Chapter 89

"Actually... it flew away..." Seeing the large strange bird flying away, Catherine was stunned for a moment, still immersed in the hunt. After a while, she complained with some reluctance, "I was about to win, and it actually ran away..."

"There's no need to be discouraged. In my opinion, you did a pretty good job... meow!" Wenlong said seriously.

"R-really, Mr. Cat?" With Wenlong's words, Catherine's somewhat depressed mood improved a bit.

"Hmph, have I ever lied to you? Of course, compared to me, you're still far behind, meow!"

Although Wenlong couldn't help but boast a bit about himself, it must be admitted that his praise for Catherine was genuinely heartfelt.

During the previous hunt, the large strange bird used its flying ability to dodge Catherine's pursuit at the last moment. However, from what Wenlong observed, Catherine possessed two abilities that were not common among ordinary people. One he called "disassembling moves," and the other he called "foresight"! And in Wenlong's view, "disassembling moves" and "foresight" were often two essential abilities for a top hunter.

After all, a person with only brute strength could never become a truly top hunter.

This was evident when Catherine dodged the large strange bird's tail swipe. The first time, Catherine was hit on the shoulder by the bird's tail. The second time, she immediately learned to exploit the weaknesses in the bird's moves, dodging the attack and counterattacking at the same time. This was what was called "disassembling moves."

To understand the weaknesses in the opponent's moves so quickly and disassemble them was no small feat. However, if it were just the speed of "disassembling moves," Wenlong wouldn't have been too surprised.

The reason was that analyzing the weaknesses in a single move and disassembling it wasn't too difficult. What was difficult was predicting the opponent's moves, which was what he called "foresight."

In this world, there were no perfect moves. Any move had weaknesses that could be exploited. If a hunter could predict the monster's next move, it would be much easier to counter it. In fact, many experienced old hunters could do this. Even a novice hunter like Catherine, after Wenlong imparted his experience, could do this to some extent.

For example, at the beginning of the encounter with the large strange bird, Catherine predicted that the bird would most likely use fireballs for a long-range attack and took precautions in advance. This allowed her to roll out of the way at the right moment, avoiding the fireball attack and closing the distance with the large strange bird.

Wenlong was most proud of his "foresight" ability. As someone who had played the game for many years, Wenlong had accumulated a wealth of hunting experience. It was this experience, combined with his insight, that allowed him to not only predict the monster's next move most of the time but sometimes even predict the next few moves in a sequence!

This was evident during the battle with the Star Dragon. From the beginning, using a stealth skill to pry off the Star Dragon's scales, to being attacked by the Star Dragon's claws, then being pursued by the Star Dragon, being surrounded by Star Dragonflies, and finally, the reclusive Star Dragon giving up the chase and leaving on its own... except for the tail swipe where Wenlong's negligence caused him some trouble, the entire sequence of events was basically within Wenlong's foresight from the start.

This was like playing chess. If a player could predict the opponent's next five moves, they would be considered an amateur expert. If a player could predict the opponent's next ten moves, they would be considered a professional player. And if a player could predict the opponent's next twenty moves, they would be considered a top professional.

The same applied to hunting. A hunter who could foresee the entire hunting process, including the series of reactions the prey would make, before taking action, would naturally be a top hunter.

Of course, Catherine couldn't match Wenlong's level, but just now, even without her explanation, Wenlong had already noticed that Catherine had managed to see through the large strange bird's two consecutive moves! This was undoubtedly a significant improvement!

The reason was the calm smile on Catherine's face when she rolled to dodge the large strange bird's second peck. That smile was like a hunter mocking the prey for falling into their trap, and the purpose of this trap was to provoke the large strange bird's second move, the tail swipe!

It was from this smile that Wenlong read Catherine's thoughts.

Taking advantage of the large strange bird's peck, she used a roll to dodge the peck and moved to the bird's side. At this point, the large strange bird wouldn't have time to readjust its direction and would most likely use the tail swipe, which had hit Catherine once before and was considered very effective. Then, she seized the opportunity to lower her center of gravity, just enough to dodge the large strange bird's tail and deal a significant blow!

"Actually, you can predict and disassemble two consecutive moves so quickly. Hmph, it's not a waste of my training. Indeed, a great teacher produces great students, meow." Wenlong thought to himself with some pride.

Just as Wenlong was thinking this, Catherine's mood, which had improved slightly due to Wenlong's praise, began to sink again.

"Sigh..."

Catherine sighed lightly and gazed in the direction the large strange bird had flown, clearly still feeling regret over letting the bird escape just as she was about to succeed in the hunt.

"Mr. Cat, can we still find that large strange bird?" Catherine asked.

"This time, we should still be able to. The large strange bird can't fly far with such heavy bleeding. It will definitely have to stop to treat its wounds... meow." Wenlong replied.

"Really! Mr. Cat, let's go chase that large strange bird!" Catherine said excitedly.

"Okay, don't rush. Let me check first, meow." Wenlong waved his hand slowly, signaling Catherine not to rush.

Wenlong bent down to carefully examine the bloodstains on the ground. Since the large strange bird's severed foot was bleeding profusely, even after it had taken flight, the bloodstains on the ground were still clearly visible. Based on this, tracking the large strange bird wouldn't be too difficult.