Hunting Quest: Chasing Companions, Barroth (★★★)
Quest Objective: Hunt one Barroth
Location: Desert
Time Limit: 15 days
Reward: 2800z
Potential Monsters: Jaggi, Apceros, Delex
Guildmarm Sophia: Darling (crossed out) Barroth has an extremely strong territorial instinct and will actively attack creatures near its domain, which has disrupted trade route traffic. We hope you can help resolve this.
Barroth's elemental weakness is fire, but only after removing the mud coating its body. Its charge is incredibly powerful. The relatively safe position is to its side and rear, but be cautious of its tail swings, don't let your guard down.
Regarding weak points: Barroth's body is covered in hard shell, especially its head. Please avoid targeting the head. In contrast, its underdeveloped forelimbs are a good alternative.
Sonic Bombs are ineffective against Barroth, don't waste your efforts. Flash Pods are a better choice, but beware of Barroth going berserk and charging wildly when blinded.
You can bring traps and Tranq Ammo. Capturing is an effective way to improve hunting efficiency.
Finally, remember to check your equipment and items before setting out. Good luck, and stay safe.
—--
Altaïr fell silent as he looked at the quest document in his hand.
It was the first time he had seen a document with such densely packed "additional notes." Apart from the brief first sentence explaining the situation, the rest could practically be called a "strategy guide," couldn't it?
Isis somewhat sheepishly pulled the document back from Altaïr, folded it, and tucked it into her Hunter's Notes.
"Aunt Sophia worries too much," she muttered under her breath.
"Having someone care about you isn't a bad thing," Altaïr remarked casually before pondering, "I hadn't considered that Barroth fears fire. By the way, do you have any fire-element weapons you can use?"
He recalled from previous chats with Isis that she actually owned 3★-level armor, the Kut-Ku Armor Set crafted from materials obtained during her promotion quest where she hunted a Yian Kut-Ku. That set's performance surpassed her current "Pig-Dog Set."
However, she had left her hometown alone and come to Val Habar to hone her skills. Thus, from armor to weapons, she collected materials from scratch and crafted everything herself.
So, from head to toe, she looked every bit a 2★ hunter.
Hearing Altaïr's question, Isis rolled her eyes at him in exasperation. "What are you thinking? Attribute Long Swords aren't that easy to obtain! Especially fire-element ones. Do I look like someone who can hunt Rathalos or Glavenus?"
"Alright, I was just asking," Altaïr shrugged.
Typically, lighter weapons with fast attack frequencies like Dual Blades or Sword and Shield focused on elemental attacks. He remembered his teacher's collection included Dual Blades made from Yian Kut-Ku materials.
Heavy weapons like Hammers and Great Swords, on the other hand, primarily emphasized raw physical destructive power.
As for Long Swords, they fell somewhere between the two.
His question had been prompted by wondering if there might be something like a Yian Kut-Ku Long Sword, but it seemed that wasn't the case. "Have you checked your armor, weapons, and hunting tools? Are we ready to set off?" Isis looked at Altaïr.
"Let's go."
Just as the two were about to exit the Guild Hall door, Isis suddenly turned back and asked, "By the way, where's Sajji? I haven't seen him these past few days. Isn't he coming with us?"
"He's been intensely studying mechanical fundamentals recently, often not even coming back to sleep at night. I doubt he'll have time to hunt with us for a while."
"Mechanical knowledge? Is Sajji planning to follow the assist-type Palico path? That's quite a rare specialization," Isis said with surprise as they walked.
"Yeah, he really enjoys mechanisms and machinery, especially since he started systematically learning about them. He even said he wants to personally build a Battle Airship specifically for Palicos someday."
"How ambitious!" Isis looked at Altaïr and couldn't help laughing. "Your tone just now totally sounded like a proud father boasting 'my child loves reading and says they want to become a scholar someday.'"
"Ah, did it really?"
Chatting and laughing along the way, the two arrived at a beast pen located at the city's edge.
Looking at the dull-eyed Gargwa and slowly wandering Popo in the pen, Altaïr looked puzzled at Isis who was leading the way. "What are we doing here?"
Isis looked back at him even more confused. "Renting Gargwa carts, obviously? Or did you plan to walk all the way to the hunting grounds?"
"Ga-Gargwa carts?"
He hadn't even seen creatures like Gargwa in Loc Lac, plus with the vast sand sea around Loc Lac, animal-drawn vehicles couldn't navigate at all... travel depended entirely on small Sandships.
Since the sand around Val Habar wasn't suitable for small Sandships either, he'd subconsciously assumed hunters here all walked to the hunting grounds.
Isis sighed helplessly. "Val Habar is nearly a hundred kilometers in straight line distance from the hunting grounds where we're going to hunt Barroth."
"Without transportation... you didn't actually think that when I failed my hunt last time and broke several bones, I managed to limp back over several days, did you?"
"I actually did think that."
"What kind of Monster do you think I am in your eyes!" Isis exhaled in amusement while helping Altaïr pay the rental and deposit for two Gargwa carts, simultaneously explaining to him.
"Val Habar's prosperity isn't just in commerce, but also animal husbandry. Otherwise, when migration season comes, this mobile city couldn't move relying on human strength alone."
"It's just for the city's sanitation that they keep large livestock herds in the oasis outside the urban area."
"If you'd been to the northern oasis before... well, you've been practicing sword techniques at the training grounds these past few days, so obviously you haven't gone anywhere."
"Come try it. Driving a Gargwa cart doesn't require much skill or experience, it's quite easy."
Following Isis's guidance, Altaïr carefully climbed onto his Gargwa cart. Without him needing to do anything, the pulling Gargwa started moving forward slowly on its own.
"Pull the reins to change direction, give its rear a light kick to speed up, but remember to be gentle, Gargwa startle easily."
"If it gets frightened, it's hard to control until it calms down." Isis continuously shared her experience.
Just as Isis had said, the Gargwa cart was easy to drive, and soon Altaïr was handling it quite skillfully. The two carts moved side by side, advancing slowly.
Though not fast, the ride was smooth and pleasant.
"Hey ha!"
At that moment, a hunter shouted, riding a loudly squawking Gargwa as it galloped past them.
Altaïr pointed with his mouth agape at the rapidly disappearing figure, his meaning clear, why was he so fast? Why was he riding the Gargwa directly instead of driving a cart?
Isis remained expressionless. "Riding a Gargwa directly is faster, but it's extremely bumpy. If we get knocked out in the hunting grounds, being jolted back like that would probably cost us half our lives."
"...While I appreciate your caution, please don't say such unlucky things as we're setting out."
Faced with Altaïr's sidelong glance, Isis's deliberately stiff expression, meant to maintain her veteran facade, collapsed. "Alright, fine. The truth is, I don't know how to ride a Gargwa either. I only arrived in Val Habar about half a month before you did."
As if trying to escape Altaïr's gaze, she put a bit more force into kicking the rear of the Gargwa pulling her cart.
"Gwaaa!"
The Gargwa in front of Isis's cart let out a series of distressed cries and uncontrollably broke into a frantic run. The violent shaking of the cart nearly threw her off.
"Waaah ah ah ah!"