CHAPTER 57: BIRD BEASTMAN AWAKENS

Two days soon passed by since the monster horde incident and the village was back to its usual self. Healer Kai had told them the bird beastman was stable now and recovering from his injuries and awake soon enough.

In the meantime, Serena finally got the hang of weaving baskets, even if her first few baskets were a little messy. But it didn’t matter much as long as they worked well for storing things.

Theo and Rico finally got the garden finished up and planted with food. Rico was currently giving Theo and her a rundown on how to care for their new garden.

He’d come by to check on how they were doing, but caring for the garden was now their responsibility. He was just making sure they knew what they were doing.

"The straw should help the plants during the cold season, so make sure you have a layer around all the plants." Rico explained, patting down on the straw he had just added around the garden beds. "You can also add dead leaves and wood bark to help the plants grow. Just be aware of weeds. They can-"

Before he could finish speaking, a voice called out to them, "The bird beastman is awake!"

All three of them turned their heads to find Davis running up to them. The rabbit beastman quickly stopped in front of them and huffed out, "Uncle told me to call you and Theo. Said you should come by now that the beastman is awake."

"Alright, we’ll be there." Theo murmured in response. He glanced over at Rico and asked, "Can we...."

"Go ahead." Rico waved them off. "We can continue this later. I’ll be sure to keep an eye on that one while you’re away."

He gave a pointed look over at Kiro a few meters away who was gazing at some of the plants in interest. The cub had been quite excited to see the garden and enjoyed looking at all the plants transplanted into it.

"Thank you." Serena smiled before calling out to Kiro, "Don’t cause any trouble, Kiro, while we’re gone."

Kiro turned to them and ran over. "Where are you going?"

"Just to the healer quickly to see someone." Serena answered. "We’ll be right back."

Considering the state she’d seen the bird beastman when Theo took her to the healer’s hut yesterday, Serena decided it was best Kiro didn’t see that. It was a miracle he survived this long without advanced medical care.

Then again, it spoke volumes to the power of the energy crystal.

Which made a part of her regret using it so easily. It would be an incredibly useful thing to have in a worst case scenario. Granted, Theo was going to repay her with the one he had.

And if he was lying about that, well, she wasn’t above murder. Though she could probably make him pay in other ways. Not that she thought he’d lie about such things.

He definitely did have the ability to hunt monsters. There was no doubt about that.

"Okay..." Kiro murmured.

Serena ruffled his hair before they headed off to the hut. When they got there, they found Elder Samuel was leaving the place. He glanced at them with a smile.

"Seems he survived and will heal up nicely." Elder Samuel stated. "The rabbit beastmen he saved have dealt with the healer’s fees so don’t worry about them."

"That’s good to hear...." Serena murmured.

She would be less than pleased if she was stuck paying for the healer’s fees. That was not something she agreed to when handing over the energy crystal. Losing that was enough trouble for her.

"Well then, I’ll leave you to it." Elder Samuel said. "And again, thank you for sparing the crystal, Serena."

"Sure." Serena nodded her head.

The elderly beastman walked off and the group of three headed inside to find Davis’ uncle working with some herbs in the corner of the hut. Meanwhile, in the back of the room sat a tall beastman.

He was more on the lean side and had jet black hair and eyes which seem to pierce into a person’s soul. The bird beastman gazed at them sharply, his body wrapped up in bandages and covered in green goo.

Still looked like a complete mess, but at least he was awake now.

Healer Kai glanced over at them and murmured, "Ah there you are... Jason, this is Serena and Theo. They’re the ones that let us use the energy crystal."

"I see..." The bird beastman said in a low tone, voice sounding groggy. "You’re not..."

"Rabbit beastmen, no we’re not." Theo finished. "It’s a long story, but that’s for another time. What were you doing out there by yourself?"

After the whole incident, Theo had checked the forest and only landed up finding two monster corpses. Both were quite weak and had multiple injuries. Blood trails were everywhere and some wounds were already healing.

Considering that there weren’t any bird clans living nearby that he knew of, Theo figured that Jason was likely part of a monster horde hunting team. Probably sent to go after some stragglers.

Of course, that then begged the question as to where exactly he’d come from.

Most of the forest was under the Forest City’s territory and any monsters in the area were theirs to hunt. Villages and tribes within the forest also had hunting rights.

However, most rarely hunted themselves and would normally join in the city’s hunting party which happened during the dry season. Crystals were then split amongst party members.

If another city was sending hunting parties into the forest, that could spell trouble. It was the other reason he wanted to save the bird beastman. This kind of intel was important.

"South Cliffs Tribe." Jason finally answered. "Was trying to go through a power change along with some others. Made a hunting party, but I got separated from them while tracking those monsters... Thought I was a goner when the power change suddenly happened mid battle."

So that explained the serious injuries, however, his words only added more questions too. Not that Theo trusted one word that came out of that bird’s mouth. Something was off.

He was sure of it.