Zogarth
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Chapter 1117 - A Storm of Feathers
🕑 Added 2025-04-17 11:22:41 +0000 UTCJake focused his senses, as rather than panic in his moment of crisis, he felt a deep sense of calm that allowed him to respond the best way he possibly could. The final gambit of the Warlord had bound Jake tightly in a fashion not easily escaped. It wasn’t his physical body that was restrained, but his soul, and even if said soul was far more powerful than the norm, a B-grade willing to burn its own existence was still more than capable of affecting it.
Even if his body couldn’t move, Jake could still mobilize his energies. Realizing he couldn’t use it to free himself, he instead summoned a barrage of arcane bolts that flew up toward the descending Rainbowfeather Sovereign.
At the same time, he conjured a large arcane orb right in front of himself as Jake’s body began glowing with arcane light as if he was about to blow himself up. The B-grade bird ignored Jake’s attack as it easily deflected Jake’s arcane bolts, but they still exploded, serving as a temporary distraction.
A fraction of a second later, the large arcane orb in front of Jake also exploded as his body erupted with arcane energy. For a mere moment, he was freed from constraint, the timing so brief Jake didn’t even have time to try to take a single step... but what he had been able to do was use another skill.
From the perspective of the Rainbowfeather Sovereign, it saw its prey constrained before several enormous explosions of arcane energy limited its view of what was happening. Right as things began to clear, it saw the human darting to the side, having freed himself from constraints.
Jake saw the Sovereign instantly change direction as it charged toward the fleeing Jake... unaware it was chasing shadows. Fully constrained, Jake moved slowly to free himself as the Rainbowfeather Sovereign crashed down upon his Eternal Shadow like a meteor, tearing it apart entirely before continuing down and slamming into the ground.
A shockwave of force washed over Jake, and a moment later, he heard its cry of anger upon realizing it had been tricked. Jake knew he was still in a tricky situation, but luckily, the Warlord had weakened a lot at this point. It was already dying, and while Jake’s explosions had primarily been to obscure the vision of the Sovereign, it had also helped speed up the Warlord’s demise.
To fully free himself, Jake also took out Eternal Hunger as he forced his arm free. Throughout the fight, Jake hadn’t even needed to use his built-up Hunting Momentum, but now he unleashed all of it at once. With full power, he stabbed the ghostly version of the Warlord that let out a faint screech before he lost all focus in his eyes, and as Jake felt the last whispers of life leave the Simivita, he knew he had successfully slain his first B-grade.
Not that he had any time to celebrate the notifications or even the two levels gained. A beam of rainbow light shot toward Jake as he was still restrained, as the spirit fog faded away. All Jake could do was angle his body slightly to the side, making the beam strike him in the shoulder where it pierced straight through before continuing to embed itself in a tree... after passing through two others first. As the energy faded, Jake saw it had been a single feather, with its origin approaching Jake swiftly.
Gritting his teeth, Jake tore away the rest of the spectral limbs that no longer contained any strength, as the rest of the spirit fog would soon be fully dispersed. Just in time, too, as Jake had to avoid three more feathers as he fled to the side, trying to get away from the Rainbowfeather Sovereign.
He had only briefly seen the creature and only experienced a few attacks, but from that alone, one thing had become absolutely clear:
It was far more powerful than the Simivita Warlord.
“Even in death, that damn ape couldn’t prove useful,” a voice echoed throughout the jungle as the Rainbowfeather Sovereign floated forward. “I hoped to finish this quickly, but it appears that will not happen.”
Jake quickly took out his bow as he prepared to go on the offensive.
“You killed my kin. Slaughtered the expansion I ordered made within this area. For that, I’m obligated to seek vengeance, no matter who or what you are,” the Rainbowfeather Sovereign said with a sigh. “Such is my Path.”
Arrows curved around trees as they came for the B-grade, but the Rainbowfeather dodged both as he shot out his own feathers in return, and to Jake’s surprise, they could also curve as four came straight for Jake.
Dodging out of the way while returning fire and continuing to move, he expected the Sovereign to lose his location. However, to Jake’s surprise, the B-grade accurately located him continually, no matter how much he moved around the dense jungle. What was even weirder was that Jake knew the bird couldn’t actually see him, yet it was aware of his location.
Jake began to retreat, and when the distance reached about five hundred meters, the B-grade finally gave chase. Right then, Jake also detected something. It was subtle, but the Sovereign was giving off an odd sound, one that Jake couldn’t actually hear, but he faintly felt the movements of the sound waves through the jungle.
Echolocation? Jake asked himself as he realized how the Rainbowfeather could see him. These birds were natural experts in sound magic, and this was evidently just another application of it, as the B-grade could seemingly create something similar to Jake’s Sphere of Perception through sound.
However, it appeared that the range was limited to about five hundred meters, which was far less than Jake’s own Pulse of Perception. It was larger than his constantly active Sphere of Perception, though that wasn’t something Jake couldn’t fix.
For now, he had a far more pressing issue. The Rainbowfeather Sovereign didn’t immediately charge for Jake but simply sought to keep him within a couple of hundred meters at all times as the B-grade sent out constant ranged attacks.
Usually, this kind of situation would be great for Jake. He could dodge every single feather relatively easily, and while the B-grade also dodged Jake’s arrows, he would have confidence in being the first to land a hit under usual circumstances.
This wasn’t the usual circumstances, and Jake realized this Rainbowfeather was a lot more calculating than the Warlord had been. It had observed the fight between the two, and likely concluded that Jake was a threat, which made the Sovereign approach the fight using the safest strategy it could come on:
Buying time.
While Jake had beaten the Warlord convincingly, the fight had still consumed a lot of energy. What’s more, Jake had activated his boosting skill fully, effectively putting him on a timer. Meanwhile, the Sovereign hadn’t needed to boost itself yet, and its resource pools were full. All the bird needed to do was drag things out long enough, and it would eventually come out victorious.
Jake knew this, and he knew the status quo had to change. He was now experiencing the other side of what Jake had put the Warlord through, and Jake could agree it sucked. The difference between them was that Jake had a lot more means of combat than the ape.
While shooting out arrows, Jake summoned his wings to maneuver better. At the same time, he burned the blood within them, creating a gas cloud that spread as he retreated, forcing the Sovereign to enter if he gave chase.
The B-grade did, but once more had countermeasures as a whirlwind of energy appeared around the bird, pushing away all the gas. Jake wasn’t deterred as he kept creating the poison mist, his arrows also continuing to curve around trees, trying to hit the Sovereign that responded by sending out more feathers.
Shortly after, Jake landed his first arrow. It had curved in from an awkward angle, taking the Sovereign by surprise as it took damage for the first time. Not even ten seconds later, another one landed, Jake having gotten better at making his arrows more unpredictable and making sure more of them would prove problematic at the same time.
Jake didn’t do a lot of damage with these arrows, but the fact he was hitting at all showed that the fight was progressing in Jake’s favor.
“The Rainbowfeather clan is one of the oldest races on this planet. I am fully aware that we are but a small speck of dust in the cosmos, but is our dust. All the races of this world grow up quickly, reaching C-grade within a few years of birth, and within a decade, all are fully grown. This planet is a gift, yet also a curse. This growth makes us powerful fast, yes... but it also limits us. Becoming a B-grade is something that cannot be done unless something extraordinary happens,” the Rainbowfeather Sovereign suddenly spoke despite not letting up its attacks while also taking one more arrow from Jake.
“There are only a few ways to improve our growth. One is through natural resources found throughout the planet, which is why we occupy different territories and compete. The second is through the greatest source of Records this planet receives... hunters,” the B-grade spoke as it closed in, its attack speed increasing while doing so.
“I am fully aware that you think of this as some Hunting Ground. It’s no secret to any of us B-grades, but simply the reality of our existence. You hunt us, but in turn, we also hunt you. You hunters carry Records that are incredibly valuable to us. I became what I am today through consuming the heart of someone others once referred to as a genius. What about you? What shall my kin consume from your body?”
“I don’t know, but I doubt eating me would be healthy. I’m quite toxic, if I say so myself,” Jake responded in a lighthearted tone.
“Then let only the strongest of the young survive consuming your flesh. All it shall do is strengthen the next generation. Your death shall be another warning to never make enemies of the Rainbowfeather clan,” the B-grade said, as it was now within a hundred meters.
That’s when the Sovereign also took things up a notch. Jake felt the movements of mana as the B-grade unleashed a barrage containing hundreds of rainbow-colored feathers that all honed in on Jake from nearly all sides. Blocking them was out of the question as Jake stepped down and sought upwards. While he had wanted to fight the Warlord within the confines of the jungle, he didn’t have the same desire when it came to the Rainbowfeather Sovereign.
The bird wasn’t solely a melee fighter, and it was clearly suited to fighting in the jungle. Jake didn’t even have his spherical vision advantage. Due to that, Jake would prefer to battle in the open air, where neither of them could use the terrain to their advantage.
Teleporting three times, Jake soon appeared far up in the sky as the storm of hundreds of feathers flew out of the jungle below toward him. Jake released hundreds of arcane bolts in return, trying to shoot them down in mid-air, but a few still got through as Jake ended up receiving half a dozen cuts from feathers he couldn’t fully dodge.
Before these feathers could turn around and strike again, Jake released a pulse within his Pride that severed the mental connection the Sovereign had with the feathers for a fraction of a second. That fraction was enough as they all lost power and stopped their flight before harmlessly fluttering in the wind as they fell to the ground.
Despite the pain from his newly received cuts, Jake nocked an arrow and took aim at the Sovereign below. Charging an Arcane Powershot, he waited for the B-grade to give chase, but to his surprise, the bird stayed below, watching.
Jake clicked his tongue as he eventually had to let go of the string. The Sovereign, having nothing else to focus on, effortlessly dodged to the side before bending both of its ostrich-like legs. It went down in a squat before shooting upwards a moment later with absolutely insane speeds.
A blink of an eye later, a clawed hand met katars as Jake found himself pushed back by the sheer momentum of the bird. Jake was sent spinning through the air as he tried to stabilize himself. He thought he had time, but the B-grade instantly changed direction mid-air and was already upon him again, forcing Jake to block a second time as he was blasted away.
Through his sphere, he saw the Sovereign not fly around, but jump. Whenever it pressed its feet hard down, mana gathered instantly, creating stable platforms and allowing the beast to jump rapidly, giving it far greater speed than usual.
“Before D-grade, we Rainbowfeathers are flightless birds. The wings are there to help grant us greater speed as we travel through the jungle, but the true source of our speed lies in the legs,” the Sovereign said as he closed in again.
Jake was ready to block another powerful claw, but instead, the bird twisted its body, created a platform beneath one foot, and used the other to kick forward. Jake barely reacted in time by jumping backwards while blocking with both hands, but the impact still sent his katars smashing into his chest, and he felt the bones in his arms crack in several places.
“And for some of us, our legs also become our greatest weapon,” the Sovereign said confidently, while lowering its leg. “At first, I wanted to finish this swiftly, but you avoided that. Then I wanted to kill you safely, but you also made that difficult. Now, I shall kill you holding nothing back.”
With those words, Jake’s chance of fighting back properly was lowered significantly once more. He was already struggling with the speed of the Rainbowfeather Sovereign, and as the B-grade’s body began to glow with rainbow light and its aura spiked toward the heavens, things were only beginning to look even worse.
Despite knowing this, Jake remained calm and spoke. “You really like hearing the sound of your own voice, huh?”
“Well,” the Sovereign shrugged as it leaned slightly forward. “I am a songbird.”
The B-grade stepped down and practically teleported to appear in front of Jake. In response, Jake stepped down himself a fraction of a second earlier as he teleported to the side, spinning around as he nocked an arrow. With another step, the Sovereign’s taloned foot appeared mere centimeters from Jake’s face as he also teleported once more before releasing his arrow.
His timing had been good, and the Sovereign didn’t even have time to register the incoming attack before an arrow penetrated its feathers and into its flesh. The B-grade let out an annoyed sound as the rainbow energy surrounding its body disintegrated the arrow, but from this one hit, Jake was sure.
The Rainbowfeather Sovereign was stronger than the Warlord. It was faster. Far better at fighting. It likely even had more abilities and methods of combat. However, it was inferior to the Warlord in one crucial aspect:
Durability.
Which meant that if even if things were looking tough, and Jake was confident he had seen far from everything the B-grade had to offer, he still saw a path to victory... though he was on quite a tight timer as his body was already beginning to shown signs of breaking down from overusing his boosting skill.
Comments
Parker Bond
"Which meant that if even if things were looking tough," This has an extra if and should just be "that even if things"
Tony the Tono
For some reason I can't not hear the Sovereign as voiced by Keith David. I'm totally ok with this.
Trumangolorian
Tyftc
Greg Alverson
I dont remeber what he set it too but always felt he was neglecting thjs aspect. I understand him being overwhelmed when it first expanded as soon as he hot c grade but since it will likely expand again at B grase he should have been working all along to be able to take in and process more of what was available to him and get used to it, especially as his stats grew when he leveded and got new titles.
TimeDrawsNigh
> However, it appeared that the range was limited to about five hundred meters, which was far less than Jake’s own Pulse of Perception. It was larger than his constantly active Sphere of Perception, though that wasn’t something Jake couldn’t fix. I thought he set his passive sphere to one kilometer.
Stefan OD Ov3rdose
I am a songbird...
nrcs1995
Shuddap
Frankie Rose
Zogath , great chapter but you need to develop your writing prose. Having this character dialogue move plot is a nice touch. but you do this all the time with all your characters , so in reality we dont really know their true motivations because they end up dead , because we find out you were just setting them up against Jake so you could write another chapter. The only thing you got going that feels sort of natural is Miranda. she sort of has her own motivations and I honestly cannot predict her choices.
Jared
I don’t totally remember but I’m pretty sure he didn’t have his 60% boost active for much of that fight? I think I remember him doing the 30% boost and then the 50% to select stats before 60
Kt-x
Thanks for the chapter
Chloe
Tyftc
KenTX325
One thing that kinda bothers me is Jake hitting the limit on arcane awaking so fast when he fought EllHakan for 10 chapters and went to war with the church and had fewer problems.
Corvid
This bird has the greatest quips. Like, I want Jake to kill him sure. But I also want him to stick around and be his bird friend. Maybe have a fun arc where little Sylphie starts dating the prison bird with a long list of felonies and like 100 kids
Joshua Little
Thanks for the chapter.
SuperAzureReader
Tyftc. Yeah he's probably gonna start understanding the concepts Artemis taught. Also he's finally gonna have some good fights again
David
Exposition bird lol
A Flashy BR
Tyftc
Jay Hatch
I really like this bird. It seems to be very similar to jake in a lot of ways. It uses ranged, melee, and magic attacks. It has something similar to Jake's sphere. It lowest stat is toughness. And it's species is willing to attacks stronger enemies even if it is for different reasons.
bioticisbasic
Tyftc
heltok
Guess this is a good time to finally undertand Artemis’ concepts
Ty Cooper
Lol right. I have never wanted weekends to end so fast before I got hooked on this story
JJB4345_80_815
Yes, thank you for the chappy Zogarth!
Justus Saucedo
I think it was more about Information overload. The was I understood it was it's exponential in terms of info he gets. I don't think Jake will be expanding soon, because he was getting a huge part of Earth iirc just being at C-grade. I do get what you mean. I just don't think Jake wants to push it yet, maybe when he's closer to evolving.
JJB4345_80_815
I think that the Rainbow Feather Songbird is going to get it's picture put on a Milk carton due to it going missing very shortly. ;-)
Thenais
« Perception best stat » would say that bird too
John Durrett
tyftc. Hmmm. Would taking down this RainbowFeather Songbird get its picture on its own cereal box? 2nd thought - seeing Toucan on a cereal box now makes me think its like missing posters for kids, but now reflects the species that Jake is taking out.
John Durrett
Its a bird, not a butler. In many ways losing the fillers in language makes the statement more authentic and impactful.
John Durrett
I would not expect a monster bird to have the speech of a Butler.
DirePants
I was wondering if Jake was going to increase his Sphere’s range. I remember when it upgraded he had to reel it in because it so powerful which led to him creating the Pulse. But he’s gotten stronger since then so he should be able to increase his always active Sphere’s distance. What I’m really curious about is any new powers. Like maybe seeing different details, since apparently it’s the same vision as regular sight. I also keep wondering if he’s connected to the system itself somehow. A few details through the story gives me this impression but I can’t remember all of them lol Anyways what a great battle. Always nice to see Jake on the back foot, fighting something a lot stronger. Its giving Starksy and Hutch vibes “Well let’s see how dems boys goin get themselves outta this mess” 😂😂😂 One more chapter until we reach the cliff. I wonder how it will end?? Maybe a dire situation? The little purple monkey has to come and save him?
Titaniumtac
it had been tricked. Jake knew he was still in a tricky situation, Id change tricked in one place or the other
Brian Schutt
speck of dust in the cosmos, but is our dust. —-should it be “it is our dust”?
Johnny
“Well I am a songbird” is actually a great line
Alec Petherbridge
Tyftc
Harry Fitzsimmons
When is mappa going to make the anime
A
I see some Jake juice in the near future to get out of this mess.
Mike
I had completely forgot about that. Jake does learn best in battle with his life on the line so it's time for an Archery skill upgrade. Think we will see a significant name change or just a new word added?
Mike
Yeah I don't really see Jake killing the Rainbow Feather Sovereign next chapter, so I am expecting quite the cliff hanger.
Rewdan
Friday’s cliffhanger is going to be unbearable🫣. Thanks Zogarth
Ty Cooper
Tftc! Glad the birdy is pushing Jske. Get some upgrades
brjenness
Everybody disagrees with me, but I wouldn't mind Jake getting a butt whooping
Dan
Cant wait to see what kind of cliffhanger he has in store for us
brjenness
I can't help compare the birds melee style to a video I once saw. Tall athletic gay black man using some of the sassiest judo and Tae kwondo you've ever seen to teach his sisters ex a lesson. Every move had a little extra flair,
Dan
The Sovereign hitting Jake back with his own sass had me chuckling
brjenness
Bird might win and realize it's a bad idea to kill. Jake. Of course Jake won't surrender. But sylphie will show up and birdman falls in love. sylphie makes Jake stop fighting Sylphie doesn't immediately shut birdman down. L9ve wise. He is a songbird A troop of rainbow loons end up living at Jake's cabin
Michael Ferguson
Time. It's buying time. The theme of this hunt.
ABTelford
Ooh! This is turning into an awesome battle saga!
Phasmatic7
Thankies
Harbby
lol, I like this bird. Too bad he has to die
Abdulaziz ALRumaih
Fuck us, it’s Thursday!!!!!
Samuel Nelson
*bread* and butter
Ender419
Great f*cking chapter!! Tomorrow’s cliffhanger is going to be a nailbitter because we know that is when it will reach the apex of the fight. Damn I love-hate-appreciate you Zog for this amazing story!
Ender419
Let’s GO!!! This sounds like an intro to a battle of the game, DiveKick.
Zuuuuuri
I swear to god zogarth is rearing up to concept cliffhanger us with time archery
Zuuuuuri
Taste the rainbow taken to a new extreme
Alexander C Hyde
I am fully aware that we are but a small speck of dust in the cosmos, but (it) is our dust.
Beemoss
Tftc
Imox
Tyftc
Aaditya Ravindran
Doomfoot vs Swiftfoot; Round 2; Fight!
dash w
Thanks for the chappy
PatienceHoney
Of course this is a better fight. He's fighting a bird! Not an awesome bird, but a bird none the less.
Xander
TFTC :) Skill upgrades and knife edge situations ahoy :) Gonna take this opportunity to remind you of the words "maelstrom" and "zenith" since I fear we will get quite a few apexes and whirlwinds from this fight else :) Suggested edits: Ch. 1116 Listening through the edits from yesterday I spotted something I missed first time round "Facing off against the *relatively weaker*," either "relatively weak" or "weaker" Having two comparative terms together is incorrect. Ch. 1117 "The B-grade bird ignored Jake’s attack as it easily deflected *Jake’s* arcane bolts" kinda odd using Jake's name twice here. maybe just "the" instead? "approach the fight using the safest strategy it could *come on*:" again odd phrasing. Maybe just ditch those two words? or "devise" instead:? "Which meant that *if* even if things were looking tough," extra word "beginning to *shown*signs of breaking down" should be "show"
Cory S.
Happy to see Jake being pressured.
Shane
The safest strategy it can WHAT on???
Matthias
Tftc
Dave
Tftc
Staudi
Tyftc
Arieh Sochaczevski
Thanks for the chapter!
Michael Ferguson
What if Jake has to run? Then gather some better poisons to kill this bird.
Tyler S.
Only to have a conversation and a plee to not be attacked as well
Grant Anderson
Path* not bath 😂
Profile Name
Tyftc
Grant Anderson
Zogarth, TFTC! This has been some of the best banter/info from an opponent via dialogue. I loved the sharky reply of "well I am a song bird." For Jake to be facing an opponent that not only embraces it's bath but also understands it is a lot of fun to read.
Jason Hardman
TYFTC! Minor typo: Which meant that if even if things were looking tough -> meant that even if
C0bra$
Thank u for the story
Michael Ferguson
Records for records. Maybe they both get an upgrade as they fight. I'm pumped!
Michael Ferguson
I'm a bit curious to see how Jake will handle it if his boost runs out. Can a potion fix it quickly? Is there a debuff timer? I'd like to see Jake pull a win out of a shity situation.
IntenseSushi
Tftc
Shaibene
Skill upgrade coming in....
Cody K
Can't wait for the Mantis B-Grade to show up after the bird and Jake having to call on his connection with the Endless Empire to not have to fight a third B-Grade with no resources.
Michael Ferguson
Good opening round one! Jake is going to have a ruff ride with boost coming to backlash.
Unwillingmainer
Now for a proper fight. Solo against a stronger opponent is Jake's break and butter. Time to see who can pull better bullshit out their ass before Jake's boosting skill ends.
Daniel Everest
Now we get to witness a proper fight once more
Connor
Thanks for the chapter
TyranT-Rex
Momentous SCHWING
TwistedVanity
Thank you
Sylphie
REE!
Unlisted Pokémon Hudson
first
