25 Manipulative point-chaser

William's effort was exemplary for sure, he broke many firmly-set principles just to tolerate these troublesome creatures. If his decision wasn't reward oriented, then this patience would look unrealistic.

But yet, hard work didn't always lead to success, no. This great albino owl got agitated beyond boundaries for some odd reason, its anger spread across the scene like a canvas. And thanks to such rage, the offer of peace got completely rejected!

In an instant, its wings stretched entirely outwards! Through that same process, countless hisses escaped from the creature's palm-sized beak.

At last, the same bird shouted. "How you know of great three? Thief! You stole owl treasures!"

Before the snakes could have refused such an accusation, this brute creature swiftly flapped its large wings forward! In exchange, William was swept off his feet and was tossed right through a dense bush!

Olivia had a bit more luck, just because she had not been on the owl's trajectory. But regardless, she still crashed against the dirt-enhanced grass and tumbled a few times as well.

Although such a fate was rough, she cared about the boy's safety more than her own. Likewise, she desperately sought the other, instantly after the crash.

Through a holler, the brunette anxiously questioned. "Willy, are you okay!"

Once it was considered how easily her friend had been knocked away, only the worst was expected. But contrary to these rough odds, the boy bounced surprisingly fast out of that bush.

One would think that such a bold pace craved violence, especially since he held on to that rusty sword as if for dear life. But, the young one wanted to use his brain instead.

That was why he slowly taunted, "We didn't steal your precious little treasures, but someone did, right? Otherwise you wouldn't even be out here, you hid for seven thousand summers!"

Such a speech was too long, especially since this situation demanded a few quick words, but his effort partially worked. These feathery freaks listened, and tried to comprehend the matter.

Now since he bought this much time, the boy felt confident enough to pressure. "We found one of your pyramids, your powerful triangles, and we touched it! Thanks to us, that big ass mountain is peaceful now!"

After such a statement had been uttered, the opposition's eyes widened in shock. Now, for some reason this same troublesome group was either scared or nervous!

These beasts have become hesitant, and were almost docile once more. Likewise, all that prior effort from the younger one's side, seemed worthwhile!

Even Olivia was impressed, which was why she slightly hollered. "Good job, you're confusing them with your crazy words! Never thought that would help us."

"Yeah... thanks?" William answered.

He wanted to process the lady's enthusiasm, but couldn't afford to lose focus.

That was why he peeked at the owls again, and brought back the main topic. "We'll help you find the other pyramids, you'll be able to worship them again or whatever. I don't wanna deal with the angry bastards around here either, let's settle for peace."

The young one felt positive that he offered a great deal, better than these feathery beasts could comprehend. But the situation was quick to develop towards another topic.

That one albino owl, who spoke in the name of its entire group, crawled forward again. After its long wingspan tightened in, the creature asked a question that was tricky to answer.

For once, the opposition craved knowledge and questioned. "You got light from our treasure? How? Triangle is great owl ancestry, you aren't blood of us."

By now, it was painfully obvious how much these birds valued those supposedly great pyramids, they were obsessed with those little things.

William noticed these over-dramatic emotions, likewise, he aimed to manipulate this visible weakness.

With that in mind, he confidently pressured. "We aren't your blood, but your treasure showed us its secret, the light. So are we really your enemies? Think about it, your pyramid accepted us." 

At last, the boy also taunted through a smirk, "You don't want to shame those ancestors of yours, right? You don't have the guts to disrespect the pyramids!"

After that point, every single one of these feathery creatures had been forced towards self-conflict. They even backed away for a few feet, just to buy themselves some space.

Their primitive minds craved violence but their bodies urged tradition, which created a stir of unpleasant emotions. But indefinitely, they simply couldn't harm those souls which the great pyramids accepted.

Unsurprisingly, the flock of birds started to argue amongst one another. Squeals, bickers and hoots echoed out of their beaks, yet it was impossible to understand what they talked about.

These fiends spoke in some weird and possibly ancient language, quite unique. In many ways, this species as a whole was extremely isolated; so such a foreign representation wasn't a big surprise.

To a certain extent, their speech didn't even sound animalistic. They didn't just go hoo-hoo all the time, but spoke out long and advanced sentences instead; one could notice a degree of complexion.

While those creatures sunk deeper to their given topic, William eyed a couple pieces of iron that he wanted to own and grew a crave for.

"Hmmm... maybe I can get those as a welcoming gift?" The boy thought.

As it was mentioned earlier on, each of these opponents carried iron weaponry. Contrary to what was expected from an ancient civilisation, these swords were actually exquisite.

Each collection of smelted metal they carried had an odd, but yet satisfactory shape. All and all, it seemed that these owls preferred long and slim swords, perhaps it befitted their body size?

Anyway, the young man wanted a pair of swords which belonged to that one brown owl, who labeled these friends as thieves. This specific bird had decent weapons which stretched over a meter long.

These pieces of deadly metal were surprisingly thin, equal to a piece of dried leather even. One would think that any swing could break these iron swords in half, but complexion was surely hidden between this oddity; its secretive features were attractive.

"I'll get those, they'll be mine soon." He firmly decided.

However, that crave was pushed aside for now, as other matters demanded attention. Since the snakezoids achieved a pocket of time, they didn't hesitate to converse between one another.

Olivia got close to the boy and whispered, "Didn't you go too far? You played with their feelings."

Unapologetically, William answered. "If they wanna go crazy over those little triangles, let them. It's not our fault that they choose stupidity over reasoning."

At that moment, all twelve owls of the flock stretched their necks up. They darted deep glares towards the two supposedly civilized people, but their next step was difficult to predict.

Once those strong gazes were considered, only the worst could be expected. Just now, the boy remembered that owls had overly developed ears, so it surely was a bad idea to talk about that same group's stupidity.

Yet contrary to everything that was expected, these birds simply beamed up towards the sky and used the forest's dense tree-life to disappear swiftly!

In an instant, Olivia pointed out. "Great, you made them mad."

"Yeah, because all beasts fly away when they're pissed. Do they look like teenagers to you?" The boy snapped back.

It was difficult to understand what suddenly happened. One way or the other, these two wholeheartedly expected the enemy to attack! The details about this matter were a strong blur, but thankfully the system decided to dispel all confusion.

A blue tab popped up on the boy's sight, and it assured. [You have successfully made peace with those owls, therefore the side-task related to it has been marked as complete.]

Most importantly, the lady in his head also confirmed. [Of course you'll get the priorly mentioned reward as well. Two-hundred system points have been added to your sum.]

Well, the reward felt nice to grasp for sure. But most importantly, in his weird way, William made peace with those creatures; such an achievement surely weighed value.

Yet characteristically, the boy focused on what the system announced next.

[You have a total of seventeen-hundred and fifty-five system points to your possession,] This quantity was surely large, dependable even.

However, the lady in his head encouraged. [It's imperative to buy another upgrade, you're in constantly hostile territory so it's not smart to rely on dumb luck.]

That advice hurt the younger one, as he understood how much currency a single upgrade could deplete. Yet his curiosity was stronger, so it was inevitable to submit.

But first, he had to slowly answer one of the countless questions that the other snakezoid asked. 

William softly assured, "Yeah, I think those dumbasses are gone now, so we're safe."

Eager to go a bit off-topic, the brunette expressed. "God... never thought that triangle worshippers exist, so weird."

As he tried to avoid extensive conversations, William pitched. "Yeah... anyway let's eat something. Pretty sure we slept for like a day, the sun's out again."

He was hungry for sure, but also sought a spot where he could properly analyze the only other intelligence upgrade available. In this cruel environment, it wasn't a bad idea to be more prepared.