Chapter 2: Hunter and Prey

Due to his lack of technical proficiency, his body not yet being fully developed, and various other reasons, he could not stably maintain Demonization.

After all, a One-Handed Sword is not Dual Blades; it is simply unsuited for executing such a technique. Being able to maintain it for a few short seconds was already outrageous.

Under high-intensity bursts, stamina was consumed extremely quickly, and Aolang's breathing grew heavy.

The two Yellow Velocidromes that had just come to their senses launched an attack at this moment; one of them leaped up, its powerful hind legs aiming directly at the Hunter's chest.

If this strike had landed, even with the Armor he was wearing, he would likely have broken several bones.

Aolang decisively curled his body, rolled to the side, and dodged this dangerous kick.

At the same time, the other Yellow Velocidrome had circled around to his side, preparing to launch a surprise attack in the gap as he stood up.

Prepared in advance, Aolang used the momentum of his roll, suddenly exerting force with his waist, and sprang to his feet.

He did not follow the "standard move" of swinging his sword to perform a Rising Slash while standing up; instead, he suddenly swung the Shield fixed to his right arm.

As a conventional "right-hander," his right arm was stronger than his left; the Shield Bash performed by swinging the relatively heavy Shield had a larger attack surface and better stopping power.

This rising Shield Bash slapped the Yellow Velocidrome that had tried to circle around and ambush him in the face; as if struck by a heavy hammer, that Yellow Velocidrome cried out in pain, stumbled backward several steps, and even had several of its sharp fangs knocked out.

Aolang certainly would not miss such an opportunity; he stepped forward quickly, followed by two consecutive Shield Bashes, smashing that Yellow Velocidrome into a daze.

Just as he prepared to press the advantage and finish off this Yellow Velocidrome, a foul wind attacked from behind his ear.

With no time to turn and confirm, Aolang rolled to the side immediately.

"Crack!"

A large mouth with a pungent scent of blood snapped shut beside his ear; he could even feel a fang slicing through his cheek and earlobe.

Under the influence of the Paralysis Toxin, the sensation in the majority of one side of his face and the neck area quickly vanished, and the affected area was spreading further toward his shoulder.

Aolang broke out in a cold sweat.

Like many local Hunters who grew up in the Desert, he did not particularly like wearing a helmet.

In the Desert's scorching sun and swirling sandstorms, headscarves and veils that filtered sunlight and dust were necessities, but veils were awkward whether placed inside a helmet or hung outside it, so many people disliked wearing helmets.

His teacher had criticized him on this point many times, but he hadn't taken it to heart, thinking only that the old woman was too nagging.

Now it seemed his teacher was right...

Rolling continuously to dodge the Yellow Velocidrome's low biting, Aolang stood up as fast as possible.

Seeing that Yellow Velocidrome open its bloody mouth again and lunge forward, Aolang knew he could no longer retreat.

The other Yellow Velocidrome, which he had just knocked unconscious with consecutive Shield Bashes, was shaking its head and looked about to regain consciousness, while he, under the influence of the Paralysis Toxin, felt the muscles in his shoulder and neck beginning to stiffen.

If he could not deal with the one in front of him in time and fell into a pincer attack, an accident was very likely given his current state.

Then attack!

Aolang gritted his teeth, used the Shield to protect his shoulder, and suddenly crashed forward.

"Bang!"

The Shield collided with the mouth full of sharp fangs; the hollow fangs could not yet bite through the iron shield surface, but the ensuing impact was also a trouble; caught off guard, he could easily be knocked down by the heavier Yellow Velocidrome.

Fortunately, Aolang's crashing move was less like a Great Sword User swinging a Shield for a Shield Bash and more like the Iron Mountain Lean of Great Sword Users.

In the full-body collision, he did not suffer; instead, the Yellow Velocidrome was knocked backward by him.

Seizing this opportunity, Aolang flung the Shield in his right hand aside, gripped the handle of the Hunter Knife tightly with both hands, tensed his muscles all over, and accumulated strength.

At the instant the Yellow Velocidrome adjusted its posture and charged forward again, he suddenly stepped forward, swinging the single-handed Short Sword (Hunter Weapon Standard) in his hand, which was only seventy or eighty centimeters long, as if wielding a Great Sword, and slashed with all his might.

The force of this slash could naturally not compare to a true Great Sword, but it was also incomparable to swinging a sword with one hand.

The iron blade sank deep into the Yellow Velocidrome's skull, splitting its head open, and blood mixed with brain matter sprayed out.

No creature could withstand such an injury; without even a chance to let out a wail, this Yellow Velocidrome died cleanly and swiftly.

Aolang bent down, stepped on the Yellow Velocidrome's neck with his foot, and suddenly exerted force with both hands, pulling the Hunter Knife stuck in the skull out while simultaneously turning and swinging backward.

"Haaah—!"

The last Yellow Velocidrome that had lunged from behind was struck squarely by the swinging Hunter Knife; its slender neck was slashed open more than halfway, and amidst a gush of blood, it collapsed softly to the ground.

Removing the blood-soaked Face Scarf and tossing it aside, Aolang stood among the corpses of several Yellow Velocidromes, breathing heavily.

The pack of Yellow Velocidromes, hunt successful.

He didn't feel it during the battle, but once everything ended, fatigue surged up like a tide.

Mustering his spirit, after finishing the extraction of materials and the proof of the hunt, Aolang dragged his heavy steps back toward the camp.

The camp was not nearby; it was on a rocky beach several kilometers away from this Oasis.

The reason for not hunting around the camp was to avoid attracting danger; the battlefield where he had just hunted was piled with corpses, who knew what carnivorous Monster it might attract.

If he did this right at the camp entrance, he probably wouldn't even be able to sleep peacefully.

Aolang trekked alone among the sand dunes.

By now the sun had set, the sky had darkened, the sound of wind in his ears grew louder, and within a few hours, the night wind would carry away all the heat left by the sun.

By then, the temperature would drop by at least thirty degrees; in the coldest part of the second half of the night, it might even approach freezing.

Not until the sun rose again would light and heat return to this Sand Sea.

A warm bonfire, heated food, and a comfortable tent; thinking of these, Aolang unconsciously tightened his windproof headscarf and quickened his steps a bit.

Almost there; the camp is right ahead, visible once you climb over the sand dune in front.

Climbing the sand dune with hands and feet, Aolang's steps suddenly stopped.

Two or three hundred meters away from this sand dune lay a rocky beach covered in strange, jagged rocks.

Many wind-eroded giant rocks stood on the rocky beach; in the angles and gaps between the giant rocks, there was a small space that humans could enter but large Monsters could hardly drill into; that was the location of the Hunter camp.

At this moment, the bonfire pile in the camp was glowing, obviously someone was there, which surprised him a bit.

The camps used by Hunters were funded and maintained by the Guild, belonging to semi-public facilities; under the Guild's allocation, generally, two groups of Hunters would not use the same camp simultaneously.

Of course, there would be exceptions, such as Hunters following prey to relocate, or Merchants or Travelers passing by and borrowing a stay; that wasn't considered strange. The reason for feeling surprised was simply due to lack of experience; it was the first time he had encountered this.

Gazing at that campfire, Aolang fell silent for a few seconds.

He was not the extroverted type, a social enthusiast who enjoyed dealing with strangers; of course, he was not exactly autistic either, it was just a slight regret that he could not enjoy the bonfire and tent alone under the quiet starry sky.

Sighing lightly, Aolang squatted halfway, lowered his center of gravity, slid down the sand dune, and then continued walking toward the camp.

At this moment, the people in the camp seemed to have discovered his arrival.

That person ran out of the camp quickly, waving his arms and shouting at him, looking utterly panicked.

"Quick... under the sand... danger!"

The wind was too loud, and the distance was a bit far; Aolang could not quite hear what that person was saying.

But he did catch the last word, "danger."

The young Hunter placed his hand on the grip of his Weapon, his gaze alert as he scanned the surroundings; within a hundred meters, the view was open with no cover, yet he still found nothing.

"Un... der!... Ca... reful, under!" The person who ran out of the camp continued to shout.

The ground trembled slightly; Aolang's gaze fell on an inconspicuous sand mound in the distance, and as the tremors intensified, that sand mound was approaching him at an extremely fast speed.

Realizing what was happening, Aolang immediately kicked off with both legs and sprinted at full speed toward the rocky beach.

As he ran wildly, that sand mound turned its direction and continued to chase after him.

The distance between the two grew shorter and shorter; seeing that the sand mound was about to reach his feet, Aolang threw himself forward with all his strength and dove.

At the same time, a terrifying giant mouth, large enough to swallow him in one bite, burst upward from the sand surface, snapping at empty air.