This move could be utilized even when employing normal swordsmanship.
What appeared to be an unremarkable straight thrust could actually impale the enemy and inject the payload deep into their body—it was simply perfect.
A Great Sword is made for wake-up hits!
Asterion had considered evolving an ability like this a long time ago, but he had always abandoned the idea because the sleep-inducing monsters he killed were too weak.
Creatures like Nightshade Paolumu or Gravios... swallowing the sleep sacs of such weaklings wouldn't play any significant role in a battle against an Elder Dragon or a Forbidden species. But now, things were different.
This was a hypnotic organ from an Elder Dragon. Asterion had personally experienced the potency of the gas it spewed; it was even corrosive, which was absolutely terrifying.
If you're going to equip something, you have to equip the good stuff.
After a period of dormancy, Asterion not only recovered his combat capabilities but became even stronger. However, compared to his relaxed demeanor, the Bazelgeuse was currently in a rather miserable state.
His grey carapace—once hard enough to withstand point-blank explosions and the tearing teeth of other monsters—had fallen off in large patches. One could even see tender pink muscle constantly oozing blood underneath. There wasn't a single healthy spot on his entire body; he had nearly been poked into a pile of rotten meat by the bamboo generated by the Inagami.
The abdomen is often the most vulnerable area for many monsters, and the Bazelgeuse was no exception. It could only be said that the Inagami was truly insidious, specifically targeting weak points.
The newly grown wing membranes between his wing bones couldn't yet support the Bazelgeuse for flight. During this time, Asterion shouldered the heavy responsibility of going out to hunt and bringing back food, allowing the Bazelgeuse to focus on healing.
This was the superiority of a social structure. Ordinary monsters, even if powerful, would have to go out and hunt despite severe injuries. They could easily die out there—either their injuries would worsen during the hunt, or other powerful monsters would take advantage of their weakness to kill and eat them.
No wonder the Homo sapiens of his past life, developing in tribal forms, ultimately won the Earth's "Battle Royale." There was indeed an advantage.
Living off the land, Asterion's appetite meant he couldn't stop eating wherever he went. The two brothers didn't know how long they had stayed in the Inagami's territory, but the surrounding monsters had all realized that this land had changed masters.
The new owner was more brutal, and the frequency of his hunts was higher. Monsters who felt their strength was insufficient silently fled into the distance, while the stubborn ones were hunted by Asterion one after another. They either became food for the Bazelgeuse or turned into energy reserves for Asterion.
When the Bazelgeuse felt his injuries were mostly recovered and stepped out of the cave to take to the sky again, he found he had almost forgotten how to fly.
"Roar!" (Are we going back?)
"Roar." (Yeah, you try first.)
Asterion watched as the Bazelgeuse stumbled and ran through the bamboo forest, then desperately flapped his wings to take off once more—
"ROAR!!"
The World Police, setting out again!
In the New World, what doesn't kill you simply makes you stronger. The Bazelgeuse's new carapace was harder than before, and his wing membranes were tougher. If his previous membranes would let light pass through when hit by direct sunlight, the current ones had thickened to the point of being opaque.
He was starting to look a bit like a Dreadking Rathalos; the Dreadking's wing membranes shared this characteristic.
It was all good news.
Having no sentimental attachment to this area, and confirming that both dragons had recovered their combat strength, Asterion and the Bazelgeuse embarked on the journey home.
Just as when they came, the Bazelgeuse flew in the sky, scouting for valuable prey or the direction forward, while Asterion advanced on the ground, kicking to death any stubborn monsters along the way and turning them into his savings.
His perception of time had become dull. Asterion didn't know how long this fulfilling life lasted, so when he was suddenly surrounded by a Grimalkyne patrol jumping down from the roadside trees, he actually felt a twinge of regret.
But this regret quickly turned into relaxation. Asterion couldn't wait to eat the delicious meals prepared by the Grimalkyne chefs again.
During his absence, the Grimalkynes of the Glavenus Tribe seemed to have carried out significant renovations on the giant tree he inhabited—wait, could Grimalkynes really build something like this?
Standing beneath the giant tree, Asterion constantly sized up a water wheel that was about as tall as he was when lying down. The Grimalkynes seemed to have diverted multiple streams together to increase the water pressure, and then built this massive water wheel beside the river.
As the water flow drove the wheel to spin endlessly, the power generated moved the connected lift continuously, rising from the ground to the top of the giant tree, and then descending from the heights to the bottom... It should probably be called a water elevator.
With this water elevator, the Grimalkynes could go straight from the ground to the tree top, saving a lot of travel time, and they could easily transport heavy objects to the living area at the canopy.
The overall structure wasn't complex—Asterion, with the wisdom of his past life, could understand it at a glance. But the question was, how did the Grimalkynes, still in a primitive tribal stage, come up with such a reasonable and ingenious structure?
One didn't need a brain to figure out that the hunters and scholars of Astera must have put in a lot of effort here.
After several evolutions and the increase of his strength, Asterion's mindset had broadened considerably. He had now mastered the Elder Dragon's knack for looking down on lower lifeforms—after all, a single nap might see a whole generation of them replaced.
offering no comment on the water wheel or the elevator, Asterion blasted his way up the tree and summoned the Grimalkyne chefs to serve him. Eating and enjoying himself was the top priority; that was the meaning of the Glavenus Tribe's existence.
It wasn't until the Old Shaman appeared before him, trembling, that Asterion suddenly realized how much time had unwittingly passed.
Draped in shamanistic robes woven from beautiful stones and plant fibers, the Old Shaman had a long white beard growing around his mouth. His figure had become completely hunched, and he looked incredibly frail as he hobbled over with a cane.
He was truly an old cat now, needing a young cat to support him just to walk—he had aged a bit too fast. Asterion remembered that before he left this time, the Old Shaman hadn't been in this state.
In his memory, this guy was still the impatient character who refused to admit his temper, occasionally jumping up to smack the clan leader, Sparky, on the head with his cane.
"Roar." (You've gotten old.)
Asterion sighed with emotion.
"Probably going to die soon, meow," the Old Shaman said, looking completely indifferent about his own mortality. "Very few Grimalkynes live as long as I have, meow... It was truly lucky to receive your protection back then, Boss, meow."
"Roar." (It was your own hard work.)
Asterion shook his head. He felt he hadn't done anything specifically for these Grimalkynes. If anything, he had merely allowed them to live in his nest. He hadn't provided as much help as the humans did, yet the Grimalkynes had provided him with service for so many years.
Cooking food, cleaning and polishing his scales, sweeping the nest, holding festivals to curry his favor... If Asterion were a king, he would definitely be a tyrant, holding the philosophy that his own comfort was all that mattered.
The old and frail Shaman no longer had his former chattering energy. He didn't refute Asterion's words but instead began to ramble, narrating the events that had happened in the Glavenus Tribe after Asterion's departure while the dragon ate.
Waking up to find Asterion gone again, the Acidic Glavenus appeared exceptionally irritable. She hadn't finished learning her swordsmanship yet!
But gone was gone. The Acidic Glavenus waited for over a month, but Asterion didn't return. In a rage, she broke her previous pretense of ignoring Mirrorblade and proceeded to thrash him soundly with her tail blade.
It had a bit of the flavor of that Spartan family next door—relatives greeting each other with a passionate stabbing. The Glavenus family had to have its own family atmosphere.
Mirrorblade wasn't easy to talk to either. He could tolerate his mother's first beating, and maybe the second, but coming to cut him every day was a bit excessive.
Needless to say, the Grimalkynes were soon sitting in the trees watching a grand show: Mirrorblade vs. Acidic Glavenus.
When facing Asterion, the Acidic Glavenus was the one suppressed in both strength and speed. But when facing Mirrorblade, she became the oppressor.
Mirrorblade, who hadn't fully grown yet, quickly figured out the beauty of raw stats. However, this phase didn't last long; having inherited Asterion's bloodline, Mirrorblade grew very quickly.
Given the fierce competition in the Ancient Forest, monsters would intrude on Asterion's territory from time to time. In Asterion's absence, the defense of this home relied entirely on the Acidic Glavenus and Mirrorblade.
All these dead monsters ended up in their stomachs. Mirrorblade hadn't inherited Asterion's pocket dimension stomach, but his digestive ability was far stronger than average monsters. He ate more, and his energy absorption efficiency was much higher.
A Glavenus that had just left its mother's care was already in a rapid development stage. With ample food, it didn't take long for the Acidic Glavenus to realize she couldn't beat Mirrorblade anymore.
The talent-deficient Acidic Glavenus could only heat her tail blade to white sharpness at best, but Mirrorblade could already heat his to red. Once the gap in physical stats was bridged, the Acidic Glavenus was completely no match for him.
After defeating his mother, Mirrorblade didn't seize her nest, nor did he try to occupy his father's nest. Instead, he constantly prowled the edges of Asterion's territory, fighting powerful monsters, only occasionally returning to a tree hollow in the middle section of the giant tree to rest.
That was all the Grimalkynes knew about Mirrorblade and the Acidic Glavenus. Unlike with Asterion, the Grimalkynes didn't dare get too close to those two. Then, the Old Shaman began to talk about the Ape Dragons (humans) who had come to the tribe after Asterion left.
The leader was an Ape Dragon called the Admiral. Upon learning that Asterion had left and no one knew when he would return, he had looked absolutely devastated.
According to the Old Shaman, the Ape Dragons came more than once. It was during the second or third visit that they proposed building equipment to facilitate life for the Glavenus Tribe. The final result was the giant water wheel, the water elevator, and improvements to some living facilities in the residential area.
In exchange, the Grimalkynes needed to provide more assistance to the hunters and scholars conducting investigations—for example, helping to set traps, fighting alongside them, or assisting in gathering various resources.
It was essentially a mutual employment contract. Asterion listened briefly, confirmed his cats hadn't been scammed, and left it at that.
"Roar?" (You need to rest?)
Seeing the Old Shaman panting heavily just from talking so much, Asterion asked.
"I have to rest, meow," the Old Shaman said, pounding his old lower back. "I can't run around like I did when I was young, meow. Last time I went fishing, I was almost dragged into the water by a fish. Luckily, Leaf was there, meow."
Saying this, the Old Shaman patted the head of the young Grimalkyne squatting beside him.
"This is Leaf. She understands the most words spoken by the Glavenus Bosses. She's the most talented one among thousands of clansmen, meow," the Old Shaman said with a face full of satisfaction. "Can she replace me, meow?"
"Roar." (She can.)
Asterion approved.
"That's good then, meow!" The Old Shaman happily turned to Leaf:
"You must properly convey the Boss's will, meow! There cannot be any disobedience, meow!"
"Understood, meow!" Standing up straight, Leaf was incredibly serious, her whole body tense.
The Old Shaman should still be able to live for a while longer. He could spend the last of his time accompanying his family, babysitting kittens, or going fishing and watching the scenery every day. In short, placed within the entire history of the Waste guardians, he was already a great Grimalkyne worthy of being remembered.
Carrying a blade scale specifically bestowed upon him by Asterion, the Old Shaman joyfully let a Grimalkyne warrior carry him back on their back.
Asterion suddenly felt a sense of how things remain while people change. A dragon's lifespan is extremely long. He glanced at Leaf, who was waiting by his side for orders. This new Shaman was still very young now, but she would likely age gradually in a place he wouldn't notice, turning into another Old Shaman.
But—who cares.
Asterion had adapted well to this perspective of a long-lived species. When one's own strength is powerful enough, and there is no need to worry about food or panic about safety, one naturally looks down on those short-lived creatures still troubled by these two things.
If something good happens during contact, he feels amused. But if he returns from a long hunt or wakes up from a nap to find these creatures dead, he can accept it calmly. It is enough that they existed.
After eating and drinking his fill, Asterion glanced at the Bazelgeuse, who was already lying down to rest, and then walked out. He planned to take a walk around the giant tree to see what the Ape Dragons had cooked up.
Incidentally, he wanted to look for his Kulu-Ya-Ku bro. He didn't know where that guy had run off to—hopefully, he hadn't stolen some Wyvern egg and gotten chased down for it.
"T-this is used for drying, meow," Leaf stammered, walking beside Asterion looking as if she might explode from nervousness at any moment. "The forest is really too humid, many cats aren't used to living here, meow. So, uh, the Ape Dragons helped build this, meow."
Racking her brains to scavenge every bit of knowledge related to this equipment, Leaf was terrified that her explanation wouldn't be detailed enough and would cause the Glavenus Boss to get angry.
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