If combat had to be graded, Asterion really only enjoyed the two extremes of the spectrum. One was the kind of battle where he had to burn everything he had, pushing himself to the limit to seize victory. The other was quite simple.
Noob stomping.
Slaughtering smurf accounts in PVP games really provided a rush; it was the sheer thrill of mowing down grass.
And now, a new Glavenus had arrived in his territory. Listening to the Old Shaman's report, the description of this Glavenus was no different from his past self—an ordinary Glavenus, a fellow kin.
It was only the second of his kind he had seen in all the years since coming to this world.
For the first time, Asterion sought out a wyvern for a purpose other than predation. Following the black scorch marks left on the rocks and the massive scraping trails on the ground, Asterion easily found the intruder who dared to venture into the forbidden zone that local wyverns avoided at all costs.
A shell of yellow-green stretched from its head all the way to its tail. Even the sword-tail displayed a yellowish-green hue, gleaming brightly in the sunlight. That tail, in particular, was slender and sharp, distinctly different from the greatsword-like shape of a standard Glavenus.
Asterion's eyes went wide as he looked at this uninvited guest. An Acidic Glavenus?!
Wait, how could an Acidic Glavenus, a subspecies whose very biology was altered by living year-round in the Rotten Vale, appear in the Wildspire Waste?! And standing boldly under the sunlight, no less? Shouldn't a subterranean creature like that scream and cower like a vampire upon seeing the sun?!
Just kidding.
"Roar!!"
The Acidic Glavenus had spotted Asterion. It let out a warning roar, raising its sword-tail, already poised to attack.
Interesting. Asterion jumped down from the high ground. He remembered the Acidic Glavenus he had encountered in the Rotten Vale—a contest of pure swordsmanship that had even allowed him to master the unique "Focus" technique of the Glavenus species for the first time.
Bending his tail from behind to position it in front of his face, Asterion assumed a mirrored attack stance.
At the end of the day, so-called swordsmanship was based on reaction speed and physical strength. He couldn't wait to use his faster, heavier blade to cut this kin down—generally speaking, this was the joy of one Glavenus meeting another. The loser would leave in humiliation with a broken blade.
But to Asterion's surprise, when he assumed the Glavenus combat stance, the opposing Acidic Glavenus lowered its tail. Its pair of dragon eyes flashed with immense confusion, and it craned its neck forward, sniffing the air.
"Roar?!" (It's you?!)
"Roar?" (What do you mean?)
Asterion froze. Looking back on his short life as a dragon, there was only one Acidic Glavenus who could express such "we meet again" astonishment—wait, it couldn't actually be her, could it?
She traveled all the way from the Rotten Vale to the southernmost tip of the Wildspire Waste??
Now Asterion had little urge to fight. Curiosity took its place. What reason could drive a dragon to bravely step out of its comfort zone and come to a region where neither the environment nor the climate was suitable?
And to cross such a vast distance.
"Roar, roar!" (It is you!)
As her nose twitched, the Acidic Glavenus seemed to confirm Asterion's identity.
"Roar!! " (I will definitely win this time!!)
Uh, okay, the identity matched, but a fight seemed unavoidable. Asterion had the urge to facepalm. Case closed: the reason driving this Acidic Glavenus thousands of miles from home was simple—revenge.
This time, she intended to return all the humiliation of defeat Asterion had given her!
This was the pride of a Glavenus!!
The battle recommenced!
Asterion attacked, Asterion was in a bind, Asterion was at a huge disadvantage, Asterion fought while retreating, Asterion cut down the Acidic Glavenus!!
He was purely toying with her. For a battle of this level, Asterion didn't even need to get serious. He didn't even need to activate the vibrating serrations of his tail; raw power and speed were enough to overwhelm the Acidic Glavenus.
The two were not in the same weight class, and the gap in strength was far greater than during their last encounter.
He didn't even need to sever her tail blade. Asterion's heavy sword-tail smashed down onto the Acidic Glavenus's curved tail, pressing both the tail and the dragon sideways onto the ground.
"Roar!!" (You lose!)
Faced with Asterion's victory roar, the Acidic Glavenus wore an expression of bewilderment so profound she seemed to be questioning her very existence.
No, is this right?
She had indeed considered that she might not be a match for this powerful kin, and that she might lose again, have her tail blade severed, and flee with her tail between her legs—but it shouldn't have been like this, right?!!
Even for a species that loved combat like the Glavenus, this couldn't be called a fight. It was a one-sided slaughter.
Perhaps the only difference was that this kin chose not to kill her... That was worse than death!!
The massive gap in power left the Acidic Glavenus lying on the ground, refusing to get up. She didn't know why the kin who had defeated her had become like this—his whole body smooth and sleek, his tail slender and devoid of ore, his front claws terrifyingly long—but those things didn't matter.
She knew Asterion was still Asterion. He was her kin; both his attack patterns and his scent proved it.
That was enough.
The important thing was: Why, after I tried so hard, can I still not beat him??
Why did I lose even faster than last time? Even more decisively???
"Roar?" (Why?)
She asked exactly what she was thinking.
"Roar, roar?" (Why what?)
"Roar!" (Why are you so strong!)
Hearing this, Asterion understood. Great, another battle maniac. The Bazelgeuse brothers were in for a treat.
"Roar, roar!" (That's just skill!)
Asterion casually glossed over it. He didn't know how to explain to the Acidic Glavenus that he was essentially using cheats.
He ate his way to this power; what business was it of hers!
He didn't kill the Acidic Glavenus. Battles between Glavenus usually ended with a severed tail unless one got too angry and couldn't let it go, insisting on fighting to the death... well, then they would get hacked to death.
But now, the Acidic Glavenus had clearly lost her fighting spirit. Let alone fighting to the death, she didn't even have a scratch on her, yet she lay on the ground refusing to get up.
He hadn't expected the visitor to his territory to be an old acquaintance. Asterion was somewhat disappointed he didn't get to bully a "proper" Glavenus; he had wanted to see what kind of expression a standard Glavenus would make upon meeting him.
Shaking his head, Asterion took a few steps toward his nest, only to find the Acidic Glavenus following him again.
"Roar?" (You still want to fight?)
Asterion asked.
"Roar roar, roar roar roar." (You're a bit too weak. Go train some more. Cutting you now doesn't even feel right.)
Asterion unleashed a direct taunt. Surprisingly, it felt pretty good—similar to trash-talking his bros after getting MVP in a game in his past life.
Satisfying.
But to Asterion's surprise, the Acidic Glavenus didn't roar in protest or defend herself, nor did she attack him again in anger. Such a good temper was very un-Glavenus-like.
She even walked closer.
To prevent the Acidic Glavenus from stabbing him in the back, Asterion turned his head to size her up, only to find she ignored his vigilance. Instead, she walked up slowly and rubbed her curved, yellow-green sword-tail against Asterion's tail blade.
Clang! Clang!
Clear metallic sounds rang out. The Acidic Glavenus's tail blade, composed of mineral secretions, rubbed against the blade scales of Asterion's tail, actually striking up tiny sparks. The friction was exceptionally forceful, like a suggestion.
My tail blade moved. There must be another Glavenus nearby!
Asterion's pupils quaked!!
He suddenly understood—or rather, his instincts suddenly understood!!
This feeling! This friction!!
This instinctive ambiguity!!
This Acidic Glavenus wanted to mate!!!
Asterion's super-intelligence reached the conclusion instantly. He could clearly smell the scent radiating from the Acidic Glavenus now—the scent of desiring a mate, desiring reproduction.
Shell rubbing against scales, a pair of sword-tails striking and grinding against each other, spraying sparks.
This was the courtship signal of the Glavenus species, and the Acidic Glavenus was no exception.
But that wasn't the main issue. The main issue was that Asterion was feeling it...
It wasn't an illusion!!
With both dragon eyes wide open, Asterion felt the Acidic Glavenus tentatively colliding with his blade scales. That thrumming in his bloodline, the call of instinct—he could feel his body gradually becoming restless.
It was a deep, primal craving.
To be frank, in Asterion's eyes, this Acidic Glavenus was actually quite beautiful.
Her short, thick horn looked powerful, and her entire body was slender, especially that sword-tail, ground to an exceptional sharpness.
The throbbing, the want—but this feeling also made Asterion feel at a loss.
He wasn't used to it, but not because of human wisdom or boring things like propriety and shame. Asterion never considered himself human, merely possessing some wisdom from a past life—like flipping through a dictionary to learn useful things to help him survive in this world.
As a dragon, Asterion lived well. He loved eating prey's innards, and he loved food with rich, layered flavors. None of this conflicted. But what made him feel at a loss now was his own instinct.
He was in heat. For the first time since birth, he was in heat. So sudden, so impulsive, yet so wonderful.
His body had long entered the ranks of a young adult Glavenus. Asterion's functions were mature and magnificently developed; it was just that in the past, obsessed with pursuing physical evolution, he had never felt this most primal instinct, nor had he encountered many other Glavenus.
Throbbing!!
Asterion—led the Acidic Glavenus back to the nest, chased all the Grimalkynes out, and then, with the Acidic Glavenus—Ahem!
Ahem!!!
Life is a miracle.
Exactly how many coincidences must align to give birth to such a magnificent world? Stars revolve, the sun and moon cycle, the mysteries of the universe remain unknown to all, and the meaning of life often exists in inadvertent corners...
Intertwined tail blades sprayed orange-red sparks; the collision of blade scales and carapace tore off specks of blood foam, and this faint scent of blood added a touch of wildness...
"Kulu-Ya?" (Are we still not going in? Nothing's wrong, right?)
"No, you can't go in, meow!" Standing on his two hind legs on Brother Kulu's back, Sparky stood on tiptoes, wishing he could use his paws to block Brother Kulu's eyes directly—he couldn't reach. Brother Kulu's bird neck was quite long, and he easily dodged every time the cat paws swiped at him.
"No peeking, meow!!" Sparky shouted in a hushed voice. "This is—anyway, it's forbidden, meow! Even if you steal eggs, you can't watch the Boss, meow!!"
"Kulu-Ya, Kulu-Ya!" (That's my cub! Why can't I look!!)
Brother Kulu argued plausibly. Sparky couldn't understand his words, but the bird's intention to crane his head and spy on exactly what was happening was clearly displayed. Even as they spoke, Brother Kulu kept trying to squeeze into the main nest.
"You can't, meow! That kind of thing isn't for watching, meow!! Caly, hurry up and help, meow!!!"
"I-I am busy, meow!!"
Caly seemed to be exerting massive strength. He held his breath, making his voice sound stifled—it was because he was using his fleshy cat body to block Brother Kulu's path, preventing this overly curious fellow from drilling into the main nest.
The current Caly was eight feet tall with a waist circumference of eight feet. Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but Caly was indeed fully twice the size of other Grimalkynes. Especially in height; it would take one ordinary Grimalkyne standing on another's shoulders to match him, to say nothing of his weight.
Caly had completely turned into a big, black-and-white fat cat, looking like he had eaten too much fried chicken and cola. He simply didn't look like a Grimalkyne that the environment of the Wildspire Waste could produce.
But even so, it was hard for Caly to stop Brother Kulu's advance. He had to wedge himself against Brother Kulu and push with all his might just to barely force the guy back.
"Too heavy, meow!" Forced to take another step back by Brother Kulu, Caly couldn't help but let out a wail. "When will Boss Glavenus be finished, meow! I can't hold on much longer, meow!!"
"Don't say such defeating words, meow!" The Old Shaman jumped up from the side and rapped his cane on Caly's skull. "You are the greatest warrior of the Grimalkynes, meow! The Slayer recognized personally by the Boss, meow! How can you say you can't do it!!"
"I-I will keep trying, meow!!"
Caly, struggling against Brother Kulu.
The pep talk was correct, but unfortunately, the workings of the real world did not shift according to a cat's will. Accompanied by the roaring sounds constantly coming from the main nest, Caly was gradually pushed backward, inch by inch, by Brother Kulu.
"Kulu-Ya!!" (I win!!)
Whoosh!! Placing one bird claw at the entrance of the main nest, Brother Kulu let out a cry of victory.
He suddenly poked his head out, peering into the nest at maximum speed. After all these years, it was the first time the kid had kicked him out of the nest! The thought made Brother Kulu indignant!!
Just because of that new guy!!
Looking left and right, Brother Kulu saw a nest in shambles. There were deep gouges left by sharp sword-tails everywhere, as well as his cub and the other guy leaning against the cub—Oh! The cub looked over!
"Roar!" (What are you looking at!)
"Kulu-Ya!!" (Nothing at all!)
Following a roar from Asterion, Brother Kulu spun around in a flash and ran away without looking back.
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