"Mr. Lamarck, I've finished reading this copy of Sekhmet Desert Arid Plant Study. I've learned a great deal. Thank you very much."
Altaïr handed the heavy tome, which weighed a good two or three kilograms, back to the old man before him, bowing slightly to express his gratitude.
The old scholar, who looked to be nearly seventy, refined and vigorous, smiled and nodded at him. "Ah, Altaïr, you're an eager learner and you understand the importance of knowledge. But simply understanding the biology of the desert region isn't enough, because I believe you won't be staying in the desert your whole life. This Comparative Study of Old Wadley Sea and Lexi Seaweed will allow you to see the big picture from the small details..."
"Alright, alright, the kid's a hunter, not a scholar. Stop shoving books at him, or he'll turn into a bookworm just like you," a gruff voice interrupted the old man.
A huge roasted leg of meat, along with its heavy roasting pan, was slammed onto the dining table with a clang, crushing the books that lay there.
"I've never seen a hunter who reads more than him. When I was his age, I could barely even write my own name, and didn't I make it just fine?"
Faced with his wife's specious reasoning, the old scholar named Lamarck sighed helplessly.
He and his wife, Marydan, were polar opposites in every way. One was thin, the other tall and powerfully built; one was mild-tempered, the other explosive; one was a scholar of the Royal Paleontology Scriveners, the other a hunter nicknamed "Brute Tigrex."
That they had ended up together could only be described as a strange twist of fate and, well... the Marydan of back then had been far too assertive.
After their daughter Haifa was born, he had tried to supplement her cultural knowledge while her mother was training her muscles.
Unfortunately, his daughter wasn't very good at such things; to be blunt, she was a bit of a dunce who couldn't even grasp basic biological taxonomy, so he could only give up.
It was rare to meet a young man who was skilled in both martial and scholarly arts and was also naturally eager to learn, so he naturally wanted to teach him as much as possible.
While Lamarck was still lost in his thoughts, Marydan was already brandishing something that looked more like a shortsword than a dinner knife, carving off a huge, head-sized chunk of meat.
She stabbed the piece of meat with the back of her blade and slammed it onto the plate in front of Altaïr. "Hurry up and eat! You're not leaving until you finish!"
Altaïr's eye twitched. Judging by the size of this piece of meat, it was a bit much even for a hunter, but he didn't dare say "I can't eat it all" in front of her.
"...Thank you, Ms. Marydan."
"Why so formal? Call me Grandma Marydan!"
"Grandma Marydan?"
"What's with that reluctant tone?!" Marydan's eyebrows shot up. Combined with her brawny muscles and the indigo tattoos covering her body, she looked exceptionally frightening.
"He probably feels the meaning behind the word 'Grandma' is too gentle to be applied to you," Lamarck commented from the side.
Altaïr shot the old man a somewhat horrified look.
He had thought such a clearly mocking remark would send Ms. Marydan into a rage, but to his surprise, she simply lifted her chin. "That's true. You two go ahead and eat. I'll go get the main course."
Seeing Marydan leave the dining room, Lamarck turned slightly and said in a low voice, "The word 'soft' is purely a pejorative in her ears, so it's fine."
"...I see."
Is this the scholar's way of survival?
Altaïr struggled to finish the large piece of roasted meat, and after resting for half an hour, he was dragged out to the courtyard by Ms. Marydan to "aid his digestion."
If swinging a massive hammer weighing dozens of kilograms could be considered "aiding digestion," that is.
In the three-plus months since he had joined the Loc Lac Rangers, he had repeatedly taken on quests to accumulate practical combat experience.
Sometimes he would hunt alongside Sajji, the brothers Nuriassa, or other senior members. Other times, Resha would drag him along on patrols.
As for his free time, he often came over to Ms. Marydan's home. Keeping the old couple company was one reason, but he himself also benefited greatly.
Mr. Lamarck was a senior scholar from the Ancient Biology Scribes, and there was no question about biology that could stump him.
Many of the books he lent Altaïr were unavailable on the market, and the knowledge within gave him a brand-new understanding of various plants and animals, of the ecosystem, and even of the world itself.
Ms. Marydan, on the other hand, was an expert in a completely different field. She might not be able to explain the difference between the Dog Wyvern and Velociprey superfamilies, but when it came to martial arts and practical combat, she was an absolute master.
Based on his current physical condition and combat habits, she had tailored his daily training regimen. More recently, she had even begun to systematically impart the art of using the Hammer to him.
He could now say he had learned a fourth weapon, in addition to the Sword and Shield, Dual Blades, and Great Sword.
Although, like the Dual Blades and Great Sword, his practical application of it was still lacking, he was confident that if he were to immediately put down his Sword and Shield and the other two weapons to focus solely on the Hammer, he could also master the path of the Hammer user.
It would just be a bit of a waste of his natural talent.
"Your footing is loose, you've lost your inertia! What are you spacing out for!" A deafening roar erupted beside his ear.
Altaïr quickly snapped back to his senses, adjusted his breathing, and lowered the Hammer. Turning his head, he saw Marydan's dark expression and hastily explained, "Ms. Marydan! I just thought of a question about inertia!"
Marydan was taken aback. "What question? Spit it out!"
Altaïr thought to himself: It's just as Mr. Lamarck said. Ms. Marydan isn't good at thinking about two things at once.
If you saw signs she was about to get angry, you could distract her with something else she cared about, and she would forget she was 'about to get angry.' You just couldn't be too obvious about it. If she realized what you were doing, the consequences would be terrifying.
Fortunately, the "question" he mentioned wasn't a lie he had just made up. In fact, it was the main reason he had come over today.
"I understand how moves like swings and spinning attacks need to use inertia, but what does something like the Big Bang have to do with it?"
"What do you mean, 'what does it have to do with it'?" Marydan looked at him strangely.
"But..." For a moment, Altaïr didn't quite know how to explain.
Just then, Lamarck, who had been watching from the side, spoke up. "The 'inertia' you understand and the 'inertia' she's talking about might not be entirely the same thing."
Marydan raised an eyebrow and asked Altaïr, "What's your understanding of inertia?"
Recalling the knowledge from his books and combining it with his own understanding, Altaïr organized his thoughts. "A force that maintains an object's state of rest or stable motion?"
"What kind of nonsensical crap is that!" Marydan blurted out.
Lamarck's expression also turned a little strange. Although he was a scholar of biology, he still possessed some basic knowledge of physics.
Altaïr's explanation fell into the category of understanding a little, but not completely.
He was tempted to properly explain to Altaïr that "inertia is not a force, but an inherent property of matter" and that "there's no such thing as a state of stable motion; it should be a state of uniform linear motion."
But after a glance at his wife's expression, he decided against it. From the perspective of ease of understanding, Altaïr's explanation wasn't entirely wrong.
"Marydan, why don't you explain your understanding of 'inertia'?"
"It's the leftover strength that you can figure out how to reclaim and use again!" Marydan crossed her arms, a matter-of-fact look on her face.
Lamarck closed his eyes in pain. As a scholar, hearing such a thing was more agonizing than taking a punch to the face.
The old scholar had no desire to speak again anytime soon, but his goal had been achieved. It didn't matter if he accepted it; what mattered was that Altaïr understood.
After hearing Marydan's words, Altaïr finally understood that the "inertia" Hammer users spoke of was not the same concept he knew.
A more direct way to put it would be the recovery and reuse of force.
For example, if a Sword and Shield swing missed, it missed. It was no big deal. But if a Hammer, which weighed more than ten times a Sword and Shield, missed its mark, not only would it consume a great deal of stamina, but the immense inertia could also easily backfire on the user.
Therefore, after a missed swing, Hammer users would continue to swing the Hammer, repurposing the force that would have otherwise been wasted, and even adding it to their next attack.
Using this as a foundation, they developed various combo techniques.
Too impatient to explain with words, Marydan walked over, snatched the training Hammer from Altaïr's hands, and headed for the large training dummy in the courtyard.
"Pay attention to my thighs and waist. Watch how the 'inertia' of the Big Bang is used!"