Winston cried out in alarm. He was out of energy. He summoned his final leg of venison from his inventory, but he was forced to dive out of the way of another beam of light. He turned around to [Consume] it, but it had been reduced to a pile of ashes.

  Winston whimpered. What was he supposed to do? He wouldn’t last more than a minute longer against the alpha. Diving away from another beam, he used the only other spell that he could. [Charm].

  Flipping around in midair, he allowed a beam of golden light to graze his leg. He cried in pain, but stayed focused. Facing one of the normal fringillades, he cast [Charm], but he did something different. Instead of subtly influencing his target's mind like he had done to get the chunks of venison from his party, he brute-forced his way into the bird’s mind. Instead of a scalpel, he used a hammer.

  It was surprisingly easy. Almost too easy. As Winston felt the bird’s control collapse, he had a sickening revelation. The knowledge of what he’d done came to him on its own, as if he’d purchased it straight from the System Shop. The beast would never think again.

  Winston hadn’t simply taken control of it as he’d initially thought. No, he’d done something much worse. With a single thought, he’d shattered the bird’s mind. If he relinquished his control, the bird wouldn’t die, but it would be nothing more than a mindless drone for the rest of his days.

  Winston growled. This was not the time to think about this. No matter how terrible it felt, it was necessary. If he had to do it to save those whom he cared about, he would do it. No matter the cost. He repeated the mantra over and over in his head as he directed the bird to attack the alpha.

  He felt a significant drain, not in his food energy, which was already empty, but in his mind. There wasn’t a measurement for it in his status, but he could feel his mental energy dropping.

  [Charm lvl 3 → Charm lvl 4]

  …

  [Charm lvl 5 → Charm lvl 6]

  Before the Alpha could even react, Winston used charm on a second fringillade. This time, he used less force, trying to conserve mental energy. After a brief struggle, the beast’s mental defenses collapsed. Winston cringed; he’d used less force, but the beast’s mind was still mostly gone.

  [Charm lvl 6 → Mental Manipulation lvl 1]

  The drain on his mind was still great, but it was less than last time. He wanted to use charm on the third and final fringillade as well, but he was just too exhausted. Both physically and mentally.

  The alpha screeched in anger and confusion as its fellow fringillades assaulted it with everything that they had. Winston didn’t see what happened as he spun around. He dashed back towards his party, stopping only to [Consume] the corpse of a fringillade, restoring a small amount of his energy.

  The entire group was back on their feet, but a scout and the spearman, Renir, still had glazed-over eyes. Seeing Winston running towards them, Norra and Erynd shouted for the party to flee. Together, the three who were fully awake supported Renir and the scout. After a few seconds, Winston received two notifications.

  [You have killed Fringillade - Initiate 7]

  [You have killed Fringillade - Initiate 6]

  It seemed that Winston had received partial credit for the alpha killing the two birds. Winston growled in annoyance; he’d been hoping that they would last longer. He barked as he ran at the heels of the party. They needed to move faster.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Erynd traded with Norra, letting her support Renir while he nocked a crimson arrow. Winston spun around as he shot, watching the arrow arc into the chest of the bird that was much too close. He could’ve sworn it’d been a hundred feet farther back just a moment ago.

  As much as he was tempted to, Winston didn’t attack. He knew that it would just be a waste of food energy, just as he knew that despite Erynd constantly peppering the beast with arrows, they would amount to nothing but an inconvenience.

  Winston was tempted to use his new skill, [Mental Manipulation], on the beast as well, but he didn’t for two reasons. First, his mind was exhausted. And second, he didn’t want to know what would happen if he failed to take over a beast’s mind, especially not such a powerful one. He was sure that he could do what he had done to the ursiterra and distract it for a moment, but that would be pointless. This time, they weren’t the ones on the offensive; the bird was. A moment of confusion wouldn’t be worth the mental energy it took, no matter how badly he wanted to test out his new skill.

  The bird dove down, claws extended, but Norra was there. She traded out with Erynd once more, letting him support Renir. With a swing of her hammer, she met the beast’s talons. Angling her hammer, she tried to redirect the attack, but was still thrown to the ground.

  The bird flew back up and kept circling them as they moved in constant fear. Renir and the scout finally recovered, increasing their speed and manpower. When the bird began another dive, they were ready. But it was only a feint. Opening its beak, a beam of golden energy shot forth, aiming to cleave Norra in half.

  The Caltherans cried out in alarm, but none of them were in a position to save her. Norra had tripped while dodging another beam from the beast and was in no position to dodge. She raised her hammer in defiance, but the strike never came. Winston, barely a foot tall, stood before her. With the food energy he had gained from the bodies of the two fringillades, Winston shot his own beam of golden energy at the alpha. He’d never used energy like this, and his attack wasn’t nearly as efficient or as powerful as the alpha’s. Still, it would have to be enough.

  A brilliant burst of light shot sparks throughout the clearing as the two beams collided. Winston felt his energy waning under the might of the beast, but it didn’t matter. He didn’t need to win the confrontation. Norra ran to the side, and Winston released his beam, diving to the side as well.

  The bird screeched in anger, a wild look in its eyes. Despite the situation, Winston felt empathy for the beast. It had just lost countless members of its flock. While it had attacked them, Winston knew it wasn’t entirely the alpha’s fault. The System had said just earlier that all Acolyte-tier beasts would automatically attack any contenders within their territory.

  Winston shook his head aggressively. He couldn’t afford to feel empathy for the beast. His life was in danger, as well as the lives of those whom he cared about. As they moved, steadily making progress through the forest whilst fending off constant attacks from above, the trees began to thin out. They were only ten minutes from the camp, and just a few from the edge of the forest.

  The alpha seemed to notice this as well, and while it gave Winston hope, it only seemed to anger the bird more. Then, the bird began to glow. Not as brightly as when it had stunned the entire party, but it still shone like a beacon.

  With a deafening screech, it dove down, carving through the air. The party fell into the formation that they’d used to fend off the past few dozen attacks. Renir stepped to the front of the group, spear thrust upwards at the bird. At his sides were Norra and one of the scouts. Instead of his usual daggers, the scout was wielding a shortsword.

  Behind them was Winston, ready to counter any beams of energy with his remaining food energy. He’d been replenishing it from random items that the party had been giving him, but it just wasn’t enough. At his sides were Erynd and the other scout. Erynd had been carrying an extra bow that he gave to the scout.

  The alpha dove, accelerating faster than ever before. Renir braced himself, stabbing his spear at the massive bird. But something was wrong. Every time before this, the bird had either pulled away or stopped and launched a blast of golden light. They had thought those were its only two options, but they were wrong. So very wrong.

  “What the fu—” Renir cried out as the bird dove. It didn’t stop. It didn’t even slow down. It just kept accelerating and accelerating. It cut through the air and, in a moment, was right before Renir.

  It hadn’t avoided the spear. No, it’d ignored it altogether. The bird had a sadistic look in its eyes as it flapped a single wing. Renir’s spear, still lodged in its shoulder, was ripped from his hands. Then, before anyone could react, there was a flash, and then silence fell over the forest. It was as if the entire world had stopped to watch as Renir fell to his knees, eyes absent as his hands reached for a throat that was no longer there.