"Really!?" The promise of something new to learn sent Isis's spirits soaring.
"I never brag!" Ted patted his belly proudly, then looked at Altaïr and Isis. "Do either of you have a wrench and a screwdriver? Get them out!"
The two exchanged confused glances, then shook their heads.
A hint of displeasure crossed Ted's huge, ugly face. "Altaïr is one thing. He uses a Long Sword, so carrying a couple of Whetstones is enough.
"But how can you come without any tools, Isis? What are you going to do if your weapon suffers a mechanical failure out on the hunting grounds?"
Isis opened her mouth and stammered, "I–I inspect and maintain my weapon before and after every Hunt..."
"How is that enough?" Ted cut her off with a wave, his voice taking on a reprimanding edge. "Inspection and maintenance can reduce a weapon's failure rate to a minimum, but they can never reduce it to zero.
"Swords and Hammers are one thing, but anyone who uses a weapon with complex mechanisms, such as a Gunlance, Charge Blade, Switch Axe, Light Bowgun, or Heavy Bowgun, absolutely must carry basic tools.
"If something jams, at least you'll be able to make emergency repairs."
Ted held up two fingers as thick as carrots. "I've been on hundreds of Hunts in my life, and I've run into that kind of problem twice.
"Both times, the simple tools I carried let me make emergency repairs and keep the Hunt on track.
"Those two times alone are reason enough for you to develop the habit! My old man taught me that!"
Faced with Ted's stern tone, Isis stopped trying to argue and shouted, "Yes, sir!"
Only then did Ted nod in satisfaction. "I'm not asking you to carry an entire toolbox. One screwdriver and one wrench will do.
"You could even ask a smith to make you a double-ended tool that combines the two. It would weigh no more than a single ration and wouldn't get in your way.
"What I'm about to teach you requires a simple modification to the Gunlance's internal mechanisms. You can't loosen a jammed screw with your bare hands."
"Wait here for a few minutes. I'll go borrow Sajji's tools." With that, Altaïr hurried away.
It was rare to meet a skilled Gunlance user willing to teach Isis something practical, and he did not want her to miss such a valuable opportunity. What if Ted had urgent business and left the next day?
Before long, Altaïr came running back with Sajji and Clawdia behind him.
Sajji had heard that Ted was going to modify the Gunlance on the spot. As a mechanic, he simply had to watch. Clawdia, on the other hand, had come purely to see Isis.
Before Clawdia could reach Isis's side, Malika scooped her up.
"Aww, Clawdia! You've grown so much in the blink of an eye! I held you when you were first born!"
"Meow meow meow?!"
No one paid any attention to Clawdia's struggles. Ted took the tool kit from Sajji's paws.
The kit naturally held every tool he could need, but they were all sized for Sajji's small paws. They were far too tiny for Ted and felt like toothpicks in his hands, but fortunately, he could still use them.
Ted might have looked rough, but his movements as he disassembled the Gunlance were astonishingly deft and practiced. In a few quick motions, he had partially dismantled the Glavenus Gunlance's barrel assembly.
Sajji craned his neck for a better look. "Meow, are you going to work on the cooling mechanism?"
"Oh? You can tell, little guy?" Ted asked with a grin, never pausing in his work.
Crouched on the other side of the Gunlance, Isis laughed. "Sajji is really good with machinery! He can build tanks, rocket launchers, One-shot Binders, even Dragonators!"
"Well, that works out nicely. This method is hard on the weapon. If you had to take it to the Smithy for repairs all the time, the smith would chew you out. Since this little guy knows what he's doing, you can have him repair it for you."
Ted's words reminded Isis of something similar that Hibasa, Kamura Village's head smith, had told her.
He had said that certain special techniques damaged the weapon. Could that be what Ted was about to teach her?
While Isis was still thinking, Sajji suddenly sprang into the air beside her. "Meow meow meow?! You're locking the heat canister in place?! Are you serious, meow?!"
"Easy. I know what I'm doing." Ted reassembled the Glavenus Gunlance, then ran a hand over Sajji and wiped grease all through his fur.
Under Sajji's aggrieved stare, Ted clapped his hands clean, rose, and laughed. "Engineering keeps advancing. Modern Gunlance cooling systems are much better than the old ones, so there probably aren't many people who still use this method. Back when I first took up the Gunlance, controlling its temperature was an art in itself."
"But after this modification, the heat canister won't eject. The residual heat from shelling won't dissipate in time, and the barrel will overheat very quickly, meow..."
"I know." Ted grinned broadly. "Which do you think hits a Monster harder, a cooled Gunlance or one that's glowing red-hot?"
Altaïr finally understood. "You mean using the waste heat from shelling to make the Gunlance's melee attacks hit harder?"
"Exactly. That's how everyone used to fight. Drive the blade into the Monster, and the spraying blood helps cool it. Once the temperature drops far enough, start shelling again. Keep cycling between shelling and slashing."
"But that makes the barrel much more likely to burst, meow!"
"True. If Isis were using any other model of Gunlance, I wouldn't let her take the risk. The Glavenus Gunlance is different. Its design already uses residual heat from shelling to heat the blade and deal Fire damage. After all, Glavenus itself uses its fiery breath to heat its tail before attacking. That gives the Glavenus Gunlance far greater heat resistance than most Gunlances."
Ted paused. "Besides, this is only a temporary modification. It should hold up for one or two fights, but using it this way for too long could leave lasting internal damage. Later, you should find a top-notch smith to completely overhaul the internal mechanisms. When the heat approaches critical, the system should lock the shelling firing pin, forcibly eject the heat canister, and accelerate cooling. That's the Heat Gauge system. Bherna Village can perform that kind of modification; I had mine done there years ago. If you truly like this style, you can upgrade it further once you're accustomed to it. The Wycademy developed a special Hunter Art from the same concept called 'Dragon Breath.' Put simply, it uses the Wyvern's Fire mechanism to heat the barrel to its limit, greatly increasing the weapon's attack power for a short time. The drawback is still the damage it causes to the weapon. Whether you want that modification is up to you."
Isis nodded rapidly.
The Caravaneer she had encountered in Kamura Village and Hibasa, the head smith, had pointed her in a general direction. Ted, however, had laid out the entire path ahead. He had clearly explained where to find someone capable of the work, what modifications to request, and all their advantages and drawbacks.
She could not wait to try it!
Isis picked up the Glavenus Gunlance, which looked no different from the outside, and fired several volleys of shells into the empty air.
The temperature of the barrel and blade rose before their eyes.
Before Ted's modification, the ejectable heat canister had continuously vented excess heat, limiting the barrel and blade to four or five hundred degrees at most. That was already hot enough to inflict severe heat damage on Monsters.
Now, unable to dissipate heat, the barrel glowed red under the continuous shelling. Its temperature had already climbed past one thousand degrees...
The heat spread to the blade, coating it in a golden-red sheen.
"Whoa!"
The blazing red glow of the Glavenus Gunlance reflected in Isis's eyes, turning them a dangerous crimson.
"I heard Shen Gaoren is vulnerable to heat and fire, right?"
(Translated by yourtl.app)