Vicious Flying Creature

"Adrianopolis?" Tombas ask.

"Yeah. I named it after my name. It's okay, right?"

"I guess so. At least it's better than my 'City of New Dunirr, The Beginning of Greatness'."

Adrian said, "W-Well, at least you have a good naming sense. Too bad that long name hardly sticks in people's minds." Inwardly, he was stupefied with it, 'That's way too long...and cringe'. He didn't say it out loud and hurt Tombas's feelings.

"Let's announce the name to everyone," said Tombas.

Adrian nods.

Tombas stepped on the tree roots and shouted. "Everyone, may I have your attention?"

The Dunirrs stop working and gather around their former chief with the current one standing beside him. Adrian decides to give the spotlight to Tombas.

After some fake cough, Tombas starts speaking, "I am here today with the mandate given to me by Chief Adrian hereby announcing that the name of our new settlement is Adrianopolis."

'You don't have to make it sounds too formal. What are you? A politician?' Adrian inwardly screamed. He's kinda afraid about their reaction.

The Dunirrs stand there blankly. A few seconds later...

*Claps* *Claps* *Claps*

"Adrianopolis sound good. Better than my 'City By the Riverside'." said Haja.

Moja replies, "Exactly, it's simple and easy to remember. But I believe 'Healing Dunirr City' might stands a chance."

"..." Adrian is speechless. He doesn't know how to react. In the end, he just leaves them and their terrible naming sense alone.

The commotion about the city's name didn't last long. Everyone resumes their work. There is a lot that needs to be done. Adrian ends up joining the Site Clearance Team (Farmland). The farmland needs to be set up as soon as possible. He didn't want any of them to starve to death. Hunting and gathering can only bring a limited amount of food.

They need to build an irrigation system, granaries and various tools needed to farm.

"Arrghhh! Help! Help!"

As they're working, a scream can be heard near the plaza area. Soon, the panic spread across the entire tribe.

Adrian looks around with a stupefying face. He's a new guy in the tribe and knows nothing about it. What occurrence is this? Is this normal or not? What is the emergency protocol? Various questions come to his mind.

"What happens? What happened?" He asks around but to no avail, each of them is struck with fear.

Haja is the first one to react, "It's an attack! Find a safe place to hide."

"Attack? Who? Don't tell me it's human?"

"No. It's...It's a bird!" said Haja.

"Bird?!"

"Yes. No time to waste, Chief. Grab this weapon and follow me. We need to chase it away or kill it."

He follows Haja from behind with a stone spear in his hand. There, a dark grey plumage with yellow eyes is attacking the Dunirr. His size is around 30 to 35 centimetres.

Adrian squints his eyes, 'Isn't that cuckooshrike? But why does it look kinda big? Is it a South Melanesian cuckooshrike?'

In terms of size, it is slightly bigger than adult Dunirr. However, its flying ability puts Dunirr at a disadvantage position. With a limited range of weapons, Dunirr's attack poses no trouble to the cuckooshrike.

Adrian clearly sees the bird grab Dunirrs with its claw, lift the Dunirr up to a certain height and drop them back to the ground. The fragile Dunirrs either fall down head first and die or break their bones. Its beak is randomly moving left and right, stabbing at Dunirrs' head.

"That bird is smart. It uses its ability well," said Haja.

*Squawk* *Squawk* *Squawk*

"Is that bird laughing at us?" Adrian somehow feels irritated hearing that sound.

"Most likely."

"Then, let's kill that little shit."

Adrian arrives at the scene and immediately shouts, "Somebody brings me a net. We are going to capture and fry this bird. All of you, aim at its wings."

The Dunirr who's in dire need of leadership follows Adrian's order without any question. They keep throwing their stone spears, causing the bird to feel disturbed by the attack. The bird tries to get out of their weapon's range but the group of Dunirrs return at a perfect time.

Adrian stepped to the front. He begins to lure the bird that is flying high in the air to the ground. Fooled by Adrian's movements, the bird ends up making a misjudgement and approaches the ground.

"Throw the net above it now!" An order fluidly comes out of Adrian's mouth.

The Dunirrs obediently follow. Adrian issued the next step, "Everyone gets ready to pull the edge of the net together. Haja, you wait for my order."

Haja nods. Everybody else grips the end of the net tightly.

"Now, pull!!"

The bird is struggling to escape upward as the bird realizes it has been confined under the net.

"Don't let it go. Hold tight with all your strength." Adrian roar. Seeing the favourable situation on their side, the panicking Dunirr begins to calm down and help in capturing the bird.

"Haja, lead a team and attack the bird through the gap of the net." Adrian strugglingly gives out the order. Almost all his strength has been channelled to his arm.

*Stab*

Haja stabs, followed by several other Dunirr. The bird's cry gets louder and louder as it feels the pain all over its body. Head, nape, neck, eyes and wings getting stabbed by spear and arrowhead.

A few minutes later, the bird becomes lifeless. Despite their victory, nobody cheers. The death toll on the Dunirr side reaches almost a hundred. Adrian finally sees Dunirrs' level of weakness. He knows they are weak but he never thought they were this weak. A mere bird causes them many casualties.

Coming back from his thought, Adrian was looked at by hundreds of Dunirr who were full of admiration for him. Apparently, his leadership in the previous battle with the bird has gained him a considerable amount of respect from the Dunirrs.

He makes a fake cough before opening his mouth, "Let's us fry this bird."

The Dunirr tacitly agree with his suggestion.

A few hours later...

All that cleaning and fighting has made him tired. After enjoying the fried bird, his stomach is full. He feels sleepy. Adrian lies on one of the roots, staring at the glistening stars in the sky. As he admired the beautiful scene, his mind began to drift away from reality.

He breathed in the unpolluted air with smells of nature into his body. He never gets this fresh air on Earth. His tiredness and soreness wash away as if it never was there.

Adrian noticed something floating, "Hmm? What's that yellowish-orange light?"

He assumed it was a fireflies since this place is in the middle of a forest. Adrian ignored them and started to close his eyes. But he was stopped from doing so. A voice echoed in his head.

[Mana has been absorbed sufficiently.]

[Initializing...]