The nameless man quickly gripped his spear. Raising it up with one hand supporting the back and one towards the middle, he was ready to strike. The man also bent down into a half-squat, ready to lunge or dodge at any second.
The creature ran towards him with its mouth wide open. [The head is a no go, there's no way this spear can get through that.] Quickly the man decided to try and limit the thing's movement. The obsidian couldn't pierce well, but it could rend flesh easily.
All of a sudden the monster stopped about 10 meters away, as if testing the man. The man merely stood his ground and stared the monster down. He wouldn't be dumb enough to try and flee from this thing.
Understanding that its prey wouldn't make it easy for it, the monster let out a few clicks before lunging towards the man. [I can't risk this, I need to figure out its attack pattern before I fully commit to an attack] The man deftly rolled to the side dodging the monster before giving a quick thrust.
The monster also dodged and stepped back. Both sides were testing the waters. However, the monster clearly thought it had the upper hand as it started almost chortling in glee.
"Let's see you'll laugh when you're six feet under!" The man grit his teeth as he quickly ran towards the beast. The man let out a thrust towards the creature's head. The creature scrunched its eyes in scorn. It knew it could tank the hit and instead walked towards the spear trying to claw the man's arm off!
Before the wendigo could react though, the man pulled the spear back and ducked underneath the attack releasing another thrust towards its abdomen. It tried to dodge but it had too much forward momentum, meaning the man had scored a nice piercing into the monster's ribcage.
The wendigo screeched in anger, while the man quickly jumped backwards to a safe range. "Look who's laughing now!" The monster glared before crouching down to ready a jump. [If I can't keep up with its movements, then I'll just bait it into a move with a feint!] The man could feel the weapon becoming more familiar to him. It was critical he kept the monster at least two meters away, otherwise his weapon would be useless.
The wendigo lunged at the man now furious that this pathetic being had punched a hole in its chest. The man sidestepped the monster and let out a slash towards the arm of the creature. Although it was a shallow cut it was better than nothing. With a swipe of its arm the creature deflected the spear and closed in the distance trying to claw the man's face. He was able to move backwards a bit but the claws cut his chest.
The man sucked in some air as a stinging pain lit up his chest. Luckily it was only 2 centimeters deep but it still hurt like hell. The man jumped back to avoid another onslaught of claws and raised his spear. "This is just getting started, you ugly shithead!" The man bellowed as he once again went in for a stab.
The constant back and forth happened a few times before both the wendigo's blood and the man's blood littered the ground. One a bright blue, the other a vibrant red. The wendigo had suffered a multitude of piercings and cuts along its skinny body. While it looked worse for wear, it still had plenty of fight in it. The man on the other hand was exhausted. He looked a bit paler, he had a plethora of cuts all over him, and his breathing was labored. One of the cuts on his stomach even showed a bit of an organ.
"Haha, this is not looking good" The man sighed. Every time he crossed with the wendigo he managed a good hit in, however the monster was much more resilient than his frail human body. The man needed a way out of this mess and fast. Briefly looking over to Lilith he saw that two of the wendigos had already laid dead on the ground. She weaved in and around the monsters, hitting their tendons, rending their flesh, before landing a critical blow. She fought beautifully, but her attention was still held by the two wendigos.
The man quickly closed his eyes and began to think. [Think, when is it the weakest, when can I strike! How can I make it let its guard down!] The man had tried multiple times for a critical strike to the eyes or where he thought its heart was. Yet it was to no avail. The monster would easily swat his primitive spear to the side and get a hit in while the man was trying to dodge.
[Think, come on think!] The man finally opened his eyes. He thought of something, but it would require perfect timing, and if he messed up he was sure to die. [Whatever! I'll die of bleeding out if I don't do something soon.] The man clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white.
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The wendigo seemed to be toying with its food as it mockingly walked in circles around the nameless man. Before it could celebrate any more though, the man booked away in a full sprint! The monster was not about to let this meal get away after all the pain it went through! In a furious state, the monster let out a screech before bending down as far as it could. Then, it leapt straight towards the man.
The man kept running despite the imminent threat breathing down his neck. Everything seemed to slow down for a few seconds. His processing power was at its max and every detail did not escape him. The man felt a creeping whisper near his ear. Then it exploded into millions of voices whispering. The man's eyes went bloodshot, and he finally turned around.
The monster was only 5 meters away, about to land square on the man. The man raised his spear ready to receive the falling monster. One last whisper filled his ears and then an icy feeling went down his spine. The monster landed on the spear, and rather than just poke a hole in it, the monster slid down the shaft of the spear. A purple hue surrounded the monster as it struggled to move around impaled.
The man had to awkwardly hold the spear upwards with one hand as the monster moved around. The man pulled out his knife, and while staring down the wendigo's disgusting eyes, stabbed the knife over and over into the monster's neck. As the screeches and clicks became gurgling from the blood in its throat the wendigo slowly but surely stopped moving. Finally, the man set down the spear and made sure to dead check the beast with a few good stabs.
Once the beast was dead the purple hue disappeared and a pounding headache assaulted the man. "Ughh" falling backwards the man had to rest. Between the incessant bleeding, adrenaline surge, and headache the man felt he was going to die soon.
Looking over he finally saw Lilith approaching. There were a few holes in the leather portions of her armor and even a significant dent in one of the iron plates. Luckily, she seemed to have made off with a few cuts and bruises. Even then she was breathing pretty hard.
"Huh, I thought I told you to delay the damn thing, not kill it, newbie!" She plopped down next to the nameless man and ruffled through her bag. "Looks like you got cut up pretty bad though, it'd be heartless of me not to help." She proceeded to pull out a glowing red vial. "Open wide, nameless, it'll taste just like fruit punch!"
Weakly opening his mouth, she poured half of the liquid in. First of all, the thing tasted disgusting, like burnt hair mixed with blood topped with an artificial cherry note. However, the tingling sensation then hit him. He looked down to see some of his wounds recovering. "Now comes the painful part, grit your teeth!" She then poured the rest of the vial onto his deepest wounds. A searing pain as well as a ceaseless itch invaded his wounds. "Ssssss" the man hissed as he sucked in the air. "Ah, don't be upset, this thing cost me a lot of credits, okay? You don't come by these things often, so savor this luxury." She smirked as she swirled the vial back and forth.
"Think of it as payment for helping me out there. Didn't know you had it in you to kill these damnable things!" The man finally opened his eyes and looked at her, "Not like I had a choice, you kind of put me in a bad spot… ugh" The potion was still burning his insides now that the top of the wound had scarred up.
Lilith got up and pointed to him and then back behind her, "Well I'm gonna let that stuff do its thing, I'll be collecting our spoils in the meantime." She walked off rubbing her hands together in anticipation.
[This fortress better be worth it…] The man thought before his consciousness swept away.
…
"Ughhh…" The man opened his eyes after feeling his side getting poked. "Hey newbie, I think you have a habit of passing out without a care in the world!" The man groggily looked around, still feeling a faint thud in his head, "How long was I out for?"
"About an hour, felt like forever though. Anyways we need to get going soon." The man finally caught a whiff of cooked meat. Looking around he noticed a fire that had just been put out. "While you were lazing about, I decided to cook us some food." She tossed him a slab of meat, glistening with fat and oil. Although the meat looked a bit purple, the smells and charred bits of meat were very alluring.
The man ignored any manners and tore into the meat gratefully. He hadn't eaten yesterday and was beginning to feel like his stomach could talk with all the noise it was making. Upon consuming the meat a distinct and familiar warm feeling filled his being. Traveling from his stomach to his heart to eventually his entire body.
"Hah, I'm jealous of you nameless. I miss that feeling of powering up in real time." Lilith remarked as she amusedly observed the man ravage the meat. "Hear, can't forget to hydrate too." She tossed him a leather waterskin and the man drank the entire thing greedily with his parched lips.
"Those healing potions sure are convenient for wounds, but they also drain your body's nutrients and water. I've heard that one person had lost 3 kilos from using one after not having eaten for 2 weeks!" Lilith let out a little chuckle before standing back up.
"Alright, now that you're all filled up, let's get moving. Otherwise we'll have more nasty critters like that on our tails the entire way. Understanding the urgency the man got up. Noticing his bag, knife, and spear laid beside them he hurriedly picked them up.
"Alright, by tonight we'll finally be able to rest easy. Are you ready for a new life, newbie?"
The man finished tying the spear to his back and looked Lilith in the eyes, "Ready as I'll ever be."