The waters around Moga Village were warm and clear, with barely a ripple.
Under the southern sun, they looked like clear crystal. Swimming through them gave the strange, misplaced sensation of soaring above the seabed.
If not for the village's remote location and the frequent appearance of Monsters like Sharq and Lagiacrus, the area would likely have become a world-renowned tourist destination long ago.
Unfortunately, Altaïr had no time to savor the beautiful scenery.
Beneath the surface, Clawdia twisted her body nimbly and charged straight at him like a maddened seal.
Altaïr was quite certain that she had no intention of pulling her punches. If he failed to dodge in time, she would undoubtedly ram her head into his stomach at full force.
Even with his armor, he would probably be hit so hard he'd vomit up his lunch.
Moreover, dodging in the water wasn't as simple as it was on land. On the ground, one could rely on nimble footwork to maneuver left or right in a small area, but that didn't work underwater. At least, he couldn't pull it off.
The only move he could make was to sweep his limbs quickly at the right moment, propelling his body several meters in a chosen direction.
If he dodged too early, Clawdia would simply turn and keep chasing him. If he dodged too late, he wouldn't be able to evade this aquatic Felyne darting through the water at high speed.
Only at the exact moment... now!
Altaïr spread his limbs wide and pushed hard in a specific direction, sliding backward a good three or four meters with a whoosh and evading Clawdia's charge.
However, he knew the "danger" wasn't over yet.
Having missed her mark, Clawdia looped around and attacked from behind.
This time, Altaïr didn't have time to dodge. He was hit squarely in the back, tumbling twice through the water before barely regaining his balance.
Clawdia swam up in front of him and blew out a string of proud bubbles, then pointed toward the surface.
The man and the Felyne returned to the surface.
"Pwah!"
Poking his head out of the water, Altaïr pulled off his respirator and took several deep breaths.
On a small sampan just a few meters away, Ursula smiled as she watched him. "How does it feel?"
Altaïr shook the water from his hair with a rueful smile. "Not too good. I could dodge the first one, but I'm far too slow for the second.
"That won't do. Against a Monster on the level of Lagiacrus, if one attack misses, it will definitely follow up."
"Don't be so impatient. You've only been training for half a day," Ursula consoled him with a laugh. "That dodge just now was pretty sharp. Get a bit more practice, and I'll teach you the technique for consecutive dodges."
Having said that, she turned to look at Clawdia, who was leaping and splashing on the surface like a dolphin. A helpless expression crossed her face. "And you, don't just single out Altaïr to ram into.
"Put a little more pressure on the big guy over there. Both of them will have to go underwater to fight the Lagiacrus later."
"And Isis, too. Isis, you haven't rammed into anyone even once, have you? Playing favorites won't do."
"Come on, come on!" Isis popped her head out of the water and beckoned to Clawdia.
Clawdia nodded her little head, paddled hard with all four limbs, and charged straight at Isis.
Isis's timing was just as precise as Altaïr's, but the way she paddled made Ursula frown.
To put it nicely, there was a kind of powerful beauty to it. To put it bluntly, her movements lacked coordination, causing a great deal of her strength to be wasted, and she barely managed to retreat less than two meters.
That distance wasn't quite enough. With a flick of her tail, Clawdia slightly adjusted her trajectory and gently bumped into Isis's chest.
The pair, human and Felyne, returned to the surface.
Ursula opened her mouth to say something, but then suddenly closed it again.
She had been about to critique Isis's stiff movements, but on second thought, this was still their first day practicing underwater movement. Being able to control all four limbs effectively, as Isis did, was already quite outstanding.
As for Altaïr, he clearly possessed some uncommon natural talent.
If she hadn't heard that Altaïr was born and raised in the Great Desert, she would have assumed he was the descendant of fishermen who lived by a great river, lake, or sea.
The speed at which he picked up those underwater movements was nothing like a rookie. It was more like he had already mastered them before and was simply shaking off rust after a long period of disuse.
So she chose her words differently. "Isis is doing quite well, too. It's just that the movements need to..."
She was only halfway through her sentence when Az, sitting cross-legged at the bow of the sampan with a fishing rod, continued, "Movements need to be a bit softer, like an octopus, yeah.
"You know, an octopus? Don't just move your limbs. Imagine your whole body wrapping around the water like a soft leather bag, and then you push forward with a 'whoosh,' and your body goes 'zoom!' right out."
"Octopus... leather bag..."
Isis could actually understand what Az meant, but she didn't know how to do it.
Ursula cast a sidelong glance at this guy, who could do everything but just couldn't teach any of it.
After gesticulating wildly for a while and still not knowing how to describe it more concretely, Az had no choice but to put down his fishing rod for the moment and jump from the boat into the sea.
"Watch carefully, yeah!"
Az dove several meters underwater, stretched his limbs out casually, and then abruptly contracted his body.
Then, just like an octopus, he shot backward quickly and deftly over a great distance. A rough estimate put it at a full seven or eight meters.
As though he felt this demonstration wasn't enough, his limbs and torso extended again while he was still shooting backward, as though he had no bones at all. Just as his speed was about to drop, he contracted fiercely once more, and his whole body accelerated and darted out again.
At that speed, not to mention the young Hunters just getting started with underwater movement, even Clawdia, with her excellent aquatic skills, couldn't keep up no matter what.
"Alright, alright, stop showing off and get up here right now!" Ursula called out irritably.
She wanted the young ones to learn step by step. What use was showing off like that? Did he think they could do it just from watching once?
And then she saw Altaïr dive into the water, too, imitating Az's movements and propelling himself backward through the water in a continuous series of motions.
At first, his movements were very disjointed; the action of extending his limbs again severely drained his backward momentum, but slowly, he seemed to find the trick.
He couldn't shoot backward seven or eight meters in one go like Az did, but the distance he retreated was noticeably farther than before.
He also began trying to chain dodge maneuvers together, or change direction mid-move.
Noticing Altaïr's improvement, Az pulled himself to the side of the boat and laughed heartily, "See! Isn't he getting the hang of it now?
"My teaching method works fine after all!"
"Get lost!" Ursula kicked Az back into the sea, watching Altaïr in the water as his movements gradually became fluid, with a conflicted look in her eyes. She muttered under her breath, "He's a little monster, too."
Because of his build, Jara, who had spent half the day learning but still couldn't get it right, poked his head above the surface again. "Coach Az! There ain't no octopus as fat as me! Isn't there some other way?"
"Of course there is." Az, who could keep his abdomen above the water just by treading, flashed his white teeth. "Just like on land, you can sidestep, you can roll, you can dive; there are plenty of moves in the water, too.
"With a build like yours, you're like a seal. Try this."
Az pressed his legs together, kept his arms tight against his sides, and initiated the motion from his abdomen, his body undulating like a fish.
In terms of explosive acceleration, it might not match the earlier technique, but it was still faster than just paddling with hands and feet, at least for someone with Jara's round figure.
Jara mimicked him. Although Clawdia still rammed into him, he found this method much better suited to him. As his movements grew more practiced, his speed gradually increased.
Az climbed back onto the boat and tilted his chin at Ursula smugly. "See? I teach pretty well, too!"
Ursula did not quite know what to say.
Her teaching method progressed from easy to difficult, step by step, building a solid foundation. It suited almost everyone. But when it came to those with exceptional talent, it truly didn't seem as efficient as Az's beastly "Just do what I do!" approach.
She looked at the few people thrashing in the water.
Altaïr hardly needed mention. That guy's physical coordination was somewhat inhuman; he didn't even need to be taught. He could learn just by sneaking a glance from the side.
Jara's performance surprised her a little. She had initially worried his progress would be very slow, but it turned out that for someone with that kind of build to become a 5★ Insect Glaive user in his twenties, his physical abilities were anything but ordinary.
Nymera, the girl from Kamura Village, also learned very quickly. That didn't surprise her. People there trained from childhood, and someone who could use Wirebugs to dart and spin through the air wouldn't be too sluggish in the water.
The slowest to progress was, unexpectedly, Isis. Her most prominent advantage, her monstrous strength, was difficult to utilize underwater. Though she wasn't falling far behind, it still created the odd impression that this kid was actually lagging behind.
"Hurry up and think of something for Isis! Is there any suitable way for her to move underwater?" Ursula slapped Az on the back, urging him.
"Isis? Let me think..." Az scratched his head. "Looking at her build, with those long arms and legs, and her tremendous strength, she should be really fast swimming on the surface!"
"What's the use of being fast on the surface!? Underwater! Underwater!"
"H-her old man can't do anything about it underwater, either."
(Translated by yourtl.app)