Alan turned his head just in time to see that the fallen Roc's partner had returned. Although it was far too late for the irate animal to save what Alan assumed to have been its mate, it had brought along backup. Three smaller Roc's trailed closely behind the first, flying in a tight V formation. The pack leader gave a shrill order to its followers, and rushed at the murderous bird, traveling at a speed the others couldn't match.
Realizing that the jig was up, the lone Roc once again turned tail and fled. Alan was honestly a bit relieved when it disappeared into the Plains Zone with an enemy on its tail. “If that damned thing had used whatever that ability was on me, I might've been in trouble…”
Alan couldn't help but feel kind of bad for it. The beast had somehow managed to turn a bad situation around, yet even though one of its foes was dead, there were now four more to contend with. And each one outweighted it by nearly half. He felt conflicted. It just didn't feel right. But at the same time, the little dickhead probably had it coming.
“Fuck me, I'm gonna try and help it out.“ Alan groaned as the pack leader zipped by overhead. If he was going to act, it had to be soon. The three stragglers were fast approaching. They didn't even bother to spread out. Without access to his Spells, Alan realized that his only real long-distance option was something that as of yet remained untested.
“I guess this is as good of a time as any to get some practice in…” Although he was fairly certain the birds couldn't hear him, Alan spoke in a hushed whisper. Now he just needed to figure out how to activate his Beast-Folk Racial Ability. According to the description, he had to maintain focus on his intended target. If it worked, it would only last so long as he could see his targets entire body.
Alan stared at the approaching trio of Roc's as hard as he could, and activated his [Left Eye of Echidna]. A small screen materialized directly in the center of his left eye. It had but two words, (Agony) and (Wasting). The instant Alan selected (Agony), several things happened in quick succession.
The most readily noticable, His left eye blazed with a sickly-looking purple light. It was so intense that it caused his right eye to feel immediate, and sharp, physical pain. If he didn't want to risk dealing with a Debuff, or worse, he had no other option than to close it up tight against the glare.
It was right about that time that his left eye got hot. And it was only getting worse by the second. Alan straightened out his spine, and clenched his teeth against the rising temperature in his skull. Once his grouped up targets were directly overhead, they were finally within range of [Left Eye of Echidna].
All three birds froze up midair. They didn't even make a sound as they plummeted to the ground. It had only just begun and Alan was already almost out of time. Once the Roc's were in the grass, and out of sight, the (Agony) Debuff would lose its effect. And while he didn't fear the birds on a one-on-one basis, if they were to group up on him, he wasn't sure what the outcome would be. Especially if any of them possessed that same crazy speed Skill.
But he had no intentions of finding out what they were, or were not, capable of. Alan dashed forward. His mind was hot, but eerily focused. When the first Roc was within arms reach, it almost looked like it was moving in slow motion. He snatched the bird out of the air and tore one of its wings off. Good luck flying away now, Alan thought, surprising himself with his own ruthlessness as he threw its mangled body aside.
Alan took two steps to the right and caught the next Roc right as it hit the ground. By pure chance, he happened to grab it by the face. It didn't even have an opportunity to cry out before he gave its neck a violent squeeze and a twist.
Remarkable! You defeated a Lvl 3 Banded Roc! +33 Exp gained!
Alan dismissed the Kill Log notice, and threw the flailing carcass over his shoulder.
He caught up to the last Roc right as it crashed into the ground. Although its wing was twisted backwards uselessly at an awkward angle, this one didn't go down quietly. Surrounded by the tall grass, and unable to fly away, the injured Roc puffed up its chest and screeched. Adrenaline flowing freely, Alan was unable to help himself from meeting what his animalistic instincts interpreted as a challenge.
“RRAAHHHHHHHHH,” Alan roared his response and charged at his downed opponent. With its limited mobility, the Roc was unable to escape. There was nothing it could do but squawk out in fury, standing tall in defiance of the end. A well-placed swipe of sharp claws was all it took to sever the Roc's thin neck, giving the enraged beast a swift death.
Remarkable! You defeated a Lvl 3 Banded Roc! +33 Exp gained!
A quick look towards the island revealed a clear sky. There were still several Rocs roosting on the top of the Tower, but none of them seemed the slightest bit interested in joining the fight. With a sigh of relief, Alan deactivated [Left Eye of Echidna] before his headache was able to get any worse.
A weak hoot, and the sound of rustling from somewhere close behind reminded Alan that it wasn't quite over yet. Though the first Roc was bleeding profusely from its missing wing, Alan's hasty attack hadn't been enough to finish it off. He found the sad creature fluttering around in the grass, trying unsuccessfully to get back on its feet.
This one was more of an act of mercy. The Roc opened its beak and released a tired groan. Seeing an approaching figure, it grew still, and glared up at Alan with mixture of fear and hatred.
His adrenaline was fading, and for just a moment, he hesitated. He'd killed numerous beasts before, so why were his hands suddenly shaking?
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Back home, there were always Dungeon Born Monsters to contend with. While the majority were easily avoidable, and Uncle Alex had always made sure to handle anything serious, killing had been a near-daily necessity. Over his lifetime, Alan had finished off countless Shadow Catfish, but those were simply an easy source of food. And honestly, it was downright impossible to empathize with a fish. Not a one of them had ever shown any sign of possessing emotions. They were mindless eating machines.
The Goblins were the complete opposite. They were nasty little assholes who were perfectly capable of showing emotion. Except anything that didn't also happen to be a Goblin was met with unreserved hostility. Any encounters with the Goblins had always either ended up in retreat, or a fight for survival. Sometimes both at the same time. Although he had tried on several occasions to talk to them, to get a single one to listen to reason, none thus far had been open to conversation.
Since coming to the Tutorial, Alan had already defeated over one hundred monsters. Most of them were mindless sand constructs, but that didn't change the facts. Hells, he'd already finished off a pair of Rocs just moments before. But as the defeated beast looked into his eyes, he thought he understood his sudden hesitancy.
It was the fear and desperation he could plainly see in the birds piercing gaze. He'd probably had that exact same look plastered on his own face when Su'ong shoved him out of the path of the Earth Wyrm's mouth. He was no stranger to being afraid. And after what he'd gone through this far in the Sandstone Palace, he could relate with the unfortunate reality of the Roc's situation.
Yet now it was he who was choosing to be the executioner. And that was a rough pill to swallow.
This creature was not only intelligent, but realistically, it hadn't ever actually bothered Alan in the first place. It was he who made the choice to intervene on the fleeing Roc's behalf. A large part of him felt like he was being an idiot. This was how a world under the System worked. Kill or be killed was the way of life, and he had no intention of dying.
Not only was he looking down at a potential meal, but it was also a source of Experience that he desperately needed. The way he saw it, if the entire Multiverse was dead-set on seeing him buried, he only had two options left to choose from. Fight or die. If he was going to survive, this would be far from the last frightened creature he would have to kill.
The Roc knew it was looking up at the end of its existence. “This is the way the world works now bud,” Alan said softly to the dying bird, while pinning its remaining wing to the floor with his foot. Deep down, he knew the words were spoken mostly for himself.
The Roc began to screech, pecking at his leg while he gathered his thoughts. It hurt far less he was expecting. The weakend beast was unable to break through his tough scales. And what little discomfort he did feel helped to keep him focused on the grim task ahead of him. When the Roc drew back to strike again, Alan grabbed its neck and squeezed. He was slightly alarmed at how easily his clawed fingers tore through the birds spine. It was messy, but he had made it as quick, and painless as possible.
Remarkable! You defeated a Lvl 2 Banded Roc! +22 Exp gained!
Riding on the rush of his successful first step into the unknown world of Cultivation, Alan quickly came to understand that he had misjudged entirely how exhausted he was. The short usage of [Left eye of Echidna] left him feeling drained in ways he couldn't really explain. It went far beyond simply being tired. Even the movement in his Core felt sluggish and forced.
With thoughts of cooking up a nice bird soup, or perhaps a nice meal of fish-stuffed Roc, glazed with roasted plantains, Alan collected all three corpses. He was about to set off when he remembered that there was another dead bird out there somewhere in the field. It wasn't his kill, however, he still planned on adding it to the pot. "Fuck me!" Alan swore, reminded of yet another issue. I don't even have anything to cook in!"
The yellow-collared Roc's Skill had left its foe in pieces, but as long as the entrails hadn't contaminated the meat, Alan knew it should still be perfectly edible. He found the the Roc's top half almost immediately. There wasn't much left to pick at, other than a head and a wing. The bottom wasn't so simple to locate. It took a bit of searching, but after about five minutes, he accidentally found it when he stepped on it. Unable to handle the sudden weight, the Roc's remains flattened like a tightly-squeezed plantain.
“Gods damnit!“ Alan held his foot in his hand and swore. A jagged shard of bone had stabbed through the carcass and into the sole of his foot.
Buried in the grass as it was, it was pure luck that he had managed to find it at all.
But if he was going to be eating anything other than raw meat, which a part of him was already considering, he would first have to cook them. And that was a bit of a problem. Without access to dry wood, or his Spells, fire was going to be a bit of an issue.
“Fuck me,” Alan swore, “I'm going to have to search for some dead wood, and try to make a bow drill…” Having never been the best at making a fire by rubbing dry sticks together, Alan wasn't looking forward to it. Uncle Alex had always made it look so simple. But Alan could count his successes on the claw-tipped fingers of a single hand.
It was a pleasant surprise to find out the Dungeon hadn't immediately absorbed the birds. He felt it most likely that it had something to do with being in the Safe Zone. After all, the Safe Zone notice had plainly stated that loot wouldn't be provided in the Lakeside area. So perhaps the Dungeon didn't bother with consuming native corpses.
There was also the chance that the Dungeon simply couldn't. Alan wasn't sure exactly how a Safe Zone worked, but it was obviously being enforced by the System. There was a good possibility that things worked a bit differently in here.
Regardless, he still ended up hanging the carcasses from the limb of a nearby tree just in case. Unlike the Plantain trees, this one looked more like those he was used to. It bore no fruit, but it had a tangle of branches that were more than thick enough to support his weight.
Even though his Kill Log notifications had plainly stated these were Banded Rocs, as he stared up at them, something just seemed off.
Oh, I'm such an idiot, Alan thought as he suddenly realized what was bothering him.
The glaring difference hit him like a slap to the face. None of theses Banded Rocs had a Yellow collar. In fact, they all looked nearly identical. Solid black plumage from head to toe, with a thin band of white feathers running down their spine.
As far as he could remember, the Banded Roc he had chased away from Su'ong's cocoon was the only one that was different. “Not that I can do much with that information…”
Hoping that the Dungeon couldn't reabsorb them from up in the tree before he could find some dry wood to make a fire with, Alan walked to the edge of the lake. Keeping close to the shore to avoid exciting the Lake Chubs, he began the process of washing the blood off of his hands. And scrubbing the drying bird shit off of his arm.
On a whim, Alan plunged his hands into the lake and activated [Water Manipulation]. Having never used the Skill before, he had no real idea of what to expect. He didn't think it likely he would be able to part the lake like that guy from the story did with the Red Sea, but he figured something would happen. So he waited.
Why the fuck is this taking so long?