The panting Arzuros glanced at the two conversing.
Eudora recalled Li Fan's earlier warning and asked, "Li Fan, you told me not to get close earlier. Was there a specific reason?"
"Yes, that Arzuros was plotting against you. As soon as you went to retrieve the greatsword, it would have immediately seized the opportunity to attack." Li Fan informed her.
"Really..." Eudora was a bit surprised. She had never imagined an Arzuros could be so cunning.
"Ordinary Arzuros might not, but this one is a two-star hunting target publicly announced by the Hunter's Guild. It has attacked passing caravans and engaged with hunter teams, undergoing numerous combat trials." Li Fan explained.
Eudora propped her chin with one hand, pondered for a moment, and agreed, "Indeed, compared to the primal, instinct-driven attacks of other Arzuros, this one clearly knows how to exploit its advantages."
"So what do we do now, nya? Does that mean we can't do anything about it?" Felyne asked worriedly.
"I have an idea. Li Fan, can I make a presumptuous request? Could you lend me your hunting weapon for now?" Eudora tentatively asked.
"I... don't have one."
The air suddenly fell silent, leaving only the chirping of insects.
Eudora's lips twitched slightly.
It was one thing to not wear armor in the wilderness, but to not even bring a weapon.
She had never encountered such a hunter before.
"How about this, I'll go distract it, and you go get your weapon. While this Arzuros is a drama queen, its intelligence can't possibly compare to a human's," Li Fan proposed a plan.
"Alright, for the hunting quest reward of 4100z, I'm willing to give you half," Eudora stated the profit distribution according to hunter customs.
"I don't want money. I want the bear. Just leave it to me when it's near death." Eudora was very puzzled by this unconventional distribution request.
Hunting profits primarily consisted of two parts. One was the commission from the Hunter's Guild, and the other was the materials obtained from dismantling the beast's carcass. Considering transportation costs, generally only hunting targets of four-star quests or above were valuable enough to be transported to town for complete dismantling. For beasts like the Arzuros, the usual procedure was to first call the Hunter's Guild's field investigators to verify the hunt, and then partially harvest key materials on the spot. These key materials, transported by caravans, had some value upon returning to the village, but it was clearly less than the commission.
"Are you trying to capture the Arzuros?" Eudora thought of the only remaining possibility.
Li Fan was stunned for a moment, wondering how she had guessed his intention. Recalling the settings of Monster Hunter, he quickly understood that what Eudora meant by capture was not achieved with Poké Balls, but the native capture hunting within Monster Hunter. However, this type of capture required traps and tranquilizer bombs.
"Yes," Li Fan admitted with a nod. Although a live Arzuros was not highly valuable, its purchase price could be considerable when certain clients had urgent needs.
Eudora immediately understood his idea, and the two reached an agreement.
Then, Li Fan began stretching his arms and legs on the spot, doing some warm-up exercises.
Taila ran over quickly and stopped abruptly. After rummaging through the backpack containing all his belongings, Li Fan pulled out a honeycomb the color of earth.
Both Eudora and Felyne were taken aback.
"I was planning to take it back as a condiment to mix with rice, but now I have to contribute it," Li Fan explained.
"Your recipes are truly... peculiar," Eudora didn't know how to comment for a moment.
"Watch my move," Li Fan said, then emptied his backpack, placed the honeycomb inside, and walked over slowly.
The Arzuros, still feigning weakness, saw a hunter finally approaching. It rubbed its hindquarters vigorously on the ground, its tongue lolling out, pretending to be near death.
"Wow, what a cute little bear, are you hurt?" Li Fan called out in a sarcastic tone from about fifteen meters away.
The Arzuros glanced at Li Fan, turned sideways, and collapsed onto the ground. With a thud, the ground trembled under the heavy impact. However, the Arzuros did not get up, continuing its near-death state.
"Can we talk?" Li Fan tentatively asked.
"How long have you had this condition? Have you eaten any brightly colored mushrooms recently?" Eudora asked from her distant vantage point.
"No, nya. Li Fan's wilderness camp was destroyed when he went out, and all his accumulated equipment and materials were lost. So he might have been slightly stimulated," Felyne explained.
"So that's how it is..." Eudora hadn't expected that the seemingly optimistic Li Fan had just experienced such an unfortunate event.
Li Fan's inexplicable banter also made the Arzuros increasingly furious. Because if it got within three more steps, it could rise and pounce on him, unleashing a flurry of claw attacks.
"Baldy Bear entered the forest with his axe, guess who he saw? He saw your dad, Big Bear..."
Beep! Beep! Beep!...
At this moment, a rapid alarm sound rang out.
"Sorry, gotta take a call." Li Fan said, pulling out his handheld device. The time displayed was 00:00, signifying the start of a new day.
"This is the end, Arzuros." Li Fan's resolute tone made the Arzuros pause. Although it didn't understand the previous conversation, it could sense the shift in attitude. However, seeing the bone greatsword nearby, it assumed the unarmed Li Fan could not harm it.
Unexpectedly, Li Fan poured the honeycomb from his backpack onto the grass and began punching it wildly. The honeycomb, with its grid-like structure, immediately shattered into pieces, with a small amount of residual honey splashing onto the ground.
"Bye-bye." After doing all this, Li Fan turned and ran without the slightest hesitation.
Seeing the honeycomb destroyed, the Arzuros, which would even confront a Zinogre, was enraged. Li Fan didn't believe it could maintain its composure.
ROAR!!!! A furious roar came from behind, followed by frequent, dull thuds of the ground. Even without looking back, he knew his plan had succeeded.
Eudora had successfully retrieved the Bone Greatsword. Li Fan circled around and ran back to rendezvous with her.
"Go, kill it!... Oh, right, remember to leave it alive," Li Fan said as he passed Eudora, his encouragement half-finished before he added another instruction.
The basic Poké Ball had felt unstable when he tried to capture Taila earlier that day. To capture an Arzuros would require an extremely severe level of injury. If it died too soon or its injuries were not severe enough, the Poké Ball's capture would inevitably fail.
"Leave it to me." Eudora had finished sharpening the Bone Greatsword, its gleaming edge emitting a faint cold light under the moonlight.
"Hah!" A straight slash was unleashed. The enraged Arzuros, unable to brake in time, took the sword head-on.