The Primal Hunter

Chapter 1106: Angry Birds

Poisoning the entire local population of Rainbowfeather Songbirds took a bit of preparation. If Jake simply began throwing around bottles haphazardly, he doubted he could create a large enough field of death to do the damage he wanted to.

That’s why Jake took a slower and more measured approach. Checking his inventory, Jake had a total of one hundred and twelve bottles of liquid poison gas, most of them made during his stay with his parents or the brief moments of downtime he had recently. It was a lot of bottles, and each of them was quite dangerous in its own right.

[Arcane-Infused Rotbreath Poison Gas (Rare)] – With every breath, life shall wane, and destruction roams. Mixing potent death affinity toxins and arcane energies, a powerful poison gas has been concocted. This poison is primarily inflicted through breathing,g but can also easily penetrate the bodies of anyone in physical contact with it. If inflicted, it will spread through the body and cause necrotic damage to any tissue it affects, causing flesh to rot. Destructive arcane energies allow it to spread faster as it weakens the foe’s tissue. Wounds caused by necrotic poison are extremely difficult to heal.

To achieve the desired effect, Jake set his plan into motion. While moving around, still trying to attack the occasional parrot, Jake also began to place poison bottles all over the jungle in a circular pattern while cycling around the Rainbowfeathers.

As a reminder, the bottles the poison gas was stored within were of Jake’s special design. With nothing more than a mental command, Jake could have the bottles detonate, turning each into its own remote-activated gas bomb.

Jake spread these bottles and embedded them in trees or hung them from vines all around the place, his storage rapidly depleting. During this, he naturally had to make sure the Rainbowfeathers stayed in roughly the same area, and he moved deliberately to force them into gathering even more.

He did manage to kill another parrot that had strayed from the flock, Jake taking the Songslinger by surprise with a fully charged Arcane Powershot from behind, blowing its head straight off. This naturally helped serve as confirmation that the birds would do well gathering together as they hunted for Jake.

Things did get spicy a few times when Jake got too close to the flock. The combined attack of dozens of late-to-peak C-grades wasn’t something Jake could take lightly, and he even ended up suffering a few minor injuries as he fought back, landing a fair number of arrows himself in retaliation.

Progress was swift, though.

Fifty left.

An area of roughly fifteen square kilometers was what Jake had designated as the blast zone. It was within this area that Jake spread the bottles out evenly, with the expectation that the poison gas should cover the entire thing. From what limited experimentation Jake had with this kind of poison gas, he was capable of very slightly controlling the poison gas even after he released it. Not by much, but by using Touch of the Malefic Viper and the fact his arcane energy was an intrinsic part of this particular poison gas, it should be enough for Jake to contain the zone he planned on gassing.

The environment would likely also prove highly beneficial to Jake. The thick canopies above should help contain the poison somewhat, and the dense life affinity in the air was the perfect medium for a primarily death-attuned poison. These Rainbowfeathers had also proven themselves somewhat fragile, likely due to their Paths mostly revolving around defense through magic or winning through overwhelming offensive power, as some of the sound waves Jake had to flee from could easily kill most peak C-grades and severely injure even some B-grades.

Sadly for them, Jake was pretty damn good at avoiding even invisible attacks as he always managed to stay at a distance that was safe enough to not risk taking lethal damage yet still close enough to give the Rainbowfeathers hope they could land a solid hit.

Thirty.

By now, Jake had spread out enough poison bottles to create the full zone of poison gas, but Jake wanted a few more in the immediate area around all the Rainbowfeathers when he unleashed the gas cloud.

While the parrots were gathered, they weren’t exactly clumped up. They tended to still keep sometimes up to a hundred meters between each other as they moved around, a short distance to a C-grade, but when there were over sixty of them, it meant they still occupied quite a large area, hence the need for the poison gas zone to be as big as Jake was planning on making it.

Moving toward the center of this zone, Jake placed even more bottles there to ensure the poison mist would be strongest in the epicenter. After spreading fifteen more, Jake decided it was good enough. He spent another ten minutes getting the Rainbowfeathers nice and riled up, even shooting a few Arcane Powershots into their midst, injuring but not killing some of their members to really piss them off.

Once in position, Jake got ready. Using his superior speed, Jake had created some distance between the pursuing flock and himself, buying ten or so seconds to do the final preparations.

Fifteen bottles of poison gas in liquid form appeared around him as Jake condensed arcane mana to surround each and every one of them. He formed arcane bolts containing the gas bombs and waited.

The screeches of angry birds grew closer, and right before they spotted Jake once more, he shot all the mana bolts forward. The Songcrusher in the lead of the flock saw the arcane bolt mid-flight and quickly moved to dodge, something it successfully did as the bolt flew closer to the center of the bird flock.

A similar thing happened in a dozen other places as bolts were missed all over... just as Jake had planned as he focused his mind and gave the command to all the bombs spread throughout the jungle at once, including the bolts he’d just attacked with.

Boom goes the... well, not quite dynamite.

Despite Jake’s thoughts, there was no grand explosion. The sound of the Rainbowfeathers drowned out everything else, as all Jake heard was glass shattering... and the environment changed.

A deep purple – almost black – blanket of mist instantly covered the jungle. It slightly obscured vision, but no one had any time to consider that aspect of the poison gas. All of the Rainbowfeathers as one stopped mid-attack as poison surrounded them from all sides. All of them had been breathing to increase resource restoration and even as part of releasing their sound attacks, making many unwillingly take a deep breath of the poison gas, instantly having it enter their bodies.

Panic didn’t even have time to fully set in before an Arcane Powershot pierced into the midst of the Rainbowfeathers, aimed at a Songmender that was protected by several other parrots just moments before.

Jake aimed to take full advantage of the situation as he activated Timeless Focus of the Apex Hunter’s effect he’d lovingly named Rapid Fire. Speeding his actions up, Jake released a few dozen arrows in swift succession. He wanted to take down every healer among them during this time, as that was one of the biggest worries with this plan.

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The second biggest was what was about to happen next. Instinctively, the majority of the Rainbowfeathers sought to escape the poison mist, and while some began to flee to the sides, many also shot straight upwards, which would allow them to exit the poison mist... something Jake naturally didn’t want them to do as he unleashed another attack he knew would take quite the toll on him.

Holding nothing back, Jake pushed his Arcane Awakening further, making his aura spike as Jake also fully unleashed his Bloodline upon the chasing birds who were already in a state of distress. Finally, to truly take advantage, Pride activated as he mentally attacked several dozen late-to-peak C-grades at once.

Jake had expected to feel severe backlash... but unexpectedly, he was fine. No splitting headache. No pain whatsoever. This nearly delayed Jake longer as things had not gone as he’d hoped, but luckily for him, the effect on all the Rainbowfeathers was more than effective, leaving them all stunned from the mental attack.

Restarting his assault, Jake began picking off more of the Songmenders. There were a total of five in the flock, and all of them were now exposed. The stunned birds who’d just suffered some severe mental damage spent even longer within the poison, and to make matters even better, their instincts to help one another began to be a detriment.

Having noticed Jake trying to kill the Songmenders, nearly all the other parrot-like monsters stopped trying to flee and instead wanted to help their healers. However, in order to do that, they needed to remain within the poison cloud for longer, and with so many being affected, even if the Songmenders were left alone, they would struggle to keep up.

More shockwaves of pure sound erupted from the group of birds as they went on the offensive once more, but Jake was more prepared this time. Using One Step, he dodged in time as he shot another arrow into the chest of a Songmender. A Songcrusher jumped for him right then, but he effortlessly avoided its initial attack before following up with a swift kick that sent it into the trajectory of an incoming soundwave.

To Jake’s surprise, rather than be hit by the attack, the Songslinger who’d released the soundwave managed to dispel it in time, leaving the Songcrusher unharmed. Behind the Songslinger, the Songbenders of the group used their odd rainbow magic as they fought back against the poison mist, trying to push it away while creating shields for the damaged Songmenders.

Not gonna give you time for that.

Curving arrows were back on the menu as Jake continued his assault before the birds could fully get their bearings. About twenty of them had still shot into the sky above to escape the poison mist, with others trying to address what was happening to them, leaving an opening Jake couldn’t waste.

Arrows curved in and hit a Songmender in the neck before promptly exploding, taking half of the neck with it in the process. Another Songmender tried to come and help, but a quick Gaze and an arrow to the skull put down another.

The three remaining ones weren’t long for this world either, as Jake spared nothing to finish them off. He even ended up taking a nasty retaliatory attack to get the last one with a Powershot, leaving the flock without any of their healers.

By now, about thirty seconds had passed since Jake released the poison gas cloud, and he knew the Rainbowfeathers had adapted by now. The ones who’d fled to the sky above were less affected by the poison than those on the ground below, and none of them wanted to reenter the now poison-filled jungle.

With their healers dead, the remaining Rainbowfeathers also shot up into the sky to find non-toxic air, which was actually fine with Jake as he gladly shot arrows after them during their escape.

Contrary to the birds, Jake was having a swell time surrounded by poison gas. In fact, it felt quite nice, and his mana was being actively restored through Palata of the Malefic Viper. These birds likely believed Jake would also have to flee the jungle to escape the deathly environment, but nope, he gladly stayed with a smile on his face as he nocked another arrow.

The Songslinger floating above the tree line, just outside of the range of the poison mist, wasn’t ready as an Arcane Powershot pierced through the leaves below it, tearing off one of its wings and sending it tumbling. A Songbender summoned a barrier to try and block any follow-up attack but instead found itself under fire as an arrow struck it in the chest, sending it tumbling through the air and down through the canopy, back into the poison mist once more.

This had been the next part of Jake’s plan. The dense jungle was incredibly good at hiding anything within it, making it impossible for even him to scout down into it from above. The same was true for the birds, meaning that as long as Jake was hiding within, they couldn’t even counterattack properly.

That meant their only option if they wanted to fight back was to reenter the poison mist. Of course, they also had the option of simply fleeing the battle, but Jake knew they wouldn’t. While it was a bit cheap, Jake had skimmed more of the description of these Rainbowfeathers and seen that they were indeed highly territorial, to the level where they would rather fight and die than abandon what they believed was rightfully theirs. On top of that, they were perhaps the most vindictive species Jake had ever seen, and if anyone killed a single Rainbowfeather, they would hunt that person down until they all died or their target was pecked to pieces. In summary... very angry birds.

With a massive advantage, Jake continued making use of his Mark and Pulses to locate his prey above as he kept shooting Arcane Powershot after Arcane Powershot. They tried to dodge or block, but the Songbenders couldn’t defend everyone at once. They also tried to counterattack, but Jake wasn’t stupid enough to stay in the same place after attacking, as he moved around constantly.

Evidently, the Rainbowfeathers were unsure how to proceed as dying cry after dying cry echoed out. Ultimately, the birds made the decision to fight Jake within the poison mist, which likely just expedited their deaths. Within the mist, they were clearly weaker, and all Jake had to do was buy time and slowly whittle them down one by one while staying mobile and never allowing them to lock him down or surround him.

One by one, he managed to finish them off as the parrot-like monsters only grew weaker with every passing moment. Jake was also beginning to have a harder time as his Arcane Awakening was taking a toll on his body. His longevity in combat was definitely being tested. Still, the recent improvements to his soul once more proved momentously beneficial when dealing with both these blights.

In the end, it still took Jake an hour before the final Rainbowfeather Songbird was slain. As he killed the final one and heard perhaps the longest dying cry so far, he knew no other Rainbowfeather Songbird was nearby to hear it.

Standing over the final dead bird, Jake breathed heavily as he took a seat on a stone. His environment was beginning to look quite grim as the poison mist hadn’t only been killing the birds within but even this entire section of the jungle. The trees and plants had all been absorbing some of the mist, and while that did mean most of it had dispersed by now, it also resulted in the smell of rot becoming quite pervasive.

With a Pulse, Jake could see that the circular section of the jungle Jake had unleashed his poison mist in didn’t look very good anymore and would likely take quite a few years to recover.

This degree of environmental destruction had totally been worth it, though... because Jake had gotten a sweet level from it all!

’DING!’ Class: [Arcane Hunter of Horizon’s Edge] has reached level 303 - Stat points allocated, +50 Free Points

It wasn’t much, but it was honest work and a good start. With a satisfied smile, Jake prepared himself for another meditation session to recover from overusing his boosting skill, something that wasn’t anything new to him.

However, as he closed his eyes, he couldn’t help but get a nagging gut feeling as a faint sense of danger still lingered… making him believe that perhaps his dealings with these Rainbowfeather Songbirds weren’t entirely over yet.

--

On the other side of the planet, on the largest island within the Grand Lake at the center of Area 5, a large island with several trees sat. Rainbowfeather Songbirds could be seen everywhere, most of them tending to nests and protecting their eggs.

In a clearing, a Rainbowfeather sat on a large nest with its eyes closed. It had no eggs but was simply resting while absorbing the abundant environmental mana given off by the Grand Lake. It was a peaceful time, as none dared invade the territory of these birds.

Just then... it heard something. The eyes of the Rainbowfeather bird shot open as it stood up in an instant, taking in the sound. The final death knell of a Rainbowfeather Flock.

The soundwaves had traveled across the planet, amplified and empowered with every death cry. From it, emotions, memories, and images entered the Rainbowfeather’s mind as it became aware of what had happened to one of its flocks.

It saw the killer as its voice rumbled.

“Human.”

The aura of a B-grade briefly flared as the large avian monster calmed down. It wanted to go immediately but found itself unable to due to it being breeding season and the rest of its flock needing protection.

However, the Sovereign did not fret. The Rainbowfeather Songbirds always got their revenge.

Always.