"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?"

Levi clasped his hand firmly. "Deal."

"Excellent!" Lyra pumped her fist excitedly. "This is going to be amazing! A Golden Wyvern cub of my very own!"

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch, little sister," Marcus said sternly but there was a smile on his face to. "We still have to actually succeed in capturing them."

"With six people including Levi, we actually have decent odds," Kai said, looking much better now. His brother's healing techniques seemed to have helped him recover from the worst of his injuries. "Especially since Levi can apparently one-shot Fiend Grade beasts."

"I can't do that repeatedly," Levi cautioned. "That technique has its costs even apart from energy depletion, so it's difficult for me to activate it constantly. I can use it maybe two to three times before.."

"Still more than enough," Ren said confidently. "The wyvern is one target. If you can land even two solid hits, the rest of us should be able finish it."

Marcus had finished harvesting the beast's materials and stored everything in his spatial ring. "Alright, let's move. We've been making too much noise here, other predators will be attracted to the blood and the energy signatures from our fight."

In that instant, a loud roar echoed through the distant forest.

"You should probably not say anything bad to avoid jinxing us," Levi blinked his eyes as he stared seriously at Marcus.

The others laughed and Marcus chuckled awkwardly.

The group began moving northeast, falling into a traveling formation with Marcus at the front, the twins in the middle, Lyra guarding the rear, and Levi positioned slightly off to the side where he could respond to threats from any direction.

As they jogged through the forest, Lyra moved closer to Levi, her curiosity apparently overcoming her sense of propriety.

"So," she said conversationally, "Chaotic Star Academy Elite Class, first place in the trial examination, F-rank talent but strength that rivals third-years… You're like some kind of protagonist from a cultivation novel, aren't you?"

Levi nearly stumbled in surprise at the unexpected reference. "What?"

"You know, like those stories where the main character starts out weak but has some mysterious advantage that lets them punch above their weight class? Always getting into dangerous situations but somehow surviving? Collecting powerful techniques and rare treasures?"

She grinned mischievously. "Am I close?"

"I don't read cultivation novels," Levi said flatly.

"That's exactly what a protagonist would say!" Lyra laughed. "Come on, you can tell me. What's your secret advantage? A mysterious old master living in your soul? An ancient artifact that grants incredible power? Memories from a past life?"

Levi's face remained expressionless, but internally he was sweating slightly. Her jokes were hitting uncomfortably close to the truth—he did have memories from a past life (his original life on Earth), he did have something that could be considered a mysterious advantage and he had been collecting techniques and treasures.

"I just work hard," he said simply.

"Boring!" Lyra declared. "That's the most cliché answer possible!"

"Lyra, stop bothering him," Marcus called from the front without turning around. "Not everyone appreciates your particular brand of humor."

"I'm not bothering him, I'm making conversation!"

"You're interrogating him about his personal secrets."

"Same thing!"

Despite himself, Levi found his lips twitching upward slightly. There was something refreshing about Lyra's straightforward, playful personality. After days of serious battles and life-or-death struggles, the casual banter was actually… nice.

"You can ignore my sister," Ren said from Levi's other side, his tone apologetic. "She gets like this when she's excited about something. And the thoughts of a Golden Wyvern cub made very excited."

"I can hear you!" Lyra called.

"I know!"

The group continued through the forest as the sun began to set, their conversation flowing naturally as they traveled.

After another hour of travel, they made camp in a defensible location. Marcus set up perimeter alarms using small formations carved into stones placed around their campsite. The twins gathered firewood and started a fire. Lyra distributed food from her spatial ring, it was proper cooked meals.

"We took down a Frost Deer yesterday," she explained as she handed Levi a wrapped package. "The meat is still fresh thanks to stasis formations in our storage rings. Should taste decent when heated."

It did taste decent. Better than decent, actually. After two days of eating compressed ration bars, real food was almost heavenly.

As they ate, the conversation turned to their backgrounds.

Marcus and Lyra were from the Ironheart family, a minor noble clan that specialized in weapon cultivation. Their father was a Fiendgod Realm expert who served as a general in the Federation military, and their mother was a renowned weapon smith.

The Feng twins, Kai and Ren, came from a merchant family that had grown wealthy through dimensional zone exploration and beast material trade. They'd been friends with the Ironhearts since childhood and had chosen to attend Silverpeak Academy together.

"What about you?" Lyra asked Levi around a mouthful of roasted meat. "Where are you from?"

"Redwood Village," Levi replied simply. "Small settlement near the border of the Eastern Federation. My father was a hunter before he got injured. My mother works multiple jobs. I have two younger sisters."

He kept his description brief and factual, not mentioning the original Levi's struggles or his own transmigration. As far as anyone needed to know, he was just a village boy who had gotten lucky.

"Redwood Village…" Marcus frowned thoughtfully. "I don't think I've heard of it. Is it one of the frontier settlements?"

"Sort of. It's in a relatively safe area, but far from any major cities. Most people there are farmers or low-level hunters."

"And yet you made it into Chaotic Star Academy's Elite Class," Kai said with obvious admiration. "That's incredible. The competition for those spots must be insane."

"It was… challenging," Levi allowed.

"Challenging," Lyra repeated with a snort. "He says, having placed first in the entire trial examination." She pointed her chopsticks at him accusingly. "You're way too modest. That's another protagonist trait, by the way."

"Lyra," Marcus warned.

"What? I'm just saying!"

The banter continued as darkness fell completely. Eventually, they organized a watch rotation. Marcus first, then Ren, then Levi, with Kai and Lyra exempt since Kai was still recovering from his injuries.

Levi took the opportunity to rest, lying back on his bedroll and staring up at the stars visible through the forest canopy. Luna curled up on his chest, snoring softly.

His meridians had recovered to about eighty percent now. Another day of travel and rest, and he'd be back to full capacity.

Tomorrow, they'd reach Redwood Village.

He'd see his family, not really his family but the family of the original Levi. While he wouldn't say he felt anything for them, he still just wanted to make them feel comfortable as best as he could try.

He was a bit skeptical as a parent can obviously notice a change in their child.

Would they notice the change in him? The original Levi had been meek, withdrawn, crushed by his F-rank talent designation. The current Levi was confident, decisive, shaped by both lives' worth of experiences.

Would his parents see the difference?

These thoughts swirled through Levi's mind as he drifted toward sleep, Luna's laid agaunt his chest and her breathing calmed him.

When it was almost morning, it was Levi's watch shift.

He sat near the fire, adding wood occasionally to keep it burning, his eyes closed as he expanded his senses to monitor for threats.

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