Are these Super Sparrows going to be 'birdbrained' and act like...y'know a sparrow, or will they be more comparable to a dog or perhaps a young child? Berwynne mentioned 'taming' so I doubt they're on the same cerebral ability as people but I can't make that judgment based on a word alone.
Thankfully, it seems the time for ponderings is now over. Kugizume moves a bit of brush aside and I spot an open clearing containing perhaps four or five dozen brown spotted birds each taller than I am. A few are dozing off to the side in the shade. A pair in the center are sizing up against each other in what I'm sure is some 'I'm the better male' mating rights thing, but the majority however are busy diligently ripping into the ground with their talons, upending the dirt as fast as their feet will let them.
One jams its head into the hole it's made and returns a moment later with what has got to be the largest worm I have ever seen.
'Was I talking about giant bugs earlier? I take it back. That is a giant bug.'
"Kee! Kee! Kee!" the flock all chirps wildly at the find and soon the nearest six or seven birds all descend, ripping the feast to pieces and swallowing the chunks down with that odd head-bobbing motion birds are known to do.
"Kee! Kee! Kee! Kee!" My attention turns to the left where a second sparrow has just pulled up another prize of similar size and the same morbid ritual happens again.
'Alright. Enough dilly-dallying. What are we dealing with here.' I focus in on one sparrow in the center of the crowd and narrow my eyes. '[Observe].'
Super Sparrow. Lv. 4
The South Blue Super Sparrow, as its name implies, is a large migratory species of avian that can only be naturally found in specific territories of the South Blue. These birds have been known to grow over 2 meters in height, are capable of traveling several hundred miles within a single day, and have a diverse diet consisting of seeds, nuts, fruits, rodents, snakes, worms, Super Worms, Super Anglerfish, and Super Sharks.
This Super Sparrow is a male and is more hotheaded than most of the others in its flock.
Health: 300/300
STR: 16
VIT: 30 DEX: 28 ( x100 when in flight) INT: 13 WIS: 4 LUK: 0.5 Don't you just both love it and hate it when you see something new and your brain gets pulled in multiple directions all at once? One part of me wants to whistle and cheer at that flight multiplier. 2800 DEX in the air? Forget ships! On the back of one of these is the real way to travel.
A second piece of my mind is comparing that INT of 13 to other animals I've used [Observe] on in the past and is trying to extrapolate an answer to my previous wonderings about cognizance. At the very least I can say we're dealing with one of those 'somewhere in the middle' breeds. But perhaps the loudest and most immediately concerning voice is this. 'What in gods name is a 'Super Shark' and why can it be eaten by a sparrow?'
Actually, hold on. That's not even the weird one. 'Super Anglerfish'? Doesn't every species of angler live in the deep deep ocean? How the hell would these two even interact!
My hands rise up to start rolling circles over my temples. "Just let it go Jack. You know this by now. Don't question wildlife in the One Piece world. Just roll with it."
Okay. Back to business. The [Game] says this particular bird is 'hotheaded' which means its probably not the best pick of the flock for our purposes. Who else we got?
I move my eyes one bird to the right and [Observe] that one for a comparison. I scan over the details and let out a low hum. 'Hmmm. About the same. An extra point in STR and WIS but it's down one in DEX, which actually really matters considering the multiplier.
[Game] identifies this one as 'Quirky'... Not super sure what to make of that. Quirky can mean a whole basket of positive or negative things.'
The third one I check is 'Lazy' and only has a 23 in DEX with a multiplier of 95 instead of 100. 'Ugh. Hard pass.'
One by one I began combing through the 50-some-odd birds, checking each one's description for stats, irregularities, and most importantly, personality. Going after the fastest or the smartest does me no good if the animal's going to immediately turn on me the moment I do something it takes offense with.
Number eight. Brave. 'We'll put that one under maybe.' Number nine. Timid. 'No thanks.' 10? Aggressive. 'How much is that different from hotheaded?' 11 is Jolly. 'Probably gonna come back to you.' Rash. 'Nuh-uh.'Another Timid. 'Nope.' Moody. 'Ehhh...probably not.' Shy. Vapid. Vain. 'Maybe I should just settle for the Jolly.' Clumsy. Crafty. Conceited. Docile. Stubborn. A third Timid.
I blink dumbly for a moment as my brain catches up to my eyes and my neck turns back for a double-take.
Docile.
I can work with docile.
'And he's got a DEX of 30 to boot. INT is only 9 but ehh, nobody's perfect.'
We'll just take a quick minute to sneak around to the other side of the clearing so we're closer...'I wonder if sneaking is even necessary. I doubt these things have any natural predators to make them skittish. Their size and diet implies that, outside of a Sea King trying to snap them out of the sky, they're basically at the top of their food chain.' ….and done. Now just to fish out one of the marlin filets I was saving...
I stick the top half of my torso out of the brush obscuring it. "Psst. Bird. Hey bird."
The sparrow stops digging for a moment and turns it's focus my way. "Kee?" It chirps in a mildly perplexed yet cautious manner.
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