*Screeeeeeeechh!!!!*

Just as it was going to throw the rock in our direction.

A high-pitched eagle cry was heard, and it sounded absolutely furious!

The Mandrills on the nearby branches started falling down from the trees one after the other, whether they were alive or dead was unknown.

The Peak Mandrill was first alarmed then shocked, then completely terrified.

It turned around and started running at a lightning speed in the opposite direction of the cry.

A big black shadow was following it at an even crazier speed!

The Mama Bird!

But it seemed to be even larger than what I remember? It was not a different eagle, It was her.

In just a second both her and the peak were out of sight.

Oh shit! Where did you go again, come and protect us!

I started looking around in case another one came in...

I only had the mana for two Wind Blades.

I stretched out my senses to the limit mainly my vision and spiritual sense, they were sharper.

The ground below the trees was filled with Vunamian Mandrills.

'Appraise'

I appraised them and found out that they were alive!

However, they were injured from the fall.

This wasn't good.

But it was also an opportunity because I could level up to 10, but if another monster came in I'd be defenseless.

I remembered that the system said that the Mama bird was Foundation Establishment's lower rank.

She probably won't take too long in killing that monkey.

I jumped out of the nest and I went to the branches where they were previously.

There were three Mid-Body Refinement Mandrills here, their fall was stopped by the branches when they lost consciousness.

I quickly made my way to them, I needed to be quick in fear that they might wake up.

I hit the first one right in the head, my beak was filled with blood and brain matter. I almost threw up the brains I ate, in his hollowed-out skull.

[You have Killed a Body Refinement(Mid) Monster |Experience Points +2000|]

I went to the others and killed them in the same way.

[You have Killed a Body Refinement(Mid) Monster |Experience Points +2000|]

[Congratulations Host for Leveling up from 8 to 9. +5 Stat Points, +2 Skill Points.]

'System where does the body store mana?'

I wanted to eat the part that has the richest mana to recover faster and kill the others before they wake up.

[All monsters below The Core Formation Realm have their mana spread out almost equally in their bodies.]

I could tell why just from the word 'Core'.

I came back to the nest leaving their bodies hanging there.

The female little eagle was shaking like a leaf, she was sitting in the corner of the nest from the beginning and did not move a muscle.

Sigh, poor thing... You've just been born but you were almost killed several times and there was no telling if you'd even survive the rest of the week.

I wanted to console her a bit, but these fucking monkeys await for no one.

I could hear them twitching below...

Then! They started to wake up one after the other.

Thankfully when the first one woke up, it immediately turned tail and ran as if remembering something horrific.

Maybe the memory of him hearing that cry was still fresh in their memories or he had even more information?

On second thought, it made sense. Just that peak monster alone was like a calamity walking not to mention how a Foundation Establishment Spiritual attack would feel like.

But why weren't they dead?

They had very low spiritual resistance, maybe it was an attack that was not necessarily offensive just makes people blackout? Could be...

I didn't waste this and immediately killed two Mid-level monsters, I wanted to kill a high-rank one but there were few and they were outside of my range, and frankly, I wasn't confident in killing them with just one blow.

[You have Killed a Body Refinement(Mid) Monster |Experience Points +2000|]

[You have Killed a Body Refinement(Mid) Monster |Experience Points +2000|]

Looking at my experience points, I was frustrated...

Experience Points(Exp): 4650/4700

Holy hell, shit luck.

I only need 50 EXP...

The Mandrills were mostly all gone except a few who broke their legs when they fell from the trees.

My head was aching, I thought it was due to exhausting all of my mana. I also felt very tired both physically and mentally, I had been through a lot since the moment I opened my eyes a short while ago.

Yes, a while ago. It had only been no more than a couple of minutes since I first woke up.

Sigh...

I only had around 10 mana.

Should I go down the tree? I could kill one of those broken-legged monkeys very easily...

No, forget it. These Mandrills are also good at close-range battles, maybe even more than their long-range rock-throwing skills I could tell just by looking at their arms, they were stacked with dense muscles.

I stood at the edge of the nest, squinting my eyes and observing the Mandrills below. They were a force to be reckoned with, if they had taken me seriously from the get-go there was no way in hell I'd survive the long-range attacks of dozens of them.

The smell of blood was too pungent, yuck.

The Mandrills have all mostly left, I could only see a couple of them and even they were on their way to their west, to their horde probably.

I jumped on a nearby branch, where I previously left the three bodies.

I made my way to the nearest one and started eating it, I needed to grow feathers that were my top priority right now.

I really could not get used to eating these, the taste was fine and all but the sight man...

Bloody, bones, intestines, and the worst of it all fur!

Still, even though, I was a monster I had my bottom line that I would not even consider eating monster dicks.

That is a psychological hurdle I was not willing to consider overcoming at all. Unless there were benefits, of course, I've always thought of myself as a rational guy.

So, would I eat a monster dick if let's say it gave me 5 Vitality or Stamina? You bet your ass I would, I would slurp them like a noodle.

Forget it, It felt like I had talked about monster dicks for far too long, monster dicks.

As I finished eating this one, I wanted to eat the other two but I really couldn't. I felt so stuffed that it felt like, the moment I add one single grape my stomach would explode.

I carried the body of the second Mandrill and brought it to her, the baby chick.

She started eating it, though she looked very downcast.

I could not bring myself to call her my sister, lives are constantly lost in this forest I did not need any heartache. It was not the only reason though, I was a human and she was a monster the best I could do was probably look at her as a pet.

I had also built a lot of walls around me, psychologically speaking. It was not easy to open up, at all. If I someday would call someone sister I'd either wholeheartedly mean it or just say it because I need something from the other party, there was no use in being insincere to prove a point.

More than that we've just met, technically we're indeed brother and sister. Wait wait wait!

Why did I assume that I was born into a male body just because I was male previously? Oh no.

Previously, I could tell by looking at them whether they were male or female but I could not do it on myself for some reason.

'System what gender I am currently?'

[Male.]

Pheew... How awkward would it have been to be chased by males from my species trying to breed with me?

Now that is a scenario I'd like not to think about.

Amitabha, drop all thoughts and be free.

As I was going back to bring the third body that I left on the branch to the nest for Quote-on-Quote later use, I felt a movement.

I sensed it is a better word, this new power is strange I haven't gotten used to it yet. Spirit Sense.

I focused my senses behind the bark of the tree in front of me, and I could sense very weak life energy.

I went around some branches until arrived at a place which would give me a bit of vision there, and I saw a Mandrill!

It was just of the Mid-Body Refinement, I could tell from the size of the body and life energy without an appraisal.

This one was pretty messed up, I assumed that it was high up in the trees so when it fell it was damaged pretty badly.

I will end your suffering.

I had already recovered enough mana for

[Wind Blade]

*Whoosh*

-Ding-Ding!

[You have Killed a Body Refinement(Mid) Monster |Experience Points +2000|]

[Congratulations Host for Leveling up from 9 to 10. +6 Stat Points, +3 Skill Points.]

[Congratulations! You have met the required condition to unlock a new System function!]

[Quests Unlocked]

Looking at these System notifications, I felt that all of the pain I went through was worth it!

A new system function!

Quests would open up a whole new world for me and would greatly help in making me stronger.

'System why did I get 6 Stat Points and 3 Skill points instead of the usual 5/2'

[Extra points when you level up to 10, 20, 30, 40... you get the idea.]

Nice addition, the more the merrier!

I hurriedly opened up my status window to check my quests...

[~Status Window~

Host: Zed - Umbra Storm Eagle(Fledgling).

Titles: {Blazing Heart}

Level: 10

Experience Points(Exp): 1950/6000

Rank: Body Refinement(Low)

Health Points(HP): 83/135

Magic Power(MP/Mana): 07/182

Spiritual Power(SP): 190/190

Magical Resistance: 11(5)

Physical Resistance: 9(4)

Spiritual Resistance: 19(9)

Vitality: 26(36)

Strength: 16(22)

Stamina: 17(23)

Intelligence: 42(58)

Agility: 23(32)

Spirit: 36(50)

Available Stat Points: 11

Available Skill Points: 7

Karma Points: 0

[Skills]

[Quests]

[Map(Locked)]

[Party(Locked)]

[Shop(Locked)]

]

I ignored everything and my eyes quickly glanced at the bottom of the panel. The previously dead quests tab now looked alive with golden words and golden aura-like energy moving around it.

I quickly opened it to find... Nothing!

'Hey System, there are no quests?'

[I did mention that before, quests would get triggered randomly. Well, randomly from your point of view at least.]

That was very anti-climactic, to say the least...

I quickly retrieved the last body and brought it back to the nest.

Looking at the baby chick, she finished eating but she was still as dispirited as she was before.

Could she be grieving her brother? Thinking of how that poor fellow died, I sighed... I suppose the silver lining is that he didn't suffer much, what am I saying... it doesn’t change the fact that he was no longer here.

I needed to give her a name, previously I thought of her as an emotionless creature who would just move on and not be affected by it.

After giving it some thought.

I decided to call her Kali. After the Hindu Goddess Kali, Goddess of Time, Change, Creation, Destruction, and Power.

She mother of all living beings, and destroys evil to protect the innocent.

I had not interacted much with her at all, I was too caught up in my problems.

That's one of the problems, if you're going through something it becomes very difficult to be there for another.

If you're in pain everything you do would only reflect that pain.

Forcing yourself is even worse, hide it? It won't be as genuine and it will feel forced. Duty is the poison of all that is beautiful and spontaneous.

I walked in her direction, she saw me and I could feel that she was a bit apprehensive. Could it be because she saw me kill all of those monkeys? Or maybe just because I had never interacted with her.

I was bigger than her, she was around 50cm tall whereas I was around 75.

I opened my uninjured wing and hugged her awkwardly, I moved my face close to hers and rubbed against it.

*Screech..*

Kali made a low-pitched voice that sounded sad...

Sigh... girl, I get it...

Who am I kidding? I did not get what she was going through, well maybe only theoretically. To get hurt over losing someone you first need to open up to them and connect with them deeply to feel that heartache once they're gone. I was too cowardly to even make that first step.

Question for a higher power, who was stronger?

The one who killed all of those ferocious monsters or this pitiful but courageous eagle who was grieving the death of her brother?

I guess it depends on who you ask.

Outward strength doesn’t equate to inward strength.

Alright, go eat. That was just too much time out of my comfort zone for a day, let me go hide behind my safe but comforting emotionless prison for a change...

My heart felt heavy for some reason, not because of the fight or even the danger that lay beyond these trees.

Darkness I was all too familiar with, one that goes even beyond the fear of death.

Loneliness.

The type of loneliness that was not resolved by merely going to find friends, No.

The loneliness of knowing how broken and incapable you are to form any sort of genuine connection.

I felt alone and broken, but all I could do is just sit through it!