Though his enraged, hot blood rushed in his ears and threateo drown out the ey of rational thought, TJ knew he couldn’t allow the wendigo to so easily y its cws on him again. His Intelligend Fixation had increased by 3 and 4 respectively, and his Toughness and Vitality’s increase would surely allow him to better survive first tact when it iably happened.
As he gnced over his Status, he noticed that the cooldown for his Diviransformation hadn’t ged, 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 o kill the skeletal bastard.
While TJ fought to maintain some distance from the wendigo, it pressed in closer to him again and again, its cws glittering in the dying light of the setting sun. Its maed wide in a monstrous grin, obviously vihat it would be able to sy him without much struggle. TJ’s pride had him f two tradictory jurations in his mouth at the same time, a densed bde and a whirling tornado. These attacks would take time to prepare, and the wendigo’s own pressure was relentless as its cws sliced through the wind near him multiple times.
First blood of this new e went to the wendigo, its cws cutting deep into the numbed, nearly dead flesh at the tip of TJ’s tail. Its unnerving cag rang out again as it lifted its bloodied cws to its tohough where it had struck was wholly unfeeling, TJ could still sehe chill that had entered his blood from just the gng blow it had stru him.
Another flurry of strikes came at him as he dehe short bde oip 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 ahree 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 ohousand 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 mao gain a small gap between himself and the wendigo. It lunged forward, cws grasping desperately. Just as TJ had pnned.
With a shrieking of wind, TJ inhaled and pulled the wendigo closer and off-bah 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 a a foot-long bde 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 sed hand’s cws chipped and nearly shattered but were hardy enough to keep the worst of the attack from reag the more vital throat. As it was, weakened by mangling the wendigo’s primary ons, 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 cws had been chipped and weakehey remained sharp enough to tear flesh and rend scales. With an enraged roar, the wendigo stabbed forward, its cws 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 sed attack. Though he outleveled it signifitly, the wendigo posed such a dire threat that TJ sidered cutting his losses, including his tail, and fleeing. He could sever the st foot of his tail and escape. But no, he couldn’t. His Bloodline demahat he prove himself superior to this whelp of a myth that dared to challenge his snty!
Needing some space, TJ thrashed his tail while spending half of his remaining MP, a quarter of his total, on a bst of wind into the torso of the wendigo. With his maddetempts 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 challehough he roared in respoJ’s focus was on densing the st of his MP into a final blow.
The wendigo rushed ba, ae his best efforts, orike after another nded on him. He checked his HP: 397/1060, Moderate Bleed for 10 HP a minute, and airely new Affli.
Warning: You are suffering from a minor Frostbite affli. You will suffer a 25% redu in Agility until the Frostbite dition is cured or 2:00 have passed. Each additional application of Frostbite will refresh the tdown. Time remaining: 1:58
Regardless of how he was suffering from a variety of things, the st of his MP was already ready to be used. TJ hissed aed to the side, prompting the wendigo to lunge forward to ter him. As its cws 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 bde of wind out again, aiming for the wendigo’s neck. Surely it couldn’t thwart his attack again?
It tis 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 willio retreat or fear. Instead, it simply lunged forward with its jae. TJ tried to break free, giving up on killing the creature. Maybe with Stanton’s help he could do something about the feral, seemingly unkilble monster, but for now, he o 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 iable chill that sank into his flesh spelled his doom. Even so, TJ would fight to his st breath–
There was no chill. The fangs in his neck shot spasms of agony through his body, but there was no more magi the verge of killing him. Of course, the wendigo had no more MP! The thought revitalized TJ, and he now knew victory was immi. His coils ed 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 c freely down his body. He khat his Bleed affli was getting worse, but he had no other options avaible. With a hissing roar, TJ wrested his body bad forth until his fangs found the monstrosity’s nebsp;
He ground his teeth in, the flesh only barely giving way, but slowly, eventually, between his stri 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 Sin.
TJ couldn’t gather enough energy to pin about the unfairness of its strength at its level, instead he merely colpsed to the ground, panting and suffering. Even so, he took note of anything happening around him, the possibility of an approag pukwudgie, or anything else. Nothing moved or popped out to him immediately, so TJ took stock of his afflis.
Warning: you are suffering from a Severe Bleeding affli. You will tio lose 20 HP a miil the Bleeding dition is cured or staunched. Current HP: 253/1060
Warning: you are suffering from a Moderate Exhaustion affli. You will regain HP, MP, and Stamina at 25% of your usual rate until your Stamina rises above 50%.
Another new affli. Glorious. TJ muttered to himself and checked his Stamina. 2/1000. That would expin the Exhaustion being more than something you said you were after a day at work. Instead of rec over 100 HP an hour as a coatl, he’d be just over 75, now, so he’d call it 1 HP a minute. Oher hand, the Bleeding would effectively drain 19 HP a minute. He’d call it 10 mio get back to Pihout having to worry too much. A part of TJ reized that he was calling 3 mio 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 cws, horns, and possibly skull would be too useful. Another System notification he hadn’t noticed tio fsh in the er of his eye, and as TJ gathered up the amputated hand as well as the corpse from the wendigo, he was remihat bringing the whole corpse back would be a good idea.
Title gained: Elite Hunter
Description of Title: Elite monsters are the Tutorial’s introdu to Boss-tiered monsters. You are the first Partit in your Tutorial to sy ae-tiered monster. In addition, you have sin the Elite-tiered monster as well as its cadre without support.
Effects of Title: Your Appraisal Skill ow detect the tier of those you Appraise. Yranted an additional 15% resistao Elite-tiered enemies’ innate expressions of Divinity. This Title is a record of a Minor Divirial and be upgraded.
“Not helping now.” TJ gruo himself as he attempted to haul the surprisingly light wendigo corpse along without losing track of its hand. Then, with his body ag 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.
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