Bear School Astartes

”Can you watch your attack range a bit!”

Lann shouted frantically at Wende as he blocked the splashes from the Shield Axe in Wende’s hand using the Quen Rune, all while maneuvering around the Extinct Dragon!

”Don’t get me caught in it!”

Wende verbally agreed well enough, but it seemed like as long as there was energy in his Shield Axe, he couldn’t stop himself from Overcharging.

Finally, after gleefully releasing the overflowing energy from three waves of fully charged weapons, he managed to regain some restraint.

But to be fair, this guy is indeed strong.

The Shield Axe, which is considered somewhat cumbersome even among Hunters, seemed like a perpetual motion machine in his hands.

Not only did he gather weapon energy exceptionally fast, but he could even swing out the Ultra High Output Elemental Discharge, which required large sweeping motions and needed a long pause afterward to adjust posture, like swinging a sword.

In just a matter of a few minutes, this guy had smashed the Extinct Dragon with the Discharge more than a dozen times!

Luckily, for some reason, all of the Extinct Dragon’s aggression was directed at Lann, as if it didn’t care about anyone else, its enmity frighteningly stable.

Otherwise, Wende wouldn’t have had so many opportunities for stable frequency attacks.

Even though the weapon’s properties didn’t counter the Extinct Dragon, the sheer physical attacks from the Shield Axe alone pummeled the massive beast thoroughly.

Though the Ancient Dragon’s body is incredibly resilient, the Extinct Dragon is a battle-hardened physique reinforcement type.

Yet, Wende still managed to maim its entire hind leg.

However, with a series of bone-twisting ’crack’ sounds, that strangely bent hind leg quickly snapped back into shape.

After all, Wende’s Mud Flow Shield Axe isn’t considered a high-grade weapon.

It struggled even to pierce the Extinct Dragon’s hide.

So the Shield Axe’s strikes all turned into blunt blows.

Pressing through the Ancient Dragon’s tough skin and flesh, the force bore down on the Extinct Dragon’s leg bones.

Though the impact might have shattered its leg bone once or twice,

for the Extinct Dragon, a broken bone that didn’t even pierce the skin was almost unnoticeable in its recovery.

For it, the regeneration of organs and tissues is linked solely to the quantity of regeneration, not the complexity of those organs.

A leg bone... regenerating a single spike is tougher than healing a leg bone!

But Wende’s dozen or so Ultra Discharges weren’t for nothing.

Lann’s cat-like eyes grew ever brighter with each evasion from the Extinct Dragon’s sharp claws, fangs, and massive horns.

Every time the Extinct Dragon suffered damage, it exposed a small part of its inner workings to Lann.

And the Mystical Sight within Lann’s mind grew excited and active as if witnessing fresh and fascinating new knowledge.

Mystical Sight is a deeper vision that grows from ’seeing’ deeper and more comprehensively.

And post-growth, it sees even deeper and more extensively due to the elevated perspective.

Perhaps because Ancient Dragons truly stand atop this world’s ecological chain, as the essence of natural ecology.

When Lann looked at the ’inner’ parts of the Extinct Dragon, his Mystical Sight was akin to witnessing, in Yan’an, the Healing Church’s agent—Nymelia—transforming from human to beast with his own eyes.

Gaining enormous satisfaction.

Thus, the Mystical Sight achieved an upgrade from that satisfaction.

In Lann’s eyes, his perspective experienced a wonderful transformation.

It felt as if he could see through the Extinct Dragon’s body, not like a rudimentary ’X-ray vision’,

but more like seeing the deeper secrets within it.

The Ancient Dragon’s energy flow, its manifested vitality...

The deeper perspective brought richer intelligence.

”No need to attack those generally considered ’vital’ spots, Wende, Aiden!”

”Just cut down its spikes! The white spikes!”

”Even for an Ancient Dragon, its energy is limited in the short term, its body’s recovery consumption solely related to the amount regained! Just target the easily shattered white spikes! A massive breakage will exhaust it!”

”The black spikes are reinforced versions of the white spikes, much harder.”

Lann’s evasions became more fluid, his Keen Sense like the wind.

He loudly communicated the knowledge gained from his Mystical Sight to the other two.

Aiden, Wende, and Gaffi also became invigorated.

”We’ve got a strategy! Excellent, meow!”

The orange cat exclaimed excitedly, then stopped collaborating with Wende and pulled out its boomerang.

Spinning one end of the boomerang, even the tip of its fluffy tail seemed involved in the effort.

With a ’whoosh’, the boomerang flew out and slashed across the spike-covered wing membrane of the Extinct Dragon like a razor.

The Extinct Dragon’s white bone spikes weren’t particularly hard, even more fragile than ordinary large monster bones.

But that’s because they had not regrown long enough yet. If they stayed outside the body long enough with sufficient nourishment, they’d turn into black spikes.

Gaining a steel-like, crystalline texture, and a hardness far exceeding common Hunter weapons.

Once the target was identified, the elite hunters Aiden and Wende moved quickly. Plus, since the Extinct Dragon remained focused solely on Lann, they had ample room to play.

So, in no time, around the brutal demon-like Ancient Dragon, there were flying bone shards, explosions ceaselessly.

Even with the Extinct Dragon’s regenerative capability, its spike regrowth speed couldn’t keep up with the destructive speed of the two elite hunters and the accompanying cat.

”Hooowwww~”

With significant loss of spikes, coupled with seemingly uncontrollable and unstoppable regeneration, the Extinct Dragon quickly became fatigued.

It even couldn’t control the viscous saliva, thickened by exhaustion, dripping from its mouth while panting.

Overall, it seems to be effectively stalled.

Aiden’s Sword and Shield is an equipment set named the Piercing Sharp Sword.

He crafted it from materials scavenged after encountering a Bone Hammer Dragon during a mission in the Ancient Tree Forest.

The Bone Hammer Dragon possesses a sleep sac capable of secreting sleep-inducing gas, hence this equipment can also secrete sleep gas.

The Extinct Dragon had already been struck numerous times by Aiden, and sleep gas was accumulating in its body.

Once reaching the body’s threshold, the sleep gas will take effect.

And with the targeted actions by Aiden, Wende, and Gaffi, the Extinct Dragon’s internal energy continued being depleted, lowering the sleep gas’s activation threshold.

However, despite the seemingly favorable situation, Lann didn’t relax a bit.

Because those eyes of the Extinct Dragon remained locked onto him, staring relentlessly.

He couldn’t believe this brutally fierce Ancient Dragon would obediently fall asleep.

As expected!

”Roar!”

The Extinct Dragon roared, shaking its head as if to dispel the abnormal sleepiness within its body.

Then its menacing snout twitched, its entire body stood upright!

Standing solely on its two hind legs, the upper body pulled back like a fully drawn bow!

Its right foreclaw even raised over the massive horn atop its head!

From high above, a massive shadow engulfed Lann.