The Primal Hunter
Chapter 1105: Enemies On All Sides

The rogue stealthily moved through the underbrush, clearing a path for his allies. Not far away, hidden within a magical concealment formation, his two hunting companions waited for him to finish. Their prey was a peak C-grade creature they had been eyeing for a while, and all their preparations were complete.

Now, they only had to navigate this godforsaken stretch of jungle in one piece to reach their destination. With stealth, they didn’t expect to be noticed by the local wildlife, and they just needed nothing unforeseen to happen.

A screech echoed through the jungle, nearly causing the rogue to lose his footing. His eyes widened in surprise and fear as the screech was answered from all around them. Bird cries filled the jungle as auras erupted in all directions, the birds taking to the sky to avenge their fallen comrade.

The rogue stopped entirely, hoping none of the insane, psychotic birds would spot him and his party and decide to attack them. As he hunkered down, he heard his hunting party leader speak through their telepathic link.

“That was the dying cry of a Rainbowfeather Songbird,” the mage in their party said, stating what they all already knew.

“Do you think one of the B-grades decided to invade the territory of the Rainbowfeathers?” their third party member, a ranger, asked.

“Doubtful. All the local B-grades wouldn’t risk it, and there wouldn’t be anything in it for them to hunt C-grades. They would only risk serious injury or death by going after the Rainbowfeathers,” the mage responded. “I think there’s a bigger chance some migratory creature entered this area and killed one of the Rainbowfeathers, unaware of the consequences.”

“It could also be a hunter,” the rogue pointed out jokingly, trying to lighten the mood.

“Sure, right, totally,” the ranger joked back. “Not like Rainbowfeathers are notoriously aggressive, attacking anything within their territory on sight, and anyone with even the slightest knowledge of this hunting ground avoids fighting those damn things. One could hope it’s some B-grade hunter that’s decided to finally wipe out these psycho birds, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up.”

“B-grade hunters are only allowed here if it’s to restore the balance of the ecosystem, so it can’t be. So, if it were a hunter, they would be C-grade, and thus, we would have already been notified through the manual. So it has to be a monster,” their party leader pointed out, ever the serious one.

“Could still be a hunter. They would only get help if they used the hunter manual to seek assistance,” the rogue said with a small grin.

“Yeah, he’s got a point! Maybe someone or some party decided that taking on an entire flock of Rainbowfeathers was a good idea. You know, for the fun of it,” the ranger continued the joke.

“Enough,” their party leader shut down the chatter. “Regroup, and let’s return and go the long way around. Chances are, whoever was stupid enough to slay a Rainbowfeather Songbird is already dead, or it’s a B-grade. In either case, we'd best stay clear of the area until it calms down again.”

While the rogue would have loved to joke around more and maybe even try to find out who or what had messed up and killed a Rainbowfeather, he knew retreat was the best option. If it were a hunter, he could only hope that it was one with good stealth abilities or some life-saving treasure, as that should at least give them a chance to escape.

If it was a party... it was doubtful everyone would make it out. Either way, the only logical response would be to try and escape without drawing any more attention to themselves before making it back to the Outpost.

Just then, a shockwave of energy rushed through the jungle, momentarily causing the many trees and plants to sway, revealing the sky through their thick canopies. The rogue and his party stopped in their tracks as they saw glimpses of a beam of purplish energy shooting into the sky from where the dying cry of the Rainbowfeather Songbird had originated, announcing to all where the kill was.

Staring, the rogue was no longer in the mood for jokes as he realized that whoever or whatever had decided to antagonize the Rainbowfeathers was just as insane as those damn birds.

Pressure.

It was the best thing one could have when trying to improve themselves. Some felt the pressures of responsibility or expectations, but Jake preferred this kind. The kind where if he didn’t manage to step up and face whatever challenge was in front of him, he would more than likely find himself a cold, dead corpse at the end of it.

That was why he decided to step up this time around. With a single Pulse, he knew he was surrounded by enemies coming for him from all sides. He did use his head a little and quickly skimmed what the pamphlet said about Rainbowfeather Songbirds, and one section convinced him to go ahead with this plan:

“There are no B-grades among the Rainbowfeather Flock in Area 1.”

With that knowledge, Jake had all the confidence he needed to announce his presence to the local flock of birdbrains. He flew up above the treeline as he unleashed his aura as well as a beam of arcane mana, both into the ground below and the sky above. He already saw monsters coming for him and took out his bow with a slight smirk, identifying a few of the weird parrots he saw running across the treetops.

[Rainbowfeather Songcrusher – lvl 331]

[Rainbowfeather Songcrusher – lvl 335]

[Rainbowfeather Songslinger – lvl 329]

[Rainbowfeather Songbender – lvl 338]

There were different variants of these Rainbowfeather Songbirds, though they all looked pretty much identical. Songcrushers seemed to be the most numerous, and as Jake already had some grasp of what they would do, he decided to test out the two other variants for now.

Taking aim, Jake released a barrage of arrows toward two birds running toward him, one of them a Songslinger. It opened its beak and released a shrill sound that made Jake dodge to the side as an invisible projectile of condensed sound shot by him. At the same time, the birds were hit as a dozen explosions sent two birds flying into the jungle below.

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Turning to his next target, Jake shot another barrage, this one toward a single Songcrusher that was getting a bit too close. It tried to blow away his arrows with its large shockwave of sound, but the arrows all exploded, shrouding its vision before a second stable arrow blew through the explosion, hitting it in the eye and sending it tumbling.

A Songbender was also closing in, and this one gave off a stronger aura than the others. It was already gathering energy as Jake shot an arrow, and it responded quite well as a cloak of rainbow light created a shield that blocked the attack.

Following up, the cloak changed form into a spear and shot toward Jake, forcing him to dodge out of the way as he admired the school of magic he’d never encountered before. He had no idea what kind of affinities these birds were even using, but sound was definitely a big part of their Paths, and even the Songbender was letting out low cawing sounds as it manipulated its magic.

And it was quite good at it, as the spear Jake had just dodged exploded shortly after passing by him, transforming into a storm of rainbow thorns trying to strike him in the back. Summoning a barrier of arcane mana, Jake blocked most of them but soon found himself under attack by the Rainbowfeather Songbirds that had managed to get close enough to use explosive speed to reach him.

Trying to face all these birds in a straight-on fight would just have him be surrounded and worn down, so Jake prepared to move and make use of the ample space afforded to him. This was the territory of the Rainbowfeathers, yes, but Jake was also quite good at familiarizing himself with local environments.

Blasting himself downwards with destructive arcane mana, Jake sought to reenter the jungle below once more. With his Pulse, he counted a total of seventy-one Rainbowfeather Songbirds currently in pursuit of him, and the only thing he could do was just to get a move on picking them off one by one.

Back in the jungle, Jake was instantly jumped by a Songcrusher leaping off a tree toward him, but he was fast enough to angle himself and kick the birdbrain in the beak, launching himself away as he also decided to get a bit more serious. He kind of had to, considering four parrots were closing in fast, and with his current speed, avoiding them all would be hard.

Arcane Awakening activated at the stable percentage as power flowed through Jake’s body, and making use of his improved speed, he managed to blast by two birds while pulling out his bow.

A rain of arcane arrows bathed the jungle in explosive arcane mana as a cover, allowing Jake to retreat in the direction of a lone Songbender that had yet to locate Jake visually. He briefly stopped on a branch and began charging an Arcane Powershot, taking aim and standing ready for when the Songbender would enter his line of sight.

He managed to charge the attack for nearly three full seconds before his target was about to appear. Before the Songbender even had time to see Jake, he released the string of his arrow, and a moment later, the parrot appeared from behind a large tree. It had no time to react at all as the Powershot struck it in the chest, sending blood and feathers flying everywhere as yet another explosion alerted all the nearby Rainbowfeathers to Jake’s location.

Not wasting his time to finish off the bird, Jake shot several more arrows toward it as he got moving again, and combined with the damage from the Arcane Powershot and the fact these birds weren’t very durable, he soon got a notification.

You have slain [Rainbowfeather Songbender – lvl 330] – Bonus experience earned for killing an enemy above your level

Right as he got it, a massive soundwave swept in from the side, taking Jake by surprise and forcing him to block as he was blasted away. The wave had been faster and stronger than anything else Jake had encountered, and he soon realized why.

Well, ain’t that something.

Four Songcrushers and one Songslinger were approaching him together, and he saw the Songcrushers all release a soundwave of their own, only for the Songslinger to release an attack of its own that absorbed and amplified the attacks of the four others into one massive wave.

Another such attack arrived only a moment later, this one even more powerful and condensed. Dodging behind a tree, Jake was shocked to see bark explode everywhere as the poor thing had a hole blown into it, and a second wave sent the entire thing tumbling and Jake scrambling to the side.

The group of five birds really upped the pressure as they released attack after attack, forcing Jake to retreat away from them. Luckily, they couldn’t move very fast while also doing their sound attacks, letting Jake get some good distance as he went for a solitary Songcrusher.

His target wasn’t ready as it was soon struck by an arrow from behind after leaping and flying toward its brethren, blasting it down into the ground and through several vines. Another two arrows sought to finish it off, but Jake was forced to abandon his assault as two Songbenders released a combined attack where they summoned a shower of crystalline rainbow fragments that bombarded Jake’s location like a minigun.

Not being able to kill the Songcrusher was a bit annoying, but hopefully, the poison on the arrows would put it out of commission... at least, that was the hope until Jake saw a new variant of parrot make its appearance as it flew over, escorted by two Songcrushers.

[Rainbowfeather Songmender – lvl 341]

It began singing once close to the Songcrusher, and rainbow light fell upon the heavily damaged monster and began to heal it. Instantly, this fight had gotten a lot more annoying as Jake would actually have to finish off his opponents now or risk getting into a really prolonged fight he wasn’t sure he would win.

Not that it was certain he had a choice, as Jake was just happy he had held back with Arcane Awakening and kept it at a safe level for now. Retreating once more while circling around to try and find a semi-isolated foe. He soon found one, and through a barrage of arrows and a quick Arcane Powershot, Jake got his second kill before he swiftly moved on, never allowing too many opponents to surround him at once.

He purposefully tried to run in unpredictable patterns, but whenever he fought something, all the Rainbowfeathers became aware of his location. The dying cries of the birds he killed certainly didn’t help matters either. In fact, Jake felt as if the birds got better and faster at locating him the more time went on, making him feel as if he was on a bit of a timer.

Jake did manage to kill four more parrots while leaving three others severely injured over the next ten or so minutes, with those three getting saved by their feathered comrades. By now, it was nearly impossible to find isolated Rainbowfeather Songbirds, making it incredibly hard to pick them off.

The many birds gathering was both a good and a bad thing. For one, it meant that Jake could more easily kite them around without running into opponents, no matter the direction he went, so that was definitely beneficial.

As for bad things... oh boy, there were a lot of those. It really shouldn’t come as a surprise when one considers how sound worked even before the system, but sound waves tended to compound. Several loud sounds together amplified one another, creating even more powerful sound waves. The parrots used this as the more Rainbowfeather Songbirds that were together, the more they could amplify one another, to the level that some in the flock had to dedicate energy to protecting themselves and others against their own attacks.

Jake had run into a group of twelve birds, which, through their combined effort, were able to release massive blasts of pure sound that made trees bend and tore apart everything in their path. There was probably a limit to how strong their combo attacks could get, but Jake had no interest in finding out.

Another bad thing about them all being gathered was that healers and Songbenders with defensive magic were always nearby. Shooting arrows into a packed flock of over sixty high-tier C-grade bird monsters that could heal and support each other wasn’t going to get Jake far, and he knew it.

But... there was some icing on the cake.

Originally, Jake had come for archery practice, which was still the plan, but he had to get an upper hand first. The many Songbirds gathering up meant that theoretically, attacks with large areas of effect should prove useful, but the rule of intensity versus scale was still a thing, meaning Jake couldn’t do much meaningful damage if he just aimed for making big explosions.

He did have one relatively new weapon in his arsenal, though. One that he believed would prove highly effective in the current environment he found himself within... luckily for him, he had a pretty good stock of special bottles just waiting to get popped open.

That’s right, it was time for some good old chemical warfare by unleashing poison gas upon the local avian population, war crimes be damned.

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