"That, um… Admiral and Falcon still haven't come up, meow!"
A Palico took a sip of diluted Potion, regaining a bit of stamina, then suddenly remembered the forgotten Admiral and Falcon.
Only then did the other cats, upon hearing those words, finally realize two were missing—they'd forgotten to inform the Admiral and Falcon during their retreat!
Earlier, so as not to arouse the Ahtal-Ka's suspicion and to better ensure the safety of the cats, the Admiral and Falcon had leapt into the forest before reaching the destination, hiding in the shadows as an extra safeguard.
Who could have thought that after so much exertion in such a short time, the exhausted cats would actually forget to call out to the Admiral still hiding in the forest when they pulled back?
The cats looked at each other, speechless.
"They… they should be fine, right, meow?"
"Of course, meow—after all, it's the Admiral, meow!"
Though feeling guilty, the cats gliding through the clouds at this moment had no good solution. The two Lady Rathians carrying the large baskets would definitely not be willing to turn back just to pick up the Admiral and Falcon.
So aside from guilt, all the cats could do now was silently pray in their hearts for the Admiral and Falcon's safety.
"Spice, what's wrong, meow?"
Seeing Spice curled up gloomily in the corner, Steak worriedly patted his small head.
"It's nothing, meow." Spice shook his head and didn't say more. He hadn't even properly said goodbye to his friend—hopefully, once it realized, it wouldn't blame him, meow.
...
As time passed, the setting sun hung at the edge of the sky.
Having finally finished assembling its new components, the Ahtal-Ka came to its senses from that state of fervent focus.
It once again felt a bit hungry. With a pull of its silk threads, another cocoon filled with stored food was dragged before it. Just as it was about to tear it open as usual and feast, the Ahtal-Ka suddenly froze.
Only then did it remember the little one and its companions.
Effortlessly carrying the more than ten-meter-long cocoon on its tail, it walked out of the forest—only to find the basin empty. The little one and its companions had vanished at some point.
A faint sense of disappointment flickered within the Ahtal-Ka. But when it noticed that the metal scraps it had gathered, as well as the silk-thread toy ball it had crafted, were both gone too, it somehow felt a quiet relief inside.
It still remembered quite clearly the state it had been in while piecing together the walking fortress. Judging by that little one's behavior last time, it had probably greeted it again—only, it hadn't noticed.
Since the silk-thread toy ball had been taken, that little one was likely satisfied as well.
Feeling relaxed, the Ahtal-Ka was just about to start eating when its compound eyes caught a reflection of something tossed aside—a relic dug up from the ancient ruins. Its movement froze.
Damn!
Because of the excitement caused by the things that little one had brought, it had actually forgotten about these!
Who knew when the little one would come again~~
The food inside the torn cocoon instantly lost all flavor.
...
Atop the Ancient Tree, the Chameleos retracted the last puff of medicine mist for the day. Looking at that pile of Fire Wyvern eggs buried in the mound of medicinal clay improved by the scholars, motionless and lifeless, it felt nothing inside—if anything, it wanted to laugh.
Finally freed!!
Three days. Did they even know how it had gotten through these three days?
Now it was finally released! How could it not be happy?
Whether these Fire Wyvern eggs would live or die afterward—what did that have to do with it?
Feeling rather pleased, it was just about to go chat with Logan, maybe tease that Rathian in the middle of her molting—who would flare up at the slightest provocation—to relieve some of today's fatigue, when it suddenly saw the scholars rushing over, surrounded by several Jagras.
A bad premonition struck the Chameleos!!
Was it about to work overtime??
Sheets of spider silk soaked in alchemic potions were carefully laid over the Fire Wyvern eggs by the scholars.
"Good thing the Grimalkynes brought the silk back in proper sheets—saves us from having to weave them anew. Otherwise, these silk nets probably wouldn't be ready even by tomorrow." A scholar sighed as he covered the last Fire Wyvern egg.
Meanwhile, under Logan's gaze, the Chameleos unwillingly revealed itself once more. With its head lowered, it trudged dejectedly back to the eggs, opened its mouth, and released white medicinal mist that spread to cover the Fire Wyvern eggs again.
Amid the white haze, a Wyverian scholar wearing dustproof goggles and a face cloth downed an Antidote, then swallowed a pill of herbal medicine. While the effects still lasted, he used a piece of unknown metal in his hand to measure the mist absorption data on the silk nets.
"All right! That's enough! Just this level!"
Amid the loud shouts of the Wyverian scholars, the Chameleos let out a sigh and was just about to stop releasing its mist when its round eyes glanced at Logan, who seemed a bit tense.
Suddenly, it stuck out its tongue and snatched the Wyverian scholar standing in the middle of the Fire Wyvern eggs.
"Gwah!" (Don't get in the way, gwah!)
With a croak, the Chameleos abruptly increased the speed of its medicinal mist discharge. Amid the Wyverian scholar's repeated cries of "Enough, enough—any more and it won't work!", it subtly adjusted certain proportions within its mist.
Soon, the originally white medicinal fog quietly took on faint, iridescent hues.
Two minutes later, the Chameleos finally stopped. Without even glancing at the scholars rushing into the still-lingering mist with their measuring instruments, it lifted its head proudly and strode toward Logan, who was watching from the side.
"Gwah, gwah!" (I added some other stuff, gwah! It'll make the medicine's effects last longer, gwah!!)
When it came to familiarity with these Fire Wyvern eggs, how could the Chameleos possibly be compared to those Wyverian scholars who could only rely on instruments for preliminary analysis?
Each egg required subtle differences in medicinal potency, while the alchemic devices in the scholars' hands could only detect a general range—a standardized value at best.
For some Fire Wyvern eggs, that so-called standard might even have adverse effects.
Though it didn't quite understand what modifications the Wyverians had made to those nets, from the Chameleos's observation, it was nothing more than enhancing absorption and energy retention. The method was workable, but a bit crude.
For Logan's sake—and to salvage the image of itself that had nearly collapsed in his eyes—the Chameleos decided to show its dignity as an Elder Dragon.
Thus, it directly refined and expanded upon the existing plan, altering the proportions of the medicinal mist and infusing it with a measure of life energy.
It was well known that the inclusion or absence of life energy was the key factor determining a true qualitative change in an Elder Dragon's abilities.
In short, through this little act of initiative, the Chameleos had directly improved the hatch rate of this batch of Fire Wyvern eggs!
Though Logan truly didn't feel like responding to Chameleos's self-satisfied display, he had to admit that this guy really had been a huge help.
Hearing the scholars' voices of astonishment from within that thin layer of white mist, Logan knew that Chameleos truly had some real skill.
Just as he was about to say something, he saw the creature standing tall with pride, its tail coiling up and swaying lightly from side to side.
"Are you a dog?"
At that moment, the way Chameleos presented itself looked entirely like a dog begging for praise. Originally, Logan had intended to compliment it a few times for that astonishing performance—just to make up for having ignored the majesty of an Elder Dragon.
But now, he simply couldn't bring himself to say it. All he could do was turn his head toward the clutch of Fire Wyvern eggs that had become visible as the medicinal mist completely dispersed.
Who would have thought—this very movement, in Chameleos's eyes, appeared as an act of guilt.
"Feeling guilty for your lack of reverence, gwa!!"
In a particularly good mood, Chameleos's coiled tail wagged even more enthusiastically without realizing it.
Meanwhile, the young Chameleos observing from the side couldn't quite comprehend its mother's behavior. Tilting its large eyes, it glanced at its own small coiled tail and gave it an experimental shake—there didn't seem to be anything special about it.
"Mother must have her reasons for doing this, gwa!"
Unable to make sense of it, the little Chameleos could only console itself that way once again.
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