The walk back to the wards at the alcove entrance was uneventful, and quickly James found himself just around the corner from the bird monster nesting cliff. He took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself, and stepped around the corner.

The nesting cliff came into his field of view and almost right away he made eye contact with one of the birds flying around.

Squawk!

Immediately the battle was on. First one, then half a dozen, then fully dozens of bird monsters took wing and lined up to tackle James.

The Smith readied his shield.

Paff!

Paff paff paff paff paff paff paff paff paff paff paff…

The bird monsters' assault was relentless, and quickly the ground in front of James was littered with crippled bird monsters.

He took a careful step back, still just defending with his shield.

Paff paff paff paff paff…

The assault continued. Some of the birds from the first wave recovered as James withstood the continued assault and took wing again, leaving about half the bird monsters writhing on the ground.

Thud.

James nearly lost his balance as one of the bird monsters, having circled around, struck his back. By reflex he tried to drive the spikes of his shield into the ground to stabilize himself, but his new circular shield couldn't do that. It only took a few seconds to recover his balance, but in that time, over a dozen more birds collided with him at high speed.

Paff thud thud paff paff paff thud paff thud thud paff paff…

James was growing concerned. Although the shield was lighter and more maneuverable, it was heavy. Unlike with his tower shield, which he mostly just carried around to plant in the ground, he was having to carry the entire shield's weight and hold it up in the air, one handed. The ache in his left arm was growing more and more as he felt his strength failing…

And there seemed to be an endless number of bird monsters.

James made the decision to retreat. Carefully walking backward, keeping his shield up, he retreated back to the ward, enduring more tackles the entire time.

Thud thud thud thud thud…

…

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The assault ended suddenly.

He was back in the ward.

James scanned around, ensuring the area was safe and the ward was holding, then fell to a knee behind his round shield, panting and catching his breath. His left arm was trembling uncontrollably from the strain of holding up the shield. He even felt queasy from the prolonged effort.

After catching his breath, he looked back to see the flock of bird monsters flying chaotically around the edge of the ward, trying to find a way in. Gradually though, starting from the farthest edge of the flock, the bird monsters swooped away, back to their nesting area, leaving only the closest and most aggressive of the bird monsters focused on trying to get to James.

After a few minutes, James stood again and hefted his shield back into position. There were half a dozen bird monsters left, and they renewed their efforts seeing him stand back up.

This time, same as when he first tested his shield, he approached with shield and hammer in hand, ready to finish off any birds that came within reach.

Paff!

Wham!

Paff!

Wham…

James felt it was easier to keep track of the multitude of birds in the air this time. He had grown accustomed to their flight patterns and how they lined up their tackles, and as their numbers dwindled it required less and less mental effort to keep track of them. As soon as they rebounded from his shield, his hammer lashed down, with maximum [Rapid Blow] enhanced speed, finishing them off efficiently and letting him bring his shield up just in time to catch the next diving bird monster.

In almost no time at all, all six of the bird monsters were slain.

As soon as he finished, he withdrew to the ward for a moment to catch his breath and check for more approaching enemies. After five minutes the area remained quiet, so he stepped out and threw the carcasses of the slain bird monsters into a pile inside his ward to be butchered later.

Looking back on the path towards the nesting area, there were a number of crippled bird monsters flopping around, all with damaged necks. At the far edge of his vision, James could see several birds with broken wings stretched out awkwardly hopping back to the nesting area, leaving their more damaged brethren behind.

Cautiously James crept forward, shield raised, towards the trail of crippled bird monsters.

And he finished them all off efficiently. Not even using [Rapid Blow], as it simply wasn't needed. One strike to the head finished off each bird monster.

Wham! Each time, James would stand again, scan for approaching monsters, and then move on to his next target. As he grew closer to the edge of the wall near the nesting cliff, he slowed down, growing even more cautious lest he rouse the entire flock again.

Wham! The final bird monster was put out of its misery, and as James stood and checked for oncoming monsters…

[Enchanter] Class has reached level 5.

James was momentarily pleased to see his classes were still advancing, but quickly shook the intrusive thought out of his mind and resumed scanning for monsters. Now wasn't the time for reflection, not yet.

The flock around the corner continued its normal squawking, so James assumed they hadn't been alerted by his actions. He put his hammer away in the magic bag and stooped down, gathering bird monster carcasses in his free hand while keeping his shield ready, now held up in his right hand as he walked back with four of the dead bird monsters gripped by their legs.

He trudged back to the ward, threw them on the pile with the other carcasses, and then headed back for more. Back and forth he walked, a shorter distance each time, until he had a pile of over thirty dead bird monster carcasses.

After a quick meal, he returned to the nesting area, drawing the attention of the entire flock once again. This time he carefully kited the flock backwards, taking their strikes on his shield and keeping an eye out so birds couldn't flank him so much. Before he knew it, he was back in the ward with the flock, now down to just over half its original size, swarming around the edge trying to reach him. He put his shield down to rest his arm and drank some Pure Water.

Soon enough, the bird monsters gave up and returned to their nests, leaving crippled birds on the ground, which James quickly finished off, collecting their carcasses as he went.

[Smith] Class has reached level 6.

With half the flock wiped out and his stamina flagging, James spent his time recovering and butchering the bird monsters he had killed so far, collecting their Wind Magic Crystals and meat before returning back to his campsite. He set the meat to smoking and ate dinner, then crawled into his sleeping nook and laid his head down on the mole leather pillow. His left arm felt tremendously sore from the effort of holding up his shield and taking countless blows, and he quickly drifted off to sleep with a full belly.

James awoke, recovered and energized and hungry.

Today he would finish off the bird monsters.

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