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MHD Chapter 56: When Life Gives You Scales, Make ID Badges
🕑 Added 2025-07-18 21:27:52 +0000 UTCAmid a thunderstorm that blanketed the sky, the Rajang’s iron-hard muscles tensed slightly as it tore through the lightning with reckless abandon.
It might not have the colossal form of other wyverns species, but with unmatched speed, peerless brute strength, and a body that danced freely within the storm, the Rajang embodied the absolute might of a creature that stood atop the ecological hierarchy—just beneath the Elder Dragons.
The catastrophic thunderstorms Kirin so prided itself on had little effect on the Rajang. Only the lightning directly summoned by the Kirin itself could cause it any real harm.
Kirin’s speed was astonishing—each movement felt like a teleportation, launching relentless attacks against the Rajang again and again.
In comparison, while the Rajang was also fast, that was only by the standards of non-Elder Dragon creatures. Against a foe capable of blinking across the battlefield, its speed simply wasn’t enough.
But the Rajang’s absurdly tough hide and freakish reflexes made up for it!
Kirin’s ranged attacks couldn’t pierce its defenses, forcing it to engage in close combat.
And that gave the Rajang an opening.
After enduring yet another violent lightning strike, the Rajang seized its moment—grabbing the lunging Kirin in one swift motion.
With one hand, it clamped tightly around Kirin’s neck. Despite Kirin’s desperate struggle and the arcs of blue lightning flowing from its body—powerful enough to kill most creatures with ease—the Rajang’s other hand locked firmly onto its horn.
Letting out a furious roar, its muscles bulged with power as it attempted to snap the Kirin’s horn off through sheer brute force.
Suddenly, Kirin let out a roar of its own. A pillar of lightning descended from the sky, engulfing them both. The ground exploded with a thunderous blast, and jagged fissures cracked through the rocky terrain under the force of the current.
Amid this overwhelming surge of electricity, the Rajang’s strength faltered for just an instant.
In that moment, Kirin—its body empowered and reinforced by the storm—broke free.
With furious lightning surging through its frame, it launched a piercing charge straight into the Rajang’s chest, driving it back at full speed toward the edge of the ravine. With a violent twist of its head, it flung the beast away.
The heavily wounded Rajang slammed into the earth and tumbled down a steep slope, vanishing into the forest below.
Kirin watched coldly as it unfolded. A flash of lightning tore across the sky—and Kirin’s form vanished with it.
The thunderstorm overhead faded away along with the Elder Dragon’s departure.
Deep within the Ancient Forest, the Rajang hung limply from a tree branch, as if dead. Only the faint rise and fall of its chest showed it still clung to life.
...
Today, Logan felt unbearably uncomfortable. It was as if strange wyverns were crawling all over his body—nothing felt right.
It wasn’t because of anything in particular—just one simple reason: he had used up all his “compensation.”
One month. He had only enjoyed the treatment for a single month.
That kind of experience—where he didn’t need to expend any effort, just lie back and passively sense the flow of life energy, which naturally merged into his body without the need for careful guidance or active absorption—was unbelievably pleasant and efficient.
Of course, it wasn’t at the level where he could clearly feel himself growing stronger day by day. Life energy worked on monsters in a way that was persistent and extremely slow. But every time he sensed that energy coursing through his body, it felt like every cell was cheering in unison—that sensation alone was enough to intoxicate any wyvern.
Unfortunately, aside from Elder Dragons, only a tiny handful of creatures could truly perceive life energy and make use of it.
The rest simply followed their instincts, gravitating toward regions with abundant food and rich nutrition—drawn to places dense with life energy.
The habitats of Elder Dragons weren’t necessarily leyline nodes, but anywhere teeming with powerful, unique individuals, lush vegetation, and wildlife of unusually robust physique—those places almost always sat atop leyline nexuses.
His “trial period” had only lasted a month. The feeling was akin to a boss telling you that your past contributions to the company were only worth this much—that this was a commission-based job: the more you do, the more you earn. If you do nothing, all you get is the bare minimum.
“Ugh~ I don’t want to be a corporate drone~ But the perks were just too good!”
Easy to go from frugal to lavish; hell to return from lavish to frugal.
That was exactly Logan’s state of mind now. The frustrating part was—though he was eager to go on a mission—the “World Consciousness” boss hadn’t assigned him any.
He even started entertaining thoughts of flying around aimlessly, hunting down other unique creatures to see what might happen.
After all, special individuals often disrupted ecosystems. Taking out a few more might even count as preventive action?
But the moment that idea surfaced, a wave of deep malice crashed down on him. It was as if taking any real step toward that thought would lead to a very miserable end.
“Really? I can’t even think about it?” Logan sighed. Of course he knew that kind of behavior was totally unacceptable.
Even hunters understood that you shouldn’t go on mass hunts just to upgrade your gear. Most research missions only aimed to drive away obstructive monsters—unless human lives were directly at risk, full-scale extermination was off the table.
Still, there was a bit of good news despite the lack of new orders from the “boss.”
The diplomatic efforts to persuade other Grimalkyne groups in the Ancient Forest to migrate and join the newly forming “Ancient Tree Fire Wyvern Clan” had finally started to bear fruit.
Two small, struggling Grimalkyne tribes had finally agreed to join, following the Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne to the Ancient Tree. They’d even begun learning how to properly perform the essential duties of a true member of the Ancient Tree Fire Wyvern Clan.
Initially, these newly arrived cats trembled at the sight of those towering Fire Wyverns. Their legs nearly gave out—and if not for the constant reassurance from the older Grimalkyne, they might have bolted on the spot.
Once they saw the veteran Grimalkyne walking around right under the Fire Wyverns’ noses—some even daring to approach the area near the Fire Wyvern eggs—the newcomers’ little hearts nearly jumped out of their chests.
It wasn’t until they completed the cleanup tasks, handed off the perimeter watch duties to others, and finally left the nest that the new arrivals could breathe a sigh of relief.
For now, their only responsibility was to clean the outer areas of the nest. They weren’t required to enter deeper parts of the lair or take on sentry duties.
This was not just because the newcomers hadn’t yet adapted to this symbiotic lifestyle, but also because they lacked something crucial—the scent of the Fire Wyverns, which the Grimalkyne native to the Ancient Tree carried naturally.
If the new Grimalkyne were to approach recklessly, the Fire Wyverns would become visibly agitated.
To solve this issue, the Grimalkyne of the Ancient Tree spent several days drawing on their experience and studying how the Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne had handled the scales of Logan and Aki. Eventually, they developed a workable solution.
They collected shed scales and bits of keratin from the Fire Wyvern nests during cleaning operations, then combined them with auxiliary ingredients designed to amplify scent. All of it was sealed into airtight storage jars.
After several days of marination, the mixture allowed the scent from multiple Fire Wyverns to blend and permeate the scales inside the jars.
In this way, they created a highly distinctive form of identification—the Identity Scale of the Fire Wyvern Clan.
By wearing these specially treated Fire Wyvern scales, the Grimalkyne not only set themselves apart from their original Forest Bug-Cage tribes, but the Fire Wyverns living on the Ancient Tree could also recognize them on sight while out and about, knowing at once if they were part of the “home team.”
The birth of the Fire Wyvern Clan's Identity Scale wasn’t just a practical identification token—it also greatly strengthened the sense of unity within the tribe, fostering a deeper sense of belonging among the Grimalkyne.
Logan had to admit—he had underestimated these little cats. In just one short month, they had managed to make impressive progress.
But thinking it over, it made sense. The Grimalkyne of the New World had already developed a civilization of their own. However, due to the harsh ecological conditions, their struggle for survival had stalled any meaningful advancement for a long time.
Now, with their basic needs no longer under threat—and with a groundbreaking symbiotic relationship emerging—this new way of life suddenly began propelling their once-stagnant civilization forward. As a social and intelligent species, the Grimalkyne naturally stepped into a new era of growth.
Back at the Ancient Tree, the Grimalkyne were evolving steadily and rapidly. Meanwhile, the Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne warriors who had traveled as envoys to Astera were now making their return, carrying bundles of supplies back to the Ancient Tree region.
This time, however, only three Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne had returned. Each wore a simple set of Palico Rathalos armor and carried weapons forged from Zinogre parts on their backs.
The requirements for becoming a Palico were truly demanding. Only one among them had shown enough potential and had stayed behind at Astera to train under the Admiral. The other three, having completed the initial Palico training, were now bringing back the equipment they’d forged and the specially treated supplies symbolizing the Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne’s goodwill and intent to cooperate.
“Meow~ So tired~ Why don’t we find a place to rest for a bit?”
The Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne riding a Jagras spoke up.
They had taken long detours to avoid monsters and trekked across uneven, rugged terrain, and now exhaustion was setting in.
The two Felynes traveling with them also voiced their fatigue. Only then did the lead Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne come to a stop and suggest they find a suitable spot to rest.
