Since the exact coordinates of that town were already listed on the Hunter League site, I didn't need to search further, letting me teleport straight to the spot I wanted—a bit away from the town and about an hour before the attack. I really wanted to know why the Rainbow Finch attacked the city solo, though I had one guess.
Half an hour wandering the city and one bar visit told me everything better than any informants. As I thought, the local hunter team had recently managed to kill a Mid Flock Leader Rainbow Finch, which they celebrated lavishly just yesterday. Mda, and who let such fools become Hunters? Ah, right, even clueless high schoolers can join our organization—question withdrawn.
Couldn't they at least read up on their target before hunting it? What if Rainbow Finches were flock monsters? The city would've been razed, not a stone left standing. If one Mid Commander-in-Chief nearly broke their defenses, imagine if it brought backup like any normal bird— the consequences would be dire.
I won't even touch the ethical side of killing a mostly peaceful monster's partner; it's pointless. Humans and monsters have been at war since the dawn of history, and it doesn't matter that monsters don't even see it as war—just competition with another monster species.
You can't explain that to people; all monsters are the same to them, and I don't differ. I'd kill any monster guilt-free except Totems and summoned beasts. And even then, only because I know how Totems work and what morals guide them. They physically can't not protect humanity; that's how they were programmed.
It's less obvious with the White Tiger that passes its power by inheritance, but if asked directly, it physically couldn't refuse. People in the last cycle thought out their future guardians' behavior perfectly; shame they didn't get to use them.
About ten minutes before the attack, I left the city and waited. Soon, my target finally arrived—the Rainbow Finch at Mid Commander-in-Chief level. The bird wasn't particularly big, just two meters long. All its feathers were painted in various colors, and its gaze burned with killing intent. Well, I'd be no better if someone killed one of my girls while I was away.
"Sorry, buddy, nothing personal, but I need powder from your ground-up bones. And preferably kill you quick so the magic energy in your body isn't spent but preserved in your skeleton—otherwise, the powder's useless." Barely whispering the apology to myself, I launched three spells at my opponent at once.
Two High-level First Step "Ice Coffins" dropped from the sky on its flight path, forcing it to slow a bit, which landed it in the area freeze effect and slowed it even more. And while the Rainbow Finch was dazed, simultaneously with the previous two, a High-level Third Step "Ice Rose" bloomed under it, instantly freezing everything in its radius—which merely stunned and bound my target hard but didn't kill it.
But that delay was enough for me to cast a Mid-level Sixth Step "Ice Chain" with a tip at the end and pierce the unresisting Rainbow Finch's heart. I love my Triple Cast. Without it, I'd need way more effort to win this fight. Thanks to this talent, I basically replace a team of three perfectly coordinated mages, though only in short fights, since my reserves are expanded but still just one person's.
At that moment, with the battle over, the city was just starting to stir. Mda, their recon sucks. Oh well, saved people and done. Main thing: I got the intact, full-power Rainbow Finch skeleton I needed. And its relatively small size was perfect—it fit right in my spatial ring.
Next time, I need to break through to High level in the space element; that's when you can create a decently large spatial pocket, making corpse transport way easier.
With what I needed in hand, I returned to my world to butcher the bird. No intact soul dropped from it, alas. Otherwise, I'd farm Rainbow Finches instead of one sea Commander-in-Chief. Oh well, I only need the bones now.
Using spatial telekinesis, butchering the corpse went fast. Separating bones from meat and organs, I squeezed them hard with telekinesis, gradually grinding them to powder, though it was incredibly tough. Mda, I've lingered too long at the third spiritual boundary; I've already hit High level, time to level up my mind's power too.
After launching my "Stars of Humanity" magazine, I'll definitely dash to the parallel world for Mind Stones—for myself and the girls too. They once produced a whole generation of strong space mages and other soul-dependent element users, so breaking through with one would be no trouble.
They weren't guarded by magic world mastodons back then either; a couple even sold at regular auctions. No one expected those vast deposits to run out so fast. Shouldn't have sold them to the whole world for petty favors instead of strengthening their own country. Peruvian politicians really screwed up then.
Finally grinding the bird's skeleton to bone powder, I levitated it closer and focused. After five seconds of probing, I smiled satisfied and stored all the powder in a five-liter reagent container. The powder's magic saturation was excellent; I could even ask for a premium on this quality.
Putting the container in my spatial ring, I pondered the best time period to launch my magazine. No point doing it now. Despite the digital age where docs should be scanned, it rarely happens, and I'd miss huge chunks of needed info in gov electronic libraries.
And let's be honest, newspapers and magazines don't hold much sway today; everyone relies on online news, TV, social media, other outlets. But I needed governments to want my magazine branch in their country and actively help, granting access to the info I need.
I could only pull that off if my creation brought them big gains. So I dismissed the internet era right away, leaving two periods where mags and papers had max influence: late 19th century and early 20th.
After a bit of thought, I picked early 20th century. Just hopped to the parallel world and one search showed the biggest newspaper run back then was just over 25,000 copies—catastrophically low. Due to low literacy.
But early 20th suited my magazine perfectly. Media influence was ramping up with higher literacy, plus official election campaigning was allowed, shaping public opinion on candidates via papers and mags.
Eh, nice to time-travel. You immediately feel all-knowing compared to locals for whom it's the present. But don't get cocky; I already burned myself once with Ling Ling due to blind canon faith, and in my past life with Mo Fan... Anyway, no repeating that.
One more jump to the parallel world, searching internet history of era media companies, and I finally slipped into the parallel world at early 20th century. Time to shake this swamp and reap huge dividends.