Its foot neared and I exploded forward, jaws chomping down. The cockatrice instantly pulled back its appendage, but I had used strengthening on my legs and creation magic on my fangs to extend and sharpen them. Because of this, my teeth caught two of its four toes and snapped them, bone and flesh and all.
Shrieking, the monster dashed away from me, but it was imbalanced with only two toes on its right foot. It staggered, then tripped as I gave chase, and I pounced once more, this time grabbing its wings and tearing them off. Meanwhile, the chicken ferociously stabbed me twice with its beak, penetrating deep into my chest.
Backing off, I glared at the cockatrice and licked up the blood around my lips. Aware that defence against its thrice-damned beak was my top priority, I recalled the teeth and claw extensions and reapplied it with defensive properties over my torso. Meanwhile the chicken venomously peered at me with an intense combination of hatred and fear.
Snarling, I bolted towards it and leapt onto it as it attacked. Its beak skimmed through my foreleg, threatening to slice it open, but I used my weight to ground the bird before it could. The cockatrice spun and raked its talons over my chest, shattering the mana armour but doing little damage to my flesh, then higher up, cutting grooves into my face. I didn't roar despite the pain as I instead dug my fangs into its long neck and bit down, holding through its protests until I sliced through. I spat out the chunk of flesh and lurched to the side, the pain dulling my control over my body.
Although I didn't want to collapse again, I knew I would do so any second with these wounds. Refusing to give up ground to the silencing darkness, I committed to a gamble, an idea I had previously thought of. Circulating mana to my face, I pressed my lips against the cockatrice's neck and lapped up its blood, mana spinning in circles in my mouth. Faint from the blood loss, I didn't believe it at first when my mana started to deplete.
Delighted as I confirmed the minor healing effect, I kept up my effort until my mana ran dry. Body spent, I lay next to the corpse, chest heaving. As the adrenaline began to wear off, the pain grew in intensity across my body. Regardless, I still refused to collapse, holding through the agony till I could stand again several hours later, when I trudged back to Tal's place.
It was only as I entered her illusion that I finally allowed myself some true rest as I lay down, ignoring her tense voice. She must have cast something as I fell asleep before I knew it.
****
I woke up with a start, yawned, and scratched my belly. The stench hit immediately and I grimaced, almost gagging, as I looked down and realised it was coming from me. More specifically, from the medicinal paste covering my wounds. Considering the lack of significant pain across my body, the paste must have taken effect already.
Taking a survey of my surroundings, I found Tal lying beside me, saliva dripping down her mouth, forming a damp patch underneath. Her snores were like rumbling thunder, and from the medicinal paste still on her thick, square-like fingers, I figured she had drained herself during my treatment. Patting her on the shoulder, then on the head, she rolled over and became to wake.
I pushed back onto my hind legs to sit down and checked the System notifications that I had simply ignored during the fight.
[Sufficient vitality gained through the consumption of blood. You have gained 5 points in constitution and the Bloodsucker perk.]
My entire plan of sucking blood while circulating mana through my mouth had worked just as I had hoped, deleting the Vampiric Brown Bear evolution of the list. I opened up my profile.
[Level Up! You are now level 14.
Level Up! You are now level 15.
Level Up! You are now level 16.
Level 16 (4397/5000) - 3 unassigned attribute points
Race: Brown Bear (tier 2) - 296 kg
Class: unlocks at level 20
Mana: 2/35 ( recovery rate: 0.15 per minute)
Strength: 23
Agility: 19
Constitution: 36
Endurance: 15
Perception: 10
Arcana: 3
Luck: 6
Perks: Great sense of smell, Bear's regeneration, Exceptional Arcane talent, Bloodsucker]
The cockatrice had given me enough experience to level up three times, nearly four - it must have been several levels above me! Putting all my attribute points into arcana, I doubled my magical firepower. Next, I read through the details of my new trait.
[Bloodsucker: this individual can heal and sate themselves by burning foreign blood inside the body. Most effective on fresh, arcane targets.]
I chortled to myself, wondering on which potential perk to target next. The Ravenous perk had something to do with eating, likely excessive eating, and the Shadow perk definitely consisted of some form of running or sneaking. Other than that, I still didn't have a clue about the Golden one. Distracted by the System screen, I didn't notice Tal clearing from her drowse and looming over me. She slapped my crisply over the snout and silenced my laughter.
Oww. I groaned and gave her my best puppy eyes. I didn't quite know what a puppy was but my memories said this tactic would increase my chances of surviving this ordeal.
"Who do you think you're looking at it?" the blue ogress asked and slapped me once more. I didn't exactly know what an ogress was either but it seemed to fit her regardless.
"I told you, I fucking told you to not take on a cockatrice, not even a baby. Just grab one of the feathers lying about and come back," she said, and I looked to the ground in guilt. "But you just had to take it on, didn't you? Do you know how close you were to dying? If I hadn't saved you right now…" Her blue-gone-purple head trembled and she seemed to ready for another slap.
I braced myself for the hardest one yet and kept waiting until I raised my head and saw she had moved away. "Just an animal, Tal, just an animal. A damned one, sure, but still one," she muttered to herself.
After a pause, I built up my courage and thought about the most pressing question: had I brought back a cockatrice feather?
Reading my thoughts, she gave me a cold, sidelong glance, eyes piercing my soul. "You looked like a bloody chicken yourself, covered in gore and feathers. I've got more than I've got use for!"
Well, at least it was a successful mission.
Tal gasped but stopped herself. "Just a bloody stupid bear, Tal." Calming down, she addressed me directly. "Go out and play for a day now - I need to focus to make the recollection potion. And don't get yourself killed, otherwise I'll come and unkill you, just to personally kill you again myself," she threatened, and I listened.