Ignoring the panicking leftover mouse, Arick unfolded his wings and took off.

He shot up into the sky, silently rising above the bird of prey. It was leisurely sailing through the air, its spoils hanging lifelessly in its claws.

It was the king of the sky in this region. There was nothing around here that could properly oppose it, so why bother being cautious? Though, that confidence in itself allowed Arick to approach closer and closer, so he wasn't about to complain.

He let his wings take him a bit higher and readied his spear. With the element of surprise on his side, his chances of ending this quickly were looking well.

Wait... Not yet... Now!

He dove down spearhead first, with the weapon aimed at the bird's neck.

The air pressed against his body as he descended, it was both a constricting and exhilarating experience, but he didn't let himself be distracted.

Just as he became convinced of his victory, the bird of prey noticed something wrong. It dropped its prey and closed its right wing, moving its neck out of the way in the nick of time.

The maneouver didn't succeed completely though. Instead of the neck, his spear tore through its left wing close to the bone. The bird's balance was thrown out of whack.

Arick pulled his spear back and spread his wings. He steadied himself in the air, preparing for his next attack. The bird was having trouble, not paying him much attention, so he took the opportunity as it presented itself.

Instead of the uncontrollable dive from before, he descended in a curve, approaching his target from behind. This way he stayed in its blind spot, while also presenting him with a larger area to hit.

Now that it was aware of him, attempting to attack its neck wasn't worth the risk.

Finally it regained its balance, though its wing was still giving it trouble. Arick estimated the bone must be at least fractured, the fact it could even stay in the air was impressive.

But not unexpected.

He stabbed his spear into its back, causing the bird of prey to screech loudly in pain.

Immediately he backed off again. His attack hadn't done as much damage as he had expected. Without the dive, it held much less force, and he had also accidentally hit its spine, which had hurt it, but was strong enough to block the spearhead.

He ducked out of the way as it started a counterattack, swiping at him with its claws. Luckily its speed and accuracy were diminished because of the wounds, but he still found no opportunity to lash out with an attack of his own.

The situation remained unchanged for several minutes, and Arick noticed his opponent was slowing down.

In the meantime, he had gotten used to its unusual combat style. Until now he had always fought against people, whether demon or human they fought similarly, but this beast was different. It was also far more used to battling in the sky than any opponent he had faced before.

All this made him extra careful during the fight, even when it became evident it was having more and more trouble with its wing.

But he was not the only one who was paying attention. Noticing its own disadvantage, the bird fled.

It let itself drop a dozen meters, repositioned, and flew at its now diminished top speed above the tree tops.

Arick chased after it, using hit-and-run attacks until it eventually succumbed, crashing into the canopy.

A quick thrust with his spear to make sure it was really and truly dead, before he dropped to the ground himself.

He was exhausted. The hunt had taken several hours, completely depleting his stamina. He laid on his back, breathing heavily, but his senses were still alert, this was the Great Forest after all.

Half an hour later, he rose to his feet and plucked the silver-coloured feathers from the bird's head. Since he'd only had three weeks to prepare, they had skipped the skills necessary to procure useful parts from the beast, instead allowing him to just bring these prominent parts of its appearance back.

Carefully rolling them in some cloth and putting them in his backpack, he checked the sun's position. It was time to head back.