"Hyaah!"
The scalpel-turned-weapon met the hatchling's flank in a gliding arc, its sharpened blade hitting the creature's carapace with a sickening crack. It wasn't a clean strike, but it sent the hatchling with a loud shrieked, its body thrashing to the ground violently.
"Not like cutting vellum," Auri hissed, steadying himself after nearly losing his grip. "Definitely not like cutting vellum."
Auri tightened his grip around the handle with both hands, grimacing at the sticky trail of fluid left behind on its blade. The hatchling was down, but not dead—yet.
Gritting his teeth, Auri stepped forward again, adjusting his stance. "Alright. Let's try that again… properly."
The next hatchling lunged, and this time Auri was ready—not perfect, but better. He braced his feet and twisted into a diagonal upward slash, mimicking a move he'd seen in the computer games he had played, where the main character made clean, fluid arcs that cut through monsters like paper.
