The Wyvern had managed to defend itself with its' wing at the last second.
Its' broken wing twitched involuntarily and these small movements caused it to roar in a voice that mixed pain and fury.
At first it considered Paul to be small and insignificant and that didn't change even when it smelled something delicious from him. But now it directed a gaze filled with malicious intent at him, one that promised violence and death.
It grabbed the stuck Iglemite and forcefully ripped it out, blood splashed on the ground, as it chucked the poor creature with a fluid whip-like motion from its' neck.
The spiky beast flew at Paul like a cannonball, letting out a pitiful sound as it whistled through the air.
Still gliding in midair, Paul barely had a chance to react to the fast approaching threat.
He didn't have time to fly up or sideways so instead, in a move that was more instinctive reaction than conscious thought, he folded his wings and angled his body downwards.
Gravity kicked in immediately and pulled him along, the aerodynamic figure of his bird form sped towards the ground with rapidly increasing velocity.
The Iglemite just barely grazed his tail feathers, which send a shiver through his spine.
At the height of around one meter he spread his wings again and flapped them a couple times to break his fall, before landing a little more roughly then intended.
Pauls' heart was beating so loudly and at such high speed in his chest, that it made him fear it might explode. However he had no choice but to ignore it, since his head was even more chaotic with thought racing at maximum capacity.
His eyes fixated at the massive lizard like monster in front of him.
(Shit! Shit! Shit! What now?)
His best move failed to bring down the monster and after using so many skills in succession his energy reserves were more than half-empty. In other words he no longer had enough Fey to use the summoning skill again.
Paul had hoped to bring it down with this attack precisely because he knew his other skills wouldn't be effective against the Wyvern.
After all would this fire breathing monster even feel a fireball from someone of his level? And even if he transformed into a different form with his [Polymorph] skill, wouldn't he still be small enough to get squished?
In the end he committed to using almost half of his available Fey to the summoning skill, since that was his only chance at victory.
And it failed.
He had now run out of options.
Escape was no longer possible as the Wyverns' full attention was focused on him. Even if he tried to run, he doubted that he could do so successfully at this point as it had already caught the scent of his immortality skill.
While Paul stood on the ground, his head filled with a chaotic maelstrom of thoughts, the Wyvern didn't wait and lunged at him once more.
Its' mouth opened wide enough to swallow him whole and by the time Paul reacted, a sideways turned jaws clamped shut around him from both sides.
Now trapped inside the mouth, he couldn't help but think about the hopeless situation he found himself in.
'I should have run awa – no, I can't think like that. I've made my decision already. Don't cant give up me'
Trapped in the foul smelling mouth, he suddenly felt something pull at his tail feathers.
The Wyverns teeth tried to chew on him but Paul was to small. He felt the tongue move beneath him, as it tried to line him up in its' jaw.
A massive row of teeth loomed over Paul like a guillotine and in the spurt of the moment he used his [Polymorph] skill to turn into his Heatglider form.
[Your skill 'Polymorph' has leveled up]
With one swift movement he used his tail stinger to stab the roof of the Wyverns' mouth.
SKREEEE!
Immediately in response the Wyvern puked him out and reeled back in pain.
Paul took a deep breath of fresh air and coughed uncontrollably before he attempted to move back to gain some distance but instead he felt a heavy weight slam into him.
With a quick spin on its' feet, the Wyvern struck Paul with its' tail. The beast had decided to ignore the pain and attack before Paul could escape.
The strike was delivered with such force, that Paul mistakenly thought he had been hit by a car. Some of his feathers fell of and scattered through the air, as his body crashed helplessly on the ground.
A warm red liquid escaped his mouth and pain spread throughout his body, a feeling he was starting to become accustomed to, much to his displeasure.
He wanted to scream that his new life wasn't done yet, that his adventure wasn't over, but his fading consciousness didn't allow it.
[The skill 'Budding Immortality' has activated]
[You have gained the skill 'Perseverance']
Once those words popped up in his head, the pain slowly disappeared more and more, as his body began to regenerate. Paul took a deep breath, as if he had been drowning before.
(Shit, that was way too close)
He laid on there almost lifelessly, for every movement made a strange creaking sound, followed by a new wave of pain.
In comparison the Wyvern was still full of energy, radiating anger and murderous intent like heat despite its' injuries.
This sight drove home a cruel reality for Paul.
He was no expert in biology in his past life but even he knew some rudimentary facts.
Every ecosystem is maintained through a delicate balance between the species living there. They were divided in two, the hunters and the hunted. If one side however grew to strong, they could hunt the other side to extinction, which made him question a certain fact he had already witnessed.
(How the hell do the Iglemites survive here with all these monster running around?)
The small creatures were native to the region, which meant they also had to deal with all the dangers present in the area.
Paul had already seen their defense strategy that consisted of group formations using their shells. But it still didn't make sense to him how these small passive creatures had survived so far against creatures, whose fireballs were powerful enough to blow away those defenses.
Coug! cough! Blherg! SKREEE!
The Wyvern puked a mouthful of spit mixed with blood and let out a bone rattling scream.
Paul watched, as the massive menace started to recover from his desperate last ditch effort.
Unexpectedly his mind had calmed down after his newest near death experience. Whether he had shed his fears or resignation had set in, even he couldn't tell.
However the difference between the Wyvern and him were impossible to ignore.
He looked down his small scrawny bird body and sighed.
(I wanted to be strong as well, even if it was just once but the second I tried, this shit happens)
His reincarnation into this new world had seemed like a miracle at first but with each passing day it became more and more apparent how little actually had changed in his life.
Whether it was his old boss, that annoyance Charlotte or even his mother, he had always been at someones' mercy, only being able to accept what others dictated, never the one who caused the change himself.
(Looking back, it's always been like this, huh)
For that reason he had made his decision to enjoy his life, to live free of the burdens of his last life.
Paul intended to fulfill the goddesses request, to express his gratitude for a second chance but otherwise he was going to decide his own fate this time around.
He eyed the Wyvern once more and felt something fall into place in his head. Determination burned once more in him.
Paul grit his teeth and pushed through the pain to activate his skills in a way he had never attempted before.
[Lesser summon]+[Polymorph]
A magic circle appeared on the ground and from it emerged a small mosquito sized creature, which quickly gained mass and transformed into a spitting image of Pauls' Phoenix form.
Immediately after he used his skill on himself to transform into his human form. His red feathers receded, as his wings turned into arms. Golden hair sprouted on his head and his eyes turned crimson. The pigeon sized Phoenix that laid there was now replaced by a small child.
"Hrrg"
He tried to get up but his body refused to listen, instead he spit up blood again.
Instead he took one of the feathers that scattered before and with a trembling hand smeared it in his blood. He then took the prepared feather and stuck it in between the summoned creatures' plumage, making sure it wouldn't fall easily.
"Go … you just … need to … run around … for as long as … possible"
Paul barely forced the words out of his throat with a shaky voice and the summoned creature took off as commanded.
The Wyvern noticed a new figure it didn't recognize had appeared but promptly ignored it once the Phoenix started running. Its' focus was solely on the bird that dared to hurt it.
(Good, it worked)
Paul let out a small satisfied smile, his plan worked as intended.
(Goddess Celeste or whatever god is watching, please let this next part work as well)
He activated the same skill combination once more and summoned another creature, this time however it took on the form of an Emberant.
Paul nearly puked out his innards as the repeated skill usage caused his remaining Fey to plummet, nearly stopping his regeneration.
His regeneration was repairing his body at superhuman speed but even that would require some time to heal his broken body.
It laid down beside Paul, who pulled himself on top the Emberants' back with much effort.
"Now go, I'll tell you when to stop"
Once mounted, he gave simple instructions and rested.
While the Emberant worked as Pauls' emergency transportation, the other summon was struggling to distract the Wyvern.
After suffering a broken wing and a mouth injury, it stopped flying or spitting fireballs, making it a little easier for the fake Phoenix to dodge.
However the absolute size difference was not something the little summon could ever overcome, thus all it could do was run for as long as possible like Paul commanded.
With its' much greater strides, the Wyvern quickly caught up whenever the little bird gained some distance.
The missing tail feathers served as prove of the Wyverns' ferocious pursuit.
Paul watched this from atop his new ride, feeling a deep sense of vindication for having chosen what he believed to be the right class and making the best use of all his skills at the moment.
Meanwhile the Emberant continued marching forward until it heard Pauls' voice.
"There! Go there"
He exclaimed, pointing at a crevice in the ground.
The crevice wasn't particularly large even from their small perspective and they might not have seen it, if not for the soft wisps of steam rising from it.
Paul rolled of the Emberant and landed on the ground with a painful 'thud' that knocked the air out of his lungs.
A few seconds of squirming later, he gave it an order.
"Go now and dig exactly as I tell you, hurry!"
His raspy voice carried a hint of desperation, as in the distance a bloody Phoenix was sprawled out on the ground with half of its' body missing.
The Wyvern cautiously and patiently inspected its' kill before munching on the rest of it.
(I've spent long enough inside the mountain, so I'm confident I'll find it here. Let's hope my gamble pays off, either way this will be the end)
Less than a minute passed by the time the Wyvern finished its' meal and turned towards Paul once more.
Paul glared back at it and undid his transformation
His body reverted back to his Phoenix form, the vibrant crimson feathers in full display.
The Wyvern visibly tensed up, blood still dripping from its' maw, before letting out a guttural roar and taking off in a full sprint towards Paul.
(That's right, you ugly lizard. I'm the one you hate, so come at me!)
The massive monsters steps resounded through the ground and Paul felt that with his entire body, as he laid there awaiting the arrival of the deadly monster.
The distance between the two was initially around a hundred meters, something the Wyvern could cross in less than ten seconds but these seconds felt like an eternity to Paul right now.
One step after the other, it got closer to him until it reached the crevice.
As soon as the Wyverns' weight pressed down on it, the ground caved in.
The beast flailed wildly in an attempt to escape the shallow pit, when the ground started to rumble and shake.
A second later it cracked and erupted upwards.
BOOOOOM!!!