Chapter 88. How to Train a Bird.

I picked up the creature—which was clearly quite pleased with itself—and set it down in front of me. Then I crossed my arms and sat down to think.

'A name is one thing, but how in the world am I supposed to feed it...?'

It was, after all, the offspring of 'Ziz.' It could probably eat anything and be fine. But from the perspective of the one raising it, that wasn't the point. Besides, I'd never actually raised anything in my entire life.

As I mulled over a name, the creature tilted its head slightly to the side, as if mimicking my pondering.

"It's black, so... Dark... no, that doesn't feel right..."

Right now, it was roughly the size of a chicken. It was hard to believe it would grow so massive. Like an ant growing to the size of an elephant...

I ran my hands over various parts of the creature, checking it over. Normally, its wings were just ordinary feathers. But it seemed it could will them to become as hard as steel. Its talons were also absurdly tough and sharp.

"A normal person would get seriously hurt if they weren't careful..."

And then there was the most important detail: its color. Unlike Ziz, this creature had taken on a pitch-black hue. Most likely...

"The majority of the mana it absorbed was influenced by my mana, I'd wager..."

I kept talking, mixing in hand gestures. Despite being young, it seemed far more intelligent than I'd expected—it appeared to understand most of what I was saying. Though precise communication was still difficult, considering it had only just hatched.

"Hmm... are you capable of flight right now?"

I made a flapping gesture with my hands, but it didn't seem to get it. So I stood up, gave a little jump, and lifted my body slightly off the ground to show it. At that, the creature began flapping its wings vigorously and took off.

—Flap, flap!

"Oh..."

It started circling around me, then suddenly latched onto my forearm with its talons. Considering its weight, it gripped me with considerable force—enough power that if it were a normal person, their bones would have been crushed and their flesh torn open by the claws. Once it had a reasonably secure grip, the creature began flying with a flurry of wingbeats.

"Oh... oh!!"

My body lifted into the air. I did use some mana, but it had still managed to fly with those tiny wingbeats. It circled while clutching me for a few minutes, then descended back to the floor. Worried it might try the same thing with someone else, I crossed my hands like talons in an X and shook my head firmly, teaching it that this was not allowed.

The creature just stared at me with its bright, sparkling eyes. Then it latched onto me with its talons again, but this time it adjusted its strength gently, wholly unlike before.

"Damn, you're a smart one."

—Piiiiii...

I smiled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and stroked it from head to tail. The creature seemed to enjoy it, letting out a happy little sound. As I began packing up the tent, cookware, and other items to leave the mine, it scurried after me on its short little legs.

"You're a bird, you're supposed to fly..."

I scooped it up and set it on my shoulder. Being the size of a chicken, it took up every inch of my shoulder. Apparently pleased with the spot, it began rubbing its face furiously against my sideburns. I headed back toward the hotels. Previously, I'd used the ski resort hotel, but this time I made for the one with a casino.

We hadn't fully cleared this place, so a few zombies remained. I reached for my sword to deal with them, but the creature beat me to it, launching itself forward first.

—Pow!!

Flying at a terrifying speed, it sliced through zombies' necks with its feathers, or simply carried its momentum and burst their heads open with its talons.

"What the..."

I swear, I had no idea Ziz was capable of that kind of combat. Imagine if it could fly at comparable speeds with that colossal body?

"The shockwave would level every building in reach."

My guess was, this was some kind of mutation caused when it absorbed my mana. While my attention wandered for a second, the creature tried to eat one of the zombies with its beak.

"Ptuh, ptuh!! Don't eat that stuff!!"

I rushed over in a panic and scooped it up before it could swallow anything. It squirmed and thrashed in my arms like it'd been hell-bent on eating it. Left with no choice, I pulled out some meat, tore it into small pieces, and fed them to it one by one.

"Raising an animal isn't easy."

Honestly, there was no grand reason for coming to this casino hotel. I'd simply come to grab tables, chips, and the like for our village—we were sorely lacking in recreation.

Baccarat, blackjack, hold'em, roulette—there was quite a lot of it.

"Slot machines are out. Too much pure gambling."

I had figured there'd be some survivors here, but not a single person had made it. They hadn't so much turned into zombies as simply starved to death. Far too many of them.

In any case, given the late hour, I decided to spend the night here and set out for the sea as planned tomorrow. Checking the map, the closest option by far was the East Sea.

I showered in the room and was lying in bed, resting, when the creature flew over and settled on my stomach. It found a comfortable posture and started preening its feathers.

"Unbelievable..."

Hearing my voice, it glanced at me, let out a single 'pii-ack,' and went right back to preening.

* * * * * * * *

—Tap tap... tap tap tap...

"Alright. I'll get up."

Its owner sleeping in clearly didn't sit well with it. It kept tapping me with its beak to wake me. It was a little early for breakfast, but since I was already up, I went ahead and ate. Naturally, I made sure the creature's meal was taken care of, too.

We headed outside and began walking toward the East Sea. Of course, zombies appeared along the way, but before I could do anything, the creature annihilated every single one of them. Even though it was being raised by human hands, it was extremely belligerent—as if it truly carried genes befitting its epithet as a beast of the Demon Realm.

That said, it kept trying to eat the zombies, which made that particular bit of education a little difficult.

I was clearing zombies along the way, raiding cars and shops to gather supplies, when a radio transmission came in.

—Krrrrrk...

I answered immediately. It sounded like a crowd was gathered—multiple voices were all talking over each other. Then, after a brief lull as they seemed to sort themselves out, Jia's and Chaeyeon's voices came through, competing to be heard.

"Sihu, ... you aren't hurt anywhere, right?""Sihu, you are making sure to eat properly?"

"Everyone calm down. I'm not hurt, and I'm eating just fine."

I exchanged brief pleasantries with each of the officers one by one, then the President asked about the matter at hand.

"What a relief. I actually tried calling several times, but you weren't receiving..."

It seemed the radio waves had been blocked while I was constructing the formation to hatch Ziz's egg. I explained why I couldn't take the calls.

"I see. We'd feared something terrible had happened. Anyway, what about the hatching...?"

"Don't worry. It's perfectly healthy."

Saying so, I described the creature's appearance and specs. Honestly, it was hard to believe, but since it was the offspring of such a being, everyone seemed to accept it.

"Anyway, please be careful, and we'll see you in a few days!"

—Piiiiik!

"Sihu, did ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it just speak?"

Both when I first picked up the radio and now, the creature was definitely reacting to their voices. Most likely, it had absorbed small amounts of mana from them when they'd been injecting mana back in Gimpo, and it had heard their voices while still in the egg.

When I explained my theory, the two of them were delighted, though I couldn't figure out why.

"Anyway, don't anyone worry—I'll see you in a few days."

Just as I was about to say my last piece and hang up, the President asked me to hold on a moment.

"Truth be told... a bit of a problem has arisen in the group."

"A problem...?"

"Well, it's not a major issue yet, but some discord has sprung up among the people. As the representative, I thought you should know in advance. I'll explain the details once you're back."

I said I understood, and this time, I truly signed off. After hearing what the President said, I didn't think too much of it. When people gather to live together, friction is inevitable.

I emptied my head and just kept walking, when a thought suddenly occurred to me.

'If I go fast, will this little guy be able to keep up?'

I carefully set the creature down on the ground for a moment. It had been dozing off, head bobbing on my shoulder.

—Piiik?

Unable to grasp what was happening, the creature looked at me. I pointed back and forth between myself and it, making a flying motion as I explained.

"Can you follow me by flying?"

—Piik!

With the thought that it would figure it out and follow along, I broke into a run. I glanced behind me periodically as I ran. It was following well, showing no signs of fatigue. Even when I pushed harder, running so fast my footfalls began cracking fissures into the asphalt, the creature kept up without issue.

'Huh... It really does keep up.'

Curious just how far it could follow, I put more strength into my legs and launched myself forward.

—Boom!!

Unlike the simple fissures from before, I left small craters in the road as I shot forward at incredible speed. I looked back to see the pitch-black mana radiating from its body leaving afterimages as it matched my pace. Pushing any faster than this felt like it would be too much, so I stopped.

"You really do ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠keep up..."

Seeming displeased that I had suddenly moved at such speed, it climbed onto my shoulder and began gently nibbling on my earlobe in protest.

"Heh heh, sorry. I was just curious how fast you could fly."

I'd apparently come an astonishing distance rather quickly—I'd already crossed the outskirts of Donghae and was heading into the city proper, where some kind of stadium stood.

I suppose its impressive ability to keep up had me lost in the thrill of the run. The sea wasn't far off—I could almost see it—so I decided to walk at a relaxed pace from here on.

That said, ever since I'd crossed into this area, the signs pointing toward a military base had kept catching my eye.

"1st Fleet Command?"

Come to think of it, our village had the Army and Air Force, but no Navy. If I could somehow acquire personnel and ships here, they'd be a crucial asset. Gimpo bordered the sea, after all.

"Even if they're not here, it's a military base. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠There'll be guns and ammunition at least."

In this world, you could never have too many guns and rounds. The mere thought of hauling off a massive stockpile of firearms and ammunition made my steps light.