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Chapter 21 - Chapter 21: Nightly Action

(This chapter was uploaded on Wednesday 11/September/2024 3:00 PM, timezone GMT+3)

('1), ('2), ('3), etc. means that there is some explaining for the thing in the chapter's footnotes.

"..." small moment of silence.

"Talking"

[Different Language Dialogue (Different from the language of the PoV)] (What language it is: Accent if necessary)

"He-" Someone was interrupted.

'Inner Dialogue'

{Skills' names, chanting, spell keys and spells' names}

(PoV)

(Flashback, including the text)

Don't shy from commenting on typos and/or inconsistencies. That and/or suggesting a modification to certain things that didn't make sense to you.

I hope you enjoy reading this chapter.

(Line Break)

(In a different world) 

(3rd person PoV) 

"Soooo, are you gonna submit or not?" A redhead was pressing down a Japanese boy with a shield on his arm, practicing a chokehold on him. 

"Augustus! Raphtalia! Anyone! Help!" The Japanese boy screamed his lungs out to no avail, as the ones he called were either occupied by nearby monsters or gasping in heartbreak. 

"Why hello, my naughty daughter" It was then that a certain figure materialized. The appearance of that figure baffled everyone present, and specially made the redhead go pale as a white sheet of paper. She gulped a lump that formed when she realized how bad her situation just got, her smile the epitome of uneasiness. 

"DAD! HOW ARE YOU EVEN HERE?!" Agni shouted, her brain racing to make up excuses to explain this to her father. 

"This is merely a specter of me, though?" Nephelont's specter raised an eyebrow. 

"..." Agni's colors started returning to her countenance. "HAHAHA! I CAN CONTINUE! I BE-" *whack* "AH!" Agni felt a smack take her out of her fantasies of winning one over Nephelont. 

"Whoever said that I couldn't smack you with just my specter?" Nephelont smirked as Agni's colors were so drained now that she started going transparent. 

"Not so quickly, Agni" He grabbed her by both cheeks and pinned her where she stood. "Let's talk about not doing this in the thick of combat? Or accounting for the thing humans call consent?" Agni turned her eyes away and started whistling. "HMM?" Nephelont's face was practically pressed over hers, with an expression that made her fear for her ears. 

A rant was going to descend upon her, and it was a long one. 

(Back with Nephelont) 

Nephelont was recovering his muscle mass for the last few days, which did not go as well as he thought. The process that launched this sequence of events into motion repeated a fair number of times, namely 2 more times. Nephelont and Eucleia grew to twice the height of an average adult man, at the shoulder. Their necks were out of the equation as they were too curved and flexible to have a set position that could be measured. 

Some more meat from other monsters, like Kulu-Ya-Ku, suited their fancy as it tasted like chicken meat. 

After a week of building up the muscles and the scales their bodies needed, Nephelont and Eucleia were now physically and mentally teenagers. Well, only Eucleia was a teenager mentally. Nephelont remained mentally an adult due to his repeated regressions through two worlds. His childish moments were him allowing his immature body to take control, all by his choice. 

During that time, the town of hunters, Astera has done some progress in their research of the recent events surrounding the new world. Their hunters went on quests to build camps across the Ancient Forest and today was the second day of tracking down a Pukei-Pukei. 

(Nephelont's PoV) 

"My Clea, I want to move. When is your tail gonna be untangled from mine?" I asked after we spent half the day just laying with my Clea clinging onto me. I could sense she was enjoying this, but we needed to move and test our limits. 

"Eucleia doesn't wanna~ Ehehehe~" My Clea denied me my release. Even though we don't move a lot, I'm thankful that the people here seem not to care much about that, bar a few of them. 

'She's acting like a child going through early puberty...' I internally sweat-dropped. I fear this accelerated growth messing up her mind. 'Maybe I should use the next wish to restore her mind and make sure the others who will regrettably suffer a similar fate don't get their minds messed up?' 

My belly shamelessly grumbled another time. 

'Seems I still need to eat more than usual' I thought as a group of kittens approached us with large plates of cooked and seasoned meat. Initially, they fed us raw meet in fear of our digestive systems getting damaged. After we insisted, they seem to have agreed to observe and note down if cooked food was a no-go. 

As the kittens, what I heard these humans call 'Palico', were about to leave, I gave one of them a playful lick on its face, my tongue being large enough to cover its head whole. 

[They're showing signs of being approachable and playful] (Wyvernian: Guild) I heard as someone was noting down in a notebook. 

'But why is my {Reptilian Tongue EX} working on them? Humans aren't reptilians, are they?... No, Nephelont. Gather yourself. They could be speaking a form of reptilian language that was adapted for humans' bodies. I encountered this with birds, where they were descendants of dinosaurs, allowing me to understand them after some time of the skill adapting to their accent' 

I ate while thinking of taking my human form. That'll add a whole new level of complications, but it's the better way of communicating with them. My current body can't possibly make all the sounds composing their accent. 

'Or I could simply substitute the missing vocals with wind arts, no?' Nephelont found a solution without taking on a human form.

"My Clea, do you think we should take on our human forms?" I asked her as a curious hunter came closer. 

"No~ Clea wants to enjoy her life as a dragon with Bunbun~" And there that goes. And it isn't like I could effortlessly make the sounds using wind arts. That's taxing when my mind reserves are as low as they are right now. The wind art for talking consumes a lot of mind, much more than others, since that requires precise control. 

The neat part's that we can talk in Koine because our throats were able to get the sounds of the language out, using wind arts was just a countermeasure for when we were still too weak to speak without tiring out quickly. 

Well, some chaos was in due time. I slapped my Clea up the head and ran away while forcefully untangling our tails. 

"CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!" I dashed while forcing others to give way. My size dictated that I'd be at least up to their hips even in my quadruple stance. And when I was running, I got the feeling at last. I spread my wings and used them to glide around, closely chased by my Clea. 

'But why did I have to slap her head? I could have just run off with that line' 

"Bunbun!" Eucleia shined for a moment, a multi-colored light. Her speed exploded, making her slam into me. She pinned me under her and looked at my eyes directly. I saw her right eye that I knew. None would ever know how disturbed I felt when the familiar sight of that eye suddenly changed. And now it's back. Another emotion none would understand is the relief I got from seeing her familiar right eye. I actually liked this one more, which she picked up on quickly while we were still in the lower realm. 

"Caught you~ Your turn~" My Clea ran off into the distance, gliding here and there, while I stood there, dumbfounded. I felt a tug and allowed it to take hold of me. And before I knew it, I was chasing her with my tongue dangling to the side of my open mouth. We were both giggling and laughing all the time during that chase, one I lost. I had no hope when she cheated using her arcanum. 

(3rd person PoV) 

Nephelont and Eucleia were feeling particularly naughty and adventurous that night. They were full of energy and there was a need to expend it. They chose to venture into the forest. 

Since it was at night, many of the herbivores were either sleepy or sleeping. Some predators like themselves were roaming around. As they reached an opening that was a hotspot for Aptonoth, they saw a monster that enticed their appetites. It was a slightly reddened Kulu-Ya-Ku. 

[My Clea, that thin-] (Koine) Nephelont wanted to ask her if she got any plans in mind but was cut off by her galloping straight in. As she was heading there, Nephelont took quick action by using thin wind blades to make cuts all across the red chicken's skin. 

"EEEEIIIGGGHHH!!" The Kulu-Ya-Ku bellowed in pain. It looked in its direct vicinity, yet there was no other monster to attack it beside the scared Aptonoth. It took another look for good measure and spotted a monster veiled by the night approaching it. It roared. 

After releasing its frustrations, the Kulu-Ya-Ku picked up a large stone and started running at the veiled monster. But to its horror, the monster grew in size before pressing it down and gnawing at its throat. 

Nephelont watched as Eucleia attempted to amputate the head of the red chicken while he watched it struggle to get out. Seeing no end in sight, he approached. And when Eucleia saw him, her body instinctively removed her grip on the chicken's head. She still pressed it down when Nephelont bit the head then they started pulling in opposite directions with all they got. 

Some very painful minutes later, the poor Kulu-Ya-Ku's head and some of its spine were ripped off of its body. 

Without delay, Eucleia started eating until she reached a small gland. She dug it out and handed a part of it to Nephelont. They finished all the meat and organs before Eucleia's mind finally returned. 

[Eh? Where are we, Bunbun? Clea remembers standing at the edge of a small pond or swamp and spotting a large chicken. Clea doesn't remember anything else] (Koine) Eucleia drooped, feeling down. 

[It seems that my Clea's still not used to her new set of instincts] (Koine) Nephelont said then proceeded to lick the blood off her body while she squirmed. Her new body was getting introduced to things that her old body already got used to, with her mind going in circles while it happened. She wanted to know why she felt foreign inside her own body. 

'Ph-c-l-dy-...' Nephelont heard a familiar set of voices reach out to him. 

'I'm glad you're back after mere weeks, Allen' Nephelont thought. 

'n-t-y-co-le-ly-' Allen tried to send the message even through their disconnected voice. 

'Then a few more days?' Nephelont thought hopefully. He missed their efficiency with the light-based abilities he has. 

'f-a-s-' Allen's voice faded. 

"Grororororooarrrr!!" Nephelont and Eucleia's instincts screamed at them when they heard this reverberating sound. When they looked at the source, they witnessed a green and blue feathered menace with a purple ooze coming out of its mouth. 

[My Clea, should we return?] (Koine) Nephelont asked to no one in particular. Eucleia was already taken over by her instincts to eat this thing in front of her. But sensing that this one was a threat even with her expanded body, she went invisible and circled it with Nephelont. 

 [Good Hestia... I should help her] (Koine) As Nephelont felt Eucleia encroaching on the slobbering monster's back undetected, he stood in sight of it. 

[Tail] (Koine) Amidst the monster observing him, he whispered to Eucleia via wind arts. She responded by aiming for the creature's tail as told. 

Nephelont and the Pukei-Pukei squared up, sizing each other, while Nephelont prepared his maw. And when he opened it, a torrent of flames spewed out, racing forward. Being an agile monster, the Pukei-Pukei dodged the flames, its feathers getting singed as the heat still caught up to it before it dodged. 

Unfortunately, it dodged away from Eucleia. Noticing that, Nephelont edged to its other side, prompting it to growl at him while he led it right to Eucleia's awaiting crystal-coated teeth. 

'What the heck?! Since when could we coat our teeth in crystal?!... ALLEN!!' Nephelont screamed at the unfair treatment. Eucleia's mindless instincts told her while his conscious ones did not. He felt a bit wronged for not being told of what he could do. He could have trained the children in how to use this best once he attained a certain level of mastery. 

When Eucleia bit down on the monster's tail, it happened so that her conical teeth got a hold of it. She immediately stood on her hind legs and started pulling the monster off balance. The Pukei-Pukei flailed and, in doing so, it started regaining its balance as it flew with its tail still in Eucleia's maw. 

[Not so fast, dinner] (Koine) Nephelont said as he made the air under its wings move away constantly. That prevented the beat of its wings to gain it any more height, or prevent gravity from taking effect. The monster plummeted a few meters down, getting hung from the tail as Eucleia was still standing from its failed attempt to fly. 

In a desperate attempt, it spat at Eucleia's face, trying to trigger her defensive responses and for that to have her drop it down. But before its spit reached Eucleia's face, Nephelont's winds redirected the spit to the ground. 

In response to what he did, Nephelont clamped his maw over the monster's, closing it for good. And in a cruel act, Nephelont spewed flames into its face, frying its respiratory system through the nostrils beside its eyes and through the little open space between its lips. 

In the distance, and hiding in the thickets, the hunters, their handlers and some researchers were watching and noting things in great detail. If they couldn't experiment on these ones because they were to be friends, then observing them during their hunts was a must. 

"Don't you think that they are too vicious? They are pulling the monster apart while burning its insides, worse than what they did to the Kulu-Ya-Ku" One hunter said. 

"You, above anyone in this group, should know that the wilderness isn't for those who are merciful" A researcher rebuked, shutting that hunter's mouth. 

Back with Nephelont and Eucleia. 

Now that the Pukie-Pukei's insides are burnt and unable to absorb oxygen to its blood, it had a few agonizing moments to live through the pain. And true to that, it died after not being able to breath for a while. 

Nephelont and Eucleia gutted the monster and feasted on its insides first, with Nephelont grabbing the heart and the purple gland he found nearby it, a poison sack. 

"Should we stop it? Eating that poison sac might kill the poor thing" A researcher suggested. 

"Remain where you are" Nephelont said to the hunters, startling them. When they looked around, one noticed Nephelont's eyes being trained on them as he ate the monster's heart. 

"They can talk in the guild's Wyvernian dialect?" A researcher noted down in shock. 

"But how did it notice us?" Another voiced his curiosity. 

Yet another time tonight, they were shocked. They witnessed Nephelont spew poison, in a way very reminiscent of that of a Pukei-Pukei's. And another time when Nephelont set a puddle of his poison on fire. 

'A downside of it is its production glands. It got mixed with my salivary glands. Now, the species' saliva is poisonous in and of itself. My poor children would need to remind themselves not to kiss their loved ones' After swallowing some of it, Nephelont had some other thought, much more positive this time. 'At least, I seem immune to my own poison. I'd like to assume the others will be the same' 

(End of Chapter)

Greetings, dear readers

Hope you have been well up to now? (Hopefully for much longer to come as well)

So, in today's chapter, Nephelont witnessed how they really should be hunting in their dragon forms. Eucleia's instincts are untrained, as her human instincts were pretty dominant, overshadowing her draconic ones while staying in the lower realm. Once she was born again, and specially because it was hatching from an egg that she went through, it factory-reset her human instincts and replaced them with her young, untrained and blossoming draconic instincts. Hunting while solely focusing on the hunt is one. And another is to work together to hunt, which made her listen to what Nephelont wanted her to do while he did something else, hoping she could eat her target by the end of the night.

Ah, I recently started taking writing my fighting scenes with some more care. I want your opinion on how they caught the Puki-Puki.

As for the poor Kulu-Ya-Ku, the poor chicken was torn apart by a pair of much bigger predators. It was that simple. Comment F in chat for the poor chicken.

Oh! I just remembered! Did I have you in the title? I mean, a nightly hunt counts as action. Thus, it is a nightly action.

Next chapter: Nephelont and the residents of Astera have a talk.

Be well, ladies and gentlemen.

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