It's been two days since I started making the upgraded twiglings. They take almost twice as long to make and more than double the cost in resources but damn are they worth it. The new throwers have basically perfect accuracy versus stationary targets, and shatter their own spears on impact along with a good portion of the bark on the test tree. While annoying I’ll have to remake their spears, it definitely is worth it knowing they can do a hell of a lot more damage. The melees are just as mean, capable of shredding all the bark off a poor tree in mere seconds.
I’ve managed to make fifteen of each since then, majorly bolstering my numbers. Of course that's not with nonstop work. I have to take at least a few minutes break every few hours to keep myself from going crazy. Well, any more crazy than I already am. At least I’ll be safe crazy, or should I say crazy safe. Yea if the gods of this world wanna smite me for that shity pun I wont blame em. Although, it feels like they have been consistently trying to fuck me over since I got here so, maybe we’re just even now.
I’m getting side tracked again. It’s been fairly quiet aside from the occasional lone wolf or two and that one group of three that walked into my territory. I’m only ten levels off hitting fifty on my race, which should be the next major milestone. The problem is leveling up is getting very expensive. While I’d like to stay home and be a lazy plant monster, I feel like getting to fifty is more important. I should probably take the twiglings out and hunt.
You know what, I’m going to do just that. I call all the low level twiglings up to wait for me outside my pod. They are expendable, so I might as well take them out and leave the high level ones for defense. Once my pod has drained and I’ve cleaned myself up I put on my equipment and step out. The twiglings are waiting for me in the usual disorganized gaggle. I order them to follow me and we set off to the edge of my domain. I decide to head down the valley, in the direction where the church expedition came from. If they left in a hurry they might have left some stuff behind that I can loot.
Standing on the edge of my domain I feel a little uneasy. I know the twiglings will still follow verbal orders while outside my domain but I’ve never had this many outside at once. I’m a little concerned they will easily get lost trying to follow me. And it's not just that, I haven't left my domain for a good while now. I’ve grown used to it, and the thought of being without it leaves me uneasy.
I take a deep breath and steel myself. Being over dependent on my network and domain of control will only hurt me in the long run. I need to break out of this before it becomes worse than simply feeling uneasy. I step over the boundary line and instantly my second set of senses cuts out. I feel my heart beat increase as anxiety sets in, the contrast between the safety I feel inside my domain versus outside is startling. I take a few deep breaths to calm myself down and listen to the sounds of the forest around me. A chirping bird here, something digging around the base of a three there, the screech of an eagle overhead. Wait, that's a little loud for an eagle, and why do I hear branches breaking?
I look up just in time to jump back as a huge pair of talons, each easily the size of my head, snap closed around where I just was before flying over top of me. I tumble back into my domain and land on my ass. Past me and ascending high above the trees is a giant crow the size of a small sedan, with pure white feathers except for a ring of red feathers around each ankle contrasting against the white.
Red Ankle Crow (Level: 83)
Oh shit, that's a big and high level bird! It looks back and down at me before starting to turn to come around for another attack. I order the twiglings to throw, and am met with nothing. Right, I ordered them to leave their spears at home since they probably wouldn't be able to use the things properly outside my domain.
I order the twiglings to find cover under the trees as I myself do the same while calling up the high level reserves. Unfortunately they are still over two miles away and will take time to get here. Hopefully the trees are enough to dissuade it from trying anything. This is why I don't go out more often, shit always happens!
My hopes are dashed when the bird decides to land on a tree six of the twiglings are hiding under. The top of the tree immediately gives way and the sound of wood snapping and branches hitting the ground echoes out as the top part of the tree is crushed under the bird. Through the chaos the bird reaches down and snatches up a twigling in its beak. It doesn't do so unopposed, as its head descends into the group a sound similar to nails down a chalkboard rings out as the other twiglings rake their claws along its beak.
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The bird doesn't seem to care, picking up the twigling with ease before crushing it in its massive beak, killing it instantly. It then raises its head to the sky and swallows the twigling whole. I take the opportunity to run, while commanding all of the twiglings except the ones under that tree to do the same. Some of them aren't going to make it out, nothing I can do about it but minimize my losses by using a distraction. As I run away I start weaving the remnants of the tree's top around the crows legs and start reinforcing it with mana in an attempt to hold the bastard in place. I don't think it will last long but any little bit helps. As me and the other twiglings keep retreating I keep weaving and the bird keeps on gulping up the remaining five twiglings, apparently content to just sit there and feast. Just as we meet up with the new, more powerful twiglings, the bird finishes its meal by gulping up the last twigling.
It looks around the base of the tree some more before deciding it’s had its fill and lifts its wings to leave. With a beat of its wings and a gust of wind it tries to ascend back into the air. Only it doesn't, the wood binding its claws and ankles creates and groans under the strain but holds. The bird flaps wildly for a moment, clearly not expecting the lack of flight, before starting to thrash about. It's clearly displeased with the idea of being trapped, but I don't care, instead opting to pile on and reinforce more branches and twisted wood fragments from the tree to keep it from leaving.
Meanwhile, my new twiglings are rapidly closing, and given how it destroyed a good part of the canopy with his landing they now have a great line of sight. It continues to thrash about for another minute until my twiglings get to it, then the fun begins. I give the order for all the throwers to line up while I switch my efforts from holding to attacking. I change some of the branches into spikes and proceed to start stabbing at the feet, only to find the skin near the claws too tough to penetrate. I instead move my efforts further up the leg and start jabbing the feathers. The feathers themselves are tough, probably tougher than the skin on the legs, but the branches are reaching deeper with every strike, slowly working their way between the layers. The twiglings have finished lining up, so I give the order and they all release their weapons at once.
The spears fly through the air like bullets, barely visible to my senses until they slam into the bird and penetrate deep into the feathers. The efficacy is confirmed when the bird redoubled its efforts while letting out an ear piercing shriek. The throwers swap the second set of spears to their main hands and the action repeats. As the second set of spears hits home the bird lets out another, somehow even more deranged shriek and keeps thrashing.
Alright what the fuck? I've turned this bird into a damn pincushion and it's still thrashing about like it hasn't been hit. Well it's fine, as long as I can keep it here I can get more spears and finish the job. Right as I think that, I deliver one good jab with the branches into a spot where a spear had fallen out and draw blood. Then I deliver another, and another, and as I'm pulling the branch back for a fourth strike it happens, I run out of mana.
Health: 1089/650 (1089)
Mana: 0/2598 (4026)
Stamina: 919/663 (1023)
I freeze for a moment and watch, at first nothing happens. But slowly the bird is starting to wriggle its way free. Branches creak and snap under the power of its thrashing, wood becomes more twisted as it's slowly deformed. I order the twiglings to surge forth and attack, but all they do is slam into the base of the tree and topple over each other trying to climb it. Finally with one extra loud snap the bridge breaks free and ascends into the sky, rapidly making distance and altitude as me and the twiglings can only just watch as it slowly turns into a dot in the distance.
As I'm thinking about how pissed I am it got away, a second dot appears above the first through a patch of clouds and rapidly closes on it. I watch as both dots collide in the distance and plummet to earth, disappearing from view as they fall beyond the trees. Great, some dickhead monster is going to steal my kill now!
Defeated: Red Ankle Crow (Level: 83)
+465 EXP
OK, or not. This shits weird! Maybe because it has just disengaged and gotten away enough time hasn't passed? If it's based on last time damage was dealt I'll need to perform some tests to find the exact time. Wait, how would I perform those tests? My minions still count… I can just measure using the difference in exp level reward. But for now I'm going to return to my pod and get my mana back. Then, because that went so well, I think I'll still go hunting anyways. Just gotta be careful of the damned birds around here apparently.