Immature, lacking the combat experience befitting a wyvern, knowing only how to launch brute-force attacks with its body, and possessing absolutely no technique to speak of—once it encounters an opponent that can crush it in strength or outstrip it in speed, it can do nothing but take a beating.
Yet, even an immature Anjanath like this was able to chase his Kulu-Ya-Ku bro all over the place... What a damn bastard!
Could it really not smell my scent on the vest that the Kulu-Ya-Ku was wearing?!
Thinking this indignantly, Asterion turned around and delivered another slash, chopping the Anjanath into even smaller pieces.
It had to be said—this feeling was pure enjoyment. Asterion had fully come to understand the battle lust carved into a Glavenus's bones; the sensation of using his tail blade to kill an enemy was truly exhilarating.
The instinct for battle, the thrill of the slaughter, the joy of defeating a powerful foe—especially at the end, when the Anjanath became exceptionally furious, disregarding its own life in a desperate bid to take Asterion down with it. Yet, no matter how angry it got, it couldn't land a single hit on him.
The unique hip structure and powerful legs of a Glavenus granted Asterion an agility that belied his massive size. His fighting style also differed from the average Glavenus; he didn't like to bite or slam his body into enemies. Instead, he preferred to use his tail blade to attack—just like a human wielding a sword.
If you have a blade, why use your mouth?
Using this agility to weave around the Anjanath, the only thing the brute wyvern could touch was the tail blade Asterion kept swinging at it. Even at the very end, when it endured the damage from the blade and tried to break through to bite him, Asterion simply needed a small hop backward to position his tail vertically in front of him, like raising a shield.
The Anjanath died in sheer frustration.
Asterion had no interest in its territory, nor in the evolutionary information within its body. He had drawn his blade solely to avenge his Kulu-Ya-Ku bro.
Especially when he saw the Kulu-Ya-Ku scurry over after the Anjanath fell, chirping happily, Asterion felt his mood improve significantly.
So, he watched with amusement as Sparky the Kulu-Ya-Ku picked up a rock and smashed it against the Anjanath's corpse as if to vent his anger, then proceeded to giggle foolishly to himself... What a big, silly bird.
Shaking his head, Asterion didn't waste food. He swung his tail blade to begin butchering the Anjanath's carcass, searching for the parts rich in bio-energy to consume.
As expected, he failed to find a Wyvern Gem. A Wyvern Gem is a treasure that condenses inside the body of a large wyvern after a long life of predation and the absorption of massive amounts of bio-energy.
The appearance of a Wyvern Gem makes a wyvern's body stronger and tougher, and it can enhance the special abilities unique to different species. Some naturally gifted individuals can even use it to manipulate bio-energy to a certain extent. In short, it has many benefits.
Unfortunately, this Anjanath, which Asterion had easily cut down, was simply too weak. It was no surprise at all that no Wyvern Gem could be found in its remains.
For Asterion, daily life was just a variation of a "Search-and-Destroy" game: search for prey, take down prey, eat and drink his fill, and retreat to the nest.
"Roar?" (Hmm?)
Asterion, who was busy burying his head in his meal, suddenly lifted his head from the Anjanath's flank. He looked sharply to the left. It wasn't an illusion; he clearly heard an unusual movement amidst the low shrubs growing between the rock crevices of the wasteland.
Stare...
Stare...
Under Asterion's death glare, which lasted for a full minute, a rustling sound of parting bushes finally came from that rocky gap again, and a hunter squeezed out.
Asterion remembered this person. He was one of the two hunters he had encountered earlier when he brought Sparky to look for trouble with the Anjanath.
It was obvious that this hunter was extremely nervous. He was currently maintaining a semi-crouched posture on the ground. He hadn't drawn a weapon; instead, he kept his hands empty and visible to Asterion, shrinking his silhouette as much as possible to appear harmless.
But to be honest, given this hunter's broad frame... that effort was somewhat futile.
Hunters appearing all over the Wildspire Waste was nothing new. So, after a cursory glance, Asterion turned back and continued his meal.
Although he had shaken off the poison and his injuries had healed, his shattered air sac shell hadn't fully grown back yet. He needed to replenish a lot of bio-energy and find some ore to eat later. A balanced diet was the key to health.
The hunter who appeared near Asterion was, naturally, the Commander of the First Fleet. Truth be told, even with his courage, approaching a Glavenus—a species known for being cold-blooded and highly aggressive—at such close range made him sweat.
Especially since this Glavenus was still chewing on chunks of meat, with bright red blood flowing through the gaps in its teeth and dripping down its jaw... It was enough to scare a timid hunter into weak knees, like something out of a horror story.
After confirming that the Glavenus didn't care about him and was still buried in its food, the Commander finally let out a sigh of relief—it seemed his gamble had paid off.
"Yo... You sure are handsome..."
Moving his body slowly, avoiding any sudden actions to ensure the Glavenus realized he was harmless, the Commander finally found an opening to observe the side of the Glavenus's body—there was no mistake. This guy indeed possessed two layers of shell.
He didn't know what kind of monster fight had left such a wound, but the Commander could see the layer of new shell. It was pale in color, forming a sharp contrast with the dark, hard shell surrounding it. A second layer of shell covered the bottommost layer like a film; he could even vaguely see what was underneath through the somewhat translucent second layer.
"Truly... fascinating... I've never seen a Glavenus like this, nor shell like this..."
Hara's voice sounded beside the Commander. Asterion noticed the appearance of this second hunter, but since they had no intention of fighting, he couldn't be bothered to pay them any mind.
Hunters were too skinny; they were neither succulent nor nutritious. As long as the hunters didn't actively attack him, Asterion wouldn't attack them. Everyone should just mind their own business.
In the Wildspire Waste, everyone had things to do.
"You came over too? Hara."
"Don't underestimate my courage and determination, Commander."
"Hahaha, let's wait together then."
Patience is a virtue. Neither hurried nor flustered, the Commander actually sat cross-legged right there on the spot. He really had a big heart, planning to wait until Asterion was mostly done eating before attempting to communicate. Hara wasn't idle either; she took out a pen and notebook and began sketching Asterion, specifically focusing on his physical characteristics, preparing to discuss and analyze them with the scholars back at base.
The two of them had calmed down, but Asterion, on the other hand, could no longer remain calm.
What did he just hear?
Commander? Hara?
The dragon, who was in the middle of eating, suddenly whipped his head around, flinging blood from his chin onto the ground in front of the Commander. Asterion's eyes went wide.
Commander?!
Why not the Admiral?
After recalling carefully, Asterion remembered that the title "Admiral" (Big Commander) came later. The First Fleet was an early designation; in the original storyline, the Guild initially only planned to send one Research Commission to investigate the secret of the Elder Crossing.
Then, this Research Commission discovered the New World, but the secret of the Elder Crossing remained unsolved. To continue the investigation, the Guild sent out four more fleets over the subsequent forty years, each with its own Commander.
Therefore, it wouldn't be until the Second Fleet arrived in the New World—in order to better lead the subsequent arrivals and explore the New World methodically—that the Guild would promote the Commander of the First Fleet to the position of Admiral.
And Hara must be the character known as the Tracker (the Field Master) in the storyline—honestly, these two were just a bit too young right now. Asterion's impression of them had always been their appearance from the game forty years later, which was why he hadn't recognized them at first glance.
The Admiral's hair was still black, though the style wasn't much different from forty years later; even in his youth, he had that hedgehog hairstyle, full of wild energy.
Perhaps because he was seeing people familiar from his memories—or at least, people he was unilaterally familiar with—Asterion felt somewhat excited. So, he leaned in closer, to the point where the hot, bloody wind he exhaled blew directly onto the Commander and Hara.
Whether the Commander was the Admiral yet or not, Asterion decided to call him that in his heart anyway.
Of course, he forgot the psychological pressure his current form would impose on two hunters by approaching so rashly. Hara's hand had already dropped to the weapon on her back. She hadn't drawn it yet only because the Commander had thrown his arm out in front of her, stopping her from going further.
"Calm down! Hara!" he shouted in a low voice. The Commander then raised both hands in front of him, fingers spread open facing Asterion. "Yo—Big Guy? How are you doing?"
It had to be said, this guy lived up to his future reputation as someone who would spend years investigating alone in the field, even venturing deep into the Elder's Recess. His guts were simply bigger than the average hunter.
Hearing the hunters at the base say that this strange Glavenus had no desire to attack hunters gave him the daring to try this. Now, suppressing the urge to draw his weapon, the Commander actually raised his voice to greet Asterion.
Staring at the Commander and Hara, from Asterion's perspective, their figures were exceptionally small—not even as big as Sparky. And Sparky only came up to about Asterion's thigh.
And that nervous look on their faces... Asterion suddenly felt it was a bit dull.
"Gu-ga?"
Noticing the commotion, Sparky the Kulu-Ya-Ku wandered over, looking curiously at the two hunters—he was actually quite familiar with hunters. sometimes running into them while stealing eggs from Apceros nests.
"Roar..." (Let's go.)
The valuable parts of the Anjanath had mostly been eaten. Asterion gave a low growl and took the lead, heading toward home.
"Gu-ga!!"
Sparky actually wanted to see what these two guys were up to, but noticing that Asterion had already jumped down from the stone platform, he didn't hesitate anymore, squawking as he followed.
"Looks like... your first interaction wasn't very successful, Commander," Hara said teasingly to the Commander, standing at the edge of the rock.
Even though the Glavenus hadn't attacked, they still breathed a secret sigh of relief when it turned to leave... Close contact with such a large monster was truly oppressive.
"Not successful?" The Commander laughed loudly. "No, no, no, I think it was very successful—it didn't attack even when face-to-face with us, did it? I think this guy is different!"
"The reason?" Hara asked. "I think he was just full and too lazy to attack us for the moment."
"The eyes!" The Commander gave an exceptionally affirmative answer. "That guy's eyes are different!"
"Maybe," Hara shrugged. "You mean the way he left without looking back?"
"Ahaha, the beginning is always hard," the Commander laughed heartily, not the least bit embarrassed.
"It truly is amazing... the New World."
Although his feelings were a bit complicated, seeing characters from his memories made Asterion somewhat happy.
The complexity lay in the fact that Asterion was a bit unsure of how to interact with hunters, or to what extent—he didn't want to be like those Wingdrakes, eventually domesticated by hunters, or become a hunter's hired thug or something. He certainly didn't plan on living mixed in with them.
However, he wouldn't add humans to his menu either. After all, human bodies had little meat and too many bones, and the bio-energy contained within them was far inferior to that of large wyverns.
Therefore, as long as they didn't provoke him, Asterion couldn't be bothered to mind human activities. That was how he had handled it so far.
Compared to the lifespan of wyverns, human lives were often much shorter. This meant that even if Asterion established good relations with this generation of humans, once time passed and this generation died out, how the new generation of humans would treat him remained an unknown.
When human civilization and technology develop to a certain level, they instinctively use various methods to eliminate threats or bring everything under their control.
Ambition, desire, dreams, various factors—it is undeniable that compared to wyverns, whose minds are mostly filled with predation, survival, or reproduction, humans are indeed much more complex.
And in the background lore of Monster Hunter, unlike the current situation where humans are weak and dragons are strong, in the ancient era, humans once possessed a brilliant and glorious civilization sufficient to rival wyverns. There was even a Great Dragon War.
Humans used technology to defeat wyverns and even developed weapons like the Dragon Equal Weapon. Making a single Dragon Equal Weapon required over thirty adult dragons as material. Once completed, whether in durability, firepower, or stamina, it was exceptionally powerful in every aspect.
But this weapon built upon the corpses of wyverns ultimately enraged those who completely transcended the ecological niche, the Forbidden species located above the Elder Dragons. In the end, Fatalis destroyed the human kingdom, causing everything to vanish into legend.
For the humans living in this world today, these things are nothing more than bedtime stories, but Asterion knew they were all true.
This was the source of his complicated feelings—Asterion was a bit lost on exactly what manner he should adopt toward the hunters, and where to draw the line so that they wouldn't hurt each other in the future.
I am already a dragon.
Since it has come to this, let's just eat first.
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