A few days after the Admiral’s departure, the Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne chief came bounding over to Logan, cradling a strangely shaped bone horn in his arms.
“Boss, meow! We did it, meow!”
Since the day they’d first proposed forming the Ancient Tree Fire Wyvern clan, the Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne chief had never looked this excited.
Logan suspected they had come up with something that could once again shape the future of the Ancient Tree Fire Wyvern clan.
Sure enough, the chief, his face beaming with excitement, respectfully held the horn out toward Logan. In his explanation, Logan learned what it was for.
Unlike the horns the Grimalkynes had used in the past for issuing commands or boosting morale—
This horn, created with the help of the Research Commission after numerous attempts, was a summoning horn.
While retaining its original command function, it now had a fitted plug; when blown with the right amount of force, it could produce a sound similar to that of a Fire Wyvern hatchling.
Thanks to the Grimalkynes’ recent experience in caring for Fire Wyvern hatchlings, and after repeated trials and fine-tuning, some of the trained Grimalkynes had finally learned how to use the horn to mimic a hatchling’s cry for help.
The next step was figuring out how to add a tone unique to the Grimalkynes into that distress call—something that would ensure any Fire Wyvern hearing it could recognize that the sound came from a cat.
This way, they could both avoid summoning a Fire Wyvern from outside the Ancient Tree and prevent the awkwardness of a wyvern arriving to find the caller wasn’t actually a hatchling.
“But there’s still a very serious problem, meow!”
The Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne chief let out a somewhat dejected sigh. “We don’t know what kind of price we should pay to repay a Fire Wyvern after calling for its help, meow.”
See? Such pure-hearted cats.
Given the current situation in the Ancient Tree, the Grimalkynes were already regarded as private property by the Fire Wyverns. A wyvern protecting what it considered its own would never expect compensation.
The Grimalkynes understood this, yet they couldn’t bring themselves to just accept it without giving anything in return.
To them, the safety they now enjoyed—free from constant danger, with reliable food, and the ability to live freely under the sun—was already an incredible blessing.
In gratitude, they worked hard for the wyverns that sheltered them, often hunting small endemic creatures as snacks to give their protectors a change of taste.
Just like how Logan now received a Mosswine every few days.
So, if in the future they couldn’t think of a proper way to repay that help, the Grimalkynes might never use the horn—no matter how much danger they were in.
Faced with the Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne leader’s question, Logan found himself unsure how to respond. After all, when it came to Fire Wyverns, there was only so much the cats could actually help with.
Right now, the cats were far too weak in strength, while the Fire Wyverns’ needs were simple—food, shelter, and power.
As for power, they had to rely on themselves. For shelter, given what the cats could currently manage and what the Fire Wyverns were willing to accept, they had already done well enough.
When it came to food… the truth was, the cats were still living off what the Fire Wyverns provided.
So if there was an angle to work on, it wouldn’t be shelter or power.
But food… maybe that really was worth considering.
Logan’s gaze shifted to Tonkotsu and the other cats who were busy setting up a barbecue grill.
The Ancient Forest—it was time for them to have their own Cat meals!
When Logan shared his idea, the Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne leader wondered if it was too simple. After all, to a Fire Wyvern, providing aid was just a casual act; but for the cats, it was a matter of life and death.
Still, the Grimalkyne leader’s doubts were blown away when Logan said, “You’ve already done more than enough. I’m very satisfied.”
By the time he returned to his dwelling, he was still grinning like an idiot.
“Recognized by the Fire Wyvern boss, meow~”
And so, the matter of what reward the cats would give after being rescued was settled.
In the days that followed, Tonkotsu became busier than ever. In addition to guard duties and helping train the Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne warriors, he now had to teach the cats with culinary talent how to make Spicy Grilled Meat.
That name was Sita’s idea. According to Tonkotsu, to make future dealings with the Ancient Tree Fire Wyvern clan easier, he intended to perfect this dish until it truly became a Felyne meal that could have an actual effect on Fire Wyverns. Only once the recipe was complete and developed into a whole system would he move on to other dishes.
Such ambition truly was worthy of a future head chef—aiming not only to suit a monster’s tastes, but to create Felyne cuisine that could affect a Fire Wyvern.
Time passed quickly amidst the cats’ rapid development.
Just as Logan had once guessed, even the Flame Rathalos—alone for so many years—eventually succumbed to the cats’ persistence. With time, and the certainty that it could fully control its physical energy after having its flames absorbed, it finally let its guard down.
That day, the Flame Rathalos returned from a hunt to find its once tattered nest tidied up. The rubble and bone fragments inside were cleared away, replaced with fresh weeds and soft twigs.
Around the nest, rotting debris and dead wood had been thoroughly cleaned. The cats had even thoughtfully begun digging a drainage channel—though it was only halfway done.
When the Flame Rathalos had first chosen the nesting spot, it hadn’t given it much thought. The nest was in an open, exposed area, and the terrain sloped from high outside to level inside. This meant that whenever it rained, the interior would become soaked.
It would then have to carefully control its flames to dry the nest, always wary of accidentally setting the whole place on fire.
And so, for the first time, the Flame Rathalos did not reject the cats’ approach, even leaving behind one of its scales as payment.
By now, Logan’s own rewards had run out again—though the spoils from the Rajang battle had actually lasted nearly half a year, which was far more than he had expected.
Still, whether it was because his own strength wasn’t enough, or simply because the New World had truly been unusually peaceful lately, the fact remained: ever since his last payment had run out, half a month had passed without a single new assignment.
Logan felt helpless, but there was nothing else he could do.
At least the Admiral had returned—and brought back a piece of news that left Logan rather baffled.
“You actually found traces of Teostra?”
Logan could hardly believe it. The Admiral had only been gone for just over a month. Even if he was a top-tier hunter, how far could he possibly get in a forest this dangerous?
The Admiral sat cross-legged on the ground, tearing into Tonkotsu’s grilled meat in big, ravenous bites. In no time at all, he had already eaten three full platters—each slice of meat a hefty 5 cm thick and 30 cm long.
Truly, while people in this world still bore the name “human,” in reality they were a kind of monster themselves.
“Mmph~” The Admiral swallowed the mouthful of meat, took a swig of water, and went on, “From what I’ve observed, Teostra doesn’t seem to be living in the forest. Every time I’ve found traces of it, they’ve all been in the same general area. But even after staying there for several days, I could only feel the temperature rise noticeably for a short stretch each day.”
“It seems… it’s searching for something.”
Then, as if recalling something, the Admiral added, “There’s another strange thing—the monsters in that area seem to have become extremely aggressive, with a strong tendency to attack. And the longer I stayed there, the weaker I felt. The only time that weakness eased was when Teostra appeared and raised the temperature.”
With Tonkotsu’s translation, Logan still couldn’t quite make sense of it.
There were plenty of reasons for monsters to become aggressive. One was the frequent appearance of Elder Dragons—when stimulated for long periods in such a heightened state, it was only natural for monsters to grow violent.
In addition, being infected with the legendary Frenzy Virus could also drive monsters into a violent rage. But, putting aside the fact that the Frenzy Virus was the virus of the Shagaru Magala, just looking at the Admiral’s calm and unharmed demeanor made it clear the monsters hadn’t gone that far yet.
After all, the Frenzy Virus could cause mid- to small-sized monsters like Jagras to completely lose their minds, even driving them to band together and desperately hunt down large apex predators like the Zinogre.
That thing was as extreme as a zombie plague.
Aside from that, parasitic Neopterons could cause similar situations.
All in all, from what the Admiral had said about Teostra lingering in that area, Logan couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t a good sign.
The Admiral’s visit was actually just a stop along the way—he mainly wanted to see if any Grimalkyne planned to head to the Astera outpost, so he could hitch a ride on a Jagras and catch a “fast wyvern” lift.
And as luck would have it, he managed to find exactly that—Tonkotsu and a few Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne warriors were preparing to deliver supplies they’d gathered over this period. The only downside was that the poor Jagras carrying the Admiral would have to bear an extra burden.
Life went on. After the Admiral’s departure, Logan still couldn’t shake his unease. Along with his growing strength, his sixth sense had only become sharper.
After some thought, he ordered the cats to keep a close watch on the forest, while he and Aki increased the number of times they patrolled their territory each day.
Even if this matter might not directly affect the Ancient Tree, it never hurt to be prepared.
Meanwhile, in a secluded corner of the Ancient Forest, a Chameleos rolled its large eyes impatiently, staring in one direction for a long while before heading to the spot where it had buried its eggs. After covering them once again with a layer of rotting ferns and weeds, it left without looking back, making its way toward the forest’s outer edges.
It had no intention of clashing with the newcomer.
After all, this sort of thing happened every few decades. It might as well treat it as a little vacation—leave for a while, and return once it all blew over.
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