The best way to catch any bird is to bring it down. That's obvious, the problems with doing that are: I can't track this caracara with my eyes or ears, and I don't know how resistant it is.
A direct blow to the neck with the shadow blade could finish it off, or it might just make a light cut on the skin. I don't think that would be the case, considering how much my shadow magic has increased, but if you get too arrogant about your level or skill, you die.
'Well, one thing I have to do now is get back on my feet, the blood rushing to my head isn't helping.'
With that, I released the claws I was using to hold the branch and my legs, fell, twisted my body like a cat, and ended up crouching. When I looked at the branch where the caracara had been, unsurprisingly it was no longer there.
'Okay, how does a caracara usually attack?'
Primarily by swooping down or lunging at prey already on the ground, they grab and pin their prey to the ground and attack with their curved beak. They don't have very large claws, but the shape of their feet helps them to do little runs, unlike other birds of prey.
In the case of the few attacks on humans that I remember... it used its claws to attack the head and another place on the upper body, but I can't remember where... Maybe the throat? During the swoops, perhaps?
Basically not very different from most birds of prey. If I were to point out a difference, it would perhaps be the fact that, sometimes, during attacks they make the "kra-kkkrá" sound to intimidate their prey.
Five seconds after I crouched on the ground and deactivated the shadow cloak to avoid wasting mana (after all, it had already seen me), I managed to see a faint shadow near me that disappeared the next instant.
'!!!!Left'
I threw myself to the right in time to feel a wind passing over my ear and a slight twinge of pain in my left arm. There I saw a slight gash in my clothes at shoulder height and a hole as if a hook had caught in my bicep.
'If my head had stayed there, it would have been my head that ended up with a hole, wouldn't it? 😑'
Even thick clothes were useless; I could feel that the blow wasn't deeper only because he had to adjust his beak to fly again.
'But that's strange... No, actually it's not that strange.'
Caracaras are natural opportunists, perhaps that's why they also feed on carrion; someone would have already done the hardest part for them. Even when hunting live prey, they often go after smaller birds or newborn chicks.
Although even before the world had mana, they could kill calves when their mothers weren't paying attention, so... they aren't weak, but strong... wouldn't be the right word either.
'He probably just isn't sure if I would be easy prey. But if I remain passive, he'll decide easily.'
It seems that mana also made the animals a little more... daring than they usually would be.
'If it's to keep him from thinking I'm easy prey, then I have a few ways, but...'
My biggest concern is whether he's alone or part of a flock. I highly doubt that birds in general have any kind of enhanced defense, unless they've been mutated to a fundamental level like Impeto and chickens. But seriously, what are the chances of that happening?
'...But caution isn't excessive. So far, all I know is that he's fast and his claws are a little bigger than they should be.'
I looked at the marks he left on the trunk and in my clothes, almost the same as the damage Impeto's claws caused, a little less actually.
A pulse shot across the ground towards me, and I rolled forward in time to only get a slight cut on my back that didn't even tear my clothes. I jumped to the side of the tree trunk to dodge the next blow from the Caracara, which tried to grab me with its claws.
With it only 4 meters in front of me, I could be sure that it was indeed the exact size of a harpy, even more so now with its wings spread in an intimidating position.
'Strange, Caracaras don't do this kind of thing, is this something particular for him or is it influenced by its mana?'
Either way, it was wide open in front of me, of course I wasn't going to waste this opportunity.
"[Shadow Ball]"
The sphere formed quickly and I threw it directly at the Caracara's chest, prioritizing its formation and speed over its force, just like with Impetus. But almost at the same time I threw it, he dodged, a distance of less than 4 meters with a sphere launched almost 10 km away. That would have given him less than 2 seconds to react, and he still managed to.
Another mana pulse, but I didn't even need this one; my instincts also screamed danger. Almost at the same time the Caracara dodged, taking flight upwards, it came down with its claws open to my right. With my back to the tree trunk, I put strength into my legs and jumped upwards as well.
[-4 HP]
I managed to dodge the full blow, but the claws still opened a gash on my cheek, a little in the neck, and another tear in the coat I was wearing. Concentrating as much as possible on the bird, I managed to see its movements more clearly, but I could perceive that the world around us seemed to slow down slightly.
[Ability: Thought Acceleration lv.0, acquired]
'Seriously? That easily, a potentially cheat skill?'
...Well, if you think about it, my enhanced senses already made accelerated thinking almost natural. Like, I'd have to think faster to keep up with what my senses were telling me, right?. In that sense, it took a while for that to appear.
Besides, it's only the thought that accelerates; my body remains the same. Just because I clearly see the ball coming towards me doesn't mean I'll be able to make my body raise its hand to catch it (and I know this; it's happened before, more than once actually).
Anyway, I could see it retracting its claws and making a quick dive to the ground and taking flight again. While I was still at the mercy of inertia from jumping, and it was already turning for another attack.
'The best time to attack is when it opens its wings to extend its claws, but that's a fraction of a second; my body can't keep up, just my mind. It's good that mana responds to thoughts.'
At the same time I was thinking this, the caracara was almost in my face with its claws spread. Its plan was probably to use its body weight to hit my head and use the inertia to propel itself to the ground where it could peck and finish me off.
Well, I'm glad to have ruined your plans, little chicken that knows how to fly.
'[Shadow Needle]'
In less than a second, three black needles formed and shot from my hand towards the caracara. If someone saw how my life has been so far, I think they would imagine that the main spell I use is [Shadow Ball] or [Shadow Slice], and they wouldn't be wrong.
These two spells are the most versatile because they are the easiest to alter the speed (both formation and casting) in addition to the lethality. But even so, they are not the best; there are cooler and faster spells I can cast, but altering them is much more psychologically draining and ungrateful in terms of mana, and it's also heavy.
One of them that is heavy but not as lethal is the needles, almost double the cost of a sphere but less than 2/5 the lethality, and I can't alter them very well. On the other hand, they are one of the only spells I can cast just by thinking and still have the same base damage, unlike the others that have reduced strength.
Since the first attack of the caracara, I already expected to use it. After all, it's the fastest of my spells with a 1-second activation time, even less if I reduce the needles. After that, it's just a matter of leaving things to physics; what happens when two objects collide at high speed?
"Krraaaa Kráááá!!!!"
I imagine the giant caracara on the ground with a broken wing already serves as an answer.