OmniClass Awakener: Rebirth to Power

Chapter 30: When Vultures Circle

Rrraaah! Rrraaah! Rrraaah!

The harsh cries of carrion birds pierced the morning stillness, echoing like a cruel chorus across the whispering hills.

Above the world, six monstrous black vultures circled in slow, spiraling arcs over Whispering Hollow. Their massive wings beat against the rising sun, which painted the clouds in crimson and gold. These creatures weren’t the average scavengers of nature—no, these were Shadow Wing Vultures, grotesque creatures mutated by corrupted essence, drawn to the scent of blood and death like moths to flame.

Each had oversized wings torn with holes, eyes yellow and glassy, with beaks like rusted scythes. Feathers were missing in patches, revealing grey, diseased skin beneath. And worst of all—their stench. Even in the sky, it spread like rot on the wind.

Below them stretched what was once a peaceful alley of tall trees and lush grass, but now… now it was a battlefield-turned-wasteland. Cracked earth groaned underfoot. Deep gashes tore through the ground. Blood painted the soil in wide streaks, like a violent artist’s work. Scattered across the clearing were the mangled corpses of black wolves—gutted, torn, some missing entire limbs. Viscera steamed faintly in the morning air.

It was the aftermath of a slaughter.

And at the center of it all, among the remnants of rage and survival, lay a young man.

Still.

Unmoving.

His black jacket and pants were once elegant, but now hung in tatters. They were soaked in blood and grime, shredded like paper. His body was caked in dirt and dried wounds, but even so—he did not look weak.

Beside him, mere inches from his outstretched hand, was a sword. An old blade—simple, unadorned… yet it gleamed in the light, untouched by filth or gore. As though the very blood refused to stain it. As though it had transcended the battle it had just fought.

Rrraaah! Rrraaah! Rrraaah!

The vultures cried again, circling lower now, drawn by the thick stench of death.

A sudden gust howled through the trees, shaking the branches, scattering leaves like dying whispers. The world held its breath.

Then—

One of the vultures broke from the formation.

It was larger than the rest. Hideously malformed. Its left eye glowed blood-red, filled with madness and hunger. But the right?

Nothing.

Just a hollow pit of darkness—no eyeball, no pupil. A socket filled with shadow.

The beast let out a loud hiss.

"Sshhrraaaakkk!"

Its cracked beak parting as it dove, wings slicing the air like serrated blades. The other vultures screeched and followed, their hungry eyes locked onto the feast of wolf flesh below.

The larger vulture descended further, wings outstretched like black sails as it landed atop the corpse of the largest wolf. Its talons dug into it matted fur and torn flesh with a wet squelch. This was no ordinary beast—it had chosen to feast on Scar Fang, the former Alpha of the black wolf pack, a massive creature whose dark grey fur still bristled despite death, and whose long scar across the snout marked it as a predator of fearsome legacy.

The one-eyed vulture stood tall on the alpha's corpse—then it blood-red gaze fixed on something beyond the meat. Slowly, it turned its head… and looked directly at the young man lying motionless on the ground.

Lei Feng.

Its razor-sharp claws flexed in anticipation. The blind socket seemed to twitch unnaturally, as if trying to see what it could not. Then—with a terrible screech—it lunged, wings surging downward with violent force, claws extended to rip through what it assumed was a corpse.

WHOOSH!

In that instant—

Lei Feng's eyes snapped open.

Twin orbs of glimmering ocean blue, flickering with restrained power, lit up beneath the canopy. His pupils contracted as instinct flooded his body.

Without hesitation, his hand closed around the hilt of his sword.

SHING!

Steel whispered through the air in a deadly arc. A gleam of silver blurred across his vision.

The vulture had no time to react.

SLASH!

Lei Feng's blade cleaved through the beast mid-flight, cutting through feathers, flesh, and bone with one clean strike. Blood sprayed in two directions as the body split apart—one half crashing against a tree, the other flopping uselessly to the ground.

> Ding!

Successful Kill!

+35 EXP

Lei Feng sat up slowly, his chest rising and falling, his expression ice-cold. The battle was over… but the danger was not.

His gaze turned toward the other vultures, who had been tearing into wolf corpses just moments before. Now, their heads snapped up in unison, sensing the presence of the living… no, of the hunter.

Their instincts screamed.

Run.

But it was too late.

BOOM!

A thunderclap rang out as Lei Feng launched forward, feet blasting the cracked earth beneath him into rubble. Rocks and blood-soaked debris exploded in his wake.

He appeared mid-air, in the center of the circling flock. His body twisted with precision as his blade moved like lightning—fast, silent, inevitable.

SHLICK!

The first vulture's head separated from its body.

SWOOSH!

Another's wing was severed, its body spiraling to the ground before it could cry out.

CLANG! SLASH! SHING!

Each motion of Lei Feng’s sword drew a line of death. He moved like a phantom, cold and merciless, every strike ending a life.

One strike. One kill.

> Ding!

Successful Kill!

+30 EXP

> Ding!

Successful Kill!

+30 EXP

> Ding!

Successful Kill!

+30 EXP

> Ding!

Successful Kill!

+30 EXP

> Ding!

Successful Kill!

+30 EXP

Feathers rained like black snow, blood misted in the air, and the shrieks of the dying birds were soon replaced by silence.

Lei Feng stood in the silent clearing, surrounded by bloodied feathers and mutilated corpses. His breath slowed, the tension in his shoulders fading slightly.

He looked around at the carnage. At the wolves he had slain. At the monsters who dared interrupt his silence.

Then, something clicked in his mind.

“These creatures…” he muttered, narrowing his eyes at the scattered remains. “They were… Level 6 Magic Beasts.”

His brows furrowed.

> “Shadow Wing Vultures Beasts of corruption, born in death, living only to feast on carrion… Level 6... and I killed them all so easily?”

Each kill had granted him +30 EXP, a clear sign of their level. But since when had Level 6 Magic Beasts become so... insignificant?

A weak ago, just one of them would have been a life-threatening opponent. Now, they were nothing more than background noise in his growing legend.

He glanced down at his hands, flexing his fingers.

“Am I… evolving this fast?”

Then his expression brightened, and he clapped his hand against his forehead.

“Right—the quest!” he exclaimed. “I never even got to check my reward!”

The memory of it hit him—how he collapsed immediately after the battle, too exhausted to even think. He had fought through hell, faced Scar Fang and his entire pack, pushed himself beyond his limits… and then blacked out.

“Tch. I deserve something good for that damn nightmare.”

His gaze dropped to the sword still in his grip—the old, worn blade that had cut through beast after beast like it was slicing through air. He turned it slowly, letting the sunlight fall across its surface.

Not a single drop of blood.

No dirt, no gore, no sign of the carnage it had just delivered or the brutal battle of last night.

“Strange…” He muttered, eyes narrowing. “i remember it vividly. This blade was soaked—completely painted in blood.”

he ran a finger along the edge. It was cold. smooth. Untainted.

“even if it’s damaged… even if it’s sealed and in an inert state…”

A faint smile tugged at his lips.

“You’re still a relic of the desolate aura.”

Just then, the sword shivered lightly in his hand—humming softly, like a creature responding to its master’s praise. A subtle sound, low and ancient, like echoes from another era.

Lei feng’s expression didn’t change. He didn’t even flinch.

He either hadn’t noticed…

or he simply didn’t care.

“I’ll study you later.” He shrugged with casual confidence. “For now…”

“Inventory.”

With a muted flash, the sword vanished into his storage.

Then, rubbing his hands together and wearing the smile of a man about to open a long-awaited treasure chest, Lei Feng spoke with anticipation:

“Let’s see what I got from that brutal battle.”

With an commanding voice he called out;

"SYSTEM!"