Wendigo Chain Part 2

Sunlight shines through the trees, shifting with the light breeze. The forest is calm, and the sounds of nature abound. ATCHOO The sudden noise breaks the calm, followed by the voice of a complaining demon. "What are we doing here? I'm still sick too..."

The angel answers without stopping, his pace slow but determined. "We are hunting, of course, that's why we are in the forest."

Sephidrac starts with a raised voice but quickly lowers it to barely above a whisper. "But I'm sick! Why am I even here?"

Holy Magic gathers in Liam's hand as he mutters under his breath, then it dissipates. "Because I need you for something. Also, it's good experience, and I don't mean just the system kind, what would you do if monsters attacked the village?"

The demon shivers at the thought. "Run and hide! I can't fight, I have the undead for that."

"But your undead are pretty much useless without you. Once you run away, they are just mindless at best and simply inanimate at worst. You need to give them orders, and those orders need to be appropriate for the situation. But don't worry, I don't expect you to fight on the frontlines; in fact, I don't expect you to do anything much today. Just stand behind me, or hide behind a tree, but you need to look at what happens."

"Why? What do I need to see? This place gives me the creeps." Sephidrac looks around warily, every subtle movement making him pause.

"Everything, really, you need to get used to monsters. But today, you just need to be there so you can get better undead. The one I already found was needed for research, so we can get more today."

The confusion is plain to see on the demon's face. "What more powerful undead? Boars? We have plenty of those-"

A sharp howl cuts through the sentence. "No, we're here for wolves." Liam spreads his wings to cover the demon behind him, reaching into one to pull out a sword while muttering under his breath Firewall "Get ready, it's showtime" Battle Soundtrack

A single wolf appears in front of the pair from the bushes, several howls resonate in the woods around them, signaling that the rest of the pack is approaching. Flames surround Sephidrac, scaring the demon as much as the wolf. The animal stares down the angel, approaching at an angle to search for an opening. Liam smirks Bless, a holy aura surrounds him. The wolf pounces first, going for the neck as animals are used to doing. Liam steps aside and counters with a slash; the wolf is hit on the side, the wound sizzles. The next pounce comes faster than expected. The angel attempts to dodge, but his leg gets caught on the fangs as they fly past. The pain is manageable thanks to the blessing, but the wound still stings. "The stat difference hits hard. I remember how to move, but my body doesn't answer." Focusing his magic in the blade, Liam stabs the wolf in the side, the flames flare, and light intensifies. The wolf attempts to get free, but the angel simply lets go of the weapon; the remaining mana keeps it burning.

As the wolf slumps to the ground, the demon behind the wall of flames looks anywhere but at the battle in front of him. What he sees is more frightening. "L-Liam! There are a lot more of those things!"

The angel looks around as he retrieves the sword from the now dead wolf. "They got here faster than predicted, or I just took too long. The firewall will not last much longer, and they will brave the flames anyway if they are hungry enough after a while. I guess I have no choice." Liam reaches into his wing with his free hand to pull out a second sword identical to the first. "I didn't want to do this. Abbadon, support!" Red windows spring to life as a shrill laughter fills the angel's head.

Abbadon

HAHA! Finally, you call upon me. Let's show these pests what the Demon Lord is capable of! Slaughter them all!

"I'm not the- Ah fuck it. Just do your thing!" The windows multiply and fly out; they surround the unaware wolves and settle there, following their movements.

Support Active

They are like open books, lowly creatures unaware of the danger they face. Torturing them would not be satisfying; just end them quickly so that we may move on to better prey.

"Sephidrac, if the wall of fire disappears before I'm done with them, run." The first wolf pounces, the windows converge on its side forming a line, the angel follows the guide, the wolf is cut as it flies past, it lands roughly and starts rolling around trying to put out the flames. No time for rest, another attack from the remaining wolves, one jumps up as the windows converge on its belly, the other goes for the legs with windows spreading across its back. Liam follows the guide; the jumping wolf impales itself on the outstretched sword as he slashes the one below with the other; the weight of the wolf stuck on his sword unbalances him, giving the lower wolf a chance to get a bite in. Pain shoots to the angel's head, the blessing is running out, but still dulls it for now, gritting his teeth, he reverses the grip on his free sword and stabs downwards, right into the window over the wolf's skull. The flames behind him are fading; three wolves remain, Liam doesn't bother extracting the swords from his victims, simply letting go of them to retrieve more from his wings.

The demon is trembling in fear, but looks around him at the lowering flames. He sees the corpses of the wolves on the ground and begins chanting. "Please work."

Focusing on one wolf, the angel goes on the offensive, using his wings to rush the animal before it can react. Two slashes hit the front joints simultaneously, the windows move from the area just hit to the back of the wolf in a cross pattern, another attack. The other wolves react and jump up, one goes for an arm and the other attacks the leg already bitten. Liam's reaction is quick but imprecise, one of the wolves is sent flying while the other bites the blade. After a struggle, the angel manages to stab the wolf in the chest, flaring up both swords to finish it off. Liam falls to his knees in exhaustion, supporting himself on his swords, a bigger window appears in front of him with the strangely worried face of his bloodthirsty advisor.

Behind You!

The angel turns around just in time to see a wolf in the air. He braces for impact, but the wolf is intercepted by another wolf. In the now extinguished circle of fire, Sephidrac is chanting as more of the wolves are surrounded by dark energy, one more gets up and joins the literal dogpile.

Abbadon

Lord, those unliving mutts are stealing your kill!

Stumbling to his feet, the angel replies. "I already hit it, it's gonna give me EXP anyway. And whatever they kill counts as his kill, he needs the EXP too." With unsteady breaths, he casts Bless again, refreshing the duration, followed by Purify to disinfect the wounds. As Liam almost trips, a system message appears near him.

Level Up!

You reached level 5
You have 18 unspent Stat Points
You gained 2 skills
Your Swordmanship reached level [Error]
Your Dual Wielding reached level [Error]
Your Pain Resistance reached level 10/100
As it should be, you will be ruling over the lowly masses in no time, Lord.

"Abbadon, shut up. More problems, this system is more of a mess now than it was before. I will have to look into it later." After taking a few steadying breaths and letting the adrenaline flow out, he adds. "And thank you, you were good. Remind me to check the skills when things calm down." The characteristic shrill laugh fills Liam's mind before the window disappears, giving him peace. He slowly makes his way to the discarded weapons to retrieve them, a couple more undead wolves rush past him to join the others. "Hey... Sephi, it's over; they all died."

Stopping his chant, the demon looks around. "Wha... wait what?"

"Look over there, they already got the last one, not much remains of it now. That's what I meant by giving the right orders, they won't stop until you tell them to."

Sephidrac looks at the carnage unfolding a few meters away, he gags a couple of times but manages to scream out a "STOP!", more as a general feeling than an order, but it works. "I can't believe that just happened. We could have died!"

"Not really, we could have been badly hurt, but we would have been fine. You could have also used the first risen wolf to run away, by riding on that, you would be as fast as them, and your wolf doesn't get tired."

The demon looks at the young man in front of him, dumfounded. "How do you even come up with these things?"

"Just comes naturally, I guess. Also practice, a lot of practice." The last part of the sentence is in an unusually serious tone for the normally almost whimsical angel.

A bit taken aback, the demon tries to brush it off. "Anyway, we got what you wanted, right? We can go back now, right?"

"I was planning to capitalize on the level up to kill a couple more packs, but I guess it's too much for him. Better go back. Fine, yes, we can go back. Try riding one of the wolves, I wasn't joking about that, it could save your life one day, so better get used to it now." As Liam goes to take a step, his legs just don't move; they almost give out. "Uh, guess I'm doing worse than I thought. I can't let him see that; he's already struggling as is. Well then, I will fly back at low altitude, follow me with the wolves, maybe catch something on the way, you do have a pack of predators at your command for a while at least."

Too distracted by attempting to ride on a wolf Sephidrac doesn't notice the angel's condition. After a bit of time choosing the less injured wolf and a bit more getting on without falling, the necromancer is in motion, and the angel takes off after him, his wings answering better than his legs at the moment.


The sun is low on the horizon by the time Liam lands near the village, the wolves are not far behind, and the demon falls off when they stop abruptly, making no apparent attempt at getting up. A small crowd gathers to see what the commotion is about. Taro looks up from his work to see a pack of wolves and Liam attempting to calm the crowd, and decides to get closer. "There is nothing to look at, just a necromancer and his zombies; everything is under control."

A bit worried for the still-sick demon, Taro decides to get over his nervousness. "Is he fine? He was sick yesterday."

"Of course, don't worry, demons don't die that easily. You're fine, right?"

Sephidarc weakly raises an arm to make a thumbs-up. "I'm alive." The voice cracks a bit at the end.

"Man, looking at us, it seems he's the one who got almost mauled by wolves instead of me. He just needs rest, and maybe mental therapy, but who doesn't nowadays? Anyway, I was just looking for you." The angel says with a strangely creepy smile. "Sephidrac, ask your new friends to carry you if you can't get up, I guess I'll have to check on you later. Now, where were we?" As the demon mumbles something, one of the wolves picks him up and runs off.

The dwarf seems taken aback. "Me? Myself?" He says while gesturing.

"Yes, I think. You are Egawa Taro, character name Rip Vandernail, class Rune Forger, correct?" Liam's eyes seem to glow with eerie light as he speaks.

After a moment of confusion, Taro answers. "Yes, that's me. You know about me?"

"I know about every single NPC in the village and most players. Name, class, real name when possible, skills and abilities. Knowledge is power, and information is a tool. That said, I didn't gather it all myself this time; it was a group effort. Anyway, I heard you have an interesting rune, the Smart Missile rune. I need you to place it on a couple of things."

"Sure, what do you need? Arrows? Spears? I can place it on most weapons."

The angel points to the stockpile of stone blocks. "Those, about a dozen if you can make it, but even just a couple would be a great help."

The dwarf scratches his head and thinks about it for a bit. "I could, I think. But why? Nobody can launch those in the village."

Liam smiles in his classic way. "Good question, and the answer is, we don't need to. The Wendigo will do it for us! I asked around; it should be strong enough to do it, and it did throw miners at each other while hunting. The rune has quirky programming. As long as your advisor targets the Wendigo, the rocks will try to hit the monster." Liam pauses, continuing with a more serious tone. "It's also just one layer of traps, and a pretty last-ditch effort one as well. It does require you to be close enough to activate the runes, so it may be dangerous."

"I'll do it, I want to help." Taro looks determined; the angel is a bit surprised.

"I will prepare contingencies, so nobody should die. Not on my watch." A window appears in front of Liam with a reminder. "Speaking of, duty calls. If you carve the runes, they are less likely to be disrupted. Now you should probably rest, it's almost night. See you around."

Liam walks away from the dwarf calmly as he waves. "Bye, Lovxl." Taro waves back.

Level up reminder

Unspent points
2 skills
Swordmanship 10/100
Dual Wielding 10/100

"It seems my abilities are back to normal. Just like in the game the, progress skyrockets when in real danger compared to training, the pain is also more real. Show skills."

New Skills

Healing Bullet(Basic)
Improved Forge of Magic

"Of course, I hate you system. This does prove the progression is different here, but still follows the same rules. A shame, I liked my skill route, now I may need to learn a lot more skills separately." The angel dismisses the windows while he walks through the village, the atmosphere is less tense but still not back to normal, the panic has passed, but the threat remains. Reaching the border of the village in the direction of the quarry, Liam gets ready to take off, but a voice from behind stops him.

"Where do you think you're going?" Yaofan is leaning against a tree, arms crossed and a slightly more annoyed look than usual.

"You know... just a walk in the woods, with my wings." The angel flaps his wings as if to demonstrate.

"We have a curfew, because of the very dangerous monster in that direction, as I'm sure you're aware of." Her glare doesn't relent.

"But it can't cross the water, right? And it can't fly. I'm not gonna fight it by myself."

The vagrant looks less annoyed and more exasperated now. "I wouldn't put it past you, I know what you did today, and what you used to do."

"I'm still alive, aren't I? And I really don't plan to fight that by myself, I don't even know what it is. That's what I want to fix; I need information. I promise to stay out of danger; you can keep an eye on me if it makes you feel better."

Yaofan stares at him a bit longer before relenting. "Five minutes, if the Wendigo isn't there, we come back. No crossing the river. Are we clear?"

"As you wish. Do you want a lift? I can carry people now."

"No, I can't hide in the sky. Now hurry, I have things to do." The vagrant disappears after finishing her sentence. Liam just smirks and takes off, sure that she will be able to follow him.


Landing in the bushes, the angel looks to the other side of the river. The sun is down and only the smallest hints of red color the skyline, nothing appears to move yet. Hiding his hand behind his folded wings, Liam starts creating a weapon, the light swirls and bends, but instead of becoming solid, it remains malleable. Delicate moves change the shape of the weapon before it finalizes. A voice from behind him speaks with a tired tone.

"No fighting, remember?"

The angel doesn't miss a beat; he was expecting it. "This is just practice. I remember my promise, don't worry, I'm even hidden."

"Badly, but it will have to do. What's the practice for?"

"You can call it bias if you will. This isn't really the time or place for an in-depth lesson, but just know that the system is not random, and what I'm doing is manipulating it in my favor. It took me three characters to figure out how it works, but I do now."

Yaofan looks unimpressed and a bit confused, not that Liam can see her. "I don't know what it is, but you are like a beacon; you should stop."

After a couple more motions, the weapon settles. What remains is a thin blade in the shape of a flame, similar to a strangely shaped raipier. "Fine. Here, you can keep the sword." The angel offers the sword to a random tree to his side. After a moment, a hand extends from it to take the sword.

"I am still not letting you fight today."

After some time spent in silence, Liam is suddenly shoved behind a tree as a figure appears on the other side of the river. The vagrant motions the angel to be quiet from behind another tree before apparently blending in with it. Liam opens a window and types the name of his advisor in chat. "Abbadon, scan that creature." The ball of darkness laughs and disappears, then a second window opens with an image of the monster that slowly gets more detailed. More typing: "Share the data with the other advisors, I know you can do it. Don't bully them." After some gesturing from the angel, Yaofan appears and whispers close to him.

"What? I can't read you strange glitch signs."

"We can go. I have what I came for."

"It's gonna see you, even if it can't cross we don't know what it can do."

"Go back by yourself then, I can make sure it doesn't see me." Seeing a green blur move away, Liam's hand starts glowing as he uses the other one to type in a new window. "Lock on the Wendigo, keep the report for later." The light intensifies as the angel gets out from behind the tree, several warning windows appear as the light becomes blinding, a horrible screech is heard in the night as Liam speeds away, then silence. Only the sound of wind in the leaves is heard as the angel speeds into the air while cleaning up his view from the warnings. "I'm glad the old Blessing layering trick works here too. It's way too expensive to use in combat but I don't need to learn Light magic to run away."


After a brief meeting with Yaofan to pove he didn't stay behind to fight, Liam is now in his tent writing on bark. Several windows surround him with information slowly scrolling on them. Abbadon bounces from one to the other while laughing. "That monster was not from the game, and I doubt it's from this world either. I know that kind of monster, made to scare rather than fight. Tomorrow I will distribute swords to put in the traps. I also have to set up my own. Abbadon, go to sleep."

WhY? We don'T need SlEep. We NeEd PoWer.

"I do need sleep, I'm not to that level yet. I can't get more power if I die. I will just keep researching until I pass out, that's efficient enough." The windows close, only the progress bar remains, slowly filling as the angel writes. "I need to start gaining new skills, maybe I should get ritual magic, it can be useful for later. I guess it's also a good way to teach the new girl that skills are not only learned on level up."


Exploit corner

BLessing Layering: By repeatedly casting Blessing in a short amount of time the visual effects layer on each other and quickly become blinding. The Blessings don't stack, and MP is consumed, only the duration is reset. Bad mechanical use, good as a distraction.

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Pub: 03 Dec 2025 18:40 UTC

Edit: 03 Dec 2025 18:48 UTC

Views: 84