Arriving at the location designated by the client, the Kulu-Ya-Ku, as expected, was not found nearby.
"What's the next step? Should we set up camp first or expand the search area?" Yudora inquired. Although both had been solo hunters before, Yudora perceived Li Fan's team hunting experience to be far richer than her own, thus regarding him as the leader of their hunting party.
What should we do? I'd like to know that too... Li Fan had originally assumed Yudora would guide this hunting mission, but unexpectedly, she felt the same way he did. Recalling the twelfth question of the hunter exam, which emphasized remembering each team member's responsibilities, he first posed a question. "Besides combat, what are you most skilled at within the team's responsibilities?"
"Setting up camp, cooking, carrying heavy loads, and running away while carrying injured teammates." After Yudora's reply, Li Fan began to ponder. After a moment, he offered a suggestion: "Then let's start with what you're good at, setting up camp."
"Alright, I also think it's best to be cautious." Yudora affirmed, then unstrapped her Bone Great Sword and handed it to Li Fan for safekeeping before running towards the higher ground of the slope to find a suitable spot for their camp.
"Li Fan, what are you best at in terms of team responsibilities, nya?" Dilu asked curiously.
"Nothing specific," Li Fan replied, leaning on his Bone Great Sword.
Dilu's eyes widened. "But you're a solo hunter, nya! If you don't have any specialized skills, how do you go on hunts?" Without the specialized division of labor in a hunter team, solo hunters should possess more comprehensive abilities. Carrying supplies, setting up camp, finding traces of the target monster, tracking the monster, and completing the hunt through combat. If any single step in this entire process goes wrong, it would create unimaginable difficulties for the hunting mission.
"It's precisely because I was too casual with my hunting missions in the past and ignored these issues that my camp was destroyed and all my belongings were lost. So, from now on, I want to learn and master the entire hunting process as much as possible." The Monster Hunter game focuses more on combat, and coupled with the differences between the game and reality, Li Fan himself doesn't have any particularly outstanding skills that can help the team. However, he hasn't chosen to evade; instead, he's facing it.
"No wonder the Palico instructor said that hunters with special abilities in certain areas will lack in others, nya! I'll work hard with you," Dilu said, feeling invigorated by the prospect of growing with Li Fan.
"Okay! May I ask, once the camp is established, shouldn't we start searching for traces to narrow down the activity range and determine the Kulu-Ya-Ku's location?" Li Fan tentatively asked.
"That's right, nya."
"There's a small problem. Yudora isn't very good at tracking monsters, and neither am I. So, won't this process get stuck easily?" Li Fan had considered this issue before departing. However, it was a lower priority. Now it seemed that the absence of any single step could cause the hunting mission to be postponed for a long time.
"Neither of you is good at searching for traces, nya?" Dilu sounded somewhat disbelieving.
"Mmm."
"That's great, nya!"
"Huh?" Li Fan was extremely surprised to hear praise. Dilu didn't rush to respond. She adjusted her sun hat with goggles on top, tugged at her small belt, and then scanned her surroundings. Finding a stone pillar about 3 meters high, she quickly climbed to the top.
"Why are you standing so high up?" Li Fan asked, looking up. Dilu smiled slightly, flipped through her notebook, and showed two pages to Li Fan. "Ta-da! Look at this, nya!" In the center of the left page was a drawing of a three-toed footprint. Around it, based on the size, depth, and features of the footprint, were multiple annotations, giving it the feel of an illustrated biological科普 book. The right page depicted a strip-like feather, also with numerous detailed annotations.
"Are these notes all about the Kulu-Ya-Ku?" Li Fan asked in surprise.
"Yes, nya. Leave the search for traces to me."
"Amazing, Dilu! How come I didn't realize you were so good at tracking traces before?"
"Uh... the materials the Palico instructor can show are also limited. The Great Jaggi had no records at all, nya. I thought there wouldn't be an opportunity to showcase this for the Kulu-Ya-Ku hunt, so I got very excited when I realized neither of you were good at trace investigation." Dilu, flattered, scratched her head sheepishly.
Half an hour later, Yudora called out from the top of a rock formation, informing them that she had found a suitable place to set up camp. Since climbing was required, Li Fan unloaded the supplies from Taimei, stored it in a Felyne Ball, and then released Kulu. Kulu seemed restless with the heavy pack straps loaded onto it, but it cooperated with the loading process. With powerful wing beats, Kulu ascended vertically, quickly reaching the top of the rock formation where Yudora was. Kulu was personally sighted and captured by Li Fan, so it had no obvious markings that anyone could use to identify it. Thus, it wouldn't be a problem if other hunters spotted it again. Li Fan's only concern was encountering a monster with a higher ecological niche than Kulu, so he didn't let it roam freely and instead put it back into its sphere. Pulling the wind rope tight and securing the stakes, they helped Yudora finish setting up the camp tent. The sky was gradually darkening. Yudora had intended to search for Kulu-Ya-Ku traces by observing with binoculars from the top of the rock formation, but upon hearing that Dilu was skilled in trace investigation, she was also pleasantly surprised. Pure visual observation in the vast wilderness was essentially a matter of luck. After eating dinner by the cooking pot, the soft moonlight enveloped the land. Yudora read a book inside the tent, while Li Fan practiced controlling the range of his Spirit Gauge attacks by repeatedly swinging his Blade of the Great Sword by the campfire. Dilu, meanwhile, was collecting samples of unfamiliar substances around the camp with an empty bottle. Although this area wasn't too far from Caragala Village, Dilu hadn't visited it before, and many things were novel to her. The two humans and one Felyne spent a peaceful night. The next day, as dawn broke, a light drizzle began, and gray clouds obscured the sky.
"This is bad, nya. Rainy weather is very unfavorable for trace investigation."
"It's alright. The Kulu-Ya-Ku is a very active monster and doesn't excel at hiding itself. I believe you can do it, Dilu," Yudora said, stomping out the campfire and preparing to depart with her Bone Great Sword on her back. With a whoosh and a thud, the Felyne and the human jumped directly from the rock formation. While not an exaggerated drop all the way down, they landed on a lower rock platform, which still made Li Fan's heart pound. Scents, footprints, bone piles, signs of destruction, carcasses of corrupted beasts, and even enormous droppings... Dilu missed no detail, meticulously investigating the muddy jungle. After tracking for the entire morning, the two humans and one Felyne arrived at the base of a rock formation. Looking at the cat paw prints and two sets of human footprints in the mud that hadn't been washed away by the rain, Dilu looked up. "This looks like the camp we started from... nya."
"It's not 'looks like,' it *is*," Li Fan added.
"We were following the traces the whole time..." Dilu's ears drooped, and her gaze dimmed.
"Don't be discouraged. We still have observation and tracking methods," Li Fan said, gently patting Dilu's shoulder to comfort her.
"Gugu gugu gugu..." At that moment, a rapid and strong sound, like a bird's call, came from above. Whoosh! Before they could figure out what was happening, a dark shadow descended from the sky. It landed steadily with a leaping dragon stance, its black, three-toed feet sinking into the mud. Seeing the orange-yellow stripes on its back, Li Fan and Yudora exclaimed in unison: "Kulu-Ya-Ku!" The Kulu-Ya-Ku turned its slender neck. The row of orange feathers on its head was wet from the rain, drooping slightly to one side, resembling a gothic side-swept hairstyle. Its two claw-like, three-toed forelimbs were holding a pitch-black, barrel-shaped object.
"The cooking pot, nya!" Dilu shouted urgently. However, the Kulu-Ya-Ku seemed unconcerned. It turned, holding the cooking pot, and began to sprint along the muddy path.
"You dare steal my pot... I'll chase! Yudora, wait for my signal!" Li Fan took two Felyne Balls from his shoulder strap and threw them. As he mounted Taimei's back, Kulu also took flight into the air. Although the Kulu-Ya-Ku had amazing stamina and was skilled at long-distance pursuits, Taimei was currently unburdened, carrying no load. Carrying only a hunter wearing a chest plate and wielding a great sword, Li Fan was confident he could catch up. Dilu crouched on Li Fan's back, moving her goggles to her eyes.
"Chase it, Taimei!" Taimei, having participated in hunting Kulu, was now brimming with confidence. Even if it meant chasing a Rathalos, Li Fan felt that if he gave the order, Taimei would attempt it. The chase lasted about five minutes. The Kulu-Ya-Ku, constantly looking back, saw that it couldn't widen the distance. It abruptly stomped its feet hard, performing a sudden stop. "Gugu gugu gugu!" After emitting a series of threatening barks at Li Fan, and seeing that he remained unmoved, the Kulu-Ya-Ku turned to escape again. However, Kulu, flapping its wings in the air, had already landed steadily, blocking its path. "Wuwuwu!" Kulu lowered its center of gravity, its single foot scraping the ground, ready to perform a Bird-like Charge at any moment. After a brief assessment of the threat level, the Kulu-Ya-Ku turned towards Kulu.
"You look down on me that much..."
"Dilu, fire a signal flare!"
"No need, nya! Yudora is coming!" Dilu informed him, looking back.
"If she can keep up at this speed... never mind, let's each throw a paint bomb." Li Fan was somewhat concerned about Yudora's stamina. The reason he wanted to act alone earlier was because he knew that hunters, in terms of long-distance running, would have difficulty keeping up with monsters. He had planned to intercept the Kulu-Ya-Ku and then release a signal flare to mark its location. He had never expected Yudora to push herself and catch up.
"Wuah!" Kulu charged forward rapidly. The Kulu-Ya-Ku bent its knees, gathered its strength, and leaped forward. As it stepped on Kulu's back, it forcefully smashed down with the cooking pot it was holding. Kulu stumbled from the impact, and before it could enter the latter half of its Bird-like Charge, where its power would be diminished, it began to slide along the ground.
As expected, it didn't work. Li Fan wasn't too surprised by this outcome. In terms of size and strength, Kulu actually had an advantage. However, this Kulu-Ya-Ku, like Great Jaggi, had attacked passing travelers and appeared on the Guild's notice board. Coupled with its characteristic of daring to steal various monster eggs, its combat experience was clearly greater than Kulu's.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Li Fan and Dilu, one on each side, threw two paint bombs, hitting the Kulu-Ya-Ku's torso and legs. Two clouds of pink mist, emitting a pungent odor, exploded. After Kulu got up, it was clearly displeased. A cloud of black mist emerged from its giant beak, clearly brewing an炎液火球.
"No, Kulu!" Li Fan quickly stopped it. The炎液火球 was launched in a parabolic trajectory, not only having a falling arc but also a rather poor hit rate for Kulu itself.
"Wuwu!" Kulu let out an angry roar, clearly very unhappy, but ultimately refrained from spitting out the炎液火球. At this moment, the Kulu-Ya-Ku, seeing the constant interaction between the humans and the monster, was somewhat bewildered. The Kulu-Ya-Ku knew that both sides harbored hostility towards it, but the fact that they were working together was beyond its comprehension.
Clang! The sound of a great sword being drawn echoed, and the Kulu-Ya-Ku immediately became alert. However, upon seeing that the one drawing the weapon was Li Fan, whose build and equipment were rather slender, the Kulu-Ya-Ku paused for a moment. This was because, in its eyes, Li Fan presented a contradictory presence. He didn't seem like a threatening human, yet the way he held his sword made the Kulu-Ya-Ku feel uneasy.
Hoo~ Hoo~ Li Fan deepened his breaths. He constantly recalled the details of his training during this period and the combat experience accumulated from Monster Hunter. The Kulu-Ya-Ku's beak, although not as large as Kulu's, exuded a metallic sheen and a sharp tip when viewed up close. Li Fan was reluctant to admit it, but he genuinely felt a strong sense of pressure. After a standoff of about ten seconds, the Kulu-Ya-Ku suddenly lowered its body, its two feet poised, and leaped towards Li Fan. Li Fan bent down and rolled forward. Of course, there were no invincibility frames in this roll, but it became a rapid evasive maneuver thanks to the hunter's formidable physical strength. Li Fan also learned from this that increased strength could not only be used for weapons but was also a necessary condition for developing physical techniques. The Dual Blades' Demon Dance, for instance, was not just a Dual Blades move but a product of its high integration with physical techniques. The three-toed claws with sharp barbs swept over his head. Li Fan pushed off the ground with his palm and quickly stood up. He knew very well that the Kulu-Ya-Ku's leaping smash had no follow-up moves. As long as he drew his sword quickly enough, landing a blow on the Kulu-Ya-Ku's back would be no problem! Taking a step forward, he swung his straight slash down forcefully. Clang! The Blade of the Great Sword struck the Kulu-Ya-Ku's sturdy thigh from behind. The blade did not pierce the tough, fine scales of its hide and rebounded strongly. However, because the sword strike carried considerable force, it successfully absorbed Qi. The Kulu-Ya-Ku tilted slightly and quickly turned around. This time, it did not leap but directly smashed down with the cooking pot it was holding. Bang! Earth and stones flew. Li Fan ran for his life and managed to dodge. However, his posture for wielding the great sword had completely deformed, and he held it like a machete. It was like fighting someone; you might rehearse many moves in your mind before the fight, but when it actually happened, you could only resort to brute force. I forgot to sheath my sword! Li Fan also realized his mistake, but it was too late.