chapter 19: three offspring
The bald mage's trembling fingers dug into the teleportation scroll, his breath ragged, his entire body shaking from exhaustion. He had to leave. Now. There was no time to hesitate.
His lips parted, just barely managing to whisper the first syllables of the incantation.
But then.
FWOOOSH!
Something ignited.
A searing golden-red light flared to life beneath his feet, illuminating the battlefield in an unnatural glow. It was a magic circle, intricate, unstoppable, its symbols burning into the very ground itself. The heat alone was suffocating, pressing against him like an invisible force.
His pupils shrunk to pinpricks.
"No… no, no, no!"
His scream barely had time to leave his throat before.
BOOM!
The flames erupted, swallowing him whole.
Heat seared through his nerves, an all-consuming inferno that tore apart everything in its path. His robe caught fire instantly. His flesh? It peeled away like paper, melting, burning, disintegrating before he could even react.
It hurt. It hurt.
His agonized wails cut through the battlefield, the sound raw and desperate. His body convulsed violently, his fingers twitching as his nerves boiled from within. The teleportation scroll his only hope crumbled to ash in his grasp.
There would be no escape.
There would be no mercy.
The mushroom remained motionless, his tiny frame barely visible against the swirling embers. He couldn't move, his eyes glued to the scene before him.
The bald mage, the one who had seemed so powerful, the one who had threatened the egg, the one who had stood above everything just moments ago.
Now, he was nothing more than a burning husk.
A broken figure, hunched over, trembling, his hands barely lifting off the ground as he gasped for breath.
And yet.
DING!
A clear, ringing sound echoed through the battlefield.
The mushroom's breath hitched. His gaze flickered toward the massive falcon, his mind scrambling to process what he was seeing.
Something… had changed.
The falcon's feathers shimmered no, they glowed. A light, faint at first, but then growing brighter, until it became an overwhelming, almost holy radiance. The burns, the wounds, the exhaustion that had plagued it just moments before
Gone.
The falcon had leveled up.
It stood there, wings unfurling, the sheer power radiating from its form shaking the very air around them. Its talons dug into the earth, the ground itself cracking beneath its grip.
The bald mage could do nothing but stare, his lips trembling, his body barely able to stay upright.
His burnt, ruined eyes reflected nothing but fear.
And then
The falcon opened its beak.
KRRYYYYYYYYYAAAAAHHHH!!
A cry.
Deafening. Earth-shattering.
The sky itself split apart, clouds dispersing as if bowing before its might. The sheer force of its voice alone sent violent gusts of wind spiraling outward, shaking trees, kicking up dirt, nearly knocking the mushroom off his tiny feet.
But he held firm.
His arms remained wrapped protectively around the egg, shielding it from the raging storm that followed.
Then, slowly.
The falcon's gaze turned to him.
Its piercing, golden eyes locked onto his tiny, trembling frame.
The mushroom's breath stopped.
The pressure alone was enough to crush him where he stood.
This was no longer a mere injured falcon.
This was a ruler of the sky.
And now.
It was looking directly at him.
Silence.
A thick, heavy silence settled over the battlefield, suffocating, unshakable.
The air itself felt like it had frozen in place, caught between the past and the present, between what had just happened and what would happen next.
The mushroom remained motionless, his tiny body still hunched protectively over the egg. His mind screamed at him to move, to run, to do something.
But he couldn't.
Not when those golden eyes were locked onto him.
Not when the pressure of the falcon's gaze was so heavy, so all-consuming, it felt like the weight of the entire world had been placed on his fragile shoulders.
The falcon's newly evolved form stood tall, feathers radiating an ethereal glow, each individual plume shimmering with pure, raw power.
The level 48 creature had ascended, and now…
It was watching him.
A single wrong move, a single twitch, and.
Death.
The mushroom had no delusions. There was nothing he could do against a creature like this. He wasn't a warrior, wasn't a hero, wasn't even a proper monster.
Just a tiny fungus.
One strike, one attack, and his existence would be erased without a trace.
And yet.
The falcon didn't attack.
It didn't lunge.
It didn't move.
Instead.
It lowered its gaze.
Downward.
To the egg.
The mushroom stiffened as he felt the weight of that stare shift, pressing against the delicate shell still nestled safely in his arms. The very thing he had risked his life to protect.
A crack had already begun to form on the surface.
And now.
It grew.
Crrrrkkk.
A jagged, uneven line splintered across the eggshell, small but unmistakable.
Then.
Another.
And another.
Until.
Crack!
The noise exploded with the force of a small detonation while remaining short and abrupt. A small beak emerged from the hole followed by the slightest view of wet golden-brown feathers.
The mushroom's breath hitched.
This was it.
The moment where everything changed.
The tiny creature fought to escape from its shell by pushing and wiggling until it finally broke free.
POP!
A small fluffy head appeared from the opening while blinking at the bright light.
The baby falcon turned its head as if it recognized the person who had safeguarded it.
And looked directly at him.
The mushroom froze.
The baby chick revealed its mother-like golden eyes which seemed eerily familiar. Something soft.
Something familiar.
Then.
Without hesitation.
It nuzzled against him.
The mushroom's small body stiffened when the newborn touched his cap with its soft fragile alive body.
The tiny chirp carried recognition through its feeble voice.
As if it knew.
The creature seemed to comprehend the entire situation perfectly.
The falcon mother stood motionless above them as she watched.
Her eyes shifted between dangerous and unreadable states.
Something dangerous.
The mushroom swallowed hard while perspiration streamed down his spine.
Had he just offended her?
Had he.
He did not finish his thought before.
THUD.
Something heavy landed nearby.
The mushroom lifted his head quickly.
His breath hitched.
It was the piglet.
And on its back.
Two more falcon chicks.
Newborns.
Small.
Fragile.
Alive.
The falcon mother stared at her three offspring with widened eyes while her golden gaze moved between them before resting on the tiny mushroom who had rescued them.
The falcon spread her wings which created a large shadow that covered the entire battlefield.
The pressure returned.
Heavy.
Suffocating.
The mushroom tensed.
The mushroom remained clueless about the upcoming events.