Attitude Towards Humans and the Hunter Who Was Observed

As the Hunters planned their next moves, Xingyan, for once, put aside his mining work and reappeared on the surface after a long absence.

He was naturally unaware of the trouble his actions had caused the Hunters. The battlegrounds between the Steel Dragon and the Rusty Steel Dragon were scoured clean by Xingyan, following the scent wherever Steel Dragon Scales or traces were left, except for the sea, which he couldn't access.

Time was tight, the mission was heavy, his actions were swift, and his efficiency was high. One could only say that Xingyan was a professional when it came to energy recovery.

In a sense, the slow progress of the Hunters' investigation was also thanks to Xingyan's efforts. After his tail broke, Xingyan's whereabouts became increasingly mysterious—he hid underground all day searching for minerals to eat.

Mist Weaver.

Ahem, in short, the Hunters, who hadn't seen any sign of Xingyan for a long time, were still trying to predict his habits based on the typical behavior of a Dragon Slayer. At least, a normal Dragon Slayer wouldn't be gnawing around everywhere all day like something that ate rocks, or rather, didn't even eat ore.

And so, they were even more mistaken.

But investigations always required guesswork and verification, and there would be misunderstandings... The Commander and the Scholars were actually not too bothered by this. It had nothing to do with the Sword Master, whose expertise, evident from his nickname, was solely combat. Therefore, he didn't need to think too much; he just needed to know when and where to kill what.

Sound familiar?

This very situation was unfolding all over the Great Sand Sea at this very moment! You might be next!

—From the Dragon Broadcasting Service.

Ahem, in short, the Sword Master lived a very regular life: early to bed, early to rise, ate meat at every meal, drank whenever there was alcohol, and when bored, he would also guide the other Hunters in his group on weapon techniques.

Although he was currently using a Female Fire Dragon Long Sword, the Sword Master was actually proficient in using various weapons, including the Great Sword. Otherwise, he wouldn't have earned such a nickname.

With his adventuring experience and hunting career, the Sword Master thought nothing in this world could trouble him anymore. Even facing an Elder Dragon wouldn't make him fearful.

But now, he was truly stumped.

He felt like he was being watched by a dragon, yes, a dragon—that strange Dragon Slayer.

This guy reappeared before the Hunters after more than half a year. This time, however, he didn't ignore the Hunters as he had in the past. Instead, after finding a spot with a clear view, he sat down and stared from afar at the Hunters... or rather, at him?!

As a pure combat-oriented Hunter, the Sword Master trusted his instincts, especially this feeling of being watched... no, dragon-watched, which made him feel uneasy all over.

He appeared at sunrise and disappeared at sunset. He would leave when he walked indoors and appear when he was active outside—this Dragon Slayer was terrifyingly strange!!

Was this really a Dragon Slayer?!

The Sword Master wasn't unfamiliar with escorting Scholars on monster investigation missions. In the past, he didn't find anything wrong with such missions. He just needed to follow the Scholars, watch them hide and observe monsters' feeding, mating, and other behaviors from various corners and places.

But now, the Sword Master felt for the first time what it was like to be a monster being tracked and observed by a Scholar—it wasn't an illusion; he truly felt as if that Dragon Slayer was the Scholar, and he was the monster being observed.

In fact, uh, his feeling was not wrong.

Xingyan was indeed observing him, especially when the Sword Master was instructing other Hunters.

The increase in [Strength] was purely through eating, while for [Skill], Xingyan could only rely on Hunters after much thought. After all, fighting other dragons had nothing to do with skill.

And the Dragon Slayer was an anomaly among dragons, possessing a tail shaped like a great sword, and habitually used its sword-tail to slash and hack in combat. Therefore, it was perfect for learning the Hunter's sword-wielding methods.

Purely learning in secret, Xingyan had no intention of working for the Hunters or helping them hunt other dragons to show goodwill and then be taught. Or rather, the fact that he didn't attack the Hunters was already a sign of goodwill.

He would never give the Hunters the illusion that he could tame large monsters like he could tame herbivores or Popos.

He had figured out how to face these Hunters who had come to the New World—he wouldn't hunt them as enemies, but he wouldn't get close to them either.

Xingyan had no intention of living together with the Hunters. Not only was his evolutionary path destined to prevent him from settling in one place, requiring him to constantly challenge powerful dragons, but he also didn't trust humans.

Precisely because he was once human, Xingyan knew better how truly wicked some people could be when they turned bad.

This was entirely different from accepting the allegiance of the Detel Tribe. The complexity of human minds was something the simple Beastmen Race of Detel could not compare to.

Dragons had extremely long lifespans, which meant that even if humans and he could coexist harmoniously now, what about after these people died? What about a hundred years later? What if their descendants changed their attitudes?

In his past life, Xingyan had played a game called Final Fantasy XIV. One of the story arcs in this game depicted the story of the Dragon-Human War. Dragons and humans once had a two-hundred-year honeymoon period, but after the generation of humans who first established peace with the dragons and their children died, as time passed, later humans betrayed the dragons out of greed for their power, thus beginning a thousand-year Dragon-Human War.

Up to this point, it was actually fine, but what Xingyan found most incomprehensible at the time was that as the game's plot progressed, humans and dragons eventually reconciled after a thousand years, and then they lived together happily once more—he didn't understand why.

No, they just lived together happily again? With the dragons' lifespan, they would still be alive after this generation of humans died. So, if another two hundred years passed, and new humans betrayed them again, wouldn't they have to fight for another thousand years?

Are they forgetful after being hurt?

Logically speaking, one should learn a lesson after suffering a loss. In Xingyan's opinion, even if the dragons in the story stopped fighting humans, they should have clearly demarcated their living boundaries—the best way to prevent crime is to not give criminals the opportunity.

Returning to himself, Xingyan knew what kind of people the current and future five expeditions arriving in the New World would be: lovers of nature, lovers of life, and focused on maintaining ecological balance. However, he also knew that there were the Hunter's Guild and Guild Knights, responsible for arresting or executing criminal Hunters, including but not limited to poaching.

As time passed, the kingdom and the guild would inevitably increase their efforts in developing the New World, eventually establishing a new human nation here. And by then, all sorts of people would appear here.

Xingyan had no interest in testing human nature and hearts with himself. After all, it was uncertain how Hunters would view him in the future, especially if they discovered he relentlessly challenged and hunted Elder Dragons. Would they consider him a destabilizing factor...?

Stealing knowledge was the way to go.

He wanted to be like the Hunters and imbue his blade with his strength, or rather, Life Energy, to increase the sharpness and hardness of his weapon, instead of just relying on the inherent toughness of his body like he did with his Tail Bite Great Spin.

It would be even better if he could learn the Hunters' Great Sword techniques in the process and be able to perform charged attacks with his sword-tail.

It would be equivalent to dealing ten times the damage with one's strength. If he mastered this technique, even Elder Dragons wouldn't be able to ignore Xingyan's slashes.

This wasn't like the small swords Hunters used relative to monster size, but a Great Sword weighing over thirty tons and exceeding twelve meters in length!

Uh, former·Great Sword.

"My tail broke..."

Standing beside the Sword Master, the Commander, who had rushed over after receiving the news, gazed at the Dragon Slayer standing on the distant cliff. Even from such a distance, he could see the broken tail swinging behind Xingyan.

"Those two Steel Dragons did that, didn't they?" the Leader said, stroking his chin. "Looks like this little guy got pretty badly hurt. He still hasn't regrown his tail."

"The little fellow you're talking about is already bigger than any Dragon Slayer I've ever recorded, Commander," the Scholar said with a helpless expression, having been urgently summoned.

"Ahaha, I know, I know, but it really is still small. When we first saw it last year, it was just a cub," the Leader said with a hearty laugh.

"So what exactly does it want?" a Hunter asked. He had come today to ask the Sword Master for some Great Sword techniques but hadn't expected to witness such a spectacle.

"I suspect it's observing us," the Sword Master said in a deep voice, looking at the Scholar opposite him. "Just like you observe monsters."

"Like us?" The Scholar's eyes widened in astonishment. "You mean this monster is gathering information on us?"

"That's impossible, right? If that's the case... can it even be called a monster?" the same Hunter couldn't help but say.

"Don't make rash judgments, Kaluo," the Leader said, patting the Hunter on the shoulder. "Nature holds many inexplicable mysteries. Aren't we setting out to sea precisely to unravel these mysteries?"

"Yes, but... but..." Kaluo stammered twice, pointing at Xingyan. "I'm sorry, but what should we do now?"

"We'll go take a look, won't we?" the Leader said in a deep voice amidst the surprised gazes of his crew. "Just standing here and guessing wildly won't solve anything. Yano and I have had close contact with this little fellow before, and it didn't harm us then, so I believe it's different from ordinary monsters."

With the Leader, he seemed to have already decided that Xingyan was a little fellow.

"That's right, let's go take a look together," the Commander agreed. "Remember to bring your weapons."

The Hunters selected for the investigation team were all skilled; unless they were facing an Elder Dragon directly, ordinary monsters couldn't make them flee in terror.

Standing on the cliff, Xingyan knew the Hunters had discovered him long ago. However, what he hadn't expected was that after a group of people stared in his direction for a while, they would all walk towards him together.

Without the obstruction of trees, the Great Sand Sea was quite open overall, especially near the coastline.

When the Hunters approached within about fifty meters, Xingyan rose from his crouched position, faced them, and let out a menacing roar, a warning for the Hunters not to come any closer.

The Leader and the others received this signal and stopped in their tracks. Fortunately, with the Hunters' eyesight, combined with tools like telescopes, they could still clearly see Xingyan in the distance.

After all, he was such a massive creature.

"It's severely injured. Not only is its tail broken, but its carapace also looks very messy... Hmm, it seems to have two layers? Part of the carapace doesn't seem to cover the lower body... Ah! It does have two layers. The upper carapace is blue, and the lower carapace is dark red with blue. Interesting, how is this color difference caused? Is it due to different ingested ore materials? But a Dragon Slayer's carapace shouldn't be affected by ore..."

The fifty-meter distance was actually considered close. From the moment he first saw Xingyan, the Scholar had pulled out his telescope, pressed it to his eye, and observed carefully, muttering incessantly.

"Bent? Bent! Calm down!" The Commander had to forcefully pat the Scholar's back to pull him back from his excited thoughts.

"Ah, sorry, I got a bit too excited," Bent said, pushing up his glasses. "This Dragon Slayer has too many abnormalities; it's a great research subject."

"I can understand that, but it hasn't attacked even at this distance... Hmm, and it didn't turn and leave like before. Is there something it wants to tell us?" As expected of the Commander, his imagination was vast; he had even reached the level of the Dragon Slayer trying to deliver a message.

"It is indeed quite strange," the Scholar nodded. "The Dragon Slayer's Sword Tail plays an irreplaceable and crucial role for every Dragon Slayer. Therefore, after losing its tail, a Dragon Slayer will usually reforge its Sword Tail as quickly as possible to ensure its safety."

"If the little fellow's Sword Tail was broken by those two Steel Dragons, it means that even after half a year, it hasn't reforged its Sword Tail... On the other hand, its carapace still looks intact." The Leader thought quite quickly about this matter. "I don't believe the little fellow's carapace would be completely unharmed after a battle that could break its Sword Tail. That means it chose to restore its carapace first?"

"And it's a double-layered carapace," Scholar Bent added. "Coming to us like this, could it be seeking our help?"

Bent and the Commander exchanged a glance, and both shouted a single word.

"Ore!!"