The walk back to the wards at the alcove entrance was uneventful, and quickly Jas found himself just around the corner from the bird monster nesting cliff. He took a deep breath, ntally preparing himself, and stepped around the corner.
The nesting cliff ca into his field of view and almost right away he made eye contact with one of the birds flying around.
Squawk!
Imdiately the battle was on. First one, then half a dozen, then fully dozens of bird monsters took wing and lined up to tackle Jas.
The Smith readied his shield.
Paff!
Paff paff paff paff paff paff paff paff paff paff paff…
The bird monsters' assault was relentless, and quickly the ground in front of Jas was littered with crippled bird monsters.
He took a careful step back, still just defending with his shield.
Paff paff paff paff paff…
The assault continued. So of the birds from the first wave recovered as Jas withstood the continued assault and took wing again, leaving about half the bird monsters writhing on the ground.
Thud.
Jas nearly lost his balance as one of the bird monsters, having circled around, struck his back. By reflex he tried to drive the spikes of his shield into the ground to stabilize himself, but his new circular shield couldn't do that. It only took a few seconds to recover his balance, but in that ti, over a dozen more birds collided with him at high speed.
Paff thud thud paff paff paff thud paff thud thud paff paff…
Jas was growing concerned. Although the shield was lighter and more maneuverable, it was heavy. Unlike with his tower shield, which he mostly just carried around to plant in the ground, he was having to carry the entire shield's weight and hold it up in the air, one handed. The ache in his left arm was growing more and more as he felt his strength failing…
And there seed to be an endless number of bird monsters.
Jas made the decision to retreat. Carefully walking backward, keeping his shield up, he retreated back to the ward, enduring more tackles the entire ti.
Thud thud thud thud thud…
…
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The assault ended suddenly.
He was back in the ward.
Jas scanned around, ensuring the area was safe and the ward was holding, then fell to a knee behind his round shield, panting and catching his breath. His left arm was trembling uncontrollably from the strain of holding up the shield. He even felt queasy from the prolonged effort.
After catching his breath, he looked back to see the flock of bird monsters flying chaotically around the edge of the ward, trying to find a way in. Gradually though, starting from the farthest edge of the flock, the bird monsters swooped away, back to their nesting area, leaving only the closest and most aggressive of the bird monsters focused on trying to get to Jas.
After a few minutes, Jas stood again and hefted his shield back into position. There were half a dozen bird monsters left, and they renewed their efforts seeing him stand back up.
This ti, sa as when he first tested his shield, he approached with shield and hamr in hand, ready to finish off any birds that ca within reach.
Paff!
Wham!
Paff!
Wham…
Jas felt it was easier to keep track of the multitude of birds in the air this ti. He had grown accustod to their flight patterns and how they lined up their tackles, and as their numbers dwindled it required less and less ntal effort to keep track of them. As soon as they rebounded from his shield, his hamr lashed down, with maximum [Rapid Blow] enhanced speed, finishing them off efficiently and letting him bring his shield up just in ti to catch the next diving bird monster.
In almost no ti at all, all six of the bird monsters were slain.
As soon as he finished, he withdrew to the ward for a mont to catch his breath and check for more approaching enemies. After five minutes the area remained quiet, so he stepped out and threw the carcasses of the slain bird monsters into a pile inside his ward to be butchered later.
Looking back on the path towards the nesting area, there were a number of crippled bird monsters flopping around, all with damaged necks. At the far edge of his vision, Jas could see several birds with broken wings stretched out awkwardly hopping back to the nesting area, leaving their more damaged brethren behind.
Cautiously Jas crept forward, shield raised, towards the trail of crippled bird monsters.
And he finished them all off efficiently. Not even using [Rapid Blow], as it simply wasn't needed. One strike to the head finished off each bird monster.
Wham! Each ti, Jas would stand again, scan for approaching monsters, and then move on to his next target. As he grew closer to the edge of the wall near the nesting cliff, he slowed down, growing even more cautious lest he rouse the entire flock again.
Wham! The final bird monster was put out of its misery, and as Jas stood and checked for oncoming monsters…
[Enchanter] Class has reached level 5.
Jas was montarily pleased to see his classes were still advancing, but quickly shook the intrusive thought out of his mind and resud scanning for monsters. Now wasn't the ti for reflection, not yet.
The flock around the corner continued its normal squawking, so Jas assud they hadn't been alerted by his actions. He put his hamr away in the magic bag and stooped down, gathering bird monster carcasses in his free hand while keeping his shield ready, now held up in his right hand as he walked back with four of the dead bird monsters gripped by their legs.
He trudged back to the ward, threw them on the pile with the other carcasses, and then headed back for more. Back and forth he walked, a shorter distance each ti, until he had a pile of over thirty dead bird monster carcasses.
After a quick al, he returned to the nesting area, drawing the attention of the entire flock once again. This ti he carefully kited the flock backwards, taking their strikes on his shield and keeping an eye out so birds couldn't flank him so much. Before he knew it, he was back in the ward with the flock, now down to just over half its original size, swarming around the edge trying to reach him. He put his shield down to rest his arm and drank so Pure Water.
Soon enough, the bird monsters gave up and returned to their nests, leaving crippled birds on the ground, which Jas quickly finished off, collecting their carcasses as he went.
[Smith] Class has reached level 6.
With half the flock wiped out and his stamina flagging, Jas spent his ti recovering and butchering the bird monsters he had killed so far, collecting their Wind Magic Crystals and at before returning back to his campsite. He set the at to smoking and ate dinner, then crawled into his sleeping nook and laid his head down on the mole leather pillow. His left arm felt trendously sore from the effort of holding up his shield and taking countless blows, and he quickly drifted off to sleep with a full belly.
Jas awoke, recovered and energized and hungry.
Today he would finish off the bird monsters.
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