After finalizing the initial hunting plan, the workshop began designing specialized weapons for the Valstrax overnight. Of course, this batch of weapons would later be further enhanced with some elder dragon materials. The bald-headed craftsman in the workshop, inspired like a fountain, exclaimed, "This might be the strongest batch of weapons we've ever made, but right now, it's just a prototype." The members of the Second Fleet placed three weapons on the preparation table. "Since weapons with strong blunt attributes are effective, we've specially reinforced those that are usually ineffective, namely the Long Sword, Great Sword, and Bow."
According to the plan, the Long Sword master is responsible for severing Valstrax's tail, specifically the tail spikes, which help the creature maintain its balance and adjust its flight center of gravity. Meanwhile, the Bow users will need to suppress it in the canyon area, creating opportunities for melee hunters in glider suits to perform pounce and mount attacks. If that doesn't work, a restraining team composed of five ballistae and net ammunition will cover part of the area above the canyon with net projectiles.
Finally, the Great Sword user, who also serves as the bait and hate-absorber, will be the one to take on Valstrax head-on. As the class leader of the First Fleet, he needs to endure nearly all of Valstrax's frontal suppression attacks, drawing it down to attack him, thereby exposing its back to teammates positioned above in the canyon, creating opportunities for the net projectiles. Thus, he will not only need to inflict sufficient damage or pain on Valstrax but also endure its most enraged attacks.
Consequently, the weapons for these three were completed rapidly. "The main materials used are high-grade dragon vein crystals and radiant dragon stones. Although they may not be as hard or strong as those wing plate materials, I've reinforced the weapons as much as possible with ether shards and other mineral materials." The Swordmaster picked up the large sword wrapped in Tobi-Kadachi's extreme electric fur fabric and unsheathed the blade with a satisfying sound. The blade, crafted from crystals and ether light, appeared like a translucent azure blue crystal, the handguard decorated with white fabric, and the hilt featuring a long, flowing white, spike-like tail.
"I've reinforced it with materials from the Tobi-Kadachi, and to achieve maximum cutting effectiveness, I've also utilized the Valstrax analysis data from the Research Commission. When using the Cutting Blade technique, it will produce a stronger elemental effect and slicing power." One side of the blade features numerous feather-like plates, creating a slight angle with the blade. "Through repeated cuts, the wielding force will gradually transform into electrical energy stored within the Tobi-Kadachi fur, which then ignites the built-in ether particles to achieve a faster slicing speed."
"So, what's its name?" The Swordmaster swung it a few times; indeed, it felt lighter than the usual Long Sword, and the cutting speed was noticeably quicker. "And what are its flaws?" "The flaw is that because it's made from substitute materials, it's not very durable. So, be careful when cutting the tail; avoid collisions with the wing plates. Otherwise, it will definitely crack or even break. As for the name…"
"How about 'Speed Blade: Azure Feather'?" "Hmm, it's light like a feather, yet also fragile like one. Quite fitting." The Swordmaster sheathed the blade. The other two weapons were a Great Sword named "Jet Roarer" and a Bow called "Azure Dragon Hunting Bow." "However, we can't do much about the other equipment; after all, the ether shards provided by Kupo are limited, and the Valstrax materials we've collected are quite scarce."
The entire hunting plan is divided into six parts. The first part consists of the reconnaissance and tracking teams, who will be responsible for locating Valstrax's nest and gathering relevant traces to determine its hunting range and dietary habits, allowing the technical team to create suitable bait and set traps. The second part will involve the Second Fleet crafting and setting up restraint nets and corresponding tools, installing them near the predetermined ambush site, which is close to the Grand Canyon. In the third part, the hunters will be divided into four teams: the Bait Team, Hunting Team, Capture Team, and Assault Team, each waiting in their respective locations at the Grand Canyon, nearby islands, wastelands, and ancient forests.
The fourth step involves the Bait Team setting traps based on the information provided by the reconnaissance and tracking teams to lure Valstrax down for an attack. Their task is to exhaust its stamina and force it to change areas. After completing the fourth step, the Bait Team and Capture Team will wait in the canyon.
In the fifth step, after confirming that the Bait Team has successfully lured Valstrax, the Hunting Team will continuously harass it until it is led or forced into the canyon area, where the Capture Team will then initiate an attack to capture it. The final step is if the capture fails, the Assault Team will directly engage by gliding onto its back for an attack. This is the initial hunting plan set forth by the Hunter's Guild.
The traps are divided into three parts. The first part is designed for when Valstrax smoothly enters the canyon and descends to attack the Bait Team. In that case, mechanisms set up on both sides of the canyon will pull up a giant net, ensnaring the Valstrax subspecies as it attempts to navigate at high speed and can't avoid crashing into the net, thus leading to its capture.
The second part activates if Valstrax doesn't fall for the bait or opts for a ranged attack against the Bait Team from a mid to low altitude. In this scenario, a second layer of mechanisms will trigger, and launchers resembling hunting guns on both sides will fire drag-net projectiles to cover the area above, forcing Valstrax to either descend or navigate into the nets.
Finally, if all the traps fail, the ballistae will fire net projectiles for capture, and the hunters from the Hunting Team will prepare to jump onto its back with wing suits, aiming to attack the area near the wing root to force Valstrax to land. This would lead to ground combat. If the entire plan fails... the hunters from the four teams will have to work together to attack and provoke the creature, forcing it to launch crystal attacks, which they would then quickly collect and retreat.
During the first step, the hunters encountered a serious problem: there were too few traces left by the Valstrax. Most of the signs were found in the sky, and the few scales that had fallen made it nearly impossible to create a reliable tracking map. Additionally, while setting up traps in the canyon, they faced a minor issue where some of the terrain had been damaged by Zorah Magdaros. They had to move the predetermined ambush site further back to the entrance of the Coral Highlands. However, this location was too narrow and too far from the entrance, meaning the Bait Team would have to hold out for a long time to attract Valstrax. There were too many uncontrollable factors, and the prolonged wait was a concern.
Furthermore, after the airship plan failed, the hunters had no means to engage in aerial combat. If Valstrax didn't enter the ambush zone, it would be nearly impossible to bring it down from the sky, especially since the New World didn't have the same advantageous terrain as the Old World for capturing Valstrax. Moreover, the Valstrax in the Old World didn't possess such terrifying flight stamina and altitude capabilities.
However, none of this concerned the juvenile Valstrax in its dream world. It was slightly bored with this realm filled only with large crystals. Even though various random images were constantly being presented to it, nothing seemed to pique its interest. The only thing that caught its attention, albeit briefly, was an enormous flying whale. However, it was so large that it was impossible to consume, so after a moment of curiosity, it turned its gaze elsewhere.
On this day, the juvenile dragon, rarely without chasing after prey, sat in front of the central giant crystal in a daze. Since this was a dream, it couldn't continue sleeping within it; aside from staring blankly, there was nothing else to do. This allowed Hydrion's voice to finally overshadow its inner voice. "What do you really want?"
"Hmm?" The juvenile dragon looked confused at the giant crystal. What did it want? Nothing at all. Right now, it could eat and sleep, with plenty of novel ingredients around—completely satisfied and without desires.
"Nothing at all?" Every being has its desires, but it was quite rare for a creature with high intelligence, like the juvenile dragon, capable of communicating with the Mother Crystal, to only exhibit animalistic needs. What do animals pursue? Eating, sleeping, playing, and reproducing—that's all. Since the juvenile dragon hadn't reached its mating or adolescent phases, it naturally was left with just eating and sleeping, and there wasn't much desire to play either. This behavior aligned with the characteristics of most growing younglings: accumulating nutrition, developing bones, organs, and muscles.
"Then, help me. Accept this power and carry out this mission." A fragment of crystal appeared before the juvenile dragon. This was something called a Soul Crystal, a legacy of sorts that certain gifted beings could read to transform their own forms and the nature of their powers. It sealed a part of its soul and accumulated the soul information of several generations—profession crystals or legacy crystals. All souls on that land originated from the crystals and returned to them; their souls ultimately settled into the crystals. When the crystals thrived, the planet prospered; conversely, if the crystals declined, so did life.
Many civilizations have recklessly used the power of crystals as an energy source—such as Terra (FF9), Shinra (FF7), and the Ancient Magitek Empire (FF14). In the end, their fates were all similar: the power of the crystals, along with the souls, was depleted, resulting in no more newborns and no new souls to replenish the population. Consequently, their entire civilization rapidly rotted from the inside out. They naturally fought against this fate, faced failures, and also found some successes along the way.
Now, mortals have once again discovered a new way to harness the power of crystals—through the use of the Beasts!—a fusion of soul, belief, and ether. Essentially, they have stolen the power of the planet's soul circulation to strengthen themselves, producing terrifying effects that interfere with the natural order. While the earlier methods could be compared to organ transplants and bloodletting, the approach of using the Beasts as an energy source is akin to deliberately implanting a parasite.
The power of the crystals is the power of life itself. Thus, with Hydrion's gift, the juvenile dragon can grow rapidly, even exceeding the limits of life itself. Just like how the Bird of Paradise, which gained similar power, can become a terrifying creature comparable to the Brutal Jaw Dragon. However, the power of life does not come for free; it also means that a part of the life cycle of this world has entered Hydrion's cycle, which is, in itself, a toxic affair for Hydrion.
Therefore, Hydrion cannot allow such occurrences to happen. This is why she needs to utilize the existence of the juvenile dragon to cycle this portion of life back to Hydrion and return the souls of the past. This explains why if one organism passes from this realm, Hydrion must send another organism in return. Otherwise, she would become the second Gaia, but this time, a self-created Tree of Life.
Unfortunately, a certain Valstrax liked to say "no!" to those it believed had the upper hand. "Grr!" It rejected the idea; what good were powers that couldn't be eaten? Slowly growing was perfectly fine, after all. The crucial point was that it felt the humans over there might all be quite dangerous, like they were trying to overpower it. The idea that they could suddenly jump on its back and grab its neck was simply terrifying, akin to encountering the clumsiness of someone who might suddenly lift its skirt or tug at its tail—and it was all too common to see such behavior! No wonder dragons from that place continuously attacked humans; anyone would react the same way!
However, this time, without the interference of the propulsion engine, Hydrion sensed its thoughts, and more information was transmitted to the juvenile dragon. "Grr?" The giant crystal assured her that there would be no issues on the other side, and that no one would grab her neck or ride on her back. But then it asked, "Do you mind being patted on the head or having your tail grabbed?" "Grr~?" Being patted on the head and having its tail grabbed? The juvenile dragon didn't see anything strange about that.
Where does a mother dragon typically grab her young when moving them? The answer is: by the tail. This method is also used during flight training, where she would dive down to grab the tail. This helps avoid harm to their delicate little wings while allowing the juvenile dragon to learn how to fly without being injured. As for head pats, in dragon body language, this gesture is almost equivalent to a challenge. Using their front claws to press down on another dragon's head—among siblings, a fight would likely break out within three minutes. The victor would then proudly sit atop the loser's head, proudly roaring in triumph.
Even if this psychological crisis was resolved, the juvenile dragon still had no interest in agreeing to anything the big crystal offered, until it uncertainly proposed a condition. After much thought and struggle, she tentatively agreed—this condition was that her teeth wouldn't hurt anymore, and her body would return to its optimal condition. Indeed, the result of consuming a lot of honey and the delightful water of the Fat Dragon during the teething period was... that even if you were an ancient dragon, you couldn't prevent the microorganisms in your mouth from thriving, leading to the production of acids...
To put it simply: she, a juvenile Valstrax, is the future apex predator of the New World, an entity that can eat whatever she wants. However, having indulged too much in sweets—she ended up with cavities, and it was the kind of pain that made her roll on the ground, suffering immensely. Clearly, she had no toothbrush or toothpaste available, so it was foreseeable that she would endure pain for a long time, until her old teeth completely fell out. And toothaches... even gods can't stand them. As for avoiding certain foods... well, if it hurt, then so be it!
"Deal!" Brilliant light enveloped the juvenile dragon, ultimately forming a fist-sized spiral crystal, containing her miniature shadow. It then disappeared from this side, while in the dragon's nest, large areas of crystal-like formations sealed the juvenile dragon away, almost as if her body were frozen in blocks of ice. This was meant to protect her physical form, preventing the sorrowful outcome of her soul returning only to find that her body had been reduced to nothing but bones.
Meanwhile, on the continent of Eorzea, a cat-girl stared blankly at the spiral crystal she had picked up, within which was the silhouette of some kind of dragon. "What is this...?" Before she could finish her sentence, the crystal vanished in a burst of foamy light. At the same time, in the waters off the coast of the New World, a bubble appeared in mid-air and then fell into the sea. "Puff~ What the heck is this thing?"