The village chief's wife or daughter opened the door to a rather big house. Alex forwarded his hands to the bland looking woman.

 

"Greetings, I'm a member of the Vanquisher's Guild, here to clear out a monster infestation. " Alex brought up his card as verification and the mission note. 

 

"Oh dear, come in, come in young man. Let me prepare you a cup of tea." The lady said and Alex accepted her invitation and sat on a rather comfortable carpet. The house was minimalistic for his tastes, but through even the bare necessities he still observed touches of habitation.

 

The woman came in carrying a wooden plate filled with two clay glasses and a ceramic teapot. The lady poured a cup and gave it to him, he gratefully accepted and took a sip.

 

"This is great tea, may I ask what leaves you used?" Alex asked while taking another sip.

 

"Just ordinary tea leaves from around here." She gave him a mysterious smile. "Ah. Where are my manners? I am Ezebella Smith, and I am the village chieftess." 

 

Alex froze on his third sip and almost choked on the liquid. With iron resolve, he continued drinking and used that time to compose himself.

 

"You brew excellent tea m'lady." Alex put down the clay glass and firmed himself. "While the tea was enjoyable, I am unfortunately here for a less savory activity."

 

"And here I thought we would continue talking for longer, you city folk are always in a hurry." The chieftess ticked her tongue.

 

"Maybe we can do that after I finish my mission, by then your worries for your livestock would be settled and we would have a far more enjoyable conversation." Alex smiled sincerely, and also quite eager to stop this excessive amount of chatter.

 

"Dear, what a tongue you have." The lady smiled and her temperament suddenly turned vicious. "Glen Crows are a seasonal pest that plagues this region, the men in the village can eradicate small nests but sometimes a nest grows bigger than what we can handle."

 

"Then you hire a Vanquisher. What makes these Glen Crows dangerous?" Alex sipped tea to concentrate. 

 

"It's not their number, ordinary Glen Crows are no threat to man. But when there is a king among them, there wings are like blades and there beaks like pickaxes" Ezebella drank from her own cup.

 

"And should this king die, they would be far less dangerous?" Alex said and the lady nodded. "Does that mean I only need to kill the king?"

 

The chieftess laughed and banged her knee.

 

"No, no deary, we requested a full nest extermination." She said and Alex's face reddened.

 

He bit his lip and scratched his head. It didn't seem like a dangerous mission, though the prospect of fighting crows with a sword was a bit daunting. 

 

"Thank you for the information my lady. Can I have a guide to the nest's location so I can scout it out?" Alex sat up and returned the tea cup to the plate.

 

Waiting outside for a bit for his guide to come, Alex considers his tactics for this mission. Apparently these Glen Crows were flying swarming birds, they probably presented a modest threat in numbers with their beaks and talons.

 

With the king's boost, their talons, wings and beaks would become a major threat on their own. He will have to kill the king incredibly quickly if he wants his clones to come out in one piece.

 

It would have been amazing to have a bow at this moment, but he will have to do with swords. Alex had left his two prized rapiers at home for his clones to defend himself with.

 

There was a good chance he could kill the king quickly if he used his clones and his new skills well. Speaking of new skills, they had very light requirements, for instance [Solid Footwork] only needed him to stay on his feet in a certain position for a long period of time, something his clones had easily done.

 

[General Skills: (11/15)]

[Swordsmanship, Level 35]

[Physical Conditioning, Level 41]

[Natural Healing, Level 20]

[Battle Flow, Level 7]

[Leadership, Level 7]

[Shield Proficiency, Level 8]

[Marksmanship, Level 4]

[Singular Focus, Level 2]

[Last Hurraw, Level 1]

[Basic Disguise, Level 1]

[Solid Footwork, Level 1]

 

[Last Hurraw] would be great for this. Send in a clone and then defend his flanks, an optimal strategy if he guessed right how the Glen Crows fight.

 

The sound of steps woke him from his strategization. Alex's eyes widened when he saw a familiar face following the matriarch of the village. 

 

"This is Julliet, and from your reaction I guess you both aren't strangers?" The chieftess while giving them both contemplative glances.

 

"We've only spoken once." Alex commented and extended his hand to Julliet. "It is an auspicious sign from Mercy to meet you again, fair lady."

 

"Yeah, you too." Julliet shook his hand. "Alright, let's go. I'll show you where the nest is. Try to keep up."

 

Suddenly, Julliet sprinted and Alex was left in a stupor. Shaking the shock from his head, Alex picked up speed and caught up to the girl.

 

"Do we really need to run!" Alex shouted against the wind, his speed easily maintained with his physique.

 

"It's much more exciting don't you think." She smiled and shouted in joy. Alex's mouth broke into a smile despite his efforts to smother it.

 

They went down the hill the village was situated on and through various fields. The final frontier of this town was its sheep herders, and they waved at them as they ran by.

 

For a woman, Julliet could run for plenty of time. Alex was just impressed she could sprint for this long. Of course he had trouble keeping the pace, it would have been embarrassing otherwise.

 

Cresting over a hill with a lone tree, Julliet finally stopped and pointed towards a grove where a hole filled with eggs and thatch was being protected by a tornado of green crows.

 

At the center of the nest was a giant crow half Alex's height. It had a weird feather crown and there was this green wind that radiated from it and into its flock.

 

"So you planning to rush in there with your team?" Julliet huffed while leaning on the lone tree.

 

"Something like that." Alex continued analysing the nest and reiterating his plans.

---

There are currently 6 advanced chapter on my Patreon.

and if you have any critics please send them to me, I would appreciate.