00:45:12
The Wire-Rat was almost soup. Sugary rot coated my tongue. Fermenting tallow. My beak watered, saliva dripping onto the wood. That stench wasn't just a meal. It was concentrated XP in gas form.
My stomach cramped, a violent knot of hunger. My HP was low, hovering at 10/30, but the hunger was the real killer. It was a constant, gnawing void.
I paced the length of the hollow log.
Briar mimicked my agitation. Its two thorny vines swayed near the entrance, red leaves twitching in the gloom. It was hungry too.
I clicked my beak softly. Wait, plant.
The plant ignored me. It sensed blood. Not from the Larder. From outside.
Shadow.
A flicker blocked the faint light at the entrance of the log.
I froze. I pressed myself against the rot-wood wall, blending into the gloom.
Another flicker. Then, a sound.
Caw.
It wasn't the mindless chitter of a bug. It was distinct. Arrogant.
I crept forward, peering through the screen of Briar’s leaves.
Perched on a twisted root above the log was a bird.
It was black, but not the flat black of a shadow. Its feathers shimmered with an oily, iridescent sheen. Purple and green in the low light. Its eyes were beads of intelligent malice.
[Analysis]
Species: Carrion Crow
Level: 4
Threat: High
Note: Aerial scavenger. Highly intelligent.
Level 4. Same as me.
But it had wings that worked.
The Crow tilted its head. It looked directly at the camouflaged entrance. It didn't see a log. It saw a pantry.
It dropped to the mulch. Wings folded tight. No flying. It marched. Talons clicked on the rot-wood floor. Head jerking. Left. Right. It moved like it owned the place.
I tensed. My traps were set for mindless chargers. Beetles. Rats. Things that ran in straight lines.
The Crow stopped at the threshold. It looked at the patch of disturbed earth where I had buried the floor spikes.
It cawed again. Almost laugh.
It hopped over the trigger mechanism.
Smart. Too smart.
Briar lashed out. The red vine whipped forward, aiming for a leg.
The Crow didn't panic. It flapped once, a burst of wind that smelled of ozone. It hovered for a split second, letting the vine pass harmlessly beneath it, then landed past the plant.
It was inside.
It looked at me. It didn't care about me. It was bigger than me. Its beak was a black dagger, longer and thicker than mine.
It looked past me. It saw the Larder.
The Wire-Rat. The Gecko. The Badger.
The Crow’s eyes widened. It let out a low, warbling trill.
Jackpot.
It wanted my XP.
I hissed. This is my zone! Get back!
The Crow snapped its beak. [Intimidation].
It spread its wings. They were massive in the confined space, spanning nearly a meter.
It lunged.
Not at me. At the Rat.
The Rat was closest to completion. The meat was soft, hanging loosely on the bone spike.
I scrambled forward. Get back!
I threw myself at the intruder.
The Crow anticipated the move. It beat its wings, creating a buffer of turbulent air.
[Wind Gust]
The pressure slammed me backward. I skidded on the damp wood, claws scrabbling for purchase.
The Crow hopped onto the Rat’s carcass. It didn't try to eat it there. It knew I was a threat. It ripped the Rat off the spike.
The fermentation timer vanished.
[Larder Interrupted]
[XP Potential Lost]
My feathers stood on end. The rage clarified the variables.
110 XP.
That was my potential! My growth!
The Crow turned, the rotting rat dangling from its beak. It gave me a muffled, mocking caw around the mouthful of meat.
It launched itself toward the exit.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
No!
I sprinted at the bastard bird daring to come between my growth and me.
The Crow cleared the entrance, wings catching the updraft of the Basin. It shot upward, seeking the canopy.
I burst out of the log. The light of the Basin blinded me for a second.
The Crow was already ten feet up, climbing fast.
It was getting away. It was stealing my level.
I ran up the side of the log. I reached the highest knot of the root system.
The Crow was twenty feet up.
I looked at the distance. Physics said no. My wings were short. My body was dense. I was a butcher, not an acrobat.
But the math of survival said yes.
If I lost this kill, I starved. If I starved, I died.
My legs compressed like springs. Stamina burned in the muscle fibers.
[Skill: Jump]? No.
Instinct.
Release.
The red oak bark pulverized under my traction. Splinters rained onto the forest floor.
I was airborne. Ten feet of vertical travel.
Then momentum died. Gravity grabbed my ankles. Come down, little bird.
Above, the Crow dipped. The rat was a lead weight in its beak, dragging the thief's velocity down.
I snapped my wings open.
[Racial Trait: Hollow Bones]
The air was thick. Viscous.
I slammed my wings down against the pressure.
Whump.
I climbed.
[Skill Unlocked: Flight (Level 1)]
No grace. Just violence. Muscles screamed and joints popped as I clawed my way up the Z-axis.
I hammered the air again. And again.
Rising.
The Crow looked down. The intelligent eyes widened in genuine shock. The flightless runt was flying.
It tried to bank, to turn away.
Too late.
I was a missile.
I collided with the Crow thirty feet above the forest floor.
We tangled in a ball of feathers and fury.
The Crow dropped the rat. I didn't care about the rat anymore. I wanted the thief.
I grabbed its neck with my talons.
It screamed, a harsh, metallic shriek. It pecked at my face. Its beak was like a hammer.
Thud.
It struck my shoulder.
[-8 HP]
My health dropped to Critical.
But I had position. I was on its back.
We were falling. The Crow thrashed, trying to shake me. It beat its wings, trying to regain lift.
I bit down on the base of its wing. My beak, designed to shear through beetle chitin, met the hollow bone of the wing joint.
Crunch.
The Crow’s right wing collapsed.
We spun. The world was a blur of green and grey.
Come on wings! Let me fly again!
We hit the canopy of a lower tree. Branches whipped us. Leaves tore. We tumbled through the foliage, bouncing off limbs.
The impacts jarred my bones.
[-1 HP]
1/30 HP. Death's Door.
We hit the ground.
The impact knocked the wind out of me. I rolled, gasping.
The Crow landed hard a few feet away. It lay on its side, the broken wing dragging in the dirt.
It was stunned.
Adrenaline flooded my veins.
I scrambled to my feet. My vision swam with red warnings.
[Health Critical]
[Stamina Depleted]
The Crow shook its head. It tried to stand. It opened its beak to caw, to summon help, to beg?
I didn't want to wait to find out.
I lunged. I didn't use a skill. I used weight.
I pinned its head to the dirt with my foot. It thrashed, claws raking the soil.
I raised my beak. I aimed for the eye. The intelligent, arrogant eye.
Thwack.
I pierced the skull.
The Crow convulsed once. Twice.
Then it went still.
[Target Eliminated: Carrion Crow (Level 4)]
[Experience Gained: 0]
[Condition Met: Aerial Combat]
[Flight Proficiency Increased]
I stood on the corpse, swaying.
I was alive.
I looked up. The Wire-Rat had fallen nearby. It was a mess of burst organs and dirt. Ruined.
I looked at the Crow.
Fresh meat. Level 4 meat.
I had lost 110 XP. But I had gained a new carcass. And I had gained the sky.
I checked the System.
[Status: Critical]
[HP: 1/30]
I needed to eat. Now. I couldn't wait for fermentation. If a stiff breeze hit me, I died.
The Rat steamed in the cool air. A waste of gray fur and burst entrails.
I scraped my belly against the roots. Pain flared. I ignored it.
I reached the pile of gore. I tore into the ribcage.
It was disgusting. Dirt and bile.
[Consuming Biomass...]
[HP Restored: +5]
[Stamina Restored: +10]
I ate until the nausea passed. Until I could stand without trembling.
6/30 HP. Safe enough to work.
I walked back to the Crow.
It was heavy. Heavier than the Rat. I grabbed it by the neck and began the long drag back to the log.
My wings ached. The muscles felt torn and hot. But I flexed them. I felt the new power in the joints. The way they folded differently against my back.
I dragged the thief into my home.
Briar was waiting. It sensed the new kill. The vines reached out, caressing the black feathers.
I hissed at the plant. Stay away, this one is mine.
I pulled the Crow to the rear of the log.
I had a problem. I was out of spikes.
The Rat's spike was empty, but the Rat had been small. The Crow was large. The bone splinter wouldn't hold it.
I needed a new hook.
I looked at the Crow’s feet. Talons. Sharp, curved, iron-hard.
I looked at its beak.
I looked at my Mana. 3/25. Not enough for [Thorn Crafter].
I had to do this the hard way.
I spent the next hour butchering the Crow with my beak and claws.
I removed the organs. Heart. Liver. Eyes.
[Loot Logic]
Eat the eyes to see better. Eat the heart to grow stronger.
I set the eyes aside. I ate the heart immediately. It was tough. Chewy.
[Consuming Mana-Corvid Heart]
[Vitality +1]
A permanent stat boost. My max HP ticked up.
HP: 6/35
Good.
I looked at the wings. I ripped the primary feathers out. They were long, stiff, and conductive to mana. Better than my own feathers. I saved them.
Then I looked at the carcass. I needed to hang it.
I grabbed the [Reinforced Spike] that held the Badger. The Badger was huge, but I could make room.
I jammed the Crow onto the same spike, right next to the Badger. It was a tight fit. The weight groaned against the wood.
[Larder Activated]
[Target: Carrion Crow]
[Fermentation Timer: 5 Hours]
I sat back.
The Larder was full. The Gecko. The Badger. The Crow.
The Rat was gone, a sacrifice to the learning curve. But the trade was worth it.
I looked at the timer for the Gecko.
02:15:00
Two hours. I could wait.
I curled up in the moss, tucking my head under my aching wing. I closed my eyes.
But I didn't sleep. I replayed the moment in my mind. The jump. The flap. The impact.
The sky wasn't safe. It was just another battlefield. And now, I had a weapon to fight in it.
I drifted into a light doze, the metallic taste of the Crow's heart lingering on my tongue.
Want more violence?
I post daily on Royal Road, but the backlog is deep on Patreon.
Read 10 Chapters ahead of the free release.
Thanks for the support!
