casual attempts.

Otherwise, if they ended up just one little piece short after the workshop processed it, they might have to come back for another hunt.

The next step was cleaning up the hunting grounds.

That included backfilling the trap pits they had dug or setting up warning markers.

With the Gypceros's carcass hanging from its full-moon tail, the limping Ahtal-Neset began the return journey to Cathar.

In the glow of the orange-red furnace fire.

Numerous cats perched on seats made from small wooden barrels and crates.

In front of the carriage, Gemma held a wooden stick and explained the contents of a display board.

"Generally speaking, the higher the grade of a material, the stronger its properties and durability. When processing it, we need to..."

Hearing the heavy footfalls, Gemma froze.

"That should be Li Le, Sisi, and the others coming back... Something's wrong. Those footsteps sound so strange!"

Worry appeared on Gemma's face as she led the cats running toward the village entrance.

Only after seeing that the entire team was unharmed, with just the Ahtal-Neset limping, did she relax.

"Li Le! How did the connecting components perform?"

Still far away, Gemma could not wait to ask.

"Great! The insect legs' outer shells were under too much strain and got pretty badly worn, but none of that's a problem!"

With the Ahtal-Neset Engineering Team around, the outer shells could be replaced at any time.

At the village entrance, Kaluo dropped to the ground and guided Sisi as she unloaded the Gypceros carcass onto a freight platform.

Li Le jumped down from the cockpit.

"Gemma, I saw lots of mine carts coming and going on the way back. Has mining resumed?"

"Yes. The Caravan's hunter, Disi, is really amazing. He hunted the Tetsucabra alone, so everyone can safely head out to mine again."

Gemma spoke in praise.

"That's Disi for you. I had high hopes for him from very early on."

Li Le sighed in admiration.

"Where is he?"

"The village discovered why the lava had been dammed, and Disi decided to help the village again. After a short rest, he set out on another hunt."

At this point, Gemma looked somewhat worried.

It seemed this hunting quest was much more dangerous.

"It shouldn't be Spider Sis... Could it be that bigger Nerscylla?"

Li Le murmured.

"Uh... How did you know it was a Nerscylla?"

"Of the monsters currently active in the underground caverns, Nerscylla is the most dangerous. It's the only one capable of having such a big impact."

"What an accurate deduction. I heard it apparently blocked the lava with boulders because of the conditions around its nest."

"I wonder if he can manage... No doubting him. That's Disi we're talking about."

Li Le shook his head, firmly believing in Disi.

"So you're not worried anymore?"

Gemma was a little surprised.

"Disi isn't an ordinary hunter... Has teaching the forging techniques been going smoothly?"

Li Le changed the subject.

"Hmm, how should I put it? I've never seen such an eager-to-learn group of Felynes. The artisans generally say the cats study very seriously, as though they've received some sort of introductory education specifically geared toward learning. If they hadn't already joined the Ahtal-Neset Engineering Team, everyone would love to keep them and train them as apprentice artisans."

"Oh?"

Li Le had not expected his little monster-identification classes to have this benefit too.

"As long as the cats are eager to learn, I can rest easy."

"Uh..."

Gemma lowered her head and began counting on her fingers, seemingly having something difficult to say.

"Is it time to pay the teaching fees?"

"Hehe, there's really no need to rush. It's just that the village's situation really is a little rough..."

As she spoke, Gemma held her money pouch open.

"Has the postcat visited recently?"

"Yes, just this morning."

"Wait a moment. I'll go to the post office."

Director Sara, it's all up to you now.

After asking at the post office, he found that there was indeed a package from Dondorma, addressed to Li Le, director of the Cathar branch of the Kinsect Research Institute.

He shook it gently, and the clinking of z coins came from inside.

Li Le unwrapped it.

Inside, besides a large money pouch, was a letter.

Dear Li Le, three-star hunter, sole personal disciple of the Soaring Insect Glaive User, supporter of the Dondorma Trade Association, and director of two Kinsect Research Institute branches.

It's been so long since we last met. I miss you too.

There is some bad news: the Guild did not approve this additional budget.

The 50,000z in the pouch is my personal money.

This was saved up over many years. I never paid it much attention or took it to heart, and I wouldn't say I valued it much.

Why were there damp stains here on the letter?

Director Sara must have missed me so much that he shed tears of emotion.

Li Le's nose stung.

In short, make good use of this money. Don't squander it.

Headquarters has made considerable progress in researching Ahtal-Ka's fragrance.

For instance, it becomes highly corrosive after liquefaction, among other things.

The most important discovery is that Kinsects exposed to the fragrance over a long period become especially sensitive to monster extracts.

During combat, they even infuse themselves with excessive amounts to strengthen themselves.

This has greatly improved the Kinsects' strength.

Unfortunately, their preferences when gathering extracts are too strong. Even marking with a pheromone shot cannot correct this, and we have yet to find a solution.

I've also developed another hypothesis: might other creatures display similar abnormalities after prolonged stimulation by the fragrance?

At this point in the letter, Li Le roughly understood why the research had stalled.

Long-term stimulation by the fragrance and consuming large quantities of monster extracts could indeed strengthen Kinsects further.

But from the moment they were bred, Kinsects were fed according to their types and particular tendencies.

Power-stamina Kinsects, power-speed Kinsects, and so on could accommodate no more than two tendencies.

Once Kinsects developed a powerful craving for extracts, they would gather only the two types beneficial to themselves, according to their own needs, while helping hunters gather extracts.

If even pheromone shot markings could not guide them, the Insect Glaive hunters they assisted would be unable to gather all three extracts and light up all three buffs.

And no matter how much ordinary Kinsects improved, there was still a gap between their abilities and those of hunters.

If this problem could be solved, enhanced Kinsects would probably make their debut.

While you're out there, make sure you don't disgrace Insect Glaive hunters.

Don't push yourself too hard when you encounter danger, either.

Take care, Li Le.

"Director, I won't let you down."

With that, Li Le wrote a reply expressing his gratitude on the spot and handed it to the Felyne postal worker behind the post office counter.

"Are there any letters from Bherna Village?"

"No, meow. The two places are so far apart that even if one has been sent, it will take a long time to arrive."

"Oh, thank you."

"May I ask if the Ahtal-Neset Engineering Team is still recruiting Felynes, meow?"

The Felyne postal worker asked quietly.

"All the positions have been filled."

"Uh, thanks for letting me know, meow."

The Felyne postal worker lowered their head and sighed.

At the village entrance.

Seeing Li Le stride along with his head held high, his whole bearing transformed, Gemma grew curious.

Only when the heavy pouch of zenny landed in her hands did she understand the source of his confidence.

Once the Gypceros carcass had been cut apart and dismantled, work began on converting the Sandworm's hull for seafaring.

Next, Li Le also took part in crafting training.

Besides taking apart and reassembling the sewing machine and watching the construction of the Isana every day, Sisi had another subject to study.

That was the Flashbug that could emit dazzling flashes.

The days passed like this. Five days later, everyone in the village looked rather grim.

Especially the members of the Hunter Caravan.

The reason was that there was still no news whatsoever of Disi, the caravan's hunter.

Early that morning, at the village entrance, Li Le boarded the fully repaired Seltas Queen Ahtal-Neset and began plotting a route on the map.

"Li Le, are you and Sisi heading out to hunt?"

Sophia asked when she saw him.

"No, we're going out to gather some ore."

"I thought you were going to search for Disi."

"Well... if we happen to run into him, who knows?"

Li Le gave an evasive answer.

Just then, the four members of the Ace Squad also arrived at the village entrance to plan their route.

"Ha ha! Morning, Sophia!"

Aiden walked over and greeted Sophia warmly.

"Is the Ace Squad going to...?"

"Master doesn't want to wait anymore. He said we're going to..."

Feeling an icy gaze on his back, Aiden scratched his head and swallowed the rest of his words.

"The squad is heading out to gather some ore. We'll be back soon."

Julius gave a clear answer on Aiden's behalf.

Caravan leader Joda arrived at the village entrance with a grave expression.

"This is no time to worry about saving face. Please, everyone, set off as soon as possible. I'll ask Sophia to issue the rescue contract afterward as quickly as she can."

After Joda brought the situation into the open, both teams began their final preparations.

Just then, a minecart carrying no ore came speeding toward the village entrance.

Covered in cobwebs, his face faintly purple, Disi had returned in one piece.()