From the time I was a child, I was always able to enter this āZoneā, but the gap between my physical abilities and the speed of calculations going off in brains was so huge that my body would just end up freezing in place instead.
But now, thanks to slowly increasing my physical abilities thanks to the poisonous plants, I am able to keep up with my own brain, if only just barely.
Any surrounding scenery or extra sounds disappear from my head, and all my thoughts are focused solely on my target, the monstrous bird.
Every little detail that my eyes perceived was perfectly processed, and every inch of my body moved only in the most efficient manner possible with zero wastage allowed.
Watching the birdās strange dance now I realize that it was in fact some kind of skill, as every time the bird finished its dance, the amount of muscles on its body seemed to increase.
And even its sharp cry, was actually reverberating through the surrounding and was used to search for enemies around it.
Since it had normal looking eyes, I didnāt realize but apparently this birdās eyesight is actually weak so it makes those strange cries and uses echolocation to find its enemies.
Realizing that all its strange actions had meaning behind them, I reflected on my lapse of judgement as I was clearly underestimating it.
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ā¦ā¦ā¦But now that I DO know what these actions are for, the chances of me losing have significantly decreased.
If didnāt notice me until I was that close back then, it is probably because there was no reaction from the echolocation since I was hiding unmoving behind a tree.
Which means, I could use cover to avoid getting noticed.
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Just like flash bombs for us humans, or [FireBalls] for Venom Pythonsā¦ā¦ā¦for this bird, if I make a huge explosive loud sound, itāll also make for a great smokescreen of sorts, without actual smoke of course,āābut I have no way of creating such a sound right now so itās better to take cover instead.
I hastily moved from this empty open area and hid in an area with a lot of trees.
The bird also chased me partway, but after I hid behind a tree, and then kept moving during the gaps between the cries from tree to tree to stay unnoticed and finallyā¦ā¦
It completely lost my location, and continued making those cries and tried to search for me.
Now as long as I correctly predict where itāll move next and then hide on top of one of the trees in said directionāā-I just need to then wait for the bird to move under that tree.
Since its hearing was extremely sensitive, I wasnāt sure if Iād be able to climb a tree without getting caught but somehow, I managed and hid on top.
Now if the bird gave up and ran away, I will give up on hunting it today as well.
As I waited while thinking thatā¦ā¦ā¦maybe mistakenly thinking that I wasnāt hiding to lure it here but was instead simply trying to run away, the bird quickly walked straight towards my direction with confidence.
I held my breath, and waited for it to be directly underneath meāāand the moment it was there, I jumped and swung down my sword instantly.
It was a monster that could fly even with its huge size.
Perhaps thinking that no one could ever attack it from above, it didnāt detect me like last time, and my sword cut right through its wing.
The cut wing flew in the air, and blood sprayed all over the place.
As the bird staggered from the pain, I grabbed the base of its wing and climbed up on top of its body, without getting shaken off, and continuously stabbed my sword into its back again and again.
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As long as Iām on its back, I canāt get attacked by its claws or its sharp beak.
After the number of stabs passed 10 times, it finally lost its balance and crumbled to the ground.
I got flung into the air as well but, I rolled on the ground to recover quickly fix my posture, and headed towards the bird to deal the killing blow.
With blood flowing out of its wings and back, it was crying in pain and desperately trying to run away but I aimed for its legs specifically and slashed them, making the bird fall back on to the groundāāand then, I moved towards its stabbed my sword into its forehead.
The thrust must have made it to the brain as, after flapping its remaining wing a couple more timesā¦ā¦the bird stopped moving completely.
āā¦ā¦ā¦.phew, I beat it.ā
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Because of my extreme focus until now, my body now relaxed and became languid and my vision blurred.
It was impeccable when fighting but since I surpass the limits of concentration that a brain normally should be at, the fatigue that hits me after the fight was no joke.
I want to fall asleep right here, but first I needed to think of what to do with the bird.
The best thing was to turn it into a host for Ongneer but, since I didnāt have the willpower to carry it all the way back right now, it just seemed like a huge pain to do.
I mean, itās still a bird, even if it looks strange, so maybe I could just fry and eat it? I bet its tasty.
Its claws and beak could be used as raw materials as wellā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦nah, I have to carry it back donāt I?
Trying to escape from reality, I tried to think of any better use of it that would let me avoid carrying it back but, the harsh reality was that there was no way there was any choice better than using it for Ongneer.
It was even using skills, so if probably plants itself in this, it could give a fruit almost as good as Greathās even.
I sat down on the ground to take a short brake and then I lifted the bird, bigger than myself, on my back, and began walking towards the place where Ongneer grew.
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<<If you are reading this chapter at an aggregator site please go toĀ https://shikkakutranslations.org/Ā or visitĀ https://ko-fi.com/nerosk12/shopĀ to support the translator and read ahead.>>
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.
10 days had passed since my fierce battle with the Monster bird.
In the end I was unable to find another Ongneer plant so I stopped my search on the ninth day, and spent the remaining week gathering more plants.
And finally today was the day I return to Oxter, and also the day I go check on the birdās corpse as I never went back to the Ongneerās place even once after I dropped it there.
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Whether a fruit has ripened on greathās Ongneer, whether a plant has sporuted properly from the Bird; while praying that both had happened, I left my base and headed towards the Ongneer area.
As I approached closer to the areaā¦ā¦ā¦I felt that the odd eerie presence that the plant gave off had become much thicker and stronger.
It was getting larger two weeks ago as well, but this time I was able to sense it from even further away.
However that only increased my excitement and expectations, and as I finally reached the placeāā
I saw an Ongneer, fully grown, sprouting out of Greathās heart.
Compared to the Goblinās Ongneer, the tree was almost five times bigger.
It also had a ripened fruit as well, and unlike the goblinās fruit that I could completely envelop with just one hand, Greathās Ongneer was big enough that I wouldnāt be able to properly hold it with one hand even.
Now my expectation were even higherā¦ā¦ā¦.and also the fear of having to eat such a big fruit.
It barely had any taste, and the Goblinās fruit was small but I still needed to resolve myself everytime I ate one.
If only I could make it into easy to consume potions like the Jinpi leaves, but as youād expect, considering even approaching Ongneer is tabooād, I donāt think I could drop in a request to turn this into a potion to anybody.
But I have no choice but to eat so letās stop thinking about that. I plucked one of the fully grown fruit, and after properly sealing it in a box, I put it inside my bag.
As for the bird,ā¦ā¦ā¦I canāt tell if it has properly taken root or not.
I could see something like a small bud sprouting out of its chest area I think.
It hasnāt been long since I dropped it here so maybe it just hasnāt had the time to properly grow yet, so I shouldnāt lower my expectations just yet.
Now that both of my objectives were done, although I couldnāt find another Ongneer, I think this trip was pretty worthwhile in the end in my opinion.
ā¦ā¦..But as the new Ongneer grew, the Goblinās Ongneer also seems to have finally withered away.
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It was already withering 2 weeks ago but now it had completely wilted.
This Ongneer miraculously grew out of small Goblinās body and massively increased my own potential to grow with it.
I could never return the favour to a plant as my own ideals require, so all I could do was give a deep heartfelt bow to it as a show of my eternal gratitude.
āāAlright
Now then, letās return to Oxter.
Iām curious as to how Ralf and Estaās trip to Norfast went, and Iām worried to see how Snow fare in the meantime as well.
Also,ā¦ā¦I need to get an assessment after returning, check the results of my gardening and see if thereās a difference, and then discern the effects of Greathās Ongneer as well.
Thereās lots to do, but all were things I looked forward to, so I left the forest feeling excited and returned back to Oxter.