Assassin Crow Evolution

The number of weird creatures the team saw within the outskirts of the forest, should have been enough to kill them.

The Crawler Tree broke their bones, and their journey should’ve ended there, but Jimmy’s skills insisted otherwise.

The massive boa-like snake he stepped on, should’ve also killed them. Natural selection should’ve chewed them up, and poop them out through the other end, but yet it didn’t. They kept getting lucky.

Jimmy didn’t know how long their luck would last, but to stack the odds to his favor, he tried hard to keep himself from attacking whatever he considered weird. He knew that he would lose most of the battles that could break out within the forest if he chose to indulge in them.

He may have been god-like back in the city, and in the meadows, but out here, he was just a crow.

"I shouldn’t shoot a single fireball, not unless I really have to." He planned, "My mana pool is full, and I should keep it full in case I fucking have to heal myself or you guys."

Vorin was confused, but he didn’t challenge his brother on the matter. He dreaded the idea of having a broken wing out here, one that no one could heal.

The giant snake that slithered away from them, helped keep their ideas grounded. They’ve out-stretched their ambitions already.

Turning to Virena, he explained, "I can’t afford to spend my mana, but you don’t need it as much as I do. We’re going to need you to defend us, but we should avoid fights as best as we can. You should only kill something if it’s directly attacking us, or if I tell you to attack them. Let’s be smart about this, because we won’t make it far otherwise."

Virena nodded. She even enjoyed the concept of a tactical approach.

Their journey up the mountain continued.

Paranoia took root in their minds. They were jumpy, and every step of theirs seemed like a mistake, but they pushed forward nonetheless.

Further up the mountain, they saw what appeared to be a tree stump, moving.

Initially this didn’t bother them, but as they got closer, roughly thirty feet away from the stump, they got a better look at what they’re looking at.

"That’s not a stump..." Jimmy said.

The fact that the initially suspected stump did not leave a trail of upturned dirt behind it seemed weird to begin with. Jimmy picked up on this, and now, he figured out why.

"It’s another frog?" Vorin said. "Shouldn’t it be jumping?"

"Judging from how frogs are behaving around here, I don’t think they’re supposed to do anything." He said. "Let’s try and walk around the fucker."

If seen from a greater distance, the frog did in fact look like a stump, it was as big as one, four feet wide and three feet tall. It didn’t hop around either, likely because of its weight.

Their confusion was valid. There was no standard of frog biology they could base their assumptions from.

The team tried to avoid it, but minutes later, the frog went from crawling up towards the tip of the mountain, to making a sharp turn, too quick for its size. The moss on its body slid away upon its turn.

It had noticed the crows close by.

Jimmy heard the leaves rustle, and his eyes immediately darted towards the frog.

"Oh damn..." He held his breath, "Brace yourselves!"

Despite what its anatomy encouraged, the frog leaped upwards. It was able to jump.

Its muscular hind legs straightened like a pair of arrows as it pierced through the dense branches that were initially above its head.

Jimmy raised his hammer, and his friends prepared themselves as well. It was times like this that they felt good about carrying their weapons all the way from the home meadows.

The team separated. They scattered, so the frog wouldn’t crush the three of them if it nailed its landing.

At the corner of his eye, Jimmy noticed a bright light.

Quick as a whip, he turned to the right, and saw a fireball heading towards him!

It was green. He didn’t know how hot it could be, and he didn’t know where it came from, but the fireball sure as hell moved as quickly as any other fireball.

Jimmy popped up the Elemental Shield skill half a second before the fireball landed. He wasn’t sure if he could’ve evaded it otherwise!

The fireball struck his V-shaped shield, and thankfully, the shield covered his entire body.

The fireball was five feet wide. Giant. For a moment, Jimmy felt like he was defending himself against a volcano!

The flames rushed around his shield, and only stopped once they hit the ground, bushes, or the trees behind him.

His friends, much to their luck, were several feet away from the blow because they had tactfully separated from one another before the fireball even assumed its form.

The fire broke through Jimmy’s shield, and it would have torn through him as well, but his survival senses went hay-wire!

Another Elemental Shield intercepted what the first one couldn’t have broken apart.

With each shield promising fifty-five percent reflective properties against elemental attacks, Jimmy got his defenses up to a hundred and ten percent. He was as safe as ever, as if he was never attacked to begin with.

"Hell yeah!" He celebrated.

Afterwards, he charged forwards, aiming to hunt whatever had attacked him. He didn’t stand idly by.

The moment he spread his wings, and got a foot above the ground, the large frog landed behind him! He heard it land, it was as if an anvil struck the ground, but he was safe.

"I forgot about the frog..." He mumbled, as he charged forward.

Jimmy’s following defenses were nearly automatic. His body adapted to the dangers it suspected.

His Retractable Razor Armor coated his body in the blink of an eye, all for the sake of being an extra layer of defense.

Following suit was his Colorful Feathers skill. It changed his likeness, camouflaging him perfectly across his surroundings, regardless of the fact that he was currently airborne.

Whatever attacked him, would surely have a hard time seeing him coming!

Jimmy spotted the head of what he assumed to be the attacker. It was large, elongated, and in a word, buggy.