This was Hayata's first true battle after she decided to become a Hunter.
—The Xianggu Pig she killed half an hour ago didn't count.
Fortunately, her opponents were the Qimian Tribe.
Compared to their size, these guys were even smaller than Airou; humans always find it difficult to feel fear when facing opponents much smaller than themselves, and it's not easy to lose control due to fear.
Unfortunately, her opponents were a large group of the Qimian Tribe.
These noisy little monsters were not only agile but also knew how to cooperate, so Hayata and Zhu Pa had no choice but to stand back-to-back, covering each other to prevent any Qimian Tribe from ambushing them from behind.
To help his companions, Gordon charged into the Qimian Tribe formation like a Great Wild Boar King at full speed, and when he reached Hayata and the others, the sight of her fighting made him grin.
When Hayata realized she couldn't wield the Dunjian (Shield Sword/Sword and Shield) freely and couldn't hit these agile Qimian Tribe members at all, she decisively abandoned her sword-swinging combat style.
Instead, she used both the Dunjian (Shield Sword/Sword and Shield) and the small round shield for defense, blocking the Qimian Tribe's Attack Up, and her only means of counterattack was to kick.
The scene before him looked a bit comical, but Gordon quickly found that this "Attack Up method" was exceptionally effective against the short Qimian Tribe.
Wrapped in iron plates and tough leather, her pointed greaves were heavy and sturdy; while Hayata's kicks might not cause truly effective damage to the Qimian Tribe with her strength, they could easily repel them.
At present, not considering killing, only self-preservation, kicking was indeed much more efficient than bending over to swing a blade against these little things that barely reached above her knees.
Occasionally, if she was careless, with Zhu Pa's help, she could quickly stabilize herself.
Hayata's clever and flexible response pleasantly surprised Gordon; since that was the case, he didn't need to be constrained like a hen protecting her chicks, staying by her side every step of the way.
He just needed to kill as many of the Qimian Tribe as quickly as possible to surely open up the situation.
After reminding Zhu Pa once more to protect Hayata, Gordon completely let loose; he crossed his legs, twisted his waist, and swung his arms, wielding his Great Sword in wide horizontal slashes within the Qimian Tribe's encirclement.
Compared to the more powerful vertical slashes and Charged Slash, which focus on single-point breakthroughs, the horizontal slash, a wide-area sword move that sweeps across a large area, was clearly more suitable for the current situation.
Gordon, sweeping around like a whirlwind, instantly broke through the Qimian Tribe's formation.
When there were only one or two opponents before, it was difficult for the Great Sword to hit the target, but now the surrounding Qimian Tribe were densely packed, interfering with each other and unable to dodge, so the Burst Blade would occasionally hit some unlucky ones.
Any of the Qimian Tribe hit by the Burst Blade, which was powerful enough to cut through the bones and flesh of large monsters, would instantly lose their combat ability, even if they were lucky enough not to be cut in half.
This high-frequency Attack Up of continuously swinging the Great Sword was very stamina-consuming, but the continuous gains in battle results made Gordon very excited; more importantly, he felt that he seemed to have slightly grasped the trick of "controlling inertia" that Amos had mentioned.
It wasn't about forcefully breaking and changing the trajectory of the sword swing with brute force.
Instead, it was about continuously fine-tuning through all the joints and muscles of the body, guiding the sword's momentum, and bringing inertia under control.
"Hey, ha!"
The heavy Burst Blade swung and cut through a Qimian Tribe member in front of him who couldn't dodge.
The momentum of the steel giant blade did not stop; instead, under the control of his arms, it was further injected with power, changing its angle while cutting a graceful arc at a faster speed, easily slaying another Qimian Tribe member who was quietly approaching from behind, attempting an ambush.
Gordon wholeheartedly experienced this wonderful feeling.
The inertia that used to be sluggish and cumbersome, only prolonging the recovery after an Attack Up and increasing vulnerabilities, seemed to have transformed into another pair of invisible arms, and the formerly heavy Burst Blade now felt light and agile.
With another magnificent but not reckless sword swing, the Qimian Tribe member in front of him fell screaming, becoming one of the countless corpses strewn across the ground.
The few remaining Qimian Tribe members around finally broke down, and amidst their terrified shrieks, they burrowed into the grass, hiding and fleeing.
The Burst Blade, covered in blood and gore, heavily landed on the ground; Gordon looked at his completely exhausted and trembling hands, but a joyful smile couldn't help but appear on his lips.
From now on, the inertia brought by the heavy weight of the Great Sword would no longer be a burden.
Seeing the Qimian Tribe retreat, Hayata, who had gritted her teeth and persevered until now, finally couldn't help but collapse onto the ground.
For her, who had not yet undergone enough devilish training and whose physical fitness was still at an ordinary level, running around in the mountains for most of the day and then experiencing a truly meaningful battle had pushed her physical exertion to its limit.
However, the battle was not entirely over.
In terms of its own combat power, the King of the Gajalaka, who even if the entire Qimian Tribe were tied together, couldn't compare to it, could even hold its own against Amos, who was an Upper Hunter, without falling into a disadvantage.
It didn't have the muscles of a Great Wild Boar King, which seemed ready to burst through its skin, nor the sharp fangs and claws that are standard for top predators, nor could it breathe fire or soar through the sky like a Rathalos.
But just with the terrifying power that erupted from its withered body and its agile, loach-like posture, it was enough to make it an opponent that any Hunter must approach with utmost vigilance.
After diverting a sliver of his attention to confirm that Hayata and the others had dealt with the Qimian Tribe, a slight smile also appeared on Amos's lips.
After several minutes of entanglement, he had roughly ascertained the strength of the King of the Gajalaka before him.
Unlike ordinary monsters, the strength of the Qimian Tribe, who possess intelligence and intellect similar to humans, largely depends on their self-training and combat experience; their lower limit is extremely low, but their upper limit is extremely high.
In extreme cases, even Eight-Star and Nine-Star Hunter would get a headache seeing them.
While this King of the Gajalaka in front of him was strong, it wasn't to the extent that he couldn't handle it, and those two little ones over there had also been tempered enough.
Given that, it was time to end the battle.
Facing another frantic flurry of staff swings from the King of the Gajalaka, Amos changed his parry-focused strategy, suddenly spinning and sliding backward, his ice-blue Katana glowing faintly as it traced a graceful arc in the air.
His feet, though on the ground, moved as if gliding on ice, unbelievably fluid.
"Insight."
Amos let out a soft cry; as he slid to avoid the King of the Gajalaka's swing, he also seemed to be charging, just as the King of the Gajalaka's Attack Up missed, its old strength exhausted and new strength not yet born.
His feet seemed to be spring-loaded, and using the remaining inertia from his retreat, he lunged forward a large step, the forked tip of his White Monkey Tachi extending forward like a venomous snake's tongue, "whoosh!"
Leaving a short but exceptionally deep wound on the King of the Gajalaka's shoulder.
A faint white frost spread at the King of the Gajalaka's wound; due to the ice-elemental damage attached to the White Monkey Tachi, its wound was frozen, not bleeding much, but its movements became stiff as a result.
"Gah ya!" the King of the Gajalaka shrieked.
This was the most severe injury it had sustained today; if it were an ordinary Qimian Tribe member, it would have completely lost the ability to resist, or even died, from this blow.
Yet, it stretched out a withered hand and forcefully grabbed at its frozen wound, removing the frost while using the intense pain as a stimulant to relieve the numbness caused by the freezing, bringing its body back under control.
The blood from the bursting wound splattered onto the King of the Gajalaka's strange headdress, firelight flashed, and the gaze hidden beneath the mask instantly became even more bloodthirsty and frenzied.
"Gaga ka ya!"
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