The Small Beast and Savage Talon (2)

I stared blankly at the monster before me.

Its pupils had turned a blazing crimson. Flames clung to every feather covering its body. It was twice the size of Brother Savage Talon — and a full twenty levels higher.

And that wasn't all.

Even the title had changed. Guardian of the Essence?

Don't tell me — was there another being protecting the divine beast besides Brother Savage Talon?

……

No way in hell!

It was written plain as day — Savage Talon!

So why was he attacking me?!!

"Kyaaaaaaak!!"

The moment Brother Talon screeched, a shockwave blasted my body clean off the ground.

Whoooosh!

A scorching pillar of fire skimmed right over my head. If I hadn't been small enough to get blown clear, I would've been roasted tiger on a spit right then and there.

I could already smell something nicely browned. Wait — was that smell coming from me?

No! Brother! Have you finally lost your mind?!

"Grrrrngh!"

"……Krrr."

"??"

That was when I first understood.

A truly insane creature has a look in its eyes that nothing else can match.

That wasn't Brother Talon.

That was a mad bird of prey.

For the record — whether human or animal, when someone's eyes have gone completely off the rails, the polite thing to do is pretend you didn't notice.

Somebody — no, some tiger — save me!

"Kyaaaaaaaah!"

Every time Brother Talon beat his wings, burning feathers shot out in every direction. If I hadn't been so small, and if I hadn't had Alertness, I'd already be dead.

"Grrrrngh!"

I flung myself with the swirling wind. Layering on Leg Strength Enhancement, I felt my body lift clean off the ground.

I wasn't joking — in that moment, I was genuinely flying through the sky.

Have you ever heard of it? This is the legendary Fly Tiger!

Gandalfaaaaa!

Was this what air-walking felt like?

The problem was that I couldn't control my direction. I just went wherever the wind took me — which, conveniently, also meant I was dodging the feather barrage without even trying.

So what was left to do?

Obviously—

Run for itttttt!

I instinctively used Giant Smash to cancel out the impact of the landing and touched down in style. Even I had to admit that was some excellent improvisation.

The second my paws hit dirt, I kicked off and bolted forward. Double-boosting my hind legs with Leg Strength Enhancement and Giant Smash, my body shot ahead like I was performing some kind of martial arts footwork.

Had I finally become a Murim tiger?

Using skills back-to-back left me gasping for air, but the important thing was that I was still alive.

Once I'd put some distance between us, I snuck a glance back.

While I'd been running for my life with my tail between my legs, Brother Talon was—

"Kyaaaak!"

"Kruk! Kieeek!"

"Kwarara!"

—personally educating every goblin in sight.

Of course! The only way to handle a madman is with an even madder man — that's just common sense!

Brother Talon! Go wild!

I thought I could finally catch my breath. But then—

"Kya————ak!"

Brother Talon, mid-slaughter of the goblins, shot into the air and came screaming straight at me.

Only then did I realize something was seriously wrong with him.

Wham!

"Grrng?"

"Krrr——!"

It happened in the blink of an eye.

Before I knew it, Brother's beak had stopped right in front of my face.

Looking at that beak dripping with bright red blood, I understood.

He's been sparing me this whole time?

Brother Talon could have killed me whenever he wanted. I could feel the tip of his beak trembling right before my eyes.

I stared blankly up at his face.

Deep rage burned in those blazing pupils. And yet, even through all that fury, his expression was twisted in pain — and blood-tears streamed down his face.

Why……?

Only then did I realize where his eyes were fixed: on the waist pouch I'd made from the roots of the elixir plant.

Don't tell me… the reason Brother changed is……?

Damn it!

Only then did I grasp the full situation.

I'd gone and touched the Essence like an idiot, thinking I'd protect it — and that was what had blown this whole thing wide open.

"Grrng!"

You should've said something earlier, Brother Talon!

Ah. Right. We can't do that.

Not being able to talk was this miserable, huh. Maybe I should teach him sign language later? Then again, I don't know sign language either.

Anyway — the important thing right now was calming Brother Talon down.

Whoosh!

I used my tail to untie the pouch. Do you have any idea how hard I'd worked not to lose this thing? I'd nearly tripped over myself holding it with my tail more times than I could count!!

And this was the thanks I got for all that effort.

Damn it. Still — if I gave it back, he'd go back to normal… right?

Plop. Roll, roll, roll.

I couldn't use my tail like a proper hand, so I just grabbed the pouch roughly and shook it. The Elixir of the Sky tumbled out onto the ground.

And at that exact moment—

Gulp!

Brother Savage Talon swallowed the little orb-shaped Essence whole, dirt and all.

"Kyak."

Oh. Is it over now?

Brother. Coming back to your senses? I won't say a word — just stop spewing fire already.

"Grrng!"

I muttered under my breath and watched his face carefully.

Hmm.

Fwoooosh!

Damn it!

Apparently the Essence was still thoroughly pissed. Then again, I had seen the prefix "Immature" sitting in front of the name Elixir of the Sky.

Still, I felt wronged.

Hey, Essence — your own guardian says he's fine!

Seems like the Essence was the software and Brother Talon was the hardware.

Look, I was trying to help! That Essence brat has a rotten personality, if you ask me. This is exactly why you shouldn't spoil a kid rotten.

Ungrateful little bastard!

"Grrng!"

You hear that?

I hurriedly put some distance between myself and Brother Talon.

You little punk — I'm only letting this slide out of respect for Brother's face. Rotten Essence bastard! Just get digested and disappear already!

I settled in at a leisurely distance and watched Brother Talon's fire show. Since he no longer chased me after swallowing the Essence, I could observe him in peace.

Whew. If I'd actually eaten that Essence, I'd have been in real trouble.

I'd be lying if I said I hadn't wanted to gulp it down. But Brother Talon had done right by me… so I held back, for the sake of loyalty.

Okay, fine — I'd also been planning to return it later and squeeze something out of him in exchange. But still.

Even so……

I didn't feel bad about it. Imagine that — doing a good deed and actually getting rewarded for it?

Looks like this tiger life was turning out a lot more righteous than my previous one. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Yeah. This is how it's supposed to be!

"Chomp chomp chomp!"

I munched on a well-roasted goblin and soothed my exhausted body. And as it turned out, the rewards from this whole mess were surprisingly juicy.

Not just Endurance — Agility and Strength had gone up too, and my bone density had improved. How different did it feel?

Clang!

I unsheathed my claws and could immediately feel how razor-sharp they'd become. This was a change on par with a level-up itself.

Leveling up and raising stats?

As expected — after a brush with death comes explosive growth!

"Grrng!"

Not getting the Essence was a little disappointing, but just learning that stats existed was satisfying enough. The status window didn't display anything like stats — so apparently what you could see wasn't everything.

I probably shouldn't put too much faith in levels alone.

Speaking of which……

"Kya————ak!"

The more Brother Talon's rage subsided, the more his level dropped. The flames coating his feathers were weakening too — so that form was only possible when he was truly furious.

The word "Enraged" had already shifted to "Angry."

But Brother Talon hadn't just racked up black history from this incident either.

The prefix "Swift" had changed to "Flame."

Judging by the faint heat still lingering in his ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠feathers, he might have genuinely gained the ability to wield fire.

Was having the Essence stolen the trigger for Brother Talon's evolution?

Once he'd finished venting all that rage, he would be reborn as a true Flame Savage Talon!

Now that was cool.

Oh! Looks like I was right.

To think I'd discover a clue to evolution like this! Stockpiling evolution clues would definitely help a lot with the next growth phase.

As expected — holding onto the Essence had been an excellent choice!

Mmm, now I'm in a good mood!

Brother Talon! Burn every last one of those goblins!

"Chomp chomp!"

Auto-hunting is broken as hell!

"Grrng!"

I was happily devouring goblin roast when a sudden sense of wrongness hit me.

Frenzy?

Had any of them possessed a skill like that? As far as I remembered, neither goblin warriors nor archers had anything of the sort.

Which meant—

"Krrrung……!"

I scanned my surroundings, senses stretched taut.

Something was off.

The goblins charging like zombies. Come to think of it — they'd been chasing me like they wanted me dead, but now they were only throwing themselves at Brother Talon.

As if their target had been decided from the start.

The goblins disregarded death itself, hurling their bodies ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at the massive predator. One thought naturally cut through my mind.

Is someone controlling the goblins?

A shiver ran through me. My fur stood on end as my survival instinct screamed a warning.

It's coming!

Dash-dash-dash! BOOM!

I threw everything I had into getting clear. In the same instant, a massive iron chain smashed into the spot where I'd been standing.

"Krrrrngh!"

I bristled without thinking and dropped into a low crouch.

Thud. Thud.

Cold sweat poured down my body.

What stood before me was a scrawny goblin holding a large wooden staff. It was just a single goblin — and yet the ominous aura rolling off him made my heart clench on its own.

And it wasn't just the aura.

Damn it.

"Kya——ak!"

Clank-clank-clank-clank!!

Behind the unknown goblin, I could see Brother Talon — bound tight in enormous chains. Even while spewing fire, he hadn't been able to resist. He'd been captured completely.

I narrowed my eyes to slits.

Around Brother Talon, geometric shapes were etched into the empty air. Any modern person would take one look and shout it:

A magic circle!

Brother Talon was bound head to toe by iron chains fired from that magic circle.

Thud.

At last the goblin came to a stop in front of me and looked down with a long, measuring stare. And when his mouth opened, what came out was—

Shockingly, not a monster's screech.

"What… are you?"

"……Krrng!"

That goblin was speaking a language.

My blood ran ice-cold.

I couldn't even read the bastard's name.