Chapter 36: Training of the Sand Ship Fleet

Page 1 of 3

Although Asa’s carelessness had prevented Oran from receiving the news in advance, fortunately he was already wearing his armor and carrying his weapons, so it would not have any real effect.

Even so, Oran disliked this feeling of being caught off guard.

Taking the opportunity, he urged Asa to tell him all at once about the schedule for the coming period, including their joint training arrangements. He intended to write everything down on the calendar beside his bed so that nothing similar would happen again.

Seir praised the idea enthusiastically. He showed Oran a small notebook he carried with him, scarcely larger than a palm. It was his memorandum book.

Every detail was recorded inside: the things he needed to do each day, his training plans, the goals he had to accomplish in the near future, and even some of his insights and experiences from hunting.

“Even people with excellent memories can overlook things. With a notebook like this, you won’t forget what needs to be done, and everything becomes more orderly. It also makes it easier to look back on your actions and thoughts from the recent past, so you can correct whatever you didn’t do well.”

Asa’s face twisted at the very thought. With his carefree personality, he had absolutely no patience for such things.

Oran’s eyes, however, lit up. He was an orderly person who liked making plans. It was not as though he drew up schedules precise to the minute, but every morning when he rose, he would carefully consider what needed to be done that day.

Moreover, his talent for wielding many different weapons often caused strange ideas to spring into his mind. If he did not write them down at once, there was a good chance he would forget them after a while.

Senior Seir’s habit of carrying a memorandum book suited him perfectly. Oran decided that as soon as today’s joint training ended, he would immediately get one of his own.

At the same time, Seir’s image in Oran’s mind had changed from “a tremendously powerful senior hunter” to “a tremendously powerful senior hunter with a good temperament,” and finally to “a senior hunter worthy of being regarded as a role model.”

As it happened, Seir’s weapon of choice was also the Sword and Shield.

Although Oran had not yet decided whether to make the Sword and Shield his main weapon in the future, for the time being, its well-balanced performance made it the necessary “platform” for integrating techniques from other weapons. Improving with it would still increase his overall strength.

Thus, shamelessly, Oran went over to Seir and began asking him for guidance.

Seir was not at all stingy when it came to teaching his junior. As a four-star hunter, he possessed a wealth of experience and techniques from which Oran benefited greatly.

That left Asa abandoned to one side, where he merely shrugged with a smile and continued carrying bolts, helping the craftsmen install heavy ballistae and other equipment on the small sandships.

A long time passed before anyone noticed it. By the time the call to assemble rang out, Oran still felt reluctant to stop.

Seir was also surprised by the many ingenious ideas that came from this young junior, but it was no longer appropriate to continue their conversation. He tore two pages from his memorandum book and handed them to Oran. They contained notes on several of the key points they had just discussed.

Page 1 of 3

“These should be enough for you to digest over the next few days. Oh, and I should remind you of something: never test immature techniques in actual combat, especially not during high-intensity battles.

“Progress between life and death may indeed come faster, but if you want to keep growing, you have to survive first, don’t you?”

“I understand.”

Oran carefully folded the two pages and placed them in the inner pocket against his body.

“Thank you for your guidance, Senior.”

“It was nothing. Come on—the joint training is about to begin.”

…

Across the vast sea of sand, more than a dozen small sandships raced at full speed.

For Oran, who had been born and raised in the desert, small sandships were the most familiar means of transportation imaginable. Even so, he was astonished by their speed.

Perhaps it was because some of the metal framework had been replaced with precious Yukumo wood, while all nonessential facilities had been removed to reduce their weight.

These sandships were far faster and more agile than ordinary sandships.

In return, they were also much more difficult to control. Only the finest helmsmen could maneuver them freely through the waves of sand.

The passengers, too, had to cooperate by shifting positions frequently to adjust the center of gravity, rather than simply sitting inside the cabin as they would on a regular sandship.

“Senior Seir, move farther forward and press down on the bow!” Asa shouted as he carefully adjusted the sail and rudder.

In terms of hunting ability, there was no doubt that the three men ranked in the following order: Seir, far ahead of the others; Oran, second; and Asa, dead last.

But when it came to handling a sandship, the order was completely reversed.

Seir had ridden a sandship only a handful of times. He could barely remain standing through sheer talent for balance. He cautiously took one step forward, then turned his head and asked, “Is this far enough?”

“Far enough for what? Get in front of the ballista and move farther forward! Put one foot on the bow!”

Asa’s tone was unexpectedly harsh.

Compared with the other groups, their ship had already fallen behind.

After all, of the three men aboard, only Asa had ever truly participated in the Feast. Coordinating their movements and helping adjust the sandship’s center of gravity all depended on his instructions.

His own piloting skills could naturally be considered excellent compared with those of ordinary boatmen, but in front of experienced old sailors, they were still somewhat lacking.

From morning until evening, after more than half a day of joint training, the coordination between the three men improved visibly.

Page 2 of 3

Seir finally learned to stand steady on the fast, jolting sandship. He knew that when the bow rose too high, he needed to lean forward at once to stabilize the ship’s center of gravity. He also understood how to keep himself from being thrown overboard when the ship made a sharp turn.

The price was that he had fallen into the sea of sand more than ten times during that half-day. If not for the exceptional toughness of his Rathian armor, it would not have been strange for him to break his neck. Instead, he had merely ended up covered in dust.

According to Asa, this already counted as tremendous progress. The first time Seir had ridden a sandship, the elite hunter had barely been able to stand at all.

After several more rounds of joint training, the coordination between the three became increasingly smooth.

By then, Asa no longer needed to remind them of every little thing. Oran and Seir themselves knew where they needed to be and when, allowing Asa to concentrate on adjusting the sails and rudder and piloting the sandship.

At that point, they could more or less keep pace with the other sandships instead of being left behind.

Seir was so excited that he suggested the three of them celebrate with a lavish feast and drinks at the tavern in the Gathering Hall. He would pay.

But he had evidently celebrated too soon.

Asa told him and Oran that they had only completed the most basic portion of the joint training. If they could not adapt quickly even to this part, then even elite hunters of four- or five-star rank would be kicked out of the sandship fleet.

No, perhaps the attitude would be more courteous:

“Please leave. You are very capable, but you are not suitable for us.”

The joint training entered its second stage.

The sandship fleet borrowed several large sand-fishing vessels from the fishing fleet, claiming that they would be used to “simulate the target.”

At first, neither Oran nor Seir understood what that meant.

Then the training truly began.

Working together with the sailors aboard the fishing vessel, Asa used a sturdy rope to fasten the small sandship to the side of the larger ship. The fishing vessel then towed the small sandship forward at high speed, while Asa urged the hunters to climb aboard using the rope, whose angle exceeded sixty degrees.

Only then did they finally understand that the so-called simulated target was none other than the legendary Jhen Mohran.

At that moment, only two weeks remained before the predicted arrival of the monsoon.

Page 3 of 3