Kael had never imagined that his survival difficulty would suddenly drop from hard mode straight into easy mode.
If there was anything bothering him now, it was that he seemed to have lost his freedom.
High-tier creatures in the Monster Hunter world generally possessed considerable intelligence. Some Elder Dragons at the top of the food chain even had wisdom surpassing humans.
Although Rathalos couldn't compare to that level, their species still had specific ways of distinguishing individuals within the population.
The Rathian who had carried Kael away naturally had her own designation.
Translated into human language, her name was Aji.
Ever since Aji brought him back to her nest, Kael had been treated like a real hatchling under the watchful eyes of her overflowing maternal instincts.
Every day, food was delivered to his mouth.
When he was thirsty, he simply went to the nearby stream to drink.
Fortunately, he was no longer as weak as when he had just hatched.
Otherwise, Aji might have even tried to chew up food and feed it to him like other Rathians did with their young.
All in all, with this still-immature but beautiful Rathian, Kael finally experienced the treatment a hatchling was supposed to receive in this world.
At the same time, however, Aji strictly forbade him from wandering near the cave entrance.
She was terrified that this flightless youngster might fall to his death or be discovered and killed by other flying wyverns.
As a result, Kael's days became extremely boring.
From morning till night, he either lay there absorbing leyline energy, ate the meat Aji brought back, or reluctantly swallowed the poisonous mushrooms she specially fetched for him under her stern gaze.
Rathalos venom was produced by their poison glands.
But eating certain toxic mushrooms unique to the Ancient Forest could also enhance the potency of their venom.
Kael could tell that Aji was genuinely holding herself to the standards of a proper "mother dragon" and taking care of him with utmost dedication.
Yet, being treated like this made him feel incredibly awkward.
It was like…
"I see you as my future, but you want to be my mom."
That kind of feeling.
Days passed like this.
In the blink of an eye, a whole month went by.
With sufficient nutrition over this period, not only had all of Kael's injuries fully healed, but his bones had grown stronger as well.
His damaged scales had all fallen off, replaced by new, harder ones.
His claws grew longer and sharper.
His wings became more powerful.
Patterns began appearing on his wing membranes.
Even his long-dormant flame sac had started to mature.
Now, he could finally spit out thick smoke mixed with sparks.
The only regret was that his body seemed to have passed the explosive growth phase from when he first hatched.
Back then, even while malnourished, his length had surged from eighty centimeters to over two meters in just ten days.
Now that he had abundant nutrition, he still hadn't broken through three meters.
In front of Aji, he was still a tiny shrimp that could be picked up by the back of the neck whenever she pleased.
Recently, Kael had constantly felt an itchy sensation in his wings.
Unfortunately, although Aji's nest wasn't small, it only allowed him to flap around in a couple of circles at most.
Still, he had a strong feeling—
He would be able to fly very soon.
Maybe tomorrow.
Maybe even the next second.
Of course, besides his physical growth, his "cheat" hadn't stopped progressing either.
This time, however, the charging speed was far slower than before.
Even so, after a month, it was finally nearing completion.
After taking a sip of water and chewing down a snack—an Archaeopteryx that Aji had brought back—Kael lay in the nest made of leaves and branches.
While habitually absorbing leyline energy, he waited for Aji to return from hunting.
But something felt strange.
Under normal circumstances, she should have been back by now.
Diligent in her role as a "mother dragon," Aji had a fixed hunting schedule every day.
During that period, she would quickly finish hunting, eat her fill outside, then kill another prey to bring back.
After that, she would stay in the nest to watch over Kael.
When time was tight, she would even prioritize bringing back his food first, confirm his safety, and then go out again to hunt for herself.
But today was different.
It had been a long time, and she still hadn't returned.
This had never happened before.
Uneasiness crept into Kael's heart.
Yet with his current condition, he couldn't even fly properly before.
Going out to search for her was impossible.
All he could do was stay in the nest, quietly waiting for both the progress bar and Aji.
Time trickled by.
The progress bar filled completely.
But Aji still hadn't come back.
Now Kael was truly anxious.
Did something really happen to her?
Trait: Huge Power — Draw Successful!
"Huge Power?!"
Kael sprang to his feet in shock.
He hadn't expected this trait!
For him—no, for most dragons in this world—this was practically a god-tier ability.
Physical attack power doubled.
What did that mean?
In this world, aside from a few special species, most combat revolved around close-quarters combat.
Even those special ones still relied heavily on physical attacks.
With this trait, Kael could unleash combat power far beyond anyone's expectations.
Acceleration plus Huge Power.
At this moment, he felt terrifyingly strong.
As the draw completed, waves of heat surged through his body.
Under some indescribable mighty force, his physique strengthened rapidly.
The itching sensation in his wings returned—stronger than ever before.
Subconsciously, Kael spread his wings and gently flapped.
In an instant, his feet left the ground.
His curled toes stretched out.
With each beat of his wings, he hovered in midair.
He could fly!
With a powerful flap, Kael shot out of the nest, pierced through the clouds, and soared toward the blue sky.
He spun, rolled, and performed all kinds of high-difficulty maneuvers.
Flying felt as natural as breathing, completely under his control.
At this moment, he had truly grown into a qualified Rathalos.
After venting his excitement, Kael finally slowed down.
Even though he was still flapping his wings, he didn't feel tired at all.
Which made sense.
Rathalos were naturally gifted flyers.
And those in the New World were even more specialized in aerial combat than their Old World counterparts.
At this moment, Kael missed Aji deeply.
He wanted to share this joy with her.
But he didn't know where she had gone.
After calming down, he decided to start searching around the nest's vicinity first.
Now that he could fly, the dense forests and barren deserts were no longer forbidden zones.
He finally possessed real capital to survive in this world.