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MHD Chapter 66: The Line Between Monster and Man
🕑 Added 2025-07-22 00:38:28 +0000 UTCIn the New World, inside a nest at the border between the Wildspire Waste and the Ancient Forest.
Logan and the Admiral locked eyes in a tense staring contest, the atmosphere heavy with awkwardness.
After the hunt for the Rajang, the Admiral hadn’t returned to Astera. Instead, he left the Huntsman in charge and ventured deeper into the Wildspire Waste with Sita and Tonkotsu. His goal was to toughen Tonkotsu through real combat experience.
Having ventured this deep, they arrived at a cliffside camp rarely used by the Research Commission.
And the moment they stepped in, they ran right into Logan, who had gone on alert after hearing the commotion.
“Uhhh… long time no see.”
The Admiral scratched his cheek and gave an awkward wave in greeting.
Logan couldn’t understand his words, but he got the gist. Still, his gaze remained wary.
Setting aside the fact that Aki was inside the cave recovering from her injuries, the current situation was real—this wasn’t a game world. Even if they had worked together recently, that wasn’t reason enough to let his guard down or to arrogantly gamble on the other party’s intentions based on his past-life understanding from those games.
“Right, well, I’ll move somewhere else. Don’t mind me.”
The Admiral cautiously showed goodwill. He rummaged through a nearby supply crate—knocked aside by Aki earlier—and pulled out two dusty blankets. With a glance to Tonkotsu, he signaled the wingdrake that had been circling nervously overhead to come down. Together with Sita, he mounted the wingdrake and flew up to the top of the cliff, where they found a suitable spot and lit a campfire.
From Tonkotsu, the Admiral had learned that this pair of Rathalos possessed a level of intelligence far beyond that of ordinary Fire Wyverns—the kind that allowed for communication. And this particular camp was already on the verge of being abandoned to begin with—not to mention, it had once been the nesting site of this very Rathalos pair.
Because of that, the Admiral had no intention of treating them as a threat to the camp, or of trying to drive them out.
In fact, he wanted to see if communication with the Rathalos might be possible—through Tonkotsu.
Even if it didn’t work, it wouldn’t hurt to leave a good impression. After all, this Rathalos wasn’t just any Fire Wyvern—he represented the entire Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne tribe.
...
Running into the Admiral was something Logan had never expected.
Maybe, back when he discovered his old nest had been transformed into a hunter outpost, he’d briefly considered the possibility of encountering hunters. He had even thought about how he would react in such a situation.
Would he drive them off? Intimidate them? Maybe even fight them?
He’d run through all those possibilities.
What he hadn’t anticipated was bumping into the Admiral—the very one he’d only just met not long ago—and seeing that guy actually back away.
Logan didn’t care what the Admiral was thinking. Either way, there was no way he’d give up his nest.
Even if this place was only formerly his home, he wouldn’t yield it. And especially not now, when Aki still needed a safe place to recover from her injuries.
After the Admiral left, Tonkotsu immediately resumed his post on alert duty.
As a member of the Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne Guard, he had often been assigned to nest sentry duty back in the Ancient Tree.
Let alone now—with the Fire Wyvern boss’s mate injured—there was no way he would slack off.
“Meow?”
Tonkotsu blinked, staring in disbelief at Logan as he gently licked Aki’s wounds.
“How come the Fire Wyvern boss doesn’t have a scratch on him, meow?”
Everyone knew monsters healed fast.
Even a Grimalkyne, if injured, could speed up recovery by finding the right herbs.
But this fast?
How long had it been?
And the Fire Wyvern boss was already completely healed? It was nothing short of a miracle!
“No wonder he’s the Fire Wyvern boss, meow!”
Tonkotsu didn’t know what had happened, but no matter how bizarre the situation, if it involved Logan, it just seemed… normal.
Grimalkynes had always been good at adapting.
After Logan finished tending to Aki, Tonkotsu eagerly scurried over and began meowing nonstop, recounting everything he’d seen and heard during this time, including a few entertaining stories.
Because of the language barrier, Logan could only understand parts of what Tonkotsu was saying, but it was a decent way to pass the time.
“New people are coming to the outpost soon, meow! I heard they’re arriving with a really powerful monster, meow!”
New people?
Logan paused, then realized what Tonkotsu meant.
Right—based on the timeline, the Second Fleet should be arriving in the New World soon.
And who knew what effect this Elder Dragon Crossing would have on the New World this time?
The last one—the clash between the Kushala Daora and the Namielle—had wreaked havoc on the ecosystems of both the Wildspire Waste and Ancient Forest. It had taken years for things to stabilize again.
It could be said that with every Elder Dragon Crossing, the Ancient Forest and Wildspire Waste, being on the frontier of the New World, always bore the brunt of the damage. And this time likely wouldn’t be any different.
As Logan was lost in thought, Sita’s voice rang out from above the nest. Tonkotsu froze, then looked conflicted as he turned toward Logan.
“Boss, meow… Teacher Sita says it’s time to start today’s training, but I—mew…”
Tonkotsu glanced at Aki, then at Logan.
It was his duty to guard the Fire Wyvern boss, especially with Aki still injured.
But he didn’t want to disappoint Logan’s expectations either. That cracked Fire Wyvern scale was still tucked away in his backpack—a constant reminder of what he aspired to become.
He wanted to grow stronger, fast.
Strong enough that in battles like that, he could actually do something—really help.
Not just stand by, watching the Fire Wyvern boss fight alone.
Not just sit there, helplessly watching him get hurt.
Not anymore.
“Roar!”
Logan let out a low growl—go on, then. He’d already hunted quite a few prey today and had thrown them all into the stream inside the nest for storage. The rest of his time would be spent here, guarding Aki. He had no use for Tonkotsu right now.
With the boss’s command given, Tonkotsu reluctantly shuffled over to the edge of the cliff. He called back toward the voice above, then grabbed hold of the rope-laden Wingdrake and flew upward.
Logan lay down beside Aki. Seeing her once again sleep soundly and at ease, he leaned over to gently nuzzle her. Only then did he settle into a light rest himself—half-alert, half-relaxed.
Truthfully, ever since learning that his Regeneration trait accelerated his metabolism, Logan couldn’t help but worry a little.
After all, prolonged overactive metabolism usually meant a shortened lifespan.
And this world had a textbook example of that.
The “Ecological Destroyer of Insatiable Appetite”—Deviljho.
That monster had a metabolism so extreme that it couldn’t be controlled. It was locked in a constant state of hypermetabolism.
Because of that, Deviljho had to eat nonstop to sustain itself. Sure, it grew stronger at an insane rate, and its combat power was immense, but its life was short.
If it ever went too long without consuming enough food, Deviljho could literally starve itself to death.
This very trait was what had earned it the title of World Eater—an enemy to all monsters.
Every Deviljho ended the same way: either killed in a massive monster hunt, or—when even constant feeding couldn’t keep up with its metabolism—dead from self-starvation.
That was exactly why Logan was concerned.
As his strength continued to grow… would his Regeneration become a death sentence?
Fortunately, once his wounds had fully healed, the Regeneration ability shut off on its own. His metabolism returned to normal levels—allowing him to finally breathe a deep sigh of relief.
A brief period of accelerated metabolism wasn’t a major concern—not when this world was rich in its unique life energy. The real danger was a case like Deviljho.
And so, for a few days, Logan and the Admiral became temporary neighbors.
Thanks to Tonkotsu acting as a go-between, the two sides managed to coexist—barely—without incident. They each kept to themselves.
The Admiral had tried several times to initiate communication with Logan through Tonkotsu, but Logan ignored every attempt.
It was simple: the imbalance of power.
With Logan’s current strength, any conversation would put him at a disadvantage.
On top of that, they were fundamentally different beings—species, language, worldview, survival instincts—all of it. For Logan, direct contact with hunters was something he instinctively avoided.
In this life, he was no longer human. He was a monster, through and through. A monster should act like one. Peaceful coexistence was already the limit of what he could accept.
Anything beyond that—any deeper interaction—would only be possible if his strength grew to the point where he could completely disregard any threat the Research Commission might pose.
Otherwise, even allowing the Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne to maintain contact with the Commission was already pushing the boundary of what Logan was willing to tolerate.
Aki’s injuries were healing well. With the added use of honey-based medicine from the Research Commission mixed into her food, her recovery had sped up considerably. She’d regained enough strength to move and even perform some basic combat actions.
That allowed Logan to leave the nest and go hunting from time to time, knowing Tonkotsu could cover sentry duty in his place.
Flying through the cloudbanks, Logan scanned the ground below with sharp focus, searching for prey.
Suddenly, a wave of hostility surged toward him—his Acceleration trait activated on instinct.
Not far behind him, hidden deep within the thick clouds, a Flying Wyvern with translucent green wings had cloaked itself in mist. Its eyes gleamed with cold intensity as it waited for the perfect moment to strike.
