Seeing Gordon's Attack Up miss, the two Qimian Tribe members instantly looked gleeful, prancing and dancing around him.
This strange scene made Hayata's eyes widen involuntarily. Were these two Qimian Tribe members... dancing?
Amos, seeing his disciple's confusion, smiled and explained from the side, "They aren't dancing. They're using this to distract their opponent, preparing for a sudden assault.
Qimian Tribe members are highly intelligent. They can tell Gordon is a 'Hunter' and not some helpless prey, so they're acting more cautiously and even using tactics."
"Then what about Brother Gordon?"
"Just watch. If Gordon can't even handle these little things, he wouldn't have been promoted to Two-Star at such a young age."
Gordon was indeed calm; he was luring these little monsters.
Sticking his Great Sword into the ground and being helpless? He wouldn't do something so stupid now.
Sure enough, the Qimian Tribe took the bait.
To his left, a Qimian Tribe member holding an animal leg bone as a war hammer suddenly hopped forward. Seeing Gordon look at it, it immediately hopped back and retreated.
At the same time, the Qimian Tribe member on his right, holding a rusted metal short sword, took advantage of its companion distracting the Hunter, leaped up, and with a strange cry, swung its rusty iron sword at Gordon's chest and neck vitals.
Gordon's lips curled up.
With a light flick of his toe, the Burst Blade, which hadn't been deeply embedded, was instantly freed. Following the inertia of raising his Great Sword, Gordon stepped back, and while continuing to lift it, he flipped the blade's direction.
Upward Slash!
The Qimian Tribe member leaping in mid-air had nowhere to escape. The Burst Blade's sharp hook-blade pierced through its chest. Its shriveled body twitched twice, then stopped moving, becoming a corpse hanging on the Burst Blade's edge.
The sudden demise of its companion seemed to provoke the Qimian Tribe member with the bone club. It let out a strange cry and charged forward again.
Gordon swung his Great Sword, shaking off the Qimian Tribe corpse hanging on the blade, and met the charge.
The small Qimian Tribe member was extremely agile. Facing the incredibly powerful but somewhat inflexible Great Sword, it successfully dodged again and again.
Gordon wasn't in a hurry. He continued to swing his Great Sword steadily with the inertia, and finally, on the fifth swing, he successfully caught a weak point in the Qimian Tribe member, easily slaying it.
Looking at the two corpses on the ground, Gordon instructed Zhu Pa to remain vigilant, then squatted down and began carving.
The process of carving a Qimian Tribe member was very simple. Perhaps it shouldn't be called "carving" but rather "looting," as no one actually needs the Qimian Tribe's materials themselves.
Qimian Tribe hide, Qimian Tribe teeth, and so on, sound disgusting, don't they?
Therefore, Gordon's attention was entirely on the two simple beast-hide pouches. These were the Qimian Tribe's satchels, and no one knew what was inside, like a lottery.
It was said that some people had found precious materials called dragon orb inside, but he himself had only found things like half-eaten Gu Tou.
This time was no exception.
With a look of ill-fortune, Gordon tossed the two beast-hide bags filled with miscellaneous trash aside, patted his legs, and stood up.
At the same time, Amos led a pale Hayata to his side.
A corpse torn apart by a Burst Blade wouldn't be complete, and naturally, it wouldn't look good, but this was precisely what Amos hoped Hayata would get used to.
Actually, more than a month ago, Hayata had seen similar scenes, but the joy of being rescued at the time diluted the impact of the bloody sight, so she didn't think too much about it.
Unlike now, she felt like she was about to throw up.
Gordon, noticing the girl's expression, couldn't help but grin. He had certainly experienced these things too.
Back then, the "teaching material" Instructor Ernest used was the corpse of a Great Wild Boar. That poor Great Wild Boar's head had been shattered all over the ground by the Instructor's giant hammer.
He had also vomited all over the ground.
That night, when the Instructor roasted Great Wild Boar meat for him to eat, he threw up again.
After a few such times, he no longer felt disgusted by these things. Mr. Amos must have the same idea, right?
Watching Hayata, who was covering her mouth with both hands and whose face was turning from white to green but still stubbornly holding back from vomiting, Gordon speculated:
Perhaps next, Mr. Amos will implement this stimulating therapy and have Hayata dissect a corpse or something?
However, that wasn't the case. Amos considered himself not that strict. Seeing Hayata nearing her limit, he told her to rest aside and then approached Gordon.
Gordon, who was somewhat gloating, quickly composed his expression.
"Gordon, please look after Hayata for me in a moment. The next wave of Qimian Tribe we encounter will be handled by me."
Amos's tone was quite flat, but the content of his words excited Gordon immensely.
"Great Sword Users value 'Strength,' but that doesn't mean they neglect 'Skill' because of it. Your method of dealing with small monsters like the Qimian Tribe is too crude. I'll demonstrate it to you in a moment."
"Yes, sir!"
Gordon didn't mind the other party's negative evaluation of him; his eyes were shining with anticipation.
Indeed, Amos was not a Great Sword User, but his Upper Hunter's insight and experience dictated that even with an unfamiliar Great Sword, his skill level would be much higher than his own current level.
Who could refuse targeted guidance from an Upper Hunter?
As for looking after his disciple for the other party, it wasn't even a big deal. He could even carry her, since even with her armor, she wasn't as heavy as his Burst Blade.
Logically, the smell of blood from the corpses would attract nearby monsters, but due to Amos's presence, Gordon and the others weren't worried.
After resting for a few minutes, and once Hayata's complexion improved slightly, the team set off again.
Only this time, Amos walked in front, while Gordon and Zhu Pa "sandwiched" Hayata, protecting her in the middle.
Amos's pace wasn't very fast; he clearly slowed down intentionally. Gordon, trailing a few meters behind, focused some of his attention on observing the former's footsteps.
After a moment, he couldn't help but exclaim, "Mr. Amos is indeed an Upper Hunter; he's truly amazing."
Along with her physical condition, Hayata's curiosity gradually returned to normal.
She also imitated Gordon, staring intently at Amos's back, and didn't forget to ask, "What's amazing? Is it because Teacher Amos's footsteps are very quiet?"
"Yes, something like that. They're both light and quiet, just like a cat. Did you notice? Not only his footsteps, but even tree branches that might brush against him and make a sound are all avoided one by one. I can't do that," Gordon praised sincerely.
Hayata's gaze towards Teacher Amos couldn't help but gain another layer of admiration and expectation.
However, just then, Amos suddenly stopped. He raised his right fist, making a "caution" gesture, and Zhu Pa, at the very end of the team, also twitched his nose left and right, seemingly smelling something.
"The second batch has arrived. The commotion is quite chaotic, so there should be more than three of them," Amos said softly, while slowly drawing the White Monkey Tachi [Extreme] from behind him.
As the ice-blue blade slowly slid out of its sheath, Gordon felt the surrounding temperature drop by a few degrees.
"Watch my movements."
With a low cry, Amos crossed his legs and charged straight towards the five figures that darted out from the shadows of the dense forest.
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
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