Chapter 266: Adventures of Talis!

While Alexander and Lazuli parted ways from new friends, let us rewind time slightly and shift our focus to our fluffy bird that flew off in a random direction all by herself just moments after arriving at Asckbon.

___

___

"I'm bored." Muttered Talis softly as she chirped into the air while calmly perched atop a tall tree, gazing at the endless forest down below.

I think it's been almost a week since we arrived here; I flew off before Alex and Lazuli even actually managed to make landfall, so I've got no clue where they are or what they're doing; however, knowing Alex, he was probably mating with Lazuli, he tends to do that a lot with either Yuki or Michelle as well.

'I'm still confused about why he enjoys mating so much; it's not even that pleasurable.' Thought Talis in confusion as she stretched her wings before entering a random nest she had stolen from another bird, though it was slightly small for her.

Snuggling into the poorly built and slightly uncomfortable nest, I closed my eyes and rested for a few minutes, but I should've known better since by the time I opened my eyes again, it was already nighttime, with the full moon high in the sky.

"Ah, t-that was quick." Said Talis lightly as she stood up and exited the nest, only to spread her wings while yawning.

Shaking my body to get rid of whatever leaves and sticks were stuck in my feathers, I leaped off the branch and flapped my wings, soaring through the sky at a somewhat moderate speed, simply enjoying the freedom of what it means to be a bird.

'Ahh, this is life. To fly; this is how I was meant to live.' Thought Talis lightly as she flew through the air, her long wing-span allowing her to glide across the sky effortlessly.

While enjoying myself, I heard a familiar caw in the distance, causing me to open my eyes as I looked in the distance, only to see a Windeagle flying below, causing me to loudly chirp, successfully grabbing its attention.

Once it noticed me, it began to yell at me aggressively, cawing profanities my way, though I ignored them all and simply shook my feathery butt, which seemed to anger it as the mindless Windeagle fell for my provocation.

'Heh, not only are you guys slow, but stupid as well; I would've killed myself if I were a Windeagle.' Thought Talis lightly as she chuckled to herself before flapping her wings, increasing her speed while the Windeagle chased behind her.

The Windeagle continued to chase behind for several miles, but despite only moving at what I considered a mere warm-up, it was clearly struggling to keep up with me. Windeagles were supposed to be some of the fastest birds of the sky, and many years ago, they were incredibly fast; the only way I was able to escape them was by flying low to the ground and using my agility to dart around the many obstacles, which they had trouble to do given their large size.

'However, now, I've gotten so much faster, it's not even that fun anymore.' Mused Talis with a slight shake of her head as she glanced at the Windeagle behind her before softly chirping.

While it's true a Windeagle could still rip me to shreds without too much of a problem if it ever managed to get ahold of me… It would never manage to get ahold of me, so it was a pointless concern.

"Well, I might as well kick it up a notch; I won't get any faster by flying so slow." Said Talis lightly as she chirped in response before flapping her wings, creating a powerful gust of air from the aftershock while she more than doubled her speed, leaving the exhausted Windeagle far behind.

Speedily flying through the air, I continued to increase my speed, eventually breaking what Alex called the sound barrier and entering supersonic, which I don't know what exactly means, but I like the name; it sounds fast. However, this was merely the beginning, as I started to push my speed to the absolute limit, causing the trees below me to enter my vision and then vanish just a second later.

Once I was flapping my wings as hard as possible and moving as fast as I could, I used my control over wind-mana to move the air from in front of me, causing any draft I was experiencing to vanish, though that wasn't all as I also focused a circulating wind vortex around my wings, further increasing my speed, and without any draft to slow me down, I entered my max speed.

I had no way of accurately testing what my max speed was by myself; I based it purely on how I felt about it. Given how fast I was moving, I was quite satisfied with myself, but I wanted more; I wanted to go faster! I couldn't proudly call myself Queen of the Skies if this was my top-speed. My goal was to fly so fast that nothing could keep up with me! Not Alex, Lazuli, a Dragon, or any other flying creature; I didn't even want air or space and time to keep up with me.

I wanted to be so fast, where I was alone, in a place where no one else could reach!

However, while I was dreaming of achieving what I desired, I felt a sharp pain in my left wing, causing me to chirp aggressively as I quickly slowed down while simply using my wings to glide to a nearby tree.

Perching myself atop a branch, I looked to my left, checking for any wounds; I couldn't see anything, which only annoyed me, but I quickly returned to a good mood afterward.

"Annoying, but I managed to beat my last record, so it's worth it! I won't reach greatness without hard work or something like what Alex said!" Stated Talis proudly as she raised her head in the air and loudly chirped.

Reaching into the little pouch I had strapped to my body, I grabbed a vial of Alex's blood and was about to drink it, only to stop myself at the last second.

'Hmm, I should probably save this just in case; I'm not with Alex, so I can't get a quick refill.' Thought Talis lightly as she glanced at the vial in her talons before sighing and closing the lid with her wing.

The pain in my wing wasn't that bad, and it would probably heal after a night's rest; the only problem was, it was the middle of the night, and I was not tired.

Sighing to myself, I plopped onto the branch and spent the next several minutes just resting; having flown that fast and hard always leaves them exhausted afterward, and I could use the respite to refill some of my mana.

However, while I was resting, I suddenly inhaled a weird yet strongly alluring scent that caused me to snap my eyes open.

'Hmm, w-what is this scent?' Thought Talis in confusion and curiosity as she deeply inhaled the air before looking to her left, which was the direction where the scent originated.

Unable to contain my curiosity, I left my branch and took to the skies, slowly flying in the direction of where the scent came from. The closer I got, the stronger the scent became, though, along the way, I began to hear roars and howls of various beasts.

Flying with caution, when I finally arrived near where the scent originated from, I came across a large clearing, and in the middle of it was a flower with a thick stem, causing me to tilt my head. However, surrounding the floor were tens of beasts, each seemingly drawn by the alluring scent, just like me, though they were all fighting each other.

At first, I thought the scent was making them fight each other, so I prepared to quickly leave, though as I stayed to watch, I began to notice that when new beasts arrived, they didn't immediately fight; instead, they all lunged towards the flower, which prompted the other beasts that were fighting to stop them, creating an endless cycle.

'So it is the flower.' Thought Talis lightly as she rubbed her chin while staring at the flower, her mind wandering with various plans.

Since I was already here, I figured I might as well steal the flower from all the other beasts; with a flap of my wings, I dived towards the flower, quickly reaching the middle of the clearing as I grabbed the stem of the flower with my talons, yet when I tried to fly into the air, I happened to take more than just the floor.

'What the the hell?' Mused Talis in confusion as she gazed at the bloody red plant that emerged from the ground.

Although confused, I continued to fly away from the beasts before they could catch up to me. My wing may hurt a little, but so long as I didn't push myself, I didn't even notice it.

After a few minutes, I found a tall tree and perched myself at the very top, setting the plant beside me.

"Should I wait for Alex? He could probably make something delicious with this?" Muttered Talis lightly as she looked at the bloody red plant, which seemed to emit an ominous glow, only for her stomach to growl.

'Welp, that answers my question.' Thought Talis lightly as she bent down and consumed the plant, flower, and all.

"Hmm, delicious." Said Talis with a satisfied expression as she laid back down on the branch.