Deep within the rarely visited mountain forest, a small valley was heavily covered by countless gigantic tree canopies.
At the bottom of the valley, a small Hunter Camp stood.
This place was still very far from the true core area of Shuretsusen Hill—the Ancient Shurete City ruins.
But for Gordon, who had always only operated in the outer areas of Shuretsusen Hill, this was already a completely unfamiliar and dangerous Hunting Field.
Sitting cross-legged on the hard bed inside the Hunting Camp tent, the young hunter was carefully studying a map heavily annotated with extra notes.
The map was given to him by Instructor Ernest.
If not for this detailed map, generously provided by the Instructor, let alone successfully completing the mission, it would have been good luck not to get lost in these ancient deep mountains.
Actually, the Instructor strongly disapproved of Gordon taking on the mission to steal a Rathalos egg.
The reward was indeed generous, but the difficulty and danger of the mission were too uncontrollable.
It was called a gathering mission, but the mission item to be submitted was not a Herbivore Dragon egg, but a Rathalos egg!
That was a true Flying Wyvern.
If luck was good, and the Rathalos had been away from its nest for a long time, then grabbing the egg and leaving would make this just a very ordinary gathering mission, no different from a One-Star Mushroom gathering.
But what if, while holding the egg and leaving, he encountered a Female Fire Dragon, renowned as the "Queen of the Earth," who had just returned to her nest?
The mission difficulty would immediately rise to Four-Star Hunter.
In the Hunter's Guild's mission classification, only veteran hunters of Four-Star Hunter or above were qualified to directly confront large Flying Wyverns like Rathalos and Female Fire Dragon.
However, according to the Instructor, this was still not the worst situation.
Male and female individuals in Rathalos populations have fixed pair bonds. If he happened to encounter both parents returning together while holding the egg, he would be met with a husband-and-wife mixed doubles attack from the "King of the Sky" and the "Queen of the Earth."
The mission difficulty would be Five-Star at minimum.
If more powerful subspecies or even rare species within the Rathalos population were also considered, the mission difficulty could escalate to an immeasurable extent.
Of course, the Instructor himself did not deny that there was an element of alarmism in this.
But a gathering mission is not a hunting mission after all, and the Hunter's Guild would not specifically send out scouts and hot air balloons to confirm the monster ecology within the Hunting Field.
In other words, while the above scenarios were unlikely, they were indeed possible.
Given Gordon's current strength and equipment, if, by any chance, he encountered the worst of those situations, let alone completing the mission, even escaping with his life would be a luxury.
After this long string of presenting facts and reasoning, the Instructor originally thought he could persuade Gordon to give up this mission.
After all, Gordon, who had completed a large number of One-Star missions over several months, was not short on money and really didn't need to take this risk.
But he forgot the reckless, impulsive stubbornness unique to sixteen or seventeen-year-old teenagers.
Gordon ultimately still accepted the mission and ventured into this unfamiliar mountain forest he had never set foot in.
According to him: "I'm not doing it for money; I just want to see what the legendary Rathalos truly looks like!"
This irresponsible attitude towards his own life truly infuriated the Instructor, but he couldn't completely abandon this guy, who was practically like a half-son to him.
In the end, he could only provide Gordon with the most detailed map possible, along with a long list of precautions, before kicking the fool out of his home.
Recalling the Instructor's grim face, Gordon in the tent couldn't help but awkwardly rub his nose.
"I'll apologize properly when I return after completing the mission."
Patting his knees, Gordon stood up: "Are you ready, Zhu Pa? The target Rathalos nest is about four kilometers southwest. Let's finish the mission in one go and then go back for a big meal!"
"Meow!"
Following the narrow, winding path that only allowed one person to pass sideways, the hunter and the Hunting Cat exited this hidden Hunting Camp that provided cover.
From the moment their feet stepped out of the Hunting Camp, their spirits became completely tense. Neither of them forgot that this was a dangerous area where Dragons resided.
Recalling the route on the map in his mind, Gordon lowered his voice and said: "The path from here to the Rathalos nest should be relatively safe. A dominant apex predator like Rathalos won't allow other large monsters to exist within its territory."
"We will move along routes with dense trees, using the shadows of the canopies for cover, to avoid being spotted by the Rathalos from high above."
"Okay, meow."
Zhu Pa nodded. Being cautious by nature, he was even more light-footed than Gordon.
"Pay attention to the smell in the air. The Instructor said the sulfuric smell after a Rathalos breathes fire can travel very far. My nose isn't as sensitive as yours, so I'm counting on you to distinguish the scents."
Zhu Pa twitched his small nose in various directions, meowing with a serious expression.
Although they were in the wild, the man and the Hunting Cat crept through the densely leaved trees like thieves.
Gordon knew clearly that the purpose of this trip was not combat, but to move as flexibly and quickly as possible, and the items in his pack had been streamlined as much as possible.
Aside from the most basic recovery medicine, he didn't even bring a whetstone.
Originally, he didn't even want to bring recovery medicine, but under the Instructor's strict orders, he ultimately brought a few bottles of recovery medicine G, as well as antidotes and Flash Bombs, which he would normally never carry.
According to the Instructor, if they encountered a Rathalos, these were truly life-saving items and absolutely could not be omitted.
The journey to the Rathalos nest was uneventful and safe.
Let alone dangerous monsters, they didn't even see any larger Herbivore Dragons. The biggest creature they saw was a Xianggu Pig whose back was not even as high as Gordon's thigh.
What made Gordon and Zhu Pa most speechless was that this normally timid and cautious creature brazenly walked around in front of them, freely gnawing on lichens and Mushrooms, without even the most basic vigilance.
Clearly, it had never experienced the harsh reality of predators.
But on second thought, it seemed perfectly normal. Rathalos would not allow other predators, even the most common Blue Velocidrome, to exist in their territory, especially near their nest.
And small animals like Xianggu Pig and rabbits were beneath their notice, thus creating an ecological niche for them.
Normally, Gordon might have killed this foolish creature to gather some meat.
But at a time when he was afraid to make even a slightly louder sound while walking, he naturally wouldn't cause extra trouble. He knew that Flying Wyverns have very sensitive noses, and the smell of blood would almost certainly attract them.
That would be a big problem.
Recalling the tender meat and gelatinous pig skin with a hint of Mushroom fragrance from the Xianggu Pig, Gordon greedily swallowed his saliva, then pulled Zhu Pa to bypass the complacent creature in front of them.
A journey that would normally take fifteen to twenty minutes at full speed, carefully and cautiously, took Gordon and Zhu Pa nearly an hour.
When the small rocky hill, conspicuously marked in bright red on the map, appeared before them, both the man and the Hunting Cat held their breath.
The faint smell of sulfur lingering in the air constantly reminded them.
This was the Rathalos's nest.
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
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