The human looks at me with his ugly face, begging me to leave the place:
"This is our chance! As long as they don't notice and the little otter can't catch us."
After the body sips from the weak river and raises its head, the texture of the clear liquid disappearing with it, I look at the human before it floats to the information wall, showing its hands trying to touch the writing.
[Mmmmm.. FINE! I will listen to you this time]
I commanded the body to do one thing - cross the river to the other side and at the same beat, the body began to move forward and cross the river.
'Where are you going?' The little otter began to move in his direction, but the human before I could react, touched the inscription "Run", it too shone and with it, the body began to move more quickly in the weak river to the other side, as the water slowed us both down.
'Stop!' The little otter begs us to stop. But without any regrets, we reached the river bank and grabbed up before it started running away from them. The invisible barrier only saw in front of us and we couldn't see where the other group was, but we could hear the little otter crying before we got deep into the nearby vegetation, and with it, the crying sounds echoed and weakened with each step we went deeper until it blended in with the background of the vegetation.
The fatigue started to increase and with it, I ordered to stop. This time the fatigue was not as great as in previous times, but it was still something that was not usual, especially since I did not move at all.
"Great, I think we've lost them" The human hovered over to the invisible barrier side, making sure his words were true.
"Just to be safe, order the body to climb the nearest tree"
[Don't tell me what to do]
Despite this, the body reacted and climbed on the nearest tree. As always, the body rested on the nearest large branch, but the field of vision turned downwards to the vegetated floor. It wasn't long before the noise of moving leaves and bushes echoed through the trees and an armored otter appeared the large otter carrying the small otter on his shoulders, advancing below us.
The 'commander' of the armored otter turns to the large otter: 'We are wasting time by being here, it would be wise if we left the bird alone'
The large otter looked at the armored otter and in a gentle voice began to address him:
'I am aware of that. If we don't find him by sunset, we'll give up.
'But we'll find him, won't we?' The little otter, still sounding shocked by what had happened, said not before the large otter's hand caressed his head:
'Tis a bird of nature, strange as it is. Maybe he didn't want to be caught. And I'm afraid my age is not what it used to be and is willing to help me find a needle in a haystack.' chuckling before continuing to speak as they moved away from the tree where we were looking at them:
'It will also teach you that you need to think before doing something'
Their voices began to grow louder and blend in with the background sounds of the forest and it was back to how it was before. The human turned to me, raised his bare wings, and made a strange movement between his fingers, signaling me something I didn't understand anything about before returning to look at the invisible barrier.
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We stayed like this until the sky began to turn red and dark. The otters were not seen or heard in all the vegetation, but still, we stayed on the branch. The human looked at the wall of information, as a ritual he started doing every time the body prepared for sleep.
As soon as he began to mumble out of his mouth, the invisible barrier began to close and darken. That familiar sign that says he's going to sleep. Soon the room became dark, but the vision still seemed clear to us today. The human looked and looked at the information wall until I looked at them too, but nothing happened.
"Very strange. The "Age" should have changed by now, but nothing happened"
He began to hover and look to every possible side between the wall, like a madman, but nothing happened. He started turning in my direction as if he was waiting for an answer from him as to what happened.
[You're just stupid to expect an answer from me for something so minor like this]
I looked back at him. The human quickly gave up and started looking around the place. He soon stopped himself in front of the invisible barrier. Suddenly he started to touch him wildly in surprise, but nothing happened.
"Why doesn't it do anything?"
I approached him, curious about what he was doing. As I got closer, I saw that something long and inexplicable began to be engraved on the invisible barrier, and it swelled in size and began to cover the entire invisible barrier with the inscription:
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Congratulations!
You survived the hatchling growth!
An achievement not seen before in your situation!
You must be proud of yourselves for this success!
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"What a snob!" The human said this immediately when he also read this, but I continued to read what was engraved:
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Because you passed this growth stage, you have a growth path unlocked according to everything that has happened so far!
You can only choose one of them! No regrets!
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I looked to the side and I saw rows upon rows of engravings that took me a while to understand, but the human plowed through the list before he tried to click on one of the lines, but nothing happened. He pulled out with even more force and with each further attempt, it became more and more wild and out of control until he gave up after a while, and turned to me:
"You! Choose it! It will definitely help us!" He pointed to the same listed line that he was trying hard to press for some reason I don't understand. I decided myself gently to understand what exactly was written, just to see what he was talking about:
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Continue on the track - to continue to grow as usual, as every dodo bird is capable of being. Nothing has changed except for the fact that you will be more mature.
The coward's way - running away is the best way to survive, run away, and run faster. You'll get less tired if you run faster, but you won't necessarily be stronger.
The passion of envy - the envy of not being able to fly makes you jealous of those with wings. You will be strong against winged or anything that can fly but they will all hate you.
Heartbreaker - someone cared for you but you didn't receive them. You are emotionless and with it the resistance to its effects on your mind, but they won't exactly accept you. you're evil.
The one with the forest - you walk through the woods and you study them. You have a relationship with them and can understand those around you and who knows what they will lead you to.
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The human points to "The coward's way" and tries to convey the message to choose it, but it seems that he is unable to control the choice.
At the moment, everything is as it is, as if the room is forcing me, and only me, to choose one of what was offered, or it will stay that way, in the dark room, together with this human, annoying this hollow tree.
[And this once again wants me to choose something I don't know]
So what should you choose?
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Name: ----
Title: ----
Species: Raphus cucullatus (Dodo bird)
Age: (15 days) - ??? | (100% growth)
HP: 100% | Stamina: 100% | Karma: -5
Abilities: Tweet | Climb | Run | Universal understanding | Info
Growth option path: Continue on the track | The coward's way | The passion of envy | Heartbreaker | The one with the forest
General information:
It is a moderately flightless bird. They are mostly herbivores that eat fruits, seeds, and roots but are also able to eat and crake mollusks, crustaceans, and fish when the opportunity arises.
Their large and powerful beaks are capable of causing quite a bit of damage and are adapted to the food they eat, but they will more often than not choose to flee rather than fight, even though they have no natural fear.
This is a bird that does not exist in this world and should not exist. There is nothing like her in this world.
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