Hunting: The Dawning

Chapter 14: The Target Is the Velociprey

Gordon noticed that although the uncle was trying hard to keep a straight face, attempting to show a calm expression of "this thing is a piece of cake for me".

The self-satisfaction at the corner of his mouth couldn't be concealed even by his extremely thick and bushy beard.

With a tentative mindset, Gordon walked forward, came to the long table, grasped the hilt of the Burst Blade with both hands, lifted it with a light shout, and at the same time, leaned back slightly and tensed his body, assuming a standard greatsword combat stance.

"Humph! This lethal weapon is not used like this!"

The blacksmith shop owner finally couldn't hold back his expression. He quickly walked towards Gordon, snatched the Burst Blade that the latter was holding in his hand, and then shook the arm holding the sword slightly.

With a clang of metal, five sickle-shaped sharp blades with a cold gleam popped out from the smooth blade part of the Burst Blade, together with the huge hook claw at the tip of the blade, forming the unique blade part of the Burst Blade.

"This is the real form of the Burst Blade!" The blacksmith shop owner said triumphantly.

"Don't underestimate these small things that shine with cold light. Their sharpness is beyond your imagination. Do you know why the Burst Blade is designed to be able to retract the hook claws into the blade?

It's to prevent these small claws from tearing the user's flesh and armor together when the hunter carries it behind his back and moves!"

Gordon took the Burst Blade from the blacksmith shop owner with a look of amazement, observed it carefully for a while, and then asked, "Then how do I retract these blades?"

"Just turn the back of the blade down and the blade part up, that is, make the movement of sheathing the greatsword on the back, and at the same time, shake the hilt. The mechanism in the blade will automatically retract the blades."

Gordon tried according to the method the blacksmith shop owner said.

Sure enough, with another metal clang, those metal blades that easily reminded people of the hook claws of monsters were retracted into the blade and hidden.

"Hehe, you can just enjoy the beautiful scene of the monster's scales and flesh flying and scattering under its sharp claws." The blacksmith shop owner grinned, showing a mouthful of white teeth.

"I can't wait any longer!"

After hastily thanking and bidding farewell to the blacksmith shop owner, Gordon couldn't wait to rush to the training ground with the Burst Blade, eager to experience the wonderful feel of swinging this greatsword as soon as possible.

In the training ground, the instructor seemed to have been waiting for a while.

The burly middle-aged man patted a wooden stake wrapped with waste leather beside him, which was as thick as an adult man's thigh, and said teasingly:

"I knew you would rush to try it out as soon as you got your new weapon. I've prepared the target for you. Come on, experience the power of the heavy weapon!"

Gordon smiled and didn't say much. He directly raised the Burst Blade in his hand.

The steel rang, and the metal hook claws popped out from the blade all at once. Gordon took a light breath, adjusted his breath, and then shouted.

"Haah!"

All the muscles in his body tensed up. His steps alternated, driving the rotation of his waist and upper body. All the muscles and tendons in his body were like a fully drawn bowstring, gathering every bit of strength onto the Burst Blade and then exploding it out instantly.

The sharp hook claws easily cut into the hard wooden stake wrapped with leather, but this was just the beginning.

As the strength continued to be input along the hilt and combined with the huge inertia of the Burst Blade itself, with a teeth-gritting tearing sound, the wooden stake target as tall as a person was easily cut into two pieces.

Countless small pieces of leather and wood fragments flew in all directions, making a mess on the ground of the training ground.

Although he had been mentally prepared, the power of the Burst Blade still far exceeded Gordon's expectations.

If using the Hunter's Dagger, with enough swinging force, it should be able to cut open the leather on the wooden stake with one blow, right? But that was also the limit.

The s***h of the Burst Blade was not just as simple as "cutting" or "chopping", but "tearing".

It could be foreseen that the next second after these metal hook claws were embedded in the monster's body, their scales and flesh would be torn into fragments instantly.

This was the attack method of the greatsword, savage and direct.

"Not bad."

The instructor folded his arms and said jokingly, "Since you've got your new weapon and the basic training of the greatsword is completed, should you take a task and put it into practice?"

Gordon rested the Burst Blade on the ground.

"Can't wait!"

...

—

Hunting Task: The Pacifier of the Forest (★)

Task Content: Hunt 10 Velocipreys

Reward Money: 2000z

Task Location: Western Schreiter Region

Time Limit: 10 days

The Velocipreys are everywhere in the Western Schreiter Forest Hills. The herbivorous dinosaurs and spirit deer are almost eaten up. Please exterminate a part of them and reduce their number!

—

The commission was received from the village chief.

According to the instructor, in large cities like Minagarde and East Doruma, there will be a special Hunter's Guild Hall. The guild hall not only provides intermediary, accommodation, catering and other services.

There are also cute receptionist girls!

In comparison, the old and dry and always muddled village chief is really extremely boring.

Gordon inserted the parchment recording the task commission into his hunter's notebook and prepared to go home first and set off immediately after getting ready.

Speaking of getting ready, it was actually just going back to put on the armor. As for hunting items, Gordon, who had almost spent all his money on forging the Burst Blade, didn't bring anything.

Anyway, in the camp of the hunting ground, there will be supplies prepared by the Hunter's Guild.

It's not like hunting some dangerous large monsters. With those things, it's completely sufficient.

Compared to Gordon's excitement, Pig Chop seemed a bit nervous.

This was its first task since becoming a hunting Felyne, and the target was still the Velociprey group that the Ailuran tribe found most troublesome.

The so-called Velociprey was not a powerful monster. It was just a small carnivorous dinosaur with a ridge height of about 150 centimeters. Its individual strength was even worse than that of the Great Wild Boar, and it could be regarded as the lowest level of predator.

Not to mention Gordon after changing to the Burst Blade, even when he was holding the Hunter's Dagger before, he wouldn't have paid too much attention to it.

However, for the wild Ailuran tribe, these cunning, cruel and team-cooperating guys were even more threatening than those large monsters.

Almost every year, there would be Ailyrans getting injured or even losing their lives in their mouths.

Seeing Pig Chop's uneasiness, Gordon patted its helmet made of nut shells.

"Don't worry. They are just bullies. After entering the hunting ground, your main task is to help me be vigilant of the surroundings. Leave those 'Forest Hill Ruffians' to me to deal with!"

Pig Chop grasped the cat pickaxe tightly with both hands and shook its head vigorously: "I will also do my best, meow! Their heads are very fragile, meow! Father said that as long as you give them a hard hit on the eyes with the cat pickaxe, they will fall down, meow!"

"Ha, that's the spirit! What are the Velocipreys? Do you know why I chose this task in particular?" Gordon asked with a smile, rubbing his nose with his thumb.

"Because there is no money at home, meow? The reward of this task is quite high, meow!"

"Uh, that's just one of the reasons!"

Gordon waved his hands embarrassedly. "It's the materials, the materials! I want to obtain a large number of Velociprey skins, scales, claws and teeth."

"Meow? To sell for money, meow?" There was confusion on Pig Chop's furry little face.

"..."

Gordon looked at his partner helplessly. "I'm not that money-grubbing. Hey, no more riddles. It's for forging new armor.

If we want to hunt stronger monsters, the 'kindergarten uniforms' we are wearing are not enough. Our goal of this trip is to collect all the materials for the Velociprey set!"