Although they hadn't officially joined the Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne tribe yet, many of the Grimalkynes believed that the three warriors would become part of it sooner or later—and even the Fire Wyvern Grimalkynes themselves shared that view.
So, after the selection was complete, each of the three Grimalkyne warriors was assigned a tamed Jagras.
These Jagras, each wearing a specially crafted identification scale from the Fire Wyvern tribe on their chest, were collectively raised by the entire Fire Wyvern tribe inside the hollowed-out area of the Ancient Tree. Normally, only Grimalkyne warriors responsible for gathering resources outside were allowed to take a few of them out.
But now, each of these three chosen ones had one of their own.
This kind of reward made many of the Grimalkynes turn green with envy. Fired up, they shouted that they would train hard and participate in the next selection too.
Seeing the Grimalkynes so motivated, the Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne leader was very pleased. Although giving away three tamed Jagras all at once stung a little, the thought that they still ultimately belonged to the Fire Wyvern Grimalkynes made it easier to bear.
Meanwhile, inside Astera Base—
Several scholars from the research team were presenting their report on the Electric Wyvern.
"This Electric Wyvern, based on our analysis, definitely came from the Old World. It was just unlucky—right after landing in the New World, it ran into the Fire Wyvern the Admiral mentioned."
"However, after a detailed study, we found that apart from some old wounds, the only new injuries were the ones inflicted by the Rathalos after its arrival in the New World."
The scholar's words left everyone puzzled. Wasn't that obvious? Of course any wounds that weren't new had to be old.
Seeing the confusion on their faces, the scholar froze for a second before realizing he hadn't explained it clearly. He quickly added, "What I mean by 'old wounds' is—based on our analysis of the injury timelines, nearly all of them were sustained back in the Old World. In other words, this Electric Wyvern wasn't harmed at all during its migration across the ocean! That's what's unusual!"
With that added clarification, the expressions in the room eased up a bit.
The Admiral nodded, signaling him to continue.
"The distance between the Old World and the New World is massive. According to our calculations, even a monster like a Rathalos, known for its exceptional endurance in flight, wouldn't be able to make it across in one go. Only Elder Dragons—creatures that defy logic—could manage such a feat."
"That's why we hypothesize that there are likely many unknown islands scattered across the ocean between the two continents. These islands probably contain relatively complete ecosystems, enough to support migrating monsters through hunting and feeding."
"And where there's hunting, there's a chance of conflict. Judging by this Electric Wyvern's size, it's unlikely it could've come out of such fights completely unscathed."
"That's why we've put forward a bold hypothesis: this Electric Wyvern's arrival might be connected to the current Elder Dragon Crossing. The presence of Elder Dragons may have disrupted the ecosystems of those islands along the migration route, allowing the Electric Wyvern to make it here without injury."
"And if there's now a relatively safe route, then this Electric Wyvern definitely isn't going to be the only one."
The Field Master frowned and stroked her chin. "So what you're saying is... there's a high chance more Electric Wyverns might migrate here in the near future?"
"No, not just Electric Wyverns!" the scholar corrected seriously. "Any monster capable of long-distance flight could be on its way!"
As soon as those words were spoken, the room erupted into chatter.
If the scholar's hypothesis turned out to be true, what kind of impact would that have on the New World's ecosystem?
"Enough!" the Admiral stood up, his voice cutting through the noise.
"This isn't something we can easily stop. From now on, all hunters heading out on missions should stay alert—keep an eye out for any possible mass migrations of creatures from the Old World."
"Also, everyone needs to prepare for the arrival of the Second Fleet and the launch of Elder Dragon surveillance operations!"
With the Admiral's orders given, everyone present snapped back to focus.
Whether flying monsters would begin large-scale migration was still just a theory. But the Second Fleet had already set off. They were tracking the Elder Dragon known as Teostra across the Elder Dragon Crossing. Right now, nothing was more important than investigating that phenomenon.
Once the others had left, the Admiral let out a slow breath. He wasn't sure whether the scholar's theory held water—but this was one of those things where it was better to believe than to ignore. Still, at the moment, the Research Commission had too much on its plate to worry about it.
...Perhaps he could give that Fire Wyvern friend a heads-up?
And just like that, the days passed one by one.
The Ancient Forest remained relatively quiet. Aside from the Azure Rathalos—who frequently left to hunt and occasionally got into territorial skirmishes with other Rathalos—nothing out of the ordinary really happened.
Unlike the Azure Rathalos, the short-tempered Pink Rathian, perhaps preparing for pregnancy, rarely left her nest.
And to Logan's mixed amusement and resignation, even as a subspecies, this couple couldn't escape the irresistible charm of the cats.
In just a little over ten days, the Azure-Pink Fire Wyvern pair had already been fully won over by the Grimalkynes and had begun accepting their services without shame.
When the Azure Rathalos clashed with another Rathalos, some of the cats would even hide nearby during their battles—collecting any fallen scales or other materials dropped in the heat of the fight.
In the cooperation agreement between the Fire Wyvern tribe of the Ancient Tree and the Research Commission, aside from future support in investigations, another major aspect was gathering materials like scales and wyvern bones for them—or even sourcing certain local delicacies from the depths of the Ancient Tree.
In return, the Research Commission would offer equivalent compensation. The Grimalkynes could use that compensation to exchange for supplies from the Commission, and they could even use it to issue their own quests!
Of course, since this collaboration had only just begun, these deeper cooperative arrangements had yet to be fully implemented.
That day, after collecting enough materials to fill the load of four Jagras, the Fire Wyvern Grimalkynes called over two Felynes who had been surveying the area around the Ancient Tree recently. Together with the three newly selected Grimalkyne warriors, they set out for Astera Base.
At that very moment, many people were gathered on the ship docked at Astera Base. These were hunters tasked with supporting operations in the Ancient Forest.
Since there wasn't a fixed landing point, the Commission had stationed personnel in both the Ancient Forest and the Wildspire Waste for coordination and support.
Judging by the calendar, the Second Fleet was due to arrive within the next few days. The ship's elevated position made it easier to observe the sea surface.
"Hmm? Look over there! That's a distress signal!"
Just then, a hunter eating some Felyne food caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye—four consecutive distress flares rising from the coastline at the edge of the Ancient Forest.
"That location… we don't have anyone stationed out there, do we?"
"It must be the Second Fleet! Four signal flares—did they run into an Elder Dragon?!"
The hunters turned their heads and began speculating aloud.
Already fully geared for days now and ready for support duties, the Admiral didn't hesitate. He let out a sharp whistle, calling over a Wingdrake. With a quick toss, he hooked onto the rope successfully.
"I'm going ahead to check it out—stay ready to provide backup at any time!"
Right beside him, Sita followed his example, grabbing hold of another Wingdrake and flying off after him.
...
At the edge of the Ancient Forest, near a sea outlet—
Three massive wyvernbone ships were moored along the shoreline. Farther down the coast, more than a dozen hunters were fighting in coordination, doing everything they could to buy time for the others to evacuate.
At the center of the hunters' formation loomed a colossal, quadrupedal, winged Elder Dragon—an unknown entity.
Its limbs were thick and grew horizontally from its torso. A broad pair of wings extended from its back, and two massive, curved horns protruded from its head. Its entire body was covered in deadly spikes, making it look like a demon born from the depths of hell.
Even though the hunters present had all been selected for their elite combat abilities—and were equipped with the latest-generation armor specifically redesigned by the Second Fleet Master to eliminate the distinction between melee and ranged roles—they were still as fragile as paper in the face of this Elder Dragon.
The pressure generated by a single flap of its wings was enough to disrupt the melee fighters' momentum mid-attack.
With just one wing strike, a hunter was sent flying—his fate unknown.
One hunter took advantage of a gap in the Elder Dragon's assault to unleash a fully charged strike. His greatsword struck one of the spikes on its arm, shattering it—but the sheer number and density of spikes caused the blade to deflect, preventing it from slicing into flesh.
Still, the attack at least cleared a small section of its body unprotected by spikes. If they could find the right opening, maybe they could finally deal some damage...
"How is that possible?!"
The greatsword user had just dodged an incoming blow and was preparing to press the attack—only to see, to his disbelief, that the spike he had just destroyed was already growing back at a pace visible to the naked eye.
At the same time, the Light Bowgun users in the rear noticed something else: the spikes on this unknown Elder Dragon were turning from white to black.
Their bullets bounced off the black spikes with little effect—most deflected outright, and the few that stuck only barely embedded themselves.
Riding atop a Canyne, the Dual Blades user leapt high into the air, a fierce, demon-like aura flaring around him. He spun downward from above, his sharp twin blades slashing the unknown Elder Dragon at an extremely high frequency.
But the moment he landed, the Elder Dragon's wing smacked him away. The black spikes on its body remained completely intact.
Seeing all their comrades' attacks fail to make a dent, three Longsword users exchanged a glance, then moved together. Timing their strike with a lull in the Elder Dragon's offense, they each targeted its head and unleashed Unhinged Spirit.
Red light flared along their long blades. In an instant, the trio shot forward with lightning-fast thrusts—then launched skyward.
Energy gathered along the length of their swords, and from midair, they aligned themselves for a crushing descent.
"Haah!" *3
With sharp, chilling shouts, they brought their blades down as their bodies plummeted.
But at that moment, as if finally growing irritated by the constant harassment, the unknown Elder Dragon lowered its head and slammed its massive horns into the ground.
Using the resistance of the terrain, it suddenly jerked its head upward—launching a barrage of obsidian-like spikes into the air.
Each spike shot forth like an arrow, densely packed and razor-sharp.
The rain of spikes skewered the distant Light Bowgun users who hadn't managed to evade in time—turning them into human pincushions.
Worse still, it caught the three Longsword users midair—before they could even land, before they had a chance to dodge.
They didn't even have time to scream.
Their bodies, pierced through by the spike storm, were flung across the battlefield.
In just a short span of time, more than half of the Second Fleet's accompanying hunters had already fallen.
And even so, this still wasn't the unknown Elder Dragon's true strength.
To it, these hunters were nothing more than ants that had interrupted its attempt to hunt the Teostra. With that monster's escape, they had simply become targets for its wrath.
After all, it wasn't as if they required any real effort to crush.
During that brief onslaught, the hunters realized that this was an enemy far beyond what they could handle. They immediately changed tactics—from offense to defense—pulling back to maintain distance and stall for time, silently praying that the First Fleet's reinforcements would arrive soon.
As for retreating altogether—that was never part of their choices.
From the moment one becomes a hunter, the conviction to protect the natural ecosystem and safeguard humanity's home is drilled deep into their very being.
To grow through the hunt, and to die in the hunt—that is the fate that awaits the vast majority of hunters.
What's more, the enemy they now faced was an unknown Elder Dragon!
To engage an Elder Dragon in battle—even if it meant death—somehow didn't feel so unacceptable in this moment.
Finally, after losing two more comrades, the Admiral descended from the sky.
The sound of his landing drew the attention of the Nergigante.
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---