Rage
"Damn it… There was another one."
A smell similar to that of rotten eggs permeated the air while Aster's vision shifted as he took a glance at a dark silhouette crouching behind him.
Its long slender arm with razor-edged claws impaled his back all the way through like a spear.
Blood greased the stretched limb, spreading the iron-like smell of blood.
He raised his right arm and struck the arm of the monster to break it and set himself free from the hold of the monster.
A dull 'Crack' noise sounded as the strike achieved the desired result.
In a fit of pain, the wendigo retreated after pulling its arms out and Aster rolled to the opposite side.
'So this is how it feels to have a gaping hole in my chest.
I feel lopsided and it's harder to breathe. Did it get my lung?
Fuck this shit. My energy is low from the fight and I'm seriously wounded.
On the brighter side, things would have been much worse if it got my heart or head so let's make do what I have… or lost.
I remember reading somewhere at school that people with one lung could live pretty well but would have difficulties with physical activities and experience shortness of breath.
Bleed immunity and regeneration should do its thing while I fight with magic. Hopefully, the passive health point recovery would heal my lung so I can tussle up close if need be. I don't want to spend unnecessary energy when I can't spare a single point right now.'
The wendigo stared at him while it carried its limp arm around. It was understandable how its bone broke so easily compared to the other two who received more powerful blows from Aster when he had more energy since it is more specialized in stealth and assassination.
Assassins usually have weaker defense and vitality than others.
It started to go in circles to observe Aster from all sides and waited for the effects to show.
Aster stood still as he wondered what the wendigo was waiting for.
He touched his wound with his hands and wiped something off of it.
A dark green liquid emitting the same rotten egg smell was found on his palms.
'Poison? Are you waiting for me to get poisoned and kneel over?'
"Bwahaha"
Laughter surged from within as Aster read a fresh system notification.
[The effect of the poison has been negated by [Toxin Immunity Lv 10]]
'Oh wait, this might be the perfect opportunity to catch it off guard. The perfect comeback, hehehe'
In order to not let it be known that he shrugged off the poison, he faked a cough and kneeled over.
Faking the cough was unnecessarily difficult with his lung problems but he did his best impression of a person on death's door.
He planted his face deep on the ground to hide his wide grin.
The third wendigo tilted its head sideways as if it were a puppy.
It felt confused, as the symptoms Aster displayed in front of him didn't match the typical symptoms demonstrated by beings injected with his poison.
The poison usually targetted the muscle cells of the victim and destroyed them, rendering physical movement nigh-impossible.
The cause is a poison but the effect is like paralysis. However because the property of the poison isn't paralysis, skills blocking the paralysis effect are unable to do anything.
Prey coughing like Aster was never seen before.
It faced the dilemma of attacking immediately or waiting for a little bit until Aster stopped moving.
It had to be this careful since it was trained this way. Its awareness of its physical weakness, save for sharper claws, was drilled into its mind.
Aster started coughing even harder to lure in the wendigo as he lamented in his head.
'I need to learn how to decipher demons' souls dammit. If I could, I would have just taken a peek at its head to decide what it was feeling and act accordingly instead of this agony.'
Without separating its eyes from Aster, the wendigo slowly retreated to the ruined entrance of the tunnel, picked up a bowling ball-sized obsidian, and chucked it straight at Aster.
It flew with utmost accuracy and landed on Aster's head before shattering into a hundred pieces.
'Oh ho, is it toying with me right now?
Do I look like a damn tank to you, you brute? I have limited vitality so stop and charge at me like a classic monster already.
…
Speaking of tanks. I forgot about that.'
The wendigo stared at Aster with a hollow expression. Seeing him twitching, it had decided that one obsidian boulder was not enough.
It picked up the biggest rock around and was about to chuck it when a feeling of mild anger rose.
The ever-present feeling of starvation gained power and dominated its mind, threatening to overtake the self-control taught by its masters.
It felt like Aster was the cause of his starvation, the reason why it was twisted into its current form and objected to hellish training sessions.
The mild feeling of anger blossomed into a burning hatred.
With a high-pitched, wild war cry, it threw the stone away and charged straight at him, the intent to tear and devour clearly emanating from it.
It had forfeited its order of bringing his corpse intact.
[[Taunt] has been activated]
Due to Aster's skill, it lost all sense of reason and descended into a mindless beast-like state as it was supposed to be from the start.
Its speed was slower than the other two, comparable to Aster's speed which made it easier for him.
Aster grinned widely as he got up.
'Attacking from behind is a valid strategy but you should have killed me with that chance.
Now, you are going to die. Honestly, that is better for you.
I don't know what you wanted or did to get turned by a demon but it can't be good.
Consider this as an act of kindness from me. You don't have to starve any longer.'
A myriad of bone spikes arose from the ground and impaled it from all directions.
[You have killed a Rank 2 Wendigo]
[...]
'I really hope this is the last of them but now, I can't be too sure. Gotta be on the move and not accidentally trap myself in the pit that I dug.'
However, his plan for escape was thwarted as the ground vibrated fiercely.
'An earthquake!?
No that's not it.
The wall-!'
Aster looked up just in time to see obsidian worth thousands and thousands of tonnes plummeting from above.