The Summoner Is Going

Translation: DarkHeartedAlchemist
Editor: Weasalopes

Thankfully the effects are not as severe as to impede our battle capabilities. Senki was still able to attack, although he had to hold his head with one hand.

Firing my spell at Wendigo"s open mouth, I slam my Staff between his eyes.
Was that a Critical Hit?
But the response is different than usual: he just closed his eyes the second before my attack hit him.
Nevertheless, that was my chance.

Senki knocked Wendigo to the ground.
As he was lying face down he straddled him and delivered blow after blow onto him.
Myself, Obsidian and Helix also joined in.
We all ganged up on him without giving him the slightest chance to defend himself, but as unsightly as it may look, that is the way of the hunt: you do what absolutely has to be done.
As we were beating him senseless, Rig climbed on top of him and once more blocked his ability to breathe until he was dead.

【Material】 Snow Beast Skin Material Quality C+ Rarity 4 Weight 4

Wendigo skin. It is difficult to process because it is thickness and hardness.

This time Wendigo"s skin dropped from him instead of bones.
It is decently heavy.
I can definitely use it to create something useful.
But I have a feeling that the processing costs are going to be quite high.
Considering both its hardness and its weight, I wonder just what kind of item will I be able to create out of it?

Continuing on the path ahead, the road kept going up and down.
The cliffs we could see on our sides were also gradually getting steeper.
The cold is also getting harder to bear, most probably due to the wind picking up.

Cold.

It"s h.e.l.lishly cold in here even with my winter clothes on.
I had no choice but to use Resist Ice on everyone.
Even with that, Rig simply turned into a yellow ball of goo.
Obsidian and Helix were mostly fine, but Heather was visibly cold.

Is that a dead end up ahead?
No, it"s just the ridge getting sharper.
I can see the route going below it.
Should we use rope to proceed further?
Ah, but there doesn"t seem to be any convenient place for us to use it.
And yet despite that, I might be able to provide a solution to our current predicament.

I jumped down by using Levitation on myself and Senki.
We even managed a soft landing despite the differences in elevation.
The problem will be going back up, but if worse comes to worst I can just use Return Home.

Down on that new path I found the third Wendigo.
Of course it was sleeping, just like everybody else.

Wendigo Lv2
Monster Target Subjugation Active
Battle Position: Ground Ice Attribute Status: Sleeping

We already know what we have to do.
We need to be quick.
Breathing is the source of the lowering temperature.
Senki and Rig are the key fighters here.

I will fight as well, that goes without saying.
This time the terrain is a cliff valley, so it is much better for us.
And there are walls our enemy could be slammed into.
I wonder if such a strategy is going to prove effective like in Gozu and Mezu"s case.

But this tactic is too risky and unsure to employ it every time.
He regained his balance sooner than I expected.
And he was filled with fighting spirit.
I thought he was just going to wave his arms around frantically, but then he surprised me again by throwing them forward.
It"s a jab attack!
So he also has gap closers in his a.r.s.enal? Talk about bothersome!

For his brute physique, his legs are rather short, so at least I don"t think we have to worry about him kicking us.
My Staff attacks have also been connecting nicely. The damage from single strikes is not that big, but at least it"s stacking in a rapid succession.
Right now I am basically using all of my senses to guide us all into the best team combo attack possible.

Senki grabbed his arms, locking them both in place where one tried to overpower the other.
Meanwhile I dashed to the back of Wendigo"s knees to deliver my strikes there, where it would presumably hurt him the most. And then…

Hitting him in the sweet spot with a spell-infused Staff. Unable to move one of his legs properly he lost his footing, as a result of which Senki drove him into a wall and smashed his fists into him when he was unable to retaliate.
And he did that many, many times.

And what about his cold breath? Nothing, since this time he was unable to deploy it at all.
Heather stopped him from doing so by shooting him in the face with a ball of acid until it melted and left nothing behind.

《【Magic Effect Expansion】 skill Level Up！》

《【Magic Range Expansion】 skill Level Up！》

《Monster Summons 『Heather』 Level Up！》

《Please allocate 1 Bonus Point to increase the value of the statistic of your choosing.》

Due to her support from the backlines Heather"s MP bar was half-empty.
If she was placed in the vanguard it would have been drained to 0 in no time.
I"ll have to take that into consideration from now on when picking her as a member of the team.

Since her AGI was increased just now, let"s put that Bonus Point into INT.

Heather Fairy Lv5 → Lv6 (↑ 1)
DEX 6
AGI 21 (↑ 1)
INT 22 (↑ 1)
STR 3
VIT 3
SPI 23

Skills:
Flying Levitation Resist Magic [Medium] MP Recovery UP [Slight] Wind Attribute Earth Attribute

Yup, those numbers are definitely good. That was a nice Level Up.
Wendigo also dropped both its skin and its bones, so the haul from that encounter was also pretty sweet.

Next, let"s try to hunt up to 3 of them.
Now I understand that Wendigo"s difficulty is on the same level as Gozu, maybe slightly higher.
They are weaker than Gozu when it comes to pure power though.
Speed-wise, they are definitely faster than both Gozu and Mezu.
Without weapons, the y didn"t feel like that much of a threat once you got to know their behaviors and patterns.
But their cold breath might be slightly problematic to deal with.
I might be able to mitigate that problem by having Rig cover my mouth, but that would leave Rig himself exposed to it.
And that was one h.e.l.l of a strong cold-based attack.
Even with my Resist Ice activated it managed to bite us in the backside pretty hard.

How about Sasquatch?
Since this is such a cold place, maybe he"s a monster of the same type as Wendigo? But is it stronger than him?
That seems very likely.
Maybe he"s on a Deva King level?

The time is now 11:00 AM.
Let"s take a break using an Instant Portal now.
We haven"t lost that much MP, but better safe than sorry.
I think that this time I"ll cook something with the Rock Salt (Holy).

* * *
Protagonist　Keith
Race　Human Male　Racial Lv16
Job　Grand Summoner Lv1
Bonus Points Remaining 26

Skills
Staff Lv13 Punch Lv10　Kick Lv10　Joint Lock Lv10　Throw Lv10　Evade Lv10　Block Lv10　Summon Magic Lv16　s.p.a.cetime Magic Lv8 Light Magic Lv9　Wind Magic Lv9　Earth Magic Lv9　Water Magic Lv9 Fire Magic Lv9　Dark Magic Lv9　Ice Magic Lv7　Lightning Magic Lv7 Tree Magic Lv7 　Dust Magic Lv7　Lava Magic Lv7　Steam Magic Lv7 Alchemy Lv6　Pharmacy Lv5　Gla.s.smaking Lv3　Woodworking Lv6 Synergy Lv11　Appraise Lv11　Identify Lv11　Discern Lv3　Cold Resistance Lv5 Grab Lv9　Horsemanship Lv9 Precise Manipulation Lv11　Jump Lv5 Acrobatics Lv1 (New！) Heat Resistant Lv6　Climb 5　Dual Wield Lv9　Disa.s.sembly Lv7 Physical Reinforcement Lv7　Mental Reinforcement Lv8　　Speedcasting Lv10 Magic Effect Expansion Lv7 (↑1) Magic Range Expansion Lv7 (↑1)

Equipment　 Staff of Torture ×2　Tonfa of Torture ×2　Capture Rod of Torture ×1 Enraged Pickaxe ×2 Silver Necklace+ ×1 Snow Leopard"s Bagh Nakh ×1 Plains Lion"s Bagh Nakh ×1 Battle Bull"s Leather Armor+ Bracelet of Torture ×1 Rampaging Horse Belt+ Backpack ×1 Item Box ×2

Items:
Survival Knife, Woodworking Tools

t.i.tles:
Old Summoner"s Pupil
Guardian of the Forest
Man of the Middle Path
Spell Archive
Hand to Hand Combat Instructor

Monster Summons:
Volff　Grey Wolf Lv4
Zangetsu　White Horse Lv2
Helix　Fighting Falcon Lv2

Obsidian　Mystic Eye Lv2→Lv3 (↑1)
DEX 13
AGI 21
INT 21
STR 14 (↑ 1)
VIT 13
SPI 21 (↑ 1)

Skills:
a.s.sault Silent Flight Farsight Night Eye Surprise Attack Detect Danger Divine Hearing Water Attribute

Jean　Black Bat Lv2
Jericho　Mud Golem Lv1
Goki　Rakshasa Lv1
Senki　Lesser Ogre Lv1
Rig　Yellow Pudding Lv1
Bunraku　Wood Puppet Lv5
Mumyo　Skeleton Lv6
Ninetails Red Fox Lv6
Heather Fairy Lv5 → Lv6 (↑ 1)
DEX 6
AGI 21 (↑ 1)
INT 22 (↑ 1)
STR 3
VIT 3
SPI 23

Skills:
Flying Levitation Resist Magic [Medium] MP Recovery UP [Slight] Wind Attribute Earth Attribute

Tigris Tiger Lv4
Creep Viper Lv3
Zuiun Mist Lv1