Pressing close to Aji, Kael naturally noticed her subtle movements.
Without saying anything, he shifted a little deeper into the nest.
When his gaze fell on the cracked scales along her side, where faint traces of blood were still visible, he instinctively extended his tongue and gently licked the wound.
Aji froze mid-bite.
A strange emotion she had never experienced before welled up in her heart.
This was the first time another dragon had ever licked her injuries.
In the past, whenever she was hurt, she handled whatever she could herself.
If she couldn't reach it, she simply endured it.
Mutual wound-licking…
This was completely new to her.
But right now, it didn't feel bad at all.
After finishing with the injury on her side, Kael finally realized what he had done.
He glanced at Aji nervously.
Seeing that she had already finished eating and was resting with her eyes closed, showing no unusual reaction, he let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Leaning against her, fully relaxed, Kael began examining himself.
It was only yesterday that he hadn't noticed.
But during today's hunt, he finally realized—
Unlike Acceleration, the Huge Power trait was always active.
In other words, it was a permanent passive.
Moreover, he could perfectly control this additional strength.
There was no loss of control, no awkwardness from sudden power spikes.
Thinking about it carefully, with Acceleration and Huge Power, plus his future fully grown Rathalos physique…
His minimum potential was already terrifyingly high.
"Wait… do I have the makings of a 'cancer monster' now?"
What was a "cancer monster"?
In his previous life, it referred to monsters with insane damage, high attack frequency, disgusting mechanics, and terrible hitzones.
Put together, they became nightmares.
Special mention: that white walking disaster and the tailless Rajang.
And now…
Kael felt like he could compete with them.
Unlimited accelerating charges—fun?
Double-damage tail sweeps—satisfying?
Backstep fire into takeoff, absurd flight speed, and lightning-fast poison claws—excited yet?
He could already imagine it.
If a Rathalos with these two traits had existed in his old game world, every hunter would've been "howling with joy."
As he thought about it, a smile slowly appeared on his still-young dragon face.
Aji opened one eye and glanced at him.
Seeing that slightly sinister smile, she was utterly confused.
Was he really that happy just being close to her?
And why did that smile feel… weird?
Over the next few days, Kael took full responsibility for their livelihood.
Every morning and afternoon, he went out hunting.
At noon and night, he lay quietly absorbing leyline energy.
From time to time, he would also lean over and lick Aji's nearly healed wounds.
Since drawing Huge Power, the next trait progress bar advanced extremely slowly.
After several days, it looked almost unchanged.
It seemed that each new trait required exponentially more time.
With his frequent hunts, Kael's skills improved rapidly.
His targets were no longer limited to Kelbi.
Aptonoth, Archaeopteryx, and armored herbivores all became part of his menu.
He did fail once with the armored herbivores.
The moment they noticed him, they gathered all their young beneath their bodies and formed a tight defensive formation, heads together.
Only their heavy shells and clubbed tails were exposed.
No matter how long Kael searched, he couldn't find an opening and had to retreat unwillingly.
On a side note, he had once managed to catch a Mosswine.
And honestly—
A pig that had marinated itself with mushrooms?
It tasted surprisingly good.
Unfortunately, those things were ridiculously good at hiding.
He had only caught one in several days.
Because Kael hunted all over the place, his scent spread widely.
And that allowed a certain hot-tempered monster to finally locate his hunting grounds.
Ignoring the herbivores fleeing at its approach, the Anjanath scanned the area and fixed its gaze on a particularly dense patch of undergrowth.
It carefully crept inside.
Only after its body was completely concealed did it turn around, eyes blazing, and stare at the clearing with two shallow ponds nearby.
It would wait here.
And when that hatchling came hunting again…
It would give him a huge surprise.
A long-awaited reunion.
Surely it would be wonderful.
Thinking of the hatchling's panicked escape, the Anjanath ground its teeth and snorted hot air.
It had chosen the right place.
This was indeed one of Kael's hunting grounds.
But only one of them.
The Anjanath lay in ambush for two full days.
It even suppressed its innate rage just to wait.
Do you know how uncomfortable it was for such a massive body to crouch in a tiny fern thicket for that long?
Finally, the wait paid off.
Kael burst out of the forest, chasing a Mosswine.
With a flap of his wings, he leapt forward and pinned it beneath his claws.
Sharp talons sank deep into its body.
Amid its terrified squeals, he bit cleanly through its neck.
Today, his luck was incredible.
He had originally planned to hunt an herbivore.
Instead, he found a Mosswine happily munching on mushrooms.
The creature was alert, and his first dive had missed.
But in its panic, it ran straight into the clearing.
With no trees to block him, he caught it easily.
Another bonus meal.
Rustle… rustle…
Just as Kael prepared to take off with his prey, his Acceleration trait suddenly activated.
His heart tightened.
He released the dead Mosswine and scanned his surroundings.
Wings beating lightly, he stayed ready to launch at any moment.
Unaware that it had already been exposed, the Anjanath continued tiptoeing forward.
It knew how fast Kael was.
If it didn't get close enough, the hatchling might escape again.
Kael slowly backed away, focusing his senses.
He roughly pinpointed the enemy's position—inside the opposite bushes.
But he didn't know from which direction it would strike.
Without knowing what he was facing, taking off rashly could be predicted and intercepted.
That would be even more dangerous.
Closer.
Closer.
As the distance shrank, the Anjanath could almost smell the sweet scent of fresh blood.
Crack!
A crisp snapping sound rang out beneath its foot.
At that moment, only half its head had emerged from cover, relying on camouflage.
But that sound betrayed it.
At the same time, Kael's gaze snapped over—
Locking precisely onto the Anjanath's position.