"Dangerous creatures? There are plenty," the Technical Class Captain recalled. "Female Fire Dragons, Seregios, Zinogre... There are monsters like Mud Fish Dragons and Earth Sand Dragons at the watering holes, too. This place may look desolate, but quite a few monsters live here, and they're very aggressive. Especially one terrifying brute of a creature—it's huge, and it'll chase you down and bite you."
"We've tentatively named that monster Great Jagras," the scholar added. "Its jaw is highly developed, long, and powerful, and its teeth can't retract into its mouth. It mainly attacks by tearing into its prey with those teeth."
"Still, if we're talking about something worth investigating, there's probably only one creature, right?" the Sword Master suddenly said.
"Ah, right, exactly!" The Technical Class Captain clapped his hands. "The strangest creature really is that Glavenus. I've never seen such a strange Glavenus!"
"A strange Glavenus?"
The members of the expedition team exchanged glances. For some reason, they all thought of the Glavenus hatchling they had encountered over half a year ago. Despite being young, it had defeated a large monster that was already fully grown. It had even set traps and used tactics.
If they hadn't just left their temporary camp and been in a hurry to track down the Lava Dragon and Kushala Daora, Yano would have wanted to stay and observe that Glavenus.
Even though they'd left at the time, the Leader had kept bringing up the little one from time to time during the journey. He'd clearly made quite an impression.
"Oh, do you mean a clever little one?" Sure enough, when he heard the scholar and the Technical Class Captain mention the Glavenus, the Leader burst out laughing. "It wasn't very big, but it was clearly different from other monsters. It even set traps, and its fighting style wasn't like the straightforward way most Glavenuses fought. Hmm... almost like a hunter!"
The more he spoke, the more certain he sounded. Finally, he brought his right fist down into his left palm and reached a conclusion.
"Exactly! A hunter! Someone with a frail body, wielding a somewhat sharp weapon to challenge powerful monsters. That's what a hunter is!"
"Little one?"
The scholar tilted his head in confusion.
"Frail body?"
The Technical Class Captain's eyes widened.
"A somewhat sharp weapon? A hunter?"
The Sword Master tapped his helmet, making a crisp sound, and looked puzzled too.
"Hm? Are we not talking about the same Glavenus?" Realizing that the two groups seemed to be talking about different things, Yano asked in confusion, "Are there lots of Glavenuses near the camp? That wouldn't make sense."
"There's only one Glavenus, but honestly, it's not small at all," the Technical Class Captain said with a grin.
"Hmm... the Leader isn't exactly wrong, either. In terms of its growth stage, that Glavenus is still a juvenile," the scholar mused. "But its growth has been abnormal. It's as if it skipped adolescence and went straight to adulthood."
"What?!"
The expedition team members looked at one another. Now it was their turn to be astonished.
Xingyan had no idea that the hunters' main fighting force had returned from afar. They were already discussing plans to hunt and clear out the dangerous monsters that threatened the camp's safety—and had even ended up talking about him.
He'd slept like a log.
The Life Energy accumulated from eating came into play when its owner was injured, mending wounds and restoring health... Of course, it couldn't heal excessively severe injuries. When a dragon died, its Life Energy returned to the New World's cycle of life.
That was also why the New World's dragons were more likely to become Tempered monsters. Their vitality was simply too tenacious. They did their best not to die.
When Xingyan opened his eyes again, he could clearly feel that his bones had stiffened from staying in one position for so long. He felt as though the slightest sudden movement would make them crack and creak.
But even more bewildering than his aching bones was the taste in his mouth... uh, grass.
It tasted like plant sap, and his mouth was completely stuffed with it. The plants farther inside felt soft and soggy, almost as if they'd melted...
He instinctively chewed a few times and swallowed. Not bad?
Could be worse.
Xingyan shook his enormous head and got to his feet. Gradually, he started remembering what had happened before he went to sleep. He hadn't managed to kill that Tempered Female Fire Dragon, and he'd been poisoned and injured himself. As soon as he'd returned home, he'd collapsed and fallen asleep. He had no idea how much time had passed... In any case, he was now standing in pretty much the same spot where he'd lain down.
But what was all this stuff in his mouth?
I don't remember turning into a grass-eating dragon.
A familiar set of footsteps grew clearer outside the cave. Before Xingyan could sort everything out, he saw the Bird Bro walk in, carrying a huge bundle of green plants.
"Chirp? Gu-ga! Gu-gu-ga!!!"
First came a disbelieving cry, then a string of delighted chirps. The Bird Bro tossed aside the bundle it had been holding and hurried over, bouncing excitedly in front of Xingyan.
It was obvious Xingyan's awakening had put it at ease. The whole bird was overjoyed.
Warmth. That was all Xingyan felt inside right now: warmth.
Even in a cold, merciless wilderness, there was still genuine affection. It felt wonderful to wake up injured and have someone—well, another dragon—there worrying about him.
Clack, clack, clack!
"Roar! Roar!!" (Go away! Stop pecking at me! You shouldn't peck at this!)
Xingyan was still feeling touched when he suddenly heard a crisp pecking sound. He lowered his head and saw the Bird Bro pecking at his armor. What a fool! This wasn't something it should be pecking at!
The Tempered Female Fire Dragon's fate was still fresh in his mind. He didn't want his Bird Bro to lose its head, so he firmly nudged it aside and solemnly warned it not to peck at his armor.
"Ga..."
Uh, it understood what Xingyan meant. After he used his little stubby claw to push it aside, the Bird Bro's mood visibly sank. It thought he was rejecting it and driving it away.
"Ga! Ga..."
Its once-straight back hunched over, and its cries turned mournful. If its body had allowed it, it would have looked ready to burst into tears.
"Roar! Roar, roar!!" (Don't get the wrong idea! I'm worried you'll get hurt! Hey! Come back!)
It took Xingyan quite a while to make the Bird Bro understand that he wasn't driving it away. He just wanted it to stop pecking his armor. Just look at what had happened to that Female Fire Dragon. If it didn't want to get blown up like her, it shouldn't go pecking at him.
Once the Bird Bro understood that its little one wasn't trying to chase it off, but was only looking out for its safety, it immediately perked up again.
Xingyan finally understood why his mouth tasted so strongly of plant sap. The Bird Bro couldn't talk or count, so it couldn't tell him exactly how long he'd been asleep.
But while Xingyan had been unconscious, it certainly hadn't been idle. Besides stealing eggs to feed itself every day, it had risked its life exploring the Great Sand Sea. It had searched for the medicinal herbs it remembered, then brought them back and fed them to Xingyan.
Watching the Bird Bro imitate a dragon pinning its head to the ground and then chasing it all the way across the area, Xingyan heard it chirping away about all the big creatures that had bullied it lately. He was both heartbroken and furious.
That's my brother!
Even a glance to the side showed him the fresh herbs the Bird Bro had just brought back. There were healing herbs, antidote herbs, and all kinds of mushrooms.
While he'd been asleep, the Bird Bro had clearly done everything it could to take care of him, even feeding him medicine.
These were all fresh, too. Some dried-up herbs lay off to the side. Xingyan had no idea how much hardship the Bird Bro had endured to collect them.
"Roar! Roar, roar!!" (Don't worry! I'm all better. Let's go get revenge! We'll kill them all!)
"Gu-ga!!"
The Bird Bro agreed with all four limbs.
Do it?
Do it!
Let's go!
A tough dragon's life didn't leave much room for fooling around. Xingyan felt healthier than ever, full of energy—and his stomach was empty. He was absolutely starving.
If he was hungry, he'd go eat—and avenge the Bird Bro while he was at it!
There was no doubt that the creature that shoved its head into the ground, opened its jaws wide, and chased the Bird Bro around was a Great Jagras!
You little punk. I let you off the hook before because I didn't want to pick a fight for no reason. And now you're picking on my brother?
No question about it! First, he headed straight to the Flower Field Marshland Area, where he found a Carapace Dragon coming to drink and killed it to whet his appetite. It barely filled his stomach, but at least it took the edge off his hunger. Otherwise, Xingyan wouldn't be able to fight comfortably.
Times had changed. The west bank a year ago, the east bank a year later. Back then, Xingyan had needed to be on his guard and even resort to a sneak attack to beat a Carapace Dragon. Now, they fled the moment they saw him. And with his current size, he couldn't bury himself in the marsh anymore.
No need to bury himself, either.
Enough fooling around. Hmph, trying to run?!
A few quick strides were enough to catch up with the slow-moving Carapace Dragon. With two casual swipes, he effortlessly split the biggest one in half. Time to eat!
The other Carapace Dragons fled in a panic, crying out as they went. With time short and his appetite demanding a proper meal, Xingyan had a long-overdue serving of raw meat. As usual, he gave the Bird Bro a few strips to eat.
The Bird Bro had gotten used to eating this way. It tilted its head back and swallowed the meat whole. It was pretty tasty, and nutritious too.
After a quick meal of Carapace Dragon, though he hadn't even finished all of it, Xingyan left the rest behind and charged angrily toward the Great Jagras's territory with the Bird Bro. The leftover meat wouldn't go to waste; there were plenty of scavengers in the marsh.
Sparks and lightning flew all the way there. This wasn't just a figure of speech: Xingyan was so furious that his Sword Tail kept scraping against the ground and walls as he went. It made a sharp scraping sound, and sparks flew everywhere.
He was positively murderous!
They even passed two hunters on the way. Xingyan glanced at them and thought they looked a little familiar, but when he tried to place them, he couldn't. The hunters had nothing to do with him right now, so he strode straight past the two men hiding behind a rock in a panic.
The Bird Bro glanced at the two hunters as it passed, but quickly caught up with Xingyan, chirping away all the while.
A bird's nature couldn't be denied. The Bird Bro really was a chatterbox.
A timid chatterbox.
"...Hey, Yano. It must have noticed us, right?"
Once the two dragons had walked farther away, the hunters came out from behind the rock. They were none other than the Leader and Yano, who had grown curious after hearing the scholar and the Technical Class Captain talk about the strange Glavenus at camp, and had come to investigate.
"Probably." Yano looked a little perplexed, too. "It didn't attack or try to chase us away. The captain was right. This Glavenus seems to ignore hunters to some extent... as if it's already used to them."
"Could it have gotten used to hunters during its activities over the past six months? Maybe it realized hunters aren't a threat?"
"That doesn't seem likely... Monsters living near villages or kingdoms never get used to humans, no matter what—especially when people enter their territory..."
"And that Bird Bro... Strange... Why would a cold-blooded monster like a Glavenus have a Bird Bro following it?"
Yano's eyes were practically shining. She was a woman with an insatiable curiosity and tremendous courage, and she was naturally drawn to the unknown. Otherwise, she wouldn't have agreed to join the team investigating the mystery of the Elder Dragon Crossing.
If the other members of the First Expedition Team were eager to finish their investigation and go home, Yano had no desire to return at all after seeing so many new monsters, strange landscapes, and possible secrets among the Elder Dragons in the New World.
At that moment, her mind was full of the strange things she'd seen Xingyan do. She tried to explain them with her limited knowledge, but no matter how she looked at it, all she did was refute her own guesses.
Smack!
"Hey, Yano!" The Leader suddenly reached out and slapped his companion on the shoulder. Laughing heartily, he said, "Instead of standing around overthinking things, why don't we follow it and take a look?"
"Take a look?" Yano asked blankly. Her thoughts—or rather, her whole way of thinking—were still constrained by the framework she'd developed in the Old World.
"Yeah, take a look," the Leader encouraged her. "I think that Glavenus had things to do, which is why it ignored us. Look how much of a hurry it was in. It reminded me of the time I went out and forgot to take the laundry in from the yard, then had to rush back when it suddenly started raining."
Before you continue