I managed to escape my prison cell as well as acquire a new henchman in the form of the crafty vulture Beastman, who seemed more than fascinated with working for me. Now the next plan of action was to take back our belongings and luckily for me my new henchman had seen where they had stored them.

  I was surprised that he already swiped the keys while I wasn’t looking and unlocked the door out of the prison, I looked back at the other prisoners with curiosity. With thoughts of letting them out but remembered that it wouldn’t be the best time for that. I doubt they would trust a monster to help them and even if they would there was still the matter of those slave collars. For now, it’s best to focus on our own escape and return at a better time.

  Zephyrus took a peek through the crack of the door, making sure there was no one around before carefully opening the door. Once he verified everything was all clear, he motioned me to follow behind which I was happy to oblige.

  “Alright our gear should be in that room.” Zephyrus whispered while pointing towards the nearest door. He jiggled the knob but found that the door was locked. The vulture looked a bit troubled when he instinctively tried to grab something but remembered that he was currently wearing prison clothes.

  He seemed to be deep in thought over what to do, before an idea started to form in his head. “Now how am I going to… oh that’s right, hey bossman think you can whip up some kind of tool for lock picking with that skill of yours?”

  Ah, so he managed to get an idea on how [Material Forge] worked. It sounded doable so I answered. “Should be possible, I’ll just need you to describe to me how it should be made.”

  I then pulled out a handful of [Iron] from my [Dimensional Box] as I began to reshape it while following Zephyrus’ instructions. Thankfully it didn’t take too long for me to forge a [Lockpick], it looked a bit crude, but it should get the job done.

  The vulture then showed off his skill, making quick work on the lock before motioning me to quietly enter inside. As we entered, we found that the room was filled with various boxes settled in a bunch of shelves half-heartedly. We would need to check each box as quickly as possible to find what we would need. If only V was here with their [Search] skill that would save us some time, but we’d have to settle for checking each one individually.

  After some bit of time scavenging through several boxes, we managed to find what we were looking for. We both set about equipping our gear, though we gave each other some privacy. It seemed like everything was in order, so I was back to wearing my usual attire and had my sword at my side. Zephyrus then emerged while giving himself a double check to make sure everything was set.

  His outfit was fascinating, his outfit screamed to me the appearance of a gentlemen thief or something like that. He was wearing what looked to be a white dress shirt with those frilly cravats near the neck and black pants that didn’t show any wrinkles on them like they were steamed cleaned and neatly folded all while sporting a belt with several pouches attached that looked to store various small tools that hung on both sides of his hips all the while wearing a pointed top hat that covered half his eyes with a small feather attached to the side. His wings helped complete the set by giving off the impression of a cape flowing behind his back.

  Once he was satisfied with everything, he tipped his hat while looking at me, a small smile formed across his face. He even tapped his foot as if he wanted to show off his fancy threads.

  I decided to indulge him a little and whistled in satisfaction, after all it does look good on him. Who knew a fancy outfit would fit a vulture, I always imagine they would go more for a death and grim design but he does make it work. Still, I had to wonder what the practical aspect of his outfit would be. After all, he didn’t seem to be carrying any weapons on him.

  “Do you not have a weapon? Should we go grab that guard’s instead?” I asked at the very least, even if he doesn’t have the skills for it, it would be better if he had some kind of protection.

  There was a glint of amusement in his eyes underneath his hat as he gave a low chuckle. “Don’t you worry bossman, I always have a weapon on me.”

  He suddenly and swiftly plucked one of his feathers under his arm, not showing any sign of discomfort. It was then I noticed that the area he plucked from was immediately replaced with a new feather. He held the single feather on his talons, and I noticed that unlike the ones on his wings it was stiff and unmoving.

  Zephyrus admired the black feather which I noticed was a bit long. The way he held it, it was like he was holding a knife. I was curious about it when suddenly he threw it towards my head! My body reacted as I immediately drew my sword in defense, despite it just being a feather it sliced through the air like a blade. It was moving so fast I almost didn’t have time to defend myself before the tip of the feather neared my forehead.

  If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  It was then the feather suddenly changed direction, completely missing me as it curved in an unusual way and stabbed the box behind me. The way it moved it was like it was being pulled by an invisible string.

  I was stunned over what happened that it took me a moment before I came back to reality. I realized that Zephyrus had just attacked me!

  “Hey what’s the big deal?!” I loudly yelled before toning my volume when I realized that we were still within enemy territory.

  The vulture was not fazed by my reaction, in fact he seemed more amused instead. “Sorry about that bossman, just thought I’d have some fun and show you what I could do. ~”

  He then pulled out another feather which immediately got me on high alert before I noticed him casually playing with it with his talons. “So, what do you think, impressive right? It’s called [Feather Blades], it allows my feathers to be as sharp as knives and as a bonus I never have to worry about running out since they regrow immediately. ~”

  My kobold instinct wasn’t kicking in and he was still listed under my henchman list, so I figured it was alright to let myself relax a little. “Yeah, it is an interesting ability you have there. How come you didn’t use it when you were locked up?”

  He shook his head as he answered. “Unfortunately, those cuffs prevented me from concentrating on my feathers’ sharpness.”

  Hmm so even if those [Ant-Magic Handcuffs] couldn’t prevent [Abilities] they still cut off access to any mana usage. It was lucky for me then that my own didn’t utilize any mana.

  Considering his little show earlier, I thought it would be best for me to check out his overall stats and prevent any more surprises.

  Hmm overall, I was getting used to getting henchmen who had better overall [Attribute] than me, though I seem to have him beat in [Spirit] at least. His defining Stat would have to be his [Dexterity] with it being at B would help explain how he moved so swiftly and effortlessly. It actually has me suspect that he was holding back when he threw his feather at me.

  Looking over his [Abilities] they were pretty self-explanatory. What had me intrigued was his singular [Skill]. I quickly pulled it up in another window as I read the description in more detail.

  So that explains how he moved that feather in an erratic way. The ability to change how an item moves would allow Zephyrus to pull off some rather interesting tricks. Though with his low [Spirit] I doubt he would be able to handle big items. Still, I just had to wonder how I could best utilize it for myself.

  As I went through this thought process, I couldn’t help but pull off a toothy grin as I quietly started to laugh over my excitement.

  “Veehahahahaha~”

  Zephyrus watched me with interest, probably curious about what I was thinking and doing as he probably saw me only standing there looking at nothing then suddenly giving off a low laugh.

  This seemed to be amusing to him as he chuckled to himself. After he had his fun, he tapped on my shoulder to get my attention.

  “Now that we got our stuff, I think it’s time we move before they notice we’re gone.”

  He was right, we already wasted enough time here already. With that I took a peek through the crack in the door to make sure the coast was clear. Once I confirmed it to be safe, we moved out of the room and back to the empty hallway.

  It was time we made our great escape. Veehahahahaha~