In the southernmost hunting grounds of the Ancient Tree region, Aki was wandering leisurely through the area, a faint sense of unease creeping in.
She had been staking out the hunting ground for quite some time now, but up to this point, she hadn't seen even a single Aptonoth.
That was strange—this hunting ground was nestled in a deep valley within the forest, surrounded by steep cliffs. Other than Flying Wyverns, very few large monsters ever came here to hunt.
As a result, the herds of Aptonoth that lived here were not only large in number but also plump and well-fed, with top-quality meat.
More importantly, this area was also known for frequent appearances of Mosswine.
Lately, Aki had sensed that her mate was in a bit of a strange mood—like he was trying to vent something. He'd been training more aggressively, and once, he'd even pushed himself to the point of total exhaustion.
Don't get the wrong idea—this wasn't a good thing for a Fire Wyvern.
Flying is extremely taxing for a male Fire Wyvern. Typically, they go out hunting about four times a day. Over the course of a full day, aside from eating and occasionally stopping to catch their breath, it's like they're constantly jogging—never truly resting.
In addition to the occasional territorial disputes and skirmishes over hunting grounds, it could be said that a male Fire Wyvern's daily level of physical activity was quite extraordinary.
So, in Aki's view, the fact that Logan still took time to train with her—and had even once exhausted himself completely—was clearly him venting some kind of emotion she couldn't understand.
For that reason, Aki had deliberately flown farther out today and come to this hunting ground, hoping to pick out a particularly tender Aptonoth and bring back a Mosswine to help lift Logan's mood.
For monsters, nothing eases the mind better than eating prey they enjoy.
Aki stepped through the grass, head lowered, sniffing the ground in search of Aptonoth tracks.
From the cliffs above, a Flying Wyvern slowly emerged from the greenery—its body over 19 meters long. Its back, tail, and wings were covered in golden, blade-like reverse scales known as "blade-scales." A massive, blade-shaped horn jutted from the top of its head. Its wings were broad, and its hind legs were long and powerful. The overall color of its body was a deep bronze.
Its sharp eyes instantly locked onto Aki, still tracking the scent of herbivores below.
Lifting its gaze to the sky and confirming the absence of any male Fire Wyverns, the Thousand Blade Wyvern suddenly beat its wings hard and dove straight down toward Aki.
It was well-known that the Thousand Blade Wyvern ranked among the most explosive and agile of all Flying Wyverns. It excelled at using wind and updrafts in combat, occupying a high ecological niche.
In aerial combat, only the male Fire Wyvern and the Electric Wyvern could rival it among the Flying Wyverns.
Thus, according to the records of the Scholars' Team, one of this creature's favorite behaviors was ambushing female Fire Wyverns whenever their male counterparts were away.
In truth, the Thousand Blade Wyvern possessed an extremely aggressive territorial instinct and an unusually strong sense of dominance. Its territory frequently overlapped with that of Fire Wyverns, and female Fire Wyverns, being easier to bully, became its preferred targets.
Now, at this very moment, the Thousand Blade Wyvern—having just arrived on this continent and selected a territory—suddenly spotted a female Fire Wyvern.
No matter the reason, it launched the first attack!
The Seregios let out a series of piercing wyvern cries—although they somewhat resembled a rooster's crow, the naked killing intent they carried was unmistakable.
Aki looked up and saw a Flying Wyvern she had never encountered before charging straight at her with hostility.
Her pupils narrowed. Several intensely hot fireballs erupted from her mouth. Caught off guard, the Seregios dodged in a panic but was still hit.
The searing pain and blistering heat passed through its scale-blades and into its flesh. The scales where the fireballs struck exploded violently.
Its balance was completely broken by the sheer force of the blasts.
Before it could even react, it crashed into the ground with a dull, heavy thud.
It had never seen a Rathian fight back like this!
Back in the Old World, when a Rathian spotted a diving attack, its first response was usually to take off—or, at best, to dodge in a panic.
But this one? She opened with a barrage of explosive fireballs?
Did she not need to charge them up?
And how was her flame sac—and throat—able to withstand such continuous bursts?
The Seregios couldn't comprehend it.
As it struggled through the pain to get back on its feet, dazed, it suddenly saw a massive green body—like a speeding truck—charging right at it. Before it could launch a single blade scale, that terrifying force slammed into it midsection.
It was bulldozed across a long distance and finally smashed hard into a tree.
The tree snapped with a crack, and the Seregios coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Aki's wings bore massive, sharpened spikes, one of which had driven deep into the Seregios's belly. With a brutal twist, she yanked it out—blood sprayed in all directions.
Before the Seregios could even fall, a sweeping tail strike slammed into its head, delivering a potent dose of venom.
Aki coldly stared at the twitching beast slumped on the ground. It still clung to life, barely moving.
She took two steps back, her expression unmoved.
The armor on her chest glowed red-hot as an intense heat radiated outward.
Her flame sac activated. Flames built rapidly in her throat.
The next moment, a violent blast of fire erupted from her jaws, striking the Seregios dead-on. It surged into a towering inferno—a raging firestorm that shot straight into the sky.
Though the duration of Aki's breath was short, the temperature was anything but low.
The Seregios made no further sound—completely engulfed and silenced within the flames.
Aki stepped through the lingering embers and approached the Seregios's corpse. She pressed her foot down on its neck a few times. Once she was sure it was truly dead, she finally turned to leave.
This hunting ground had been without herbivores for a while now. Most likely, this thing was the cause. And now with such a loud fight having just taken place, those herbivores wouldn't be returning any time soon.
Just after flapping her wings and taking off, Aki suddenly remembered something Logan had mentioned: when out hunting, if she killed some foolish creature that didn't know its place, she should remember to bring the corpse back.
Of course, she didn't bring these corpses back for herself to eat. With Aki's intelligence, and after hearing Logan and the Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne leader talk several times, she naturally understood.
These unwanted carcasses were apparently quite valuable to those on the forest outskirts—the ones who could make delicious food. The cats under her command were connected to them.
Besides, last time she was seriously injured, those tasty aquatic things the cats mentioned were traded using these corpses.
More importantly—Logan had specifically instructed her to do this!
So Aki turned around, grabbed the Seregios's corpse, and flew toward the Ancient Tree.
'With this corpse—and once I hunt a few more good things—his mood should improve, right?'
She silently thought to herself.
...
When Logan returned from patrolling the territory, he heard a commotion of roars coming from the direction of the Azure and Pink Fire Wyverns pair.
Curious, he rose in altitude and approached for a better look. What he saw was a badly injured Grimalkyne carefully placing a wyvern egg into the Pink Rathian's nest. Then, with great care, it began wiping its own blood off the surface of the egg.
Once it had cleaned it, the Grimalkyne took leaves from the nest that carried the scent of the Azure-Pink couple and gently rubbed them onto the egg, masking its own scent—and that of the Kulu-Ya-Ku. That way, the Pink Rathian, as the mother, wouldn't reject the egg.
After completing all this, under the complex and conflicted gaze of the Azure-Pink couple, the Grimalkyne slowly exited the nest—deliberately keeping its posture non-threatening to avoid any misunderstanding—before finally collapsing into the arms of its companion.
The cats cried out anxiously and scrambled to place the wounded Grimalkyne onto a Jagras's back, rushing it back to the Grimalkyne camp for emergency treatment.
The Pink Rathian stared at the retreating figures of the Grimalkynes. She lowered her head and sniffed the wyvern egg, her eyes filled with hesitation.
For a long while, she remained frozen. Then finally, she extended her tongue and began gently licking the surface of the egg. Perhaps she was trying to remove any lingering foreign scent—or perhaps she was absorbing the new trace of blood.
After she finished licking the entire wyvern egg clean, the Pink Rathian let out a low growl toward the Azure Rathalos standing guard at her side.
The Azure Rathalos understood his mate's intentions. He spread his massive wings and swiftly took off from the Ancient Tree—heading toward a hunting ground that still had a decent supply of resources.
Logan circled once through the sky and returned to the nest. Just then, a Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne—the one who had gone to support the Grimalkyne warriors earlier—trotted up and began reporting to him.
In truth, there hadn't been any major complications.
When they had followed that small trail in pursuit, the Kulu-Ya-Ku had already been intercepted by several Grimalkyne warriors.
Perhaps because the Pink Rathian's egg was so precious—even to the Kulu-Ya-Ku—it couldn't bear to part with it.
So, surprisingly, the Kulu-Ya-Ku had placed the egg in a relatively safe spot before turning to attack the Grimalkyne warriors blocking its way.
During the ensuing fight, one Grimalkyne deliberately drew the Kulu-Ya-Ku's attention by taking a hit on purpose, allowing another to quietly sneak in and carry the egg away.
When the Kulu-Ya-Ku realized what had happened and tried to give chase, it was held back at the cost of blood by the Grimalkyne warriors. In the end, the Fire Wyvern Grimalkynes arrived just in time and, using the narrow path to their advantage—with a Jagras holding the front line—they drove the Kulu-Ya-Ku back using newly upgraded weapons.
The Grimalkynes had successfully recovered the Rathian egg.
What followed was everything Logan had just witnessed.
"I see."
Logan nodded in understanding. He hadn't expected the Grimalkynes living in the Ancient Tree to be capable of something like this now. No wonder the wild Fire Wyverns of the Ancient Tree had accepted them so quickly.
More than just fulfilling their duties, it was genuine sincerity that allowed both sides to coexist in harmony and build a symbiotic relationship.
Of course, that wasn't the only thing Logan was paying attention to.
According to the Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne, they had fought the Kulu-Ya-Ku in a tight, confined space.
Yet Logan noticed that the Fire Wyvern Grimalkynes who went to support the fight had hardly any real injuries. Though their armor bore some traces of being struck, their relaxed chatting and casual patrolling made it obvious—those were all minor wounds.
This clearly showed that the combat strength of the cats had improved significantly.
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