Alistair grunted in pain; the Matriarch had managed to levy her power to force her way through his defensive skills. Alistair cast Dispel Poison to aid his body in rejecting her poison as black-colored blood sprayed out of his wound. He considered summoning King, but the chamber was much too small for him and the matriarch, and it would cause a very cramped and vicious fight if he were to take him out. Instead, Alistair sent some explosive blasts at the smaller wendigoes guarding the entrance, blowing them to pieces.
Simon used the breach to temporarily seal the entrance with an obsidian wall. He quickly set up turrets and flamethrower automata, which immediately attacked the Wendigo Brood sealed in the room with them. After weeks of battling the Wendigos, they confirmed that fire was highly effective, preventing their regeneration. In response, Oconoe reconfigured some automata with flamethrowers powered by sun crystals Alistair had acquired in his first dungeon delve. They had so far been able to kill them without the need for the automata since the Wendigoes were solitary hunters. However, attacking their matriarch and her haunting screams riled them up in a frenzy.
Alistair did his best to keep the matriarch at bay with a relentless barrage of blasts and razor disks, slicing into the massive monster. Meanwhile, Simon guarded the entrance, protecting the automata and turrets from the Wendigoes that managed to break through.
"Any song requests? I can buff us that way," Alistair called out, parrying the matriarch's tail with the shaft of his poleaxe. A fully charged sphere shot out of his body, adding to the onslaught.
"You got your own boss music?" Simon laughed. "Considering the situation, how about something from Disturbed?"
"Inside the Fire?" Alistair suggested, deflecting another strike from the matriarch.
"I was thinking Down with the Sickness, but yours fits better," Simon said, as the automata began burning the flailing bodies of the Wendigos he had pinned to the walls around him.
Alister let out a chuckle before he played the music over his Akashic Soundboard, ready to lay into the matriarch proper now that he had stored up a lot of kinetic energy. He would need it as the Wendigo Matriarch was incredibly resilient due to her regeneration. Alistair's focus was strained, and he was forced to discard his Aegis for what he planned next by sending the disks hurling toward the matriarch, which swatted them out of the air. He was thankful for his fire affinity right about now as he coated himself and his weapon in flames, a technique he had developed with the help of Esta. He had not used this technique in proper combat before, and his proficiency in the skill was rather low, but it should be enough to impair the matriarch's regeneration.
Alistair's Battle Spheres continued to pelt the matriarch as he charged at her. She let out a bone-chilling screech that put unnatural pressure on him; however, the music alleviated the pressure as it slightly drowned out the screech attack. Alistair jumped over a swipe of her tail as he converted the stored KE into power, bringing the axe head down on her torso with a Razor Slash. The Matriarch attempted to intercept the attack, but the overwhelming force of the strike sliced through her claws, severing them completely. The blow bisected her, and the intense heat from the attack immediately cauterized the wound.
However, even after discarding his Razor Aegis, Alistair's focus wavered as he tried to manage too many tasks at once, causing his coat of flames to flicker out. He wasn't sure if he should be pleased about cutting the matriarch down to size or frustrated by his inability to maintain his abilities. Alistair realized he needed to improve his mental stat and find a better rotation for his more focus-intensive skills. Both his Razor Aegis and Battle Spheres were too demanding to maintain alongside each other. Alistair suspected that his skills would eventually become second nature, much like his Kinetic Skinguard, which by now required minimal effort to maintain. Until then, he needed a better solution.
Alistair frowned as he pursued the matriarch. To his dismay, being cut in half was only a minor setback for her. She used her additional set of arms to push herself away, then clawed at her cauterized wounds to reopen them, triggering her regeneration. It was a horrifying sight as she tore out unknown organs, black blood spreading across the cavern floor.
"Alistair, hurry the hell up; hundreds of them are incoming," Simon yelled.
Alistair stopped holding back, unleashing his Cold Rage skill and increasing his mana expenditure for his boosting skill. A cold, detached fury gripped him at the thought of Simon getting killed and eaten by the bleak-looking monsters. The soft throbbing of his slowly healing wound became more noticeable despite his numbed pain receptors and adrenaline coursing through his veins. Using his Arcane Energy Manipulation, he converted his Qi into kinetic energy as he charged the retreating matriarch, determined to take her head before she could regenerate her legs.
The matriarch pushed herself back with all her might, trying to buy some time to heal herself. Alistair ruthlessly used his Telekinesis skill to catch her mid-air and drag her to the ground, and he brought down the axe on her head. The spikes decorating her body suddenly shot out, some managing to pierce his body as he stepped beside the struggling monster and hacked into the matriarch's brain, undeterred despite being now covered in wounds. Shockingly, the matriarch's arm lashed out by sheer instinct despite her brain being damaged. Alistair raised his arm and conjured his shield as the claw shattered through his automatic barrier. He absorbed the impact as the claws scraped across his sepaskarite shield, leaving deep claw marks. He shot an almost point-blank fire blast to burn out what was left of her brain to prevent it from regenerating as his frustration mounted.
"They are in the walls. They will breach any moment!" Simon called out.
The Matriarch flailed wildly, and Alistair continued to push his body. As his energy resources started to dwindle from the assault, he grappled one of the matriarch's arms with the help of his time-delayed vision. Alistair charged a Razor slash but wreathed it in fire to cauterize the cut and hacked off her arm, a specific chime ringing out informing him of a skill upgrade. Alistair would check once he dispatched the matriarch as he continued to disarm the monster. He did not wish to destroy the monster core as it would make for excellent crafting material and could most likely be turned into a much more efficient regenerating armor enchantment when compared to regular Wendigo cores.
Alistair's intuition alerted him of the Wendigoes breaching the walls around him. Fortunately, the matriarch was already on her last leg, spurring Alistair to swiftly sever her head with precision, extinguishing her threat. The sound of chimes resonated through his mind, signaling the end of her reign of terror. He quickly stored her body and teleported next to Simon, giving a cursory glance at his upgraded skill as he resummoned his Battle Spheres, directing them to fire explosive blasts at the emerging Wendigoes.
Skills: Tier: Name: Description: [Uncommon] Blaze Slash
Infusing the weapon with a small amount of [Qi], the blade is empowered and imbued with razor-sharpness. By expending a portion of [MP], the user may cloak the weapon in flames, ensuring that every strike cauterizes wounds and impedes regeneration. Additionally, the wielder has the option to increase the energy expenditure to further enhance the weapon's power.
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Alistair was somewhat worried at the number of attackers as he was covered in small wounds, and his Cold Rage had been running for a while. He decided to deactivate his Cold Rage skill, and an immediate wave of feebleness overcame him to the point where he had to take a knee.
"Are you alright?" Simon inquired with concern as Alistair dropped to his knees.
"I'm fine. Focus on holding the line," Alistair reassured him, immediately setting to work extracting the spikes embedded in his body before consuming a health potion.
With the absence of the matriarch, Alistair summoned King, who swiftly engaged the emerging wendigos. With relentless ferocity, King snapped at their exposed heads, his tail slashing through them like a blade, turning the confrontation into a chaotic rendition of whack-a-mole. Alistair winced as the healing potion worked, expelling poisons fighting his body and closing the many wounds covering it. He remained stationary as not to reopen his wounds and focused on his Battle Spheres and summoned his Aegis as he cut into the wendigos that managed to get past King as he recovered. King furiously swiped, snapped, whipped, and crashed into the walls, crushing the wendigoes that had managed to clamber onto him, clawing and biting into his flesh. Alistair occasionally directed his blasts at those who managed to reach King's blind spots as the wyvern furiously roared, drowning out the music.
Eventually, Alistair recovered enough to charge back into the fray, preventing King and Simon from being overrun. If Alistair had to guess, every last wendigo was on its way to their location, trying to kill them at all costs to revenge their slain Matriarch. They continued to struggle against the tide of monsters, Alistair occasionally swapping songs as they continued to slay monster. Alistair was covered in sweat and sticky blood and thoroughly exhausted by the time they killed the last wendigo, and a series of chimes rang out. A chest appeared in front of Alistair and Simon, respectively, and he could sense a wave of satisfaction coming from King. Alistair checked his notification.
Notifications: [Combat Log] Cave Wendigo Matriarch level 94 has been slain.
[Level 87 reached. Stat points allocated, free stat points available.] [Level 88 reached. Stat points allocated, free stat points available.] [Level 89 reached. Stat points allocated, free stat points available.] Combat Trial [Wendigo Infestation] has been completed! Title Wendigo Slayer [Epic] has been obtained.
Titles: Tier: Name Effect: Origin: [Epic] Wendigo Slayer
Grants a 10% bonus to [Body] statistic and slightly increases physical regeneration.
Acquired for slaying a large infestation of wendigos and their matriarch.
Alistair checked with Simon and confirmed they both had gotten the title. Alistair was ecstatic. He had believed the slayer titles were limited to the first Trial world but realized they would have been unique if that had been the case. He was somewhat surprised he had not obtained a slayer title for the Automata, but his best guess was he would receive it once the war trial ended or the slayer title was limited to organic monsters. Either way, Alistair would keep an eye out for monster groups that could possibly provide more slayer titles and bring it up in the next clan meeting.
Alistair opened his chest to find a pendant with a brilliant-cut black gem and runes carved upon it. Alistair wanted to Identify it but was distracted as he heard Simon let out a contemplative "Hm," a frown on his face as he examined an elaborate vial in his hand that contained a yellowish liquid with a hard-to-define black mass swimming inside. It was clear Simon wasn't entirely sure if he appreciated the reward. Alistair used his Identify to check what it was exactly before checking his own item and felt his Appraisal skill drawing upon his Akashic Link.
Item: Tier: Name: Qualities: Description: [Supreme] Symbiote Vial containing
[Medea Symbiote]
[Single Use]
[Permanent Symbiote]
[Growth]
A vial containing a Medae symbiote. Upon consumption, the symbiote forms a symbiotic relationship with the host, growing stronger as the host does. Warning: Requires compatible physiology and may not be compatible with other similar symbiotes. [Supreme]
Valmus Pendant of Poison Protection
[Soulbound]
[Poison Protection]
This black iron chain pendant contains an incredibly rare Valmus gem, which has been enchanted to protect the wearer from poisons up to one grade higher than their own resistance level and renders them virtually immune to poisons of the same or lower grade.
Alistair quickly understood why Simon was eyeing the vial with apprehension. Simon glanced over at him before speaking.
"Any chance you want to trade?" Simon asked.
"Sorry, mine is soulbound, and I’m pretty sure my physiology is incompatible due to my Body Cultivation," Alistair replied apologetically as he stepped closer to inspect the vial.
"You can tell what this is? I have no idea what your pendant does," Simon said.
"I connected my Akashic Link to my Appraisal skill, and I found a book on symbiotes in the Nurturing Ward's library," Alistair replied as he inspected the inert creature within the vial. On closer examination, it resembled a tiny dark blue axolotl with a mist-like body.
"Let's gather those Wendigo bodies, and I'll explain what I know," Alistair added, noticing the concern on Simon's face.