Tired

'Why me?'

That's all Aster could think at the moment.

Thanks to [Enhanced Vision], he could see the upcoming threats flying towards him and it did nothing but bring despair.

Although [Glide] helped him stay in the air quite long, it's not flight, freely maneuvering through the air is impossible and it drained quite a bit of mana too. He was severely weakened and wounded and now he's being forced to fight mid air.

'Wait, maybe I can ride on top of one?'

Maybe this was a blessing in disguise.

He quickly looked at his current state.

[Hp:347/1,090]

[Energy: 891/1,460]

[Mana: 59/1,000]

[Mana: 57/1,000]

*Sigh*

He brought up the shop panel and bought a 10 meters long rope and a lesser mana restoration potion, spending 2,000 credits.

He put the rope around his shoulder and drank the magical liquid, restoring 500 points of mana then braced himself for what's coming.

"SCREEEEEE"

A shadow appeared on top of Aster and brandished its talons, trying to grab him. He dived straight down as a response

The monster gave another screech and dived down after him, its fledglings following after it.

Now that they were incredibly close, Aster could see what they looked like. They looked similar to an American bald eagle except that it was bigger than a rhino, had pitch black eyes, and all of its feathers were dark brown. The other 4 had silvery feathers and were smaller but big enough if Aster wanted to mount them.

[[True sight Lv 1] has been activated]

[Race: Freedom Eagle]

[Level: 49]

[Rank: Rank 1, standard]

[Core: Stage 4/9]

[Hp: 830/830] [Energy: 3791/4200] [Mana: 200/200]

[Strength: 78] [Agility:282]

[Endurance: 420] [Vitality:83]

[Mana: 20] [Intelligence: 12]

[Dexterity:184] [Perception: 98]

[Elemental affinity: Wind(0.31)]

[Physical damage: 234, Defense(External): 166, Defense(Internal):83, Magic damage: 120]

[Passive skills: Enhanced Vision Lv 10, Mana sense [EX] Lv 3, Defensive feathers Lv 10, Air coating Lv 10 ]

[Active skills: Grab Lv 10, Poke Lv 10, Wind feather Lv 8, Acceleration Lv 7, Dash Lv 10]

Enraged by its slip up, the bird chased after him while its offsprings followed closely.

Aster counterattacked by throwing multiple wind slashes at it, only for it to be deflected by its feathers.

'Wind magic doesn't work for you huh? Then how about this?'

The bird suddenly gained speed and caught up to Aster, who just bought a steel spear.

The weapon materialized with purple sparks and as soon as 3 incredibly sharp talons dug into his gut, he thrusted the spear into its chest.

[-219 hp]

Blood splattered and the monster lost strength in its wings.

Gritting his teeth, he endured the pain. He grabbed the leg of the monster and struck it with all of his strength he could muster in this moment.

With a nasty crack, the bird's talons were broken into two pieces. He then used his aura to make a super jump in the direction of the birds that were circling a few dozen meters above him.

BOOM

The force behind the jump propelled the monster into the sea while he soared through the sky.

The silver birds were panicking as their mother fell to her death and the culprit was currently approaching them with great speed.

SPLASH

One of the birds exploded into a mass of flesh and organs as Aster collided with it but he had no time to be disgusted, the remaining birds were in the process of escaping from him. He gathered the mana infused wind particles around him and circled it under his feet, creating a makeshift platform.

He needed to be precise with the force behind this kick now. Too little and he would miss his targets and would fall down. Too much and he would overtake them and miss them again.

He also needed to take the platform into the account as well. It's different from a solid ground so the force would also get messed up.

He took the risk and jumped again but with much lesser force and he landed on top of one of the birds.

"SCREEE" The bird screeched in surprise. The added weight messed up its balance and it was threatened to fall down.

Aster helped it by using [Bloodlust [EX]]. The sudden emergence of a hostile aura on its back panicked the bird even further and it tried even harder to stabilize itself and it worked, to an extent.

Aster then used the rope to make a harness for him to hold on.

"Now, it's all up to you little buddy." He muttered.

[Hp: 12/1090]

[Energy: 87/1,460]

[Mana: 12/1,000]

He looked at the sharp talons embedded in his gut and let out a whimper of pain. He was dangerously close to dying, in fact he might die in a few minutes.

Events of the past month flashed before his eyes.

Getting scorched alive, going into a coma, waking up being separated from his family, getting caught up in some malicious scheme made by his fellow earthling, became a serial killer with the body count of hundreds, experienced dozens of lifetimes through his unique skill, manipulated people's memories, got almost raped by a demoness, incited a battle between two demons and doomed thousands of innocent people to die.

It was far from the ideal fantasy world experience.

Aster took a moment to digest all of it. A month ago in his perspective, he was a high schooler who knew nothing but to procrastinate and give up. And now he was fighting for his life. It was hard.

He didn't know where the birds were going but judging by their feathers and smaller physique, they were probably that monster's children. And children would seek refuge when bad things happen, preferably a safe place, their nest probably.

He felt a slight tinge of guilt. The bird was most likely just teaching its children how to hunt but it made the mistake of choosing Aster as its prey.

He took a deep breath. It was not time to be feeling guilty but he couldn't help but think one thing.

'Is it always going to be hard like this?'

'Am I going to always struggle because of someone else or my own weakness?'

'Is it even worth living like this?'

Subconsciously, he checked the [Earthling] trait.

Personal trait:[Earthling]

[Description: You were born and raised on earth, thereby you have a connection with it. As you have gifted the planet Mana, your connection is stronger than the rest.]

[Trait ability: Gateway to earth(locked)]

Earth… he kind of missed it.

'I wonder how I can unlock its ability? Being able to escape to earth sounds like a vacation to be honest. Maybe I could convince some earth humans to come with me?'

[Hp: 9/1090]

"*Sigh*"

He glanced at a system message that appeared when he blasted a bird to smithereens.

[You have killed Intermediate Lv 10 Juvenile Freedom Eagle]

[101 exp gained]

[You have obtained Intermediate soul fragment×1]

[You have obtained Essence of Wind×1]

[You have obtained Essence of Endurance×1]

[You have obtained Avian essence×1]

He absorbed the essence of endurance and the soul fragment. Gaining 3 attribute and skill points along with another point for endurance.

He added the attribute points to vitality and the skill points into regeneration.

[Hp:37/1120]

[The skill [Regeneration [EX]] has leveled up to Lv 5]

[Description: 500% hp regeneration]

[Hp regen: 280/hour](A.N: did some changes to hp regen and regen skill)

[The skill [Bleed nullification] leveled up]

[Description: Reduces bleed damage by 75%]

Then using all the remaining credits he had, he bought a bandage and carefully wrapped it around his wounds. It couldn't be said excellently done but it was something.

Now feeling a little hopeful about his survival, he moved a little and stole a glance at the dark sea below the bird.

And there was a huge eyeball staring at him right beneath the water surface. An eyeball with a diameter of 400 meters, one could only imagine what eldritch horror it belonged to.

'It seems the bird woke something up when it fell down. I'm glad I didn't take my chances with the sea.'

Resisting the urge to empty his stomach, he rolled back on the back of the bird, now facing the blue sky. Then he realized that he was starving.

'Ughh, when was the last time I ate? I ate a ton at the Traveler's center so why am I hungry? Exactly how long was I knocked out by Carl?'

He then looked around the sky but couldn't see the ship anywhere.

'If it's that fast then it's obvious I'm really far from the central continent.'

His blood soaked the back of the bird red but he didn't have the strength to care anymore.

'The bloodlust skill scared the birds so I should be safe for a while. I don't have to worry about them attacking me while I rest.'

He yawned and his eyes became drowsy.

'I hope I'm not dead when I wake up.'

He laid on the wet feathers like it was the most comfortable bed in the world and closed his eyes.

***

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