A few days after the exam had concluded, results were sent out to the examinees via messengers. The following week, the streets were filled with the families and friends of those who were accepted into the academy celebrating and the lone figures of sulking adventurers who didn't make it in. Kyōi, Zoryn, Leilani, and Malak were part of the former group.
When Kyōi had received the letter of acceptance, the adventurers decided to go out to celebrate. Malak's mother heard about it and secretly visited him. While he normally didn't accept money from his family to avoid being connected to them, he could only accept the coins when she said it was for Kyōi. After all, she had said to him, what grandparent wouldn't want to spoil their grandkid, even if they were not related by blood.
Kyōi decided to use some of the money to purchase some new clothes. While the academy did have an official uniform, it didn't force the students to wear it. Students were allowed to wear an outfit they picked out themselves as the uniform, as long as the academy crest was present somewhere on the outfit and the outfit mostly contained the school colors, which were black and red. Most of the kids from high-class families chose this option, often wearing the school crest as a badge.
Kyōi decided to follow their lead and pick out an outfit xemself. This was because xey wanted an outfit that was fireproof, in case xey needed to use xeir fire skills. This would reduce the amount of new clothes xey needed to buy due to xem accidentally burning xeir outfits during training, especially when xey tried practicing xeir Burning Heal skill, since it created a layer of fire around xeir body.
Kyōi made xeir way to a tailor to pick out an outfit, asking some of the city inhabitants for directions along the way. Scanning through all of the options, eventually xey decided on a white shirt, dark grey pants that were loose enough to fight in if need be, a red vest, crimson tie, and black boots that were similar to the combat boots from xeir old world.
On the left side of the vest was a blank crest, which normally held the symbol of the noble family the wearer belonged to. Children of knights often put their parent's coat of arms if they weren't from a noble family. Kyōi decided to have it marked with a parody of the Krow family's coat of arms. The Krow's crest was a black silhouette of a crow against a swirled dark purple and black background. Kyōi chose to get a red bird silhouette against a black and white swirled background.
After making sure everything fit properly, xey purchased the outfit and stored it in xeir inventory. Suddenly, a new notification appeared before xem.
[Species Skill Detected: Cry For Help]
[Analyzing]
[Skill User's Species:(Avian)]
[User's Species Status: Endangered]
[Species Quest Activated]
[Quest: Birds of a Feather I]
[Part 1/?]
[A member of the user's species is in mortal danger. Rescue them and protect the endangered species.]
[Objective: Rescue and save the Avian from death 0/1]
[Time Limit: 15 minutes]
[Reward: Flock System Activated, 15 Species Points, Species Points Shop Unlocked]
[Accept Quest?]
[Yes/No]
Kyōi read the notification quickly, surprised by its appearance. Xey never had quests given to them by the system before. "Accept quest." Xey decided to accept the quest, though xey weren't sure how good the rewards would be.
At least completing the quest would mean meeting another Avian. According to most of the legends, the Avians were all in hiding, so Kyōi didn't expect to be able to meet one in a city as populated as the Crystal City.
As soon as xey had accepted the quest, the notification disappeared and an arrow labeled Quest Objective appeared in its place. Xey quickly began to walk down the street, following to where the arrow led, trusting the system to lead xem to the right location.
Soon, xey ended up at the entrance to an alley that was a dead end. At the very back of the alley was a teenager who looked to be around Kyōi's age, 15 years old or so, curled up against the back wall.
He had messy white hair with bangs that were long enough to completely cover his eyes, and pale skin that was almost white. His clothes were ripped and worn, held together by threads. On his back, xey could see a pair of snowy wings, but they were mangled to an almost unrecognizable state. The few remaining feathers were soaked in blood, and xey could see jagged fragments of bones sticking out every which way. His body was also covered in deep slashes that looked like they came from a blade, rather then from claws of a wild animal.
Kyōi rushed over to the boy immediately, xeir mind racing. Xey never carried healing potions on xem, since xey could heal xemself. Xey wanted to use the burning heal skill to help the boy recover, but xey weren't sure if the fire would just injure him more. Luckily, as if reading xeir mind, the system responded with a notification.
[Burning Heal can be activated to heal a target without burning said target.]
Quickly, Kyōi cast burning heal, focusing the healing flames on the worst of the boy's injuries, which were mostly concentrated on his wings and back. Activating the God's Eyes skill to view the boy's stats, xey breathed a sigh of relief as xey noticed his hp going up.
Xey could feel the mana draining from xeir body to fuel the healing flames at a rate far exceeding the amounts xey used to heal whenever xey received injuries during hunts back in the Forest of Beasts.
Normally xey only needed to heal a few slashes or scratches. The amount of injuries on the boy's body and wings was an astonishing amount, and Kyōi quickly found xemself worrying if xey had enough mana to completely heal the boy.
Luckily, the injuries of the boy were pretty much all healed by the time Kyōi ran out of mana, besides a couple of bruises and a few scratches.