'Heavy Impact'

'Mud Boulder'

'Rock Barrier'

Emily fought on, using every trick she could muster. She tripped the creature's feet at every possible moment with 'Rock Barrier', hurled numerous 'Mud Boulder' to slow it down, and used 'Heavy Impact' to not be pushed off by the creature's attack.

Her staff anima was cracking from the intense melee. She heard her bones creaking; if they could scream, they would from the aching pain that reverberated through her. The power of the Wendigo Alpha, with its bone armor, was overwhelming.

"Kuh." Emily spat out blood and wiped her sweat-drenched forehead. "Four more seconds."

She dove straight in to keep this monster occupied, to prevent it from switching targets to Oscar. She had no idea what Oscar was planning, but she believed in him that he would end it after five seconds. Thus, she continued to go full throttle, not letting the creature have any breathing room.

Her wild onslaught of earth and heavy staff started to put dents in the Wendigo Alpha's bone armor. Some spots were cracked from the repeated attacks. It was also breathing more faintly as though it was tiring out.

The bone armor of the Wendigo Alpha required an extensive amount of Ein and constantly burned its Ein to keep up this display of power. But despite that, Emily held on, counting down the seconds to her victory.

"Two more seconds!" Her staves, clad in 'Heavy Impact', cross-attacked the Wendigo Alpha from both sides. She got this idea from watching Gilbert's 'Heavenly Cross Thunder'. The massive weight of her cross-attack bore down on the Wendigo Alpha.

"OOOOOOO." The Wendigo Alpha exerted strength, visibly tearing its muscles to slam Emily away.

"Even against my massive weight advantage, it can push me back?" Emily cursed as she struggled to push back, but her Ein was running out, and 'Heavy Impact' lost its effect. The next thing she knew, she was sent spiraling through the air, crashing into the mushroom tree, and getting covered in blues spores.

"Hahahaha." Emily laughed through choking blood as the Wendigo Alpha closed. "Zero seconds. You lose, you abominable gorilla."

"Correct. It's all over now." Oscar stepped in front of Emily, radiating confident air that comforted Emily. His arm was covered in a metallic drill with an extremely sharp tip. "You've worked hard, Emily. Thank you."

Emily laughed heartily. "Just end it."

The Wendigo Alpha was mid-charge when it noticed Oscar had popped out of nowhere. Its nostrils flared from seeing the human that caused it so much trouble returning. The other was out of commission, so only this prey stood before it.

Oscar activated Adamasreis and took a stance similar to Phillip's 'Third Step'. The ground trembled underneath him as his feet dug into the dirt. In a final burst of strength, Oscar charged like a torpedo at his target, the Wendigo Alpha.

'Dual Awaken'

'Shattering Wave'

'Steel Drill'

The blue Ein flowed and concentrated into the tip of the 'Steel Drill'. It was incredibly concentrated, heating up and burning through the air. The tip became a dense sapphire blue, indicating the sheer amount of Ein put in.

"Die!" Oscar shouted. His drill wreathed in Ein set itself upon the Wendigo Alpha. This last attack contained everything he had. The very air around it was spiraling out of control.

The Wendigo Alpha showed what could be described as an expression of horror plastered across its pale, sunken face. The heated, sharp drill instantly broke its claws and shredded its hands into bits. Even the bone armor that boasted incredible defense shattered into pieces.

It could not even think of running as in the next moment, the drill came upon its chest.

Oscar plunged the drill through, easily tearing through flesh and bone. A mass of blood and gore exploded out the back of the Wendigo Alpha, who began whimpering as its lesser cousins did before it killed them. Never had it imagined it would experience this pain.

"Ooooooooo." With one last groan, the Wendigo Alpha fell backward with a hole in its chest. Its dark blood painted the ground below, nourishing the moss and mushrooms that hungrily absorbed it.

"Hah hah." Oscar leaned to his side. His drill pierced into the ground before shattering into tiny pieces that dissipated. With his support gone, Oscar tripped to the floor, gasping for air in this stuffy, damp forest.

"I wondered what manner of attack you had up your sleeve, and I was not disappointed." Emily came up to Oscar and helped him up; she drank her last Heal Elixir and could move, though her Ein needed to recover. "This is our victory, Oscar."

"Victory feels so nice." Oscar responded with a thumbs-up. "Ah, please handle me gently. My whole body feels like it's been through master's training."

The 'Steel Drill' required too much effort. He needed five seconds of concentration to shape and transform the Ein into good steel. That, combined with the Adamasreis's 'Shattering Wave', overdrew everything his body and core could provide.

During his training, he encountered many issues trying to invoke the spell fast, but each time resulted in his 'Steel Drill' being brittle. The only way to properly invoke 'Steel Drill' was to focus, slowly move his Ein into the correct positions, and transform each part, resulting in this downtime.

Oscar looked at Emily in gratitude for her efforts despite her rough handling of his body.

"Yes, yes. Don't worry; this spot is soft." Emily hoisted Oscar and leaned him on the mushroom tree, much to his complaints and woes of pain. "Do you have one more Heal Elixir?"

"I'm not using it. We've already used a lot of our resources. Having this one tucked away can be the difference between life and death." Oscar struggled before sitting in meditation. "I'm not as badly hurt as you were. Focus on recovering our Ein."

Emily nodded. They began to recover their Ein under cover of the mushroom tree. Occasionally, they would hear the movements of other creatures in the darkness, but none stepped forward.

After a few hours, Oscar opened his eyes to find Emily watching the darkness, waiting for anything. "Let's go."

They had spent enough time in the mushroom tree. They still had their main objective, Frederick, to fulfill.

"I also took the core of this mutated creature. We can sell it for an enormous price." Emily held out a black core harvested from the Wendigo Alpha. "Though mutated Exalt Beasts are unbelievable. That strength and array of abilities are a cheat."

"It's how it works. Don't we have Grade Eights and Nines? They're like the mutations of humans." Oscar took the core from Emily and put it away.

"You're right about that." Emily recalled Gilbert's overwhelming strength that oppressed even a Middle Elite Exalt. "What's next?"

"We'll have to search all over for the traces of the Luna Willow. Here. the pieces of this mushroom tree are brighter." Oscar passed a luminous piece of the mushroom tree to Emily, who took it without issue.

They re-entered the darkness and occasionally ran into other creatures but made short work of them. Oscar and Emily were more prepared to deal with surprise attacks and wary of more Wendigos. Finally, they found a trace of the Luna Willow.

"This one is quite big. We should be getting close." Emily observed the larger root with silver veins. It was twice as big as the small root they found before the ordeal with the Wendigos.

Oscar looked up by habit but remembered the sky was hidden behind the thick willow leaves. But this habit of his meant one thing. It was nighttime. "We need to find a place to rest. We can continue in the morning."

"We can keep going. I don't have any issues." Emily said stubbornly.

"No." Oscar rejected her recklessness. "We've had an exhausting day. Wherever Frederick is, we will find him in the morning or else. You're also at your limits."

It was true. Emily's breathing was getting more ragged despite her incredible stamina. Her eyes were shaky, and her steps were getting slower.

Even Oscar felt tired. Traveling under the shroud of darkness, unaware of the time passing, was draining. He judged that this was the moment to sleep and rest.

"Where is a good place to rest?" Emily looked around in the darkness.

"We can lean on these trees." Oscar set his mushroom fragment on the floor by the trunk of a willow tree. He sat down and secured his bag, intent on sleeping.

"Fine, you win." Emily sat down right beside him and quickly grew drowsy. Her head repeatedly tilted, looking for a nice place to rest. She rested on the trunk with a sigh of relief. "Oscar."

"Hmm?" Oscar was slowly fading into sleep and responded with a grunt.

"We'll save Frederick, right?" Emily said softly. Her breathing grew increasingly quiet.

"Of course, when you do, you can insult him all you want." Oscar smiled slightly.

"Ok…." Emily fell asleep with a smile.

Oscar shifted his shoulders to provide a more comfortable position for Emily. Oscar could not help but chuckle that Emily was the first to fall asleep despite being the most opposed. Slowly, he closed his eyes; the darkness under his eyelids was more comforting than the one outside.

…….

"This way!" Emily sprang up on her feet and pointed in a direction. After a good night's sleep, she felt refreshed and energetic despite the poor environment.

Oscar quickly followed along with a smile. They made great progress through this place, weaving through the willow trees, mushrooms, and creatures. Now the silvery roots were as large as the trunks of some willow trees.

It was close.

"What the hell is this?" Emily stopped in a daze, staring down. "A paved path?"

"Are you serious?" Oscar stepped in front, and indeed, it was a stone path. Oddly, the moss and mushrooms did not grow on the path as if something cleaned it regularly. "Which direction to the Luna Willow?"

"The same way as this path." Emily said darkly. This path was too unnatural in this forest.

Ultimately, Oscar decided to follow along the path but with great caution. The stone path continued for a while, staying clean every part of the way. These dim yellow lights were embedded into the path's edges at a certain point, illuminating the path forward.

No manner of creatures approached. A few that came close growled and went away, further adding to Oscar and Emily's caution.

Then they finally arrived.

"Is this an illusion?" Emily asked.

"No, it's real…." Oscar could not believe his eyes.

The path led them to a large manor. It stuck out like a sore thumb in the dark forest as more lights dotted the outlines of the walls. The large gates began to open as if beckoning them inside.