Bear School Astartes-Chapter 818 - 801: Soloing a Dinosaur

The Rong Buqiu trotted on all fours, often running ahead of the two demon hunters.

Then it lifted its small head, sniffing all around as if recording the scent of the monsters in this world with its nose.

Its acorn shell armor clanged and jingled, sounding lively and pleasant.

"Can this little cat really help?"

Geralt stumbled forward on the pebble-covered riverbank, teasing Lann beside him.

"I think Rong Buqiu is about the size of a five-year-old child. With that weight and muscle mass, it’s hard to call it effective lethality, isn’t it?"

Lann shrugged indifferently.

"Don’t underestimate the Elu Cat; there are tough creatures in its species that can hunt dragons on their own."

"Dragons? Like the Dragon Race creatures such as Pterodactyls and Fork-tailed Dragons?"

"No," Lann said expressionlessly.

"It’s the kind that are more than ten meters long, seven or eight meters tall at the shoulder, weighing tens of tons. Did you know Ossenford University recently unearthed some fossils? They’re unlike dragon skeletons, prehistoric fossils at least several hundred million years old, and they’ve named them ’dinosaurs.’"

"Most of the dragons that Rong Buqiu and the others face are like that."

"’Dinosaurs’? I heard Dandelion mention it a few times. He says it’s a major discovery in biology, evidence of the era before any life had developed intelligence."

Geralt nodded in agreement after thinking for a moment.

Don’t be fooled by demon hunters spending most of their time eating in the wind and sleeping outdoors, living like wild men, but they are undoubtedly highly educated people of this era.

Even the professors and students at Ossenford feel a sense of ease and pleasure in equal communication when speaking with demon hunters.

This ’equality’ doesn’t refer to status or wealth, but to the reserve of knowledge and the development of intelligence.

"But I always feel, given the brain capacity of those skeletons, dinosaurs probably weren’t without wisdom."

"And, can the Elu Cat really hunt such level creatures alone?"

Lann glanced at Geralt strangely.

"Size and strength are not the determining factors in combat... I thought demon hunters especially knew that."

"After all, among our predecessors, there were those who genuinely hunted real dragons."

Although in the Magic Middle Ages, dragons weren’t an irreversible natural disaster.

Even a few burly humans, with excellent weapons and gear, and powerful bows and crossbows, could form a dragon-hunting squad.

That is to say, famous as the Clifford Raiders.

But the size disparity between dragons and humans is real; an adult dragon can be as large as a blue whale, and its mouth can fit two armored warriors fighting inside.

However, the dragons in this world, though they possess intelligence and even magic, do not have life force and defense stronger than their distant relatives, Pterodactyls and Fork-tailed Dragons.

Steel arrows can pierce through skin and muscle, wedge into bone crevices, and their scaled hides can’t withstand blades and hammers.

So when faced with prepared hunters, they are still doomed to die.

But in the monster world, the hometown of the Elu Cats, dragons have stronger life forces and defenses, where arrows like siege crossbows hitting them don’t seem to bother them unless they suffer too many blows.

Yet experienced hunters can ultimately wear them down, slowly depleting the monsters’ endless life force and hard shells with their attacks.

"Winning against bigger opponents happens with every mission we undertake. Even now, I couldn’t weigh more than a Rock Giant, but they still die by your sword."

"With experience and wisdom, the gap in size and strength always has a chance to be crossed."

"Exactly right," Geralt agreed with Lann’s statement, then slightly tilted his head towards the enthusiastic Rong Buqiu ahead.

"So are you planning to train it into an Elu Cat that can single-handedly take on dinosaurs?"

Geralt couldn’t help grinding his molars when he got to the end.

"It’s not so much training as progressing together."

Lann’s boot accidentally stepped into the water, splashing water everywhere.

"Don’t you think Rong Buqiu’s spirit is tougher than many well-known human warriors?"

"It will definitely become very formidable in the future."

"I heard meow!"

Ahead, Rong Buqiu suddenly squatted like a regular kitten, looked up, and meowed.

"You were complimenting how amazing I am, weren’t you meow!"

It looked very happy, glowing with joy.

Its growth environment was never one for much concealment.

"Yes, very amazing." Lann waved at it with a smile, and the Three-Floral Kitten happily leapt three feet high.

"We’re almost there." Suddenly, a sound of nostrils sniffing came, and Geralt’s deep, husky voice spoke.

Turning his head, he was sniffing with his eyes closed, head tilted back.

"I can smell it, the stench of that demon... Ugh, no matter how many times I smell demon dung, it’s so gross."

In fact, it’s not just disgusting; demon dung is one of the ingredients for the demon hunter’s alchemy bomb called [Demon Dust], which has decent toxicity.

It belongs to a type of stink bomb that can cause substantial harm.

"Think of it as a good thing..." Lann sniffed the air as well, frowning while confirming the direction of the smell. "It’s the smell of alchemy material; it’s money."

"Oh, I didn’t know you were so good at comforting people. I’m truly touched."

Geralt commented sarcastically beside him.

"If you learn more from me, wouldn’t you have fewer troubles with Yennefer?"

Faced with Geralt’s sarcasm, Lann silenced him with just one sentence.

Indeed, the Wolf School excels in dark humor and sarcasm, but the Bear School hits with critical strikes.

Geralt scowled and drew his Silver Sword from his back.

The two swords on his back were still the Valerian Steel Dual Swords Lann brought for him on the battlefield.

It’s hard for a demon hunter to find better swords than these.

The silver-plated layer on the Silver Sword covered the original pattern of Valerian Steel, like dark smoke and waves of water.

Lann’s left hand had already grasped the sheath handle of the Lady of the Lake’s Sword at his waist.

"Rong Buqiu, follow behind me."

"Understood meow!"

After a series of hand gestures, both demon hunters were enveloped by a golden glow of magic power.

[Quen Rune].

Though it feels like an overkill to send him and Geralt to deal with a Sheep-Horned Demon.

Nonetheless, caution remains a principle the demon hunters must adhere to.

"No other monster smells detected."

"Indeed, judging by the tracks, it’s alone here."

After exchanging the information obtained from their demon hunter senses, they nodded at each other.