The Fire Wyverns of the Ancient Tree all flew out from their nests into the sky. Among them, that figure gleaming with golden radiance soared straight toward Logan's side. Seeing Logan's even more majestic form now, it let out a deafening roar born of pure pride.
That roar became a fuse—soon, roars echoed one after another. It was a celebration of strength, a cheer of their kind!
As all the flames were finally absorbed, a violent gust of wind swept through the area, and Logan opened his eyes.
Feeling his entire body surging with energy—different from before in some profound way—he swiftly retracted the aura that had been radiating freely. Amid the chorus of wyvern roars, Logan began testing control over the Sunlight Trait, activating the region's fire-attribute energy while keeping the area's temperature steady at around 35 °C.
"The temperature's rising! Is it an ability similar to that of a Teostra?"
The Deputy Director, barely calming himself, sat down on the ground, picked up his notebook again, and after taking a deep breath, began recording and analyzing Logan's current form. He understood—
The second problem of the Fire Wyvern eggs had now been solved, and solved perfectly!
At this moment, the Deputy Director felt immense relief that, on an impulse back then, he had shamelessly snatched the Sunblaze Dragon ecological analysis assignment from the hands of the younger scholars.
"So this is what an Elder Dragon is~~"
...
At the edge of the Ancient Tree region, within the forest outside the basin of the ancient ruins—
The Admiral removed his heavy armor and set it inside the tent of the temporary camp.
"Strange, why did it suddenly get hotter? Could it be that a Teostra passed through the forest again?" The Admiral turned to Falcon, who was drinking water beside him, and spoke with a grin.
Falcon set down his cup, stroked the tongue-lolling Canyne beside him, and replied in the same joking tone, "Maybe it's not a Teostra, but the Sunblaze Dragon up in the Ancient Tree instead?"
As soon as he said that, the smile on the Admiral's face froze.
Right—there was still his old friend.
The Admiral recalled how, when they had previously dealt with that pitch-black unknown creature, Logan had revealed his "true form" amidst the flames of the Fire Wyverns. Back then, the temperature across the entire Ancient Tree region had also risen in just the same way.
The tent suddenly fell silent.
After a long moment, the silence was broken by the sound of a wooden cup being crushed by sheer grip.
"Damn it! I missed it again!!"
Falcon glanced at the crushed remains of the cup in the Admiral's hand, the corner of his eye twitching slightly. He said nothing—but deep down, he too felt a twinge of regret.
Thus, he made a quiet decision in his heart: next time, he wouldn't go on a mission with the Admiral again!
...
From within the basin, an Ahtal-Ka crawled out, its eyes gleaming with joy as it gently placed a long object, resembling a Dragonator, into its nest.
What an unexpected bonus find today!!
As for the fleeting Elder Dragon aura just now, it paid it no mind at all. After all, it still wasn't as oppressive as its own mother's.
...
With all issues resolved, from that day onward, Logan entered Sunlight Form for six hours each day.
While providing ample heat for the Fire Wyvern eggs, he also triggered a brief period of accelerated plant growth across the Ancient Tree region.
Under nearly half a month of continuous Sunlight Trait influence, large amounts of fungi and special flora rapidly matured. The cats welcomed a major harvest, and the richer aquatic plants attracted waves of migrating Aptonoth herds.
Likewise, powerful carnivorous monsters followed the trail of the migrating herbivores and stepped once more into the Ancient Tree region.
A new round of survival of the fittest would soon begin.
The ecology of the Ancient Tree region had once again entered a new cycle.
...
On the fifteenth day of sunlight, just as the scholars had predicted, the first Fire Wyvern hatchling successfully broke out of its shell. As expected, it was a healthy Rathian.
At a comfortable 35 °C, her eyes still closed, the little creature wobbled her large head, sticky with a bit of egg fluid and hanging white filaments. Sniffing with her tiny nose but failing to catch her mother's scent, she immediately opened her mouth and let out a loud, full-throated cry.
In the sky above, the Rathians patrolling the surroundings all stopped, gazing downward with anticipation.
Soon, one of them let out a joyous roar, flapping her wings wildly as she dove straight down.
Yet as she reached the airspace above the egg, she seemed to realize something and quickly adjusted her angle, circling once in a great arc before carefully landing beside the newborn female.
A low hum rumbled from her nostrils as she stretched out her tongue to gently lick the filth from the hatchling's body.
The blind little female wobbled her head, feeling the warm, moist touch on her body and inhaling the scent that calmed any wyvern's heart. Only then did she slowly stop crying, instinctively propping up her small wings and rubbing softly against her mother's chin.
It seemed this was the mother Fire Wyvern's first time giving birth. Feeling the sensation beneath her chin, she almost couldn't restrain herself from spreading her wings wide in pure joy—but at the last moment, she forced herself to stop, afraid of accidentally hurting the fragile newborn.
"Waa, waa!"
Having memorized her mother's scent, the female hatchling opened her mouth and cried softly.
Seeing her hatchling's movement, the mother Fire Wyvern seemed at a loss. She couldn't understand what the baby wanted to express, and so she lifted her head in a fluster, glancing around helplessly. That anxious gesture struck a deep chord with the other Rathians watching from the sky above.
They too had been like this the first time they hatched their own young.
Fortunately, although this Rathian was a first-time mother, there were experienced Cats nearby.
With the sharp sound of a bone whistle, several apron-clad Cats quickly pushed over a cart carrying the nutrient slurry they had prepared days ago.
At that, the mother Fire Wyvern finally understood what she should do.
Using the hollow spines under her chin, she carefully fed the hungry hatchling the nutrient slurry made with true Cat cooking skill.
This heartwarming scene made the Cats wipe at their eyes without thinking.
The birth of this hatchling had truly been anything but easy!
...
At the edge of the great platform, the little Chameleos watched this scene, and for no reason its nose stung a little. It turned its head toward its own old mother, only to find that the Chameleos was also looking at it.
"Look at other mothers!"
"Unfilial whelp!"
Fine—having barely broken its shell and then being able to gnaw only on rotting plants, the little Chameleos had naturally never experienced the tender moment this Fire Wyvern mother and daughter were having. Especially later, when its old mother splendidly sold it off and shamelessly stole its food—truly, between it and its old mother, things were beyond words.
And the Chameleos also felt uneasy at the earlier affectionate behavior between the Rathian hatchling and that Rathian. This unfilial child of hers spent every day playing mind games with her—when had it ever shown the unique intimacy between hatchling and mother?
She had clearly already given the little Chameleos so much motherly love!
Truly an unfilial wretch!!
The parent–child back-and-forth between the Chameleos mother and child drew no attention from any other creature besides the two dragons themselves.
On the other side, the Rathian hatchling's breaking out of the shell was like a signal; one after another, Fire Wyvern hatchlings began to hatch.
In less than half a day, all the Rathians descended, and with the Cats' help began feeding.
The Rathalos returning from the hunt grew excited for a moment, then, without another word, flew back toward the hunting grounds.
With the successful birth of the hatchlings—and under Logan's newly established Cat Meal rules—they had to hunt more food in order to exchange for more Cat Meals.
As for eating ordinary raw meat like before?
Sorry—back then they didn't have the conditions, but now that Cat Meals exist, how could they possibly let the hatchlings live the way they used to!
This meticulous parental care seemed to be an instinct shared by the vast majority of social creatures. For Fire Wyverns, this love would continue for 3 to 5 years, and only when the hatchlings had gained the ability to hunt on their own would it abruptly fall away.
By then, don't even talk about Cat Meals—the young wyverns wouldn't even get ordinary meat. Although they could still stay in their parents' nest for a while, at that time they would only be fit to eat dog food from their parents!!
With the Fire Wyvern hatchlings' birth, the Ancient Tree—rarely—became lively once more. The previously muted atmosphere caused by the matter of offspring was, in this moment, washed utterly clean by joy.
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