Vs the Big Bad Magpie

John and Cynthia watched the birds continue their food delivery while quietly discussing how they could annihilate the boss.

“You take care of the big one. I think I can manage to keep the coconut creeps at a distance,” Cynthia said confidently.

John scanned the surroundings, and seeing nothing else that could work to their advantage, he nodded. “Alright, let’s do it,” he said with worry in his tone.

John and Cynthia both raised their bows at the gigantic bird. “One shot, that’s all I can spare, then I will focus on the little ones,” Cynthia whispered as she aimed her bow at the eating boss’ eye.

“Three, two, one…” Two arrows flew through the air, striking the magpie right in his eye.
Crit damage x2
10 dmg
15 dmg

The magpie cried out in pain as its left eye got pierced by two arrows in rapid succession. John, not wanting to let the chance slip away, shot one more arrow. However, due to the boss jerking his head back, it went wide and didn’t hit anything.

The boss then started to leer around, looking for the origin of the arrows. It soon spotted the two hunters, and, crying out angrily, it started to flap its wings, rising into the sky while the cocokabura’s laughed at them louder, their sounds echoing from the walls making it an even worse cacophony of horrible sounds.

John and Cynthia did not sit about doing nothing while the boss prepared for attack; they fired arrow upon arrow at the enemies around them, Cynthia sniping one cocokaburra after the other while John kept firing arrows at the boss. The wind kicked up by the wings of the magnumpie threw them off course, but with such a large body, the arrows still struck its body.

5 dmg
5 dmg
5 dmg

However, the problem with a huge amount of enemies… You can’t always handle all of them at once. While the two hunters were busy, a rain of coconuts started to pour down from the sky, forcing John and Cynthia to move out from their cover and start to fire while running, this in turn making it a lot harder for John who barely managed to hit his target while standing still.

Just as John had found a new spot to fire from, a ledge that could cover his head to prevent most of the coconuts from hitting him, the boss swooped down. “Cynthia!” John cried out, but alas, Cynthia was caught in the open. She managed to roll out of the way upon hearing John’s cry, but the airflow created by the swooping boss lifted her up and smacked her against a wall, leaving her slightly dazed as she groaned in pain.

“You damn son of a bird! You!” John cried out angrily, forming a mana arrow as he looked at the boss. “How bloody dare you!” John was angry, really angry. He double cast mana arrow and guided arrow, draining his mana by 8 as he fired. Due to the arrow being made of mana, the wind had little effect on it, and thanks to the guiding feature of the guided arrow, it struck the magnumpie’s eye as he hovered above the valley.

Crit damage x2
Weakness exploited damage x 1.5
15 damage

The arrow created a small explosion, obliterating the magnumpie’s right eye in its wake. The magnumpie let out a mournful wail, then it’s focus solely placed itself on John. It let out a ominous caw, the cocokaburra’s circling Cynthia turning their attention to John too.

John started to load mana arrow after mana arrow onto his bow, hitting the gigantic bird-boss until his mana ran out. During the process, he got hit by multiple coconuts from the side, his worry for Cynthia who was still on the ground and his desire to take out the boss making it so that he barely noticed them.

When John was out of mana, he breathed heavily, the magnumpie looking rather haggard as well, barely managing to hover in the air, most of its feathers smudged with its own blood. John dodged two more coconuts, then loaded a ordinary arrow onto his bow. Taking aim, and letting go.

5 dmg

+50 exp

The magnumpie’s remaining eye turned hazy, then it suddenly dropped from the sky. A loud crash and a dust cloud whipping up from the spot the boss’ final resting place would be. The cocokaburras still flying in the sky noticed their boss’ demise and turned tailfeather and flew off giving John the opportunity to run to Cynthia’s side.

“Cynthia, you okay?” John asked as he rolled her onto her back. Checking her for any wounds.

Cynthia took a labored breath, wincing as she placed her hand on her ribs. “I’m fine, John, just bruised my ribs a bit… is all.” She groaned, puffing for air while doing so.

John looked absolutely relieved when she talked to him, nodding as he helped her get up. “Careful, don’t **** yourself.”

Cynthia waved him off. “Go and loot the bird so we can get back to Sir Wombatton,” she said dismissively.

John nodded, walking over to the huge corpse of the bird, meanwhile checking the pop ups that had appeared during the fight.

Skill synergy unlocked.
Guided Mana Arrow.
By dual casting Guided Arrow and Mana Arrow, you can create a Guided Mana Arrow.
Can be adjusted in the air twice with no added cost.

First of many
Killed your first boss.
$200,00
150 exp
2 statpoints

Unbent, unbowed, unbroken
Don’t get distracted by a barrage of attacks and kill your target.
+1 Endurance

Through passion I gain strength
Ironically, I am giving you agility.
Get enraged during a fight and kill your target.
+1 Agility

Quest cleared!
Learn how to create illusion barriers: 1/1
Beat the boss in your first self created illusion barrier: 1/1

Optional: beat the boss with more than half of your health remaining. Cleared

Rewards:
500 exp
$ 200,-
1 pet token

John looked at his health, he had taken quite a few hits during those coconut bomb runs. “28 health, well I’ll be a son of a…” he mumbled.

After tapping accept on the quest rewards, his body flashed white again.

Ding, level up.
Pet token
A round coin with a cute paw minted on it, when turned in at your nearest offering site will **** your guardian deity to give you a free pet! See! I am helping you out here!
Gaia Exclusive Item

He kicked the corpse of the magnumpie, watching it disintegrate a few moments later, leaving behind a couple of items as well as a fat stack of cash.

Bird Beak
The beak of a slain bird.
Hunting Trophy.

Flapbird Talon
The talon of a rather big flapbird.
Hunting Trophy

Small Feathers
A small feather dropped from birds.
Crafting Material.

Magnum Belt
A stylish looking gun belt, crafted from kangaroo leather, designed to have two holsters. Bullets drawn from this belt have a ⅓ chance of dealing extra explosive or bleeding damage.
Ammo: 0/50

Just when John wanted to pick up the Magnum Belt a man materialized in front of him. “Sorry kid, wrong timeline.” The blonde man said with a laugh, the small wings on his sandals flapping and off he went. Taking the belt with him. A few seconds later he returned, dropping a beautiful quiver in front of John. “This one should be yours, have fun! Hermes out!” He dropped what seemed like a microphone and dissolved into specks of light.

Quiver of the Last Stand
Rare item. This red leather quiver fits comfortably against the wearer's side and makes the arrows the wearer fires out of it become more and more powerful as less arrows remain. Damage scales up to times 3 for the final arrow(do the math yourself, I'm a goddess, not a mathematician) . Smells faintly of brass and gunpowder.
Ammo: 0/50

“What?” John and Cynthia asked one another before shrugging. “Gods… Weird creatures.”

John threw the new item into his inventory as they went back towards the tunnel. Determined to look at it later.

(Two chapters, two author notes, hype! Just using this to plug my good friend Slinger's branch. When his timeline catches up to this one, all will be clear. Until the next author note! )