As the core offensive technique of the Hunting Horn, Echo Wave was extraordinarily powerful.
Unlike the Great Sword or Hammer, which concentrate force into a single point of breakthrough, the Hunting Horn's sonic attacks are area-of-effect, giving it a distinct advantage when engaging multiple targets simultaneously.
If two Velociprey pounced at once, they would be shaken to death together. If three or four pounced at the same time, the result would be much the same.
Therefore, Altaïr reached a conclusion.
This Lambert person was also a bad-luck magnet.
So far into the Hunt, two waves of Velociprey had come. The first wave was two, dealt with swiftly. Good. The second wave was also two, wiped out in one breath with Echo Wave. Also good.
But two plus two equaled four, and that was not so good.
If the second wave had come with three, or even four or five, they would have been instantly scattered to pieces under the Echo Wave's wide-area attack. Even if more distant individuals weren't shaken to death outright, they would be dizzy and disoriented, making a follow-up strike trivially easy.
That would have achieved her mission objective, leaving only the retreat to consider.
But now, she had to face a third wave.
Velociprey packs didn't queue up to die; it was just that the two nearest and fastest-arriving waves happened to be small in number. Who knew how many the third wave would bring?
Just then, the third wave of Velociprey burst out of the undergrowth.
This pack had five Velociprey, more than the first two waves combined. Lambert paid them no mind, swinging and blowing her Iron Horn on her own, preparing to unleash the Echo Wave once more.
Before she could launch her attack, the slightly bulkier Velociprey leading the pack let out a roar, and unexpectedly, two of them broke from the group, accelerating in a flanking maneuver, preparing to attack from the sides and rear.
Lambert swept her eyes over the encircling, closing Velociprey pack and continued preparing the Echo Wave.
Observing from a distance, Altaïr estimated each Velociprey's speed. They likely intended to encircle first and then launch their attack at the same moment.
These Velociprey were quite clever; such a tactic greatly increased their hunting success rate. However, the Echo Wave, with its larger attack range, happened to counter this "encirclement" tactic perfectly.
"Well, maybe that girl's luck isn't so bad after all."
Altaïr had barely finished speaking when a fourth pack of Velociprey charged out of the trees. This time, it wasn't just Altaïr. Ferdie and Gael, the latter perched with her Bowgun ready to snipe at any moment, also went pale.
That fourth wave of Velociprey did not immediately rush in, apparently intending to wait and pick over the spoils.
This was bad news for Lambert. Even the Echo Wave could not instantly deal with those five Velociprey that arrived first; it would certainly require time for follow-up blows.
And then, the Velociprey that had arrived later would immediately pounce.
She would have neither the time to complete her follow-up strikes, nor the time to weave a new melody and prepare another powerful Echo Wave.
Even Performance Beat was faster to execute, but it still had to be delivered through the resonating melody of a performance. No matter how talented she was, without time to weave a melody, she could not conjure a Performance Beat out of thin air.
As for Melodic Slap? And those physical hammer strikes no different from swinging a regular Hammer?
Switching to Altaïr would have been no problem, of course, but with Lambert's skill level and combat experience, could she really handle a coordinated assault from six or seven Velociprey at once without enough time to prepare a melody?
Gael rested her finger lightly on the trigger, already prepared to fire.
Out on the field, however, Lambert suddenly shouted, "Watch this!"
She had clearly guessed that the examiners were secretly observing her, and had anticipated that they would very likely step in at that moment.
But she had no intention of giving up that easily. The girl roared and swept an Echo Wave toward the Velociprey closing in around her.
"BWOOOM!"
The two Velociprey closest to her in front were blasted dead on the spot, and the remaining three staggered unsteadily.
If only this one pack of Velociprey had been present, the Hunt would already be over. But another nearby pack, with even more Velociprey, was now charging out from the forest.
That was an absolute number she could not overcome.
"Completing the objective isn't just about taking down the target. You also have to ensure your own basic safety. Dying together doesn't count as a successful Hunt, and clearly, you've failed this time." Over a hundred meters away, Gael murmured her assessment to herself and was about to squeeze the trigger.
But then she saw Lambert whip out a Flash Pod, flick off the pin, and hurl it.
The intense burst of light instantly blinded and dazed most of the Velociprey around her. Without pausing, she threw out two more Flash Pods in succession, stunning the remaining few Velociprey farther away as well, then hoisted her Hunting Horn, turned, and fled.
"What good will that do?" Gael frowned, but she lowered her Bowgun for the moment.
Velociprey had a keen sense of smell and could outrun a Hunter. The stunning effect of Flash Pods could indeed help her shake them off temporarily, but this pack of ravenous Velociprey would be after her again soon, and in even greater numbers than before.
"Ah, now I get it," Altaïr said, pressing a hand to his forehead. "That girl really is... unexpectedly shameless."
Although that was what he said, Altaïr felt considerably more at ease inside.
Shameless was better than facing danger without dodging, or even seeking self-destruction for the thrill. If she really were crazy to that degree, she wouldn't be fit to become a Hunter.
Ferdie glanced in the direction Lambert had fled. Soon, he and Gael both understood the escape route she truly had in mind.
The spot where Lambert had played to draw in the Velociprey pack was only a few hundred meters from the camp. Before the recovering pack could catch up to her, she dashed into the camp first.
The sharp wooden stakes and palisade walls surrounding the camp might not be very sturdy against a Large Monster like a Tigrex, but to ordinary Velociprey, they were as good as fortress walls.
Seeing the Velociprey milling at the camp gate, unwilling to leave, Lambert glanced at the Hunting Horn in her hand.
She didn't like this dull method of killing, but to pass the exam smoothly, she would just have to make a little "sacrifice."
So she played from within the camp, preparing an Echo Wave. Once the melody was woven, she walked out, faced the Velociprey pack lunging at her in a frenzy, and let loose with a "BWOOOM."
After blasting several more Velociprey dead that way, the remainder had no choice but to slink away in defeat.
The three watched this scene unfold from a distance and fell silent.
"So, uh, Lady Gael," Altaïr suddenly spoke up, "for the hunting grounds used in the promotion exam later, how about we set the camp a bit farther away?
"This tactic can be replicated. It wouldn't be good if some trainees tried to cut corners and exploit it."
Gael's face darkened. It took her a long while before she finally replied with a curt "Mm."
The three of them also made their way to the camp.
Seeing Gael, Lambert stood up from beside a Velociprey carcass, used her fingers to prop up the corners of her mouth, and revealed a stiff smile. "Instructor, did I pass?"
A vein throbbed on Gael's temple. She felt this girl was deliberately provoking her.
But regardless, the mission objectives had been exceeded, and the Hunter had returned to camp completely unscathed. This exam had been passed without question.
From this moment on, this young girl who had trained for barely a year and a half and was not yet seventeen could thump her chest and proudly declare, "I am a Hunter."
"Are you really not going to consider becoming my disciple?" Ferdie extended the invitation once more. "From training and technique study to gear selection and more, I can provide you with the most suitable guidance.
"I know you have your own pursuits. I myself also have High Rank Hunter duties to attend to. I wouldn't require you to stay by my side constantly. You would still be free to travel everywhere for independent training."
Ferdie's sincerity was beyond doubt. Yet Lambert thought it over, and in the end, she still shook her head.
"Are you stupid?" Even Gael couldn't help cursing, disappointed on her behalf.
"I appreciate your kindness." Lambert lowered the fingers propping up her mouth and gave a slight bow. "Following someone long-term and learning from them means unknowingly taking on their shadow.
"I have no intention of calling anyone master. I want to pursue a melody that belongs to me alone."
It was obvious that Lambert's attitude toward Ferdie differed from her attitude toward the vast majority of people.
In her eyes, this middle-aged man was not an "uninteresting" person. But their voices were not on the same frequency.
Ferdie was not angry. Instead, a look of gratification and relief appeared on his face. "You're right. On the path of the Hunting Horn, you will forge your own way.
"You will go further than us old-timers, create more melodies never heard before, and let more people see and even grow to love the Hunting Horn, the most 'niche' of all weapons.
"If you encounter questions during your future training, or whenever you need to seek help, you can come to me anytime.
"Consider it an investment I'm making for the Hunting Horn users of the future."
(Translated by yourtl.app)