Bare Knuckle Beatdown.

John had an idea he hoped would work, but needed to lead the creature closer to water.

The air around it is getting colder, is it drawing in all the heat?

His thoughts were interrupted by Kolir firing an arrow at the creature, the arrow bounced off but it provided a moment for John to approach the creature and punch it hard.

The creature swiped at John with it's claws, the wind up was large so John stepped away to avoid. The creature seemed to become enraged and began to chase John at significant speed.

"Perfect, follow me closely you big dumb bastard."

The creature trailed John closely as he searched for a body of water, discovering a river ahead of him through the trees.

As John started towards the river at full speed the creature tackled John, he managed to roll away from the creature and threw a punch at it. The creature caught John's punch in its hand and began to form a layer of ice over Johns arm that encased it.

John turned and ran, cracking the ice on his arm as he got closer to the river.

He could hear the creature run after him, howling maniacally.

"Focus on the water. Focus on the water."

John approached the water at his full speed and turned to see the creature following closely behind.

"Now I'm here, how do I push the fucker in?"

A claw came towards John's face at speed as he barely dodged, throwing a punch to the creatures side to counter.

"If it hits me I'm fucked!"

More swipes were taken at John as he frantically tried to dodge and counter the creature.

John eventually decided to fight the creature close quarters until it presented an opportunity, he knew it would be hard for him to damage it at all without using the river.

Claws dug into John's wrists as the creature grabbed him, his arms froze from the wrist up which left him helpless as his stomach was slashed deeply by the creature.

John stumbled back and smashed his left arm against his right, breaking the ice and freeing his arms as he punched at the creature.

A barrage of blows was exchanged between the two, John landing hits more consistently and eventually managing to stun the undead with a blow to it's head.

"There you go you motherfucker!"

John threw a heavy punch at the creatures chest before punching it again in the head. John brought out his left axe and swung at the creature's side, shattering his axe which froze on contact but embedding a piece into the creature.

The creature was finished off when John kicked it heavily and sent the creature flying back into the river.

"Those crystals you're made off are very heavy even in small chunks, guess a big dense bastard like you will sink to the bottom."

The creature sank into the river as the water around it froze solid, encasing the figure in ice completely and incapacitating it.

"You draw in heat, which means the ice around you won't ever get warm enough to melt. You're shit out of luck."

John walked away from the river and sat next to a tree, he had nothing to use to clean his wounds or bandage them and he knew he would be in serious danger if left untreated.

As John thought about a way to escape his situation, loud thudding could be heard approaching him quickly.

John barely managed to hide in a bush before a faceless humanoid entity approached the river on all fours.

The creature was no less than 12 feet tall and had stiched together patches of grey skin, its face lacked eyes or any other discernible features and its approach was not impeded by any obstacle. The creature travelled at a fixed pace towards the river, smashing anything under its hands and feet.

The giant creature smashed the river and carried the crystal undead away with it.

That has to be related to the lich, a monster like that can't be natural...

John was thankful that the creature didn't spot him, laying down to rest and closing his eyes.

Waking up in a pool of his own blood led John to believe he was on the brink of death, but his still present wounds were no longer bleeding.

He rose and checked the slashes on his stomach, finding that the wounds had seemingly began to heal.

So, I heal faster? But even if the wound wasn't deep, it looks to be about nighttime so I can't heal THAT fast.

John knew that the danger of infection would still be present and that he had to try and return to the others.

I'm one axe down but I can still defend myself against most things I'd say.

The night approached quickly as John moved back towards the ruined village, finding small rabit like animals which followed him.

John eventually found himself back at the village and stumbled back into the building where the others were taking refuge, leading a train of rabbits behind him as he collapsed.

He didn't know how long he slept for but when he woke the sun was up, Kolir was the first to greet him and was apparently the one who had healed his wounds.

"So, these things are gonna follow me?"

Kolir nodded before correcting John.

"Thing, they are of one soul but numerous bodies. They can split and recombine at will, a useful ability for evading predators."

John looked down at the large train of rabbits that seemed to obediently follow him.

"But why me? And are they intelligent at all?"

Kolir again corrected John.

"Not they, it. It likely picked you because it witnessed you fighting the undead and saw you as a strong master to follow. They can be intelligent if it splits and matures enough, all of its abilities rise with time and splitting."

John was satisfied with Kolir's lecture and so got up to stretch, hoping to buy new abilities and work on a plan for getting the group to safety.

Buying new skills is long overdue.