In the valley where red leaves drifted, the Tigrex paced slowly.
In most cases, the Tigrex maintains an aggressive and violent appearance, so most people don't know that in a calm state, the Tigrex is just like other Flying Wyverns. It folds its wings at its sides and walks solely on its hind legs.
Walking in this posture, its stability and speed are far inferior to when it runs on all fours, but it excels in conserving energy.
"So, as long as you see a Tigrex in a bipedal walking state, it means its emotions are stable and it hasn't discovered a target it can attack.
But if it's on all fours, you must be careful; that means it has entered an attacking state," Jara, hidden in the bushes more than a hundred meters away, whispered to Altaïr.
Altaïr nodded silently, preparing to record this in his notes later; useful knowledge had increased.
Just then, the strolling Tigrex suddenly raised its head and sniffed a few times, seemingly having detected something.
Recollecting the experience of being discovered yesterday, Altaïr's heart couldn't help but tighten.
"The scent of the Paintball must have faded; its sense of smell has partially recovered."
Jara said in a low voice: "Logically it shouldn't be this fast... hmm, there are many mountain springs and waterfalls around here. This guy probably couldn't stand the irritation of the Paintberry scent and found a place to take a wash or something. If that's the case, it's not surprising."
"Do we need to apply another Paintball?" Altaïr asked softly.
"Yes, sealing its sense of smell is very important. Prepare to begin the operation; Naziya and the others should be almost ready on their end." Jara pulled out a Paintball, weighed it in his hand, and handed it to Altaïr.
The latter was equipped with a Slinger; using it to fire items like Paintberries was much higher in terms of both distance and accuracy compared to throwing by hand.
"Just like we discussed before, after getting its attention, buy me a little time, one minute at most is enough.
Once I use the Kinsect to extract monster essences and complete my physical enhancement, the job of attracting the target's attention can be handed over to me," Jara said, stroking the Kinsect on his arm named "Yuwan."
"No problem." Altaïr nodded.
After each gulping down a bottle of Dash Juice, the two split up. Altaïr used the cover of the surrounding dense vegetation to approach from the front, while Jara circled around to the Tigrex's flank.
As the distance closed, the Tigrex's sniffing became more frequent. They couldn't get any closer; the two gave each other a hand signal from afar.
Three, two, one!
The two moved simultaneously. Altaïr raised his hand, aimed at the Tigrex's head, pulled the trigger, and launched the Paintball. Jara, meanwhile, spun his Insect Glaive and fired a clump of pheromones toward the Tigrex's hind leg.
The Paintball hit the Tigrex's head precisely. The pungent, brightly colored Paintberry juice dyed almost the Tigrex's entire head pink.
The Kinsect on Jara's arm also darted out, landing on the Tigrex's not-yet-fully-healed hind leg wound to extract substances and refine essence.
"ROOOAAAR!"
It had finally managed to get rid of some of that pungent smell, only to have its face plastered with it again. The furious Tigrex braced its wing-claws on the ground, opened its giant maw, and let out a deafening roar.
Altaïr and Jara covered their ears just in time to avoid being stunned by the terrifying roar that sent out shockwaves.
Glaring with eyes dyed pink by the Paintball, the Tigrex scanned its surroundings viciously and soon spotted Altaïr not far ahead.
The straight-line distance between them wasn't far, about fifty or sixty meters, but Altaïr was positioned higher. The Tigrex had to cross a seven-to-eight-meter-wide river channel and climb a steep slope to reach him.
However, the Tigrex's limbs were "all-terrain adaptable." With a powerful leap, it easily cleared the river channel. Its sharp claws dug shallow pits into the dark red rocky ground one after another, and amid flying earth and stone, it charged toward Altaïr at the top of the slope.
Altaïr turned and ran.
To be honest, he wasn't very good at running through these densely vegetated mountain forests; he felt he hadn't seen as much green in the past ten years as he had in the last two days.
But he kept Jara's reminder firmly in mind: ignore everything else and just dive into areas where large trees grow densely!
He rounded a large tree that would take two people to encircle. His foot snagged for a moment, nearly tripping over a protruding root. He braced himself with a hand on the ground, stumbled forward, and nearly got caught in vines again, hurriedly ducking out of the way.
Damn it! Why are there so many messy obstacles!
The Tigrex following closely behind had no interest in detours; it lowered its head and smashed that large tree to splinters.
But this was clearly not a smart choice. The collapsing canopy, along with the surrounding vines, formed a sparse net that snagged the Tigrex's limbs and the spines on its back.
The Tigrex's charge stuttered for a moment, followed by an explosive roar as it forcibly tore free from the restraint of branches and vines to continue the pursuit.
By then, Altaïr had taken advantage of those few seconds to pull away by another twenty meters.
He finally understood why Jara wanted him to head for the trees. While this vegetation would pose obstacles to his movement, for a large monster of the Tigrex's size, the obstruction would be far more severe.
Sliding through a large tree that had somehow grown horizontally into an archway, Altaïr was about to continue toward the target area when he heard a whistle by his ear.
He looked back and found Jara, who was supposed to be behind the Tigrex, had somehow circled around to this side and was crouching on that arched tree, looking at him with a grin.
"Lamps are lit! Find a place to hide, leave the rest to me!" After saying that, he pulled down his faceplate, lowered his center of gravity, and got ready.
Altaïr didn't know where it was safe to hide, so he just kept running forward.
The Tigrex followed close behind. The space under this horizontally growing tree was large enough, so the Tigrex didn't bother trying to smash the tree again; it slightly lowered its body and crawled under the trunk.
Just then, Jara, crouching on the trunk, swung his Insect Glaive and leapt down.
Whether it was an illusion or not, at the moment Jara landed on the Tigrex's back, Altaïr felt as if he heard a dull "thud"...
No large monster likes being ridden by another creature, and the Tigrex was no exception.
It almost immediately gave up on the target in front of it, turning to shake its body violently to throw the hunter off.
Altaïr ran ahead for another stretch before slowing down. He sidestepped behind the trunk of a large tree and looked back.
He thought Jara was planning to perform a mounting.
The so-called mounting is a fairly popular technique among Val Habar hunters. It refers to using terrain or means like the Insect Glaive's vault to climb onto a monster's body, then using a knife to repeatedly stab the monster's nerve-concentrated acupoints, causing intense pain or even making it fall, thereby creating an opening for teammates to attack.
However, Jara had no intention of staying on the Tigrex's back. At the same time the Tigrex violently shook its body, he followed the momentum and jumped down, rolling once on the ground to shed the impact, then moving forward at high speed.
The various rocks, roots, branches, and vines that Altaïr had to carefully avoid seemed non-existent to him.
He was like a large, constantly bouncing ball, zipping past in the blink of an eye, leaving Altaïr's jaw dropping.
Is this what they call an "agile chubby guy"?!
No wonder he said he was confident in shaking off the Tigrex's pursuit. With this speed, even if he activated Demon Mode, he might not be able to keep up.
And that would be on flat ground; in this complex mountain terrain, he would likely be lost in an instant.
He suddenly understood why Brother Jara, clearly a 4★ Hunter, still used Gypceros Armor Set, which was somewhat outdated for him.
A substance called "Dash Extract" can be extracted from within a Gypceros, which is the core raw material for making Dash Juice.
And this substance also exists in the Gypceros materials. Once crafted into armor, these substances slowly seep into the user's body during high-intensity exercise, creating an effect similar to Dash Juice. (Stamina +10, Hunger -10)
At the same time, the Gypceros Armor Set also has the effect of activating toxins (Poison +13), which produces a very obvious enhancement for the poison-element Insect Glaive he uses, the "Vermillion Viper."
So, this guy's fighting style must be to rely on his advantage of being agile and running fast to constantly stack poison on the target, wearing the monster down to death?
How dirty...
While Altaïr was complaining internally, the furious Tigrex passed "rumbling" by the tree where he was hiding. It didn't even realize the target it was chasing had swapped people.
Watching the receding silhouettes of the man and dragon, Altaïr twitched the corner of his mouth and gave chase.
(Translated by yourtl.app)
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TL NOTES: LORE SECTION
Some terms and creatures referenced in this story may be unfamiliar to readers new to the Monster Hunter universe. The following entries provide additional context.
CLASSIFICATIONS
Bird Wyvern — A broad classification grouping smaller, bipedal wyverns that share bird-like traits: a lightweight frame, two legs, and two arms rather than traditional wyvern wings. They are generally faster and more agile than larger wyvern classes but less physically powerful. Most species are pack hunters or opportunistic predators. Common examples include the Velociprey, Jaggi, and Gypceros.
MONSTERS
Gypceros — A mid-sized Bird Wyvern found in forest and jungle regions. It is best known for the rubbery crest on its head, which it uses to generate blinding flashes of light, a trait it shares conceptually with the Flash Pod. Gypceros are not particularly dangerous in isolation but tend to travel in groups. Their internal organs contain Dash Extract, the primary ingredient in Dash Juice, making them a common farming target for hunters who prioritize stamina management in their builds.
EQUIPMENT
Insect Glaive — A polearm weapon introduced in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, paired with a trained Kinsect companion. The weapon excels at aerial combat, using vaulting attacks to launch the hunter skyward and enabling mounting attacks on large monsters. The Kinsect is fired independently to harvest Extracts from monster body parts, each color granting a different buff. Jara's style focuses on the mobility these Extracts provide rather than the traditional aerial playstyle.
CONCEPTS
Mounting — A technique where a hunter climbs onto a large monster's back, typically via an aerial attack or elevated terrain, and repeatedly strikes nerve-dense acupoints to destabilize it. A successful mount forces the monster to the ground, creating a window for the team to deal concentrated damage. Jara deliberately skips the mounting phase here, using the leap purely as a disruption tool.