Hidden ability
The monstrous bird spread its wings wide and came running towards my position. Upon reaching me it began to peck hard at the ground. I desperately rolled side to side to get away from its constant pecking.
‘Enough, no, stop. Stop I say!’
It looked like a chicken pecking at the ground looking for food… the problem was that the food turned out to be me.
‘Really, don’t be such an idiot trying to eat a stone! I’m not tasty! One moment, birds sometimes swallow pebbles to help their digestion… Anyway, leave me alone!’
Every peck left a deep hole in the ground. If it could reach me, I was more than dead. I kept rolling on the ground while it chased me flapping for at least five minutes. Objectively, the scene was terribly stupid… but not for me! I didn't even have time to defend myself!
‘I’m going to die! I’m going to die! I’m going to die!’
Craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
After a loud cry that echoed throughout the room, the bird stopped abruptly. Taking advantage of the fact that it stopped, I moved away as much as I could, although a bad feeling reached me.
‘I don’t like this.’
Its gaze grew even sharper. It gave a quick flap and something flew away from its wings. It was so fast that I couldn’t react. When I looked to my sides I found a multitude of feathers nailed to the wall and the ground. Yes, typical of birds, throwing feathers like blades.
‘Heh, heh, you missed.’
However, I could almost see how a smile was drawn on its face. Obviously one can’t see a smile on a bird, but I could feel it!
‘That bastard is making fun of me!’
Angry by that attitude, and taking advantage of the fact that it just attacked, I returned the attack. My mana cannon hit him right in the face.
‘What? Do you like that? Well, I have more!’
I fired consecutively again. When it saw the shots of the mana cannon approaching it, he took flight. That made it quite difficult for me to hit, even so, I kept shooting.
[Ability “Mana cannon” is now at level 2.]
‘Oh, that's great.’
At last, my only ranged weapon leveled up. Its speed increase was pleasantly remarkable. Thanks to that I was able to land more hits. I cannot say anything about if its power increased since it was impossible for me to know how much damage it was doing to that bird.
Craaa! Craaa! Craaa!
Probably annoyed by my attacks, it started throwing feathers again. We started an exchange of projectiles, that in the end became us shooting and dodging without stopping. This bird was the first monster in the entire dungeon that had shown any ability, and I doubted that was the only one it had.
Our battle led to nothing, and bored of our exchange, it landed again. I shot it as soon as it stepped on the ground. However, it decided to ignore it completely. Apparently, the mana cannon didn’t do much damage and the bird got tired of playing.
Craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
That squawk didn't come alone. The moment it opened its beak, a gust of wind was shot toward me. It was not a simple wind meant to push. No, that wind cut like a sharp blade. I was engulfed by the wind and slammed me against the wall. That cutting wind was able to slightly break the brick and embed me in it.
Status:
Name: Peter Gravel
Kind: Magic stone | Race: -
Level: 10 | Experience: 4905/11524
HP: 9/60 | MP: 14/120 | Mana well: 0/400
_________________________
For the first time in all the battle, I checked my status. It was surprising that I had survived that direct hit. If my body were made of flesh and blood I would have ended up being minced meat.
‘Damn… That was unexpected. I also left the mana out of control, another fatal mistake. Here is the farthest I reach?’
Probably that bird noted that I was still alive or wanted to assure that the work was finished since it began to approach me dangerously. His beak looked like a sharp spear that threatened to pierce my nonexistent heart and end my short week of life… or whatever you call it.
‘No, I’m not giving up yet. I won’t while I have a choice!’
I put all my concentration on the scant land that surrounded me. The only thing that went through my head was: “Defend yourself from its attack”, “Don’t let it hit you”, “Block, block its charge”.
My mana blew up in less than a second. The feeling of being empty came to me stronger than ever. Still, I didn't stop concentrating on the ground.
‘Damn land, even if I don’t have any mana left, obey me dammit!’
Finally, as if fulfilling my desperate plea, the floor rose. A wall grew to the ceiling… just as the bird was about to hit me.
Craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
The wall had risen just below the bird and swept it away. We both got trapped, me on the wall and it on the ceiling.
[Hidden ability Awakened: Trump.]
‘Ah? Hidden ability? What is that?’
Seems that at the last second I had just pulled out a trump card from my sleeve. My bewildered mind still didn't quite understand what just happened or how. Fortunately, unlike with the other skills, a screen opened in front of me with the description without needing to ask for it.
[Trump: Builds a strong and sturdy stone wall that uses the enemy's mana to be created. The higher the amount of mana used, the more resistant it is and the longer it takes to disappear. It can only be used once every 7 days.]
I was stunned looking at the description. It was as if the earth magic had been combined with the parasitize to create a skill intended solely for me.
‘Yes, is literally my trump card… I finally got a cheat ability! Even though it has a cooldown… quite high…’
¡Craaa! ¡Craaa! ¡Craaa!
The squawking of that bird brought me back to reality. It was still on the wall, trying with all its might to get out. True, it was a skill aimed at defending oneself, not at ending the enemy.
Status:
Name: Peter Gravel
Kind: Magic stone | Race: -
Level: 10 | Experience: 4905/11524
HP: 9/60 | MP: 3/120 | Mana well: 0/400
_________________________
‘I can’t relax now. According to the description, that wall won’t last forever and my mana will take a long time to recover enough to be able to continue attacking, although it doesn’t seem like my attacks will do much damage either…’
The room was still completely closed, I had no way to escape without killing the boss. It was kill or be killed, there was no other choice. I got up to the ceiling with mold earth, until I was right next to the immobilized bird.
My offensive skills didn’t seem to do much damage, but I had something that no monster could stop, no matter the level or grade. As it could not move, I started using the parasitize in the same way as I did with the spider until the bird took its last breath.
[You have gained 16875 experience points.]
[Your level has risen to 11. Because of your kind, the stats can’t go up.]
It took a long time, but in the end it also died helpless, as the spider. Well, putting up enough war to continually make me feel anxious. I took so long to knock it out of HP that the parasitize even went up to level three in the meantime.
‘That was a lot of experience. There is no doubt, unlike everything I have killed so far, this was a much higher grade monster.’
The doors that blocked the exit and the stairs opened just at that moment. The path to the next floor was cleared.
‘And most likely it was simply grade 3...’
I rolled a couple of times without taking my eyes off the corpse of that bird on my way to the next floor. I would probably regret my decision, but I still fell down the steps. What I found in the end…
‘Of coooourse, the most normal in the world. What’s right after a lush, wet jungle? A huge, hot, and dry desert… A fucking desert full of sand!’