Monster Hunter: This Fire Dragon has characteristics

Chapter 166 Return Decision, Changes in the Fire Dragon Group

The situation underground was the same as the worst case scenario Luo Yun had imagined. The downward passage was blocked at the fork in the road.

When thinking that the space where the tributary of the earth vein was located might collapse due to the hole dug by Xuanhuilong, Luo Yun remembered that King Snake Dragon had also dug a tunnel nearby. Compared with Xuanhuilong's more gentle way of digging holes, King Snake Dragon's rough way of breaking the ground seemed to be more likely to destroy the underground structure here.

As expected, the tunnel collapsed directly at the fork in the road. After trying to dig a few times and finding that it was blocked tightly, in order to prevent a secondary collapse, Luo Yun had no choice but to accept this fact and leave with Yaji.

Of course, collapse alone is nothing. After all, the fork in the road is not too far from the ground tributary, and the concentration of life energy will still be stronger.

But according to Luo Yun's perception, the concentration of life energy here has decreased significantly.

Considering the obvious slowdown in the magma flow rate of the tributary of the earth vein and the direction of Xuanhuilong's departure, Luo Yun guessed that this tributary of the earth vein was most likely changed due to the dual intervention of the earthquake and Xuanhuilong.

Although it was a bit of a pity, it also helped Luo Yun make a decision.

That’s right, it has been more than two years since we came to the Big Anthill Wasteland. Over time, many monsters have migrated back to the Ancient Tree Forest.

Luo Yunye and other male fire dragons flew a distance towards the ancient tree and found that the miasma and spores had completely disappeared. In addition, traces of herbivorous dragons and many environmental creatures were found near the water sources along the way.

After this news spread, the ancient tree fire dragons became a little restless, but because Luo Yun had not made any statement, the matter was delayed until now.

The reason why Luo Yun did not express his opinion earlier was, firstly, because he felt that although the ancient tree forest had returned to normal, all kinds of ecology needed time to recover, and the fire dragons had already established a foothold in this settlement and had a fixed food source. Therefore, instead of returning to the ancient tree so early to gamble on whether the prey at the bottom had recovered, it would be better to stay here for a few more days.

The second reason is his own selfishness. This branch of the earth vein has indeed brought him a lot of help in the past two years. Although the help it brings has begun to decrease as the energy in his body has gradually increased, it is still better than other places.

Now, since this tributary of the earth vein no longer exists, he doesn't have to worry about it anymore, and it's time to start preparing to lead the tribe back to the ancient tree.

It flew out of the cave, its silver-gray red shell sparkling in the sun, with hideous thorns sticking out from its very wide wings. The patterns on the wing membrane, which had become tougher and thinner after being transformed by the characteristics of the Wings of Gale, were even more clearly marked, with a faint silver luster flowing through it.

The 26-meter body carries a strong sense of oppression. It clearly looks like a male fire dragon, but upon closer inspection, it can be clearly distinguished from ordinary male fire dragons.

If we have to describe an image, Luo Yun's appearance at this moment is more like the 'Male Fire Dragon (辿异种)' in the non-canon game of the previous life than a male fire dragon.

Of course, it's just appearance.

With the return of large numbers of high-niche predators to the ancient tree forests, hunting in the wasteland is now much easier.

After eating and drinking their fill and bringing the remaining prey back to their residence, Luo Yun summoned the cats and told them the news of their impending migration back to the ancient tree, which the cats then passed on to the group of fire dragons.

For a moment, the fire dragons, who were already impatient, became excited.

Looking at the fire dragons flying in the living area, Luo Yun was also lamenting the passing of time. Unknowingly, more than two years had passed. During these two years, not only had he undergone great changes, but even the ordinary fire dragons had undergone some changes in their body shapes because they had been affected by the symbiotic characteristics for more than a year.

First of all, in terms of appearance, the body color of the male Rathalos changed from bright red to dark red, the spines on the back and tail began to thicken, and the pupils changed from sky blue to golden yellow like the Rathalos.

Luo Yun did not expect this transformation. He originally thought that the changes in the group of fire dragons would be the same as Mao Mao's, inheriting some of his abilities. However, he did not expect that even some of the characteristics of the fire dragons in this pyramid net could be shared.

By the way, in the past year or so, the Fire Dragon has successfully grown a fourth wing bone. Although the wing bone is still very short, it has grown out anyway.

In addition to the appearance, the flame bags of male fire dragons have also been strengthened. During a hunt, Luo Yun found that they could actually fly in the air and perform multiple fireball breath bombardments, and then only pause for a while before they could continue to breathe. As for the disadvantage, it is that they usually need to supplement their food with more flammable substances.

Like the male dragons, the female dragons also underwent some changes. The spines on the back of the ordinary female dragons became denser and longer, and the toxicity of the venom increased significantly. The arrangement of the scales in some originally vulnerable parts also changed slightly. In short, there are fewer weak points. In addition, from an overall perspective, the carapace of the ordinary female dragons is slightly red.

Unlike male fire dragons that have enhanced their fire breath, female fire dragons enhance their strength. Their commonly used tail swing attack can sometimes even smash rocks in the wasteland and knock out rubble. When they fall from the air, they will trample the ground and cause small-scale collapse and vibration.

However, this improvement is not that great for the battle-hardened female fire dragons led by Aki.

Compared with the increase in strength and toxicity, the increase in energy circulation efficiency and energy reserves is the biggest improvement for the Battle-hardened Fire Dragon.

Judging from Aki's current performance, her level of evolution is probably between 40 and 45.

Unlike Luo Yun, who was specialized in flying because of his Wings of Swift Wind, Yaji has always been pursuing all-round improvement. It should be said that this is the path that all battle-hardened female fire dragons who are qualified to transform into golden fire dragons must take.

All-round enhancement means there are no outstanding points, and being able to do everything means being proficient in nothing. This is also the reason why even though they are just male and female fire dragons, the female fire dragon is much weaker.

But all this will completely change when it comes to the Golden Rathalos. After the transformation of the life level is completed, it will become fully proficient. Whether it is air combat, ground combat, fire, poison, strength, speed, etc., the Golden Rathalos, which has no weaknesses, will be more difficult to deal with and harder to target than the Silver Rathalos when fighting against the enemy.

However, the progress of Yaji's transformation also made Luo Yun a little anxious. As everyone knows, subspecies will only mate with subspecies, because in the eyes of subspecies, there is already a gap in life level between them and the original species. Some extreme subspecies will even not recognize that they and the original species are the same species.

Luo Yun didn’t know whether this feeling was physical or psychological. If it was psychological, he had the confidence to overcome it, but what if it was physical?

After receiving Luo Yun's notification, the entire settlement became busy.

The cats began slaughtering farmed creatures for storage, gathering supplies, and repairing and weaving the large baskets.

The fire dragons increased the frequency of hunting, and those with cubs took advantage of this time to train their cubs in independent hunting abilities, providing some basic guidance through words and deeds.

That’s right, some of the cubs that migrated with the lions are now five years old, have completed their first rapid growth, and have the ability to survive and hunt on their own.

These cubs will not migrate with the fire dragon group, but will stay here and grow up on their own.

Don't think it's cruel. This is something that every fire dragon must go through during its growth. What's more, due to the changes in the fire dragon group, these cubs also have the awareness of cooperative hunting, and the dangers of their growth are much easier than those of their parents.

Secondly, as cubs born from the ancient tree fire dragon group, under the influence of the symbiotic characteristics during this period, their starting point must be higher than that of ordinary fire dragon cubs. What's more, this settlement still retains the breath of the fire dragon group, and can serve as their shelter for at least a long period of time.

If they still cannot survive under such conditions, then it can only be said that this batch of cubs is doomed.

The current group of ancient tree fire dragons do have group characteristics, but they have not yet developed to the level of the Thunder Wolf Dragon, where they raise their cubs until they grow up and then naturally join the group's main combat force.

Survival of the fittest is still the main theme among the ancient tree fire dragons. This has not changed until now and will not change in the future.

Therefore, what the fire dragon couple can do is to teach them more hunting skills and how to get along with the hunters of the survey team.

As for the cat?

Including the newly joined Wasteland Clan, they will all return to the ancient tree together.

As they are called, 'Ancient Tree Fire Dragon Clan'.

(End of this chapter)