It rained without a single cloud in the sky. Instead there was a large flock of birds, flying upon the skies.

They were cloudbirds, with feathers made to look like their namesake, colored only a slightly graying white. Every flap of their wings conjured droplets of water to drop, the sun behind them streaking rainbows through the false rain that they had made.

One of them dropped a little bit too low, and I killed it. Menace bullet, demon eyes, magic intimidation. The bird lost control of its flight, and I dashed into a high jump, catching the critter and ending its life before it could rejoin its brethren.

“Let me see!” Moonwash raised her voice and ran towards me once I had fulfilled her request. She was very interested in examining these creatures who could do nothing other than their fancy water tricks.

The cloudbirds chirped all at once. They dove low and I readied my sword in preparation for an attack. But it never came, the whole group of them retreated westwards, to never be seen again.

Or so I had thought.

“ROOOOAAAARRRR!!!”

A loud roar resounded from where they had fled. The birds took to the air once more as I heard entire trees being felled.

I took an involuntary step back. Moonwash was looking towards where the big enemy was coming from, and I pulled her back with me.

“I think this is where you guys run,” Luine said. Baston took position right beside her. I knew they were right, but I also wanted to watch. Moonwash thought the same, so we ran away and hid, but made sure that the upcoming battle was still within our sights.

A hippo-mammoth sort of creature broke through the cover of trees, its scaly hide the color of a deep blue.

“Marrong.” Moonwash informed me of its name. I nodded, both grimly and in awe.

The monster roared again. The flock of birds flew around it and above, filling the space with water. The droplets then coalesced near the marrong, joining into larger chunks, before shooting as a hail of larger watery bullets towards our adult companions.

Baston summoned a wall of vines and bark to block it. Luine huddled with him for a second, before immediately running out after the initial and largest volley, but the attacks had not stopped for there was now a constant revolving bullet hell of water, constantly renewed by the cloudbirds.

A dagger in one hand and a wand in the other, Luine waded through the zone of danger. Droplets were cut or deflected by her dagger. The cloak she wore absorbed more damage than I would’ve guessed, but it was only to be expected that her gear was of the finest quality. A barrier of wind occasionally sprung up around her whenever the monster’s barrage was focused on her, redirecting the painful rain or outright dispersing parts of it.

She finally reached the marrong’s side and scored a cut across the hide, but it was shallow, especially compared to the monster’s mass. But it was not just one cut, Luine landed plenty of slashes with every passing second, and she deftly dodged the monster when it tried to ram into her through her superior agility. She even climbed into its broad back, having long switched back to double daggers, and cutting apart the monster as she maneuvered around it. Much of the bullet rain was even avoided by taking shelter behind the monster’s own bulk. The sheer disrespect in the move was hilarious.

The marrong roared. The chaotic bullets of water stopped for a second, before all converging on Luine. She avoided the worst of it, jumping back, meanwhile numerous striking roots struck the monster from below as Baston had been given free rein.

The marrong groaned aloud and I cheered. Luine landed near its base and finally took out one of its legs after what must have been hundreds of cuts. More roots struck it, and the monster was no longer able to keep itself upright, teetering to one side. I felt a spray of water ping off my armor as a cloudbird landed right next to me and cawed.

The marrong turned, the beast locked eyes with me. I instantly knew trouble was abound, and I flared both my demon eye and my intimidation, but it wasn’t enough.

I tackled Moonwash. She held out her shield towards our foe, we landed behind a tall tree, and then all hell broke loose.

The tree in front of us took the hits of water. Its bark bent, groaned, and exploded from the impacts, eventually being shredded altogether.

Next was Moonwash’s shield, which I had taken hold off. The water pinged from it, the material dented from the force, and I could feel the painful vibrations through my arms. It too was eventually destroyed, punched with a million holes.

Next was myself. My body and my armor. The force was like a cannonball, and I was pushed backwards with every strike. My armor bent and dented, pain flared from a dozen bruises, and blood began to pour out of my mouth.

And then the marrong roared in agony. Luine had gotten right up to its face, gouging an eye. Baston took out another of its legs, while taunting the creature by killing more of the birds. The marrong had long forgotten about our insignificant selves, but I picked up Moonwash and ran the fuck away just in case.

~~~

Grass swayed in the wind, and petals sung to the skies. A light shone down upon me from Moonwash using her magic. My armor cluttered to the ground, and the pain gradually left until I could move properly again.

I placed down my nature wand and stared up into the canopy, wet with dew at all times this deep into the wonderzone.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

“So that was shit,” I said. Moonwash was already cataloging my armor for repairs.

“That bird spotted us, but I don’t think it’s the same species as the marrong. They are a symbiotic species, where the abilities of the low-level birds complement that of the marrong’s, and I think it attacked because we killed one of the precious cloudbirds. None of that was in the scrolls that we bought.”

I shrugged. “It’s an untamed wonderzone now, no matter what it was previously. Information is hard to come by.”

“True. We don’t even know if it’s actually called a marrong.”

“Yeah…” There were rituals and objects that could be used in order to see the status or even former status of an animal or monster. It's how a lot of them are identified to begin with.

“I don't have the ritual to do it. And now we’re actually in a place where that could be relevant. I want to ask Luine for it.”

I shrugged. “She can use some magic. I don’t believe she’s that good at it. Not for her level. Nor is she a scholar of the mystic arts.”

“I know. It’s a closely guarded secret. But someone in New Grandera must know.”

My eyebrows rose. “You know about that?”

“Yes. I don’t think she’s trying to hide that information.”

“Well, not from us maybe. But it is a secret. Don’t tell just anyone.”

“I know.”

Right. Of course she did. She hasn’t said a word about it so far.

“Well. It’s your dealings with her, not mine. Do as you wish.”

“Yes. I think they will be satisfied with getting whatever information I manage to get myself.”

I snorted. “What? Are they going to trivia the Angelorians to death?”

“No. New Grandera might look to conquer a wonderzone for themselves.”

“I… That’s. Huh. I didn’t think of that.” This place was near the impenetrable barrier range, it loomed over us like an impassable wall to the east. But this place was about a quarter way into the continent. New Grandera had two distinct territories that mirrored each other. To the north and to the south, their lands existed where the ocean, the mountains, and the shores intersect. They worked with the empire’s enemies, from the crustecars of the deep, to the dwarves and harpies of the mountains. Yet even with all that help, they still didn’t hold that much territory. I didn’t know if their reach could even extend here.

“Wonderzones are an important resource,” Moonwash added after her recent victory in the realm of debate.

“Yes, yes. No need to rub it in.”

“Rub what in?”

“...Nothing.”

…

“I do know what you mean. I’m joking.”

“Oh you son of– The entire time!?”

Moonwash opened her mouth, but before she could respond, Luine fell from the trees.

“Moonwash! Haell! You’re alive!”

“Peachy.”

“Yes.”

“Oh! I’m so glad! Mahka and Rallem won’t try to kill me!!” She hugged us both.

“Uhh… That’s what you had in mind, Luine?”

“Haha. Just kidding. I care about you kiddos you know. A lot.”

“Yeah. I know. Sorry about staying so close…”

“Nah. I thought it was far enough too. I knew you were there, and I could’ve warned you to stay further away, but I thought watching a high-level battle would be very educational...”

“Ah. So it really is your fault. Let me just tell Mom and Dad...”

“Wait! Wait, don't! I’ll bribe you!”

“Hmmm…”

“They’ll get so worried and never allow you outside by yourself again.”

I groaned. “I’m still taking that bribe! Moonwash actually has a request for you.”

Her eyebrows rose. Moonwash told her request of the means of identify.

Luine shrugged. “Sure. It’s just difficult and costly to do. It’s not actually a secret. Just not common knowledge.”

Ritualcraft was a difficult and costly endeavor to begin with, before you even go to the highly specific and esoteric ones like an Identify. Practitioners were rare.

“I want it,” Moonwash said.

“Of course you do.” Luine patted her head. Moonwash was indeed like a daughter to her, all of the children of the orphanage were.

Baston arrived right at that moment in a dead run. He immediately began using his own nature magic to heal us, causing the plantlife to explode in activity.

“Relax! Relax! We’re fine!”

“No! Rallem and Mahka are going to kill me!”

“No… Actually, you’re right! You still knew we were in proximity!”

“Well…”

“Buy my silence with a bribe.”

“What?”

“Buy my silence with a bribe!” I shouted childishly.

He grumbled. “Gurk. Fine.”

“It’s a deal!” I beamed.

~~~

I put on a spare set of scale armor before we went back to the marrong’s body. There, I saw the aftermath of the battle. There were deep lacerations all over the creature’s body, both eyes robbed of sight. There was no single attack that ended it all, the monster was huge and it would’ve been a tough order to reach for its vitals.

Moonwash wasted no time in checking out the spoils of battle, meanwhile I looked over the meat… and frowned.

“Luine!!”

“Hm? What?”

“You used poison!!”

“Uh. Yeah? Of course I did. Poison’s great.”

“Nooooooo!! But what about the meat!!”

“Err. Well.” She kicked the corpse of a dead cloudbird. “There’s plenty of these little guys to go around?”

“NOOOOOO!!! It’s not marrong!” I whined. I decided then, that I would make it my life’s mission to taste all the dangerous delicacies of the world.

I wonder what angels taste like…?

Wait no! Make an exception for sapients! Kill them only, not eat!

Still… They all look so unique…