Chapter 19: Chapter 11: Magic 3
Wilson quickly ducked his head back.
The Young Eagle Bird missed, but its momentum didn’t falter.
Wilson glanced back instinctively, only to realize the flock wasn’t targeting him, but Sean.
Because Sean was still holding up the torch!
With everyone else crouched down behind trees, the flame had become the only clear target in their eyes.
"Sean! Put out the fire, quick!" Wilson urged anxiously.
But it was too late.
From his and Genduo’s position and angle, they couldn’t even shoot at the flock. The probability of hitting Sean or Konina by mistake was higher than hitting a Young Eagle Bird.
Hearing the approaching screeches and the sound of something cutting through the air, Konina, who was with Sean, turned pale with fright. All she could do was tightly cover her well-maintained face; she would rather be pecked to death than be disfigured.
Then, in the next second, a sudden flash of light appeared before Konina’s eyes.
When the light is bright enough, you can sense it even with your eyes closed.
She couldn’t resist opening one eye, peeking through the gaps between her fingers.
Then her eyes grew wider and wider.
Not only had Sean not extinguished the flame, but he had somehow made it burn even more fiercely than before. The blazing light illuminated nearly the entire area around them.
"Sean, they’re not afraid of fire!" Genduo hurriedly reminded him.
Sean: "I know."
He didn’t need Genduo to tell him. The fact that the Young Eagle Birds dared to follow the light to find him obviously meant they weren’t afraid of fire.
But after tonight...
"They will be."
Sean beckoned with his finger.
And so, the others watched as the large ball of fire, as if being unraveled thread by thread, split into several strands at the gesture of Sean’s finger. Then, right before their eyes, strand after strand transformed into sharp arrows that shot toward the charging Young Eagle Birds.
"BOOM!"
"SCREECH!"
The flame arrows exploded on impact, igniting a series of small Fireballs. Agonizing screeches echoed through the forest, accompanied by the faint, mouth-watering aroma of roasted meat.
Sean sniffed the air. "Hmm... Smells better than wolf meat, maybe?"
Konina: "?"
Genduo: "??"
Johnson and Jenny: "???"
Jim: "?????"
Everyone’s eyes were wide, their jaws dropped wide enough to fit two hot dogs.
Following the last time he saw Sean playing with fire in the car, Jim once again rubbed his eyes.
’What the hell did I just see?’
’Sean turned fire into arrows, shot them out, and killed the flock of Young Eagle Birds??’
Konina was completely dumbfounded. "Sean, you... How did you do that?"
Sean gave the same reply as before: "Technique."
"Isn’t it perfectly normal for a Magician to control fire?"
Everyone: "???"
They looked at the Young Eagle Birds falling from the sky, their feathers burned off and skin scorched...
’Damn it, and you call that Magic??’
Sean ignored them, picked up one of the roasted birds, wiped off the ash, and tore off a leg to taste.
’The taste is just average, like chicken breast. Not as fragrant as it smelled. Maybe because there’s no seasoning?’
Sean took a bite and tossed it away, looking a bit disgusted. He clapped his hands and called out to the others, "Shall we keep moving? We’re almost there."
The Young Eagle Birds really did bully the weak and fear the strong. Seeing their companions all roasted, the few lucky ones that hadn’t joined the attack shrieked, flapped their wings, and fled in a panic, flying as fast as they could. One of them, in its desperate haste, crashed into a tree trunk. It fell with a THWACK, got caught on a branch, then gave Sean a very human-like glance over its shoulder before flapping its wings and taking off again.
Johnson snapped out of it, his face flushed with excitement. "So you can use Magic!"
This was even more proof that the rumors about that grove were true!
Sean had just turned fire into arrows. How cool was that!
But he wasn’t jealous.
Because it would be his turn to be cool soon enough!
Sean knew that nothing he could say now would change Johnson’s mind, so he didn’t answer.
The Spring of Enlightenment was indeed close. They had been walking all night, and based on the distance, they should be arriving soon.
The eastern sky was already turning the pale white of dawn, as if symbolizing that hope lay just ahead.
But Sean knew in his heart that things weren’t that simple.
He was becoming more and more certain that this was a setup.
Young Eagle Birds were supposed to live in the Wild Bird Forest, so why had they come all the way out here?
’Did they suddenly feel like moving?’
No, birds are more attached to their nests than humans are to their homes.
Sean leaned toward another possibility—a more powerful enemy had invaded the territory that rightfully belonged to them.
Someone had taken over their nests.
This conviction grew even stronger when, after finishing the last leg of their journey, they finally saw the small grove Chris had visited, just as dawn was breaking.
Because he didn’t just see the grove.
He also saw the crows circling above it, dense as a dark cloud.
...
