November 3, 2022
Day 14 / Dungeon Day 0
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After fruitlessly searching the branches clustered around their starting nest, Rahul and Matt found themselves faced with a choice.
Rahul asked the question.
"There are no birds nearby. We'll need to climb the tree, but do we go up, or down?"
Matt shrugged.
"I don't know. I'll leave it to you, you're the boss."
Rahul gave it some thought before speaking.
"We'll go down."
Matt was curious.
"Any particular reason?"
Rahul explained.
"Climbing up should be much easier than climbing down, and since we'll have company on our way back, I thought it'll be best to be done with the hard part first."
Matt nodded and the pair started climbing down the tree trunk. The massive diameter of the trunk meant they were effectively climbing down a wooden wall. Thankfully, their superhuman dexterity helped with that.
At least the trunk is rugged enough to find footholds. If it were smooth, none of our stats would have made a difference.
Rahul thought as he descended.
With his superior stats, he soon left Matt behind, reaching the next cluster of branches. As time went on, he passed by more and more such clusters, his movements getting faster, until his surroundings turned into a blur.
All this time, his eyes kept getting drawn to the forest floor.
That's a lot further than I had expected. Even at my increased speed, it'll take far too long to reach, and I'll run out of my stamina many times over before I get there.
Rahul pushed off the tree trunk, jumping toward a branch about fifty feet below him.
This should be much faster.
Rahul thought, flying through the air.
A second later, he landed on the balls of his feet, bending his knees to dissipate some of the force, then bending forward and absorbing the impact with his arms, finally rolling forward.
The poor form with which Rahul executed the maneuver would have made any onlooker wince, but his enhanced stats made up for his nonexistent parkour skills. Having lost no hit points, Rahul immediately got up and dusted himself off.
That was easy. I think I can jump a lot further.
Rahul thought, setting his sights on a branch at least two hundred feet below him.
That seems doable, and I have healing potions to deal with any small injuries.
Then Rahul looked longingly toward the forest floor.
Healing potions work just as well on serious injuries, and I am carrying a lot of those. Maybe I can save myself the hassle and go all the way down in one go.
The longer Rahul contemplated the idea of jumping to the floor, the more appealing it grew.
Before long, he had a plan ready.
Yeah, that could work. I'll hold two, no, three healing potions in my mouth. Once I land, they will break from impact, and the potion I swallow will fix my injuries.
Rahul thought, smiling and nodding to himself.
That's when a large pebble hit his head.
What the fuck was that.
Rahul thought, more irritated than hurt. He picked up the object that had hit him, and found it to be one of the smooth wooden chips that were present in abundance on the branches and around the nests.
It was effectively a wooden pebble.
He looked up, trying to find the source of that attack, when another one hit him, this one right on the bridge of his nose.
Now, he was irritated and hurt.
"You'll pay for that."
He shouted, unable to spot the enemy, but aware of the general direction where the pebbles came from. Fueled by his rage, he started climbing the trunk rapidly, watching out for any more attacks.
But none came.
No longer sure where the attacker could be, Rahul jumped to a nearby branch to reorient himself. As he looked around, another pebble came hurtling in his direction, and this time, Rahul caught it in his hand and threw it right back.
"I saw you, bastard."
Rahul shouted toward the humanoid figure he had briefly seen throwing the pebble and started climbing the tree toward the attacker's hiding spot.
When he finally reached the branch, he saw Matt waiting there with his arms raised.
"Matt?"
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Rahul was confused.
"Why were you attacking me?"
Matt looked apologetically at Rahul's bleeding nose as he replied.
"Sorry about that, but I had no other choice. You were in a trance, oblivious to all my shouts, and on the verge of jumping off. "
That gave Rahul pause.
I had forgotten all about Matt and left him behind, hadn't I?
And why was I plotting the fastest route down to the forest floor? That's a drop of several hundred meters. That could easily kill me.
Rahul shuddered as he imagined how that'd have gone, while Matt gave an account of events from his perspective.
"We were climbing down the trunk together when you abruptly increased your pace. Sensing an intent attack, I shouted for you to stop, but the trance likely dulled your awareness and you couldn't hear me. Unfortunately, I failed to keep up with your rapid descent and fell behind. I didn't dare attack you while you were climbing down that trunk. That might have startled you out of the trance, but you might also have lost your grip and fallen."
Rahul had caught on by now and spoke.
"So, when I jumped to the branch, you finally got the opportunity to attack safely and threw the pebbles."
Matt hesitated.
"Not exactly. I had lost you by then, and only spotted you after a minute or so of climbing down. You were standing still on that branch, deep in thought, staring at the forest floor."
I do remember debating about that for a decent amount of time. I guess their intent attacks aren't absolute, and I do have some resistance that bought me time.
The moment he had that thought, Rahul noticed something else.
So that's why I'm accumulating intent. Momentum is trying to resist the intent skill. That's why I'm hearing battle music of momentum.
Looking at his stats, Rahul noted that he had accumulated two intent points. He intuitively knew that it was almost three.
I sense a pattern here. I'll ask him directly.
Directing his thoughts toward his presence, Rahul asked the question.
Momentum, are you trying to fight off the influence of the birds?
He received acknowledgment.
Rahul had a hunch that this knowledge may help Matt on his own path and spoke.
"Momentum was fighting back the influence of the birds. That is probably what kept me from immediately jumping off. Try talking to Gratitude, he might be able to help you defend us from the attacks of those birds."
Rahul paused.
"That reminds me. Did you see any of the birds on the way down?"
Matt shook his head.
"They have got to be around here somewhere if they are manipulating me. Let's try to find them on our way back up."
Matt seemed unsure but nodded.
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They were more than halfway back to their friends when Rahul spotted a small group of talon guardians in the distance. He inspected all the birds.
Unnamed - Talon Guardian (Level ??)
Unnamed - Talon Guardian (Level ??)
Unnamed - Talon Guardian (Level 20)
Unnamed - Talon Guardian (Level ??)
"I've spotted a flock. Can you stay back and keep an eye on me? Have some pebbles ready in case I act strange. I'll get their attention and then we'll lure them back to the group together."
Matt's perception wasn't high enough to see the distant birds yet, but he agreed.
"Just don't go too far."
Rahul nodded, picking up a few pebbles and moving toward the birds.
I can think of a use or two for these myself.
Rahul thought as he jumped to a nearby branch, and deciding he was close enough, aimed at one of the birds.
The stone missed the birds but drew their attention. Instead of attacking, they just started to fly away lazily.
Oh no you don't.
Rahul thought as he kept throwing pebbles at the fleeing birds, and the fourth one hit.
The entire flock turned in his direction.
"Time to run."
He shouted to Matt, and the duo ran.
It didn't take Rahul long to catch up to his friend who had stayed back, and the two started climbing up the tree, the four birds not far behind.
Since Rahul could easily match Matt's speed, he stopped at regular intervals to throw pebbles at the birds and puncture their wings. The strategy proved effective, buying them time, but one of the birds with mostly undamaged wings eventually caught up to Rahul, who decided to stop to give his friend time to get away.
Seeing an unmoving target, the bird came at Rahul beak-first and full-speed, hoping to impale the human.
It'd have worked too, but Rahul let go of his left hand and leg and swerved to the side at the last moment, narrowly avoiding the attack.
Unfortunately, his right leg also slipped from its foothold when the Talon Guardian crashed against the tree.
I did not think this through.
Was Rahul's only thought as he found himself in a precarious situation, barely holding on to the tree trunk with a single hand, without any nearby branch he could jump to.
I might have underestimated the bird's too much. In their natural habitat, they have a strong advantage.
Thankfully, the bird to his side was not faring much better, struggling to pull free its beak, which has now lodged in the tree trunk.
That sight gave Rahul an idea.
If that isn't an anchor, I don't know what is.
He looked at the panicked bird with a mischievous smile.
"Don't worry, I'll set you free."
He equipped his small blade in his free left hand and charged it with intent.
A kinetically empowered strike cleanly cut the beak at its base, allowing the terrified bird to fly away, leaving behind an uncomfortable but stable beak for Rahul to perch on.
The other three birds were now circling his position. He looked for Matt and saw him at a branch quite far above him.
"Running with four birds at my back is not going to be possible. Let's start with one or two."
Then, realizing that Matt needed to grind the XP just as much as the other three, Rahul added.
"Sit tight. I'll come to your branch and then we'll get rid of the birds together."
Okay, now how do I go from all the way up to Matt without killing the birds first?
Realizing he had bitten off more than he could chew, Rahul shouted at his friend again, pointing at a nest that was relatively closer.
"Change of plans. Let's meet at that nest instead?"
Matt nodded, and with all the birds focused on Rahul, easily made his way to the designated nest.
Then, without any prompting from his friend, Matt bravely threw pebbles at the three birds that were warily circling Rahul and got their attention. They all flew toward the easier target, and that was all the chance Rahul needed.
Some quick climbing and a few jumps later, Rahul joined his battered friend who was already bleeding from multiple gashes.
"Drink your health potion. You'll need to do most of the damage if you want the XP."
Matt nodded, and while his friend recovered, Rahul moved swiftly across the nest, easily fending off the three sets of attacking talons. Even when the beakless guardian came back, Rahul didn't find himself in the least bit pressured.
Compared to fighting the crocodiles last time, this feels like a walk in the park.
Rahul wondered why.
The training with Shahid must have paid off. Either that, or these birds are physically weak because of their mental attack skills.
As he kept parrying the four pair of talons effortlessly, Rahul thought he heard a voice shout to him.
Must be my imagination acting up. Not surprising, given how boring this fight is. Maybe I should give myself a handicap. How about I go back to the trunk? Things were much more challenging when I had to fight while trying not to fall off the tree.
Before he could go any further along that chain of thought, Rahul felt a pebble crash right at the bridge of his nose.
NOT AGAIN!