Chapter Twenty Three

Killed! Caihong Juji Level 85.

Killed! Calhong Juji Level 87.

Killed! Calhong Juji level 88.

Killed! Calhong Juji level 90.

Due to distance from group, kills counted as solo.

Bonus experience applied from Solo Adventuring.

Level up! Path of Lightning level 13.

Level up! Path of Lightning level 14.

Elysia stared at the notification, a smile spreading. Serves them right. How dare those birds taunt her. The levels were nice too. If that held up, she would walk away from the dungeon with a ton of levels. There was at least a hundred birds, if not more.

While sending praise through their bond, Elysia bent down to grab her throwing knife and slid it into its home before turning her attention to the bird corpses who, aside from a bit of scorching in a spot or two, appeared in excellent condition. These birds really were fragile. The triceratops would have shrugged off the chain lightning, yet they died instantly. It was hard to tell damage, but the chain lightning appeared to be around the same strength as lightning bolt. Maybe a little weaker. A nice crowd clearing skill, but smite would stay her primary damage dealer.

Lightning bolt was looking pretty useless, though she supposed she could use it as a long ranged stun. Most things at this level would probably shrug it off or come in too large of numbers to make it economical. Maybe if she was fighting something at her level it would prove more useful. Smite was supposed to be the full powered finisher, but she needed to use it as her primary attack. If it weren’t for the fact she got a level up every several kills, that wouldn’t be sustainable.

At least she wasn’t constantly low on charge. Though she would like more to train. Maybe after the dungeon island she could hook herself up to a generator or something. Still crazy to think the saying never stick a finger in a socket doesn’t apply to her. Though she fried herself on Umbra. There were always risks.

Now what to do with the birds? Those feathers were really pretty, but was it worth plucking them? An idea sparked a moment later. “Ione find please find the next group. We will deal with the birds after. Any bird you catch is yours.”

An excited chirp reach her ears as she bent down and picked up the four feather light birds. Her hands stroked the silky soft bird bundle as she returned to the path. With reluctance, she dropped the birds on the path, then waited for the next ping from her bond.

Would her team protest to her keeping all the feathers for a nest? If she didn’t already have an amazing bed, she would turn them into a mattress, but maybe creating a nest to lounge on in her bedroom would be perfect. Though if Ione got bigger, she would make better fluff. No one beat Ione’s fur. Though these feathers came in a distant second. For now, she would gather them on the path.

Soon, the image of Ione holding a dead bird in her mouth appeared in her mind. Another six angrily chirping Calhong Juji buzzed just out of reach. Ione just sat, smugness radiating off her as she waited for Elysia to permanently ground the future meals.

Less than a minute later, Elysia wiggled her way through the jungle to Ione. This time, the birds continued to buzz around Ione. They took diving shots to the feline, then buzzed out of reach of her claws, but each time they missed her. Her tail flicked in excitement when her violet eyes met Elysia’s.

Without wasting time, Elysia flicked a throwing knife at the nearest tree to the birds, then let loose a chain lightning. Before the birds could escape, all six fell to the ground to join the one still in Ione’s mouth.

A warmth alerted her to at least one level up, maybe two, but she put off the notifications in favor of lugging the soft birds back to the path, leaving the seventh for her not so small kitten to devour as her prize.

Just as she reached the path and deposited her kills, Ione alerted her to another group. This time, over a dozen. She raised her eyebrow. How did she eat that bird and find a dozen so quick? Were the birds coming to her? She thought they were cowardly. Though they seemed pretty arrogant. At least until she shot them down. Maybe they were retaliating against their killing. Whatever it was, it didn’t matter. They would all die to her lightning or Ione’s teeth.

Upon arriving at the scene, her eyes widened. The original dozen was now thirty plus and rising. Her eyes scanned the surrounding birds perched on trees or buzzing around them. All deathly silent. Her surprise turned to a frown. This didn’t make sense. Why would so many gather?

The answer to her question came a second later as warmth radiated off all of them at once, which was mana, as Elysia learned. Not willing to take any chances, she grabbed a throwing knife and readied to throw in at a tree near a dozen of them, only for a throbbing in her mind to freeze her mid throw.

Her lightning moved of its own accord, flooding her mind. Mind cleared, her eyes snapped to Ione, only to find her bond’s eyes dull.

In an instant lightning exploded from her, frying several nearby birds as she gasped her bond. To her relief, Ione’s eyes cleared, then shifted to narrow slits as a deep growl rumbled. Elysia hugged Ione tighter to her chest as she too growled at the surrounding birds. Lightning lashed out of her, frying several more birds, but they were only replaced by more.

Another radiating warmth spread from the now fifty plus strong horde of birds, but with Ione safely in her arms and her lightning flooding her system, it did nothing but incite her further.

Foregoing efficiency, Smite exploded from her and struck a tree to her right with twenty birds. Smoke rose, obscuring her view, but the crashing of the tree and an extra strong dose of warmth signified many kills.

Recharged, she launched another smite at another tree just barely visible through the hazy smoke downing it too and earning herself more level up warmth.

However, when the smoke cleared, even more birds gathered in the remaining trees. A chorus of angry chirps filled the nearly created clearing, but Elysia ignored it as she launched another smite at the tree with the most birds, but just before the lightning struck, all the birds scattered to other trees with taunting chirps.

Elysia paused, her next smite already queued as clarity returned. Her eyes narrowed as she surveyed the now spread out horde of birds. No more than six were on each tree making smite a waste. Even if she tried, she doubted she would hit many of them. They were far too fast for smite. Unfortunately, while smite was powerful, it lacked the speed of her other attacks because of the charge up. The birds could probably sense the charge up, giving them plenty of time to move. Her attacks weren’t exactly subtle after all. Every smite filled the air with ozone and static even before she fired it.

Would chain lightning work? It was much less predictable and faster, but it seemed to be impossible to aim without something acting like a lightning rod. That would mean she had to drop Ione, leaving her open to the mental attacks, which were only growing stronger.

With the birds remaining in their trees, Elysia turned her attention to Ione, who was snuggled into her arms while glaring up at the birds who dared to tarnish her with their magic. Just in case the birds understood her, she sent her potential plan to her bond with images instead of out loud. In response, Ione sparked with violet lightning. It fizzled out the moment it left her body, but that wasn’t the point. She jumped out of Elysia’s arms and stood at her full height, tail and head proudly raised. Her eyes momentarily dulled, but her lightning fought it back as she growled.

Unsure how long her bond could sustain her defense, Elysia grabbed a knife in each hand and flung them at the nearby trees, then grabbed another two before doing the same. She kept it up until her sheathes were empty and every tree within five meters had a knife in them.

The taunting of the birds only grew louder, as if they didn’t know about the fate of their brethren. Their taunting only bolstered her thinking her plan would work.

Still she stood still, scanning the trees, waiting for more birds to arrive to the party. She doubted this tactic would work twice. She needed to make it count. If she left even one alive, they would probably retreat and she may never find them. Even Ione had her limits. If the birds hid above the dense jungle canopy, there was little either of them could do.

Finally, almost five minutes no more birds arrived. Ione was swaying under the hundreds of birds assaulting them with their mind magic, but she held strong. No one would control her. She was a proud Elemental Feline. She would only show weakness to her mother.

Elysia, likewise, held against the assault though even with her lightning pumping constantly through her mind, draining over a hundred charge per minute as a mild throbbing pulsed in the back of her mind.

The air vibrated with hundreds of buzzing wings and a deafening chorus of chirps didn’t help her growing headache, but she still delayed longer to ensure she pulled this massacre off.

If any were left, she doubted they were going to come. It appeared to be an all hands on deck party. Did they really think more would change anything? Sure, their mental attacks were annoying, but hardly debilitating. Even Ione could handle them now. If they had anything other than mind attacks and taunting chirps, they would have tried it by now. Still, just in case she had to finish them all before any escaped. Hopefully she had enough charge, but something told her the coming level ups would be more than enough to sustain her.

She eyed her ring, then the army of birds so thick it blocked out the sun. A sigh escaped her as she closed her eyes, then focused inward. Her arms spread out, lightning sparking down the prismatic scaled sleeves of her armor as she dug into her core. With a mental command she activated Chain lightning, then another followed by another. A sharp pain stopped her from casting a fourth, but it did little to break her focus.

Instead of casting another, she latched onto the chain lightning threads and siphoned off lightning from her core. The captive threads grew thicker, more than doubling in strength.

Exhaustion set in, but she knew it was only temporary. She pushed more lightning into the chain lightning threads, pushing them to three times their normal power. Unsatisfied, she grasped for more, but it slipped through her fingers. With a growl, she tried again, but only earned a sharp uptake in her headache.

A dizzy spell hit her, signifying she reached her limit. Pain built within her chest as the bloated Chain Lightning threads thrashed against her control. With gritted teeth, she slowly pushed the threads out of her chest and up her right arm, afraid the overcharged skills might explode within her if she loosened her grip. Lava burned through her veins as the threads, one by one, worked their way to her right hand.

When the first one reached her hand, she moved the hand toward the right with three knives embedded in trees. With her eyes closed, she let go, letting the first chain lightning launch. Her arm recoiled back as a blinding flash followed by a deafening crack sounded, adding another pain to her growing list.

With her eyes closed, she didn’t see the result as she moved her sluggish and trembling arm to the front, then released the second payload. Her shoulder popped and something snapped, but with a force of will, she turned it to the left to release the final attack.

Several snaps and rips followed the crack of lightning as her right arm ripped apart, unbeknownst to Elysia.

A moment later fire cracker like popped like a machine gun, deafening her already hurting ears.

She opened her eyes, blinking away the spots in her vision, but before she could focus, a tidal wave of warmth flooded into her body, blanking her mind as she collapsed to her knees. Her body seized, sending her the rest of the way to the ground as darkness took her overwhelmed body.