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MHD Chapter 51: Symbiosis in Scales and Whiskers
🕑 Added 2025-07-16 22:49:55 +0000 UTC“Meow-meow! You guys finished fighting already?”
Amid the cheers of the Fire Wyvern Grimalkynes, a scruffy-looking Grimalkyne squeezed through a crack in the platform. Four more Grimalkynes followed closely behind.
Although this newly arrived Grimalkyne also wore a Fire Wyvern scale as a decorative pendant around its neck—just like the Fire Wyvern Grimalkynes—Sita immediately noticed a difference.
The scales worn by the Fire Wyvern Grimalkynes were smooth, almost flawless, gleaming with a metallic luster under the sunlight.
By contrast, the scale on this Grimalkyne’s neck looked dull and aged.
It was like comparing a brand-new product straight off the line to one discarded long ago for being outdated.
“All done, meow! What’s the situation outside? Did we win?”
The Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne commander, still holding its horn, leapt down from the wall and asked nervously.
“We won. The Zinogres are retreating, and some Fire Wyverns are still chasing after them,” the scruffy Grimalkyne replied quickly, eyeing the ornate ornament on the commander’s head with envy.
This particular Grimalkyne tribe also lived in the Ancient Tree—just higher up in the canopy near the treetop.
Over the years, they had watched their neighbors, the Fire Wyvern Grimalkynes, thrive under the protection of a powerful Fire Wyvern couple. They couldn’t help but feel jealous.
So, thick-skinned as they were, they shamelessly sought advice from the Fire Wyvern Grimalkynes and began imitating them—trying to approach other Fire Wyvern couples.
Thanks to Logan and Aki setting a precedent, the Fire Wyvern pairs atop the Ancient Tree didn’t drive these curious Grimalkynes away, as long as they approached with goodwill.
The wyverns adopted a simple stance: no initiative, no resistance, and no responsibility. They allowed the Grimalkynes to clean their nests, repair water basins, and take away their shed scales.
In return? Occasionally, if the wyverns were in a good mood, they’d bring back scraps of leftover food.
Even this much was enough to send the Grimalkynes into a frenzy of joy.
The fact that the Fire Wyverns no longer viewed them as enemies meant their survival was largely secured. At least in the upper layers of the Ancient Tree, they no longer had to sneak around or live in hiding. With Fire Wyverns acting as a natural shield, as long as the wyverns didn’t go extinct, they were relatively safe.
And besides, they could even occasionally earn a little “reward,” right?
While they didn’t enjoy the same treatment as the original Fire Wyvern Grimalkynes, a particularly clever member of their group had come up with a solution.
They expanded their services—offering their help to nearly ten different Fire Wyvern pairs living in the canopy layer.
Each client provided just a little, but combined, it was enough to sustain the entire tribe, even if it required some extra effort.
Logan never would have imagined that, because he set a precedent, a brand-new symbiotic relationship would emerge in the upper levels of the Ancient Tree—and one that, at least for now, seemed quite stable.
As Sita listened to the Grimalkynes chat, an itch stirred in his heart.
He didn’t just want to see what the battle between the Zinogres and the Fire Wyverns looked like—he also wanted to ask these Grimalkynes how they had managed to form a symbiotic relationship with such ferocious and proud monsters.
Were all the cats in the New World this wild?
After learning what was happening outside, the Fire Wyvern Grimalkynes swelled with pride.
See that? Our very own Fire Wyvern boss did it again! Once more, he took the lead and resolved the crisis!
Now that the battle was over, the Grimalkynes didn’t linger. Out of kindness, they brought Sita along to a hidden vantage point outside to observe the situation.
The war had just ended, and the Fire Wyverns were still on edge, their nerves stretched taut and emotions volatile. Even the Grimalkynes wouldn’t dare to roam recklessly in front of them. Watching from a safe distance was the wisest choice.
Logan rested against Aki, gently licking her wounds.
She had faced off against two powerful Tempered Zinogres in close combat. Unsurprisingly, her body bore many injuries. Fortunately, none were too deep—given some time, she’d recover.
The battle had nearly wiped out the Zinogres. All five Tempered Zinogres were slain. Aside from a few regular ones who managed to escape to the lower levels, the rest lost their lives here.
Of course, the Fire Wyverns paid a price too. Even with superior numbers, eight were lost, and nearly every survivor carried wounds.
At this moment, the surviving Fire Wyverns—both male and female—circled the corpses of their fallen mates, letting out sorrowful howls of grief.
The male Fire Wyverns fared slightly better; though they lost their mates, new "consorts" would return next year, and another primary mate would emerge.
But for the females, it was different.
Those consorts could still seek new partners, but the “queens” would only carry their grief, leaving the Ancient Tree behind to drift through the Wildspire Waste, lost in their sorrow for the rest of their days.
Dozens of Zinogre corpses were hurled from the Ancient Tree, crashing down to its lower levels.
When food was abundant, Fire Wyverns didn’t usually include the flesh of such large carnivorous beasts in their diet.
Sita’s eyes lit up as he watched the scene unfold.
He immediately turned to find the Fire Wyvern Grimalkynes, hoping to borrow their Jagras for transport. Of course, payment would be offered afterward.
After some detailed discussion, an agreement was reached. Thanks to the “friendship” between the Fire Wyvern Grimalkyne warriors and Sita, they quickly set off toward the lower levels of the Ancient Tree.
Their target, naturally, was the discarded corpses of the Zinogres—especially the five Tempered ones.
The materials harvested this time would be more than enough to replenish the high-grade reserves at Astera. Sita might even be able to trade for a new weapon!
...
The day after the war ended, the Fire Wyverns began hunting much more frequently.
It was a show of force meant for the other monsters living in the Ancient Tree.
The message was clear: even after enduring such a massive tribal war, the Fire Wyverns remained strong.
But none of that concerned Logan. Those tasks were left to the regular Fire Wyverns.
Though he and Aki hadn’t moved to the uppermost levels, their status within the Ancient Tree’s Fire Wyvern community now stood at the top—on par with the Tempered ones.
After the battle, Logan stayed in the nest, keeping Aki company as she recovered.
And strangely, ever since the war ended—more precisely, ever since he took down the Zinogre leader—his ability to sense the leyline energy had suddenly improved by nearly ten percent.
Even without actively trying, the energy from the leylines now flowed into him passively.
A progress bar he’d expected to take another six months to complete had suddenly jumped by nearly a third.
The anomaly left Logan baffled.
It felt almost as if the world itself had rewarded him.
But why would the world suddenly reward him?
The most plausible explanation Logan could think of was that the Zinogre leader had disrupted the ecosystem—and by putting an end to it, he had effectively helped restore ecological balance in the Ancient Forest. That, perhaps, was why he’d been granted a reward.
Simply put, he’d unknowingly taken on a side gig for the will of the world, and this sudden boost in his ability to sense and absorb leyline energy was the payment it had given him.
Whether that battle had been an accident or orchestrated by the will of the world… didn’t really matter.
After all, in the world of Monster Hunter, the will of the world—or rather, the will of nature—wasn’t some ruthless boss. Every “battle” it set into motion usually ensured that the hired hunter was stronger than the target—or that some hidden counter-effect was in play.
Even if something unexpected happened, it would often rally reinforcements before the surprise could spiral out of control, using the power of group coordination to ensure everything resolved smoothly.
And so, Logan had no reason to feel guilty about accepting this reward.
“A hired gun is still a hired gun. I bet tons of creatures would kill for this kind of gig,” Logan mused to himself.
Especially when it was a good boss—one so good that even a monster like the Alatreon, a being that had transcended the ecosystem and no longer faced any natural restraints, had willingly left its lair and traveled halfway across the world just to deal with a catastrophic threat like the Safi’jiiva.
Who the hell would believe that happened without some serious compensation involved?
Still… what exactly had that Zinogre leader done? Instigating a war between species probably wasn’t enough on its own to count as ecological destruction.
Unless it had already done something before that—something that posed a real threat to the balance of the Ancient Forest.
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Lucas
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