Jer Patch
patreon
Chapter 33: Path of Wings and Feathers
🕑 Added 2025-02-24 15:00:09 +0000 UTCAfter the symbol lit up, we hurried down the path. Everyone kept their eyes peeled to the skies, searching for the first of our foes. A massive cliff rose in the distance, and as we traveled it shifted closer and closer to us until we stood right before it.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” said Hammy, stating the obvious. “We gotta go up.”
“Looks that way,” I replied.
A narrow path twisted and turned up the side of the cliff as one option. It switched back several times, with a fairly steep incline in a few sections. Honestly, it didn’t seem difficult.
The second option off to the left included handholds and vines trailing down the vertical cliff face. A few sections flattened out like rest points, but from the bottom, it was hard to tell for sure.
“Two different paths,” I said, still thinking about the vines from the Path of Spikes and Tails. That’d be one heck of a trap here. There needed to be a reason for the second, more difficult option.
“Yes,” said Lenna. “Hammy and Dengu need to take the easier path, but we could take the harder one.”
“Yeah, but I think you’ll need to join them,” I said pointing to the sky.
High above, dots twisted in the air like flies. Back and forth they went, gliding in and out of the clouds.
“No…” muttered Hammy. “Those aren’t fliers, are they? I’ve never seen one before.”
Images of the flying dinosaur that had picked Doc up and dropped him flashed through my mind. Who knew how big the fliers actually got?
“I’ll let you know what I find at the top.” I shrugged and marched over to the harder, more direct path. “Stick together and don’t fall off the cliff.”
Lenna frowned but hurried to keep up as Dengu darted to the easier path, with Hammy right behind him.
I put my spear away and then pulled myself up the first handhold. It reminded me of my tree climbing days, and I quickly fell into a rhythm moving up the handholds. The first vine I got to had a little ledge next to it, and I used insight on the vine, but it appeared to be a plant growing down the cliff. I took a second to peek at the others.
They were only halfway to my position, with how long the switchbacks were. The specks in the sky were bigger now, about the size of quarters, while a few were even larger. I could make out wings.
The last time I’d climbed a cliff, it’d been down, not up, and I’d had a concussion. I’d been lowered like a sack, since I’d been in no condition to climb myself. My growth and levels changed all that. The powerful feeling of being strong flowed through my body as I climbed. I loved it.
Ahead of me, the vine would take me to another rocky area with boulders that seemed vertical.
That had to be the first point of attack.
Readying myself, I launched myself up the vine, focusing on keeping each movement as simple as possible. The less energy I used, the better. After all, I still had three-quarters of the cliff face to go. The boulders marked the halfway point, and that's where I found the first nest.
Tiny winged creatures pecked at me. Their beaks reached my knees, and that’s what they targeted.
I kicked the first off the cliff, followed by the second. They appeared like Microraptors, but smaller and with four wings, each limb covered in feathers that stretched out into wings. The had a rudder-like tail that clearly worked well in flight, but didn’t do much for them on the ground.
[Tiny Tetrad Gracilis, Level 22, Prey, Tasty.]
[Tiny Tetrad Gracilis, Level 22, Prey, Tasty.]
[Tiny Tetrad Gracilis, Level 22, Prey, Tasty.]
[Tiny Tetrad Gracilis, Level 22, Prey, Tasty.]
I didn’t bother killing them, since I wouldn’t get experience. Each one kicked off the edge didn’t reappear immediately, but I assumed they could, you know, fly. Then one didn’t go over the side with a kick, and I used insight.
[Tiny Tetrad Gracilis, Level 25, Prey, Tasty.]
I yanked my knife out and sliced into its wing as it launched itself at me again. It flayed about, missing a wing, and whimpered. I put it out of its misery and it vanished into my inventory. Maybe it tasted like chicken.
I resumed climbing up the boulders, scurrying out of reach of the other tiny ones as they returned to the nest. The boulders led me to another vertical face with cracks dotting the stone face. With a sigh, I mapped a path using the cracks as footholds. It slowed me down. My fingers ached from gripping stone, but I kept going. Now and then I’d glance up to the top, and then the spots in the sky.
They’d grown big enough to use Insight.
[Pterodactylus, Level 28, Prey, Tasty.]
The levels ranged from 28 to 30, which worried me a little. The boss in each of the paths had been around 30, yet if others were level 30 on this path, what did that mean for the boss?
My shoulders started aching in the next section, which included vines. Taking a deep breath, I kept moving until I reached another wider area. I pulled myself over the edge and found myself surrounded by bones. A trail led upward to the left, but another direct path went up the rock face above me.
Immediately, I crouched down and yanked my spear into my hand. A shadow flew overhead, and I crept behind a boulder, leaning under the narrow strip of overhang created by a dent in the cliff. Vines hung down from above, indicating the path upward.
A heavy thud indicated something had landed, and it passed by my hiding spot without seeing me.
[Pterodactylus, Level 30, Prey, Tasty.]
A plan formed, and I quickly got to work. The flier rested on the edge of the level space. Its beak faced the areas to my right, which was toward the path the others were on. Its head bobbed back and forth, but it didn’t so much as look in my direction.
The Ptero’s head twisted to the open skies and its wings stretched on either side of it.
I attacked, and time slowed down for a second as my spear tip sliced through the rightmost wing, tearing a massive hole in the center.
The creature screamed and swung its wing at me, as it stepped back to see what attacked it.
I easily dodged on the ledge.
The beak dove at me, but I danced to the other side side, faster than it.
The creature’s foot hit the air behind it, and its wings suddenly flapped, sending bones and dirt in all directions. The storm of small debris made it hard to see and dust burned my eyes. Something slammed into my shoulder, and pain rippled through my body. I stabbed at it, blinking.
Then screaming echoed up from the stone edge.
[You have gained bonus experience from combat for surviving against a level 30 Pterodactylus. Your experience is banked.]
I blinked, my eyes watering, to clear the dust. Leaning over the edge I couldn’t see it and yanked myself back before I fell. Still, I’d killed it. Too bad I couldn’t claim the heart to eat.
More screams echoed across the sky as a flier spotted the kill below. I jerked back into my hiding spot as several large shapes dove past the cliff edge. After a few moments, I studied the easier path to the right and then the direct path upward.
Kicking myself into gear, I started for the harder path, before pausing and taking out the body of the last flier. I cut it in half, pulling the heart out before tossing it in my mouth.
[You have devoured a Tiny Tetrad Gracilis, and gained the title: Tenacious. You don’t know when to give up, even when the odds are against you.]
That was a strange title. It didn’t even give me any perks. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I’d gotten it from devouring a heart. The Tiny Tetrad didn’t know when to give up, that was for sure.
Something gold sparkled near a depression in the rock face, distracting me.
[Objective: Golden egg 1/5]
The notification didn’t make any sense. My head tilted to one side, but I tossed it into my inventory without a problem before deciding not to worry about it without more information. I approached the rock face and went back to work pulling myself up.
***
My arrows kept the fliers off our backs, but it was slow going with them circling overhead. Now and then one dived, making us pause and ready ourselves. Staring upward slowed me down as well. Suddenly, a scream echoed through the area. I froze, staring off toward where Alex had vanished. The dark shapes flying above us vanished.
“What was that?” I whispered to myself.
“I bet Alex is having fun.” Ham’s head snapped up. Sweat poured down his back and soaked parts of his clothing. “I hate saying this, but we should use the opening to gain more ground fast…”
That was a great idea.
His dark eyes hardened as he stared at the trail ahead of us. “Dengu, can you give Lenna a lift?”
Dengu chirped and padded closer to me with a steady gaze.
‘Ride.’
Riding on his back going uphill would slow him down, unlike in the jungle, but I could keep watch without being as slow watching my footing as well.
“What about you?”
“I’ll keep up,” said Ham as he wiped some sweat off his forehead. “I wish I had some water though.”
I climbed on Dengu’s back after tossing my water pouch at Hammy. “Don’t lose it.”
He took a long draught and stretched upward before he suddenly took off jogging up the trail.
Dengu chirped and darted after him, me relaxing into his back.
My eyes searched the skies, but for the moment nothing stalked us from above.
Dust rose with each of Ham’s footsteps, but he kept up the faster pace through two more switchbacks. From Dengu’s back, I noticed a few fliers return to the sky, but they were flying away from us.
“They’ve gone different directions,” I called.
Ham slowed down immediately and almost stumbled. “Good, I need a break…”
“A quick break would be good.” I lowered my bow and stretched out each of my fingers. The heat pounded on us from above, and my skin felt warm to the touch. I missed the tall trees and the shadowed canopy. My skin didn’t blend into the dark slate of the cliff.
Ham leaned against a rock, and then surprisingly unlatched himself from his armor.
“Ham?”
“When I run it rubs wrong. It wasn’t built for quick movements…” He pulled at the cloth stuck to his back.
That’s when I noticed the hole created in his shirt from the metal spine. Bright red covered the area, which shocked me.
“Your skin’s red!” The only place that ever changed color on the humans were their cheeks; they blushed like we did. But this looked painful, like a rash.
“Yeah, it's bothering me.”
“Let me…” I jumped off Dengu’s back, pulling the wooden container of goop off my belt, and twisted the lid off. I slathered some of the goop on the red area.
Ham winced, then goosebumps rose along his skin.
Dengu chirped twice.
‘Shiny.’
Something bright glittered just off the trail, and after putting away the goop I picked it up.
[Objective: Golden Egg 1/5]
“Strange…” It felt solid, like a rock. “I think there's more to this trial than we thought.”
Ham’s checks blushed a bright red before he examined the object. He held the water bag out to me, staring at the trail ahead. “We should get moving.”
“Yes, let’s get this over with.”
***
I didn’t know how much time had passed, but the sun beat down on me as I pulled myself over the cliff’s edge. Staring at the blue skies and clouds didn’t help, so I pushed myself into a sitting position before yanking out my canteen and drinking water.
The cool beverage helped as I stood up, stretching my poor shoulders. Everything from my fingertips to my shoulders ached. It felt like I’d lost some skin from my fingertips, but gained calluses in other areas. My poor feet in my boots were suffering.
A rock stood near the area where the easier trail reached the top. Currently, it faintly glowed in the sunlight. I studied the rest of the area, my stomach dropping at seeing what was next.
“Oh, fuck.”
The sound of someone coming up the other path drew me back to the trailhead.
Surprisingly, Hammy marched first, followed by Dengu, with Lenna on his back. All of them were covered in sweat and dust.
“Alex, we found an egg thing…” Hammy’s voice trailed off as he saw beyond me. “What the ever living fuck?”
