Cain's body spiraled through the open sky, arms angled loosely to mimic a panicked freefall.
But it was all deliberate, meant to bait them in.
Sure enough, one of the bolder ones dove.
Cain saw it, but he held still, letting the bird draw near.
Just as its talons reached for his leg, he flared the glider's wings, slowing midflight on purpose.
The bird missed. Instead of catching Cain, he caught it by the nape.
"Gotcha!"
His legs snapped around its slender neck, locking the creature in a midflight choke hold. The furious beast thrashed violently, wings beating the air in desperation.
The other birds hesitated and veered off. The magic missile still clung to the boy's pistol like a coiled predator, unfired and brimming with threat.
"Terminal, feed my speed and altitude to the visor. Now."
[Command Confirmed.]
[Switching to Visor Interface.]
[Traveling Speed: 217 km/h]
[Altitude: 1,667 Meters]
As they descended, the huge crane bucked and jerked, trying to throw him off.
Cain didn't let up, casting Fortification into his limbs through the armor, locking down on the bird's windpipe like a steel clamp.
Seconds later, it spasmed and slumped. The choke knocked it unconscious, and its body tumbled weightless through the air.
He kicked off its back and shot forward, twisting his body as he fought to regain a stable glide.
'I need some speed.'
Tapping the pistol's interface, he swapped out Magic Missile for Acceleration, a versatile speed spell used for dodging, charging, or retreating.
'I might lose the pistol, let's use these instead.'
Just before reaching higher velocities, he holstered his gun and reached for the twin swords at his waist. Each hilt was clipped into a reinforced harness, locking the blades tightly into their sheaths.
[Traveling Speed: 310 km/h]
[Altitude: 1,301 Meters]
As Cain pulled ahead, the birds responded with a sudden burst of speed.
Their formation tightened with every flap.
Left. Right. Above. Below.
Talons and beaks closed in, ready to strike the instant he drifted into range.
But Cain gave them no opening. With a graceful twist of his torso, he rotated through the air, twin blades in hand.
It was too fast.
The bird didn't even have time to react.
One blade carved through its wing, and the second drove into its neck. Its body spiraled downward, gray feathers drifting like ashfall.
After the kill, Cain leveled out mid-glide. A sudden updraft rose beneath him, and he spread his arms, letting it carry him higher.
In that brief ascent, he spun again. His sword tore into the underbelly of another large bird. Sludge, blood, and guts exploded outward, painting the sky in gruesome splatters.
Spurred by the fall of their kin, the younger birds eagerly surged forward, wanting to prove their worth to the flock.
Seventeen of them flanked Cain, their bodies leaner, faster, and more erratic.
They weren't gambling on a close approach anymore, not after Cain had cleaved through two of their kin in less than half a minute.
That lesson had been learned, and they didn't dare get too close.
The cranes streaked past him, cutting through the air with eerie coordination.
"What are they up to this time?"
From the cracks around their grimy beaks, a thick green fluid began to leak.
One glance and Cain could discern its caustic nature.
'Definitely water soluble. I'm just not sure how strong the acid is.'
Then the seventeen birds opened fire, each unleashing a burst of burning green phlegm. The globs hurtled toward him, each the size of a clenched fist.
Cain twisted, the wind snapping at his wingsuit as he dipped, rolled, and weaved between the corrosive shots.
'Let's see how potent it is with my magicule barrier.'
He swiveled around, dodging most of it, then he let a single drop hit his magical shield.
With its sharp hiss, he gained the understanding of its potency.
'Now, let's test if they're resistant to it or not.'
Letting go of his sword, he conjured a simple water sphere, catching the acidic globules and swirling them into one larger blob.
Then he drew his pistol and fired a Plasma Burst. It was a compact fire spell engineered for close-range heat, burning up to a thousand degrees.
With a single shot, the caustic liquid vaporized into a fine, noxious haze that sprayed backward and caught the flock off guard.
Some of the birds broke off in a panic while the unfortunate ones dropped like shot-down planes, choking and clawing at their faces as the haze ate into their eyes.
'I guess they aren't that much resistant after all.'
[Traveling Speed: 388 km/h]
[Altitude: 990 Meters]
Cain looked down, the ground was less than a minute away, the rocky terrain rushing up faster than he liked.
Through a feed on his armor, he could see the birds still pursuing him.
Even with acid sizzling through their feathers, they showed no signs of retreat.
He swept his gaze across the terrain, hunting for any advantage he could seize.
Just as he was pondering what to do, his eyes locked onto something strange near the horizon, multiple shapes that looked like it had moved.
Most of them lay flat across the ground like a shriveled weed, stretched hundreds of meters in length. Their bark was a patchwork of amber, rust, and pewter, streaked with the texture of dried flesh pulled tight across its frame.
Cain had read about them, the Chimeric Predator Trees.
They looked lifeless, lying under the sun like dried-out husks, yet could withstand heavy bombardments from any form of power system.
They grew near the borders, devouring anything that lived, recognizing neither friend nor foe.
As a plan gradually formed in his mind, Cain shifted midair and directed his flight toward them without hesitation.
The birds had no idea what he was thinking, but they followed anyway.
Cain didn't bother counting. They still numbered by the dozens, and picking them off one by one would be an arduous task.
'Let's just see who'd come out on top in those groves.'
The wind sharpened against Cain's armor as the world smeared into afterimages.
"Terminal, report speed and altitude."
[Calculating...]