They weren't as fast as the first, but they weren't too slow either. It was still easier to dodge their attacks, even though there were three of them.
The trickiest part was the occasional small fireball, which would spin at the same speed as someone throwing water balloons at you. I managed to dodge all of these, but it was still a bit difficult, even with my [improved reflexes] dodging the three chickens' attacks.
Because I was so focused on dodging, I ended up moving away from the chicken I'd knocked out, which (apparently) was their goal.
One of the chickens, the only one with completely black and white feathers, went toward the fallen chicken and stood in front of it for a few moments until a white aura enveloped it. Even if I hadn't seen it, I would have known it had used some kind of recovery magic; the knocked-out chicken soon got back on its feet, though not entirely stable.
It seems the [blood sucker] does more damage than I imagined. Good to know; this opens up new possibilities.
I would love to say that her recovery didn't affect me at all, but that would be a huge lie, the attacks from the rooster and the hens alone didn't even give me a chance for a good counterattack, imagine now that they got another one for the team.
Yes, I was being overwhelmed by three chickens. It's a bit embarrassing to admit, but I can't help it in the face of reality!
No kidding, I think these chickens could easily take out the goblins, maybe even one of the chicks could... well, maybe that's an exaggeration.
But the fact that these chickens were strong and intelligent was undeniable. While the rooster attacked me with his claws and beak, he still used his wings to block my view of the hen, who made sneak attacks toward my stomach or occasionally launched new fireballs.
After they made me circle the front yard twice, I felt a new sense of danger. Even though there was no escape, I threw myself backward toward the gate, lowering my head at the same time. It hurt like hell, after all, I threw myself hard against an iron gate, but it didn't hurt as much as the one that almost ripped off my ear.
When I got up, I saw the hen I'd knocked out back in attack position, with the white hen a little behind in the same position. In front of me, the hen that had been sneaking up on me finally emerged from behind the rooster. They all started coming toward me, looking more like a pack of wolves cornering their prey than chickens.
From this, I think I can conclude that each chicken was altered differently. The white one became something like a healing hen, the dark brown one that kept attacking me under the rooster's cover became a kind of stealth hen or something.
The hen I fought before became stronger and more resilient, able to land a long-range attack. The other one with lighter brown feathers was the same, but instead of long-range, she preferred to attack directly.
And finally, the rooster—no need for identification—he definitely became a fire rooster or something. Cool, all the chickens gained magical powers and are behaving like a group in an RPG, while I'm acting like the monster attacking them.
"Urrrggg, this is almost as bad for the heart as the chicks' stares before."
Not to mention the mental damage. Aaaaarrggh, it's so irritating to think I feel cornered by chickens!!!!
Apparently they were sure I was cornered and had no way out. I decided to take a quick look at Mari to see if anything was coming, but all I saw was her laughing her head off without making a sound while eating a bag of sweet popcorn (seriously, she had found this while looting?).
She was definitely enjoying watching me get beaten up by a flock of chickens; if I were her, I'd do the same.
Okay! I've had enough of being nice, and no, I'm not saying that like one of those cartoon villains. So far, I've basically only tested my control over my new body and some basic skills, but not my body's limits or specific fighting abilities.
Now that I have a grasp of how things work, I can fight the way I really want. Time to show these chickens who the hunter is.
The chickens seemed to sense my change in attitude; they became more agitated and took on intimidating poses. But they didn't come any closer, staying just over two feet away from me. It was enough space.
I squatted down with one hand on the ground, not taking my eyes off any of the chickens. This time, I activated the [obsidian claws] of my own volition. I could feel my nails growing, sharpening them into knives ready to cut. And with a soft growl, I catapulted myself straight toward the rooster's neck.
Cut his throat with my claws?.
No, no, that would have dispersed the blood; instead, I lariated him straight to the neck. At that speed, I'm sure a normal person's neck would have broken, if it hadn't flown off the body, but these were magically mutated chickens, and as such, their bodies are much more resilient.
Even though the neck didn't break, it was still enough to send the rooster flying back to the same spot I'd sent the chicken before.
Taking advantage of the momentum of the blow, I placed one hand on the ground and, using my claws, delivered a spinning blow, hitting the two closest chickens. One went straight to the opposite wall near the outdoor faucet; the other ended up taking a blow from my heel to the back of the head, sending it to the ground immediately.
Leaving only the white hen, which I classified as the official healer of the hen group, standing. And even though it was only her left, she didn't cower and seemed ready for my next attack.
*Creiiire criiiirereee*
*Criiireeee crrriiieeee*
*Cóóóóó cóóóhhh*
Seeing the situation, the hen that was taking care of the chicks, came towards me, but before I even left the garage area.
The rooster rose, flapped his wings, and launched himself into the air.
"Oh, that's right, chickens can fly for a short time, just not for 10 seconds."
Remembering this useless fact after he took to the air didn't help me at all. In the air, the rooster not only sent out several fireballs, both trying to hit me and just getting in my way, but also launched feather attacks.
Yes, exactly the kind of feather attack you're thinking of, with the feathers he threw being harder than iron and sticking into the ground. Of course, I responded in kind.
"[Shadow Ball]"
"[Shadow Slash]"
"[Shadow Needle]"
I launched my three ranged attacks in succession but couldn't land any of them. How can a rooster move so fast in the sky?! It felt like I was trying to hit a sparrow!!
Having used the 3 spells my mana dropped quickly to only 5, making me have to choose between one more [Shadow Slash] or two more [Shadow Balls].
Obviously, the other chickens wouldn't let me make that decision without speaking up.
Again, coming from behind, one of the chickens lunged at me with its claws. I managed to dodge it enough to avoid a fatal cut, but I still received a cut just below the ribs. No joke, this made me so angry that I even considered forgetting the goal of catching (at least) one live chicken and just using my claws to cut off all their heads and drink their blood.
But I managed to contain myself, and soon another fireball came, which I managed to dodge again. A flash of inspiration came out of nowhere, giving me an idea of how to turn the situation around. Such a bad idea for the chickens, even I felt like a son of a bitch for even thinking about it. But in a life-or-death situation, you don't have much choice in how you fight, and so....
"[Shadow Ball]"
I sent an attack toward the chick closest to my line of sight and out of the last chicken's protection. Like I said, a pretty bad idea.
*A little warning, I'll be traveling this weekend so there won't be any new chapters for the next two days. Thank you to everyone who has been following this and other stories of mine, see you Monday.*