Days passed as Aki cared for Logan with care. In the blink of an eye, a whole month went by.
Thanks to the steady supply of nutrition, Logan's wounds fully healed. His bones became tougher, the broken scales all shed, and new, more durable ones replaced them.
His claws grew longer and sharper, his wings stronger. Patterns began to emerge along the wing membranes, and even his fire sac—previously dormant—had started to mature. Now, he could finally exhale a puff of smoke laced with tiny embers.
The only downside was that his body had already moved past the rapid growth spurt typical of newly hatched wyverns. Back then, even with malnutrition, he had grown from 80 centimetres to over 2 metres in just ten days.
Now, with ample nourishment, he still hadn't broken the 3-metre mark. In front of Aki, he remained a little shrimp that could be picked up by the nape of his neck at any time.
Lately, his wings had been itching constantly. But Aki's nest, while spacious, still only allowed him to flap around in a few small circles. Still, he had a feeling—he was close. Very close.
Maybe tomorrow. Maybe even the next second—he would finally take flight!
Of course, besides his physical growth, his external plug-in hadn't stalled either. This time, however, the progress bar was filling up far more slowly than before. Still, after a month, it was nearly complete.
He took a sip of water and swallowed the snack Aki had brought back—a Forest Pteryx, which he lazily chewed and gulped down. Then, sprawling inside the nest built from leaves and branches, he began absorbing leyline energy with practiced ease as he waited for Aki to return from the hunt.
But something felt strange. By now, Aki should've already been back.
Diligent in her role as surrogate mother, Aki always hunted at set times each day. She would finish her meal outside, swiftly take down a prey item to bring back, and then stay in the nest to watch over Logan.
If time was tight, she would sometimes prioritize bringing Logan his food first, confirm his safety, and then head out again for her own meal.
But today—today was different. It had already been a long time, and there was still no sign of her. For the first time, Logan began to feel uneasy.
However, given his current condition, flying was still out of the question—so the idea of going out to search for Aki was off the table.
All Logan could do was stay quietly in the nest, waiting both for the progress bar to fill and for Aki to return.
Time trickled by, second by second. The progress bar eventually completed, but Aki still hadn't come back. Now Logan was truly starting to panic. Could something really have happened to her?
[Trait: Powerhouse; Extraction Successful!]
Powerhouse?!
Logan leapt to his feet in shock. He hadn't expected that trait at all!
For him—or rather, for most wyverns in this world—this trait was nothing short of divine.
Physical attack power doubled!!
What did that mean? In this world, aside from a handful of rare exceptions, the majority of fights were decided through close combat. And even those exceptional cases still relied heavily on physical attacks.
With this trait, Logan could now display combat strength far beyond anyone's expectations in battle.
Speed boost combined with Powerhouse!
In that moment, Logan felt terrifyingly strong.
As soon as the trait had been extracted, waves of warmth began coursing through his body. His physique started improving at a tremendous pace under the influence of some indescribable force. The itching sensation in his wings returned—this time, stronger than ever.
Logan instinctively spread his wings and flapped them gently. In the blink of an eye, his feet lifted off the ground, his curled toes slowly relaxed, and with every beat of his wings, he remained hovering mid-air.
He could fly now!
With a single powerful wingbeat, Logan shot out of the nest, tore through the clouds, and soared into the blue sky!
He twisted, rolled, and performed all kinds of acrobatic maneuvers in the air—flying felt as natural to him as breathing, as if it had always been part of his instincts.
At this moment, he had truly grown into a proper male Rathalos.
After a long bout of aerial celebration, Logan finally came to a stop. Though he had been flapping his wings nonstop, he didn't feel the least bit tired.
Of course—Rathalos were inherently skilled fliers, and the males of the New World had flight capabilities even more enhanced than their Old World counterparts.
At that moment, Logan missed Aki terribly. He wanted to share this overwhelming joy with her.
But he had no idea where she had gone.
Once he calmed down, Logan decided to begin searching around the area near the nest.
Now that he could fly, this dense forest and barren wasteland were no longer off-limits. He finally had the means to truly survive.
...
A deep crimson figure streaked across the sky. The wyverns circling above the Wildspire Wastes scattered in panic. Even though this figure wasn't much larger than they were, the danger embedded in its very genes continuously warned them to stay away.
Down below, some monsters noticed the presence overhead. A few were puzzled—why was a Rathalos appearing here? Even young ones that had just begun life on their own usually chose forests that offered better chances of survival.
The Wildspire Wastes were nothing but desert. Yellow sand danced through the air, but not even the dust-laden winds could obscure Logan's vision.
He had flown for a while, following the river. Along the way, he saw migrating shell-backed herbivores, nimble Kelbi dashing about to evade hunters, and even saw a Kulu-Ya-Ku sneaking off with an egg stolen from an herbivore nest—but there was still no trace of Aki.
Realizing he had already flown far beyond Aki's territory, Logan, though unwilling, had no choice but to turn back.
After all, under normal circumstances, Aki would only hunt near her territory. On the way here, there had been no shortage of herbivores and Kelbi, yet no signs of a hunt. That meant Aki hadn't chosen to come this way today. Continuing downstream would only be a waste of time.
After spending some time flying back to the nest, Logan saw that it was still in the same state—no scent of blood, no signs of a return. That meant Aki hadn't come back midway either. Logan turned his head and flew out again.
This time, he intended to check the lake where Aki had first taken him in. But just as he climbed into the sky, his powerful eyesight caught something: a patch of trees swaying violently in the direction of the Ancient Forest.
That area was quite far from the nest—likely beyond Aki's territory. Still, holding onto a sliver of hope, Logan changed direction and flew toward the disturbance.
...
Aki felt like her luck had taken a nosedive today.
After making sure her hatchling wouldn't wander off, she headed out to her usual hunting ground, hoping to find an herbivore with decent meat for lunch.
But just as she arrived, she saw a Anjanath—who knows from where—rampaging by the lakeside, scattering all the herbivores.
Seeing its massive size, powerful build, and the aura it exuded, Aki could only curse her luck and head off to find another hunting spot.
Yet when she arrived at her second site, she discovered that damned Pukei-Pukei had once again trespassed into her territory!!
And the most infuriating part?
Today, that wretched bird-brain seemed to be acting completely out of character. Not only did it not flee upon seeing her, it even had the gall to devour nearby poisoncap mushrooms with that long, disgusting tongue of its, completely unfazed. When she approached and tried to intimidate it, it spread its wings and—shockingly—seemed ready to fight.
How could she tolerate that?!
Sure, the thing looked noticeably larger than the last time she saw it—its body now even longer than hers. But so what?
Back when she was smaller, that Pukei-Pukei would bolt the moment it saw her. And now that she had grown? There was no way she'd let it off easy. She had to kill it.
With a furious roar, Aki charged like a green freight truck.
The Pukei-Pukei didn't back down. With a thick-headed bravado, it charged in too.
Two wyvern-shaped locomotives collided. For a moment, neither gained the upper hand. Strength-wise, they were evenly matched.
Aki couldn't accept this.
This pathetic thing—who only ever snuck in to eat poison mushrooms while she was out hunting—was now holding its own against her?
It was like looking down on some loser all your life, only for them to suddenly come back one day after who-knows-what enhancement, and now they're your equal. You're left standing there like an idiot—just another part of their dramatic rise.
At that moment, as their clash ended, Aki's wyvern blood began to boil. No matter what, she had to kill this thing today. She would defend her territory—defend her dignity!
And so, the two giant beasts roared and tore into each other. One had the advantage of size; the other, the advantage of species. Neither could overpower the other.