[NR] Chapter 352 - Combine It With An Owl (Patreon)

Jason sighs, by now the owlbear is basically a universal monster despite having its origins being completely within the realm of the earliest rpgs. A strange experiment that at the most basic level glues the front end of an owl onto the back end of a bear. Dangerous but not particularly spectacular as the two animals have different hunting strategies.

The owlcelot, on the other hand, is a much better combination with what Jason considers a pithier name. Because of course, once one mage combined an owl with something others would soon follow in their footsteps. So thus was born many an abomination of which the owl and ocelot combo in front of Jason is one of the saner attempts.

In the normal swing of things, it wouldn’t even bother Jason. After all, owls and ocelots tend to prey on small rodents and even with the magically enhanced size the original creator graced them with, they only got bumped up to eating rabbits. In fact, in NeoRealm only newborn rabbits would be of the right size for them to hunt.

Lily, unlike every other variant of rabbit, hasn’t grown too much in size leading to the scene that Jason now watches. Not that he worries too much. This is after all the fifth time over the past few nights that an owlcelot has decided she would make a nice snack. The first time was a surprise, the second expected, and now more of an annoyance than anything else.

Owlcelots might be extremely stealthy but Lily’s ears aren’t just for show. Jason even suspects that they are quite the step up from most other rabbit variants. Whatever the reason now that she knows what they sound like the fights have been mercifully short. Lily hears one of the catbirds nearby, wanders off to the edge of the camp, and then provides a face full of fur that is acting more like needles.

This was only enough to one shot the third ambush, mostly from it being unlucky and going straight for a bit instead of a talon attack. Still, not much of a fight even when they survive, as it is a little hard to fight when both front talons of the enemy are riddled with holes and not in any shape to fight with. The owlcelot Lily was currently fighting wasn’t going to be any different.

So let’s ignore that. Jason also isn’t a slouch in his ability to detect things. He certainly isn’t as good as Lily at hearing things but he has his own senses and abilities. Which is why, despite Lily having no problem with her fight, he has just thrown himself across the campfire.

From an area between two trees, a shadowed figure swoops down with its talons aglow. It would seem that owlcelots have a variant more heavily steeped in mana that hasn’t sacrificed the ability to fly. While the wings on the creature’s back aren’t big enough for physics alone to hold it aloft, magic can make up for many such shortcomings.

It is unfortunate for the winged owlcelot that the coverage only extends so far as Jason turns his hurried move into a drop kick, and drop it does. Though it does explain why the other owlcelot this time didn’t seem to be all that high of a level. The two had apparently been working together as when Jason so easily took out the flyer, the catbird fighting Lily tried to run.

It had apparently forgotten the terrible wounds that Lily’s fur had caused to its talons. Thus distracted, Lily is more than capable of finishing the fight. Jason sighs and settles back into his spot to continue meditating. While they had been consistently attacked by the annoyances, the owlcelots were territorial enough that they hadn’t even seen more than one a night before now.

With that in mind, Jason was more than willing to assume the pair they just fought had been just that, a pair. Whether it was mother and child or a couple, he didn’t know nor care. What did matter was the rest of the night should be free of such things and Lily seemed to agree as she took her place on his lap instead of idling around the other side of the campfire.

Though he didn’t go directly to meditation. He had already thrown the normal owlcelot quite a distance into the woods so nothing would bother them for it. The second one however still had a few things that Jason wanted and it was the perfect time to try something new with his Energy.

From the nail of his left pointer finger, Jason extended a blade of Energy. Then, without any hesitation snaps the talons out of joint so he can carve around bone instead of through. Not that he couldn’t, just that this leads to a smoother finish and extracts only the claw of the talon.

After that, it is a simple matter to pluck out the biggest flight feather from both wings. Jason knows there is more he could be looting from the monster, but he doesn’t particularly want to be crowding his pack this early on and so only takes the choicest bits. If the talons hadn’t glowed when attacking, he likely wouldn’t have even bothered with them and instead only taken the two feathers.

Though since magic had been channeled through the talons, they should be good for something. A sentiment that the System seems to agree with when Jason checks on the loot after throwing the last body into the woods.

{Winged Owlcelot Claw x8

Description: The claw of a lv10 winged owlcelot that was used to channel wind blades

Grade: lv10 Low Normal (Ingredient)}

{Main Winged Owlcelot flight feather x2

Description: The largest flight feather of a lv10 winged owlcelot upon which air magic has been focused from the rest of the wing

Grade: lv10 Normal (Ingredient)}