A brief moment of endless stillness spun across the emerging battlefield. Wendigos stood frozen for the Named to give the command. Their teeth bared in heated anticipation. Their fists clenched spasmodically as barely suppressed shivers of hunger traveled up their arms. On the other side, Chilly stood still. His gaze focused on the middle distance. Countless thoughts shot through his mind and were just as quickly lost in the turmoil as battle-calm descended.

The moment extended. The faint huff of heavy breathing a rough undertone to the silence.

Ice cracked.

Both sides burst into motion.

At thirty meters between them, a double activation of Flame Dash cut the distance in half. Chilly materialized already sprinting. Before him, Irradiated Earth spread, engulfing the front ranks of the beasts like the plague. Skin sagged, and fur waned as the Irradiated Earth sapped the resistances of the beasts. Black and purple sparks of balefire ignited as Smoldering Embers caught on the matted fur of the undead.

Howls of rage and pain suffused the tundra, the gentle sound of crucifixes cracking and purple miasma popping a grim undertone to the sound.

The Wendigos charged. Contrary to Chilly's usual stratagem, he continued narrowing the distance. Getting into melee range was dangerous, but with Pious Path effectively out of action, he needed the extra damage from Star Fuel and Incinerate for this fight. Taking out a few low-level beasts was barely a victory. The Wendigo could recover those numbers in moments of recruiting. What he needed to do now was to cripple the Named’s army so badly that it wouldn’t dare hunt him any longer.

To do that, he needed to kill its minions that couldn’t so easily be replaced.

Its lieutenants.

In a flash, Chilly was amidst the slavering bipedal deer. Claws flashed at him, as he danced back, using Flame Dash to teleport down the line and prevent encirclement by the superior force.

Streamers of purple plasma ate into the line of Wendigos, leaving dark, cauterized gashes, as Chilly paused to soak the front lines with a quick blast of Incinerate. Wendigo screamed, their bodies feeding the conflagration only to get reduced to less than dust as the balefire ate their flesh remorselessly.

A Wendigo lunged at him, its claws scraping hard across Chilly’s chest—

Spoiler :

—and causing Star Fuel’s streamers of plasma to briefly flicker before Chilly’s life snapped back to full. He grimaced and danced backward. The Wendigos closed in and he vanished in another flare of bright fire directly behind the group of cannibalistic monstrosities.

The brief instant of confusion at his disappearance allowed him to channel Incinerate in a wide arc, lighting bodies aflame and using the time to scan the battlefield. He Who Walks Behind stood imperiously, where it had been the moment the fighting started. At his side four high leveled Wendigos crouched silently, their long arms scraping against the cold, hard ground with barely restrained frustration.

Chilly panned his gaze across the battlefield. A flood of notifications scrolled across his vision until he found a level fifteen Wendigo coordinating the weaker creatures on the far side of the battle.

He dropped Incinerate just as two industrious Wendigos slashed him with their claws.

Spoiler :

The blows barely stung, and the meager momentum behind the claws failed to unbalance him with his high knockback resistance. Despite that, he fell back, his legs pumping to keep ahead of the wall of thrashing limbs and open jaws.

He vanished in a flare of bright fire, appearing closer to the far side of the battlefield. Chain of Subjugation whipped out and wrapped around the level fifteen lieutenant as he began to strafe around it at the edge of Star Fuel’s range. Purple plasma joined with flickering black embers as the Wendigo lit up like a torch.

The low leveled wendigos protecting the lieutenant fell practically immediately, but the lieutenant was made of tougher stuff. It shrugged off the assault, and charged him, unleashing a quick double slash—

Spoiler :

—that barely tickled. Star Fuel flickered as he was briefly reduced to less than full life. He grimaced and jumped back, out of range of another slash, then Flame Dashed behind the Wendigo; a trail of burning ground appeared beneath the beast.

A pulse of red flashed down the length of the ethereal chain and suddenly the fire engulfing the beast redoubled in power.

This far from He Who Walks Behind, Pious Path managed to cover the immediate area with Consecrated Ground. With Irradiated Earth, Consecrated Ground, and Burning Ground smoldering underneath, the black embers in the air practically choked the air with fire.

Chilly stopped, spun, and channeled Incinerate as streamers of plasma raced to envelop the Wendigo. Nearly three thousand mixed fire and chaos damage ripped through the Wendigo, completely overwhelming its already irradiated resistances, and visibly flaying dead meat off its bones.

A wild gleam sparked in its eyes, and it lunged at Chilly, claws, and teeth raised in a desperate last bid for survival.

Chilly contemptuously dropped Incinerate for a fraction of a second and let himself fall to the ground. The scorching ray flickered for a second as the Wendigo sailed over him and collided with another charging wendigo. They collapsed in a tangle of burning limbs, the purple and black fire completely consuming their flesh until bones gleamed in the light.

Chilly rolled to his feet and spun, taking several claws to the back—

Spoiler :

—as the lieutenant finally died.

Chilly grinned, just as a heavy boulder of mixed ice and rock crashed into his back—

Spoiler :

—causing Star Fuel to flicker as he vanished in a flare of bright fire to escape the encirclement. He landed, smoothly transitioning into a dead sprint as he struggled to outpace the long-legged giants as he scanned the battlefield once more.

Eyes narrowed, he changed direction, making sure to run close enough to the horde that Star Fuel ate at their forerunners. Rocks flew through the air, most missing, though some clipped him, or crashed right in front of his feet, causing him to stumble. Countless Wendigo floundered and fell as the damage over time from Smoldering Embers began to seriously eat into their life pools. Now, even a second within Star Fuel’s range was enough to cause the level eleven and twelves to succumb.

Chilly found a particularly low-leveled section of the horde and turned into it. Sharp claws and even sharper teeth grazed him—

Spoiler :

—before he vanished in a flare of bright fire and appeared right behind the next lieutenant. A chain of gleaming metal whipped out and wrapped around the Wendigo. It snarled but recoiled in shock and pain as three types of ground effects bloomed, banishing the Desecrated Ground beneath its feet and Smoldering Embers flared so bright as to leave afterimages behind.

Chilly ducked low, sweeping his shields hard into the Wendigo’s ankles and causing the tall beast to flip over. It landed hard, momentarily stunned as Chilly mounted it and unleashed a blast of Incinerate right down its gullet.

It flailed, claws—

Spoiler :

—and teeth—

Spoiler :

—scraping against Chilly’s shields but to no avail. A pulse of grim light flashed down the length of the chains surrounding the wendigo and the fire intensified. In a moment, balefire consumed the hard bone of its claws and its teeth cracked and crumbled under the intense heat.

A massive boulder obliterated off his back—

Spoiler :

—and despite his knockback resistance, the breath was knocked out of him and he was thrown off the vanishing corpse. He transitioned the fall into a roll and vanished in a flare of bright fire to throw off aggro.

Blind as he was, he appeared right on top of a level thirteen and was instantly mauled by the crazed beast.

Spoiler :

He grimaced and channeled Incinerate, as he and the beast fell to the ground in a mess of struggling limbs. More Wendigos piled on, and his back was shredded by their thrashing claws.

Spoiler :

He kicked the undead hard in the stomach only to nearly gag, as his foot went right through the soft, half-rotten flesh and got trapped within the creature's ribcage. Claws lashed out at him, and his shoulder flared in pain as the Wendigo finally managed to sink its needle-sharp teeth directly into his clavicle.

Spoiler :

He channeled Incinerate, desperately struggling with his trapped foot, just as Flame Dash went off cooldown, and he vanished in a flare of bright fire.

He landed hard on the rough ground, as behind him the Wendigo finally succumbed to the fire as the third ground effect bloomed to life beneath it.

Gasping, Chilly bobbed to his feet and channeled Incinerate at the closest Wendigos. His life recovered at a blistering pace, and within a couple of seconds, streamers of plasma joined the embers and fire in pushing back the Wendigos.

Essences tinkled on the ground by the dozens, as a rock the size of his chest shattered against his shields and forced him back.

Spoiler :

He stumbled, canceled Incinerate, and used another instance of Flame Dash to escape even farther away. He landed smoothly, gulped, and sprinted away, buying time for his life to recover once more.

The Wendigo army floundered. Their ranks in turmoil as several important guiding figures failed to reign in their subordinates. A full quarter of the remaining wendigos blinded chased after Chilly, falling in droves to his domain left in his wake, while some even split off into roving bands that immediately fell upon a distant pillar of red crystal.

Chilly slowed, and quickly mopped up the monsters that chased him, then turned to regard the mass of shifting bodies as he took a deep shuddering breath.

Somehow.

Someway.

He had survived that.

The army of Wendigos milled about, harsh bleats, and muted thuds of blows on rotting meat echoed as it fell back into formation. At the head, He Who Walks Behind emerged with four lieutenants at its side.

Chilly wearily straightened and watched in trepidation as the circle of Consecrated Ground around him deformed to accommodate the desecrated ground tainting the far side of the battlefield.

With a grunt, He Who Walks Behind jerked its bloodstained muzzle and the four wendigos shook their sharpened horns and fanned out in Chilly’s direction. Gray intestines bounced freely in the frigid wind, and open rib cages glistened wetly in the pale light, as the war forged veterans approached.

Chilly waited patiently, a savage grin spreading as the group stepped over the Irradiated Earth. Smoldering Embers caught and green mist seeped into the beasts' matted fur, visibly thinning the hair, as their resistances were stripped away by his newest skill.

The monsters burst into motion, sprinting towards him. Rocks vanished at breakneck speeds from their grips as Chilly stepped aside, ducked, and eventually vanished in a flare of bright fire to avoid the projectiles.

The Wendigos closed. Claws flashed, scraping across Chilly’s raised shields as he ducked back, to let Star Fuel burn deep welts into his assailants. A slithering chain of gleaming steel whipped out and wrapped around the first of the Wendigos. It paused but shrugged as the ethereal chain didn’t restrict its movement.

Chilly danced back, patiently letting them push him farther away from the main army, as his damage over time steadily chewed past their regeneration.

A pulse of deep red raced across the chain, and Chilly suddenly turned. He leaped forwards, bashing his heavy shields into the chained Wendigo and causing it to stumble. Then with quick use of Flame Dash, he appeared on its other side and danced around its protectors as Star Fuel ripped massive cauterized rends in its flagging flesh.

A heavy claw clipped him—

Spoiler :

—and he stumbled, just as another gleam of light raced down the chain connecting him to the first Wendigo. It floundered and collapsed as the combined damage over time effects overwhelmed it.

Chilly immediately cast another chain at the next Wendigo and ducked backward, sustaining several blows as he raced to maintain the proper distance. Every blow chunked his life and caused Star Fuel’s streamers of plasma to flag, but with his extreme life regeneration, he was back up to full almost immediately.

The Chains of Subjugation pulsed with red light, and another of the high leveled Wendigos fell.

With two down, the battle was a foregone conclusion. Without the numbers to properly surround him, Chilly danced about the monsters and refused to let them get close and surround him. Any time they did, he abused the low cooldown teleport to vanish out of their grasp and left them stumbling over the burning ground left in his wake.

Chains of Subjugation whipped out, accelerating the Wendigos’ demise. After another minute of bobbing and weaving the other two simply sank to their knees as the balefire consumed every last pound of rotting flesh.

Chilly straightened and turned to face the Named. It watched him from afar. The circle of desecrated ground at its feet uselessly pushing back his domain, but not far enough to actually help its melee minions during the battle. The glimmer of intelligence in its eye didn’t seem quite so bright anymore.

Chilly stepped forwards with a savage grin, “Oh yeah! Come on! Get some!”

The Wendigo cocked its head then chuckled, before turning and bounding away.

“Coward!” Chilly roared, “You better run!”

The army of Wendigos reluctantly turned and followed their master away.

“...better run.” Chilly huffed, putting his hands on his knees as he struggled to catch his breath.

>

>

Chilly sat down heavily. And reviewed his gains.

He had gained seven experience points during that fight. Super dangerous, but ironically the Named Wendigo had done him a favor. Collecting a bunch of high-leveled foes and gathering them all together had vastly simplified the process of acquiring experience.

Dangerous, but efficient.

Chilly chuckled, then groaned as his tired muscles twinged.

He wouldn’t have it any other way.

Chilly settled down to rest, hoping to take advantage of the Wendigo’s retreat to get some sleep, but was disappointed. Practically the moment he felt himself drift off to sleep, the hateful call of Jaws music woke him and he raged to his feet. Heart pounding and eyes wild as he scanned the horizon.

He Who Walks Behind chuckled quietly at the very edge of his domain, then retreated until it was but a speck on the horizon.

Chilly clenched a fist until he felt joints pop. He was tempted to chase after the Wendigo. Sorely tempted, but knew that it would be futile. The beast was faster than him. Maybe if Chaeli was here, she could harass it enough to allow him to catch up, but all alone, there was no chance that he could kill the beast before it used its bullshit movement skill to just vanish into the tundra.

Chilly sighed, quickly blasting a wayward group of Wendigos before stretching and popping his back. He had pulled all-nighters before, and he could do it again. For now, he would continue hunting for a little bit. He only needed two more level fifteens to reach level sixteen then he could go back to Teluria and stock up and rest.

>

Chilly sighed and then began to trudge through the frozen tundra. The large mountain range, a foggy outline behind him.

It took nearly until the reset for him to find another level fifteen. The number of high-leveled enemies had dropped significantly for some reason, and all that he could see were level fourteen and below. The higher leveled foes had never been that common, but now it was almost as if they were gone entirely.

Either way, he did eventually manage to find a small cluster of crustaceans containing a level fifteen huddled around a sorry red crystal. Elated, he stepped close and allowed his damage over time to begin to tick as he dodged and tanked the barrage of fire missiles unleashed from their claws.

The Chain of Subjugation lashed out, and Chilly calmly waited for all the weaker shrimp to succumb before he stepped close and let Starfire Aegis finish it off.

Just then the Jaws theme began to play, and Chilly whirled around and cursed. He was getting thoroughly sick of that music, and the obnoxious Wendigo that just would not leave him alone!

Before he could locate the source, a boulder whizzed by and squashed the vastly weakened Pistol Shrimp into a stain of gore against the red crystal it was defending.

Chilly whirled back, blasted the corpse with Incinerate but watched in horror as no experience notification popped up.

“The piece of shit stole my kill.” He said in disbelief. The Jaws theme slowly faded out. “He stole my...kill.”

Blood rushed to his head, as it felt like there should be steam blasting out of his ears. He was normally a calm person, preferring to tackle problems methodically and without anger. Even when fighting he held no malice towards the monsters that he killed. They were mindless husks. Merely personified challenges he had to overcome in order to acquire essences and experience.

He Who Walks Behind, though. That Wendigo was different. It had crossed a line.

Chilly spat onto the hard ground, and stubbornly continued his march, determined to hit level sixteen and kill the stupid Wendigo once and for all.

>

The reset came and went, and Chilly abused the sudden influx of monsters to find a level fifteen Pistol Shrimp. This time he carefully strafed right outside of Star Fuel’s range until Chains of Subjugation had ticked enough times that even a second under his combined abilities would kill it. Then he Flame Dashed directly on top of the Pistol Shrimp and protected it with his body as Incinerate and Star Fuel joined the assault.

A rock shattered off his back, as his quarry vanished beneath him.

Chilly pulled his face out of the boiling water and let out a manic laugh.

“Suck it, Wendigo!” He cried up into the sky. His limbs were like lead, completely depleted of energy after several days of activity without rest. “You can slow me down, but you can’t stop me!”

Several minutes passed this way, with Chilly relaxing in the steadily cooling pool of steaming water. He was at the end of his rope and he knew it. Physical harm, hunger, thirst. All were bad, but somehow it was being tired that really made it difficult to keep going. The exhaustion ate at his willpower, and the knowledge that he couldn’t sleep without the Named Wendigo coming close to wake him was somehow worse.

He was on a time limit though and needed to make the most of each excursion. He couldn’t head back the moment he encountered some trouble. Each return trip would take most of a reset to make, and he didn’t have enough time to take many of them if he wanted to hit level nineteen before the week’s end.

With a determined grunt, Chilly rolled out of the pool of lukewarm water, wrapping Starfire Aegis about himself for warmth as he scanned the landscape. It was slowly changing the farther he got from Mount Teluria. The frozen tundra was warming, with more red crystals and their guardian shrimp as far as the eye can see. Packs of Wendigo were rare, almost non-existent, though Chilly couldn’t tell if that was a result of the Named, or simply that more shrimp spawned on this side of the Frozen Wastes.

Ahead, the land ended abruptly, with many little figures milling around what looked like a cliff. Behind them, colossal red crystals jutted out of the horizon and cast red shadows over the small figures.

Chilly rolled his shoulders and began to walk. He would check out what was going on, and then he would return. No matter his convictions, he couldn’t continue. The degens from his status ailments were beginning to catch up to him, and he was tired enough to start making some serious mistakes.

Besides, it was likely that after all that walking, he had finally reached the other end of the Frozen Wastes. Another zone would be amazing, as it likely contained higher leveled monsters that he could farm away from the home turf of He Who Walks Behind. Monsters he would farm once he came back, that is.

As he approached, the figures in the distance resolved into the army of Wendigos dragging rocks into a wide barrier right before the cliff's edge. The faint sound of the Jaws theme began to play, and Chilly spotted a slightly taller than average Wendigo overseeing the work.

Stones were chiseled out of the landscape and dragged to the large wide wall that was thick enough to allow several Wendigo to man the ramparts simultaneously. Already the stone wall was two meters high and growing, but it seemed taller than that since the quarried stone before it made the ground sink down another two meters. Soon it would get tall enough that a single use of Flame Dash wouldn’t allow him to reach the top.

That wasn’t what worried Chilly, however. Along the wall, on raised platforms to provide additional line of sight, dozens of Pistol Shrimp stood at attention. Their cruel claws opened threateningly as they scanned the horizon. The moment they spotted Chilly, a ripple went through the monsters and Chilly distinctly saw He Who Walks Behind turn its antlered head to face him.

Then, contrary to all expectations, spouts of fire launched into the sky from each of the mounted Pistol Shrimp.

Chilly gaped at the arcing projectiles, then turned to identify one of the Pistol Shrimp.