Dust and haze hung thick at the bottom of the pit, reducing visibility and making it highly likely that a Large Monster was lurking nearby.
This was no place for a slow, careful descent. Besides, the pit was not all that deep. Altaïr simply grabbed the rope to absorb some of the impact from his fall and dropped straight down.
"Thud!"
With his full set of heavy armor and weapons, Altaïr was anything but light. His landing sent a dull impact echoing through the pit.
"Are you okay?!" Isis called down from the rim, unable to stop herself.
Altaïr straightened from his landing crouch and stamped his feet, confirming that the floor was solid rock rather than muddy water or anything else that might hinder his movement. That eased his mind a little.
"I'm fine. Wait for my signal," Altaïr shouted, reassuring his companions above. He did not rush forward. Instead, he pressed his back against the rock wall and scanned his surroundings.
The dust and haze inside the pit were concentrated at the bottom, thickest close to the ground. If a Felyne had jumped down, it probably would not have been able to see its own paws.
At Altaïr's height, however, the scattered light filtering into the pit still let him make out objects some twenty or thirty meters ahead.
Altaïr took a slightly deeper breath of the dust-laden air.
It carried a pungent, musty odor, like an abandoned wooden house where everything inside had rotted, mildewed, and gathered a thick layer of dust. A single step through such a place would send mold and dust flying, enough to make anyone's nose itch.
Anyone with sensitive allergies would probably start sneezing endlessly down here. Even Altaïr, accustomed to the Great Desert's dust storms, found it uncomfortable, but at least the air did not seem toxic.
He took out his portable dust mask and put it on, then shouted up again, "Cover your mouths and noses before you come down!"
Then something else occurred to him. With no time to soften his words, he hurriedly added, "Morgan! Even if a fight breaks out, don't come down. Just shoot from the rim!
"The haze hangs really low here. At your height, it would seriously impair your vision!"
Morgan went rigid.
A vein bulged on his forehead, and he felt a sudden urge to blast the man below.
Instead of answering, he held himself back and silently repeated, Stay calm. Act your age. Stay calm. Act your age.
By then, Altaïr had realized how rude his words had sounded, but this was clearly not the time to apologize, so he simply pretended nothing had happened.
He tightened the strap on his dust mask, rested a hand on the hilt of Tyrant Blade [Solar Eclipse], and began exploring along the rock wall. It was slow going, but this approach minimized the risk of being ambushed by a Monster.
The bottom of the pit was far more spacious than he had expected. Although the opening was only about twenty meters wide, the cavern below extended much farther in both directions. It was shaped like an ink bottle, with a relatively narrow neck and a broad base.
He recalled climbing a rocky mountain when they first reached the pit's entrance. Most of that mountain had to be hollow, and he was now inside it.
Altaïr's vigilance sharpened.
A cave within a rocky mountain, open to the sky at the top, was an ideal nesting site for Large Monsters. Large Flying Wyverns such as Rathalos would even fight fiercely over a cave like this.
Whatever owned this cave and had successfully defended it occupied a high ecological niche. Its combat prowess might well rival that of a Large Flying Wyvern, making it an opponent worthy of any Hunter's full attention.
After circling most of the cavern floor, Altaïr stopped. A silhouette as massive as a small hill loomed ahead.
The thing was about ten meters wide and seven or eight meters tall. At first glance, it looked like a huge rock.
Altaïr was certain, however, that it was no ordinary stone. It was a Monster camouflaging itself through mimicry, much like Basarios.
The reason was simple.
In a hilly region more than a dozen kilometers from the coast, at the bottom of a rocky mountain cave, sat a massive coral reef covered in barnacles, seaweed, starfish, and faintly writhing fungal sacs...
It looked completely out of place!
Altaïr stared at the huge chunk of coral reef for several seconds. It remained as still as a real rock. He could not tell whether it was asleep and unaware of his arrival or deliberately maintaining its camouflage to protect itself.
After a moment's thought, Altaïr did not rush to attack. Instead, he quietly returned to the rope, shook it, and had his companions pull him up.
—--
Back at the pit's entrance, Altaïr removed his dust mask. Just as he was about to shake off the dust clinging to it, the Village Chief stopped him.
"Let me take a look."
Altaïr handed him the mask. As the Village Chief pulled out a portable magnifying glass and carefully examined the dust, Altaïr explained what he had found inside the cave to his companions.
He also took out his pocket notebook and pen, then sketched a simple diagram of the cavern's interior and the position of the "huge rock."
"The Monster is still camouflaged, making it difficult to identify even its general species. Personally, I suspect it's a Carapaceon. That moundlike silhouette reminds me of a Daimyo Hermitaur crouched in a sand sinkhole.
"Of course, we can't rule out other possibilities. It could even be a subspecies of Basarios.
"At least one thing is certain. Its body is covered in a thick layer of coral rock, so its defenses must be formidable. Judging by Monsters with heavy shells, such as Basarios and Uragaan, however, it should be relatively slow.
"Staying mobile and targeting weak points such as its joints or gaps in its shell should be our best strategy. Beyond that, you're all veterans, so I don't need to belabor the details."
After Altaïr finished his rapid briefing, his companions nodded in understanding.
"These particles aren't ordinary dust. They're probably some kind of fungal spores," the Village Chief said, lowering his magnifying glass and handing Altaïr's dust mask back.
"Spores?"
Altaïr recalled the mycelium he had spotted on the coral reef and the bulging fungal sacs on the "boulder" below. "It looks like that Monster has formed a symbiotic relationship with some kind of fungus.
"Everyone, cover your mouth and nose to minimize how much you inhale. I don't want anyone sprouting mushrooms in their mouth later."
Altaïr cracked a rather grim joke.
Morgan suddenly decided that staying at the pit's rim, bracing his Heavy Bowgun there, and firing down from a crouch was an excellent idea. The pit was shallow enough that almost the entire floor lay within his optimal range.
Isis and Theo pulled out their handkerchiefs. These would neither seal nor filter as effectively as a specialized dust mask, but not everyone had grown up in the Great Desert like Altaïr and learned to keep one close at hand.
Just as they were about to tie the handkerchiefs over their faces, the Village Chief offered them a dust mask and a toxin-filtering mask.
"Use mine. I always carry spares. I only have one of each, but they should do the job," the Village Chief said with a smile.
Everyone cast a strange look at the enormous backpack he carried. No one could guess how many odds and ends were stuffed inside it.
A toxin-filtering mask naturally offered better protection than a dust mask. Ever the gentleman, Theo gave it to Isis and put on the dust mask himself.
Then he took out a small pocket mirror, adjusted his golden bangs, and admired his reflection from several angles. "This face covering goes pretty well with my armor, doesn't it?"
Clawdia's whole face scrunched up in distaste.
The others shared her skepticism. Theo might have given Isis the toxin-filtering mask simply because it was so ugly.
Once Isis and Theo had their respiratory protection in place, Altaïr, masked as well, continued, "There's another problem. The Monster is lying completely still. It may be asleep, so we need to wake it somehow.
"I examined it earlier. It has sealed itself up tight with reef rock, and I couldn't find any angle to get a sword in. Let's hear some ideas for waking it."
"Me! Me! Wyvern's Fire!" Isis quickly raised her hand.
Altaïr nodded and was about to say, "All right, let's go with that," when he saw Theo slip the little mirror into his pocket.
"I'll handle it. Save Miss Isis's Wyvern's Fire for a more critical moment. I'll find a way to give it a nasty surprise."
"You're going to wake it with a Sword and Shield, meow?" Sajji could not help asking.
Theo unstrapped the strange little barrel he had been carrying on his back and gave it a vigorous shake. "A Sword and Shield isn't all I'm good at, you know.
"Take a look at this Maca Alchemy Barrel. Care for a demonstration of battlefield alchemy? Leave it to me!"
Altaïr glanced at Theo and nodded. "Then it's yours."
His usual frivolity aside, Theo was not one to make empty boasts. Altaïr decided to trust his companion.
With the basic tactics settled, the Hunters turned to look at the Village Chief.
The Village Chief understood their meaning perfectly. He coughed lightly into his fist, his expression turning serious.
"In the name of the Guild, I hereby authorize the Hunt for that boulder-like thing!"
(Translated by yourtl.app)