Since the day they met Logan, the members of the recommendation team had all begun to grow busy one after another.
Although they could not set out immediately because their respective equipment had yet to be completed, discussions concerning Nakarkos never ceased.
Based on the information currently available, a group of top-tier hunters gathered together to deliberate on response strategies. In the end, according to their respective combat specialties, they were divided into two and a half teams.
The main assault team was centered on Darren, with Aiden using a Sword and Shield in a support role. He was responsible not only for attacking, but also for creating opportunities for Darren to fully charge his attacks when necessary.
A Kingdom hunter proficient with the Gunlance was assigned to the main assault team as well. Relying on the Gunlance's tremendous noise and high-impact damage at close range, he would draw Nakarkos's attention and, with the support of that massive shield, bear the majority of Nakarkos's attacks.
As for the final candidate, the initial plan was to assign a Light Bowgun user from Kokoto Village to provide ranged damage. However, because the intelligence reports repeatedly mentioned that Nakarkos's many tentacles often habitually emerged from the sea of bones to launch surprise attacks, the Light Bowgun user's mobility proved somewhat insufficient.
As a result, the position was ultimately switched to another Bow user.
Apart from the main assault team, the remaining hunters were tasked with providing peripheral support. From time to time, they would slip in a few strikes from behind Nakarkos, or attempt tasks such as severing its tentacles.
Of course, most importantly, during the intervals when the main assault team needed to replenish medicine, they had to be able to move in quickly and briefly take over the main assault team's position.
Everyone present had, to varying degrees, participated in battles against Elder Dragons before. They knew that when the objective was slaying rather than repelling, facing an Elder Dragon meant that, in addition to its attacks far surpassing those of ordinary monsters, they also had to be prepared for a prolonged battle.
After all, an Elder Dragon's vitality was simply far too formidable.
Outside the Gathering Hub, Mia and Lea each held a mug of beer, leaning against the railing and enjoying the warm sunlight. The only difference was that, at this moment, the other hand Mia held was not a notebook, but a large skewer of roasted bone meat.
Lea had long since grown used to this. After spending these past few days together, the other Compilers were either holed up in their rooms organizing their own materials, or studying the various reproduced documentary copies of materials and literature imprinted by the Ecological Research Center of the New World.
Only Mia—whenever she had nothing to do—would inevitably stay in the canteen or the Gathering Hub, reading documents while constantly eating all kinds of things.
It was hard to say how she had trained up an appetite even more exaggerated than a hunter's; her stomach was like a bottomless pit, able to digest no matter how much she ate.
Although she had only been in the New World for a short few days, some strange rumors about her had already spread.
That was: the money that the Palico in her recommendation team earned from a full day of hard work had all ended up in Mia's belly!
"Whew~~ Sure enough, the New World's ingredients just taste great! Not only are they highly nutritious, but with nothing more than simple cooking, they can be made this delicious."
Mia tossed the big roasted bone she was holding onto the table beside her, then seamlessly produced an apple from who knew where and ate it in small bites like a little hamster.
All of a sudden, a beam of sunlight shone into her eyes, and her apple-gnawing motion stopped at once.
"Hey, hey! The sun! The sun!"
"What about the sun?" Lea, still holding a book, raised her head and looked over along Mia's line of sight, puzzled.
"The sun! It's falling down—aaah!"
In the sky, the "sun," radiating light and heat, began to plummet rapidly, growing larger and larger within their field of view.
Just as Mia was about to shout at the top of her lungs, the light and heat rapidly drew in. When it reached a certain height, the "sun" transformed into Sunblaze Dragon. Accompanied by a warm breeze, it landed in the treetops overhead and vanished from sight.
On the Gathering Hub balcony, Mia and Lea looked at each other in wordless silence; neither of their mouths had closed.
After quite a while.
"I thought what the New World records described—that Sunblaze Dragon is the second sun—was just like how Teostra is called a blazing sun, merely an adjective describing Its abilities." Lea rubbed her brow. She had not expected that in Old World literature, wording like this was generally a false description; she had not expected that in the New World, the literature would actually be factual.
"I thought so too. How can the New World's scholars be this literal? It can actually be a second sun up in the sky!! No wonder yesterday that shrine maiden said that once Sunblaze Dragon leaves the Ancient Tree in winter, it will trigger an ecological collapse in the Ancient Tree region."
"Yeah. Who would have thought that an Elder Dragon, so often a symbol of natural disaster, would actually be the creator of a tropical rainforest? The book only vaguely says that the ecology of the Ancient Tree region has an enormous connection to It—can't they write it in more detail?"
The two female Compilers looked at each other, and in the next second, without prior agreement, both began denouncing the author of New World Chronicles.
...
Time passed quickly. With the assistance of the Second Fleet members, sets of Radiant Fire Wyvern armor—integrating Ancient Wyverian forging techniques and crafted using methods refined by the Second Fleet Master—were freshly completed one after another.
Unlike the traditional Fire Wyvern armor sets, the Radiant Fire Wyvern set possessed greater advantages in terms of energy resistance. Visually, its coloration was noticeably deeper, the pseudo-scale armor was heavier and thicker, and it incorporated slightly more alchemical energy circuits, allowing it to carry higher-grade equipment decorations.
The hunters excitedly finished donning the armor and performed one high-difficulty movement after another in front of the smithy. Meanwhile, the Second Fleet Master carefully observed their motions from the side, determining which areas required appropriate adjustments.
"Meow~ Your ordered goods have arrived, meow!"
As a slightly sharp voice rang out, Grimalkynes came forward one by one, each carrying an exquisitely crafted wooden box.
Under the hunters' curious gazes, the boxes were opened one after another.
Inside were Ancient Wyverian Terastal decorations—items that were priceless and unobtainable in the Old World.
One had to know that in the New World, the most sought-after items were neither Astera's specialties nor monster materials with higher energy density, but the unique decorations from Blazefire Village of the Ancient Tree, treasures worth fortunes and nearly impossible to acquire.
Those exaggerated triple-skill effects were objects of every front-line hunter's dreams. Unfortunately, they were unobtainable no matter the price—so much so that even a top-tier hunter like Darren had never obtained a single one while in the Old World.
Yet now, a full seven decorations were laid out before them.
If not for the fact that the decoration slots engraved into the Radiant Fire Wyvern armor could only accommodate a single Terastal decoration, the hunters present would likely have wanted to claim every one of them.
Watching these recommendation-team hunters whose eyes were practically turning red, the Second Fleet Master understood their feelings perfectly.
Unfortunately, even for a top-tier armor set beneath Elder Dragon class like the Radiant Fire Wyvern set, the limit of alchemical energy circuits that could be engraved was fixed. To create armor with even greater carrying capacity, Elder Dragon materials would be required.
Shaking his head, the Second Fleet Master folded his arms and lifted his chin slightly toward the lead Grimalkyne.
"Please introduce them for us. I imagine these young hunters can hardly wait."
The lead cat softly acknowledged and began introducing the contents, box by box.
"These Terastal decorations were originally meant to be offered to the God as part of His collection. However, because this mission is exceptionally difficult, the God specifically instructed that they be provided free of charge to all of you hunters. I will now give a brief introduction to each."
"This one carries the skill: Focus 3."
"This one is an Attack Jewel, also level 3."
"This is an Expert Jewel 3."
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