At this moment, Little Loren felt as if he had just had a dream.
After the battle over the nest with the Ancient Tree Rathalos, Little Loren had deeply come to realize just how important a size advantage was in combat.
Whether it was the clash of strength or the area of impact, at least in close-quarters combat, larger bodies could often gain more of an advantage than smaller ones.
But now, even though his size clearly far surpassed the Admiral's, and his strength was also much greater than it had been a year ago when he still could not fly, why then?
A year ago he had already been able to force the Admiral back, yet today he had not only failed, he had even been driven back!
In those brief two seconds, he felt that what he was facing was not the Admiral, but, as spoken of by Logan and Aki, that powerful existence that had once fought two at once and had been named Rajang.
"Hss~ Not bad. Should I say, as expected of the little Highness who inherited the boss's bloodline? I almost failed to block that, haha~"
The Admiral, not caring whether Little Loren understood him or not, laughed heartily as he put the huge shield back onto his back.
Just like Tonkotsu before, Bunbun, who was in charge of acting as Little Loren's interpreter cat, listened to the Admiral's words, his expression twisting for a moment, and in the end decided to pretend he had not heard anything.
His boss was not an ordinary juvenile Fire Wyvern, but, just like the Boss Fire Wyvern, a juvenile Sunblaze Dragon born to be king; he did not need this kind of obviously polite talk to comfort himself!
In the Dragon Secret Tome that the Fire Wyvern Grimalkynes had to study, there was a line that all Fire Wyvern Grimalkynes wholeheartedly acknowledged: God will surely obtain the final victory!
This failure at this moment was only because Lord Loren had not yet come of age. Lord Loren, who bore the future hopes of the Ancient Tree, would, in the days to come, just like the "Dragon of the Sun," be invincible in battle and reign over the pinnacle of the ecological niche!
Bunbun thought fervently in his heart, his gaze firm as he looked at Little Loren, who had already recovered and once again revealed that proud bearing just like the Boss Fire Wyvern's.
Little Loren let out a low roar, his two wings slowly spreading and then folding back again, rubbing to produce a low-frequency sound.
One Radiant Crystal Butterfly after another flew out from the gaps among the vines, carrying a faint blue glow as they landed on Little Loren's wings.
As the energy of the Radiant Crystal Butterflies poured in, the wounds on Little Loren's body began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye. Before long, the scabs began to fall off, and new scales grew out.
As for the Regeneration trait, Little Loren could be considered to have half inherited this trait; mainly, his self-healing speed was far inferior to Logan's, and it also only worked when his life energy was so abundant that it overflowed.
However, the good thing was that, now, the Radiant Crystal Butterflies on the Ancient Tree had already become so numerous as to be visible everywhere, reaching a level of near saturation just like the Fire Wyverns. Thus, Little Loren could be considered to have ample backup energy.
After shaking off the weakened Radiant Crystal Butterflies on his body, Little Loren, feeling that although there was still some soreness, his body was overall not in any serious trouble, gave Bunbun and the Admiral a low roar, then spread his wings and swiftly flew out of the nest.
Behind him, only Bunbun's panicked meow was left.
"Wuu-meow! Although going out to train his hunting ability is a good thing, he just finished the challenge—this is really too much, meow!"
The Admiral's pupils shrank slightly as he looked at Bunbun beside him — who wanted to stop Little Loren but, because of status, did not dare speak up — and thoughtfully rubbed his chin.
"It seems the little Highness is under no small amount of pressure as well."
Because of the innate arrogance in the bones of Elder Dragons, and because Little Loren bore the expectations of all living things on the Ancient Tree apart from Logan and his wife, and because he possessed intelligence no weaker than that of humans, together with Logan's teaching by word and example, he had gradually come to have a human-like way of thinking, with rationality suppressing his bestial nature. That was why Little Loren would experience this kind of psychological pressure even in the absence of any pressure to survive.
If this were placed on an ordinary Fire Wyvern, or even on other Elder Dragons, they probably would not feel any psychological burden at all.
Shaking his head and bidding farewell to Bunbun, the Admiral walked out of Little Loren's nest and headed toward the top of the Ancient Tree.
Apart from visiting old friends, he also had to give Logan a heads-up about the matter of the Fifth Fleet.
After all, the Fifth Fleet was made up entirely of the most elite combat units, and there were quite a lot of them. Whether it was out of their alliance or in order to be prepared for any possible impact on the ecological environment, they could not just arrive quietly the way the Third Fleet and Fourth Fleet had.
Moreover, after the Fifth Fleet arrived, the things they were going to do would also require a helping hand from the Ancient Tree's side.
"The Fifth Fleet's Sapphire Star, huh."
After listening to the Admiral's words, Logan looked a bit dazed.
It had already been more than thirty years since he came to this world. He had gone from a young wyvern that ate mushrooms to the current ruler of the Ancient Tree. One could say that as long as he did not deliberately seek death, he would not die so easily.
However, upon hearing this familiar designation, he still could not help but fall into remembrance.
This emotion lasted only a very short time, and the Admiral did not notice before Logan returned to normal.
He gave a low rumble to indicate that he understood, but as for the Admiral's request for assistance, and even the hope that Logan might take action if necessary, he did not express any stance.
Regarding the arrival of Zorah Magdaros and the series of events that occurred afterward, Logan had always held certain suspicions in his heart. Before verifying these suspicions, he did not intend to give an answer so early.
As for refusing—that was impossible. Based on the current bond between the Research Commission and the Ancient Tree, and the series of events that had happened since Zorah Magdaros arrived, the Ancient Tree could no longer remain uninvolved.
Although not receiving a clear reply from Logan made the Admiral a bit disappointed, this sixty-year-old veteran hunter soon put the matter aside and began, as he always had, to chatter beside Logan's ear.
...
In the western part of the Ancient Tree region, a hunter squad that had been tracing the trail of the Ludroth herds all the way upstream finally reached a basin connected to the inland sea after passing through a vast forest swamp.
Beside a lake, a hunter carefully parted the leaves that blocked his sight, and the scene before him made his pupils contract; he froze for a few seconds in disbelief.
In the backflow bay of the lake and on the shore were large amounts of white bones. These bones emitted waves of unknown gas, shrouding the tidal flat in mist, as if it were a massive grave.
"Captain, this is—!!"
The hunter who followed behind was also shocked by the sight. He hurriedly raised his binoculars to observe closely.
Most of the bones, judging by their shapes, belonged to Ludroth or other aquatic beasts.
But among them, though few, there were also carcasses that closely resembled Lagiacrus—and even monsters like Glavenus, creatures of a very high ecological niche. This scene could truly be called horrifying.
"What in the world is going on here?"
After thinking for a moment, the hunter squad decided to investigate further. At this moment, the seasoned Dual Blades user crouched down, picked up a smooth white bone, examined it carefully, and said: "Something's wrong. Based on the shape and the weight of this bone, it's still very new. This place is absolutely not something formed naturally!!"
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