As Richard ascended the hill again, he was met with familiar yet an unfamiliar sight.
Shivaya hadn't moved.
She still sat exactly as she had at dawn: perfectly poised, eyes closed, feathers faintly aglow. Threads of life energy curled around her like drifting fireflies, soft ribbons of light spiraling toward her small body.
Richard had never seen creatures absorb energy before, not consciously, at least. Only recently had he gained the ability to sense life energy at all, a new sense still so fresh and overwhelming that it caused his gaze to linger longer than usual as he watched her in quiet awe.
'She can absorb life energy? Her talent must be far greater than mine.' He couldn't help the awed thought as he continued to watch her absentmindedly.
Her feathers shimmered like polished obsidian dipped in moonlight. The air vibrated subtly around her. Even the flowers leaning at her feet seemed to breathe slower.
It was mesmerizing.
So mesmerizing, in fact, that Richard didn't realize how intensely he was staring until Shivaya's absorption abruptly faltered.
Her eyes cracked open, luminous blue slivers peeking out.
And what greeted her was…his gaze.
Focused, unblinking and…burning.
She swallowed on instinct, a tiny stiff motion of her throat.
'W-what with that look…?' Shivaya thought, trying her absolute hardest not to react outwardly.
Then.
It hit her.
'Wait. No way. NO WAY right?!'
Her mind slammed to a halt.
'The last time we… it… THAT… was over a week ago… so could it be?!'
Her eyes twitched. Her feathers stiffened. She immediately cursed him mentally with the fury of a dying star.
'Damn stupid rooster!! Idiot rooster!! Perverted rooster!! Don't you dare touch me!'
She swore silently, no, vowed to all realms to beat this stupid rooster until even its mother hen couldn't recognize him once she awakened.
But despite her rage, a small, unwelcome tremor ran through her.
What if he really…
What if he forced himself on her again like that day?
Would she be able to resist?
She hadn't even awakened her Talent or Path yet, what if he-
Her panic spiraled.
Until suddenly.
Richard moved.
He stepped closer.
Her body tensed so sharply the grass beneath her talons snapped. Her heart hammered in her chest. Her mind flashed through a dozen defensive techniques she didn't actually have yet.
As she mentally prepared herself to fight until her last breath.
He took another step.
Another.
Then.
Sat down.
Right next to her and closed his eyes.
"…"
Her brain short-circuited.
'Uuuuuuuuuuuuu!! What were you thinking, Shivaya!?'
Heat surged up her neck, feathers shimmering with embarrassment. She nearly rolled herself straight into the pond from the sheer mortification.
'Thankfully I didn't say that out loud or my dignity would've evaporated!'
Thankfully no one can hear her thoughts.
No one knew her shame.
Her pride tattered but intact remained safe.
Desperate to bury the memory in the deepest abyss known to chickens, she hurriedly resumed absorbing life energy. Her aura flickered back to life, threads of pale blue swirling around her.
Richard, finally realizing Shivaya's energy absorption had stopped earlier, blinked himself out of his trance.
And without a word, he walked closer slowly fearing he might disturb her.
Then settling beside her quietly before closing his eyes.
He inhaled.
And then for the first time in his life, he actively reached for life energy.
He had always known, in theory, that it could be absorbed. That sleep filled the body slowly. But actively pulling it in, this conscious, deliberate drawing of power, was foreign, exhilarating, terrifying, and beautiful all at once.
Energy seeped into him like a cool morning mist, sinking past feathers, past bone, past muscle, into something deeper.
Time loosened its grip.
Seconds blurred into minutes.
Minutes stretched into hours.
The world muted, as though sound itself paused to watch.
Richard felt euphoric.
This sensation, this purity was cleaner than sleep, sharper than adrenaline, second only to the…
He coughed internally and chose not to finish that thought.
The hours passed.
Birdsong faded to silence.
The sky shifted from gold to violet, then to indigo.
Stars pierced through the dark like watchful eyes.
The moon climbed into view, bathing the flower field in luminous silver.
Finally, Richard opened his eyes.
The hill was wrapped in soft darkness.
But his gaze…was clear.
He knew what time it was.
With determination.
He rose, walked slowly to the hill's edge, and looked down over his sleeping territory. His chest expanded, wings lifting as he drew in a deep breath, so deep the grass at his feet trembled.
"KUUUUU-KA-KIEAAAA-KUUUU!!"
The crow exploded across the flower field like divine thunder.
It slammed into the trees.
It rippled over the streams.
It rolled through every burrow, nest, and den like a shockwave.
Below, thousands of creatures jerked awake instantly.
Every rabbit.
Every lizard.
Every snake.
Every chicken.
They didn't question it.
They knew exactly what time it was.
With a fierce, unified uproar of clucks, hisses, squeaks, and huffs, they poured from their resting places and gathered on the slope of the hill, silent and tense, awaiting their ruler.
Richard watched them assemble.
Rows of white rabbits, their once-plush bodies now defined by wiry strength.
Chickens whose legs had thickened from relentless daily jumps.
Snakes gleaming with fresh muscle under hardened scales.
Lizards with disciplined eyes and steady stances.
He scanned them one by one.
This time, when he spoke, there was no flamboyance.
No playful confidence.
Just weight.
"My subjects," he began, his voice rolling down the hill like distant thunder. "Tonight… we march."
All eyes snapped to him.
"Soon, the otherworlders will descend again. They will come to our field like they always do, thinking this is just a game. Thinking we are just numbers. Just experience. Just loots."
A faint, humorless smile tugged at his beak.
"To them, this is a tutorial," Richard said. Even though he knew they couldn't understand his words, he made sure his intent was clear. His wings spread slightly as he continued, "They think this is a playground. A warm-up before the 'real' adventure."
He jabbed a claw into the earth.
"To us, this is home."
Rabbits' noses twitched fiercely.
Snakes lifted their heads high.
Chickens fluffed their feathers with pride.
Lizards' claws bit into the soil.
"They think when we fall, we disappear," Richard said. "That we feel no pain. No fear. No hunger. No emotions. That when they log out, nothing here matters."
His gaze sharpened.
"But we know better."
He stepped forward.
"Rabbits! When you did pushups until your paws bled, when you ran until your lungs burned did any of that feel fake?!"
The rabbits answered with furious stomps and squeaks.
"Chickens! When your legs screamed from jumping, when your feathers fell from exhaustion, was that just a game?!"
A wild chorus of clucks roared back.
"Snakes! When you dragged rocks, when your scales cracked, was that an illusion?!"
Hisses rose like a storm.
"And lizards!" His gaze locked on the black-scaled figure at the front. "When you fought for this territory, when you bled for it, did any of that feel like something that doesn't matter once the otherworlders log out?!"
The lizard's chest swelled. "NO, BOSS!!"
Richard nodded.
Then lifted his head toward the sky.
"FOR OUR SURVIVAL!"
His roar shook the night.
The army trembled, not in fear but in anticipation. Heads lifted. Eyes sharpened. Tails, wings, and ears stiffened with raw, electric purpose.
Even the creatures who barely understood his words felt the intent burn through them.
"You do not need to kill them all," Richard said once the echoes faded. "You do not need to stand and fight until your last breath."
He swept his gaze across them.
"Protect each other. Retreat when necessary."
His voice hardened.
"Survival comes first. Understood?!"
A unified roar answered him.
The black lizard's tail cracked the ground.
Rabbits stomped in perfect rhythm.
Snakes hissed like drawn blades.
Chickens flapped their wings with fervor.
Richard nodded.
"Now then," he said lightly, as though he hadn't just declared war on the psychological well-being of the players.
"MARCH!"
The army surged forward.
They flowed down the hill like a living river, rabbits in tight packs, snakes weaving between them, chickens hopping fiercely, lizards marching with grim determination. The black lizard strode at the front, posture tall and steady.
Behind him bounced a muscular rabbit like a compressed spring.
Beside them walked a hen whose leg muscles made even Richard wince.
And just behind them was a sleek snake tongue flicking, eyes burning with red intensity.
Richard's gaze tightened.
He called the snake over with a sharp cluck.
It slithered to him, head lifted high in confusion.
Richard looked at it, really looked. The scar near its eye. The tension in its coils. The mix of determination and rage simmering beneath its eyes.
He sighed softly and lowered his head, patting it gently with one wing.
"Don't be reckless," he said. "Remember, survival comes first. Do you understand?"
The snake froze.
Its eyes flickered, pain, fury, loyalty, grief and guilt, emotions too tangled for words.
Then it dipped its head slowly.
Richard watched it return to the ranks and sighed.
As the last creatures marched past, Richard stepped back, letting them move ahead of him. He did not walk at the front.
Not this time.
But he would watch them.
Every wing.
Every tail.
Every scale.
Every heartbeat.
He would see them through.
…
Meanwhile, high above the marching army…
Shivaya remained in the pond, her feathers glowing faintly. Life energy swirled around her in tightening rings, drawn faster and faster into her body like water into a deep whirlpool.
She had watched everything.
Every word that stupid rooster spoke.
Every shift of his shoulders.
Every burst of emotion he ignited in the creatures.
Every ounce of resolve he carried as he stepped back rather than lead from the front.
'The ability to be so decisive, to sense his subordinates' emotions, and to draw out the feelings of those around him… he's truly a natural-born leader' She couldn't help but let the unconscious praise slip out before her gaze drifted away from him.
A status panel hovered before her.
[Talent: Yet to Awaken (99.8% → 99.9%)]
Her heart fluttered.
"Hehe…"
A soft, trembling chuckle escaped her.
Would it be the same Talent she once wielded as the Phoenix Empress?
Or something new entirely?
Her feathers trembled with anticipation.
So this was what ordinary creatures experienced during a Talent Awakening…?
In her past life, she had been born with her Talent already awakened.
There had been no buildup.
No anticipation.
No sweet, torturous tension.
Back then, power was simply there.
Now?
Now it was earned.
Every worm reluctantly eaten, every hour spent absorbing pitiful threads of life energy, every time she swallowed her pride and endured… It all led here.
Tonight.
Her eyes glowed like blue flames as she stared at the panel.
"Tonight," Shivaya whispered, voice trembling with barely contained joy,
"I shall awaken."