Jaw opened like a machine, teeth exposed, it dangerously bit down on William's shoulder again, so deep that it encompassed his collarbone.

'I'm too far away–!'

But Sun-young wasn't. Her katana slashed his cheek and ripped the Wendigo away from the petrified kid. Some of his flesh tore away with it.

It stumbled back and Kazi sniped it with a Fire Ball. The Blessed Novice Scepter added thirty three points to his magical might. His attacks were strong, stronger than ever before.

There was an explosion, but no cry of pain or blood. The Wendigo had summoned a block of red ice to intercept it. And intercept, as the Wendigo screamed and ran at Sun-young.

Her feet were suddenly engulfed in ice. On instinct, her katana swiped at it and the ice immediately melted.

But the distraction had done its job. A single hand supporting her katana, she sloppily blocked the left arm strike of the Wendigo and paid for it. Her katana thrusted away and flopped onto the magical blood lake.

The lonely spectator, Marta, screamed.

One hit. One hit and Sun-young would be—

Bam!

On fire?

'Holy shit, that was close!' Kazi cracked a tiny smile as Sun-young wrapped herself in flames. Without Majin-ken, she could equip Drop of Volcano and activate its fire abilities without issue. The Wendigo's red ice melted and it backed away in fear.

"Sun-young! Give me twenty seconds!"

Protect William, he wanted to add, but the boy wasn't moving. He might have been dead. Thick strings of blood oozed from his shoulder down to the ice. Sun-young couldn't afford to free him, the Wendigo stealing all her attention.

In a moment, they clashed.

Kazi promptly opened his status and calculated the needs necessary to best his eldritch opponent. With no concrete numbers, he could go off of broad strokes. A vague understanding of what facilitied what aspect of his battle prowess.

Agility was unnecessary when his reaction speed was sufficient. Strength was futile too, the Wendigo seemingly possessing a body that countered blunt force trauma. If he increased vitality, there was a chance he could fight without restraint. Spam all the super moves he had made.

But that was assuming twenty two points would be enough. Kazi suspected it wouldn't.

There was also the choice to spend it on a skill. The holy element would theoretically be effective against a malevolent spirit. Meanwhile, fire countered its ice and was super effective against its flesh.

In the end, magic was key. Thus, Kazi decided to switch classes for once. The Amateur Player helped with XP, but this wasn't the time for XP. It was the time to fight and live.

[ Status: Kazi Hossain

Class: Mage

Level: 20

HP: 160

HP/Minute: 19.695

MP: 293

MP/Minute: 35.25

Attack: 73

Defence: 32

Attributes

Strength: 35

Resilience: 32

Agility: 35

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Deftness: 84

Vitality: 39

Magical Might: 40

Magical Mending: 31

Distributive Points: 0 ]

He spent five points on Ember Control—the final skill of the Mage Class' fire element—which bolstered the effectiveness of all fire elemental skills by 50% and decreased associated MP cost by 25%. Then, he spent nine points on magical might and the remaining nine points on vitality. On the status, his overall MP stood at 293, even though in actuality it was a little over a hundred.

What really mattered was the cost of the Fire Dart. Its cost was reduced by half due to Ember Control and Passive Control of Mana.

“Sun-young!" His voice brought her to a standstill with the Wendigo. "I'm blasting it, so jump!" His staff directed at the Wendigo, he proclaimed, "Fire Dart," and fired away.

The swordswoman leaped back and it looked to be a direct hit, but at the last second, the Wendigo possessed the speed to summon a block of ice. A red wall that the dart of fire absolutely obliterated.

Sun-young, rather than capitalize on its weakness, went over to William and melted the ice trapping his legs. He toppled down into the bloody surface. She opened her inventory, popping out a potion, and fed it to him.

'What the hell is she doing!?'

The plan wasn't to help a half-dead kid, it was to kill the Wendigo. Kazi cursed in his head. He should have been watching Sun-young more carefully. Her attention was entirely focused on William's well being. He didn’t think she would jeopardize the mission for William's sake.

His legs burst forward, staff and sword pointed behind, gearing for an attack. "Hey, you! Over here!"

The Wendigo saw him as a threat and met him halfway. Along the way ice sharps followed and attempted to stab his feet. The Wendigo's sharp, boney arm swung left which Kazi coolly ducked under. A palm to the surface, a staff pointed to the chest, he whispered, "Fire Dart."

Boom!

[ Critical hit landed! ]

The attack was stronger, faster, and significantly more deadly. It nearly ripped every fabric of muscle connecting the upper and lower body.

'Twenty MP. Twenty seconds left.'

Once the full minute cycle passed, his HP and MP would magically increase. But the Wendigo healed faster, its muscles wrapping into existence at ultra high speeds. Underneath his feet, he felt a stir. He rolled between the Wendigo's massive legs, narrowly avoiding the ice it summoned to freeze him, and ran towards Sun-young and the fallen William. Along the way, he tilted to the side and grabbed the forgotten katana.

"Is he okay? I need you," Kazi said hurriedly. If his regeneration was consistent, then in ten seconds, the Wendigo would be back. A Fire Dart wouldn't be enough to kill him, he needed Sun-young and her anti-magic.

Her mouth refused to close due to her laboured lungs and she wiped the sweat off her forehead. In spite of the coldness of the dark world, Sun-young was steaming. "No, I-I think…he's bleeding out."

The blue eyes once radiating with youth were gone, almost an ashy grey.

"I-I will take care of him." Marta, the spectacled ball of anxiety was here, shaking and panting, despite having avoided all combat.

Kazi nodded. "Okay, good. Come on, Ms. Sun-young."

Sun-young didn't look ready to leave him, her gaze skeptical of the sudden appearance of the armoured woman. Even so, when she was handed the katana, she knew what she had to do.

The wendigo's scream echoed through the empty world, a bone-chilling wail that seemed to pierce the very soul. It was a sound of hunger, desperation, and unquenchable thirst for human flesh.

It was apparent to them it healed too fast. Already, its health bar had filled half way through. Kazi's eyes scanned for potential critical points and possible actions their enemy would take in response. He needed to be thorough. The Wendigo was three times stronger than him; therefore, he needed to be four steps ahead.

"You go for critical strikes. The knee, elbow, shoulder, thigh, in that order."

No further instructions could be given as the Wendigo came upon them again.

To call it close quarter combat would be an understatement. It was a game of death. Its power and endurance were so much above theirs, it was unfair. A clean hit would kill them. That meant Sun-young needed to switch and attack in complete sync with Kazi. They needed to avoid and block all clean hits no matter how much each second drained their stamina.

Kazi was slow but technical. Sun-young was fast and temporary. She would swipe in to land a vital strike, weakening it for just a second. The precious seconds Kazi needed to regenerate his MP.

Kazi ducked under the left strike, leaving Sun-young to strike said left arm's shoulder. The Flow of Mana bolstered his physicality by ten points and used up ten points per minute on average. Arms came hammering down at him and he completely sidestepped the assault and let Sun-young enter to exploit its side.

Droplets of sweat dripped. It was unbearably hot and the exhaustion was wearing on their bodies.

There was the potential to use Magic Barrier, but if he did that, he would be at an MP deficit. He couldn’t afford to do that when victory was in his grasp. He needed to attack. Attack, attack, attack, till he had an opening and could blast him with two Fire Darts.

Then he saw it. His MP leaped to life. This was it, he thought. Sun-young swung her katana at its left arm and the Wendigo lurched back from the rejection.

"Ms. Sun-young! One more!”

Sun-young ran forward and—

'Oh shit.'

She collapsed.

She picked herself up to her knees, but no more. Her raspy wheezing descended into ugly coughing.

‘Shit, shit, shit—improvise! Improvise!’ He gripped his weapons. 'I’ll blast him with fire. As much as I can muster!’

With Sun-young and her superb speed, it would have been easier. Now, by himself, it was a gamble. He came in close, staff pointed forward, and—

Kazi grit his teeth.

The Wendigo struck his staff and shattered it with its left arm.

But then, he caught the Wendigo with his remaining weapon: the Touch of Thunder. The tip stabbed the location where its ice heart was supposed to be.

"Inferno Dart!"

BOOM!