I decided to take off as the mountain’s shadow spread far across the forest. It would be another hour or so before the daylight fully disappeared. That was enough time to explore a little on my own. As I stepped out of our home mother stirred. With a quiet hoot and a slow flap of her wings she moved up to me and gave me a quick preening. When she had cleaned me to her satisfaction I was finally allowed to go.
I gave a quiet hoot myself and bobbed my head a few times, taking in my siblings. I only understood later why.
After taking off I first rose quickly into the sky, always looking out for other aerial predators. I had not seen another wyvern or anything similarly dangerous, but one can never be too cautious. Nothing sneaked up on me though and so I rose almost to the mountain peaks.
Before me beneath a soft cover of orange-red glowing clouds stretched an ever-rising mountain range. Far in the distance, the peaks had snowy caps of white covering them. Valleys and river-cut channels were filled with evergreen trees. Here and there I made out larger openings in the stone cliff sides. The sun’s glare made me turn away before I made out any movement.
Towards the plains, deep shadows covered the forests dropping off the mountains. Not far to the north, the plains stretched out and right in between the village. At this time of day, I was able to make out movement. People were out and about. This was where I wanted to explore first.
Dropping down a little I started a casual glide towards it. As I approached, the small moving forms quickly became clear. My eyesight was slightly impeded in the fading daylight but it was still really good.
The people were humans. Or a species of shape-shifters that just happened to look like humans but I found that to be highly unlikely. They had your average Caucasian look, a light skin colour, most of them heavily tanned by sun and weather. Their clothes looked medieval, similar to their houses. Simple cloth, probably wool, or leather was worn as pants and shirts for the men and as long dresses for the women. A few people had simple hats covering their heads.
On the edge of the village, I spotted a small clearing with another house almost sitting in the forest. In front of it, a little girl was sewing something remotely resembling a small bag. Maybe a purse? That was where I decided to approach.
Circling down slowly I got closer and closer. I wanted to use [Identify], it would tell me if people would notice it and it would also confirm if these were humans. This was when I noticed I could not just [Identify] anyone I saw. There was a range limit to it.
I could only guess my height when it finally worked but I was not more than a hundred meters above her.
[Identify]
Species: Human (child)
Gender: Female
As the message popped up the girl suddenly let out a panicked squeak and fumbled her sewing needle. Despite her bleeding finger, she looked straight up, right at me. Now it was my turn to panic and I picked up speed to get away quickly. The last thing I saw was a woman in a black robe stepping out of the hut’s front door and tipping back her pointed hat to follow the girl’s eyes. Only the fact I did not feel anything weird from her let me calm down. She had not identified me, probably.
As I dashed away I realized I was flying right across the village. And one of the villagers had noticed me. A shout sounded out and words I could not remotely understand reached my ears. The people hurried into their homes as panicked as I had felt just now. Were they scared of me? I was no Feathered Wyvern, I was a weak, level 3, fledgeling owl. There was no way I could harm these people.
Their behaviour further confirmed for me to stay away from people, at least for now. If they were this scared, a single misstep could quickly lead to my death. Do not corner a lone wolf and all that. They were not really alone though…
So I left the village behind me. It was quickly getting darker now, night was almost here. It was time to hunt! These last few nights I had learned a lot. I had gained a Class and improved a lot of my Skills. But there was one skill I had not really used yet. [Intimidating Screech]. Besides the day I had gotten it, I never used it again. It was time to see if it helped me hunt.
After a quick search, I made out my first test subject. A mouse skittering through the grass, maybe looking to return home. My heart was ice-cold though and I set to hunt. A slow glide brought me closer and closer. The rustling of the grass guiding my flight. When I was right above it, I let lose [Intimidating Screech]. Remembering where it was when I screeched was easy. Landing there was also easy. But I saw no sign of my prey. The mouse had disappeared.
Why did I not notice? My eyes were open and while a few spring flowers had covered the mouse for a short moment, I was certain she was still there just before I set on the kill. It had to have run away in that split second. Was it that scared from my screech? But I heard nothing, not even a rustle!
Wait. Were my ears overtaxed from my own screech and unable to hear the small movements? That was the only explanation I could think of. There was no burrow nearby it could have escaped into, I already checked three times!
Disappointing. I was really hoping for my Skill to just freeze the mouse in place and give me an easy picking. It said it in the skill description.
[Intimidating Screech]: You have one of the strongest wills of your species. Your voice can scare beings with less combined Wisdom and Intelligence than you. Depending on the difference they may freeze in fear or run.
Did this mean a high difference made them run? Or was it a low difference? If a low difference made the mouse run, what did that say about my Intelligence and Wisdom? This needed to be tested more.
The next few hunts gave highly differing results. A sample size of 6 was too small to make any accurate predictions but only two of them ran away in total. Maybe I was just unlucky on the first try. When they did freeze I had no problem catching my targets and killing them before they were even moving again. The two that ran away I had no clue where they went, even after scouring the nearby ground.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Next, I wanted to try a bigger target. Searching around for a bit I spied a mink near a small copse of trees. Perfect! Circling I approached from the direction of the trees. If it ran towards the trees, keeping an eye on it would be difficult.
The mink carefully made its way down a slight incline towards a small river. As I got closer I took a deep breath and while spreading out my wings to slow down for the catch, I screeched. The mink flinched to the ground and after a short moment jumped into the river. I flapped my wings rapidly and followed. It would not escape!
I made out its slender form weaving through the water straight to the other side. Picking up some speed put me almost directly above as it emerged. I screeched again and this time I willed it to stop moving. And it did. I had to correct my flight path to land on top of the shivering animal and as I landed I immediately relieved it of its fear. By snapping its neck.
~ding~ You have reached level 4. Attribute point allocated.
Species: Great Eagle Owl (fledgeling)
Age: 0
Name: -
Gender: female
Status: sapient, healthy
Level: 4
Class: [Assassin lvl 4], -
Strength: 8
Constitution: 8
Dexterity: 13
Perception: 13
Intelligence: 13
Wisdom: 9
AP: 4
Skills: [Owl Senses lvl 3], [Preening lvl 3], [Owl Stomach lvl 3], [Solid Grip lvl 2], [Soundless Flight lvl 2], [Intimidating Screech lvl 2], [Owl’s Shadow lvl 1], [Maths lvl 4], [Identify lvl 2], [Sneak lvl 2], [Surprise Attack lvl 2]
Nothing much. A point in wisdom this time. Maybe because I used a Skill that utilized wisdom a lot? I also learned [Owl’s Shadow] yesterday, which had likely given me a good bit of experience. [Intimidating Screech] also levelled up. I was growing stronger every night. Next goal: World Domination, MUHAHAHA! Ahem…
With this, I was a little more confident how [Intimidating Screech] worked. It used my magic stats, which were related to affecting the world with my will. So I had to make it do what I wanted. I expected stronger enemies might be able to counter my Skill to an extent. As long as I had more magic stats though, I should be able to create some kind of effect.
Now for my other magic skill.
[Owl’s Shadow]: Owls are creatures of the night. Some of them are so adapted to the darkness, they can create their own through pure willpower. The amount and thickness of shadow created increases with intelligence, control increases with Wisdom.
This had some interesting possibilities. I was imagining myself wreathed completely in darkness gliding through the night sky. Nobody able to see me, I would be able to strike without being noticed. The perfect ability for an [Assassin]!
Now just to practice. Finding a safe spot in the nearby trees I brought my feast and took a few bites before settling down. I was about to do magic, I had to settle down. Calm and collected! Empty mind, no distractions. This way the shadows would do exactly what I wanted! I took another bite. I was hungry. Really hungry. Maybe I should finish my meal first?
Ah, who am I kidding? I was gonna do magic. Right. Now! And with a small wisp of darkness weeping out of my wings I fell off my branch.
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It was still dark out when I woke up. My body was spread out on the ground, wings held close, hurting all over. Luckily I had not landed on a sharp rock or even a root. The soft grass and moss had caught me safely.
I struggled to get up. It was not easy to stand up from a lying position without hands but I managed somehow. Some of my feathers were crooked and pushed around. A bit of preening fixed most of that, enough I felt able to fly again. Before that, I picked up the leftovers of my meal.
Once I was back on top of my tree branch I devoured the meat. I was absolutely starving. My hunger was so enormous I thought I was knocked out for days. Only my prey still being slightly warm told me it could not have been more than an hour at most.
I had somehow overtaxed my body. And not by a small amount. Magic was scary.
After some rest, I felt well enough to move again. With a bit of hunting the night passed by quickly.
Just as the sky started to get lighter I returned home. I had an exciting night and was looking forward to some proper rest, but when I closed in mother suddenly shot out of our cave. Directly at me. An ear-shattering screech froze my body for a moment and then I had to dodge her approaching beak.
With a barrel roll, I barely avoided her attack and started panic-flapping my wings to gain some distance. Before I was able to turn around she was on me again, this time with her talons pushing down on my back. I hissed in pain but before her talons could dig deeper I was pushed away. I drew a large half circle and warily approached my home again. This time mother was already in the air and as she started accelerating towards me I let out my own [Intimidating Screech].
Mother’s wings froze for half a flap giving me enough time to get above her and thrust my talons towards her head. In a smooth motion, she turned her body around and my talons only slid through her head feathers.
~ding~ You have learned the racial skill [Aerial Combat lvl 1]. Congratulations. For successfully learning a racial skill with guidance, experience is awarded.
Gaining distance again and turning around I saw her land in our home. She stood there imperiously in front of the cave entrance and watched me. Was this another lesson? I had been really scared there. No way could I ever hurt mother, even if I was strong enough. That was just simply impossible.
When I finally landed on the balcony in front of our cave, mother slowly lowered her head and spread her wings. She stepped forward and clicked her tongue at me. At that moment I understood instinctively: this was no longer my home. My parents had taught me everything I needed to survive and now I had to find my own way.
But I did not want to leave just like that. So I pulled my feathers tight and my head in, making myself as small as possible. Slowly bobbing my head I stepped away from mother’s approach until my talons reached the edge of the platform. Only then did mother stop. I edged my head forward but flinched back at a loud clack of her tongue.
With a heavy heart, I turned away. One last look. I wanted to say goodbye. But this was how animals say goodbye. Only when I jumped off did I realize the grooming right before I left last evening was our real goodbye. Spreading my wings and rising into the morning sun I wanted to cry. But owls do not have tear ducts.