I apologize for the previous errors in the names. I have already corrected them. Asterion's companion is the Kulu-Ya-Ku brother, not Aptonoth.
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Asterion's greatest fear had not come to pass.
A week had passed since he defeated and devoured the Jyuratodus. He'd spent that entire week on edge, terrified he'd wake up to find his skin or shell secreting mucus, or that he'd transformed from a fire-element dragon into one that spat mud.
Or, for instance, that his shell would start molting, replaced by fish-like scales, pectoral fins, ventral fins, and so on... Thankfully, none of these dreadful changes had occurred.
There wasn't the slightest sign of change, ruling out the possibility that eating just one Jyuratodus was insufficient in quantity or quality. The monster seemed to have been converted purely into life energy, making Asterion's body stronger and denser, but that was all.
If there was any change, it was that as Asterion grew taller and larger, the mineral secretions that already failed to cover his shell completely had become even sparser.
From a distance, he looked like some kind of Dalmatian. A spotted dragon, rather. Lumps of ore were scattered sporadically across his shell. Honestly, it was a bit ugly... at least, Asterion himself thought so.
But there was nothing to be done. He could only remedy this after finding a mineral vein. Asterion believed that as long as he ate enough, it wouldn't be a problem.
To Asterion's relief, his theory about his body seemed correct: it wouldn't change blindly but would evolve according to his will.
This was good news.
Yes, when he first crossed over, Asterion had been somewhat dissatisfied with the reality of being just a Glavenus. Even when he played the game, he thought Glavenus was handsome and cool—like a Long Sword user, even capable of an Iai stance. But Glavenus couldn't fly!!
The advantages of an aerial unit attacking a ground unit were self-evident. As everyone knew, in many games, there was a legendary contender who, despite being incredibly strong, was always mocked by players.
Groudon.
Because it couldn't fly.
Despite its high-status lore as the creator of all land, it was constantly ridiculed for its inability to fly.
Asterion had no desire to become the next Groudon.
A Forbidden Monster mocked for being flightless... He couldn't accept that!
Now, finally, Asterion could breathe a sigh of relief. He possessed the ability to guide his own evolution.
He was unhappy about not flying, but that didn't mean he wanted to become some creature that burrowed through the mud like a Jyuratodus.
Therefore, his next long-term goal was to eat a sufficient quantity and quality of large, winged dragons!
Hey! Brothers! Your wings look pretty good. Let me have a bite! Let me have a bite!!
Fire danced in his eyes. Having eaten his fill, Asterion's thoughts of the future were tinged with ambition.
Life as a dragon was somewhat boring. Every day was just hunting and sleeping, with no entertainment to speak of. He could only rely on such mental fantasies to pass the time.
Unless one possessed the power of an Elder Dragon, one should never wander aimlessly through the Wildspire Waste for fun after a full meal. That wasn't a recreational activity for an ordinary dragon.
This was one of Asterion's lessons, learned in blood. Having adapted to his current life, the curiosity he'd felt when he first arrived in his favorite game world was long gone... or rather, he didn't dare have it now.
Night fell.
The Wildspire Waste was relatively quiet at night. Compared to the Ancient Forest, there were far fewer creatures that moved and hunted in the dark. However, this didn't mean it was any safer.
He had arrived at the base of a massive ant mound. The Wildspire Waste was dotted with such mounds, built by worker ants, like ant kingdoms of varying sizes. This was why hunters in the game had named the area the Wildspire Waste.
These worker ants formed the most basic link in the entire Wildspire Waste food chain. As Asterion looked up, he could see countless fluorescent yellow lights flickering on the mound's surface, like twinkling stars.
It was beautiful, illuminating the surrounding wastes, though not to the brightness of day.
Asterion knew the cruelty behind this beautiful facade. The star-like yellow lights were actually Flashbugs and their larvae. The reason the Flashbugs were swarming the mound was to prey on the worker ants living there.
They were, in effect, bringing their kids out for dinner.
Just then, Asterion suddenly crouched low. He heard a faint sound from the distance.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
To be precise, it was from high in the sky.
A dragon was coming.
It was flapping its wings rapidly, yet its approach was not fast at all; it seemed to be drifting along lazily.
Asterion carefully hid behind the mound, avoiding the direction of the sound.
Finally, he heard the sound of flapping air grow closer, followed by a rustling. It seemed the dragon was eating.
The Flashbugs, which had been comfortably preying on the worker ants, scattered as if startled, forming several fluorescent yellow streams fleeing in all directions.
The flying dragon seemed to grow anxious. It chased the scattering Flashbugs, stretching its neck as far as possible to swallow them. But this action was extremely difficult for it.
Because it had no neck.
Or rather, it had a neck, but at this moment, it was completely engulfed by its inflated body, making it impossible to stretch out and eat all the fleeing Flashbugs.
It looked like a giant balloon. A long tail hung vertically below, flanked by a pair of broad wings—like a balloon that could flap its own wings to push itself forward. No wonder it had taken so long to fly to the top of the mound.
It was entirely jet-black, save for two conspicuous, monster-eye-like patterns on its sides. Approaching in the pitch-dark, the night was its camouflage.
At the front of this giant balloon was a large dragon's head, with bat-like, fan-shaped ears and patchy black and white fur.
Intel Glavenus was online again. One should never underestimate Asterion's information network.
Nightshade Paolumu.
This was a large wyvern that appeared in the Wildspire Waste at night, feeding mainly on Flashbugs and worker ants. The Flashbugs were just incidental; the ants were the main course.
By opening its mouth wide at the edge of the mound and taking a deep breath, this creature could suck massive quantities of worker ants into its mouth at once.
As a subspecies of Paolumu, the Nightshade Paolumu was also considered docile. But when startled or attacked, it would fight back. More often, however, it would make a fierce expression and use the two terrifying eye-like patterns on its body to frighten opponents.
At most, it would mix a hypnotic substance secreted in its body with inhaled air and spray it out. Once the enemy fell asleep, the Nightshade Paolumu would take the opportunity to escape.
It was a soft persimmon—an easy target.
But an easy target was exactly what he needed to hunt.
For his dream of flight and the enormous survival advantage it would bring, Asterion had set his sights on the Nightshade Paolumu that appeared during this time.
The ability to absorb the essence of creatures he ate and selectively evolve their best traits was indeed powerful. It had given Asterion the strength to protect himself, even as a juvenile dragon.
However, everything in the world had its pros and cons. The good part was that with this ability, the future Asterion could at least become a new Elder Dragon, or even transcend the ecosystem entirely and become a Forbidden Monster—it wasn't just a dream.
The bad part was that Asterion's evolutionary path was entirely under his own control. This meant he needed to strictly manage his evolution, ensuring that the new abilities he absorbed didn't conflict or drag each other down, which would conversely lower his combat effectiveness.
Honestly, this was difficult. After all, Asterion hadn't been a biologist in his previous life, and the dragons of this world were completely different from the wildlife of his old one.
Could he perhaps replace inferior abilities or organs by continuously eating and hunting for superior ones?
Having never experienced it, Asterion couldn't say for sure. He could only be as careful as possible.
He wanted to become a unique, high-quality Elder Dragon, not some cobbled-together chimera.
It was precisely for this reason that, after careful consideration of his current abilities and hunting range, Asterion had targeted the Nightshade Paolumu.
The body of a Glavenus was extremely heavy, owing to two main factors. The first was the massive amount of minerals ingested during daily life, which settled on the tail's surface and within the body. A finely honed sword-tail alone weighed as much as some small wyverns.
The second factor was the Glavenus's physique, especially the muscles in its legs and hips. To ensure agile movements during a hunt and the ability to easily swing its heavy sword-tail, a Glavenus's muscles had to be incredibly dense and strong; otherwise, intense combat would be impossible. These muscles were also extremely heavy.
Asterion couldn't just abandon his powerful attack strength and physiological advantages for a pair of wings. Therefore, to get into the sky, he had targeted the Nightshade Paolumu's air sac. A Paolumu would have worked too, but they lived in the Coral Highlands, feeding on coral eggs, and were completely inaccessible from the Wildspire Waste.
But it didn't matter. The Nightshade Paolumu was the same; it had what he needed.
According to Asterion's concept, he couldn't reduce his weight—in the future, he would only get heavier. His bones couldn't become hollow like a bird's to save weight. However, he could use an air sac to increase his buoyancy, indirectly reducing his weight. At least enough to get airborne by flapping, just like a Paolumu or Nightshade Paolumu.
At the same time, such an air sac could also help him breathe at high altitudes, or be used to expel air for acceleration. Failing all that, it could serve as a transitional organ.
Because Asterion knew that in this world, there existed a dragon with a completely unique method of flight. It also couldn't fly or glide by flapping its wings. Instead, it inhaled and stored massive amounts of air, mixed it with Dragon Element energy, and then expelled it, achieving jet-powered flight as fast as a shooting star.
Valstrax.
Asterion felt that the Valstrax's flight method was the most suitable and ideal for him.
Regardless of his weight, flight was achieved through the reaction force of the jet propulsion. He just needed to inhale and spray. If he couldn't fly, it just meant the power output wasn't high enough.
And given his special nature and the rich life energy of this world, "power" was just a matter of cranking it up.
It was perfect.
But the headache was this: Valstrax was an Elder Dragon. A fast, destructive Elder Dragon that appeared and vanished without a trace.
Unlike in the game, where its destructive power was limited for gameplay, in the real world, a single "Cute Starry Sky Crash" would be enough to annihilate the surface of an entire region. As for any hunters standing on it... wish them happiness.
Therefore, Asterion couldn't just jump straight to hunting one or more Valstrax. Before that, he needed another flight method to enhance his combat power.
For now, it was just the ultimate dragon fantasy.
The thought of descending from the sky at the speed of a Valstrax to deliver a tail slash made him shiver with excitement. Alatreon, Fatalis... could they really withstand that blade descending from the heavens?
Extreme physical damage could even shatter energy barriers!
Wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth, Asterion awoke from his fantasy. Nothing to be ashamed of; a dragon had to have dreams.
Pressing his body lower, Asterion stared intently at the Nightshade Paolumu as it gradually drifted downward. The creature was storm-inhaling the ants from the mound, sucking up the various small items—from mushrooms to plants—that the ants were transporting back to their nest.
Busy eating and inhaling, its altitude steadily dropped. Finally, it was within a range Asterion could strike.
The blade was unsheathed!
Swish!!
Flashing brilliantly in the moonlight, Asterion leaped forcefully from the ground, twisting his tail to slash at the Nightshade Paolumu floating in mid-air!
A hit!
"Gu-ge-ge-ge-ge-ge!!!"
A remarkably loud, hiccup-like roar of pain erupted. The Nightshade Paolumu's cry was... strange. It was incredibly gruff, not at all matching its round, cute appearance.
It had finally noticed Asterion.
Honestly, Asterion was surprised he'd managed to hide behind the mound like a game of cat-and-mouse for so long. The Nightshade Paolumu was truly not very bright.
To prevent the creature from simply floating away, Asterion's sneak attack had aimed precisely at the Nightshade Paolumu's wings.
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