Task: Hunt the Giant Bird

Requester: Lorelei, Rare Animals Collector

Quest Rank: D-rank

Rewards: 23 Large Copper Coins

Description: After a surprising discovery that a not-so-mad man found a giant bird that stole cows from a village that seems to praise the marvelous Ton-sama, I decided I want that bird for me! Hunt it down!

... Well, I want at least the body, alright? I need to ask a necromancer to revive it in case the bird dies... It's better if you can capture it alive though, I'll even pay extra!

After confirming the existence of the giant bird, Lorelei the rare animal collector requested the capturing of the winged monster dead or alive…preferably alive though. Thinking that the giant bird’s nest might contain some treasure, Zinc decided to choose this quest as his debut into the D rankings.

From the reports of a previous adventurer, the giant bird was about 40 feet tall and 20 feet wide…presumably not including the wingspan. The giant bird was known to have a large appetite, having devoured three cows in a sitting. According to the adventurer, the monstrosity was spotted near a grassy plain where villagers roam about while herding their cows and sheep. The only thing that Zinc could not believe, from the report, was that the giant bird emerged from a giant hole that appeared to be of the same color as the sky. How is that possible? Maybe the previous adventurer was high on something or maybe she was still half-asleep when she took the quest. Either way, the doctor decided to confirm this once and for all with his own two eyes.

After the necessary preparations, Zinc confirmed the location and schedule of the villagers who herd their livestock each day and followed them to a grassy area. Setting up camp, he proceeded to lie in wait. As hours went by, Zinc thought that the giant bird wouldn’t come today and decided to head home. Just as he stood up, he noticed the ground began to tremor slightly. Looking up, Zinc saw a tear appearing on the ground. From the opening, a gigantic shadow darted out. With a sharp swoop, the giant figure dove towards the nearest cow.

Reacting with the skills of a warrior and the dexterity of a doctor, Zinc threw out two footlong pitons, one after the other. As if sensing the danger of the first piton, the bird straightened its back and knocked back the piton with its wing. However, it did not notice the second piton as the metal spike nailed itself into the bird’s fleshy throat. The piton dug deeply into the Vagus nerve of the bird, which was located right under the bird’s head. Normally, just applying some brute force to the nerve would cause knock out to most humanoids and piercing that nerve could potentially kill said most humanoids. However, proportionally-wise, the giant bird would at most be stunned for a brief moment.

And stunned it was. At this time, Zinc finally had a clear view of what the giant bird was. It looked like a giant bald eagle with brown feathers and a white head. Its curved beak dripped with blood from its recent kill. Its eyes glared red from anger and pain. With a slight shook, the giant eagle broke free from its stun. Zinc rushed in while swinging his Horse-Slaying Blade only to be sent flying by a powerful wing. As Zinc rose up unsteadily, the giant eagle flew towards him. Before the bird monster could reach him, it started to wobble. It stopped just before the doctor and began shaking its head. With a squawk, it fell onto its back. What happened?

What happened was just as Zinc was hit by the wing, he managed to plant Cerium on the wing. The hallucinogenic worm made its way towards the giant eagle’s head and breathed fumes into the giant eagle's beak. Seeing many hallucinations, the monster collapsed and tried to regain control of its body. However, before that could happen, Zinc stabbed his blade into the giant eagle’s heart and twisted the blade sharply enough to tear the heart into pieces. Without a heart, the giant eagle rolled a few times before spewing out a mouthful of blood. The giant eagle squawked one last time before collapsing motionlessly.

After confirming the death of the monster, Zinc headed over to the slowly closing tear in the ground. As what the previous adventurer had confirmed, the other end of the opening was blue like the sky. Was this a portal to another location? Zinc didn’t want to take a chance and jump into the portal for fear of being stranded in an unknown place. Instead, he decided to head back with the corpse. After getting a few villagers to help out, the doctor dragged the corpse back to the city.