Monster Hunter: Wild Pointer

The bonfire crackled and the air was filled with an alluring aroma.

The hammer master, whose hair was gray but whose muscles were still full, took a few skewers of fish liver that were roasted to the perfect temperature and slightly charred on the surface from the campfire and handed them to a few young people.

"Here, try our craft!"

Ao Lang took a skewer, and the oil, as crystal clear as water, dripped from the skewers, emitting a wonderful aroma that was completely different from barbecue.

"How luxurious." Asa looked at the ichthyosaur liver in his hand, "This is the first time I've tasted fresh ichthyosaur liver."

The Hammer Master laughed loudly, "Ha! Eat as much as you can. We can't take everything back anyway. This is the only advantage of being a hunter. You can eat the freshest ingredients!"

Many wealthy people will even issue special tasks, asking us to capture live sand dragons, sand dragon kings, and send them to the city for slaughter to ensure the freshness of their livers.

But I'm telling you, don't tell anyone about it. Fish liver like that has already lost at least 30% of its flavor. Do you know why?"

"Why?" Asa responded at the right moment.

"Because sand dragons rely on their livers to break down toxins, the aerosol from the tranquilizer bombs used to capture them is also a toxin. How delicious can the liver of an ichthyosaur be when it's been paralyzed by a large dose of tranquilizer bombs?

Those so-called gourmets also commented that fresh ichthyosaur liver would bring a subtle numbing feeling to the tip of the tongue, making it impossible to stop eating.

Damn, you might as well just lick the paralysis mushrooms!"

“That’s actually the case, hahaha!”

The Hammer Master and Asa laughed out loud together.

Chapter 19 A Suitable Position for You

(A girl with smoky makeup, looking very depressed)

The light crossbowman glanced helplessly at his companions, then turned to Aolan and the others and said, "Hurry up and eat! Many people think that the correct way to eat ichthyosaur liver is as sashimi, but that's wrong. It should be fried or grilled.

However, whether it is fresh, smoked or salted, the texture of the fish liver has changed and the taste is no longer suitable for frying or grilling.

That guy is usually careless, but he's always very precise when it comes to controlling the heat when grilling fish dragon liver."

After thanking him, Ao Lang brought the roasted fish liver, which was as trembling as tofu, to his mouth.

The moment the ichthyosaur liver entered his mouth, his eyes widened a little. This was a taste he had never tried before.

The so-called melt-in-your-mouth flavor is generally an exaggerated adjective used to describe the tenderness of meat, but when this word is applied to fish liver, it has a literal meaning.

Unlike muscles which have fibers, nor like fat which has slight elasticity, the roasted ichthyosaur liver is almost pure liquid, flowing down the throat before you can sip it. The rich and fragrant taste makes people reluctant to open their mouths to breathe.

"Great, isn't it?" The double-sword user handed over a plate of thinly sliced ​​fresh ichthyosaur liver. "Grilled ichthyosaur liver is delicious, but sashimi is also very good. Try it."

Aolan tried some. This was his first time trying raw meat. To be honest, he was not used to the slightly sticky and slippery texture, so he swallowed it without tasting it. However, Seabuckthorn liked it very much.

"Seniors, this may be a little rude, but I am still a little curious."

After eating several skewers of grilled fish liver, Asa wiped the grease from the corners of his mouth and said, "The seniors are obviously very strong. In my opinion, they are definitely not just three-star level.

Why do you keep hunting sand dragons and the Sand Dragon King despite all those people's complaints?"

"Asa!" Nuri shouted hurriedly.

"It's okay." The double-sword user smiled and waved his hands. "I've gotten used to it over the years. Besides, it's the responsibility of us elders to answer the questions of the young."

Although it was Asa who asked the question, Orlan couldn't help but prick up his ears and sit closer.

"Actually, we were also very motivated when we were young. Do you know what our original purpose was in hunting the Sand Dragon King?" the dual-sword user asked with a smile.

"Defending hometown? Revenge? Making money?" Asa gave several of the most common reasons.

"Neither." The Hammer Master said with a smile: "Although the Sand Dragon King is a fish dragon, its body structure is very similar to that of a flying dragon, and its size is also similar.

At the beginning, we hunted the Sand Dragon King in order to be promoted to four stars and to receive special training to face the flying dragon.

How many Sand Dragon Kings did we hunt at that time? Was it three? Or four?

"Four." The crossbowman answered quickly.

The Double Blade Master continued, "If the gap between five stars and six stars is a huge barrier separating the lower and higher ranks.

There is a threshold between three stars and four stars. If you go down, any hunter who works hard enough can basically reach it. But if you go up, you will have to start facing all kinds of dangerous flying dragons, which is not something that everyone can do.

In order to reach the four-star level, the three of us prepared for nearly a year and challenged the female fire dragon with full confidence, but we were defeated miserably.

“Yes, the size difference is not that big, but that oppressive feeling, that fire breath that can blow down trees, and the ability to fly that dominates the sky.

Is it really a creature that humans can deal with?

After that crushing defeat, we were depressed for quite a while." The Hammer Master said with a smile.

"How did you seniors regain your confidence?" Nuri asked curiously.

Anyone can encounter failure, but from the relaxed expressions of the three people, it can be seen that they have long since walked out of the shadow of that time.

This made him a little concerned.

"Of course, I'm going back to hunt the Sand Dragon King to build up my confidence!" The Hammer Master took out his flat flask, poured a mouthful of strong liquor into his mouth, and said with a smile:

“In fact, it’s not just the Sand Dragon King. We’ve also tried to defeat the Big Monster Bird and the Strange Dragon. We can defeat them, but it’s still not as easy as the Sand Dragon King.

In this way, we accumulated another year or two of experience and challenged the female dragon again."

"Did it succeed this time?" Asa asked nervously.

"It was a success, but it was very difficult." The smile on the Double Blade Master's face faded a little. "Two people were seriously injured. The one who drank almost died. It took a long time to recuperate."

The Hammer Master, who was pouring wine into his mouth, patted his belly and said, "Then, in order to recover, we went to trouble the Sand Dragon King again, hahahaha!"

"The Sand Dragon family really owes you guys, meow," Seabuckthorn couldn't help but mutter.

"However, one day not long after that, we came to the gathering place in Tangia Port and heard bad news." At this point, the dual-sword user's tone slowed down a bit, and his expression was dim and unclear under the light of the campfire.

"A talented hunter who was in the same period as us died. He was such a powerful guy.

When we were just promoted to three stars, he had already successfully hunted a flying dragon and was promoted to four stars. When we were defeated by the female fire dragon, he had already been successfully promoted to five stars.

Everyone felt that the genius would be able to rise to a high position within a few years and become the pride of his hometown.

But he died during an ordinary hunting mission, and the target of that mission was the Sand Dragon King."

There was silence around the campfire.

The double-sword user paused for a moment before continuing, "Although we hadn't yet earned the name 'Desert Fins' at that time, we had hunted nearly ten Sand Dragon Kings.

After that five-star colleague died, the president entrusted that mission to us.

Before we set off, we were very nervous and made a lot of preparations, even leaving a suicide note.

Because in our opinion, there is definitely something wrong with the Sand Dragon King, otherwise how could such a simple monster kill a five-star hunter?

But in reality, the mission ended without incident.

We also found the body of the five-star hunter near the Sand Dragon's lair, and it was confirmed after being recovered and analyzed by guild members.

The hunter must have been accidentally ambushed by other sand dragons during the battle with the Sand Dragon King and was unexpectedly defeated.

After the Guild Master learned about all this, he was lost for a long time. One of his words at the time left a deep impression on us."

The light crossbowman, who rarely spoke, took over at this time. "He said, 'Why would I entrust that task to a hunter unfamiliar with sand dragons when we have experts like you who can easily deal with the Sand Dragon King?'"

"call--"

The hammer master put down the wine flask and exhaled the alcohol. "The occasion was very inappropriate, but I still almost couldn't help laughing because it was the first time someone called us "experts"

The three of us have always been ordinary hunters, with no outstanding achievements, no outstanding reputation, and nothing special about us.

But it was after that that we found our place.

Hiccup, kid, you asked why just now, and this is why.

No one knows better than us which part of the sand dragon's skin is the softest and which bone gaps can directly reach the vital internal organs.

How to find traces of sand dragons' movements, how to lock onto the locations of sand dragons' activities, how to drive away sand dragons and make them act as planned, and how to move freely amidst the siege of the Sand Dragon King and his group of sand dragons.

Due to the existence of sand dragon groups and the unique ecological habits of this monster, even powerful elites may be defeated by the Sand Dragon King.

But we won't. The task concerning the Sand Dragon has been given to us, and there is no other possibility except to resolve it satisfactorily.

Because we are experts in dealing with sand dragons, we are the Desert Fins!"

"Oh oh oh!" Asa clapped his hands in admiration.

The crossbowman glanced at the hammerman, holding up the wine jug and speaking passionately, "Did you prepare this speech specifically?"

"Haha, you figured it out." Dachui tried to avoid any embarrassment at being exposed. "We don't get many chances to brag in front of young people, so shouldn't we practice hard?"

Chapter 20 GuluGulu

The next morning, Orlan and his two companions said goodbye to their Desert Fin predecessors and returned to Lokrak in a sand boat.

The return journey was uneventful, but the three people and one cat on the boat, including Asa, the one with the biggest mouth, were much quieter than when they came.

It wasn't because of the heavy atmosphere or anything like that, but rather the experience of this mission and the stories of their predecessors had given them considerable inspiration.

The phrase "find your own position" made Orlan think for a long time.

But the ones who were more affected by this sentence were actually the brothers Nuri and Asa.

Even if they are reluctant to admit it, they actually know in their hearts that they are also among the majority of "mediocrities".

A one-star who is almost twenty years old, and a two-star who is in his early twenties, while not completely dull, are not achievements worth praising either.

During this mission with Orlan, they felt more intuitively the gap between them and the "genius".

If this trend continues, they may serve in the Fortress Guerrillas for a long time, or they may leave after a few years and be promoted to three stars before the age of thirty.

It takes a long time to accumulate experience, hone skills, and if you are lucky enough, you may be able to be promoted to four stars in your golden age of forty.

But just like several predecessors of Desert Fins, he may fail repeatedly, or even die in the dragon's mouth. The best case scenario is that he will live his whole life in obscurity and retire without a disability.

As a young person in my twenties, still full of energy, the thought of such a future makes me feel a little suffocated.

But the words of their predecessors gave them another direction.

Who says mediocre people can never achieve their own achievements?

Back in Lockrak, the three of them settled their mission, received their rewards, and then sold the ichthyosaur livers, which were now of ordinary quality. Their total income was several hundred thousand.

Nuri distributed the income in a simple and direct way: each of the three people received 1,000 z, and the rest was given to Seabuckthorn.

Logically speaking, as he is the captain and the only two-star in the team, it is completely reasonable for him to get a larger share.

But the successful completion of this mission was not entirely due to his ability. Everyone contributed a lot, and everyone felt comfortable sharing the work equally.

"Generally, after completing a mission, there will be three to five days of rest and adjustment. The Fortress Guerrillas don't have a fixed team structure. If you want to go on solo or team missions in the future, you can do that. Just let me know in advance. But remember not to slack off for too long, or the boss will get angry."

After handing Orlan his share of the reward, Nuri continued, "Asa and I plan to stay home for a few days. The address is here. Feel free to contact us if you need anything."

"If you have nothing to do, you can come and play with us!" Asa hugged Aolan and bumped shoulders with him.

"Okay, thank you for your hard work, seniors." Ao Lang bowed slightly.

"Don't be so distant, let's go!"

After watching the two brothers leave, Aolan looked at Sea Buckthorn and asked, "What are your plans for the next few days?"

Perhaps because they had similar experiences, the relationship between the man and the cat became much closer after this mission.

Seabuckthorn scratched his ears and said, "Let's go dig some ore. I've been wearing this acorn cat armor for a long time, and the cat pickaxe made from herbivorous dragon bones is a bit too blunt.

If I could dig up some better quality ores, I could upgrade my gear."

Ao Lang was stunned, but Seabuckthorn's words reminded him.

According to his original idea, he planned to change his weapon immediately after being promoted to an official hunter, so the hunter dagger always remained in its original state and he did not think about upgrading it.

But the message the teacher left before leaving changed his mind.

He calmed down and asked himself, have he really decided to change weapons?

At present, apart from the one-handed sword, there are only two weapons that he can use directly in actual combat - double swords and broadsword, which are actually the usual weapons of his teacher and Haifa.

If he switched to dual swords, would he still be able to use the greatsword charging technique? It seems not possible. He couldn't always drop the off-hand sword and raise the main-hand sword with both hands to force a charging strike, right?

If he changed to a greatsword, even if he could still activate the demon transformation, he probably wouldn't be able to run or swing it.

From this perspective, the one-handed sword is actually the most suitable weapon for him at the moment, not to mention that he has just made some progress in fatal combos. Incorporating the charging technique into fatal combos is also a fairly clear direction for his efforts.

Since I plan to use the one-handed sword for a while, it would not be appropriate to leave the hunter dagger alone.