With their objective in the Rotten Vale completed, even if Grogar was a little sad by how he went about finishing it, he and his companions headed back to Astera, where many of the Hunters were still working, making sure everything was taking on missions to make sure the other monsters didn't do anything foolish, and as he neared the settlement he spotted Keiji near the Canteen, waving at him.
"Ah, Grogar, just the person I was looking for." Keiji said, speaking as soon as Grogar landed near him, as he needed to speak with him about something and could see that Ava and Sherry weren't far behind him, meaning he must have finished taking care of the three Elder Dragons they knew about, "As you can see, Astera is buzzing with excitement, wanting to know about your battles with Teostra, Kushala Daora, and Vaal Hazak... however, that will have to wait, as I have a message from my old friend, who has been searching for a place brimming with energy."
"Anzix... he's discovered something, hasn't he?" Grogar asked, because he recalled the Admiral mentioning something like that at some point after he, Sherry, and Ava first encountered the man, though he also knew that the Wyverian in question had been searching for the final mystery of the Elder Crossing.
"He did. He found it big time!" Keiji stated, which was interesting, because Grogar knew that no one seemed to be getting ready for an expedition or mission into the area that the Wyverian had been searching for, though he remained silent as he waited for the Admiral to finish talking, and he had a big smile on his face, "I was thinking of heading out and seeing what he had discovered, because maybe, just maybe, it'll explain why all of the Elder Dragons have been going bonkers... and it just so happens that my friend has a message for you: 'I promised our paths would cross again, and so they must. I shall not take the boat until you get here.' His words, not mine."
Grogar almost couldn't believe it, from the sounds of it Anzix had found the final key to this mystery, what was drawing in all of the aging Elder Dragons to the New World so they could die in the depths of the Rotten Vale and add their bioenergy to the rest of the continent. This could be the discovery of a lifetime, one that his acquaintance wanted to share with him before sharing its existence with the people of Astera, and yet Grogar was excited about the potential this had, that they might finally solve the mystery of the Elder Crossing. Of course he had no idea what might happen to Astera if someone did that, especially since no one had mentioned such a possibility in the time he had been here, but such a thing was just a side note in his thoughts, as he was too focused on what might be found. He could tell that Ava and Sherry were surprised by this as well, especially given the significance of the discovery they were talking about, and he could feel them looking at him while waiting to see what sort of response he had to this discovery.
"Then show us the way." Grogar said, because he couldn't resist the desire to see what sort of key the Wyverian had found during his searches for the place that was brimming with energy, even though he had just fought Vaal Hazak, or bullied as he considered what he had been through, before he considered something, "Though, now that I think about it, I should report to Shepard first, let him know that the other Elder Dragons have been dealt with... he'll likely figure out that both you and Anzix have something planned."
"Yeah, we'll have Sherry make it an official quest while we're at it... just don't spill the beans to the others." Keiji replied, as if he already knew how his friend would react to the information that they were up to something, though as he said that he handed Sherry a piece of paper, which contained the coordinates of where they would be meeting up, for the quest to be made official, "Don't be late. You know I hate waiting!"
Grogar chuckled as he heard that, as the Admiral was an interesting person to be around, though as Sherry got to work on the quest, and Ava followed Keiji to prepare for the journey, he headed down to the Commander so he could report his success with the other three Elder Dragons. As he expected Shepard was vastly impressed with his power, even though he would likely be ashamed or worried by the end result of his battle with Vaal Hazak, before noticing that there was more to the report and guessed that it had something to do with the Admiral. He also explained that he wouldn't pry into what he and his companions were doing right now, as he knew how Keiji and Anzix worked and knew that it wasn't worth prying into what they were doing just yet, not when they would tell him when they returned to Astera. Grogar was happy to see that and apologized that he couldn't share more about what the were up to, but at the very least he understood that they were doing everything by the books and making it as official as they could before heading out.
With that done Grogar headed up to where everyone else was gathered and found that Sherry was ready, so once the rest of the paperwork was done Keiji used a Barnos and took off, where Grogar followed after him as his companions followed after him, where it looked like they were heading deep into the Elder's Recess... to a passage that had a river heading even deeper into the center of the region, and sure enough Anzix was waiting for them at a camp he must have set up after he found this place.
"Grogar! I knew you would come as soon as you got the message," Anzix said, though as he said that he watched as they landed in the clearing he had found, an indent to be exact when he considered the size, he discovered that Keiji's tale was true, his friend had gained a new power and now he was different from what he remembered, "I have heard stories of the power you unlocked, but I must admit that this is more than I was expecting."
"Yeah, and with every monster I fight or observe I grow even stronger." Grogar replied, where he paused for a moment as he made a few alterations to his body, as in Odogaron legs, Nergigante horns, and Rathian wings, just to start, before he reverted to his base form as he noticed the dock that had a small boat for them to use, "So, you've found it?"
Anzix nodded his head as he, Keiji, Grogar, and Ava climbed into the boat, as Sherry didn't want to get involved with what they were doing, despite coming this far with them, but Grogar was fine with that as they made their way deeper into the heart of the Elder's Recess, to the heart of the mystery they were trying to solve.
"During my journey i discovered that an abnormal amount of bioenergy was flowing through the veins under the vale and was coursing throughout the entire continent," Anzix commented, all while he used an oar to move forward and the boat moved in tune with his motions, allowing Keiji, Grogar, and Ava to sit and relax a little as he talked, "but now I have found where that bioenergy has been gathering."
"Still, how did you find this damned place? Not even our best could find it." Keiji inquired, though as he asked that he and the others found that they were passing by a number of crystals that were growing out of the walls, small at first but kept growing bigger as time went on, even though Grogar knew he was referring to him.
"Oddly, we have Zorah Magdaros to thank for clearing the way," Anzix replied, where Grogar nodded his head, as the large Elder Dragon had caused some massive destruction to get to his true destination so he could wipe out the New World, so it made sense that he's actions would have consequences, both good and bad, "As you know, when the Elder Dragons die in the Rotten Vale their bodies are dissolved by the Effluvium and their bioenergy is moved throughout the New World, and the energy that accumulates in the veins of the earth crystallizes into what we're seeing."
"And some powerful Elder Dragons must have perished there, to allow the Elder's Recess to develop." Grogar said, as that seemed to be where the conversation was going right now and he was showing that he was following what they said with ease, all while Ava moved over to Anzix and took the oar, as he offered it to her so he could move into the middle of their vessel and focus on what they were heading towards.
"Indeed. However, in recent years, I have sensed a drastic change in the land's energies," Anzix continued, though at this point he wasn't too surprised to see that Grogar was keeping up with him and his words, while Keiji took a bit longer to do the same thing, though Grogar also determined that the Admiral must have told him about Ava'jiiva, since he didn't react to her presence at all, "I haven't discovered what's causing such a thing, though I know its ahead of us, but all I can say is that the changes in the land's energy brought me here."
Grogar readied himself for whatever they were going to find, where they reached a crystalline entrance of sorts, which all of them would have to carefully move around, that the river ended at, something that caused Keiji to climb out of the boat and drag it over to the ledge so the others could disembark. With that done he and his companions walked forward, while at the same time making sure to avoid the ends of the various crystals, though it didn't take long for the passage to open up so no one had to worry about being stabbed by a crystal. At the end of the passage they discovered a massive cavern that was also full of crystals, with what appeared to be a large blowing blue stone on the other side of the area, which was followed by Keiji saying 'great mother of... damn', to show that he was surprised by this place. As they walked across the cavern, however, Grogar's eyes widened as he realized what they were looking at, the glowing item wasn't a stone, though he could see how someone could think such a thing, rather it was a massive cocoon or egg, which Ava was staring at as well, as this had to be the first time she was seeing something like this.
As they started at the area, however, Anzix, came to a stop and picked up one of the crystal fragments that were resting on the ground, which was much purer than what they had seen in the Elder's Recess and the passage they had just walked through, before they glanced at the glowing object. Not a few seconds later Grogar felt a surge of energy and yanked Anzix back with his magic, allowing him to surround all of them with a barrier, and his timing was great since not a few seconds later several blue beams of energy surged out of the object, hitting the ground and ceiling with no rhythm or reason, but his companions were happy that he reacted before that happened. For a time they watched as the beams tore through all of the crystals and opened the cavern, making a flat area for people to fight monsters in, though Grogar kept the barrier up as they watched, as he wasn't about to take any chances with what was going on. When the beams came to a stop they simply remained silent as the cocoon opened before their eyes, revealing the head of a massive dragon that had rich blue scales, six orange eyes, a pair of wings that looked flowing at the end, powerful limbs that could likely tear through crystals and other material, and a powerful tail.
All in all this monster was larger than most of the other beasts Grogar had fought so far, though as the dragon stood up it raised its head and cried for a moment, where this was the nail in the coffin, this was a baby monster and they had bared witness to the creation of a brand new species.
"He's so beautiful, despite his otherworldly appearance." Ava remarked, even though he found Grogar correcting himself and told them what he had found, the six orange objects were actually sensory organs and he discovered that the beast had two eyes, while parts of it gave off an ethereal blue glow, before he realized something herself, "Hey, Grogar, doesn't he remind you of someone?"
"Yeah, take away a few aspects and he resembles you, just blue." Grogar replied, as Ava's true form was imposing and was one of the few monsters that actually looked like a dragon, and if he remembered her size correctly she was roughly near the new dragon's height, before he really focused on the new monster, who seemed confused about everything and was lost, causing him to sigh as he lowered the barrier.
Keiji seemed to think that a battle would take place, given the fact that Grogar fought the other Elder Dragons, though that was when he and Anzix found that he and Ava were approaching it without any weapons drawn or abilities at the ready, a fact that made him pause for a second. Grogar, on the other hand, smiled for a moment as he raised his hand as he slowly walked up to where the monster was currently standing, as he knew that sometimes newborn would attack anything they perceived to be dangerous towards them, so by presenting himself in a peaceful manner he hoped that he would remain calm and do nothing. Ava shifted into her true form, confirming that she and the new monster looked similar, even though the blue beast was totally otherworldly, and as they approached Grogar found that the dragon remained passive, which was all he wanted since he wasn't about to kill a newborn monster. One thing neither of them were expecting was that the monster could actually fire beams or bursts of energy at will, as they assumed it had been a product of it being born, but the dragon aimed it at the ceiling, like he was hiccuping or something, and lowered his head, as if he was ashamed of the attack coming out on accident.
Grogar kept the smile on his face as he rubbed the side of the monster's face, as he confirmed that presenting himself like this had been a good thing in the end, and having someone like Ava with him made the dragon feel at peace, causing him to lay on the ground and rest, even though now he had to figure out what he was going to tell Shepard and the rest of his companions in Astera.