Overlooked

"HUFF"

"FWUO"

Two distinct heavy breathing reached his eardrums as he focused on his senses.

It was faint but it was there.

FWOOSH

The partner Wendigos synchronized their movements and rushed to get their kill together.

The one on the went on all fours and galloped to him to attack from below while the other ran with on its back two legs like a human in order to deliver a devastating blow from overhead.

Combined with the claustrophobia-inducing narrowness of the tunnel, their position, and their high attributes, it should be obvious that Aster had no way to escape.

The crouching wendigo reached Aster's feet in a blink of an eye.

SHIIING!

Its claws produced a high-pitched sound to prove its sharpness.

It sent an upward slash with its right claw straight to his gut while Aster stayed still as a statue.

[[High-speed thought process[EX]] has been activated]

'So the second one is slower than the first. The first one was already preparing to attack when it was just reaching my legs.

It seems to be physically weaker but has more skills. It should have fewer defense points then. It even looks a bit smaller.

…

This is quite a tough spot to be in, isn't it? They are just a few dozen centimeters away from piercing my skin and ending my life.'

Time slowed down tremendously to his perception thanks to the derivative skill of [Hasten thought process[EX]], [High-speed thought process[EX]].

It temporarily boosts his brain into overdrive mode by directly enhancing the astral body with some mana, multiplying his thinking speed by a whopping one hundred.

One second stretched into a hundred, giving birth to a nauseous feeling like none other.

His body could not keep up with his brain's command and proceeding to move like this would throw him off balance. A recipe for disaster in other words.

Ceasing physical movement, Aster contemplated a counterattack.

'If my body can't keep up with my mind then my skills can. It's that simple.'

A soft breeze enveloped his whole being, a sign that he had activated one of his most trusted skills [Whirlwind].

The claws of the first wendigo had only a few inches left till it reached his head when something unexpected happened.

CRACK

A horrifying crack echoed through the tunnel as Aster's neck suddenly bent perfectly 90 degrees right side without any contact with anything, saving his head from the terrible fate of being sliced.

His left shoulder was now in danger of being cut, moved out of the way too with another dizzying crack.

However, the crack from this time came from his waist as his entire upper body twisted.

The claws of the first flew behind his back and he focused on the one coming straight towards his left kidney.

With another sharp movement, he leaned downwards with his body and successfully avoided the upward strike.

His movement was erratic and sharp. Less like a human being but more like a puppet on strings.

Aster extended his left hand in the direction of the second wendigo vertically and held it straight. His arm's length wasn't enough for it to reach the body of the beast and punch it but its head was much closer.

In a flash, the smaller Wendigo was blown away by the impact of the attack.

Aster's extended hand was bent over in an unnatural 90-degree angle upwards and hit the Wendigo like that.

'The damage wasn't much as predicted but the force was more than plenty to get some distance.' Aster cheered in his mind and returned his attention to the voracious monster behind him.

His left leg which hadn't moved at all finally moved.

He lifted his leg sideways, drawing a large arc and landing at the side of the Wendigo's head.

The force knocked it from its position and crashed it into a wall, causing some debris to fall on it.

Cracks ran on the ceiling like spider webs.

All this happened within a second.

'Any more force and it would have been disastrous.' Aster sighed.

'The bone rib reinforcements did their thing and I am grateful.'

With great discomfort, Aster popped his bones back into their places and fixed his stature.

'Damn, who knew using bone manipulation on myself could be this uncomfortable?

If my body can't keep up with my brain then my skills can. Of course, it doesn't mean the skills would get a boost to keep up with the enhancements in my mind.

It just means that the activation of skills is instantaneous. It will happen as fast as I can think. Kind of overpowered if I think about it.'

Aster quickly got some stretching done to help his body. 

Visible heat was emanating from his body as it overworked itself to heal its injuries.

'My bones are creaking non-stop. I took a lot of damage from just moving alone and healing those took up plenty of energy.

I should wrap this up soon.

…

Why do I always create unnecessary trouble for myself? I could have just observed the barrier from outside the walls since the range is quite long. I just had to play it risky under the excuse of observing it closely, didn't I?

Spending time digging this tunnel up and reinforcing it was just a waste of time. They might be sending reinforcements soon.'

The bone ribs started disassembling from the other end of the tunnel and the component bones rushed to his side and float there.

The tunnel started collapsing, prompting the ground the vibrate in response.

Aster made a run for it as more and more bones accumulated behind him.

With bone manipulation, he snapped bones in halves, creating sharp-edged bones. Then he sent them flying towards the entity in front of him.

It was showered with bone shrapnels, ripping and tearing its thick skin.

It released a cry of pain, probably the first cry of pain it ever voiced in this form.

The barrage of calcium rendered it unable to move just long enough for Aster to get close to it.

He placed his palm on its chest. 

Right before the point of impact, he manifested a ghastly flame between his palm and the opponent.

The explosion propelled it like a rocket as it flew through the entrance of the tunnel and onto the graveyard.

Following Aster was the first Wendigo. Slightly dazed, but keen enough to realize its life was in danger.

It would have gone the opposite way normally but there was no such path here.

Aster with a face full of grin escaped the tunnel next with a long, detached bone tail following from behind.

He turned around as soon as he got out and disassembled the bone tail. The resulting bone fragments were used to shower the last wendigo, chipping away at its health.

The damage was accumulating but not enough to completely kill it.

It successfully left the tunnel as the entrance collapsed behind it. It would have felt relieved if it was capable of it.

Nevertheless, it didn't matter. Aster had one last nasty surprise left.

A negative fireball, as big as a grown cow collided head-first into it.

A magnificent display of mighty explosion occurred and the voice of the system became the cherry on top.

[You have killed a Rank 2…]

Aster did not linger to completely hear it, as he was digging a trench for the second wendigo while showering it with more bones, which was now found everywhere.

As soon as the required depth reached, he dropped a few ghastly firebombs to finish it off.

[You have killed…]

Aster's face scrunched up as he exclaimed in pain. "Huff. That was quite tiring."

He grasped his chest and sat on the ground, overlooking the smoking pit where the 2nd wendigo died.

He caught his breath and contemplated the chances of him acquiring a new skill from the wendigos.

"Nah, they weren't awakened. Let's see the soul fragments-"

Aster had forgotten one thing.

He did not know the exact number of the enemies.

If they were being controlled then it would have made sense for one to be waiting on the entrance, bidding its time.

He had overlooked it.

And the claw protruding from his chest was proof of that.