Chapter 118: [117] Hunting Wyvern
"This was taken four days ago by a aerial surveillance drone," Marcus explained. "You can see here—" He zoomed in on a section of the image showing the wyvern’s side. "—these discolored patches on its scales. That’s a sign of extreme energy depletion. Giving birth to creatures with dragon bloodlines takes enormous toll on the mother’s cultivation."
He swiped to another image, this one showing two small forms curled up near the larger wyvern.
"The cubs. Roughly the size of large dogs right now, but they’ll grow rapidly. If we’re going to capture them, it needs to be within the next week or two while they’re still small enough to handle and before the mother fully recovers."
Levi studied the images carefully. The intelligence seemed solid, though there was always room for error.
Finally, he made his decision.
"Alright. I’ll help you hunt the wyvern. But I have two conditions."
"Name them," Marcus said immediately.
"First, I need to reach Redwood Village before we attempt this. I have... personal matters to attend to. It shouldn’t take more than a day."
"That’s fine. We need to rest and resupply in Whitehaven anyway, and we were planning to scout the wyvern’s nest more thoroughly before committing to the hunt."
"Second," Levi continued, "if the situation becomes too dangerous, we retreat immediately. No heroic last stands, no foolish risks. We’re all young with bright futures—I’m not interested in dying for money."
Marcus smiled, genuine warmth entering his expression for the first time. "Agreed completely. We’re cultivators, not suicidal idiots. If it looks bad, we run."
He extended his hand. "Do we have a deal?"