Hugh's brain worked in overtime as he tried to think up a way to get out of this problem. The eagle was coming at him with breakneck speeds while he had no way to defend himself.

He could not dodge away from the eagle’s landing because its wingspan was too broad; he would get caught up even if he tried to roll away in the last second.

The best option to do here was to use his transformation, but he did not want to do that. He did not want to rely on his transformation every time his life was in danger. He had to solve it himself, but if he were going to die, he would use his transformation.

*Gluergh*

His stomach grumbled in protest as he had not finished his meal. He was supposed to eat all of the winged caterpillar carcasses, but the eagle took his prey from him.

Since he had nothing to do, he took out a winged caterpillar wing from his pocket. This wing had been folded down until it was the size of a cubic gum.

He put one in his mouth and started to chew on the wings like it was a piece of gum. Immediately, it gave him the sweet juices of the caterpillar, reminding him of its delicious sweetness. He felt refreshed as the green liquid got squeezed out from the wings and traveled to his stomach.

He felt good, better even. It felt like he had gotten a renewed sense of vitality and strength. Before he could contemplate what happened to his body, he heard the sound of the wind whistling.

*shwoooooo*

The eagle was whizzing through the air, ready to pierce through his fatty body. Since he could not do anything else, he prepared to activate his transformation.

As he was about to activate his transformation, he suddenly felt like his instincts were telling him to do something else.

He wanted to transform, but something in his mind itched that made him not want to transform. Then, before he could even debate with himself, he saw the eagle’s beam up close.

The eagle had reached him while he was busy arguing with himself, so he had acted on instinct. He balled his fist and punched it towards the beak.

He had done this subconsciously, and he did not know why his body wanted to do it. His fist was only a few inches away from the eagle’s beak, so he decided to go all-in even though he had no armor protecting him.

He closed his eyes and hoped for the best as his fist met the eagle’s beak. The sudden impact blew him off a few meters away from the point of impact, and his body was hurt from skidding in the ground.

He opened his eyes and was surprised to see that he was still alive. He looked at his whole body and saw that his body was still whole without any holes or injuries.

He thought that he would die from the impact, but surprisingly, he was still alive. He only felt a prickling pain from his fist, and that was it.

He looked at his fist and saw that it was covered in silver and brown liquid, making a protective armor that saved him from the impact of the eagle’s beak.

He was confused because his armor was supposed to be on cooldown, yet he could activate it in time. He did not know what happened until he remembered the time before he collided with the eagle.

He had eaten winger caterpillar’s wings, and the juice he drank from it gave him a sense of strength. He had felt something weird when he ate the wings, but he did not have the time to investigate it due to the eagle coming for him.

When he had eaten the wings before, it did not have this kind of effect. It was only when he was tired, and his armor was on cooldown.

Could he extend the time on his armor by eating?

This question filled his mind and gave him hope. If he could do this, then he would not have to worry about the cooldown of his armor anymore.

His face showed an ecstatic expression as he discovered this new tactic that he could employ in fights. Before he could relish this happiness, he heard the sounds of wings flapping in the distance.

He looked and up and saw that the eagle had his feathers ruffled up. It had a menacing look towards Hugh as it scratched the floor with its claws.

Hugh could see that the eagle was preparing for another attack, so he repaired himself. He tried to activate his armor again and found that he could not do it.

It was still on cooldown, which meant that the nourishment he ate could only give him a second of armor. He took out another compressed cubic wing from his pockets and got ready to eat it.

*flap* *flap*

The eagle flapped its wings, gathering air under its wings. It had its wings spread out, showing its full wingspan to Hugh as a form of intimidation.

Hugh could not fly, so he could not initiate an attack on the eagle. He would ah e to wait for the eagle to come to him to try and counterattack.

This was dangerous because he would be torn to shreds if he did not react quickly. He put the wing in his mouth and let it start in his tongue without chewing on it.

As the eagle rose in the air and hovered in the sky, it had its sharp eyes staring at Hugh the entire time. Hugh got ready to intercept the eagle as he put the wing beneath his teeth, ready to bite it at any time.

The eagle stopped flapping its wings, and it stopped in the air for a moment, then fell down the sky at breakneck speeds. Hugh planted his feet firmly in the ground as he balled up his fist.

Hugh waited for the eagle to come towards him until it was only a few meters away. With the wind blowing in his face, Hugh bit down on the wing in his teeth, and the green liquid was squished out from it. The sweet liquid flowed down from his throat and nourished his stomach.

Hugh felt the power in his body and activated his armor. Silver and brown liquid flowed out from his skin and created a protective membrane in his fist.

Hugh gathered the strength in his fist and punched towards the oncoming beak. He had already experienced the force that the eagle would push into him, so he buried his feet onto the clouds.

As his armored fist collided with the eagle’s beak, he did not feel the expected explosive force from the eagle. The beak slid away from Hugh’s fist, throwing his fist to the side.

Hugh was caught off guard and was vulnerable. The eagle took this opportunity to use its claws to grab Hugh’s body from the ground.

Hugh felt a strong restricting force around his waist as the eagle flew up with his body. He thrashed around the eagle’s grasp, but he could not get away from it.

Hugh looked down and saw that he was multiple stories away from the ground. If he fell from this height, he would break his legs and be incapacitated. Then, he would just be food for the eagle.

Hugh stopped struggling from the eagle’s grasp as he did not want to fall to the ground. The eagle kept flying towards a direction, and Hugh did not know where it wanted to go.

Then, he suddenly felt his strength come back to him. His cooldown was off, and he could now use his armor again. He put his armor on his fist and grabbed one of the eagle’s claws.

With his grip, he pried off one of the eagle’s claws on him. The eagle did not like Hugh struggling off one of its claws, so it screamed.

“Krrrawwwwww”

Hugh did not stop struggling as he pried off the eagle’s grip on his body. He was now dangling off the eagle’s leg using only his grip.

The eagle got furious and sped up its flight in the sky. It then took a sudden descent that tried to make Hugh lose his grip on its leg.

Hugh had a tight grip that would not loosen, but that was only because of his armor. Hugh had been counting the seconds, and it was about time for his armor to be on cooldown.