Even though there was no bird shit all over the place, Rick still saw some telltale signs of flying creatures roosting here. The fallen feathers were a good indication. He could also sense the killing intent from the bird swooping down at him so he had enough time to dodge.

He even brought up a small pistol tucked into a holster attached to his ankle. He zeroed in on the bird before it could make another try at him.

Bang!

Instant head shot. But, he saw something he wasn’t happy about. Up in the pipes and rafters of the building were dozens upon dozens of zombified birds. Some were missing eyes and others were missing feathers and skin. Some had their beaks hanging precariously off their faces while some others were standing on one foot, their other stump held underneath their bodies.

And all of their attention was on him.

He whistled for the wolves who somehow heard him. Skeletons, no matter the race, had no eyes, ears, nose, or tongue. But anything within their range could be detected. Ribcage was next to Rick so he commanded the other wolves to come back.

Spot was wary of his opponent that was still yet to attack him. He activated his Analyze Ability and saw many bars appear before his eyes.

These damn birds were only regular zombies! Level 0! Even the Bone Wolves were Level 0! Yet a Level 0 Wolf was much better than a Level 0 Bird!

Rick moved to a safer location and started sniping the Infected Birds from behind Ribcage’s ribcage. The other wolves began to dance around and focus their attention to the ceiling. Unfortunately, none of the birds reacted. Why did that one bird attack him? How come these didn’t?

He looked again at the bird and noticed three things. One, this bird was in much better condition than the others. It was tougher but still an Undead. Two, it was in fact an Undead, not a zombie. Andrew had stressed this fact really well. Normal zombies were more of the Infected Type. They were contagious and deadly but weak. Once they evolve, however, they become a normal Undead. And three, this bird was bigger than the others.

By a lot.

That means this bird was a Level 1, and it had exerted its dominance over the other birds. But the zombies should have attacked him as soon as the Level 1 was killed. Why not?

Soon, more Level 1 Birds appeared, and they were the same breed as the first one. Hawks. It was two this time, but Rick easily shot them before they got close. He didn’t want to use his rifle he got since he wasn’t that big of a sniper and had no major magic. Using the rifle would leave him drained although he could probably blast a hole in the roof with it before that happened.

After that, more cawing could be heard as five more Level 1s appeared. It would probably be safe to assume that these hawks were pretty close to Leveling Up before they turned. Now that they were Undead, they had no worries for stamina and had no need to eat or drink.

However, just like Ribcage, these animals wanted to hunt. The hawks would chase the other birds around and damage them if they were caught. That’s probably why the zombies all have wounds and are afraid to move.

They have been taught to stand still so as to not get hunted down. It is said a virus only does what it does to survive. By reproducing and spreading everywhere, it insures that it will survive. However, if they get attacked, they fight back. If they get destroyed, they hide in wait for the perfect time to strike out of nowhere.

It’s a survival mechanism. But because of this, Rick was having an easy time hunting. Eventually, most of the zombie birds were lying on the floor motionless and Rick was almost out of bullets. He only had six remaining. He had budgeted his ammunition so as to not be empty in the future, but it may have backfired on him.

Out of the shadows was a bird that was bigger than it normally was, with a hooked beak and disgusting feathers. It smelled like blood and guts in an instant, flooding the entire store with a nasty smell. Rick had no idea where this bird was before, but he would be surprised to find out it was the freezer in the deli area.

It was a blue vulture the size of a full grown wolf. It wasn’t fit to fly since one wing was torn in half but its beak was stained red and its feathers were matted down and were colored a dark brown of dried blood.

The vulture hobbled into the open and Rick took the chance to pull his pistol up and aim for the head.

Bang!

The vulture all of a sudden reacted with a speed Rick didn’t know it had. The vulture spun around, as if the floor was covered in oil, and dodged the bullet. From his jacket pocket, Rick could hear a muffled,

“Oh by the way, there’s a BOSS monster on the loose! It’s a dangerous Ice Vulture! Oops, someone is already fighting it! How unlucky! It just Leveled Up not three minutes ago!”

“Shit.”

The vulture stared at Rick a long time, its cloudy dead eyes moving in their sockets. The Bone Wolves surrounded the scavenger and all pounced at once to block off its movement to allow Rick to get a shot in. Yet at the last moment, instead of jumping, the vulture swung its broken wing and numerous frozen feathers flew out and pierced the wolves.

Thankfully, they were only bones. Unperturbed, Rick continued his aim, unaware of the danger the wolves were currently facing. He finally realized the wolves weren’t moving. Looking around, he saw all the wolves were covered in a layer of ice. The vulture hobbled over and pecked the frozen wolves until they collapsed into shards.

What a dangerous ability! Fortunately, Rick had some other weapons at his disposal. Namely a grenade. He only had five of these left and didn’t want to waste his GP for bombs. He pulled the pin and tossed it over to the vulture before hiding behind Ribcage who hunkered down and braced himself as well.

There was a deafening BOOM! that shook the building and caused plaster to fall to the floor. When he stood back up, Rick noticed the vulture was nowhere to be seen, but he didn’t receive an award so he remained vigilant.

A few minutes later, however, a DING! appeared and notified Rick of his new Hunter Title. Since he had the Hunter Techniques as well, it would Level Up faster and increase his abilities when hunting an enemy.

Then he had a choice of whether to receive the Skill and trade it for one of his old ones or leave it. He sent a message to Andrew who replied that he needed a way to easily use his rifle. Rick liked his Analyze, which helped him know how strong an enemy was in comparison to him. And he also wanted the Overseer Skill since it was similar to his Alpha Skill but also had the ability to see further.

So Rick decided to drop Alpha and gain Frostbite. A Target Type Skill that shot ice shards at an enemy and would begin to freeze them if they were too weak. The vulture was a Level 2 just before so when it became a Level 3, it definitely had more strength than the Level 0 wolves.

Rick had another question asking him if he wanted to change Jobs. He had a Hunter Job, but he didn’t like it. He was a Sniper and one that would stay still for a while to attack his target. There was no need for him to chase after his enemy if he can just kill them in one shot.

His choice became Magic Gunner that would learn different Target Type Spells. Now he had a way to use his rifle. His first Spell was Shock Shot.

The bodies of these birds could be useful so Rick took some posters or random pieces of fabric and wrapped the birds up before placing them in a basket and carting them back to the Castle. Andrew would be able to revive them again later.

If he had already used Raise the Dead on something, he wouldn’t be able to again. Since these birds haven't been Summoned before, when Andrew returns he can make use of them. So with a lighter heart, Rick returned to the base.

So when I update the Index, I will post a link in that chapter. I don’t want to have to edit it every day so expect it to be updated after every five chapters or so.