Chapter 5: The Fluffy Smoky Snow Weasel
Jié Jié didn’t return to the nest with the Great Thief Dragon. Thief Dragon society lacked any form of governance, and there was no restriction on individual dragons leaving or joining.
He sniffed around, identifying the territory of the Great Thief Dragon, patrolling it.
At this stage, aside from corpse-touching and egg-touching, he couldn’t think of any other quick methods to unlock the transformation into large creatures.
His goals were aligned with these two approaches—searching for Bone Tombs and Dragon Eggs. He wished he had been born in the Valley of Miasma; what carcass would he not be able to eat there?
But how could he reach the Valley of Miasma? The vastness of the Ancient Tree Forest made it impossible for him to find landmarks corresponding to the game map.
Still, he needed to fly, somehow figuring out a way to take to the skies.
The Thief Dragon climbed onto a tree, gazing up at the high heavens and the distant shadow of the Ancient Trees.
It was already dusk.
As night enveloped day, the forest buzzed with restless rustling sounds.
Unstoppable fatigue caused his eyelids to flutter over his eyeballs. Jie Jie leapt onto a sturdy tree, concluding the fifth day of his journey.
His consciousness entered that dreamlike realm once more. This time, a chaotic Six-Sided Die spun endlessly before him.
“Snap.”
Jié Jié slapped the die with one claw, then moved it away, curiously observing the die.
Each side of the die was cloaked in heavy shadows, but as it came to a stop, the shadow on the topmost face dispersed, revealing a new totem—a white weasel.
Jié Jié shrank in size amidst a sea of questions, his yellow-black scaled skin replaced by snow-white fur, transforming into a snow-white weasel.
The Smoky Snow Weasel.
“Huh?”
The Smoky Snow Weasel stood upright, confusedly lowering its head to look at its fluffy paws.
The advanced forepaws of the mammal gripped something, and Jie Jie’s now furry face expressed human-like doubt.
“So, besides collecting, there’s also random draws? Why can’t I just leap across ecological niches directly?”
Jie Jie extended his paw to flip the die and inspect the other sides, but the die instantly vanished without a trace.
On all fours, he began moving about, adapting to his new body.
Short legs, but like the weasels in his memory, he could dart off quite far with a “whoosh,” his thick long fur trailing behind, walking like a flowing white skirt, looking rather splendid.
As a loyal Monster Hunter player, he naturally knew the unique qualities of the Smoky Snow Weasel.
In the lore, the Smoky Snow Weasel emits a special pheromone to lure monsters. In the Rise installment, hunters simply shook the Smoky Snow Weasel in front of a monster, and the beast would chase them relentlessly, even leaving its territory to conflict with other monsters.
This usage immediately gave Jie Jie a few ideas for profiting from chaos, though he wasn’t yet qualified to play the part of the opportunist. For now, he could only fish in troubled waters, gathering materials.
How many materials did he need to collect to transform into a Large Monster?
The fluffy Smoky Snow Weasel stood upright and lifted its head. Several totem blocks with traces appeared from the wall, flying towards him and arranging themselves.
Terror Tyrant, Poison Demon Bird, Great Thief Dragon.
The first two were still far off, but the color of the Great Thief Dragon totem had filled a third, sparking Jie Jie’s curiosity.
He hadn’t particularly focused on collecting materials from the Great Thief Dragon, so why was this happening?
Was it due to the close kinship between Thief Dragons and Great Thief Dragons?
The silence of this space within the dream offered no answers.
Jie Jie, following the sensation of his Smoky Snow Weasel body, vigorously shook himself. Intense pheromones surged from his glands, shaken loose by his fur and wafting into the air.
Perhaps because it was a dream, he smelled no effect from his own pheromones. If such lures attracted Large Monsters, how would he ever outrun them?
Clearly, some preparation was still necessary.
…
A Thief Dragon lurked in the dark underbrush, its yellow body standing out awkwardly against the Ancient Tree Forest. Despite having a bird-like beak, its smooth appearance featured only vivid and flashy feathers atop its head and under its forearms.
Its forelimbs were short but possessed elegant, dexterous fingers, clearly excellent for gripping. Its powerful hind limbs suggested strength, although its walking speed wasn’t fast, its muscular thighs indicated a talent for jumping.
The Scratcher Bird, an Avial monster, excelled at stealing Dragon Eggs as food, avoiding other large predators or aggressive herbivores whenever possible.
The Scratcher Bird looked around cautiously. To avoid being noticed, the Thief Dragon shrunk, transforming from a reptile into a mammalian Smoky Snow Weasel, small and adorable.
Jie Jie climbed a tree, tracking this flashy bird through the treetops. He wanted to follow it to find Dragon Eggs and then try to lure it towards the Great Thief Dragon.
The Scratcher Bird remained completely unaware of Jie Jie’s simple scheme, continuing its cautious progress, occasionally lowering its head to observe the ground.
Jie Jie noticed that every spot where the Scratcher Bird stopped to observe was near open areas with water and sunlight, often accompanied by Herbivore Dragon droppings. They had just passed by the pond where Jie Jie had conducted his first Herbivore Dragon hunt.
Along the way, they encountered roaming groups of Thief Dragons. The Scratcher Bird would immediately flare its beak and roar, while the timid Thief Dragons would quickly retreat into denser foliage, pretending they hadn’t seen anything.
“Eggs are laid in places with water and sunlight, right?”
Jie Jie paid no attention to the Thief Dragons, muttering as he kept pace with the Scratcher Bird teacher, discerning their current location. They were very close to the coast where the Herbivore Dragon herd had initially resided.
He recalled that fertile coast, with its water and sunlight—it certainly seemed like a suitable place for nesting.
As expected, the Scratcher Bird reached the shore, moving around, digging here and there.
Finally, it dragged an egg out of a sandy pit, cradling it in its arms, cracking it with its beak to drink the contents.
But Jie Jie was somewhat disappointed—he had hoped the Scratcher Bird would lead him to some Large Monster eggs. Luckily, the area wasn’t far from the Thief Dragon nests, so he could simply lure the bird there.
After finishing the first egg, the Scratcher Bird didn’t stop, digging further in the sandpit to uncover a second egg. Clearly, the location held a clutch buried by Herbivore Dragons.
Jie Jie blinked, wondering what the taste of those eggs might be. He gestured, transforming from the Smoky Snow Weasel into a Thief Dragon.
The Scratcher Bird measured roughly eight meters in length, whereas he was only four meters, merely double its size!
At least, he had four-wheel drive—if he couldn’t win, he could run, and if he couldn’t run, he could hide.
Of course, realistically speaking, after observing the Scratcher Bird’s behavior, he realized it wasn’t very agile in the forest. It behaved more like the flighty herbivores from his past life, easily startled by any movement, glancing around constantly. He remembered from the ecological CG that this creature had once fled when caught stealing eggs by a Hardshell Dragon.
The Thief Dragon crept forward silently and alertly, approaching the Scratcher Bird twice his size.
At least, in courage, he would surpass the bird that spent its days thieving.
