"And the drawings, Holden. Look at this." She rotated the journal so he could see. The page showed a detailed sketch of an Ashen Hound, but not the side-view illustration from the academy guides. This drawing showed the hound from underneath, with detailed cross-sections of its skull and neck.
"The academy teaches that Ashen Hounds are basic pack hunters with no real weaknesses. That's wrong. Look right here. The author mapped out a nerve cluster at the base of the skull where three major neural pathways meet. One precise strike to this spot doesn't just kill the hound. It triggers a cascade failure that shuts down the entire nervous system instantly."
She looked up at him, eyes blazing.
"Do you understand what that means? If every hunter in the field knew about this, Ashen Hound encounters would go from dangerous to trivial. A well-placed arrow or blade strike and the beast drops dead before it can even process the threat."
