Monster Hunter: This Dragon's Built Different-Chapter 404: Phantom Limbs and Return

Logan took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes.

As the Adaptability trait was actively triggered, the Terastal armor on Logan’s chest gradually extended amid a burst of light, quickly forming similar protective measures across the rest of his body.

At this moment, on both sides of the armor, near the base of his wings, strands of Terastal energy began to spread outward.

Like fine threads, they slowly wove themselves into blood vessels. Immediately after, transparent Terastal crystals that had solidified took shape as bones, while abundant Terastal energy filled them as muscle.

Finally, the Terastal armor proliferated once more, transforming into patterned scales that covered everything.

Crack!

With no restraint applied, the slightly translucent "phantom limb" effortlessly crushed the Terastal crystal beneath it.

Logan lowered his head and slowly looked at the dragon claw that rose in accordance with his will. Aside from lacking any sense of touch, it truly felt just like a newly grown limb of his own!

His hind limbs bent slightly, all four limbs braced against the ground, and his wings suddenly spread wide, stirring up a fierce gale within the somewhat cramped space.

At the center of that gale, Logan stood as steady as a mountain, his body not swaying in the slightest.

[Terastal Transformation: Quadrupedal Form!]

Such a thought surfaced in Logan’s mind.

His disadvantage in close-quarters combat was not only due to his own lack of proficiency in melee fighting, but also because, under a bipedal, dual-wing skeletal structure, facing opponents of the same tonnage and size was a genuine disadvantage.

Whether in stability or in force application, there was a decisive gap compared to quadrupedal, winged Elder Dragons.

But now, the phantom limbs in this form granted Logan far more possibilities!

Although at the current stage this was still only an initial creation—the body had yet to adapt, and the load-bearing capacity and strength of the phantom limbs still required evaluation—at the very least, the direction had been established. What remained was merely further development and acclimation.

Like a child who had obtained a new toy, Logan paced back and forth within the nest area that had been cleared after the Terastal crystals shattered due to their energy being absorbed. For a moment, he actually forgot about the multitude of creatures gathered outside the nest, drawn there by the Elder Dragon pressure he had just released.

"Gwa!!"

With no surprise at all, the first one who couldn’t wait was Mother Chameleos, the New World’s biggest gossip.

More than once, She had proposed directly breaking open those Terastal crystals that had sealed off the nest, and charging in to see what, exactly, was going on with Logan!

But Her proposal was not agreed to by a single creature present.

Of course, there was also a certain little Chameleos who, after growing up, specialized in singing the opposite tune against his own mother. He even let out a "Gwa," urging his own mother not to worry about anything and to charge straight in.

"Roar!"

Before Mother Chameleos could make a move, little Loren roared once at the little Chameleos. In just an instant, the little Chameleos immediately shut his mouth and, just like Mother Chameleos in the past, silently entered stealth, pretending he did not exist!

Mother Chameleos looked at this familiar scene and always felt as if She had seen it somewhere before. Subconsciously, She began to recall it, and for a moment, there was no longer any sound from Her.

Aki stood atop the palace. On the surface, she looked calm, but in truth, she had nearly crushed the eaves on the palace roof.

If not for years of contact, and also the energy pyramid of the Symbiosis trait, which gave Aki a certain degree of sensing of Logan’s condition, she probably would have been unable to hold back and would have rushed in first!

...

Inside the nest.

After exhausting her curiosity completely, Logan slowly released this state, took a deep breath, and drew all the remaining Terastal energy into his own body.

[Terastal Transformation: Special energy from another world, at last, under the condition of receiving this world’s recognition, mixed with the gentlest and most inclusive, and also the most powerful, life energy of this moment—then transformed, thereby forming a phantasmal energy that can change a creature’s essence! Terastal energy penetrates deep into the bloodline, greatly enhancing all of the body’s attributes, altering the original traits to adapt to the current form, changing the host’s original attribute energy, and further elevating the level of life!]

Different from past trait descriptions, it seemed that this time, the panel wanted Logan to know some information. Therefore, in terms of the introduction, it reduced part of the information about Terastal energy, and added the origin of Terastal energy, as well as explicitly confirming certain of Logan’s guesses.

But no matter what, at this moment, Logan deeply experienced the power of his own energy.

And he finally understood why, back when he was at the enforcer-level, he could already possess strength that could contend with—indeed, even defeat—an Elder Dragon on his own.

But after transforming into an Elder Dragon, even though, under the reinforcement of so many traits, he possessed strength that surpassed the vast majority of Elder Dragons, when facing a truly complete, fully matured Disaster Elder Dragon, he would still feel so powerless.

At this ecological tier, the higher one goes, the greater the gap becomes. Aside from humans—who are both favored and feared by the world—other species, for the most part, simply do not possess the ability to defeat a Disaster-level Elder Dragon through skill alone.

Curiosity had come to an end, and at this moment, he had also passed the "weak" phase that comes right after hatching from the egg and completing metamorphosis. It was time, once again, to show his existence to the world!

Opening his eyes, without making any movements at all, he merely released his energy, shattering the surrounding Terastal crystals.

A vast amount of Terastal energy spilled into the air and was completely devoured by Logan, as if by a whale swallowing everything in one gulp.

At the entrance to the nest, the many waiting creatures all retreated, preventing themselves from being injured by the shattered Terastal crystals, which were as sharp as blades.

Countless Radiant Crystal Butterflies flew out from gaps between the branches, surging together in the sky and directly blotting out the sunlight. The mother insect, which had already grown into a Radiant Crystal Butterfly queen, even personally left the breeding nest, standing in the sky and quietly waiting for the appearance of her host.

Amid a series of crisp sounds, Logan stepped out of the shadows, treading on crystal fragments mixed together.

Aside from the skeletal framework, his completely transformed appearance instantly stunned the many creatures that had been waiting.

Mother Chameleos, in particular, found it somewhat unbelievable. Generally speaking, when a creature becomes a subspecies or undergoes a metamorphosis of that sort, there are no major changes in overall appearance. At most, differences in attribute energy or certain other factors cause the form to differ slightly from the original species, with the greater changes instead reflected in combat style and energy output.

But Logan?

Was this still a Fire Wyvern?

This was clearly an extraterrestrial being!

Looking at the many stunned creatures, a trace of a smile appeared in Logan’s still deep-blue eyes. He slightly raised his head to look at the equally stunned Aki, straightened his body, took a deep breath, and let out a full-bodied roar filled with pressure that resounded through the sky.

The first to react were the Radiant Crystal Butterflies. They did not judge by appearance—only by energy!

Groups of Radiant Crystal Butterflies, whose energy and combat strength were at their absolute peak, flew onto Logan’s body, transforming into layers of scales that served as the first layer of protection for his body.

As for the cats, upon hearing this familiar roar, they quickly reacted under the pressure, each one letting out excited meows and cheering loudly!

This emotion soon awakened the other creatures as well. Aside from little Loren and Aki, all of them joined in the cheering.

Only this mother and child pair, just like when Logan had completed his Elder Dragon metamorphosis back then, still found it somewhat difficult to accept for the moment.

--- 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

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