Chapter 526 The City Of Monsters

The kick of the bird sent him backwards. The talon wrapped around him and slammed him onto the ground as his sword flew out of his hand. The other birds flew in, their beaks flying downwards, piercing the ground as Lee Seng's barrier automatically flew up. The beaks sparked against the cosmic barrier as Lee Seng tried to rip the talon off of him.

"Argh!" Lee Seng squirmed as the talons dug into him. The birds continuously kept up their pecking and this barrier wouldn't last forever. The odd image of lasers flashed in his mind. He flipped his left palm up into the air and quickly pulled the energy into his hand. Gold, black, gray, and silver lasers shot out of his hand in every direction possible. The lasers pierced through the birds, hitting the ceiling and pillars as the birds instantly recoiled.

This small opening was all Lee Seng needed. He quickly flexed his chest, pushing blast of gravity at the birds, sending them into the air. With a quick flip and a pull of his sword, Lee Seng squatted down and shot himself upwards. Lee Seng flew past the bird directly above him, slashing it in half as he turned and pushed himself with gravity towards the next bird.

[6 Birds killed! 24 Souls added! 80/10,000]

Lee Seng landed on the ground with a low squat, sheathing the katana as the dead birds landed with a loud thud on the ground around him.

"Ah," Lee Seng sighed, standing. He went directly to a bird, studying it. "It looks like a flamingo and an ostrich… Its legs were made for speed and strength. The beak was just an added bonus…" He spent the next hour checking feathers, wing span and the insides of the monster.

"It literally looks like chicken." Lee Seng shook his head as he hovered over the carved bird. "It honestly got carved like a chicken…" He had gotten plenty of large parts from the bird monster-things and now he was wondering if he could actually take it with him. "It'd be a waste if I couldn't take this with me… This looks better than eating Werewolf… But creating a fire in this godforsaken place is going to be hard… It might even alert others to me…"

Lee Seng bit his lip and shook his head.

"Fuck it." He touched his necklace and then moved to touch the cut out parts. To his surprise, the necklace actually stored it with ease. "Huh. Handy. I wanna know how that works." He didn't bother to take the other birds. One large bird could feed him for weeks.

He wandered the streets for awhile, heading in the direction the Hell horse had told him to go to. He had almost forgotten a horse had talked to him. A flaming, large, fiery horse at that.

He had gone into his typical building to building hops. He saw many monsters roaming the streets. Pack of wolves, more speedy birds, goblins, hobgoblins and even the occasional orc. He saw many monsters he recognized from books and a lot he didn't recognize. The streets were littered with monsters he didn't even knew existed.

The city quickly became something other than a city. Monsters called home in overgrown buildings and streets. Rusted cars blocking off areas and odd materials used to create homes for the green menaces. Lee Seng crouched behind a set of rusted cars, peering into one of the camps.

'Wolves, goblins, hobgoblins and some orcs?' Lee Seng observed. 'This ain't a city anymore. It's all monster town now. I need to get over to the other side and not get caught.'

'Remember this, Lee Seng,' Akali's voice spoke. 'Every instance of a fight could also not be a fight. You choose when to fight on your terms, but there will also be times where you can't choose where you fight. It's very important to distinguish the differences. Getting an edge on your opponent doesn't always mean fighting. Sometimes the best thing you can do for yourself and for others is to not engage in battle. Remember this because it'll come in handy one day.'

Lee Seng slowly made his way around the rusted car wall. He made his way to the other side, which was also blocked by a wall and shapeshifted into a small rat, making his way through the cracks with relative ease.

"Gra be are na!" A hobgoblin spoke to a goblin. They met right where Lee Seng wanted to get out. The small goblin looked up at his hobgoblin brother. They exchanged a conversation for quite awhile, never leaving as Lee Seng turned to reroute towards another exit.

'Everything's so big.' Lee Seng thought as he climbed up the rusted car. The hobgoblin and goblin began to move the same direction as him, continuing their conversation as they went. It sounded like a bunch of grumbling and hard G noises. He wondered if it was a goblin thing, but it was just the way they spoke.

Lee Seng the rat made his way higher and higher eventually reaching the top of the car as the sound of a large caw of a bird caught his attention. He looked up with his rat eyes, noticing a large bird in the air. It was circling his area. The hobgoblin and goblin looked up and pointed it out.

"Gra ej gra ne!" The hobgoblin shouted. Lee Seng looked over and noticed another hobgoblin stepping out of the makeshift home they had created.

"Gra he gra je ne? Gra ne lw gr aja!" The other hobgoblins shouted. It let out a whistle as the bird cawed and dived straight down for the second hobgoblin. The hobgoblin stuck out its arm and Lee Seng watched the bird land. It was a HUGE bird. Probably a hawk of sort but it did resemble the things flying in the sky.

The hobgoblin unraveled a note from the hawk-like bird, reading it as Lee Seng continued on his way. He noticed a large gap coming up.

'How do I get past that?' Lee Seng thought. He walked up to the edge and noticed there was a bridge of sorts below. 'I think I could make that from here…' Lee Seng slowly started to make his way down the car wall as the hawk beast seemed to notice Lee Seng the rat. It cawed as it wanted to lift itself into the air and dive bomb Lee Seng. The hobgoblin shouted at it, trying to get it to hold itself as the bird took off.

'Ah, shit.' Lee Seng thought. He scurried faster, trying to make it to the bridge before the bird darted straight for him. Lee Seng's head screamed curses as he plopped onto the bridge and darted inside the nearest car. The bird came to a halt, diverting itself upwards as Lee Seng lost sight of it.

"Gar jlea mb gre!" The hobgoblin shouted. The other hobgoblin and goblin cackled as they pointed at the bird.

"Gra jea gr nege! Hahahaha!" The goblin replied. The second hobgoblin shook its head as it watched the bird start to circle above.

'Greaaat. It's waiting for me.' Lee Seng thought. 'What small form could I take that wouldn't draw attention?" The hobgoblin and goblin to his left began to talk about something as they pulled their attention away from the bird and to the car. They pointed at the car several times like they were identifying what the bird was trying to do while the second hobgoblin grumbled and stuffed the note in its pocket.

"Gra jalkj gr ne mwa!" The hobgoblin shouted, turning. The bird cawed and continued to circle above. "Gra jgan ekjge mw!" The hobgoblin pointed at the bird and wagged his finger at it. The second hobgoblin whistled at it for awhile until the bird reluctantly came down. It landed and the hobgoblin glared it it's companion. "Greaj neal g em gjoe. Gra. Gjan! Oea!"

p "Gaj gaj!" The goblin grumbled. The duo continued on and eventually met up with the other hobgoblin. They all started off together as the duo seemed to tease the second hobgoblin about its bird.

'That was close.' Lee Seng sighed. He slowly made his way out of the protection of the cars and looked around before beginning his walk down the narrow rusted car bridge. 'I didn't even know my shapeshift could make me this small… When did it even do that?'

[Answer: Shapeshift level 3 allows for your parameters to grow smaller than your actual size.]

'So leveling does have its perks.' Lee Seng nodded as he made it about halfway across the bridge. Lee Seng the rat scurried to the otherwise with ease, not noticing the goblin that was resting below him as he passed. Lee Seng made his way through the car wall and popped out on the other end. When he made it into the nearest building, Lee Seng shapeshifted back into his human for.

He let out a groan as he stretched.

"Gra gne em?" Something grumbled off to the side.