Asterion picked the bones clean.
The dead Seregios left absolutely nothing behind in this world; even the blood that had dripped onto the ground during the earlier battle was scraped up and devoured by Asterion, along with the layer of stone beneath it.
He had always been thrifty.
Because the Seregios had spent so much time flying in the sky, Asterion hadn't realized it during the fight, but upon eating it, he discovered that this Seregios was actually quite large in size.
Could it be considered a Tempered monster?
It wouldn't be surprising, though. This Seregios had condensed a Wyvern Gem within its body—only a victor who had survived countless brutal battles could achieve such a feat.
It had even enhanced its physical regeneration capabilities under the influence of the Dragon King trait, transforming into a Seregios specialized in ranged combat.
Yeah, it had some tricks up its sleeve.
But now, they were his.
One dragon is stronger than many. The evolutionary traits Asterion wanted to acquire from the Seregios species happened to be exactly what this specific Seregios excelled at. The Wyvern Gem he swallowed delivered the entirety of the Seregios's essence to him.
In Asterion's eyes, the Seregios species was actually like a low-spec version of Nergigante or Bazelgeuse—all three could launch parts of their own bodies as projectiles, though the damage of the Seregios's Blade Scales was considerably lower compared to the other two.
And it had way less clout (scratch that part out).
Odogaron muscle, Seregios regeneration and Blade Scales—Best Match!
Are you ready?
Totally ready.
The life energy accumulated during the journey north from his comfortable old home, the life energy of several Odogarons, the life energy of the Seregios, and the Wyvern Gem...
Asterion had been saving up for this moment for too long.
And now, it was time.
Instead of going elsewhere, Asterion returned to the tunnel constructed from collapsed rock strata behind him; this would be the place of his evolution.
He used his sword-tail to cut down a few boulders to block the tunnel entrance. The already dim light instantly turned to pitch darkness. Asterion made his way back to the cave where he had hidden earlier, found a comfortable position to lie down, and closed his eyes.
"...I want to change my tail..."
"Remove the air sac shell..."
"...And the tail blades..."
"...The shell on my body..."
He recited silently in his heart; he prayed in his heart.
Just like the first time he defeated a large monster like a Jyuratodus and ate it clean after coming to this world, praying silently that he wouldn't grow to spew mud like a Jyuratodus.
Or like when he devoured the Paolumu, praying silently to convert the Paolumu's air sacs into something of his own.
And this time, Asterion was still praying—he was like a clumsy bio-engineer, and his work was his own body.
Evolution or regression, successful mutation or failed mutation—Asterion had to bear all the consequences himself.
Fortunately, even if the evolution went wrong, he could correct it through another evolution.
Take the air sac shell, for instance!!!
My air sac shell is dead again! Dead again!!
Asterion had had enough of the air sac shell's duplicity—er, rather, he had had enough of the air sac shell's powerlessness in the face of special abilities. Kushala Daora, Acidic Glavenus, Seregios—when facing guys with ranged attacks or attrition capabilities, the air sac shell was truly helpless.
Asterion didn't like getting beaten up. If possible, he just wanted to beat up all other dragons equally.
So, in this latest evolution, Asterion decided to abandon the evolutionary branch of the air sac shell. He even turned the air sac trait from dominant to recessive, hiding it temporarily within his body until a day in the future when it might be needed again.
Brand new Blade Scales replaced the air sac shell. Asterion's base shell, which had been covered by the air sac shell for years, finally saw the light of day again. Every piece of brownish-red shell was covered in mineral secretions; this part was no different from the past.
The difference lay in the joints of every shell—specifically, the gaps. From top to bottom, cyan-blue Blade Scales had grown out. They were equal in size to each shell plate, generally diamond-shaped, with a raised ridge on the surface giving them thickness.
Unlike on a Seregios, the Blade Scales growing on Asterion were much heavier and not thin at all. The only similarity between the two was their sharpness.
These Blade Scales grew from the gaps between each shell plate, hanging downward to cover the crevices. One after another, the Blade Scales and the shell fit tightly together. When all the Blade Scales were pressed flat against Asterion's body surface, his exterior appeared incredibly smooth—except for the tops of the exposed shell, but they were also part of this orderly beauty.
It was interesting. At this moment, Asterion possessed both large shell plates and large scales... truly massive scales.
To put it simply, without getting into the abstract details: Scales are more like a reinforced upgrade of skin, typically found on monsters like Flying Wyverns and Bird Wyverns.
Shells (or Carapaces), on the other hand, are more like an exoskeleton, generally appearing on arthropod-type monsters like Neopterons, Carapaceons, and Temnocerans.
Shells do not grow along with the host's growth. Instead, after the old, small, or worn-out shell falls off, a new shell that matches the host's current size grows in its place.
But scales—specifically scale armor—grow larger as the host grows, and new ones only grow if the old ones fall off.
As a Brute Wyvern, Glavenus originally had a small amount of scales on its body. They were relatively ordinary and had low coverage, appearing only on Asterion's lower abdomen or limbs.
But the main armor of a Glavenus is still the shell covering the large surfaces of the body: the back, the head, the tail root, and the sides of the body.
However, a Glavenus's shell grows from the skin. It doesn't need to be molted and replaced like the shells of Carapaceons or Neopterons as the body grows.
This meant that Asterion's original shell was technically still scale armor, just thicker and with stronger defense than normal scales, but essentially the same thing.
There are similar creatures in nature, such as crocodiles—crocodiles are covered in keratinized scales, which are standard scales, but the scales on their back and tail are extremely thickened and ossified, forming incredibly hard osteoderms, similar to Asterion's shell.
Yeah, actually, they count as specialized scales.
But now, in addition to those negligible small scales, Asterion possessed true scales—scales derived from Flying Wyverns, with defensive power comparable to a shell.
Unlike scales that evolved toward becoming shells, these were true scales that had continued down the evolutionary path of scale armor, sufficient to protect the physical safety of a Flying Wyvern.
Two layers of defense, double the happiness. As for how the researchers at the Wycademy would clutch their heads and wail about how to write their papers, that wasn't Asterion's problem.
The utility of Blade Scales naturally went beyond defense; after all, even their original owner used them as throwing knives.
Moreover, given Asterion's despi—ah, no, intelligence, even if he abandoned the air sac shell evolutionary route, he couldn't possibly give up the thrill of trolling other dragons with explosive reactive armor.
Rejoice! The newly born Blade Scale armor still possesses explosive functions!
It was just that he couldn't produce the deafening sound of air explosions like before, and he lost the ability to evade some damage through the shockwave of the blast. Instead, the moment he was attacked by another monster, he could launch the scales outward, detonating them in the face of the enemy, turning them into countless large and small shrapnel blades.
Hmm, it would also inflict the Bleeding status on the enemy, causing them to lose blood continuously. It fit Asterion's combat style even better.
Explosive armor is part of Asterion's identity; it must be tasted.
More importantly, having learned the lesson from the air sac shell, although these Blade Scales would turn into directional mines when hit, as long as Asterion consciously controlled them, they wouldn't detonate on the spot even upon impact. Instead, they would fully utilize their protective function, letting the attacker see what Flying Wyvern-level defense looked like.
Not to mention that Asterion's Blade Scales were already heavier than a Seregios's. What satisfied him most was that these Blade Scales possessed regenerative properties.
Even if he fired them all off at once, Asterion no longer had to spend days and nights mining and eating ore to fill the gaps in his air sac shell like in the past—he was almost moved to tears.
Yes, eating ore did improve him, and Asterion felt happy as long as he could improve himself, but that didn't mean he enjoyed the days of drilling into mines and eating for half a day after every fight! And he liked the dim subterranean light even less!!
He is a Glavenus! Not a Basarios or some Ore Dragon!!
A Glavenus should have plenty of free time to go find other dragons to fight! And him?! Apart from mining, it was just more mining!!
Now, the good days had finally arrived.
Even if he shot off his new Blade Scale armor completely, there was no need to worry; he only needed to consume stamina and life energy to regenerate it.
It was too perfect—so perfect that Asterion couldn't help but shed a single Glavenus tear.
This tear was for his lost youth.
Of course, as the saying goes, you win some, you lose some. While choosing the defense, destructive power, and stability of the Blade Scales—which far exceeded the air sac shell—it also meant that Asterion temporarily abandoned the idea of using the special gas in the air sac shell to increase his buoyancy, laying the foundation for his dream of flight.
No flying.
At least for now, he couldn't fly.
The Blade Scales actually went a step further and increased Asterion's weight. These were solid metal scales, possessing a mass that matched their combat power.
Blackbeard had a good saying: A man's dream will never end—and the same goes for a dragon's dream.
Asterion still hadn't given up on his dream of flying; he was just... making a technical adjustment.
And in this upgrade and modification, Asterion also made changes to the sword-mountain-like radiator shell on his back. It became less ostentatious and no longer stood upright like a frozen flame.
It was gone.
The radiator shell had disappeared. Asterion directly canceled this organ belonging to the basic Glavenus bloodline. But this didn't mean he didn't need to dissipate heat. If the high temperatures generated in a Glavenus's body during combat weren't effectively expelled, it wouldn't be Asterion's throat that blew out, but everything inside his chest cavity.
Asterion made a bold attempt. He adjusted the direction of the internal heat dissipation pipes that led to his back, and even altered the length and exit of the entire piping system—changing it from going straight up to going straight back.
That is, toward Asterion's tail. The new heat vents were now opened on Asterion's tail, becoming part of the new changes to the sword-tail.
This was preparation for future flight. Asterion's ideal flight mode was the Valstrax flight mode. The heat dissipation channels buried early at this stage might be able to transform into the prototype needed for jet propulsion in the future.
It was just tentative. It might be scrapped in the next evolution, just like the air sac shell.
To be honest, even Asterion himself didn't know what kind of dragon he would eventually become if he kept eating like this. He could only do the best he could with the conditions he currently possessed.
The fact that evolved traits could be voluntarily degenerated and discarded was enough to make him feel fortunate.
As a dragon without wings who could only run on the ground, a Glavenus's body was not born for flight. Even if Asterion solved the propulsion problem of how to fly in the future, he had to make his body as suitable for flight as possible—at least it had to be aerodynamic.
Otherwise, when he rushed into the sky at Valstrax speeds in the future, the air resistance and the resulting high temperatures would naturally melt off the parts of Asterion's body that protruded excessively—er, for example, organs like the radiator shell that were large and protruding.
Even Valstrax itself would have shell parts fall off during high-speed flight, and the shedding shells would cause large-scale explosions the moment they hit the ground.
Asterion didn't want to fly while dropping trash all the way. The active degeneration of the radiator shell right now was just an attempt, not finalized. It was like adapting in advance to the feeling of missing something on his back, reducing the impact on his combat effectiveness in the future.
According to Asterion's envisioning, at least during high-speed flight, the air resistance generated in front of him should be as small as possible, ideally separated smoothly by his body and flowing along his surface to behind him.
Only then could he be faster and more energy-efficient.
Consider it a rehearsal.
Shaking his shoulders, Asterion wasn't quite used to the feeling of missing something on his back. It felt empty, light, and just generally uncomfortable.
But he knew he had to get used to this feeling.
Clack-clack-clack-clack-clack.
A series of dense and crisp metal impact sounds rang out. Very orderly, very... silky?
Just listening to the sound, one could even imagine a picture of piano keys falling in order, or neat metal blocks surging like waves—but in reality, that was just the sound of Asterion's full-body Blade Scales knocking and colliding with each other, like some kind of Transformer.
Stretching comfortably, Asterion didn't know how long he had stayed in the cave... probably a few months?
But now, he stepped out into the sunlight once again.
Bending his molted sword-tail from behind to in front of his eyes, Asterion carefully examined his brand-new weapon!
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