Blue Jaw Feather Flock

"Milord, you've finally come!"

"Milord, please save us!"

"Milord, those damned demon birds are about to gnaw all our moss clean!"

"Milord, ..."

A jumble of noisy voices came from the Underground Humans before Saine.

Though these humans were hunched over and gave off strange odors, Saine knew that even the oldest among them was no more than forty.

There were rarely ordinary humans over forty in the City of Mozhsuobula. The perilous environment and scarce food meant that the average human lifespan in the City of Mozhsuobula was only thirty-five years.

It was life's hardships that had made these people look so aged and stooped.

Though there were formidable beings like magicians, it had to be admitted that, in terms of physical constitution alone, these humans were actually weaker than the demi-humans who had lived in the Underground World for generations, let alone those Dark Beings.

"Stop making noise. Tell me where that Blue Jaw Feather Flock is," Saine said in a low voice.

Saine's voice was not loud, but the moment his words fell, the humans around him immediately trembled with fear, like quails, not daring to make another unnecessary sound.

In the end, a seemingly sturdier man pointed stiffly toward somewhere in the distance. "Milord, those demon birds are over there. There seem to be twenty or thirty of them in total, and it looks like they've already built a nest."

Following the direction of his finger, Saine looked into the distance with all his might, but all he saw was a bare expanse.

It seemed the moss in that area had already been eaten clean. No wonder these humans were so anxious.

Saine was currently wearing the Pale Mask, and these Underground Humans could not see his expression or appearance at all.

Ordinary humans possessed an innate fear of Black Magicians, so they did not dare stare at Saine carelessly.

If not for the moss of Gray White Valley, which concerned the livelihood and lifeline of their families for the entire year, they likely would not have dared be so disrespectful just now.

Gray White Valley covered a vast area, and the amount of moss cultivated here was considerable as well.

Most humans had already been forced to leave because of the Blue Jaw Feather Flock's harassment.

Only these few before him had remained here, anxiously awaiting someone from the Black Wizard Academy.

If Saine had not come, or if no other apprentice had accepted this mission, perhaps several hundred or even a thousand people in the City of Mozhsuobula would starve to death again this year.

Starving a few lowly creatures to death was commonplace in the Underground World.

The humans of the City of Mozhsuobula had it relatively good.

If it were those Underground Subhumans, when famine struck, they would even take the initiative to devour elderly members of their own kind as rations.

"Go. Bring some torches over and set them around the area."

"If any Blue Jaw Feathers scatter in other directions later, throw the torches at them." Saine gave the Underground Humans around him his instructions, then headed toward that bare wasteland himself.

By the time Saine reached the top of the slightly elevated barren ground, a chorus of chirping had already reached his ears.

Though Blue Jaw Feathers resembled birds in appearance, these Underground creatures could not fly.

They mainly walked on two legs and were quite fast. At most, after leaping from a high place, they could glide briefly.

The low-grade magic equipment, the Pale Mask, gave Saine a relatively broad and clear view even in the dim Underground World.

With the Mental Strength and sharp mind of a magic apprentice, far surpassing those of ordinary people, Saine quickly counted twenty-six Blue Jaw Feathers in the wasteland below him.

The magical beasts and Dark Beings of the Underground World generally had poor eyesight, but exceptionally keen senses of smell and perception.

Since Saine stood on higher ground, and his black Magic Robe had effectively concealed part of his scent, these Blue Jaw Feathers had not noticed his arrival.

"Tsk, there really is a bird king. Otherwise, they wouldn't have migrated specifically to the vicinity of the City of Mozhsuobula."

"But this Blue Jaw Feather flock probably isn't very strong. It should have only recently split off from another main flock," Saine judged.

The basic courses in the Black Wizard Academy's Public Classroom included an introduction to Demonized Creatures like Blue Jaw Feathers.

Their preference for living in groups made many magicians regard them as a source for harvesting low-grade magical materials in bulk.

Some magicians even specifically raised such Demonized Creatures, though no one did so in the City of Mozhsuobula.

The low-grade materials produced by Demonized Creatures were only suitable for apprentices. Formal Black Wizards would not even glance at such trifles, so why would they spend time and effort cultivating them?

Some of the Underground World's Demi-human Tribes, however, possessed the ability to raise and tame Blue Jaw Feathers and their closely related magical beast groups.

Twenty-five adult Blue Jaw Feathers possessed the strength of Demonized Creatures, while one Blue Jaw Feather King stood at the level of a low-grade magical beast. This was already a considerable force.

Especially that Blue Jaw Feather King that had evolved into a magical beast—it should also possess an innate spell. Saine needed to be careful.

Besides the twenty-six adult Blue Jaw Feathers mentioned above, Saine also noticed finer, sharper chirps coming from deeper within the Moss Field before him.

Those should be juvenile Blue Jaw Feathers, whose individual combat strength could be ignored.

He just did not know whether there were any Blue Jaw Feather Eggs. If there were, they would count as an additional gain from Saine's execution of this Academy mission.

While Saine observed the situation in the Moss Field ahead, the Underground World humans who had received his instructions had already lit torches outside the nearby Moss Field.

The Underground World was normally shrouded in darkness. Only the City of Mozhsuobula, with a Fluorite Vein above its main urban district, possessed dim light year-round. Other regions basically had no light at all.

Torches could provide sufficient deterrence against ordinary Underground beasts or low-grade Demonized Creatures, but they could not be kept burning for long.

If one possessed strength as formidable as the City of Mozhsuobula, that was one thing. Without sufficient strength, keeping torches lit for too long was simply like lighting a beacon for the powerful magical beasts or solitary Dark Beings of the Underground World to find you.

But Saine was confident this battle would not last long. Lighting the torches was both to drive away these Blue Jaw Feathers more easily and to reduce the losses suffered by these Underground Humans and the Moss Field.

After all, Saine was only a sixteen-year-old young mage, and he still possessed a conscience and bottom line of his own.

If some long-standing apprentice of poor character had been sent instead, they would most likely have used these Underground Humans as bait.

Blue Jaw Feathers were omnivores. Since they ate moss, they naturally ate meat as well, and were particularly fond of carrion.

Of course, the Blue Jaw Feathers' favorite food was still the Sweet Berries Saine had obtained from Baus before leaving the City of Mozhsuobula.

Holding his breath, Saine crawled forward, silently scattering Iron Phosphorus Powder in designated spots while half-burying the limited Sweet Berries in the soil.