Chapter 71
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: How Far Have You Explored?
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How far have you explored?
The plague giant rat was enormous, in the truest sense of the word.
No, is a rat even allowed to get that big?
Of course, the thing itself was probably thinking the same.
No, is a crow even allowed to get that big?
A typical crow would be no match for this massively overgrown plague giant rat, but I was a Dusk Wing Crow capable of hunting down even beasts that size with ease.
The giant rat let out a roar.
"Squeak!"
Still a rat through and through—it didn't roar like some "Krawrok" monster.
With that, it charged straight at me, its speed and power enough to topple an ordinary human in an instant.
I stared it down calmly.
The ceiling wasn't all that high, but there was enough space to dodge its attacks.
Looking at its traits and skills, there was nothing it could do to hit me in the air.
But I didn't dodge.
I didn't see the need to.
I raised my talons.
Crow talons, but visually akin to those of a bird of prey—large and razor-sharp.
What’s a bird’s biggest chronic weakness?
Having lived in a bird’s body all this time, I’d realized it: their durability just wasn’t great.
An obvious point, really.
Birds had evolved to minimize their weight for flight, after all.
That’s why birds play to their strengths.
Plummeting from the sky in a flash to strike foes before they can react.
Or slipping through the night silent as an owl for a one-hit kill.
Solid strategies, no doubt.
And I could hunt that way too.
But I couldn’t settle for that.
No matter how much I honed my speed and sharpness to the limit, my enemies weren’t ordinary creatures.
Fights were far more likely to drag into prolonged battles than end in one strike.
So unlike other birds, I needed to excel in drawn-out combat too.
What I’d been practicing: hand-to-hand fighting.
I had the ability to steal traits.
Meaning I could shore up a bird’s weakness—durability—anytime I wanted.
Master close-quarters combat while toughening my body with traits.
In a pinch, fall back on the one-shot strategy like other birds, or overwhelm careless foes up close.
The ultimate all-weather crow.
"Caw!"
I thrust my foot toward the charging rat.
A simple front kick, but with those razor talons added, the power would be unimaginable.
"Squeak!"
The giant rat twisted desperately to evade, but it was never faster than me.
Kwachik!
"Squeeeak!"
My talons clamped straight onto its head.
I could keep shredding it with my talons from there, and it wouldn’t be a bad option…
But not right now.
What I was here for was close combat.
And this guy made for a perfect punching bag.
Better to practice with something I didn’t use often than stick to familiar talons.
Flap flap flap!
I flapped my wings rapidly.
Not just flapping—each up-and-down stroke was like throwing punches.
"Squeak, squeeeik!"
Pow pow pow!
I pinned it with my talons and hammered its head relentlessly with my wings from above.
"Kreeee!"
Striking enemies with wings would pay off more as experience piled up.
Activate Twilight Feathers, and they harden like steel.
Meaning wing strikes in that state equated to pummeling foes with steel gloves.
Crack, crack.
For the finisher, I yanked my head back as far as possible, then slammed my beak down at full speed.
Kwaaaang!
Level Up.
"Caw, caw caw!"
And with that, the plague giant rat went down.
Easier than expected.
"Shwoong."
"Indeed, your growth never fails to astound these old eyes. A tiny bird grown this mighty."
Moona said admiringly.
What, me?
These days, all crows are like this.
"And taking down a foe without even flying. Hm, it's like gazing upon my younger self."
"Caw?"
I eyed Moona's plump rear.
Your younger self, huh.
Looked more like a kiwi tree back then.
No need to fly against trash like this.
"Swoong swoong swoong."
Swoongie suddenly zipped off somewhere.
Body that heavy and it's flying? Where to?
Curious as ever, probably off exploring these vast ruins.
"Swoong...?"
Swoongie's voice echoed from afar.
"Swoong swoong swoong!"
Sounded urgent now.
And with it came the patter of countless footsteps.
Made a friend?
Thud thud thud.
"Squeak! Squeak squeak!"
"Squeeeik! Squeak squeak squeak!"
【Plague Giant Rat LV8】
【Plague Giant Rat LV11】
【Plague Giant Rat LV7】
【Plague Giant Rat LV14】
No, Swoongie!
What kind of friends did you make?!
Dozens of rats swarmed in here at once and spotted the corpse I'd dropped in front of me.
"Squeeeeak!"
"Squeaaaak!"
They charged with the fury of avenging clansmen.
But who am I?
The crow master of martial arts.
Rats are rats, no matter how many.
This number was just right for training.
【Plague Giant Rat General LV21】
"Krawrraaagh!"
What loomed before me was a rat even bigger than the giant rats.
A massive beast standing upright on two legs, of all things.
Ugh, trading blows up close with that would turn me into crow burgers.
"Caaaaw!"
I beat my wings furiously and shot into the air.
And then.
「Shadow Flame LV2」
Used.
I shed black feathers.
Whoosh.
Startled it good, but no reason to brawl that thing up close.
"Kyeak! Keeeek!"
It squealed what sounded like a grave injustice, but oh well.
Blame your wingless self.
*
"Caw."
The giant rat must've bred like rabbits—far more swarmed in than I'd figured.
I took them all down, of course, but sheer numbers left me wiped too.
Thankfully, no more reinforcements.
Time for a break now.
"Well fought, little wind."
"Caw caw."
"Shwooo... "
Swoongie glanced around nervously.
Probably thought it led the rats here.
Not wrong, but given their habits, they'd have sniffed me out anyway.
If anything, wiping them preemptively might've been smarter.
"Caw."
I gently stroked Swoongie with my wing.
"Shwoong! Shwoooong!"
Swoongie bobbed its head wildly and flew into my embrace.
Yeah, yeah.
Been a while—let's cuddle.
"Swoong."
I never got to hold Swoongie.
It slipped right into my body.
…
Was this guy just looking for a nap spot?
"Caw."
They say raising kids is pointless.
Enough stray thoughts—time to deal with these rats.
I scored three shining feathers total.
All the same kind, of course.
Sturdy Teeth.
Basically identical to my equipped Sturdy Beak.
Duplicates of the same trait—what now? Can't upgrade?
Feels like three might unlock a higher grade.
Color shifting from copper to silver or something.
No such ability yet, sadly.
Maybe when Crow's Eye levels up, or I evolve and unlock new powers.
Tucked the feathers away safely; now for the meat.
"Promising."
According to Moona, even raw wouldn't kill you.
A gourmet like him preferred it that way, but I wasn't trusting his palate.
So, cooking it was.
Shadow Flame won't work for that.
Need a real fire to grill, but no worries there.
The maze walls.
Flickering flames sat higher than human reach, like dungeon torches lighting the interior.
Too high for hands or even crow beaks usually.
But that's fine.
I'm a fire-eating bird.
"Caw."
Sluuurp.
Parted my beak slightly and slowly inhaled.
Fwoosh.
A small ember gathered in my beak.
I could control fire absorption pretty well now.
Just full blast or weak for now, but huge progress from the start.
Breathe that inhaled fire onto the firewood Swoongie flipped out?
Fwoooosh!
Instant bonfire, no sweat.
"Caw! Caw caw caw!"
Cooking time.
Skewered trimmed meat on sticks.
Like a rotisserie—I gripped the stick in my beak and rotated my neck.
"Oh ho, nice. Rotating 360 degrees ensures even cooking all around."
My steadily spinning neck perfectly roasted the meat.
Thus, the finished plague giant rat barbecue.
…Nah, sounds weird—call it dungeon BBQ.
"Caw, caw!"
Prodded Swoongie out for drinking water, then we all dug in.
"Ho, indeed... this flavor. Mmm."
Moona fussed dramatically while pecking away.
I didn't trust his taste, but the meat was straight-up tasty.
Honestly, any fire-cooked meat tasting bad would be criminal.
The "plague" tag gave it a subtle bitter edge, but it oddly enhanced the savoriness.
"Shwaaaang."
Slurp sluuuurp.
Swoongie looked content, absorbing something.
"Delicious as expected."
Moona rolled his fattened body around.
"Caw."
Same here.
Used a ton of energy, so I overate pretty hard.
Still, mountains of meat left.
Enough to live off indefinitely, almost.
I was pondering what to do with it all when—
"…Isn't that meat I smell?"
"Hey, Agwen. Aren't you an elf?"
"Elves eat meat in emergencies like this."
"But we haven't even been separated a full day yet…"
Human voices drifted from afar.
Two women.
And one sounded familiar.
"We have no food or water right now. Who knows when we'll escape—this qualifies as an emergency. Hurry."
"True, but... what if it's another trap like before?"
From the chatter, they were flat out of supplies.
Fine for now, but obvious what'd happen later.
And I had heaps of food and water.
A brilliant idea struck.
Pecked the rolling Moona with my beak.
"Hm? Ah, got it."
The wise sage caught my drift instantly.
"Swoong?"
Used Swoongie to whip up some snazzy outfit-looking threads.
Preparations complete.
Ready to welcome our ho… er, esteemed customers.
"Caw, caw caw."
Customer, how far have you explored?