Monster Hunter: This Dragon's Built Different

Seeing Aki's suffering snapped something in Logan.

His blood boiled. Muscles tensed. Fueled by rage, energy surged violently through his body.

He no longer cared that the creature before him was an Elder Dragon.

Infernal fire built rapidly in his throat. His flame sacs compressed with brute force, and the intense heat glowing inside made his neck visibly flare with a red hue from the outside.

"ROAR!!"

A wide cone of flame erupted from Logan's jaws. Laced with streaks of reddish-purple fire, it blasted forward, sweeping away the toxic fog in its path and crashing through the air with a searing shockwave.

The heat—far beyond that of normal fire—caught the Chameleos off guard. The burning sensation across its scales made it emit a low cry of distress. The actual damage wasn't catastrophic, but it was real—it hurt.

For the first time in its life, the Chameleos had been wounded. Stunned, it quickly repositioned itself, slipping back into the safety of the mist. Another burst of toxic fog sprayed from its mouth, quickly replenishing the area that Logan's fire had just cleared.

Just then, three fireballs shot straight toward the Chameleos—one of them hitting its mark and exploding, blasting the Elder Dragon off its feet.

'He can see me?'

The thought flashed through Chameleos' mind.

Highly intelligent, the Chameleos immediately realized its camouflage had been seen through. In that instant, its naturally low-key and passive instincts swiftly overrode its earlier agitation.

It gave Logan one long, contemplative look—then turned away without hesitation, flapping its wings and disappearing into the mist.

It wasn't that it couldn't beat Logan.

And it certainly wasn't because it feared him.

The Chameleos simply had no habit of picking fights. It preferred to avoid conflict, living quietly and avoiding battles with large monsters unless truly provoked—such as by a territorial invasion or being pushed too far. Otherwise, it almost always retreated rather than engage in desperate combat.

This was one of the reasons why the Chameleos was classified as a low-risk Elder Dragon in the records of human scholars.

That was simply the kind of Elder Dragon it was—quiet, elusive, and vastly underestimated.

As the Chameleos withdrew, Logan's inner eye could no longer detect its presence, and his anger gradually began to subside.

But he didn't lower his guard. He continued to burn with fire, standing protectively beside Aki, who lay collapsed in pain on the ground. His flames worked to keep the poisonous mist at bay.

However, the intense heat from the fire was unbearable for Aki in her current state. The toxin overstimulating her nerves had heightened her sensitivity to pain—so much so that even her natural heat resistance as a Rathian was compromised.

To her, it felt like a human hand soaked in chili oil brushing against warm water.

Even though the fire wasn't actually scalding hot, her hypersensitized nerves made it feel like she was being burned.

Logan understood what she was going through—but in a life-or-death situation, she had no choice but to endure it a little longer.

Fortunately, with the Chameleos gone, the thick mist gradually dispersed. Before long, the area had returned to its original state.

Only Aki, still lying weakly on the ground, and the distant carcasses of the Aptonoth silently testified to the chaos that had just unfolded here.

The sky had finally cleared. Although the Accelerated Trait had long since faded, only now did Logan truly breathe a sigh of relief.

A burning pain in his throat made him frown slightly. The flame he had unleashed in a fit of extreme rage had clearly surpassed the natural limits of his body. And it was precisely that intensity of fire that had managed to inflict real damage on Chameleos.

As the flames on his body extinguished and his nerves relaxed, an overwhelming fatigue quickly took hold. Logan had never felt so weak before—especially with not even a spark left in his internal flame sac.

Fortunately, due to the modifications brought by his Flamekind Body and Ignition Trait, he didn't need to consume special substances like other Rathalos to replenish his flame sac. Once his stamina recovered, the flame sac would regenerate on its own.

The all-encompassing weakness left Logan deeply uncomfortable—and starving. All he wanted to do was collapse on the ground and gasp for air to regain his strength.

But then he looked over at Aki. Her body still twitched from time to time, a sign of lingering pain. Logan could only muster his strength again, putting on a show and pretending that he was still in decent shape.

He didn't believe anything else could survive Chameleos's toxic mist like they did, but caution was always better than regret.

This particular spray of venom from Chameleos, while highly toxic, had fortunately been intended for combat. It had ferocious potency, but weak longevity.

Rathian females naturally possessed strong venom glands and high resistance to toxins. Aki, in particular, was an anomaly. As far as Logan could recall, she had never stopped ingesting toxic substances over the years—poisonous mushrooms, venomous creatures—constantly strengthening her own venom.

Thanks to this resistance, which far exceeded that of a normal Rathian, the toxins on her wings were neutralized in less than 30 minutes. Having rested for half an hour, she had regained a fair amount of stamina.

She tried flapping her wings—she could fly again, though still a bit stiff.

The poison might be gone, but the damage it caused wouldn't heal so easily.

Logan and Aki exchanged a helpless glance. In this condition, Aki couldn't manage a long-distance migration. Their migration plan had ended before it had even begun.

And that wasn't the only failure today—their hunting efforts had completely fallen apart as well.

All the Aptonoth herd had been poisoned to death by Chameleos. A dozen massive corpses lay scattered nearby, yet Logan had no desire to take even a bite.

Who knew how long Chameleos's compound toxins would linger in the carcasses? What if something went wrong after eating them?

Despite the pain, Logan tore his gaze away from the 'food' lying on the ground. Having recovered some of his strength, he spread his wings and took off, planning to return to the nest in the Ancient Tree to rest. Everything else could be dealt with later.

Not long after Logan and Aki left, several Wingdrakes soared across the sky. Spotting the herd of lifeless Aptonoth below and confirming they were unclaimed, they screeched excitedly and descended. The Wingdrakes quickly gathered around one of the carcasses and began feasting with gusto.

But halfway through their meal, they all collapsed one after another. Their bodies would serve as a warning to any creature that might come later—these corpses were dangerously toxic.

Meanwhile, the Grimalkyne chief was organizing the tribe's movements. Every Lynian carried gear on their back—jerky, traps, weapons.

Since they were preparing for a long migration, these supplies were essential.

Indeed, the Grimalkynes had reached a decision: they would migrate alongside Logan.

The Ancient Forest was becoming increasingly chaotic. No place within it was truly safe anymore. Rather than face the dangers alone, they chose to follow Logan and Aki—under whose protection the tribe at least stood a chance at survival.

As for the dangers they might face along the way, they had long come to terms with them.

In this forest, no species could undertake a large-scale migration without risk. As long as the seed of their tribe could be preserved, they had no fear.

But when they saw Logan and Aki return, the Grimalkynes froze.

What was going on?

Weren't they supposed to have left? Why had they come back?

Amid all those wide, puzzled eyes, Logan landed in the nest and immediately collapsed without a word. He closed his eyes and focused solely on recovering his strength.

The seasoned chief quickly noticed the injury on Aki's wing and the exhaustion radiating from Logan's body. It was clear something serious had happened.

He turned and reassured the tribe, instructing them to return to their dwellings and not to disturb Logan's rest.

He then sent two young Grimalkyne warriors to stand watch outside the nest while he remained in a corner, deep in thought—trying to figure out what could have possibly gone wrong to leave both Logan and Aki, such powerful Rathalos, in this condition.

As for why Logan had gone straight to sleep without speaking to Aki—it was because, like all other Rathalos, Aki was proud and aloof, never deigning to interact with the Grimalkynes.

That meant the truth could only be learned once Logan woke up.

Fortunately, the issue this time was only due to extreme depletion of the flame sac. Nothing else was seriously wrong. In a safe and relaxed environment, he could begin to absorb life energy naturally and accelerate his recovery.

As for the throat burned by fire—that was nothing.

What Rathalos hasn't scorched their own throat with their own flames at least once? The internal muscles of the throat healed remarkably fast anyway; it had already regenerated on its own.

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