Chapter 28 - 13: [Gugu Chicken, Wheat Grain Bag, and Super Painful Magic Potion]

Chapter 28: Chapter 13: [Gugu Chicken, Wheat Grain Bag, and Super Painful Magic Potion]

Three o’clock in the afternoon.

Five adventurers advanced along the road in Luojie City—three in the front, two in the back.

"The Split Claw Bird is a proud beast, a vicious Warrior! What a pity, what a shame! Fate led that poor beast to cross paths with me—the ultimate hunter, the destined Warrior of the split-clawed raptor, Luken Roster! Claws and swords clashed back and forth, like sparkling snowflakes in the bitter winter wind—"

The person rambling at the front was none other than the "illustrious" captain of the Split Claw Bird of Luojie City, Luken Roster.

Close behind him on his left and right were two adventurers: a short Little Fatty Swordsman with a mushroom cut, and a frail, somewhat buck-toothed Glasses Mage.

"—At that moment, the Split Claw Bird leapt into the air, its dark silhouette blotting out the sky! Just like the wings of a giant dragon!" Roster recounted passionately. "However, as a Warrior, the more critical the situation, the calmer and more composed one must be! I unleashed a spinning slash..."

The Little Fatty Swordsman trotted closely behind, hugging his sword and panting heavily. Listening to the story of the Split Claw Bird for the umpteenth time, his face was still filled with adoration. He was a highly supportive audience, listening with unbridled excitement—he was clearly a diehard fanboy of Roster’s.

He was dressed exactly like his idol, Luken Roster, wearing a cloak over his leather armor. Even the sizes of his armor and cloak were identical to Roster’s. As a result, the leather armor was far too tight for him, looking as if it might burst at the seams at any second. Meanwhile, the cloak was much too long, frequently causing him to trip over the hem as they walked.

The frail, buck-toothed Glasses Mage kept his head down the entire time, focusing intently and seriously on his feet. He took every step with extreme caution, as if he might step on a few Ederic Gold Coins. It seemed his nearsightedness was quite severe; his glasses were as thick as the bottoms of wine bottles. Wearing them actually impaired his vision and sense of balance even more, so he had to constantly watch the ground to keep from falling over.

"...And that was our team’s very first victory! I chopped off the head of the Split Claw Bird and plucked its most magnificent feather as the trophy for our inaugural mission! It’s also the origin of our team’s name!" Roster finally concluded his lengthy tale, turning around triumphantly to show off a stiff feather hanging from his neck to the two tall Knights behind him.

The feather was about the length of a palm, brown with black and white stripes. It was thick and rigid, resembling a stiff flight feather from a bird’s wing.

Samael and Talia exchanged a glance.

Talia chuckled out loud first. She coughed dryly twice, raising her Claw-shaped Hand Armor to cover it up.

"Oh, how impressive!" Samael clapped supportively, playing along while leaning his helmet close to Talia’s to ask in a low voice, "What is a Split Claw Bird? A deinonychus?"

"A Gugu Chicken," Talia whispered, raising her Hand Armor to conceal the contact between their helmets.

"What?" Samael didn’t understand.

"The Split Claw Bird is what the Demon Race calls a Gugu Chicken," Talia whispered. "It’s a type of... medium-sized poultry affected by the ecosystem of the Demon Realm. There’s a quite large wild population. They’re non-toxic, roughly similar to overgrown pheasants. Since they dig through the dirt to eat bugs, their claws are rather sharp. They are very timid and will run away at the slightest sound. They only fight when they absolutely can’t escape."

"Are they strong?" Samael asked quietly.

Talia held back her laughter for a long time before finally letting out a single sentence.

"Weaker than a Rot Root Ball."

Samael fell silent for a moment.

"Then, how has this Luken Roster survived in the perilous Barren Land for so long?" He gazed in confusion at the rambling figure ahead. "Perhaps he has some unknown, extraordinary skill?"

"I don’t know." Talia shrugged. "But compared to this Gugu Chicken Terminator, I think your Sewage Worker friend’s team is actually acceptable."

"Hey! Uh, Mr. Roster?" Samael rubbed his hands together as he stepped forward, calling out cheerfully, "Could you tell us what exactly we’ll be doing for today’s internship shadowing mission?"

Luken Roster, who had been marching ahead with long strides, spun around sharply. He flashed a brilliant, proud smile and gave a thumbs-up. His expression brimmed with confidence, looking quite a bit like Ricardo Milos, whom Samael frequently saw on meme video websites in his past life.

"Don’t be frightened, newbies! We are going to hunt the most dangerous Magical Beast, the most terrifying monster of the Demon Realm!" With a deadpan face, he softly uttered the mysterious words. "The Split Claw Bird."

Samael fell silent.

"Oh, that makes sense," Talia leaned in and whispered. "If he only fights Gugu Chickens, it really would be quite hard for him to die. Gugu Chickens aren’t poisonous and have very weak combat capabilities. They wouldn’t dare initiate an attack on other creatures. Their only survival advantages are traveling in flocks and running relatively fast."

"I admit, I might have overestimated low- and mid-tier adventurers," Samael said hesitantly in a low voice. "Maybe... uh, maybe you’re right. Maybe I’m overthinking things, and there’s absolutely nothing to worry about when it comes to adventurers... Hmm... No, no, no, of course not. Every adventurer is different. We can’t lower our guard just because of one isolated case."

He snapped out of it and shook his head, holding his helmet’s visor as he reflected on whether he was being too paranoid.

Talia looked at him acting this way and chuckled softly.

As the five-person temporary party passed through the gates of Luojie City, a familiar voice reached their ears:

"You two... honored clerics?" Guard One and Guard Two scrutinized Samael and Talia in the group, as well as Roster at the very front.