The Target: Wyvern Eggs!

Deep in the rarely traveled mountain forest lay a narrow valley buried beneath countless layers of enormous tree canopies.

A small Hunter's Camp stood at the bottom of the valley.

This place was still very far from the true heart of the Schrade Hills-the Ancient Schrade City Ruins.

But to Gordon, who had always stayed on the forest's outskirts, it was already an utterly unfamiliar and dangerous hunting ground.

Sitting cross-legged on the hard bed inside the camp tent, the young hunter carefully studied a map covered with extensive additional annotations.

Instructor Ernest had given him the map.

Without the detailed map the Instructor had kindly provided, completing the quest would have been out of the question. He would have been lucky just to avoid getting lost in these ancient, remote mountains.

In truth, the Instructor had strongly opposed Gordon taking this quest to steal Rathalos eggs.

The reward was certainly generous, but the quest's difficulty and danger were far too unpredictable.

It was called a gathering quest, but the items he had to deliver were not Aptonoth eggs. They were Rathalos eggs!

These were true Flying Wyverns.

If he got lucky and caught the wyverns away from their nest for an extended period, he could simply pick up an egg and leave. Then it would be an ordinary gathering quest, no different from gathering mushrooms on a one-star quest.

But what if, while leaving with an egg in his arms, he ran into a Rathian returning to the nest-the celebrated "Queen of the Land"?

The quest's difficulty would jump straight to four stars.

Under the Hunter's Guild's quest classifications, only seasoned hunters ranked four stars or higher were qualified to face large Flying Wyverns such as Rathalos and Rathian head-on.

Yet according to the Instructor, that still was not the worst-case scenario.

Male and female members of the species formed lasting pairs. If he happened to be holding an egg when both parents returned together, he would face a husband-and-wife tag team of the "King of the Skies" and the "Queen of the Land."

That would mean a five-star quest at minimum.

If the species' even stronger subspecies, or even its rare species, were taken into account, the quest's difficulty could rise beyond all bounds.

Of course, the Instructor himself admitted that he was being somewhat alarmist.

But a gathering quest was not a hunting quest, after all. The Hunter's Guild would not specifically send scouts and hot-air balloons to verify the monsters inhabiting the hunting grounds.

In other words, unlikely though those scenarios were, every one of them could genuinely happen.

With Gordon's current strength and equipment, if-if-he encountered one of the worst-case scenarios, completing the quest would be impossible. Even escaping alive would be too much to hope for.

After laying out all those facts and arguments, the Instructor had thought he could persuade Gordon to abandon the quest.

After all, Gordon had completed a great many one-star quests over the past several months and was not short on money. There was really no need to take this risk.

But he had forgotten the bouts of reckless, irrational stubbornness peculiar to sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds.

In the end, Gordon had accepted the quest and ventured into this unfamiliar mountain forest where he had never set foot before.

As he put it, "I'm not doing it for the money. I just want to see! I want to see what the legendary Rathalos actually looks like!"

Such disregard for his own life had thoroughly infuriated the Instructor, but he simply could not wash his hands of someone who was practically a son to him.

In the end, he could only give Gordon the most detailed map he could manage, pile on a long list of precautions, and then kick the idiot out of his house.

Remembering the Instructor's thunderous expression, Gordon rubbed his nose awkwardly inside the tent.

I'll give him a proper apology once I've finished the quest and gone back.

Patting his knees, Gordon stood up. "Ready, Porkchop? The wyvern nest we're after is about four kilometers southwest of here. Let's finish this quest in one go, then head back for a feast!"

"Meow!"

Following a winding path so narrow that a person could only squeeze through sideways, the hunter and his hunting cat left the hidden camp that had sheltered them.

From the moment they stepped outside the camp, both were on full alert. Neither had forgotten that this was dangerous territory inhabited by wyverns.

Recalling the route on the map, Gordon lowered his voice. "The route from here to the nest should be fairly safe. Dominant apex predators like Rathalos won't allow other large monsters in their territory.

"We'll stick to the routes with thick tree cover and hide in the shade of the canopy, so they don't spot us from above."

"Got it, meow."

Porkchop nodded. Cautious by nature, he moved even more quietly and carefully than Gordon.

"Pay attention to the smells in the air. The Instructor said the sulfur smell left after they breathe fire can travel a long way. My nose isn't as good as yours, so I'm counting on you to pick it out."

Porkchop twitched his little nose in every direction and gave a solemn meow.

Though they were out in the wilderness, the man and cat crept like thieves between the densely leafed trees.

Gordon knew perfectly well that the purpose of this trip was not to fight, but to move as quickly and nimbly as possible. He had pared down the contents of his pack accordingly.

Aside from the most basic medicines, he had not even brought a Whetstone.

Originally, he had not wanted to bring any medicine either, but under the Instructor's strict orders, he had finally packed several Mega Potions, along with Antidotes and Flash Bombs he would never normally carry.

According to the Instructor, if he encountered a Rathalos, those things could truly save his life. They were absolutely not to be left behind.

The journey to the wyvern nest passed without a single scare or mishap.

They saw no dangerous monsters, nor even any larger herbivores. The biggest creature they encountered was actually a Mushroom Pig whose back did not even reach Gordon's thigh.

What left Gordon and Porkchop most speechless was that this supposedly timid, cautious creature strutted back and forth right in front of them, freely munching on lichens and mushrooms without even the most basic vigilance.

Clearly, it had never suffered a predator's brutal lesson.

But on second thought, that seemed perfectly natural. Rathalos and Rathian would not allow other predators in their territory, especially near their nest-not even an ordinary Blue Velociprey.

Yet they had no interest in small animals like Mushroom Pigs and rabbits, effectively leaving an ecological niche open for them.

Ordinarily, Gordon might have killed the goofy-looking creature to gather some meat.

But now, when he was afraid of making even a slightly louder noise while walking, he naturally would not invite extra trouble. Flying Wyverns had a very keen sense of smell, and the scent of blood would almost certainly draw them over.

Then they would be in serious trouble.

Remembering the Mushroom Pig's tender meat and gelatinous skin with its delicate mushroom fragrance, Gordon swallowed hard, then pulled Porkchop along on a detour around the brazen creature before them.

Moving carefully the whole way, Gordon and Porkchop took almost an hour to cover a distance they could have run at full speed in fifteen to twenty minutes.

When the small rocky hill prominently marked in bright red on the map appeared before them, both man and cat held their breath.

The faint sulfur smell hanging in the air reminded them at every moment.

This was the wyvern nest.