The Humming Gales

Hey, Shun here!

I sometimes thought of a few ways I could deal with fast moving targets, given the fact that I'm wielding a weapon that is a bad matchup against fast moving targets. Calculating your arrows travel time, velocity, and sometimes you even have to take into consideration the wind speed and such can be quite a challenge.

Small enemies are also hard to face since they're hard to hit. I wonder what would happen if I were to face a fast moving, wind manipulating, small bird?

Alright, it's really hard. It's like playing an FPS game where you have to hit your enemy who's basically cheating, zooming past obstacles like a champ.

Hey. Why am I setting up some flags right now, anyway?

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(Shun's POV)

When I logged out, I cooked up a simple dinner and, after chatting with Miu for an hour or so, I went back to continue my unfinished task there.

Once I got back to the game, I busied myself crafting Wooden Arrows. Since there's many crafting materials, it took quite a while for me to finish crafting all of them.

After busying myself with crafting 11 sets of Wooden Arrow +10, I finally stood up while fixing the quiver filled with the said arrows behind my back.

"I should really buy some new equipment or something. I'm getting tired of wearing beginner's clothing…" I mean, who would want to wear gray-ish clothing all the time?

Standing up, I unknowingly started walking deep inside the forested area of the eastern side of the map.

In my stroll, I encountered some Mill Birds, Grey Rats, and some occasional stray Goblins. Then, after passing through a large thicket, I encountered an old man leaning on a dry tree.

The marks of time is visible on the old man's face while his clothes were that of a normal villager. At first glance, he looks like some normal elderly you'd find around the first town.

However, upon further thought, I was hard pressed to find a reason as to why a townsfolk of the first town would be hanging around this place. This place is in the middle of the forest.

"Um, sir?"

When I called out to him, the old man looked at me while smiling weakly.

"How can I help you young one?"

"Why are you in this place, alone?"

"I am waiting for my love to return…"

Seeing the sad expression that soon took over the smile on his face, I couldn't help but feel melancholic as well. I think I also experienced the loss of a loved one through dying in my pass life, but I can't remember it so I don't know what to feel about it.

"Where is she, sir?"

"Gone, inside the Crystal Cave…"

This answer made me remember the recently popular cave that only females could enter.

Males aren't allowed to accept the initial quest in order to enter and find the cave so male players have been filing complaint after complaint against this quote and quote "blatant gender discrimination".

"Then, that means that you can't enter inside to find her?"

"That's right. That's why I've been waiting in this fateful place ever since she left…"

"Can I somehow help you in any way?"

I couldn't help but ask that question in sympathy. The NPCs in this game sometimes really feel so human that you'd think they're one.

"Are you sure you want to help me young one? This journey will be extremely difficult for you who have only started on your journey…"

I guess he could tell how strong I am just by looking at my current gear or something.

Anyway, this seems like it's a really hard quest. But I'm up for it!

"Of course, sir. If there's something I could do to extend a helping hand, I will…"

"Very well then. I've been here for decades but I've never once seen what the item my love is searching for looks like. I want to see it before I join her in our next life…"

I immediately perked up my ears as I listened to what the old man is going to say. If what he's said up until now is correct, this should be a quest with a time limit.

"Head to the cave ahead of this animal trails, where a monster said to have been able to collect the items that my beloved have been searching for all these years live…"

The old man looked at me with a serious gaze as he seriously warned me.

"Be warned that this monster can beat the famed Golem of the western region, if certain requirements are met. Only one person can enter inside safely or this monster will notice you and go out of its lair. If it manages to go out, you will never be able to beat it with your current strength."

「Do you want to accept the [Investigate the Silver Fiend's Lair] Quest?」

"I understand, sir. I will bring that item back to you…"

「You accepted the Quest…」

"Thank you, young man…"

✽✽[Investigate the Silver Fiend's Lair]✽✽

Status: Ongoing

Description:

Investigate the lair of the monster dubbed as the 'Silver Fiend'. Kill or suppress the Silver Fiend in order to obtain its prized treasures.

Reward(s): Unknown.

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Looking at the quest description, I smiled slightly before I once again faced the old man.

"I will get this item, post-haste."

After bowing to the NPC slightly, I left quietly and followed the animal trails, just like what the old man said.

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In my journey through the animal trails, I saw many items like Tree Branches, Crow Feathers, Mushrooms, Wildflowers, Pebbles, and etc. I was especially happy for getting more arrow crafting materials.

After a few more minutes of walking, I finally arrived at the location.

"Hee, the cave looks pretty small… I wonder what's inside. It's even called Silver Fiend…'

Since I didn't have to prepare anything, I entered inside the cave without any hesitation. If I die, I die.

While walking through the cave, I noticed that the cave get more and more spacious as it goes. Also, there are no monsters except some weak Grey Rats with an average of level 8 or something.

Since there's a chance of encountering a strong monster, I swapped out [Synthesis] for [Recovery Magic] and [Crafting Knowledge] for [Enchant]. I could swap Senses mid battle but it will take some getting used to for me to pull that off.

I need some practice to do that.

"Oh, there it is, new monsters." I murmured as I looked at the little birds flying in front of me that looks to have a height of around 20cm or something.

They look like hummingbirds with green and white wings.

"It looks like they're called Humming Gales?—Oops!"

I dodged in a panic as the little Humming Gales flew towards me at a break neck speed. They're probably 100% faster than the Big Boar.

I could barely dodge them because of their speed. It looks like I need to really level up my [Speed Increase] fast or I'll be in for a world of pain if I go deeper.

I'm pretty sure the boss in here is something similar to these guys. It's always been a staple, after all.

"I need to sharpen my senses… I'll use these guys as practice."

And so, I focused my mind and took this matter seriously. I at first didn't attack at all and focused entirely on dodging and learning all of the monster's patterns.

If I'm not wrong, mobs like this have a low chance of adopting themselves during a battle. The reason must be because the devs of this game gave every monster their own AI, before giving them a set pattern to follow at first.

As the game progresses, I bet these monsters will evolve even further. However, as of right now, it's a shame that battles against monsters are just all about set patterns…

As I dodged their attacks, I occasionally healed myself because of the huge amounts of damage I'm taking. Thankfully, I managed to quickly learn their behavioral patterns.

"You will attack and try to peck at me head on— Oops! There, die… «Rapid Fire Bow - Twin Needles»!"

I dodged one Humming Gale as it flew at me in an attempt to peck me on my shoulder. After it passed by me, I shot two arrows at it using my bow arts.

Just when I finished off the other Humming Gale, the last one shot a compressed wind coming from its beak, followed by a gust of wind.

I dodged the first attack and tanked the next one as I have no way of dodging it in this narrow space.

"«Heal»!"

Since the damage I took is only around 13%, I healed it with my weaker [Recovery Magic] skill. I learned a stronger one but I don't want to over heal and waste my mana, especially when I'm about to fight a boss.

"«Rapid Fire Bow - Twin Needles»!"

After firing another [Art] at the mob monster, I could finally take a breather. Gee, they're quite easy to kill if they would just stay still.

It's really hard to kill them since their specialty is wind and they would just blow away my arrow if my shot placement is near their wings. I constantly need to make sure that my shot could have a safe travel path towards their heads. It's hard to hit them at any other path because of the wind.

Thankfully, they could only use the wind to blow away two or so of my attacks. However, I still felt a little bitter since they could nullify my attacks.

Do I really need to bait them to attack me always in order to properly get some shots in?

"*sigh*… Let's just recover. I'll go further after that. I'm slowly getting the hang of facing them…"

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※~To be continued~※

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Author's Remarks:

※ This is a self-created dungeon and quest not present on the main plot. I tried.