As he rushed towards the bird again, it flapped its wings again, but knowing better, this time Jack activated his card skill. Cards formed and floated all around him until one stopped in front of him. As he got a diamond of 6, a protective barrier formed around him. The tornado crossed over the barrier, with minor cracks being formed in it. Jack canceled it and moved closer. The bird realized Jack was able to deal with its storms, so there was not much of an option for the avian either.

It dove down right towards Jack as the human swung his hammer at the hawk. It raised its talons forward as the two clashed, and both of them came to a standstill as wind and electric sparks circled around the two of them while they clashed. Jack found himself being pushed back slightly as he gritted his teeth, and the hawk swung its opportunity, flapping its wings point blank in Jack's face.

“Oh fu.” Before Jack could even finish the sentence, he was sent flying in a tornado that spun him around like crazy, and the bird joined in to dive inside the tornado and strike at Jack, clawing half his face with its talons, making the man bleed out and gasp in pain.

"Okay, fuck this.” It was about time he got serious over this fight. It was better to kill the thing than to die while holding back. As the creature started flying away from his jack, he activated his gigantification skill just on his hand. As his hand started growing bigger and bigger, he grabbed the bird by its leg and slammed it down into the ground. Although the bird wasn't dead, it had certainly taken damage from the hit as Jack jumped, walked up to the will, and placed his hammer on the bird's head. “I'll repeat myself once. Down boy,” the bird was a smarter creature than the basilisk, and seeing its life in the hands of the human, he chose to submit them to die. Avians weren't known for being proud creatures to begin with.

The bird got up and lowered its neck while looking at Jack, which made the man sigh in relief, and he placed his hand on its head. The birds will then turn into white light particles as Jack comes back to reality in his room. Although there were a few minor differences, firstly, he had blood all over his clothes, and secondly, half of his face was clawed. After fixing that, he went back to check on the shoes as the feather withered and a white light escaped from it, taking the shape of the storm hawk flying around Jack before flying into the shoes as they gained two pairs of wings on the ankles.

After that, Jack took a much-needed break, healed his injuries, washed his face, and ate something before getting to the next part, perhaps the only one he wasn't worried about. He could mess up the design; he could mess up the will submission; but he couldn't mess up when it came to gambling. It was physically impossible for him to do that.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

And so he created a tiny, two-millimeter hole in both shoes, placed the wind infusion gems in them, and started supplying them with mana through his hammer this time. He realized that if he used his hammer, no mana was wasted while transferring. The circles started forming while it was still exhausting. It was much better than last time. He didn't feel like he was straight up going to pass out from this, which was a great thing as he finally finished with the second circle, and that was the time he started sweating. Which happened during the first circle of his armor last time.

[Congratulations on creating an intermediate-grade item.]

[+100 merits have been awarded.]

[The item has a tamed will.]

[+50 merits have been awarded.]

[The item has a skill.]

[+50 merits have been awarded.]

[Storm-Boots, II

Boots crafted with luck, passion, and a certain goal in mind. The wings of a hawk who chose to control the storm rather than avoid it are embedded in it.

Abilities:

Wind burst: the user can create a burst of wind under their feet to push themselves higher, increasing their jumping capabilities. It can also be used to increase movement speed and kick attack power.

Breeze Step: the user's speed is increased by 30%, including their reflexes.]

“Now this I like,” he said, looking at the new boots as he instantly put them on to check them out. He jumped off the giant table he was on and gilded using his aquamarine fangs. While mid-air, he used the wind burst to launch himself further; he wasn't just falling in style anymore; he was flying with these on. As he landed, he decided to check out his speed and how fast he was. He started running, as it took him 10 seconds to complete a lap around the giant room. While it took 15 before, it was indeed faster. Regardless, he knew these would come clutch in the test match. For now, he took off all his stuff and went to rest before the test match.

As the next day came, he was standing, wearing his full armor and boots, while standing on the table. He had already informed Carus that he would be gone for a day or maybe even more. He wasn't sure what this test match was or how long it would even last. While he still had ten minutes left, he thought maybe staying anonymous was a better idea. He opened the merit shop and bought a mask for 1k merits that he can use to hide his face. It also let him see a little bit further than normal while letting him keep a poker face. Although funny enough, the only mask they had was that of a joker, so it seemed he was going to get a lot of attention.

He could only sigh now as he prepared himself for the event while the timer clocked in at 0.

[The test match is going to begin.]

[All players are required to participate.]

[Current number of players: 10,000]

[The 1000 players on the lowest rank would have their kingdom absorbed by the top 10 players.]

[Welcome to the test match]

And with those words appearing in front of him, Jack vanished from the table he was standing on. Leaving the giant village for the first time after the start of the apocalypse was also his first time meeting other people who were humans.