Year of the Chicken

Job Description:

Dmitry was on his way to a farm out by clover town. The job that brought him out here involved finding a chicken that had gotten loose. It seemed odd that the farmer himself felt the need to post a job with a magic guild over this, but Dmirty couldn't complain. He wasn't exactly a fan of the city and was beginning to go stir crazy back in Hargeon. And while this wasn't much of a test of his abilities, having the gratitude of a farmer couldn't hurt.

‘Thinking with your stomach again, eh boy?’ Hati said from the back of Dmitry’s head.

‘Isn't that the natural way to do things, old man?’ Dmitry responded.

Thinking like that kept him alive more than once in his lifetime and Dmitry learned quite a bit in those days.


‘Don’t forget, there’s more to survival than just eating.’ Dmitry didn't need the spirit to remind him. That was a fact Dmitry new all too well.

When Dmitry got to the farm and knocked on the door, the owner of the farm looked like he had been saved from the very jaws of death. Dmitry had a hard time believing the situation was this dire; it was just a chicken, right? He was soon met with the reality of the situation. When the owner brought Dmitry to the chicken pen, he realized these were no ordinary chickens; this became obvious when he saw the five foot tall, super chickens that were still in the pen. Dmitry simply stood there, at a total loss for words. Then he remembered hearing about something like this. Apparently, some farmers were starting to use magical growth hormones in their chicken feed. Dmitry never actually believed it though, and he certainly didn't think such a procedure would result in...this. The farmer, on the other hand, simply stared at Dmitry in confusion, as if this were completely normal. Dmitry put a hand to his face.

Humans do some truly foolish things. 

When he took this job, Dmitry thought he would have to use Huginn and Muninn to track the fowl. But at this point, He could simply follow the giant chicken prints leading away from the recently repaired part of the pen. If anything, he would need speed in order to catch up to the mutant bird before it got to far away.

"I invoke the lunar horse: Alsvinder!" At the sound of those words, the smoke-like horse appeared, almost from thin air.

Dmitry pulled himself on to Alsvinder's back and the horse let out a cry before taking off in the direction of the foot prints. Dmitry could also sense the spirits in this area reacting to the chicken thrashing about. Eventually he came to a grove not to far from the farm and found the chicken foraging for food. The place reminded him of somewhere from his childhood, but he pushed the thought from his head. Now simply wasn't the time for that.

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Hp: 100%
Mp: 95%

Spells Used:

At the moment, the chicken didn't seem to notice Dmitry, allowing him to position himself behind it and slightly to the left. He became worried when the chicken started to get a little spooked. He couldn't capture the bird without using force, and any harm to the over sized poultry would result in Dmitry losing his reward. His only viable option right now was to herd it back to the pen using his spirits. He pointed his hand at the area behind and to the right of the mega-fowl.

"I invoke the great wolf: Hati!" The old wolf materialized in the spot indicated and began snarling at the chicken. Alsvinder, in turn, reared and let out another loud cry. Dmitry was somewhat worried about how the chicken would react. If it decided to attack, it could probably due some damage. He was also worried Hati might jump the gun and attack.

"Come now, boy." The wolf spirit said. "Have a little faith in your loyal companion." 




  

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Hp: 100%
Mp: 88%

Spells Used:

Thankfully the bird began to scurry off in the direction of the farm. Dmitry let out a sigh of relief and followed after with Hati in tow. Herding the bird through the grove was somewhat difficult, but in the end they got it out safely. 

After that, getting it back to the pen was child's play. The massive chicken was locked back in the pen and the owner seemed overjoyed at the fact. The man was so happy, he even went so far as to invite Dmitry in for supper...to which Dmitry respectfully declined. The mage then collected his money and began heading back to the guildhall where he would take a very long nap and hopefully forget all this nonsense.

'Ah, I can see it now,' the now dispelled Hati said. 'Dmitry Kazakov: Chicken Hunter Extraordinaire!'

'Just shut up, old man!' Dmitry snapped back.


It would be quite a long time before he ever ate chicken again...