"Daimyo Hermitaur."
A famously "well-known" monster in the Monster Hunter series. The reason? Simple—it bore the title of "Easiest Boss."
Its attacks were single-patterned and sluggish. Even a Hunter with minimal hunting experience could take it down without injury. Moreover, the "Hermitaur set," despite having only mediocre attributes, was balanced and lacked major flaws. It was usually the first complete armor set a newcomer would collect upon reaching the three-star level.
It was fair to say Lancer was extremely familiar with Daimyo Hermitaur's abilities and attack patterns—but with one crucial qualifier—in-game.
Right now, the Daimyo Hermitaur's explosive sideways burst of speed caught him completely off guard. Luckily, when he'd thrown that Paintball earlier, he'd already anticipated a retaliatory strike. Seeing his opponent charging, he unhesitatingly dashed forward.
BOOM~!!
With a deafening crash, the rock that had shielded Lancer's group shattered. Enraged, Daimyo Hermitaur immediately pivoted, launching another furious charge at them.
"Tiger! Stay hidden and buff us... Hey, don't look at me like that! Just play your horn! Jack, I'll be the main attacker. Be careful, and don't push yourself too far! Al… you too—but whatever happens, remember: never! absolutely never! throw your bombs while I'm near Daimyo Hermitaur!!"
Due to language barriers, Lancer could only issue simple commands. But clearly, he'd underestimated his three feline companions.
Even though these three probably couldn't handle a Velocidrome alone, when it came to providing support, they far exceeded Lancer—who only knew brute force.
"Meow!!"
"Meow!"
"Meow-meow-meow!!"
Three distinctive meows erupted simultaneously. At the same instant Lancer dashed forward, Al swiftly pulled a bomb from his pack, shoved it into the ground, and scampered away on all fours. Just as Daimyo Hermitaur charged through—
BOOM!!
Amidst a small eruption of sand, Daimyo Hermitaur staggered, nearly toppling over. It quickly halted, desperate not to flip onto its back. Right then, a strange horn melody suddenly rang out. Tiger—previously the first to flee—now stood atop a rock, gripping his enormous Hunting Horn (barely smaller than himself) and playing energetically. At nearly the exact moment of explosion and horn-music, Jack—katana clenched between his teeth—leapt beside Daimyo Hermitaur, and…
Slash—!
With a gush of blue blood, Jack landed his blow and promptly jumped aside.
Having just sprinted forward a few steps, Lancer's face flushed red upon hearing the horn behind him. Who could've guessed that his three companions would actually perform so impressively?
Opening his equipment case, Lancer grabbed his new weapon, immediately spinning around to counterattack.
Currently, Daimyo Hermitaur's attention had been diverted by Jack's attack. The monster had never expected that the coward who fled earlier would dare return for another strike. By the time it heard the scraping of Lancer's boots on the sand, it was already too late.
Clang!
The harsh collision of spear against the monster's head momentarily stunned Lancer. But seeing a massive crab claw sweep toward him, he hastily rolled aside, barely dodging. Scrambling upright, he took a deep breath and reminded himself to stay calm.
Daimyo Hermitaur might indeed be the easiest three-star monster, but that didn't mean it lacked strengths. Overexcited by the Palicoes' performance, Lancer had briefly forgotten the core lesson every masochistic Hunter learned painfully in "Monster-Tormenting-Humans":
Strike decisively! Take every chance for a combo! But keep your attacks stable! Never get greedy! Dodge gracefully! Evade intuitively!
Of course, invincibility frames from rolling and diving didn't exist in the real world—but the principles of precise aggression remained crucial. Wearing equipment at the same level, brute force could never match these monsters. Waiting patiently and striking carefully at vulnerabilities was the only path to survival. Additionally, some monster parts should never be attacked—for instance, Daimyo Hermitaur's head.
Hunters most commonly attacked Daimyo Hermitaur in two places: the chest (essentially the belly) and the joints of its claws. These areas were vulnerable due to the joints. If afraid of a frontal fight… strike the shell!
Exactly! The seemingly hardest part—the shell—was actually a Hunter's primary target. Break it, and the monster would flee desperately, leaving its unprotected back exposed as a perfect punching bag.
Yet glancing down at the spear in his hands—shorter even than one of Hermitaur's minor legs—Lancer's expression turned complex.
Forget it, I'll target the joints. Seems it's my only option anyway.
Lancer's real issue wasn't merely facing a giant monster for the first time, but something even more challenging: the terrain.
True, the specialized Hunter's sand-shoes allowed him to walk—even run—normally on sand. But they didn't solve his inability to perform "skills." Given enough time, perhaps he could adapt, discovering how to execute skills on loose sand, but unfortunately, time was exactly what he lacked.
No more hesitation.
A Quinque's greatest strength came from the Ghoul Kagune materials used to forge it. These weapons naturally carried RC cells, allowing Hunters to inflict massive damage against Ghouls.
Yet, precisely because of that, Quinques also had huge flaws. For instance, the lance in his hands—crafted from an S-rated Ghoul's (specifically, Bikaku-type) Kagune—was rated merely C-grade by the system. Outside of its specific "anti-Ghoul" properties, its inherent attributes weren't even close to genuine C-grade equipment.
[S QUINQUE | C ]
[EFFECTS]:
① RC CELLS | S-RATED GHOUL (IMMUNE TO ATTACKES BELOW E)
② HARDENING (INCREASES WEAPON HARDNESS AND DURABILITY)
"[WEAPON OVERLOAD]!"
With Lancer's low shout, stamina rapidly drained from his body, and the bluish spear in his hands began transforming.
The spear's size expanded significantly, and beneath its pale-blue surface, a blood-red core emitted a chilling aura—a predator's deadly aura!
Fully unleashed, Lancer's battle prowess surged explosively, startling even his three feline allies.
Taking full advantage of his now vastly superior speed, Lancer's tactics were utterly shameless—extremely shameless!
Whenever Hermitaur attacked, he swiftly retreated far out of range. As soon as the monster entered its recovery frames, Lancer dashed back, unleashing a fierce assault aimed precisely at the crab's joints and sides (its chest remained shielded by its claws).
After failing multiple strikes (claw swings, water jets, jumping slams), Daimyo Hermitaur resorted to its most shameless maneuver—escape!
Watching Hermitaur furiously dig sand, completely ignoring the strikes from behind, Lancer had no idea how to properly mock it—this damned crab was absolutely committed to running away!
Eventually, staring at the huge hole left behind, Lancer and the three Palicoes exchanged speechless looks.
But immediately afterward, a confident smirk spread across Lancer's face—No matter how fast you run, it won't matter! After all, throwing Paintballs was a proud habit of every veteran Hunter!
Unfortunately, Lancer seemed to forget one crucial detail:
This was the real world.
The so-called Paintball had no actual tracking ability here, and there was no built-in GPS mini-map either. Paintballs primarily removed monsters' camouflage. In reality, after monsters fled, Hunters still had to track them on their own…
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T/N: lmao dumbass
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