Yang Zhang stared at the rooster in front of him and silently acknowledged that this rooster must have mutated, either naturally or through consuming a Brain Bead. It didn't seem to be a physical mutation, but instead, something more like what happened with Chestnut.
Now, Yang Zhang regretted his decision to rashly snatch the chicks and let the mother hen chase him. He should've just snatched and gotten the fuck out with Little Ivy!
But oh well, what's done is done, and he was in a pinch right now. Any minute now, the angry mob of junglefowl that surrounded him was going to peck him to death.
"Those endless hours of playing Zelda should've taught me something," Yang Zhang muttered as he looked around. "Don't fucking mess with the chickens."
The situation was tense. The beady eyes of the chickens were locked on to Yang Zhang, prepared to attack at any time. One wrong move, and he would be the one getting served for dinner today.
He couldn't use Little Ivy in this position because the vines would only get pecked by the chicken.
He also couldn't use Chestnut because there were just way too many, and they were spread out, so there was no way to zap everyone simultaneously.
And running wasn't possible either. These jungle fowls could easily outrun an average human like him who didn't have any abilities, and they could even fly above his head.
So there was only one way out. He wasn't sure if it would work, but this was his only chance.
He took the Mana Bead out of his pocket. Little Ivy and Chestnut didn't want this at all, so the only one who could consume this was himself.
Gulping, Yang Zhang looked at the bead in his hand. He was afraid that swallowing the Mana bead would kill him, but it should at least be more honorable than getting pecked to death by hundreds of junglefowls.
"Here goes nothing," Yang Zhang closed his eyes and swallowed the Mana bead with one gulp.
Ba-Dump.
Instantly his eyes widened as he felt a strong jolt all over his body. He could hear his own heartbeat, and gradually, he lost his strength. Grasping his chest he fell to his knees.
The nausea he felt was terrible, as if he had tasted something too disgusting and he was about to puke.
"Urk!" Yang Zhang quickly covered his mouth with his hands, trying his best not to throw up the Mana Bead.
Little Ivy and Chestnut panicked and tried to check on their master. They were scared that something had happened to him, and even more than that, they were terrified that Yang Zhang would be maimed to death here.
"Vii! Vii! Vi!!"
"Squeak! Squeak!"
The rooster saw the enemy already kneeling on the ground and took this as an opening. His chest puffed out again, and he crowed at the top of his lungs.
'COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!'
That was the signal to attack! The loud voices from the jungle fowls filled the forest as they jumped from the trees and lunged towards Yang Zhang.
In only three seconds, Yang Zhang's body had been buried beneath hordes of junglefowl, ready to peck and poke his skin and eyeballs.
…
…
…
"RAAAARGGHH!"
BOOM!
A loud growl, followed by a muffled explosion, shocked all the jungle fowls which hadn't reached Yang Zhang yet.
Yang Zhang got up from the ground, overflowing with vigor. He clenched his fingers, and a flame magically engulfed his fist.
It turned out that the original owner of the Mana Bead was a fire ability user. However, Yang Zhang felt it was a bit different from the regular flamethrower-type fire ability.
"Chestnut, Ivy, are you two okay?"
"Vii!" Little Ivy smiled
"Squeak!" Chestnut got excited and jumped to Yang Zhang's shoulder again. "Squeak, squeak?"
"Ah, this ability? It's a fire ability, but there is something different here. Look at this," Yang Zhang loosened his clenched fist, and the fire died down, but when he clenched his fist again, the fire reappeared on his hand.
He looked at the big rooster who was acting as the commander of this group of jungle fowl, "Look at this, Chestnut, Ivy. I will show you how this works."
Yang Zhang widened his legs in a stance and punched the air towards the rooster and hen's direction.
The fire launched from his fist like a projectile towards the rooster and hen, and they backed off.
"See, this fire ability is only usable when I'm moving. This would fit a martial artist more than it fits me, honestly," Yang Zhang said since he knew that he wasn't really a great fighter. "I'll call this ability…"
"Dynamic fire."
After the attack, the rooster got heated and issued new orders for the army of junglefowl, 'COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!'
The junglefowl followed the instruction and started attacking again, but whenever they were about to get near, Yang Zhang quickly scared them off with his fire.
"Hyat!" Yang Zhang kicked the air where the attack came from, and the junglefowl were forced to retreat.
"Heh, come here, and you will be my evening snack!" Yang Zhang taunted, and the rooster commander signaled once more.
'COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!'
"Hya! Hyat! Aaargh!" Yang Zhang kicked and punched left and right to send continuous fire towards the chickens, which warded them off once they realized the fire could burn them badly.
Yang Zhang continued to do random kicks and punches, which was effective, but it gradually drained his stamina since he wasn't a martial artist in the first place.
"Huff… huff… huff…."
Yang Zhang was out of breath due to the continuous movement. Thus, Chestnut and Little Ivy readied themselves to replace him.
"No, no, don't face them. They're too dangerous since they attack in a horde," Yang Zhang said. He was trying to find a way to end this duel because these junglefowl were too many and too coordinated to face alone.
But before he could think of a solution, the rooster commander's chest puffed up once more.
'COCK-A-COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!'
But the crow this time was different.
Yang Zhang got tense immediately because he knew the rooster was relaying a different set of orders that he didn't know.
Soon, the hens flew back to the branches above. They raised their butt and pointed towards Yang Zhang.
"Oh no, I think I know what they're gonna do—"
In a matter of only a second, all the junglefowl hens started pelting Yang Zhang with eggs.
"Ack! Egg barrage!"