Testing

"What a strange name, though it does follow the naming conventions for insects... you're not an investigator, are you?"

Holo abruptly changed the subject.

"I'm a gatherer."

"Then could you let me write the new species report?"

Holo's eyes shone with excitement as she placed a hand over her chest and volunteered.

Li Le realized that writing a new species report required a professional.

"Sure, but wouldn't handing it over to the Guild be more convenient?"

"That's true, but then I wouldn't get the writing credit, and the insect you discovered, Ahtal-Ka, would have to be submitted for observation for a while."

Li Le immediately understood.

Investigators had their own ranking criteria, and those were probably based on the various ecological reports they wrote.

Ahtal-Ka wouldn't have to be submitted for observation, and Holo could get the writing credit.

There was no reason to refuse such a mutually beneficial arrangement.

"Then I'll leave it to you. I'll do my best to cooperate."

"Thank you so much. A new species report needs an illustration of the creature's appearance. Just a moment."

With that, Holo went back inside the institute.

She hurried back out carrying two chairs, with a drawing board tucked under her arm.

"Please, sit!"

With the drawing board set up, Holo held a pencil and sketched at high speed.

Ahtal-Ka's outline quickly took shape.

"That's impressive."

Li Le praised her.

"Thanks for the compliment... could you help me with something?"

"No problem."

"Help me measure its body length and height."

Holo pulled out an enormous roll of measuring tape.

Li Le took it and glanced at Holo, who was busy at the drawing board, then at the somewhat bewildered Ahtal-Ka.

He figured Holo certainly wasn't the one who needed measuring, so he went over to Ahtal-Ka.

Once its appearance had been drawn and its height and length measured, they recorded the information they already had through a series of questions and answers.

"Done! Please take a look. If everything's fine, I'll submit it."

Li Le took the report and read it carefully.

"New species report (provisional version)."

"Ahtal-Ka, Neopteron, order Coleoptera, suborder Ahtal-Ka."

"A small insect monster that primarily feeds on insects. First sighted at ancient desert ruins. Its body is covered in brilliant golden carapace. Extremely gentle in temperament, capable of friendly coexistence with humans. No threat star rating."

"Discoverer and namer, Li Le. Report author, Holo... haha."

"What are you laughing at... is there something wrong with my report?"

Holo suddenly lost some confidence.

"No, you wrote this report wonderfully. It's perfect."

"I'm relieved you're happy with it. Once the director gets back to take over, I'll submit it to Guild headquarters."

"The director... are there only two people working at the Kinsect Research Institute?"

"How could the Kinsect Research Institute have only two people? Our full staffing is actually three people, but we still haven't recruited a gatherer to capture Kinsect specimens in the field."

Holo explained.

"Uh... so full staffing is just one extra person? All right, considering the institute's size, that does make sense."

"Sigh... the main issue is that promoting the Insect Glaive at the smithies in different villages and towns hasn't been going very smoothly. Everyone thinks this hunting weapon is too complicated, both to learn and to maintain later on."

Holo spoke helplessly.

Right, smithies that could provide technical support were a crucial part of promoting the Insect Glaive everywhere.

But raising Kinsects wasn't entirely compatible with a smithy system focused on forging weapons and armor.

If there weren't many hunters using Insect Glaives, the different regions would have even less incentive to spend time and resources maintaining and promoting this hunting weapon.

"Once new methods of transportation develop rapidly, this problem should ease."

Li Le looked at the empty sky above the city and offered his opinion.

"Wait, are you so eager to turn Ahtal-Ka into a Kinsect because you want to become a hunter and use an Insect Glaive?"

Holo spoke in realization.

"Yes."

After receiving his confirmation, Holo stared at Li Le's thin little arms for a while.

"Even if you focus on the Insect Glaive, which doesn't emphasize strength all that much, I feel like becoming a hunter will still be difficult."

"How will I know if I don't try?"

By comparing himself with Lan Rui, Li Le already understood the physical gap between himself and a real hunter.

But having come this far, he had to at least give it a try.

"All right. If you need any help, you can come to me anytime. Oh, where in the city are you staying? Once the report is approved and the reward arrives, I'll bring it over."

"I'd rather come pick it up."

"No problem... oh! The director's back!"

Li Le turned to look.

An elderly hunter wearing a full set of Plesioth armor and carrying a Rathalos glaive on his back was walking toward the institute.

A rhinoceros beetle with an oily sheen to its carapace rested quietly on one of his arms.

Scrape, scrape...

As the old man approached, his armor, a full size too large, shifted and scraped.

"Director Sara! Welcome back! Your trip to headquarters... Director, what happened to your eye?"

Holo greeted him warmly, then quickly noticed something was wrong.

"A smithy representative wanted to see the glaive in action, so I demonstrated a routine at the training grounds. But I lost my footing when I landed from a downward thrust, fell, and hit the corner of a wall."

As he spoke, Sara rubbed his slightly swollen, bruised eye socket.

"Sigh... Director Sara, at your age, please don't push yourself anymore."

Holo spoke with concern.

"As long as I can show everyone how perfect the Insect Glaive is, what's a little injury?"

Sara spoke unconcernedly.

Li Le hadn't expected this old director to be not only an Insect Glaive fanatic, but so far ahead in his understanding as well.

"What kind of insect is this?"

Once Sara saw Ahtal-Ka, his gaze locked onto it.

Ahtal-Ka seemed to sense the aura emanating from the Rathalos glaive and Plesioth armor.

Its legs shifted as it turned sideways on the spot, facing Sara of its own accord.

"This is a new species discovered by the gatherer Li Le, called Ahtal-Ka. He wants to raise it as a Kinsect and came seeking professional advice. I've already explained the situation..."

At this point, Holo leaned closer and reminded him quietly, "Li Le is a really nice person, and he's genuinely interested in raising Kinsects. He's also working hard to become a hunter, so please don't discourage him too much."

"What a strange aura. Something feels so out of balance about this insect..."

Muttering, Sara extended his arm.

Flutter!

The rhinoceros beetle resting on his forearm spread its wings and flew out.

Ahtal-Ka turned its head toward the beetle and raised its sickle claws.

"That's a Kinsect. You can't eat it."

Li Le reached out and held Ahtal-Ka's raised forelimb, and its sickle claws lowered.

Buzz, buzz...

Watching the rhinoceros beetle fly back, Sara looked surprised.

This insect wasn't fully raised yet, but it lacked neither courage nor wildness.

It shouldn't have had any trouble facing an ordinary monster.

"This is the report you wrote, right? Let me see."

Sara took the report, scanned it, and sank into thought.

Nervous, Holo couldn't help asking, "Director Sara, is there anything that needs improving?"

"No. Just submit it to the Guild as it is."

"Oh, then I'll head out. You two talk."

Holo put the report away and hurried off.

"Young man, your name is Li Le, and it's called Ahtal-Ka?"

Sara asked.

"Yes, Director Sara."

"Is Ahtal-Ka willing to accept your guidance and become a Kinsect?"

"Of course. Ahtal-Ka, weave a net bag!"

Hiss, hiss...

Insect silk flew as Ahtal-Ka switched into handicraft mode.

Soon, a net bag woven from insect silk appeared, supported between its two sickle claws.

"All right. If its growth exceeds your expectations, or it stops obeying you, be sure to tell me promptly."

"I will."

Li Le felt that Director Sara must have noticed something, but simply hadn't said it outright.

"Holo said you're raising a Kinsect and also want to become a hunter. Is there any weapon you particularly like?"

"It has to be the Insect Glaive. It's always been the perfect weapon in my mind. Not only can you strengthen yourself with a Kinsect, you can also leap and mount without being restricted by the terrain. It's flexible on both offense and defense."

"Heh heh..."

Sara grinned, apparently delighted by what he had heard.

"All right. If you insist on using Ahtal-Ka as a Kinsect, I'll draw on my professional experience as best I can and try to devise a rearing plan. But that requires plenty of observation and testing as a theoretical basis. If you're staying far away in the city, traveling back and forth will certainly be a hassle."

"It's fine. I can stay wherever I want in this city."

"Housing in Dondorma is expensive. Is your family that wealthy..."

Before Sara could finish speaking.

Thump! The silk carrying basket landed on the ground.

Li Le unrolled his bedding and propped up a patchwork tarpaulin as a roof.

A little shelter large enough for one person immediately took shape.

"Well, that won't be a concern, then."

"Uh... Director Sara, how are the rearing fees calculated?"

Li Le asked tentatively.

Although Sara was already elderly, the Rathalos glaive on his back showed that he was at least a five-star hunter.

With his status as a Kinsect expert on top of that, having him develop a specialized plan certainly wouldn't come cheap.

"As for the fee..."

While Sara pondered.

Crash!

The wooden pole supporting one corner of the shelter slipped loose.

The little shelter, only just erected, collapsed in an instant.

"Never mind. Aren't you a professional gatherer? The institute happens to have a vacancy. Deliver some of the insects we need to the institute regularly, and we'll count that as payment."

"That's what we're good at."

Li Le might not have been confident about other work, but catching insects was different.

"This is hard work, and we need large quantities. If you really can't manage it, the institute can buy some from the merchant association as we did before."

Sara reminded him.

Clearly, even hiring a full-time gatherer wouldn't completely meet their research and rearing needs.

But if they bought everything, the Kinsect Research Institute's limited budget simply wouldn't cover it.

"Director Sara, you can leave it to me."

"All right. Here's the list of what we need."

Sara took a slip of paper from his belt pouch.

"Five green scarabs, five short-horned rhinoceros beetles, eight bull stag beetles, eight shovel-bladed rhinoceros beetles, ten giant treehoppers... is that all?"

"That's the institute's weekly usage. Is it not much?"

Sara was somewhat surprised.

"For a week... that's fairly manageable."

Since unexpected things always happened in the wild, Li Le didn't want to make too firm a promise.

"If you're feeling up to it, set out as soon as you can."

"Uh... if I bring back extras, the institute will buy those too, right?"

Li Le asked.

"Of course. As long as they're cheaper than that unscrupulous merchant association's prices, the more the better."

"All right, Ahtal-Ka, let's go!"

With a chance to make a large sum right before him, Li Le immediately perked up.

"Wait, if you take Ahtal-Ka away, how am I supposed to observe and study him?"

Sara raised a hand to stop him.

"I forgot about that. Let's finish the research first, then."

"But if you leave town after the tests are done, it might already be nighttime."

"Nighttime won't stop me from catching insects."

Li Le didn't think that was a problem.

"All right, then. I'll be as quick as I can."

Sara returned to the research institute and brought out three types of packaged Kinsect feed: power, speed, and stamina.

"First, we need to test his feed absorption limit and preferences. Feed these three packets to Ahtal-Ka one after another and see if he rejects any..."

"He's finished them, Director Sara. He didn't reject any of them."

"Hmm... right. At that size, a single packet of feed really wouldn't produce any measurable results."

Sara fetched six packets at once.

Whoosh~ Whoosh~ Whoosh~...

With a gentle suck of Ahtal-Ka's mouthparts, a packet was emptied in an instant.

This time, Sara simply wheeled out a whole cart of feed.

Li Le opened the packets and held them out, while Ahtal-Ka leaned forward to suck up the contents.

The mechanical process of feeding him began.

The empty packets soon piled into a small mountain, yet Ahtal-Ka still showed no unusual signs.

"Director Sara! We're almost out!"

"Then let it run out! If we keep feeding him, we'll empty the institute's entire stock of feed."

Sara spoke with a pang of distress.

He hadn't expected Ahtal-Ka to be a bottomless pit when it came to absorbing feed.

"If we can't determine his preference for power, speed, or stamina, we can't tailor his development..."

"Director, do you mean we need to find out which attribute a Kinsect likes and excels in first?"

Li Le asked.

"Yes. Every insect species confirmed to be capable of being raised as a Kinsect goes through this test. For example, if a Kinsect shows little interest in speed feed, we can focus on developing its power and stamina. The problem with Ahtal-Ka is that he's newly discovered, but we can't determine his preference..."

Sara felt he had hit a dead end.

"If we're talking about preferences, Ahtal-Ka likes the red power feed best. His preference is definitely power."

Li Le told him.

"A Kinsect specializing in power... all right. Keep a closer eye on him from now on. Ideally, keep observation records, and when you return from gathering, we'll study a development plan further."

"All right, Director Sara. We're heading out."

As Li Le spoke, he deftly packed up the little shelter and put it in his carrying basket.

Sara fetched an insect field guide and a map to help with identifying insects in the wild and navigating parts of the area.

He watched the retreating figures of the man and insect.

Sara couldn't help reminding him, "The wilderness is dangerous. Safety first, Li Le. Don't push yourself too hard."

"Got it~ Director Sara~"

Li Le waved goodbye.

Three days passed, and evening came.

Holo brought the Kinsect cages into the research institute and was about to close the doors.

But she saw Sara standing at the entrance, staring blankly down the street.

"Still no word from Li Le and Ahtal-Ka?"

Holo asked with some concern.

"Sigh~ What I feared most may really have happened."

Sara sighed.

"What is it, Director?"

"Since Li Le couldn't afford the payment, he must be doing everything he can to catch the insects on the list. He hasn't come back after all this time..."

"Surely not. He hasn't even received the payment for the report yet."

Holo was unwilling to believe it.

"Director Sara, meow! An emergency!"

Just then, a messenger Felyne came running down the street.

"What happened, little Felyne?"

Sara asked.