Untitled Chicken Quest (4)
1466 Words
Me and Lorelei versus the dangerous-looking red chicken.
We need to fight defensively.
As expected, it jumps towards us, attempting to s***h us with its razor-sharp claws.
“Produ Lakab Kalshag!”
The shield I conjure saves us both from being torn to bloody bits...
...but in return, the shield receives three huge dents, rendering it unusable for the rest of the battle.
The red bird, unfazed by the parry, then attempts to ensnare us.
It performs a strange dance, with its sharp claws still sticking out.
I sense an air of confusion, and thus I warn her...
“Watch out! It's gonna perform a confusion-inducing attack! Equip whatever you have to prevent it!”
“Got it!”
As the chicken still performs that dance, we bring out our Amulets of Clear-mindedness and equip them like normal pendants.
They may be rather commonplace and can be bought at any accessory shop for 1,000 guintos apiece, but they prove to be useful in shielding us from a stupor that would eventually net us a disadvantage in battle due to effects such as inadvertently attacking each other.
Good; we're now immune to that stupefying dance.
She then gets into the offensive as she chants the following, while focusing her energy on her Oracle's Staff.
“Oh leaves blowing in the wind, turn yourselves into blades as sharp as feral claws! Kinecommu Irrza!”
Lorelei performs a psychokinetic attack using the leaves that are blowing in the same direction as her into sharp blades.
Her aim is to not to eliminate the chicken via death of a thousand cuts, but to instead provoke it and make it snap from its dance.
That diversionary tactic works like a charm.
With the chicken no longer performing the stupefying dance, I'm now ready to disable its main mode of attack: Its sharp claws.
“Produ Deiamant M'bag!”
I summon a diamond mace, knowing all too well that diamond can break metal, which should be the composition of these sharp claws.
I try my best to swing the mace and hopefully break through the metal, but the chicken is so agile that it dodges practically every swing.
One swing, I miss.
Another swing, I miss again.
Yet another swing, I miss yet again.
“Come on! What's with this bird?!”
“You can do it, Walter!”
“Heisbilis Lahall!”
I can feel my body acting faster and more nimble with each swing.
And by looking at her, she acts and dodges much faster than usual.
So now I know.
Lahall is a special galdr that casts any spell – offensive, healing, or support – to multiple targets.
Only more skilled spell-casters can avail of that galdr, and they can only learn it from accredited spell-casting experts throughout the kingdom.
With my increased speed, I manage to break the chicken's claws after a few missed hits.
Now bereft of its main mode of attack, the red chicken resorts instead to its loud, annoying, and very annoying honk that should only belong to a goose.
And speaking of the improvised earplugs I've made last night, I still have them stored in my satchel.
With the speed increase still in effect, I hand over the earplugs to her, and we both equip these cotton-and-silk implements on our ears.
Once again, we are immune to the loud honk.
Now we need to incapacitate that bird and calm it down.
“I have an idea, Walter!”
“What is it?”
“Can't we combine our attacks into one?”
Combining attacks by linking them into one is one of the advanced combat techniques being taught at the Royal Academy.
When two allied combatants are close to winning the battle or are on the verge of losing, they gain a special aura that allows them to perform two specific attacks and combine them into one much stronger attack.
Those two attacks can be anything, of any type. Thus, experimenting with “combined link attacks”, as they are officially called in the academy's lessons, can be a series of endless yet fun experiments on the battlefield.
Recalling what I've learned, I say...
“Sure! Let's do this!”
As we gain that special aura, I ready myself and then conjure a silver sword.
She focuses her power onto her Oracle's Staff and initiates that same psychokinetic attack with the leaves.
Miraculously yet expectedly, our two unique attacks are combined into one.
Our combined link attack is...
“Fuchsia Blade!”
As she commands the wind and the razor-sharp leaves, I let my silver sword absorb both the wind and the leaves, and then swing it downwards towards the ground with great force, creating a vivid purplish red gust that instantly incapacitates the chicken, taking it out of its apparent feral state.
The bird lets out a wailing honk before it is knocked unconscious.
The battle may be over, but we're still apprehensive over the red chicken's status.
“I-I hope we didn't kill him...”
“I hope so, too.”
She approaches the now-unconscious bird and checks its pulse.
“Lucky for us... it's still alive. But we need to heal him.”
“I've got a solution for that.”
I bring out a healing scroll from my satchel.
Specifically, it's a scroll containing Healom, the basic healing spell.
Once I open it, the magical runes glow, activating the spell and healing the chicken outright.
“Thanks, Walter. You've saved its life... and my shot at glory.”
“Heh. It's nothing.”
While the chicken is healed, it's still unconscious... or perhaps, it's sleeping soundly now that it's free of injuries.
She takes that opportunity to carefully put the chicken inside a cage she just pulled out of her own magical satchel.
“Now that we've successfully retrieved this elusive bird, we can now go back to town.”
“And we don't have to go through that jungle again, Lorelei. I have some spare Teleportation Feathers.”
“Sweet!”
And with those Feathers...
...we're now back at Orion Cepheid, safe and sound.
The next day.
After spending the night examining the red chicken, Lorelei Verdillus, the taxonomist-s***h-supporter-type adventurer, has indeed clinched a breakthrough.
As a reward for assisting her in her quest, she lets me take a sneak peak at her research paper, which will be submitted to the Royal Academy's Creature Taxonomy Institute today.
Her paper reads thus:
A New Species of Chicken
by Lorelei Verdillus
A week ago, that is, Fireday, 29th of Godmonth, 1019 CE, I have stumbled upon a chicken that is unlike any other here in the town of Orion Cepheid, or in the entire kingdom of Lebenswasserheim for that matter.
It has feathers that are a mixture of maroon and red, and it lays red eggs that are ready to eat. These eggs have a mild salty taste. Furthermore, the bird has a hidden feral state which is triggered by as-yet unknown means; but it is manifested by a loud, booming honk comparable to that of a goose, the baring of sharp metallic claws from its feet, and the ability to perform a strange dance that induces confusion on unlucky targets.
Due to this chicken's unique physiology when compared to that of other known chickens, it will be classified as its own unique species. Thus, I will propose the name “Desucatan chicken” as the colloquial name, and Niwatorius desucatani as the scientific name.
Further tests on the chicken will be encouraged to ensure its cross-species mating compatibility with normal chickens, which will be essential to the survival of this species. Another set of tests will also be conducted to determine its origins, as well as the conditions for the triggering of its feral state.
“Aaaaand... wanna have a taste of that egg?”
“Uhhh... I guess so.”
I take a bite of the red egg she procured from the red chicken last night.
“Mmm! It's delicious! Not too salty, in fact, your paper nails the taste right.”
“Good that you're appreciating it.”
“You know what... an entire industry will be born out of salted red eggs coming from the Desucatan chicken. There will be snacks such as potato crisps that will be infused with that awesome flavor! Even His Highness will definitely like the taste!”
“Yep! But baby steps first, man! We need to ensure this new species is kept alive and kicking!”
“Of course.”
An hour later, she leaves for the capital, her research paper ready to be submitted.
As I bid her farewell...
“Feels good to have contributed to a scientific discovery, huh?”
1019-823, “The Red Chicken”
Quest complete.
- Writer
