He doubted the monster would be kind enough to be willing to help them.
"No." Lian pointed to the back of the bird’s neck and the base of its massive wings.
"We stick to there." Then very quietly, he explained the plan step by step.
Sera would make strong harnesses and ropes with Thread Sap.
Nemi would use Quiet Pulse to minimize the sound of their movement when approaching.
Ravian would move on the bird’s feathers with Root Grip and secure the main rope among the thick feathers behind the neck.
Then, Lian would attach everyone to the bird’s body one by one, and he himself would hide near the neck with Abyss Veil.
When the bird left the nest, they would fly with it, and when the height was right, they would cut the ropes and jump onto the lower branches.
"Why behind the neck?" Ravian thought for a few moments.
Lian answered without pausing.
"It can’t see that part with its beak." Then he continued.
"The wind current there is much less than at the tips of the wings. The feathers are thicker, easier to grip, and because it’s close to the center of the body, the flight movements are less."
The three nodded in confirmation, the plan was dangerous, but for the first time, it also seemed logical.
But one very big problem still remained.
"What if it notices us in the middle of the flight?" Ravian asked after a few moments of silence, he doubted they could hide from this monster by any method.
"Then we die." Lian answered with his usual calmness.
No one said anything, and after a few seconds, he continued.
"But if we stay here, we also die. The difference is that this plan... at least gives us a real chance." His gaze fixed on the Giant Sky Bird.
"But we have to make sure it doesn’t have the chance to pay attention to us at all."
The three looked at him in surprise, and Lian said quietly.
"When it wakes up, it has to be so shocked, worried, and in a hurry that the existence of four small creatures doesn’t matter to it."
"...What do you mean?" Sera’s eyes slowly widened, a bad feeling came over all three, as if this Otherworldly was about to do something insane.
Lian fixed his gaze on the massive eggs.
"If one of the eggs falls from the edge of the nest... or even a few of them..."
Nemi held her breath in terror.
"No mother will first look for four tiny creatures, the first thing she’ll do is save her chicks."
"You mean... we throw the eggs down ourselves?" Sera said quietly.
"Correct." Lian did not take his gaze off the eggs.
"When they fall, all its attention will be focused on them. We’ll already be hidden behind its body from before."
"This way it might really not notice us..." Ravian said slowly, and from his view, the plan seemed more possible.
"No, even if it does notice, it won’t have time to care about us." Lian smiled.
Sera immediately started collecting plant fibers, sticky moss, dry strands from the nest, and a small amount of the bird’s saliva.
Thread Sap skill was activated one after another, the plant strands turned into strong ropes.
She made a harness for each person that would be tied around the chest, waist, and thighs so that the flight pressure wouldn’t be concentrated on one point.
Lian also brought out the bones he had collected and carefully made a few small hooks, Ravian sharpened them on the branch.
Everything was slowly being prepared, and right at that same moment, the Giant Sky Bird moved.
All four froze, but the bird did not wake up.
It only opened one of its massive wings and laid it over the cracked eggs.
Now the entire path to the back of its neck was hidden under that same wing, at the same time, the scratching sound from inside the egg also became louder.
Lian looked at the path for a few seconds, if he waited... the chick might hatch before the mother woke up.
If he moved... he would have to pass under the wing of a creature whose every jump was tens of times his size.
"We’re not waiting." He made his decision very quickly, the three looked at him.
"We’ll pass under its wing."
No one objected, everyone knew there was no more time for hesitation.
Lian tied the made harness around his body and then turned to the three.
"From this moment on... no one moves without my order."
Nemi looked with fear at the darkness under the massive wing.
"You go first?" Ravian asked quietly.
Lian activated Abyss Veil, his body slowly disappearing among the nest’s shadows, and only his voice remained.
"I’ll clear the path."
He gave one last look at Ravian, Sera, and Nemi. They were amazed and shocked to see how he disappeared as if he didn’t exist at all.
But along with that, there was also awe. If their tribe had such a skill, they could easily become the strongest tribe among all the forest tribes.
And this made them even more curious about the Otherworldly ones. They not only had different faces and shapes compared to them, but they also had such amazing skills.
Did all of them have such skills? Or was it only for this stranger who had saved them?
"If we had that skill, hunting would no longer be so dangerous." Sera sighed.
Then, without saying even a single word, he stepped into the darkness under the Giant Sky Bird’s wing.
At that same moment, the world changed. If the nest was a world of gray light and wind, under the bird’s wing was like entering a living, breathing cave.
The black feathers, like massive pillars of steel, surrounded him.
Each one of them was taller than a human’s stature, and so thick that if someone looked from a distance, they would imagine they were walking among dark forest trunks.
The air here was warmer, not the warmth of the sun, but the warmth of a creature whose every breath could move hundreds of humans.
The smell of fresh blood, wet feathers, half-digested meat, and dense mana filled the space under the wing; a heavy smell that made breathing difficult.
Lian took a step quietly.
Every time the Giant Sky Bird breathed, its massive skin expanded, and thousands of feathers around him moved like a forest in the wind.
The monster’s heartbeat from that distance was like the beats of a war drum.
Boom...
Boom...
Boom...
Every beat slightly shook the nest’s floor, Lian did not even dare to change his breathing speed.
This was the first time he was experiencing such a path, and he truly never thought that moving under a bird’s wing would be such a terrifying experience.
A few meters ahead, suddenly the bird’s wing lowered slightly. Everything happened in a fraction of a second. The massive feathers came down on him from above.
His body was caught between the nest’s surface and the unbelievable weight of the wing. The air in his lungs was forced out, his shoulder bones groaned.
Lian clenched his teeth. Was he going to be crushed under these damn wings?