Though his enraged, hot blood rushed in his ears and threatened to drown out the entirety of rational thought, TJ knew he couldn’t allow the wendigo to so easily lay its claws on him again. His Intelligence and Fixation had increased by 3 and 4 respectively, and his Toughness and Vitality’s increase would surely allow him to better survive first contact when it inevitably happened.
As he glanced over his Status, he noticed that the cooldown for his Divine Transformation hadn’t changed, though its duration had been expanded by the requisite amount. He’d have plenty of time to finish this fight, regardless of its resolution. Now, he simply needed to kill the skeletal bastard.
While TJ fought to maintain some distance from the wendigo, it pressed in closer to him again and again, its claws glittering in the dying light of the setting sun. Its maw gaped wide in a monstrous grin, obviously convinced that it would be able to slay him without much struggle. TJ’s pride had him forming two contradictory conjurations in his mouth at the same time, a condensed blade and a whirling tornado. These attacks would take time to prepare, and the wendigo’s own pressure was relentless as its claws sliced through the wind near him multiple times.
First blood of this new engagement went to the wendigo, its claws cutting deep into the numbed, nearly dead flesh at the tip of TJ’s tail. Its unnerving cackling rang out again as it lifted its bloodied claws to its tongue. Though where it had struck was wholly unfeeling, TJ could still sense the chill that had entered his blood from just the glancing blow it had struck on him.
Another flurry of strikes came at him as he condensed the short blade on the tip of his tongue, making sure the attack would deal a, if not mortal, at least crippling blow. While he plotted and dodged and tried to guarantee his success, TJ took another three hits, the frost spreading up his body and slowing him. The coatl body wasn’t cold-blooded, thankfully, but the lethargy still struck him mercilessly. Death by one thousand cuts approached, but TJ was finally ready.
He pulled further ahead of the wendigo, hoping that the wounds he’d sustained wouldn’t slow him too much. Blessedly, TJ managed to gain a small gap between himself and the wendigo. It lunged forward, claws grasping desperately. Just as TJ had planned.
With a shrieking of wind, TJ inhaled and pulled the wendigo closer and off-balance with a nearly visible tornado that exploded from his mouth. The wendigo stumbled and involuntarily lunged directly towards his mouth. He grinned widely as he flicked his tongue free of his mouth and sent a foot-long blade of wind directly at the wendigo’s throat. Powered by over half of his MP, the deadly winds would shred the life from the wendigo’s body, and TJ felt a sense of certain victory settle over him. This was the wendigo’s just desserts.
Somehow, TJ was surprised when it raised both hands, freezing fog smoking from them, to interrupt the deadly attack. The first hand was chopped messily from its wrist, dried flesh without blood flying everywhere as the raging winds tore mercilessly into it. The second hand’s claws chipped and nearly shattered but were hardy enough to keep the worst of the attack from reaching the more vital throat. As it was, weakened by mangling the wendigo’s primary weapons, the magical attack barely cut through the skin of its throat.
“Ow. Not. Good. You’re. Food. Not. Do. Again.”
The wendigo’s tone was somehow childish, whining that he’d cheated or broken the rules of what food was allowed to do. TJ tried to escape and do the same thing, but the wendigo didn’t allow it.
Though its remaining right hand’s claws had been chipped and weakened, they remained sharp enough to tear flesh and rend scales. With an enraged roar, the wendigo stabbed forward, its claws sinking deep into the flesh of TJ’s body. He groaned in agony, the chills and wounds he’d sustained clouding his mind. There was nothing to do but to prepare a second attack. Though he outleveled it significantly, the wendigo posed such a dire threat that TJ considered cutting his losses, including his tail, and fleeing. He could sever the last foot of his tail and escape. But no, he couldn’t. His Bloodline demanded that he prove himself superior to this whelp of a myth that dared to challenge his sovereignty!
Needing some space, TJ thrashed his tail while spending half of his remaining MP, a quarter of his total, on a blast of wind into the torso of the wendigo. With his maddened attempts to escape and the gale force wind pushing it away, TJ was able to escape the wendigo’s clutches, though only barely. Though it was sent tumbling, the creature gathered itself, cocked its head with the sound of grinding bones, and wheezed a scream of challenge. Though he roared in response, TJ’s focus was on condensing the last of his MP into a final blow.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
The wendigo rushed back in, and despite his best efforts, one strike after another landed on him. He checked his HP: 397/1060, Moderate Bleed for 10 HP a minute, and an entirely new Affliction.
Warning: You are suffering from a minor Frostbite affliction. You will suffer a 25% reduction in Agility until the Frostbite condition is cured or 2:00 have passed. Each additional application of Frostbite will refresh the countdown. Time remaining: 1:58
Regardless of how he was suffering from a variety of things, the last of his MP was already ready to be used. TJ hissed and feinted to the side, prompting the wendigo to lunge forward to counter him. As its claws swiped across his nose, only a faint chill cut through the sharp, burning pain of the cut. He didn’t lose focus, and spat the blade of wind out again, aiming for the wendigo’s neck. Surely it couldn’t thwart his attack again?
It continued its lunge, raising its right shoulder high while the shrieking winds tore the flesh to bits. The arm dropped, unresponsive, but still the wendigo showed no willingness to retreat or fear. Instead, it simply lunged forward with its jaws agape. TJ tried to break free, giving up on killing the creature. Maybe with Stanton’s help he could do something about the feral, seemingly unkillable monster, but for now, he needed to survive. The four fangs in the front of the jaw sank deep into TJ’s neck, though, just below his mane. He couldn’t escape, and the inevitable chill that sank into his flesh spelled his doom. Even so, TJ would fight to his last breath–
There was no chill. The fangs in his neck shot spasms of agony through his body, but there was no more magic on the verge of killing him. Of course, the wendigo had no more MP! The thought revitalized TJ, and he now knew victory was imminent. His coils wrapped all around the wendigo, struggling to break something, anything. Its bones creaked and shifted, but nothing snapped. Its teeth dug ever deeper into his neck, and TJ felt his blood coursing freely down his body. He knew that his Bleed affliction was getting worse, but he had no other options available. With a hissing roar, TJ wrested his body back and forth until his fangs found the monstrosity’s neck.
He ground his teeth in, the flesh only barely giving way, but slowly, eventually, between his constriction and his attempts at mauling, the creature fell to its knees.
“Why. Not. Food?” It whispered as it slowly succumbed. TJ only trusted himself to let it go once he got the blessed System notification.
Wendigo Elite, 5 Slain.
TJ couldn’t gather enough energy to complain about the unfairness of its strength at its level, instead he merely collapsed to the ground, panting and suffering. Even so, he took note of anything happening around him, the possibility of an approaching pukwudgie, or anything else. Nothing moved or popped out to him immediately, so TJ took stock of his afflictions.
Warning: you are suffering from a Severe Bleeding affliction. You will continue to lose 20 HP a minute until the Bleeding condition is cured or staunched. Current HP: 253/1060
Warning: you are suffering from a Moderate Exhaustion affliction. You will regain HP, MP, and Stamina at 25% of your usual rate until your Stamina rises above 50%.
Another new affliction. Glorious. TJ muttered to himself and checked his Stamina. 2/1000. That would explain the Exhaustion being more than something you said you were after a day at work. Instead of recovering over 100 HP an hour as a coatl, he’d be just over 75, now, so he’d call it 1 HP a minute. On the other hand, the Bleeding would effectively drain 19 HP a minute. He’d call it 10 minutes to get back to Pine without having to worry too much. A part of TJ recognized that he was calling 3 minutes to find a healer and be healed a “generous window for survival”, but he was too tired and angry at himself to care.
More productive than self-recrimination, though, would be hauling this thing’s corpse back to town. It would slow him down, but the claws, horns, and possibly skull would be too useful. Another System notification he hadn’t noticed continued to flash in the corner of his eye, and as TJ gathered up the amputated hand as well as the corpse from the wendigo, he was reminded that bringing the whole corpse back would be a good idea.
Title gained: Elite Hunter
Description of Title: Elite monsters are the Tutorial’s introduction to Boss-tiered monsters. You are the first Participant in your Tutorial to slay an Elite-tiered monster. In addition, you have slain the Elite-tiered monster as well as its cadre without support.
Effects of Title: Your Appraisal Skill can now detect the tier of those you Appraise. You are granted an additional 15% resistance to Elite-tiered enemies’ innate expressions of Divinity. This Title is a record of a Minor Divine Trial and can be upgraded.
“Not helping now.” TJ grunted to himself as he attempted to haul the surprisingly light wendigo corpse along without losing track of its hand. Then, with his body aching and leaving a trail of his own blood, TJ made his way back towards town, hoping beyond hope that the sounds of the wendigo’s corpse dragging through bushes and the warm wet path his depleting life left didn’t lead any more predators to kill him while he doggedly attempted to return home.