The cave camp was not spacious. A larger cavern would have been harder to keep warm, and six Hunters already made the place feel cramped.
Still, with freezing winds howling outside, a warm place to spend the night was more than enough. No one cared about something as trivial as personal space.
Karin and Haifa cornered Altaïr and peppered him with questions about the group, from their pioneering life on Tidal Island and special training in Kamura Village to the Teppeki Shen Gaoren Repel Quest and... the whole affair surrounding Altaïr's confession.
That last subject especially energized Haifa. Even the usually placid Karin, who spent most of her time as expressionless as Morgan, listened with a gleam in her eyes.
It made Altaïr and Isis extremely uncomfortable.
To hide her embarrassment, Isis promptly told them about Altaïr's solo Brute Tigrex Hunt.
Karin's attention shifted at once, just as Isis had hoped. Her stern, piercing gaze settled on Altaïr, and the still-new Brute Tigrex Armor Set he wore provided all the evidence she needed.
Altaïr hurriedly raised both hands. "I considered the risks, of course. That wasn't a solo Hunt. Sajji was with me, and Morgan was standing by nearby, ready to step in if anything went wrong."
Karin's expression eased slightly.
Morgan shot him a glance. "Honestly, given the way you fight, sharpening your blade between a Monster's teeth and claws, if anything had gone wrong, I doubt I could have reached you in time."
Karin's brows drew together again.
"You should be questioning Isis! She really did Hunt a Kuarusepu alone!" Altaïr tried to shift the attention onto her.
Isis hurried to defend herself too. "N-Nonsense! I may have been the only Hunter there, but a large airship was overhead, ready to support me at any moment!
"The Handler was providing tactical support too, and we chose the comparatively safer nighttime window for the Hunt..."
Watching them expose each other, only for a grim-faced Karin to point them off to one side and order them to sit in a row for a joint scolding, Sajji covered his face.
What are you two even trying to accomplish, meow? Now you've both earned two rounds of scolding, one from each "parent," meow...
Although the hours before bed had not been particularly peaceful, Altaïr slept exceptionally soundly that night.
—--
When he opened his eyes, he was surprised to discover that he was the last one awake.
He hurriedly climbed out of his sleeping bag. Haifa tossed him a small waterskin barely larger than her palm, filled with salted hot water. Keeping a waterskin in an inner pocket prevented it from freezing solid before its owner needed a drink.
Some Hunters carried alcohol to quench their thirst instead, but most avoided drinking on the hunting grounds because it could dull the mind.
Karin handed him a ration she had warmed to make it easier to swallow. "Did everyone bring their Ghillie Mantles? Put them on once we get close to the target.
"Gammoths have a keen sense of smell. Human scent can alert them easily, so stay downwind whenever possible."
Altaïr wanted to point out that he was already a High Rank Hunter and did not need reminders about the basics, but in the end, he merely nodded and muttered, "Got it."
Once they had checked their equipment and personal supplies and completed every other preparation, the Hunters left the warm, secure camp.
During the surveillance mission ahead, the heaviest burden actually fell on Sajji and Clawdia.
They had to operate separately from the Hunters, locate the Grimclaw Tigrex, and keep it firmly in sight. Only then could they prevent that terrifying Monster, one capable of clashing head-on with the Imperial Conqueror Dragon, from approaching the Hunters undetected.
Rand was left alone at the camp.
He did not find it boring. After seeing the others off, he took out the Shield Assault training instructions Isis had given him and began practicing eagerly.
—--
Karin and Haifa had already been tracking the Elderfrost Gammoth for over half a month and knew its movement patterns extremely well.
In just over an hour, a massive figure moving slowly across the vast snowy plain came into view.
The colossal beast was majestic in the truest sense of the word.
Over the long years, its once-vibrant red and blue fur had faded to a dull, pallid white, yet its body remained robust and was even larger than that of an ordinary Gammoth.
From a distance, it looked like a snow-covered mountain slowly moving across the plain.
Its body was more than thirty meters long.
That figure was astonishing enough on its own. For comparison, even a Lagiacrus, famed for its immense size, rarely reached twenty-five meters in length.
Moreover, at least half a Lagiacrus's length came from its elongated neck and tail; it had a long, serpentine build.
A Gammoth, however, had no visible neck and only a short, stubby tail. A full thirty meters meant a literal mountain of flesh.
Even a Shen Gaoren would probably fall short of the beast before them if its long legs were ignored and only the two creatures' torsos were compared.
Every step it took shook the ground. Even from a great distance, the Hunters could faintly feel the tremors traveling through the frozen earth beneath them.
"Let's split up. Our teams will track and monitor it from opposite flanks. Remember to keep at least three hundred meters from the target." Karin donned her Ghillie Mantle as she addressed the younger Hunters.
Altaïr and the other two nodded, putting on their own mantles before separating from Karin and Haifa.
Every Hunter observed the so-called "Rule of Four." Even when circumstances required teams to cooperate, they avoided gathering more than four Hunters in one place whenever possible.
Tracking and surveillance proved long and tedious.
Hours passed before they knew it. The Hunters simply trailed the Elderfrost Gammoth at a measured pace, watching it advance slowly across the snowy plain.
Had Karin not found signs of Grimclaw Tigrex activity to the southwest, the Elderfrost's leisurely pace might have made it seem as though the beast were merely taking a stroll after a meal.
Truth be told, Altaïr and the others were not accustomed to this kind of "slow-paced" quest.
Not until their half-month trek through the Jungle to "politely escort" a Chameleos out of the territory did they realize that a High Rank Hunter's quests did not always involve intense Hunts and bloodshed.
For most High Rank Hunters, the work centered on prolonged surveillance, tracking dangerous targets, investigating them, or driving them away.
There were exceptions, of course.
Hunters with exceptional combat ability were placed on a separate list and assigned urgent or high-intensity Hunts more frequently.
In High Rank Hunter circles, these specialists were known as "firefighters." The name was not a joke but a title of respect.
Isis's parents belonged to this category.
Both Altaïr and Isis felt they should strive to follow the same path. Surveillance and tracking missions might be relatively safe, but they were simply too... dull.
—--
The first day of tracking the Elderfrost Gammoth passed without incident. The second and third days were the same.
Not until the fourth day did good news finally arrive from Sajji and Clawdia. They had pinpointed the Grimclaw Tigrex's location in a snow-covered coniferous forest.
By then, less than a hundred kilometers separated the Grimclaw Tigrex from the Elderfrost Gammoth, and the two were still slowly drawing closer.
The discovery excited Altaïr.
It was not because he intended to do anything to the Grimclaw Tigrex. Rather, the Elderfrost Gammoth's unmistakably purposeful movements had led him to a realization.
The Elderfrost Gammoth had foreseen the Grimclaw Tigrex's arrival.
Gammoths were renowned for their keen sense of smell, but even one could not have located the Grimclaw Tigrex from the Furahiya Mountains, hundreds or perhaps thousands of kilometers away, several dozen days in advance.
That left only one possibility. The Grimclaw Tigrex's migration followed some kind of regular pattern.
In the past, it had likely inflicted massive casualties on the Gammoth herds of the Furahiya Mountains more than once.
That was why this Elderfrost Gammoth had separated from its herd and left its habitat at this time of year.
It had come to the snowy plain to intercept its mortal enemy.
* * *
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