The Bird

Finding another goblin that was just as careless stupid as my fist kill proved to be harder than I anticipated, the ones that I faced in the last couple of hours were armed with wooden sticks that were sharpened to makeshift spears.

My hope to find a human settlement was also null because I simply lost my orientation, it happened just like that, and I became unsure which way the two humans took until I noticed that was actually walking in circles.

It didn't matter much though, as I became aware of the fact that I could somewhat satisfy my hunger by killing goblins to absorb their mana. It wasn't the best method since I have to put my life on risk, but it was still doable, now with my newly won confidence and the powers of my cat-magic.

Huh?

"Heh-heh-he!" I smiled wickedly when I spotted my new prey.

[Forest Goblin – LvL 0]

The little bastard was holding something that looked like a grey coconut in his hands, smashing it against a large boulder in the hope of breaking it open.

Goblins were really nasty creatures. They looked like scrawny human children with sickly green skin with long pointy hears and oversized noses that came in all forms and variations. The only thing that was fascinating about them was their red glowing eyes with a constant look of craziness and sheer malice. Little shits they are, these goblins.

"This green-ass motherfucker won't see what hit him!" I growled silently as I approached my target from behind its back.

'Shadow Strike!'

"Fuck you and die!" I hissed with catlike ferocity.

My claws left four vicious scratches across the back of the goblin, but I didn't stop after my first attack and followed up with a myriad of frenzied swipes to deal as much damage as possible.

"SKREEEEEEE!!!" The goblin dropped his coconut and jumped up with a pained screech that echoed in the small clearing around us.

"Yes, scream and die!" I miaowed with a bloodthirsty smile.

The feeling of slaying a larger prey was intoxicating for a little cat such as me, and I jumped back to dodge its wild retaliation before I shoot towards its ugly face to scratch its eyes.

My expertise with cat-kung-fu rose by leaps and bound after my first fight, and I shredded the skin of the goblin with the ferocity of a lion while I dodged its counterattacks with the nimbleness of a leopard.

*slash*

"Yes!" I purred in victory after my last slash killed the green dimwit. "I am the greatest champion of all housecats!"

[Catnip: Don't forget to harvest the mana]

"Of course," I miaowed happily and put my paw on the forehead of the goblin.

A pleasant feeling started to flood my body, and I purred in delight when I felt my exhaustion being washed away by it. The fact that killing another life felt so rewarding worried me a bit, I didn't want to turn into a mindless killer, but I couldn't also fight against the laws of nature either – you kill or get killed!

Anyway, I absorbed every drop of mana out of the goblin and hushed away before something else would come and eat the corpse. The forest was full of dangers and scavengers were always big bullies I couldn't fight with my current level of power.

…

It was strange to experience the world in the body of a small cat, and what made it more bizarre was that I was a magical one at that. But I slowly started to get accustomed to my new condition. Being a human wasn't that much better anyway. Sure, there were a bunch of things I wasn't able to do anymore, but who could say that the life of a cat is boring?

The day was still young, and the sky bright, I continued exploring the forest like an assassin that made his mind up to exterminate all goblins. Well, I didn't hate them, but they were good prey. Dumb, and easy to kill if I could catch them by surprise.

I wasn't sure how many goblins I had to kill in order to level up again, though.

"Hmm, I just exploit every opportunity and kill every greenskin I encounter," I meowed thoughtfully as I cut my way through a patch of high-growing grass.

*screech*

Huh?

My pupils constricted when I looked up to see a huge blue bird diving for me with outstretched legs with each of them displaying five wicked, sharp claws.

Fuck my life! – I cursed in horror as I realized that it too late to escape the bird.

[Blue Frostwind Eagle – LvL 1]

*MEAOW!!!*

My terrified mind froze in panic when the claws of the bird packed my body into a deadly tight grasp, and pain shot through my body when I felt that one of the claws cut into my side.

Am I going to die now? – I thought to myself as I watch the ground moving away from me until I could overlook the tree canopy of the forest below me.

[Catnip: Pretend to be dead]

Hmm?

'Fake my death?! …Yes!'

My eyes lit up with a spark of hope, and I did my best to relax my body in the clutches of the bird. It was easier said than done because I could barely suppress the waves of sharp pain that came from the spot where one of the flying idiot's claws cut me.

Just you wait you smelly-ass bird! – I cursed in the back of my head in the attempt to make me feel more confident.

The situation was dire, and my chances of survival were slim, but I have the hope that my act might help me somehow. Freaking out like a stupid goblin wasn't helpful and I decided to take advantage of the situation to analyze the vast forest below me.

I couldn't see much since a dead cat shouldn't be able to twist its head around. Nevertheless, I was able to see square patches of cornfields in the distance. The thought of being so close to a human settlement made me feel joyful, but I sighed when I realized that my present situation as anything but joyous.

I really need to get stronger… at least strong enough to defend myself against shitty birds and crazy goblins – I thought in the back of my head, seeing that the bird was flying towards a mountain that looked like the pointy hat of an old mage with its peak poking the sky.

…

The bird that caught me might be strong, but it was slow as fuck and it took us what felt like an hour to reach the place on the mountain where it built its nest.

'Ok, Nero… time for operation 'Fuck-off-as-fast-as-you-can' – I thought in the back of my head as I looked at a huge nest made out of sticks that was covered in bird-shit and eggshells.

There were no hungry hatchlings snapping with their sharp beaks after me, but I could see that the nest was built inside one of the many holes that made the steep cliff the bird was flying towards to look like Swiss cheese. It gave me new hope since I had a way to escape now.

'Ok, time to get serious!'

The bird flew closer to its nest and stopped midair before dropping me into the middle of its nest. I didn't fight against when the pain of sharp eggshells poked my skin and let my limp body roll to the side, just like a dead cat would do.

What followed was that the bird began to screech into the hole behind its nest before my ears were filled with the sound of high pitched chirps. Three hungry hatchings rushed towards their feathered mother that looked like a blue eagle. However, the birds were looking around in confusion when they weren't able to locate the little cat that was supposed to end up as bird-shit.

'Fuck you and your feathered asses!' – I cursed in the back of my head with a devilish smile covering my face.

'Hahaha! The power of Illusionary Glamour!'

I have to admit that I forgot about my passive ability, and only recalled its effects the second I noticed that the big bird couldn't spot me anymore. It didn't make me invisible, but it was apparently good enough to provide me safety from the hungry eyes of the four birds that were now looking like as if they gave up their search for their lost meal.

The mother-bird was screeching in frustration when its three little shitlings started complaining to her with loud chirps, and I just lay there, motionless, and watched everything with a large amount of schadenfreude.

'Hehehe… I guess that I will have chicken nuggets for my next meal' – I grinned with a predatory smile when I saw the mother-bird fly away – most likely to find another meal for her little shits.

I didn't move and watched the tree hatchlings retread back into the darkness of small have behind the next. They were featherless and the cliff was plagued by winds that carried icy coldness that their naked bodies couldn't withstand yet.

'Assassin mode: Online!'

I left the nest and snuck after the three hatchlings without making a sound.

'Shadow Strike! - Shadow Strike! - Shadow Strike!'

My swipes were merciless and I didn't hesitate when I slashed the backs of the three featherless birds open. Their skin was luckily way thinner than a goblin's, and I killed them fast and almost soundless – like a real ninja kitten.

"Yes, this is what I have become…" I growled in a low tone, seeing that my paws were wet with the blood of the three hatchlings. "I am a cold-blooded killer!"

'Bon appetite!'

Killing three little birds was cruel, and I would never do such a thing if I were still a human, but well, I was a weak cat now, and I needed to eat and grow stronger in order to survive.

I used my claws to cut the birds open so I could drink the blood. Eating raw flesh was still something I couldn't do without triggering my vomiting reflex. Blood was at least somewhat clean and a lot easier to ignore since it didn't taste that gross.

Like a vampire, I sucked the three little birds before pushing them over the edge. Killing them was cruel enough, but I was sure that I would make the mother insane with rage if I let the shredded bodies of her kids out in the open. Out of sight, out of mind.

"So… what now?" I miaowed thoughtfully as I walked into the dark cave behind the bird-nest.

Well, there wasn't much to do for me besides trying to better my situation. I was full, and exploring a cave sounded interesting. It couldn't be that dangerous if the little shits were able to survive here.

The cave was really quite small and looked like it was man-made because the walls started to slowly change until they became round and smooth, and the deeper I went, the more I had the feeling that I was inside a large pipe.

'Humans… hmm, could it be that these are the ventilation systems of an abandoned mine?' – I thought inwardly.

My eyes were luckily enchanted by my ability, Darksight, and while my sight wasn't perfect, I experienced my surroundings in a dim light that was good enough for me to help me orientate myself.

…

Time passed and the dark and tubelike cave became even smaller – and I felt for the first time glad about the fact that I was a small cat.

"I hope that I don't end up in the fiery abyss of a volcano," I miaowed in a bored tone as I continued my way into the dark depths of the mountain.

I lost my sense of time, but it felt like half a day passed until I was finally feeling a faint breeze of caressing my fur as I moved onward into the slightly cold darkness.

My movement speed increased when I spotted a weak blue light in the distance, and I crouched down to squeeze me through the last meters until the ground below me cracked. And a panicked meow escaped my mouth when I lost my halt before I dropped into the unknown – only to blink in disbelief when I found myself sitting on a hill of shimmering coin a second later.

"For real?!" I miaowed in outrage, sending signals filled with negative emotions to whatever god was responsible for my situation. "You turn me into a cat and now you gift me a hidden treasury?!"

I kept hissing many more curses to satisfy my anger while I let my eyes roam the vast cavern I found myself in.

The place was as large as a sports field and full of gold, armor, swords, gemstones, and other crap that would turn a human crazy with greed. However, a noble cat such as me wasn't interested in such trivial things, and I kept searching until I locked my eyes onto three massive doors that looked important.

The first one was made out of gold and had the picture of a pompous king with an arrogant look in the middle of it. I switched to the second that was made of iron and showed me a muscle-packed barbarian that carried not one, but two greatswords. And as for the last door, it was made of silver and displayed the picture of a hunchbacked old man with a long beard that had to support his body with a gnarled staff that had a fist-sized, white glowing pearl at its peak.

"What is the little cat doing here?!"

"Summaron, didn't you secure our inheritance against vermin?"

"Easy, easy, Rudolf. Let me think for a moment. I am sure that I will remember… hmm… no… I have no idea…"

"What the fuck?!" I miaowed with bulging eyes, seeing the three figures that were portrayed on the three massive doors suddenly talking to each other.