"Who are you, meow?"
A crisp yet cautious voice rang out.
The Wyverian girl, who had been tense and ready to dodge or counterattack at any moment, finally let out a small sigh of relief.
Gripping her sword's hilt, she slowly turned around at a pace that wouldn't be mistaken as hostile—and saw behind her a Grimalkyne clad in leather armor, holding a large boomerang, now staring at her warily.
"A Wyverian, nya?"
When the cat saw the Wyverian girl's face clearly, it casually wiped off the flammable fluid that had just secreted from the soft pads of its paws, then asked her in a puzzled tone.
"Are you a member of the Third Fleet, meow? I've never seen you before~"
For the cats of the Fire Wyvern Tribe living near the Ancient Tree, the First and Second Fleets of the Research Commission together didn't have that many members—and after all these years, they had long since recognized every one of them.
And now, standing before it was clearly a Wyverian girl. Since it had never seen her before, she was most likely one of the newly arrived members of the Third Fleet.
"Yes, I—"
"Meow-hoo~ You scared me half to death! I thought you were some strange monster I didn't recognize. Your outfit is amazing, meow! If you hadn't moved just now, we never would've noticed you, meow."
Before the Wyverian girl could finish her sentence, she was cut off by the cat. Just as she was about to explain herself, she saw the Grimalkyne wave its paw—and one after another, several fully armed cats emerged from the surrounding jungle.
This made the Wyverian girl wisely choose to close her mouth. So many Grimalkynes had surrounded her without her even realizing it!
"Are you a Wyverian hunter? Did you come here on some kind of mission, meow?"
"Your outfit looks incredible, meow—is it a new product from the Research Commission?"
"I've never seen a female Wyverian hunter before, meow. You must be really strong!"
The Wyverian girl, who had originally been trying to find an excuse to slip away, ended up being swept along in confusion by the chattering cats as they escorted her up the Ancient Tree.
Each of the cats had turned into a bundle of curiosity, meowing back and forth one after another. Although their speech—learned from the language of the Old World—sounded a little odd to the Wyverian girl, it was still understandable enough.
However, when she saw herself surrounded in a full circle by the cats, and then noticed a mantis-like monster carrying a huge piece of metal climbing down from the Ancient Tree, the Wyverian girl decisively chose to remain silent. Helplessly, she followed the cats upward toward the higher layers of the Ancient Tree.
At the Ancient Tree Ecological Research Base, which also served as the Research Commission's hunter camp—
The Admiral and the Third Fleet Master exchanged a stunned glance. Both silently digested the sight before them: a Wyverian girl sitting on a vine-woven chair, eating large mouthfuls of grilled meat with rice.
Just moments ago, the Admiral had received a message from the cats, saying that a Wyverian hunter from the Third Fleet seemed to have arrived carrying an important mission.
That message had caused the Admiral, who had been training Tonkotsu, to end his workout early and return to the hunter camp with a head full of questions.
In the Old World, there were already very few Wyverian hunters. Among those who came to the New World, apart from the Wyverian Insect Glaive user of the First Fleet, there hadn't been any others. Since when did the Third Fleet have a Wyverian hunter as well?
Yet when the Admiral arrived at the camp, what he saw was a Wyverian girl with three scale-like ornaments on her forehead, wearing an elegant silver-white battle dress and a crown-like adornment atop her head—now chatting leisurely with the Third Fleet Master.
When the Admiral arrived, she still remembered to greet him politely.
After learning of the Wyverian girl's identity and how she had come here, he truly did not know whether he should feel excited or speechless.
"To think that there are still ancient Wyverians in the New World."
The Third Fleet Master spoke softly, carefully comparing the Wyverian girl's features with her own.
The Wyverian race was not immutable—they, too, had been evolving.
The Wyverians of the Old World nowadays generally no longer possessed scales, claws, or other monster-like traits; overall, they appeared much closer to humans.
"Ancient Wyverians?" The Wyverian girl put down the empty bowl she had finished, wiped her mouth, and looked at the Third Fleet Master in confusion.
"Please don't mind it. It's simply a term without any ill intent."
The Third Fleet Master waved her hand in explanation. In the Old World, there were also ancient Wyverians—those who had always intermarried exclusively within their own kind, preserving the most primitive Wyverian bloodlines. Such individuals could be referred to as ancient Wyverians.
However, the ancient Wyverians of the New World seemed to have not only preserved the original bloodline, but even retained certain fragments of ancient knowledge.
The Third Fleet Master glanced at the garments the Wyverian girl had set aside, quietly pondering to herself.
Sensing no malice from the Third Fleet Master, the Wyverian girl calmly nodded.
"I didn't expect that on this continent there would exist intelligent races other than monsters. But you all live so openly within Fire Wyvern territory—aren't you afraid of being attacked?"
The Wyverian girl looked at the two before her in puzzlement, and after exchanging glances, the Admiral and the Third Fleet Master both understood the girl's situation.
Thus, after briefly organizing her words, the Third Fleet Master began patiently explaining everything to this country child who seemed to have been isolated for far too long.
Outside Logan's nest in the Ancient Tree, Tonkotsu was sternly lecturing several patrolling cats. He had already heard about the Wyverian girl's matter—these cats had actually brought someone of completely unknown identity all the way up here safely. It nearly made him so angry that he couldn't finish his meal.
...
Outside the lava caverns of the Elder's Recess.
"Roar! Roar! Roar!"
The sound was thunderous and resounding. The very sound waves of that roar were so forceful that some of the less stable bioenergy crystals nearby cracked apart.
Upon the basalt ground covered with fine fissures, a gigantic creature about 27 meters long moved on all fours. Its scales were pitch-black streaked with blood-red patterns, its movements like those of a maddened tiger. The pair of enormous foreclaws exuded a stench of blood, and as it moved, both its forelimbs and head emitted a scarlet glow.
At this moment, it was relying solely on its immense physical power to pounce, charge, and crash forward again and again.
And with each attack came an ear-splitting, deafening roar.
Magma splashing onto its body was swiftly flung off, causing no burn or damage whatsoever.
Brute Tigrex!
A subspecies of Tigrex, born in the volcanic regions and shaped by the environment of the volcano to become a special variant.
It possessed a body even larger and more muscular than the original species. Its scales, infused with volcanic ash, basalt, and other materials unique to the volcanic terrain, had turned jet black. This not only granted it greatly increased defense but also a remarkable resistance to the high temperatures of molten rock.
Because of its far more powerful cardiopulmonary function, the roar of a Brute Tigrex was much stronger than that of an ordinary Tigrex, making what was originally a sound for communication or intimidation into a roar capable of causing real, tangible harm.
However, the liver's metabolic capacity did not grow in proportion to its strengthened physique. As a result, within the toxic, ash-filled volcanic environment, large amounts of harmful substances often accumulated inside its body, leading to a shortened lifespan.
Each Brute Tigrex lived ten to twenty years less than a normal Tigrex!
Moreover, its primary means of combat lay in its pair of broad, powerful claws, which were not black at first—this color was formed gradually over the years as the blood of countless monsters, corroded and fused under the volcanic heat, seeped into them.
Therefore, in many cases, by simply observing the coloration of a Brute Tigrex's foreclaws, one could roughly determine its age and approximate strength.
If the Tigrex could be called an "absolute powerhouse," then the Brute Tigrex was a "jet-black savage tiger." As a Flying Wyvern that had lost its ability for long-distance flight, it had gained ample compensation in both strength and physical endurance.
It was evident that the Brute Tigrex Aki now faced had foreclaws as black as ink, even reflecting the glow of the surrounding flames.
The scales covering its body had turned completely black as well, the color deep and metallic in sheen.
This was a Tempered Brute Tigrex!
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