Eat! Stuff it in!
Asterion had never been shy when it came to eating. The dignity of a Glavenus boss meant nothing in the face of food. After finishing the stir-fry and the roasted meat, he even licked the stone slab clean with his tongue.
He didn't even spare the wooden skewers that had held the roasted meat; if they were coated in seasoning, down the hatch they went.
As Asterion's most important partners, the Kulu-Ya-Ku brothers had also been invited to serve as judges. The Grimalkynes seemed to understand the Kulu-Ya-Ku brothers' preferences, so they had prepared several egg dishes for them—steamed eggs, fried eggs, and the like.
However, the Kulu-Ya-Ku brothers couldn't give precise reviews like Asterion could. As long as they ate happily, the Grimalkynes considered it a pass.
Unprecedented deliciousness—to be honest, since coming to this world and switching entirely to a Glavenus's perspective, body and soul, Asterion had somewhat forgotten what the delicacies of his past life actually tasted like.
After all, a Glavenus's taste preferences and digestive capabilities were completely different from a human's, so those things had quickly faded into simple, fond memories.
But now, those memories seemed to have turned into reality.
It was so wonderful.
The only problem seemed to be that he hadn't eaten enough. So, after licking the stone slab clean, Asterion turned his gaze toward the only group of contestants that hadn't served their dish yet.
Then, he and the crowd of Grimalkynes watched as the chefs of the Stew Group frantically added ingredients to their large pot.
Asterion: "..."
No, seriously, are you really adding that much?
Hey, hey, hey, the water in the pot is gone, right?? The seasoning powder is piled up into a peak?!
Is this still stew, or... uh, stewed meat?
Clearly, the words Onion had spoken earlier not only finished off the Stir-fry Group's chefs but also greatly influenced the Stew Group's chefs.
Realizing that what Onion said was true, and seeing Asterion furiously stuffing his face with the first two groups' food while the other Grimalkynes weren't paying attention, the Stew Group chefs started adding ingredients like mad.
If it doesn't kill him, just keep adding more!
"Okay, we're done too, meow!!"
Finally, several Grimalkynes carried the large pot on wooden poles to Asterion. And Asterion...
His expression was somewhat subtle.
Everyone, here we have a pot of stew, plus at least two or three pounds of seasoning powder, all dumped in at once... It's thicker than damn sesame paste. Would anyone actually drink this?
A classic is a classic for a reason; I didn't expect it to chase me to another world.
But it doesn't matter. Even if humans wouldn't touch it, I, a Glavenus, will drink it!
He roared a few times to let the old Grimalkyne leader understand his intent. Asterion then lowered his head and opened his mouth wide. The old leader directed the Grimalkynes to work together and pour the entire contents of the large pot into Asterion's mouth... Asterion went to great lengths just to avoid destroying the pot while eating.
This was the difference between one full meal and a lifetime of full meals.
To be fair, many Grimalkynes squinted their cat eyes in shock when they saw the... uh, viscous, chaotic, paste-like... meat in the pot. They all looked at the Stew Group chefs with weird expressions.
No words were needed; those who understood, understood.
"B-Big failure, meow..."
The chefs of the Stew Group slumped softly to the ground, letting out wails of failure.
Mouth closed. Chew, chew. Big dragon chewing.
To be honest, with Asterion's tastes, this lump of meat paste coated in a massive amount of spices actually tasted pretty good.
The flavor was intense!
So—
"Roar!!"
"The Glavenus Boss says, eight points, meow!!!"
"What?!!"
The Stir-fry Group chefs were instantly revived from their near-death state, letting out sounds of disbelief.
"Why, meow?!! How can that stuff, which looks impossible to swallow, score higher than the dishes we carefully stir-fried, meow?!!"
"I can't accept this, meow!!"
"What is delicious and what is garbage... Meow can't tell! Meow just can't tell anymore, meow!!!"
"..."
"Quiet! Everyone be quiet, meow!!" Seeing the situation getting a bit chaotic, the old leader banged his cane clang clang a few times. It took a while before the Grimalkynes finally settled down. "Anyway, the winner of this Glavenus Boss Trial is the BBQ Group led by Onion, meow!!"
"Meow yeah!!"
"BBQ is a huge victory, meow!!"
"BBQ is invincible, meow!!!"
The BBQ Group chefs immediately cheered, and the onlookers joined in, congratulating Onion and his team... his cats... on winning the trial.
This time, the old leader didn't rush to control the scene. Instead, he watched happily as the Grimalkynes celebrated. Only after the cheers slowly died down did he continue:
"As for the cats who failed the trial, there is no need to be sad, meow. Just think clearly about why you failed, meow."
"Let me explain, meow, Leader." Onion stepped forward confidently, addressing the defeated chefs who were sitting limply on the ground on the other side. "Remember this, meow! To cook, you must make the food that the eater likes, meow!!"
Golden words!!
Asterion almost laughed out loud.
Rice must contain rice! — It was pretty much that kind of feeling.
However, this was likely just a funny situation caused by the Grimalkynes' limited ability to express themselves. Onion's intended meaning was conveyed clearly enough.
You have to cook according to the customer's preferences and the specific situation.
Unlike Asterion, who almost laughed upon hearing it, the Grimalkynes all looked very serious, as if they had been taught a profound lesson.
Smacking his lips, Asterion felt that things seemed to have unknowingly developed in a very strange direction—uh, what the hell was the "Glavenus Boss Trial"? Why had he inexplicably become a judge for a cooking competition between three groups of Grimalkynes?
"Um, uh, isn't something a little wrong, meow?" Sparky, the newly appointed young leader, weakly raised a paw to ask a question at this moment. "Weren't we working hard to make good food to get the Glavenus Boss to approve of us, meow?"
Silence.
All the Grimalkynes seemed to have been hit by a paralytic spell; their bodies went stiff and motionless.
Silence.
Even though there were many breathing sounds in the cave, it was terrifyingly quiet... only the sound of Sparky speaking remained.
"Why did it unknowingly turn into this festival-like feeling, meow... This isn't a tribal celebration, is it, meow..."
Astonishing silence!
His gaze sweeping over these little guys who had suddenly become tense, Asterion laughed hard internally. In the end, it was he who broke the silence.
"Roar!!"
Upon hearing Asterion's roar, the old leader visibly let out a sigh of relief.
"The Glavenus Boss says! The trial is passed, meow!! From now on, the Glavenus Boss will protect us, meow!!"
"Meow yeah!!"
"Good, meow!!!"
"Celebrate, meow! We must celebrate, meow!!!"
Suddenly jumping three feet high, this time even the Grimalkynes from the Stir-fry and Stew Groups, who had just been looking dejected from failure, became happy. They also somewhat belatedly realized what this actually meant.
Safety.
For weak creatures living in an environment full of danger, nothing was more important than safety.
A dragon so huge and strong promising to protect them—could there be anything better than this?
It was like Godzilla telling a person, "I will protect you." The sense of security was off the charts.
Everything paid today, those precious spices that everyone in the tribe had worked hard to collect, had not been wasted. They had successfully exchanged them for the Glavenus Boss's approval—which meant the cats' cooking skills had been approved!!
From now on, as long as the Glavenus Boss chose to bring his caught prey back to them for cooking, the cats would no longer have to risk their lives going out to hunt.
Even just processing the carcasses brought back by the Glavenus Boss, cooking the best meat for him, the scraps and trimmings left over during the process would be enough to feed the cats of the tribe.
Never again would a cat join the hunting team and never return. Everyone no longer had to worry about their family members bravely leaving them due to an accident—it was simply wonderful, meow!!
The Grimalkynes cheered endlessly. They seemed ready to immediately start a banquet following this. They didn't mind the food left over by Asterion and the Kulu-Ya-Ku brothers at all, boiling and roasting it again.
Some Grimalkynes were celebrating the emergence of the new leader. Sparky's inauguration ceremony came a little late, but now that the great crisis for the tribe had passed, every Grimalkyne was happy about the new leader's appearance.
Now full of food and drink, Asterion watched these bouncing Grimalkynes with great interest. Looking at these bipedal felines, Asterion felt a long-lost warmth of socialization.
For such a long time, the nest he shared with the Kulu-Ya-Ku brothers had always been very quiet. So, with things suddenly becoming this lively, the Kulu-Ya-Ku brothers were actually a little unaccustomed to it.
Coiled in a corner of the cave, Asterion watched these jumping Grimalkynes. He inexplicably thought of those dragons in the D&D world, specifically the Chromatic Dragons.
Kobolds, Lizardfolk—these races would instinctively seek refuge with Chromatic Dragons and become their minion armies.
And if considered from this angle, could these Grimalkynes be considered his minion army?
Thinking of this, Asterion found it a bit funny himself.
A minion army? These simple-minded Grimalkynes?
It feels like... they might not even be able to beat the Gajalakas.
This Grimalkyne tribe that had attached itself to Asterion entered a completely new phase of change.
The most significant change was that the Grimalkyne hunting team had been disbanded. Not for any other reason, but simply because it was no longer needed.
Asterion's desire for evolution was extremely vigorous. He yearned to become stronger, and this desire drove him to constantly launch attacks on other large monsters. In this respect alone, his lust for battle far exceeded that of other Glavenus, resembling instead a Tigrex that would attack every living thing in its territory.
But unlike a Tigrex, Asterion didn't kill simply for the sake of killing. He wouldn't waste the bodies of those he killed; he would eat them all—after all, that was life energy.
And now that he had the Grimalkyne tribe attached to him, Asterion gave up the habit of eating raw food. Instead, he brought the carcasses he hunted back for the Grimalkynes to process.
The tribe's hunting team had practically transformed into a Grimalkyne Chef Team. They no longer needed to risk their cat lives to go out and hunt. Just by relying on carving the carcasses Asterion brought back and preserving the trimmings, they had an endless supply of food.
The work they needed to do every day was to prepare grand meals for Asterion.
It was bliss. No Grimalkyne would refuse such a life.
In addition to the Chef Team, this Grimalkyne tribe also formed a Gathering Team, specifically responsible for going to various parts of the Wildspire Waste to collect spices that could be used for cooking. There was currently a high demand for these seasonings.
The tribe's existing Farming Team also replenished its manpower. These Grimalkynes were responsible for finding caves with suitable temperature and humidity to specifically grow crops like mushrooms, and even planting some useful greenery... for seasoning purposes.
Time quietly slipped away amidst the trivialities of life. Asterion truly enjoyed this life that could completely be called happy. Without exaggeration, this was the happiest period he had lived since transmigrating to this world.
But this didn't mean Asterion had forgotten the foundation of his standing—his powerful martial force as a dragon.
It was precisely this force that allowed him to enjoy the benefits of having a Grimalkyne tribe serve him, and it was this force that allowed him to survive in the Wildspire Waste.
He had witnessed with his own eyes just how strong Elder Dragons were, and where their strength lay, so Asterion had never given up on the idea of continuing to get stronger.
A typical adult male Glavenus had a shoulder height of about three to four meters. When lifting its head normally, the top of its head would be five to six meters high. The overall body length was about twenty-two meters. If it raised its sword-tail to the highest point, it could slash at a position nearly ten meters high.
But Asterion's size had completely surpassed these statistics. His shoulder height reached five meters, and his total body length, even without the sword-tail being recast, had reached an astonishing twenty-six meters.
If a normal Glavenus included the ore greatsword on its tail, the whole dragon weighed about sixty-something tons. However, the current Asterion, even excluding the mineral sword-tail part that hadn't been re-forged yet, still exceeded this weight.
This was thanks to the double-layer mineral carapace that covered his whole body—which had exhausted him to create.
Between forging the blade and forging the armor, Asterion had chosen to prioritize forging the armor. He felt that having armor would be safer. Therefore, all the ore he had eaten over the past six months or so had been used to prioritize reshaping his shell.
By now, Asterion had clearly judged that this Glavenus body of his had likely reached its limit—this, of course, didn't mean he was going to look for a new body.
For an ordinary Glavenus, what Asterion possessed now was already the endpoint of growth they would pursue for a lifetime.
After reaching this level, they would find the best territory to settle down in, hunt, mate, reproduce, fight with other large monsters, and eventually die.
That was all. Their entire life was just the life of an ordinary dragon.
A link in the ecological chain, a predator necessary to maintain that chain.
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