Dragon Slayer's Heart and the Hunter's Awakening

Has the Hunter already arrived on the New World?

What did the Great Leader and Commander look like when they were young in the game?

As a dragon, and a dragon with great prospects for development, Xingyan was not dissatisfied with his current life.

It was at least better than his previous life, where he saw no hope and repeated meaningless labor day after day. It was full of hope and the motivation to strive.

In short, even though he had adapted to this life of thinking from a dragon's perspective, when Xingyan flipped through the fragments of his past life as a human in his memory, he always felt a sense of nostalgia.

Precisely because of this, he was now somewhat unsure of his own feelings.

Anxiously, he didn't know what kind of feeling it would be if he actually saw a Hunter. Would it be anticipation? Or fear? Caution? Panic? Worry?

He wasn't even sure if he was truly looking forward to the Hunter's appearance.

Hunters in the real world certainly wouldn't be running around carelessly in such a dangerous natural environment. They would use various means to hide and camouflage themselves. Moreover, compared to large dragons, they were too small, so it was normal not to find them.

Perhaps a Hunter was already active in the Great Sand Sea.

Thinking of this possibility, Xingyan inexplicably felt like laughing.

To be honest, he was quite curious about how the Hunter would evaluate him.

Well, for now... he could only be described as an unremarkable Dragon Slayer, right?

Shaking his head, Xingyan walked towards the sea while lost in thought.

It was quite safe around here. Although Sea Dragon Species occasionally appeared on the beach, these guys were not as powerful on land as they were in water, so there was no need to worry.

The coastline of the Great Sand Sea was very long, but a large portion of it was cliffs. The waves crashed directly against the cliff edges, making deafening roars.

If one were to look down at the entire New World from high above, with the landing point of Hunters from the Old World being to the south, then Xingyan's current location was the southeastern part of the Great Sand Sea.

After jumping over a stretch of towering rocks and passing through several canyons, Xingyan finally arrived at a wide, sandy area. He could already see the sea.

But the sea was no longer important. Xingyan had already seen something more important – a ship.

A wooden ship.

There was only one, but it was enormous. It was now tilted on the beach as if it had run aground, looking very dilapidated. With Xingyan's eyesight, he could still see a large hole on the side of its hull. He didn't know if it was caused by hitting rocks or by some Sea Dragon Species.

The Hunters were there, so close.

With wide eyes, Xingyan, standing in the distance, could clearly see many tiny figures, like Ant Workers, constantly unloading things from the ship and piling them up on the shore in a spot near the cliff.

The Hunters had already landed?!

And judging by the appearance, they had only landed not long ago. Although Xingyan saw the tents the Hunters had set up, perhaps due to a lack of wood, they hadn't even managed to build a simple house.

It made sense. After thinking carefully, Xingyan remembered that in the game, the First Expeditionary Force directly used their ship as the base for their settlement, and it took them forty years to expand it into the Starry Base that players saw.

According to the old man from the processing shop in the game, they had mined in the Great Sand Sea for forty years, and the foundation of the Starry Base was built with the stones transported during that process.

Could it be said that they were worthy of being Ape Dragon Species?

The Hunters' physical strength and vitality were somewhat too great. A wooden box taller than a person could be carried by a single Hunter, and a broken mast as thick as a person's waist only required two or three people to carry it ashore.

It could only be said that the members of the First Expeditionary Force, who were tasked with tracking Elder Dragons in unknown territories, were quite capable, unlike the later expeditions that specialized in construction or research.

A sense of inexplicable panic and nervousness surged through Xingyan. This panic was even different from the tension he felt when fighting dragons like the Mudfish Dragon.

The sounds of laughter and shouting from the Hunters at work became fragmented from such a distance, and only faint voices could be heard.

In the end, he... turned and left.

After personally witnessing the existence of the Hunters, Xingyan confirmed his true thoughts.

I am already a dragon.

Precisely because of this, Xingyan had no intention of greeting or trying to communicate with the Hunters at this moment.

Even a fool would know what would happen if a Dragon Slayer suddenly appeared before the Hunters. The First Expeditionary Force was not here to study ecology. At this moment, they didn't even know how vast the New World was; they thought they had merely landed on a larger island.

Nor had they made the decision to live and research here for a long time. The First Expeditionary Force, having just landed on the New World, still held the idea that they were just completing a guild quest and would leave as soon as possible.

Therefore, they would likely take the initiative to eliminate dangerous monsters near their camp for their own safety and that of their companions. Anyway, given the special nature of their mission, the guild had granted them considerable autonomy.

Regardless of whether the Hunters would hunt young dragons due to their focus on ecological balance, or simply capture them for research.

Most importantly, Xingyan would never entrust his life to others, to be decided by their will.

I am destined to become a forbidden existence.

--As a dragon, Xingyan had his own pride.

So, let's go back first.

Wait a little longer, observe a bit more.

The Hunters have arrived, and he needs to respond accordingly... The Kulu-Ya-Ku brothers really need to be careful now.

"Prioritize moving the food! Pile it all below the cliff! Be careful! Don't let any strange monsters steal it, or we'll all go hungry!"

"You, you, you, and you, the four of you, Great Sword users, right? I have a task for you now. Take a few people and level these stones. It needs to look at least a bit like a settlement before the Leader and the others return!"

In the temporary camp set up by the Hunters, a man with a handlebar mustache was directing the Hunters coming and going, organizing the various supplies unloaded from the ship into piles. He wasn't tall, even a bit short.

"Huh? Us? Use Great Swords?"

The few people called over by the man with the handlebar mustache widened their eyes.

"Don't be stingy with weapons in an emergency like this. Are those stones harder than dragon scales?" the man with the handlebar mustache said grumpily. "Hurry up, we still need to set up the camp's defenses. It'll be trouble if some monster attacks."

"Alright, alright," the Hunter carrying a Great Sword shook his head helplessly. He looked back at the ship behind him and said, "What a shame, our Star Ship has to be dismantled like this..."

"I told you not to be so petty," the man grinned. "You saw it yourself, this is a barren land lacking resources. Every material must be utilized as much as possible—later, you'll still need to go deep into the wasteland to hunt monsters. Otherwise, the materials I have won't be enough."

"Oh! Leave it to me!" The Hunter carrying the Great Sword patted his chest enthusiastically. "By the way, Captain, can you give us a discount later?"

"Of course, no problem! So hurry up and get to—hm?"

The man with the handlebar mustache, or more accurately, the Technical Class Captain of the First Expeditionary Force responsible for repairing, maintaining, and crafting weapons and armor for these Hunters, suddenly turned his head towards Xingyan's location.

"What's wrong? Is there danger?"

The Technical Class Captain's action caught the attention of a Hunter in the distance. He was wearing a full set of Female Fire Dragon armor, completely covered from head to toe. On his back, he also carried a Long Sword crafted from Female Fire Dragon materials. The First Expeditionary Force's flag was slung diagonally across his chest.

Undoubtedly, with the two leaders of the First Expeditionary Force absent, this Hunter was the one left in charge of guarding the camp. He was powerful and known as the Sword Master.

For Hunters, they preferred to be called by their nicknames rather than their real names, as these nicknames were affirmations of their past achievements.

"No, perhaps I was mistaken," the Technical Class Captain shook his head, looking puzzled.

For a moment, he thought there really was something there... He hoped it wasn't some unknown monster.

The diligent Hunters built a safe stronghold for themselves. A new species was added to the New World's food chain, but it didn't matter. For the diverse and complex ecosystem of the New World, the addition of Hunters wouldn't change anything.

It was just a part of the cycle.

But for Xingyan, this matter held a different kind of significance.

"Roar, roooar?" (You understand everything I'm saying, right?)

Xingyan, with a serious dragon face, squatted in front of the Kulu-Ya-Ku brothers.

"Gaa?"

Also squatting in front of Xingyan, the Kulu-Ya-Ku brothers tilted their heads, their calls simple and clear.

"Roooooar!" (Not a big dragon! And it's not that I can't beat them! It's that you'll be in great danger if you encounter them, understand?!)

"Gaa!"

"Roooooar!" (They'll eat you, use your hide to make clothes! Use your bones to make weapons! Just like my tail!)

As he spoke, Xingyan sharpened his blade with a shing-shing sound.

"Gaaa!!!"

The Kulu-Ya-Ku brothers immediately showed expressions of shock and panic—though it was unclear how that bird-like face could make such expressions.

"Roar, roooar!" (In short, from now on, whenever you go out, you'll come with me. I'll protect you!)

"Gaa!!"

Seeing the Kulu-Ya-Ku brothers looking delighted, Xingyan couldn't help but sigh.

As the dragon who had the greatest impact on his dragon life, Xingyan couldn't imagine a situation where the Kulu-Ya-Ku brothers were eaten by other dragons or killed by Hunters.

He would go mad.

Even though Xingyan no longer needed the Kulu-Ya-Ku brothers to steal eggs to feed him, due to the life-saving grace and the long-standing companionship day and night, the Kulu-Ya-Ku brothers had long been an indispensable part of Xingyan's family.

Both dragons had to live well.

After a great deal of effort, Xingyan managed to make the Kulu-Ya-Ku brothers understand that they couldn't wander off. And until the Hunters' mental state and logic were clearly understood, the Kulu-Ya-Ku brothers had to stay by his side.

Thus, a strange sight appeared in the Great Sand Sea for a time: a Dragon Slayer, seemingly a juvenile but far exceeding the size of a juvenile Dragon Slayer, was accompanied by a cheerful Kulu-Ya-Ku whether it was hunting or drinking water.

The Kulu-Ya-Ku was always chattering, and the Dragon Slayer didn't seem cold or aloof at all. Instead, it would occasionally push the Kulu-Ya-Ku, who got too close, away with its short front claws in a seemingly helpless manner.

Needless to say, the Hunters who had begun their exploration activities in the Great Sand Sea naturally noticed this bizarre sight.

Kulu-Ya-Ku were not creatures unique to the New World, nor were Dragon Slayers. It was precisely because they had a certain understanding of both creatures from their time in the Old World that the Hunters found this phenomenon even more perplexing.

What was going on?

Had the Dragon Slayer's personality changed?

What about the promised cold, ruthless, and aggressive nature?

And wasn't this Kulu-Ya-Ku a bit too bold?

There weren't many Scholars in the First Expeditionary Force. They were on the ship merely to satisfy their curiosity and to help the accompanying Hunters solve problems on an intellectual level.

But even they couldn't explain this strange phenomenon, only tentatively attributing it to a unique symbiotic relationship formed under accidental conditions.

How they coexisted and what each could do for the other remained to be studied.

According to the conjectures of some Scholars, this Dragon Slayer might be a sick one. The evidence was the sparse armor plates on its body, which looked as if another layer of armor had grown over the existing one, but unevenly, with high and low patches, making it look somewhat disgusting. Its body was also covered with large and small unknown spots.

The Kulu-Ya-Ku might be staying by its side precisely to solve this problem.

In any case, this situation was likely a special case even among Dragon Slayers.

The scholars' imaginations are quite wild; this is just one of their hypotheses, and there are many more outlandish ones.

During this period of predation, Xingyan had already discovered many hunters appearing in the Great Sand Sea.

It was unavoidable; the Flower Field Marshland Area was simply too close to the hunters' stronghold, possessing ample water sources while also being home to a large number of Carapace Dragons that could provide a safe food source for the hunters.

Setting aside Xingyan, the anomaly living by the water and a Dragon Slayer, the dragons that appeared here were mostly not battle-crazed, which ensured safety during the initial exploration.

It was just a bit too noisy.

The Dragon Slayer's sensitive hearing allowed Xingyan to hear the hunters digging for stones or ore in the wasteland from a great distance.

Clink, clank.