Wyvern Riding like Miss Hinoa? Was that supposed to be a bad thing?
Nymera looked a little bewildered.
Gentle and approachable, Miss Hinoa always wore a smile, while the cool and aloof Miss Minoto was like a flower on a lofty peak. Both were immensely popular among Kamura Village's young Hunters.
To Nymera, saying someone did something "like Hinoa" hardly sounded like criticism.
Maki was silent for several seconds, then sighed.
She was well aware of the current Wyvern Riding skills of the village's young Hunters. Even "You ride like Hinoa" could hardly be considered criticism these days. "Forget it. Never mind her. The three sisters all inherited the same Wyvern Riding style, and there will be no changing them for the rest of their lives. You may still have some hope. Let me think about how to correct your fundamentals from the ground up.
"Let the Aknosom go. We'll find a more suitable practice target," Maki said as she jumped down from the top of the wall.
Looking a little embarrassed, Nymera drew her knife and cut the remaining Ironsilk threads on the Aknosom. The Monster struggled to its feet and fled without looking back.
From the side, Master Utsushi, serving as the assistant instructor, eagerly asked, "Should we find a Gargwa? I'll handle it!"
"A Gargwa? What would we do with one?" Maki gave him a puzzled look.
Master Utsushi was equally puzzled. "Aren't the fundamentals of the Mounted Punisher practiced on Gargwa? They're the right size, docile, and timid. You couldn't ask for a better practice subject."
"Ha! This is the Mounted Punisher we're talking about. What can you possibly learn by riding a Gargwa? I stopped practicing on Gargwa when I was three. Using them to build your fundamentals will only make you sloppy." Maki waved dismissively, clearly looking down on Gargwa as "teaching tools."
Nymera looked at Master Utsushi with a hint of doubt in her eyes, but her expression turned to pure admiration when her gaze shifted back to Maki.
Lady Maki must be right. She stopped practicing on Gargwa when she was three! No wonder I never quite mastered the Mounted Punisher. It must be because I spent all those years building my fundamentals on Gargwa!
Master Utsushi looked at Maki, one eye twitching.
If I hadn't been the instructor who trained you back then, I might actually believe that nonsense...
Maki clapped her hands, summoning the Meowcenaries that had been secretly tailing her. After asking for a detailed report on nearby Monster activity, she led the other two away from the entrance to the Shrine Ruins.
"Is this... the way to the river valley?" Nymera tugged on her Ironsilk, struggling to keep up behind Maki.
Master Utsushi deliberately slowed his pace to stay beside her. "She probably intends to find an Arzuros. Compared with a Gargwa, an Arzuros is more aggressive and has stronger limbs, making it well suited to drilling the fundamentals."
Nymera nodded, inwardly agreeing with Master Utsushi's assessment.
Although Arzuros was a Fanged Beast and had just as little to do with actual wyverns, it was still an excellent practice target.
—--
The three of them arrived one after another beside the pebble-strewn river channel. Maki put her hands on her hips and turned around. "We'll start with the simplest thing. Our first target is the Arzuros!"
Just as I thought, Nymera mused. Master Utsushi also breathed a subtle sigh of relief.
It seemed Maki understood the value of taking things step by step after all.
Just as the thought crossed their minds, Maki picked up a pebble and sent it flying with a flick of her wrist.
The pebble struck a large, moss-covered boulder jutting out of the water in the middle of the river. Upon impact, the "boulder" began to shake violently.
A strange, obese Monster covered in moss rose from the water, revealing itself to the Hunters on the riverbank.
Its peaceful slumber disturbed, the Monster let out a series of low, rumbling roars at the Hunters.
"T-Tetranadon? Weren't we targeting an Arzuros?" Nymera stared in bewilderment.
She certainly was not afraid. The Tetranadon's Danger Rating was only 3★, while their side had three High Rank Hunters whose combined star count was seven times its own. To put it dramatically, if the three Hunters were bored enough, they could probably kick the Tetranadon to death with their bare feet.
But they were not here for a Hunt. They were undergoing special training in the Mounted Punisher technique. Using a Tetranadon as a practice target was not out of the question, but then what had Maki meant when she said, "The target is an Arzuros"?
"Here, this one's yours." Maki tipped her chin toward the Tetranadon charging at them with heavy footsteps, then said to Nymera with a relaxed expression, "You go first. Get acquainted with it."
"...Yes!"
Though she had some doubts, Nymera still complied.
She decided to chalk it up to a slip of the tongue from Lady Maki.
With that, Maki pulled on her Ironsilk and soared away, leaving a thoroughly baffled Nymera to dodge the Tetranadon's attacks. Using one Silkbind technique after another, Nymera attached Wirebug threads all over its body until it became susceptible to Wyvern Riding.
Nymera did not hesitate. Pulling on the Ironsilk threads, she leaped onto the Tetranadon's back and began Wyvern Riding.
Before she could fully stabilize her control, she heard a series of howls and shouts in the distance.
Nymera looked up and was stunned to find Lady Maki riding on the back of an Arzuros, controlling its movements with Ironsilk threads connected to all ten fingers as it charged straight toward her.
Before Nymera could fully react, the Arzuros performed a movement that should have been impossible for its species under Maki's control.
As the Arzuros approached the Tetranadon, it leaped into the air and swung its claws, raking them fiercely across the Tetranadon's fat belly and tearing open a bleeding wound.
For a thick-skinned Tetranadon with such a heavy layer of fat, the claw strike was probably little more than a scratch. With Nymera controlling its body through Ironsilk and its center of gravity unstable, however, the Tetranadon still stumbled.
The enraged Tetranadon struggled violently, nearly breaking free of Nymera's Ironsilk control.
She scrambled to adjust the Ironsilk threads between her fingers and barely managed to restrain it again.
"Come on! Attack me!" Sitting astride the Arzuros with her head held high and her chest out like a knight on horseback, Maki shouted at the top of her lungs.
"Use your Tetranadon to defeat the Arzuros I'm controlling!"
So that was what Maki meant by making the Arzuros the first target?!
Before Nymera could think any further, Maki sent the Arzuros charging forward again. Taking hits without fighting back was not in Nymera's nature either. Gritting her teeth, she hooked her pinky and controlled the Tetranadon as it swung its fat palm in retaliation.
Under Maki's control, however, the Arzuros was even more agile than a Palamute. It dodged the Tetranadon's palm with a small hop, then immediately pounced again.
—--
This "battle" continued from early morning until noon.
Maki maintained an iron grip on the Arzuros's movements the entire time, while Nymera lost control of the Tetranadon several times and had to find a way to initiate Wyvern Riding all over again each time.
After half a day, the Tetranadon was covered in wounds, its body crisscrossed with bloody claw marks. The Arzuros had not been struck once by the Tetranadon's attacks under Maki's control, but it was just as exhausted. It lay sprawled on the ground, refusing to move, with its tongue lolling out a full foot.
Resigned, Maki disconnected her Ironsilk threads and dismounted from the Arzuros's back.
Seeing this, Nymera finally relaxed. At last, it was over!
As her focus slipped, the Ironsilk threads in her hands slackened as well. The Tetranadon gave a violent heave, broke free of the Ironsilk's restraints once more, and flung her away.
The two Monsters, forced to fight for an entire morning, had no desire to continue. One tucked its tail and ran back into the forest, while the other dove into the river without looking back. Both vanished in the blink of an eye.
"No good. Not even close." Maki shook her head with the smug air of someone invincible. "Only when the Tetranadon you control can defeat my Arzuros will your Wyvern Riding have barely reached the beginner level. Only then will this special training be over."
Well, since things had come this far, it was time to eat first.
Disheveled and dusty, Nymera took out the rations her mother had prepared and began gnawing on them with difficulty.