24 Peace or war?

Although he was barely conscious due to the prior long slumber, William still felt confident enough to take the lead of this conversation.

Oddly enough, he wasn't even intimidated by the iron weaponry which each of these birds carried.

On the contrary he glared right at the owl's beak, and muttered out a few sharp edged words.

"We're out here on a picnic, can't you see that we had a nice meal?" The boy taunted.

Slowly and through a stutter, that one pale beast followed along. "Picnic...? What is? Eat worm in own mountain, here is owl home."

Well, these creatures noticeably didn't understand sarcasm. They were smart for wild animals, but had an IQ which likely struggled to break above fifty points. So it wasn't easy to taunt them with clever puns.

Nevertheless, William was motivated enough to try again. "The worms in our home aren't big enough, we want your fat ones here."

After that point, Olivia finally covered the other's mouth, and urged him to quit this nonsense.

Through a soft tone, she encouraged. "Maybe I should deal with them, sweetie. You're not the kindest snake and all."

Then, the lady slowly stood up and darted her attention towards the biggest owl here. She seeked a solution through those darkened eyes, regardless if that wish was possible or not.

So at first, the brunette complimented. "Guys... and uh, girls? Since when do you live here? Y'all look so great and strong."

It was difficult to seduce these feathery animals, it seemed as if she bargained with crazed people. Chances were that these owls barely understood what she said!

But thankfully, in slight cooperation the albino fellow answered. "Owls of great three, survive seven thousand summers. We are time."

William wanted to taunt these birds again, and he figured out a great pun as well. But his effort was halted by the brunette, who noticed what the troublemaker wanted to do.

Almost instantly, she covered the boy's mouth again. And to encourage a bit of dominance, the lady widened her eyes dramatically.

In respect to this strong demand, William kept quiet and stood close to the other one.

As for Olivia, she proceeded with her soft chatter. "Great three huh? That sounds pretty cool, what does it mean?"

A blink of an eye later, this big owl spread its wings just slightly, and hurriedly bounced backwards. Its manly tone deepened in anger, and harsh curses flowed like a river!

"Oh no... What did I say? Why're they mad now?" The lady muttered, as her anxiety spiked up.

This scene developed to an unfavorable point, there was a lot to observe right now. Apart from the drama that enveloped this situation, there were more details that demanded attention.

For example, thanks to that beast's hasty actions, numerous white and flawless feathers spread across the air. Perhaps that one swift bounce was overdone, as even a big bird shouldn't lose so many feathers all at once.

Worse yet, Olivia toppled over! That strong breeze which the spooked owl splashed against her, truly packed a punch!

"Wohoho wow!" She lightly shouted, and tried to preserve her head.

In the meantime, the opponent's neck stretched a half meter long, in whatever way that worked? This same neck twisted once, before the creature screeched and locked eyes with the lady!

Afterwards it shouted, "You want owl secrets? Thief!"

"No! I was just curious because your name sounds great!" She answered nervously, and slowly got up on her feet.

"Lies! Maybe snake face stole the three!" A big, brown feathered owl broke into the conversation.

While this drama unraveled, William observed from the background. And once he saw how hazardous this situation became, any solution whatsoever was marked as mandatory.

Through a swift mumble, he decided. "Yeah, I've had enough of this bullshit."

Afterwards he focused on the biggest animal here, and didn't hesitate to blast out a concentrated neuro-shock. This comeback was hot headed for sure, but he didn't want to beg these owls for mercy!

However, contrary to what was expected, the target didn't throw a tantrum after the shot landed. In fact, this feathery albino didn't react to the slightest!

"What the hell?" The young snakezoid muttered.

This was odd for sure, he couldn't figure out how the target resisted the attack, that neuro-shock was highly concentrated as well. Yet somehow, this enemy didn't even flinch!

Thankfully Olivia still tried to reason with these creatures, which gave her friend a bit of space to figure things out.

In the meantime, her comrade's vision was occupied by a system tab. Bits of knowledge were requested by the boy, as he craved to understand the odds and ends.

This one window featured the enemy's brain, and deciphered how tolerant each lobe was. Unsurprisingly, this creature had a few weak spots.

But that only perplexed the matter even further, so he had to speak out against it.

Through a thought, William asked. "Huh? This overgrown chicken is so dumb, why didn't its brain explode!"

He had reasons to complain, as the tab here didn't make much sense.

For example, the creature's limbic lobe, which was responsible for a lot of emotions, wasn't neurologically developed. That portion's vulnerability rate was down to fourteen-percent as well, so failure didn't make any sense.

"I'm gonna try again, shouldn't be too hard to win... it's a bird, come on!" William scolded himself.

Undoubtedly, he was ready to try again. But thankfully, the system decided to shed light across this cloud of uncertainty.

She casually recited, [These owls are smarter than any animal you battled before. So just because its brain has a weak-spot, it doesn't mean you're powerful enough to penetrate it.]

"But I'm smarter than a damned bird," William ragefully thought.

[Correct, but you are not smart enough to fry its head. It's not easy to blast waves of electricity out of your head, how much intelligence do you think it requires?] The system helped to understand.

"Oh hell... then this is bad." The young man admitted.

Just now, he acknowledged that Olivia still tried to reason with these wild nihilists. The scene wasn't funny anymore, on the contrary it was sad.

One side tried so hard to encourage peace, while the other side craved the opposite. It was a heart ache to see the brunette be this stressed out, she didn't deserve it. 

Of course, William didn't plan to stand idly by either.

Intelligence-based attacks weren't enough to battle these enemies, but perhaps a bit of iron could do the trick? The boy still had that one rusty sword sheathed in his leather scabbard, once more he wanted to use it.

"Let's hope that these owls taste like chicken," The snakezoid thought.

Clearly his pace was overconfident, but that was the only thing he could rely on right now. They dwelled too deep into this mess anyway.

Yet right before he could cause some trouble, a certain detail enslaved his attention.

These creatures had a familiar, triangular mark on their feathers; it spread right across their chests. This signature was half a foot wide, obviously small.

However, one thing could not be a coincidence. All of these owls had the same sign imprinted on their feathers, this fact intrigued the observer!

So after he figured out a conclusion, William mumbled. "Hmmm... it all makes sense now, that's why they're mad."

Yet before he could do anything, the system suddenly announced. [Your criteria is potent enough to handle a new task, tread carefully.]

[Side-task number three = Make peace with this odd species of owls.] She specified.

And then punctuated, [Upon completion, you'll be rewarded with two-hundred system points.]

"Well... it's probably worth a shot, peace it is." The snakezoid muttered, and tightened his teeth.

His whole consciousness craved basically any other idea. Serenity with someone who craved the opposite, was a route that he urged to avoid.

Yet the reward was attractive enough, it could not be ignored or set aside for later.

So he leaped right towards the scene, and pitched. "Freaky owls, I have an offer for you."

In all ways possible, no one here understood what the young one meant. But, everyone's attention was utterly captured.

Undoubtedly, he used this chance right away. "I know that someone has stolen your three treasures, your pyramids! But don't worry, we can help you find them!"