Assassin Crow Evolution

Chapter 16: Banished

[Confirmed]

[Initiating...]

[Quick warning. The implementation of any mana-based skills and or evolutions can be intensive at your current statistics.]

Jimmy didn’t care. His goal to heal his father circled in his head, and he blocked out anything else. He even ignored the fact that he just killed two people.

He remained stoic, unmoving, like a great dark figure in the shadows.

The purchase he made met him half-way.

Just seconds into the process, he felt a deep pain in his stomach, as if a horse had kicked him in the crotch.

The pain came quickly, and it broke all scales. He got knocked out shortly after, and fell like a big oak, his body frozen in place.

When he opened his eyes, the world seemed brighter than what he remembered.

Panicking, he leaped up immediately and landed on his feet. Frantic, like an embarrassed Kung-Fu master.

"How long was I out?" he blurted.

[12 hours.]

[Helping Hand Skill implemented.]

[-500 system points]

[Remaining points: 8,787]

Jimmy ignored those statistics completely, and was already on the air. He flew towards his family’s nest as fast as he could, and when he got there, his heart dropped.

The nest was far too crowded for his liking. There were three crows there that he did not recognize.

At first, he feared that those elders had swooped over to finish what they started, and wipe out the rest of his family, but as he got closer, he saw that that was not the case.

Everyone was surprisingly calm. There were no indicators of a fight. The three crows were not the elders.

His following conclusion was that his father had passed away, and passing by crows were swinging over to express their condolences.

"What’s going on?" he said, as soon as he landed on the edge of the nest, "Did my father..."

"He’s alright," one of the crows said, his voice as deep as a well.

"Oh..." he sighed in relief, "Move aside, man, I want to see my father."

"Father has expressed his wish to banish you from the family," the crow said.

"Father?" he repeated, "He’s my father, jackass, not yours. Move aside!"

"He’s our father too," the crow said, "I’m Gordon the Vast, and us three are your siblings. We traveled great distances when we heard that our father had been attacked. Lora, your older sister, healed our father last night."

At that moment, Lora, a crow as big as Jimmy, spoke up, "He’ll be just fine, sweetheart, so you don’t have to visit this nest anymore. Be on your way now."

"You healed him..." he mumbled, "But I gave it my all to come and heal him myself..."

"By killing bugs?" Coris, his other older brother, spoke up, "You’re starting to lose your mind, brother, and at such a young age too. It’s a shame... Vorin told us all about it. Stay away from our family, kid, you’re more trouble than you’re worth."

Jimmy blocked out most of what his siblings said afterwards. He heard that his father was okay, and that was enough for him.

Gaya, his mother, stood in the corner of the nest without uttering a single word. She avoided eye-contact, utterly embarrassed.

Gnegor was asleep, he was still resting. His younger siblings, the same one he grew a whole month in a nest with, were avoiding him all together. It was apparent that they wanted to speak up, it was clear that they were unhappy with him, but they did not say a single word.

The entirety of the situation was awkward, but Jimmy failed to realize it. He didn’t even care for it, he was just happy that his father was alive and well.

"I’ll respect father’s wishes," he finally gathered himself together. "Will you be staying here for long, Gordon?"

Jimmy could not meet eye-to-eye with his brother. Gordon was almost twice as big in comparison, far bigger than their father too, and yet, intimidation was out of the equation. Although banished from his family, he still believed that he wouldn’t be hurt by his older brother, who deep down, he already saw as a protector.

"We’ll stay here until winter," Gordon followed along, "Why do you ask? Is there something I should be aware of?"

"I killed more than just a few bugs last night, brother. I wanted to evolve, I wanted to heal our father. I’m afraid that if anyone saw what I did, the elders will come back to finish us off." He answered, "I’ll take my sins with me to the grave, but if someone saw me, there’s no point in hiding them. They could blow up on my face today, so, if you can protect our family, stick around for as long as you can. Stay through the winter too."

"Understood," Gordon nodded and didn’t utter another word.

Jimmy was ready to take off, but at that moment, Lora, his older sister, grabbed his head with her claws, and shortly after, a dark mist engulfed him.

At first, he figured that she had lost her patience, and wanted to literally kick him out of the nest, but as a calming sensation overcame him, swiftly removing what felt like a decade-old headache, he couldn’t help but let out a tear. He hasn’t felt this good ever since he was a hatchling in the nest.

"You can go now," Lora said, "And go wash yourself, please. You smell worse than a dead cow."

Jimmy simply smiled, and flew away. Naps could not compete with how refreshed he felt right now.

Nevertheless, the health boost she gave him, sealing his numerous, possibly infected wounds for good, could not seep in so deep into his body to take away all the sour emotions he felt. His sacrifices, the risks he took to attain the Helping Hand skill, were nullified right in front of him.

Banishment was the reward of all the efforts he made just to save his father. Gloom followed his wings, he felt cheated, mistreated.

"I got banished because of a damn apple..." he sighed, as he flew away. "I killed two people because of an apple..."

Jimmy flew as high as he could. He got half a kilometer above the city, or fifteen hundred feet, taking the air in.

Bugs kept hitting his face, but he ignored them. He was lost in his thoughts.

Looking down at the city, he no longer found its size impressive. From up here, it seemed as small as his beak.

"Why did I let this pimple of stone get the best out of me?" he sighed.

Afterwards, he dived down towards the city, and the more he accelerated, the more his mind cleared up.

He said, "Fuck your rules, you tight-arsed bastards. I’m coming for you..."