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nAfter walking for more than an hour inside the deep mist forest, Klaus Park and the rest of the group finally spotted the birds they were looking for.

nBlack Vultures are medium-sized scavenger creatures whose black fur and steel beaks are their main physical characteristics. These creatures can grow up to two meters in length, depending on their level and nature.

nThere are five natures of monsters and items: Primal, Mutant, Epic, Mythic and Sacred. This classification indicates the rarity and strength of a monster or item, respectively, from the weakest and most common to the strongest and rarest.

nUpon sighting the flock, which covered part of the sky in that dark forest, Klaus, Magma, Guava, Proddy, and Lance hid behind some trees to avoid being spotted.

n“What’s the plan now, leader?” Lance asked Magma, already holding the hilt of his sword with his right hand, ready to take it out of the sheath.

nLooking up, Magma narrowed his eyes in the direction of the birds and quickly replied, “No doubt they are Black Vultures. They are all Primal in nature, so we probably won’t have any problems. The nest will surely be just below them.”

nAlthough no one could see the nest yet, because there were many trees further ahead, they felt they couldn’t go any further for now. Over a hundred Black Vultures were flying in a circle over that area of the sky ahead, while there were no other birds in the forest, at least not on the path the group traveled.

n“What do you think, Kaizen? Can you hit them from here?” Proddy inquired with a slightly suspecting tone.

n“Yes, I can. There’s just one problem.” Klaus replied as he took an arrow from the quiver on his back.

n“What?” asked Magma, looking at him seriously.

nLooking briefly at the flock once again, Klaus continued saying:

n“If I start shooting first, they will know where I am, and if I die, you will lose the back support. You will need to advance first, as bait, and then I will start shooting. After getting the aggro and rushing towards the nest, the birds will probably only focus on you. I’ll be free to shoot after that. I can give the cover, don’t worry.”

nThe other men in the group looked at each other at that moment, but the only response came from their leader.

n“I don’t see any problems in this plan, but aren’t you afraid that we will steal all the treasure and use teleportation crystals to the city?” Magma was serious and looked directly at Klaus.

n‘Teleportation crystals?’ Klaus wondered because he didn’t even know that this kind of item existed in the game, and then he waved his right hand as if he didn’t care. ”Just do it. I don’t care. In the end, the most important thing for me is XP.”

n“What if we try to kill you after we get the treasure?” Magma continued, serious.

n“Go ahead and try. I will defend myself with everything I have.” Klaus replied and smiled.

n“I see you are confident. Well then, that’s right, we’ll go ahead.” Magma gestured to the other group members to go ahead, and then they quickly ran toward the area overflown by the flock.

nKlaus, who had already positioned an arrow on the string, raised his bow, aimed at a bird, and fired as soon as the men were spotted. The arrow went through the air with a high-pitched sound but suddenly changed course after passing through a grove of trees.

n‘I already didn’t expect the arrow to go in the right direction, but what curve is that?’ Klaus Park thought, but he didn’t get carried away and used , stretching his right-hand upwards just after releasing the bowstring.

nIn Klaus’ vision, everything continued exactly as it had before he used the Skill, only a single stimulus went through his mind, making him sure he could control the arrow, and so he did.

nMagma and the rest of the group saw the first arrow shot by Klaus Park turn to the right and then back to the left, in a strange movement that they never imagined an arrow could do. Seeing the arrow follow a totally unexpected path, Magma, and his companions could only stare wide-eyed until the arrow hit a Black Vulture, eliciting a loud groan of pain.

nIt was just a whimper, but it was enough to get the other birds’ attention. The Black Vultures began to fly towards the running group.

nMagma and the others reacted quickly and dodged some of the birds flying at them in anger.

nAlthough most of the birds were not as fast as the players, they were extremely strong and could easily do a lot of damage with their sharp beaks and claws.

nAs Magma dodged an attack, he shouted: “Kaizen! Fuck, shoot!”

nKlaus Park, who had already prepared a second arrow, fired again.

nThis time, the arrow did not change course, but suddenly accelerated, passing through the trees like lightning. Magma looked back and saw the arrow aimed at a Black Vulture, which was flying towards him, and then the arrow hit the bird directly in the eye, causing it to fall to the ground with a groan.

nYou have killed a Black Vulture. You have gained 200 XP.

nThe message appeared to Klaus. Excited by the huge experience gained, he smiled.

n“Nice one, archer!” Magma exclaimed. His thunderous voice echoed through the forest.

nKlaus Park, still positioned behind the trees, fired a third arrow, but he did not use this time. It flew straight toward a Black Vulture, but suddenly changed course and missed its target.

n‘There really is something wrong with that bow!’ Klaus thought, remembering the description of the Old Bow. ‘Anyway, I can’t use consecutively, that would use up all my MP.’

nMeanwhile, Magma and the others made their way through the more enclosed region of the woods, where the flock flew over and came across a natural decline. However, they noticed that the Black Vultures suddenly stopped attacking them and flew into the sky again.

n“What’s happening?” Lance asked Magma after all four attackers had gathered near where they believed the nest to be.

n“I don’t know. Let’s just take advantage that those things have stopped attacking us, and let’s move on.” The group leader replied with a gasping breath. ‘Those pieces of ** get scared very easily. I can’t wait to cut their heads off.’ Magma thought, but there was not a shred of psychopathy in his face.

nSo Magma and his followers walked down that natural slope and soon came to an open space dominated by dense fog. The mist was so dense that they couldn’t even see their own feet. It was as if the world around them had been swallowed by the fog.

nMagma signaled for them to go a little further, and a few seconds later, they heard a frequent tearing noise of flesh, which made their hearts speed up in the same instant.

n“What was that?” Proddy whispered, looking around with a face of terror.

n“It sounds like the noise of a creature eating…” Lance replied.

nAt that moment, Magma remembered the main characteristic of Black Vultures: following larger predators to eat the remains left by them.

n“Damn… Guys, let’s back off.” Magma ordered and started walking backward. ‘There wasn’t supposed to be anything here…’

nUnexpectedly, an arrow passed from the side of Magma’s neck at that moment, making him feel a shiver simultaneously. The arrow hit the ground, and only the sound produced by the swinging wooden shaft was enough to completely terrify Magma.

nThe whole group realized that the sound of tearing flesh ceased, and heavy footsteps began to approach them. Magma and the others held their breath and expected the worst, but nothing happened instantly.

n‘What’s happening?’ Magma thought, but soon the sound of heavy footsteps became louder, and then a gigantic creature appeared in the open space.

nMagma and the others looked wide-eyed at the creature that had appeared, and their hearts stopped beating for a moment.

nIt was a creature at least ten feet tall, with dark, black fur covering its body, and a face similar to a cat’s, though much larger. The creature’s mouth was covered with sharp teeth, and as they looked down from where they were standing, they realized that the creature had a long, thin tail.

nYou have started a Battle against the optional Boss of the Misty Woods, Shadowcat.

nMagma and the others froze for a moment until Magma looked back and shouted, “Kaizen, shoot!”

nIf it was an optional Boss, the game would let them flee the area, so it would be enough if Kaizen got a few seconds for them. However, no arrows flew toward the monster to distract it.𝑜𝐯𝓛xt.𝓬𝒐𝓂

n“Son of a bitch…” Magma uttered as he realized that the archer had no intention of helping them.

n*

nBoss: Shadowcat

nLevel: 30 | Attribute: Shadow | Nature: Mutant

nHP: 3.000 | MP: 100

nAttack: 85 | Defense: 30 | Speed: 40

nStrength: 35 | Wisdom: 25 | Endurance: 35

nResistance to Spells of Shadow and Ice.

n…

nEdited by: DrHitsuji

nIf you want to see original illustrations of Rise Online characters, consider helping me on pa treon: Pa treon.com

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