Brone Heavyaxe was called upon by Egra the witch; this being the second time she needed his help and the dwarf was happy to answer her call, for he understood she trusted him with serious issues that needed to be handled. When he heard this quest was to be a Monster Hunt, Brone initially wanted to handle this Hunt by himself, but Egra strongly advised to bring at least a dozen of his guild's best hunting party, for this creature, as she had vaguely informed him, was dangerous and powerful. The dwarf knew that Egra was aware of how powerful he was, so for the witch to strongly advise him to bring help had made him ponder this situation. After taking a moment to consider the danger of this assignment, Brone decided to ask his closest friend and the most powerful person he knew instead of bringing a dozen guildmates who may lose their lives.

When approaching Egra in person after arriving at the village deep in Iceberg country, the witch questioned the dwarf's decision in only bringing one other person, but Brone assured her that Yuurei, his guild master, was more powerful then a dozen of his finest hunters. Egra had taken one long look at Yuurei and seemed to be convinced, so she accepted and gave the full detail of the monster.

The monster in question is refer to a Wendigo, a creature that is a produce of a starved human being possessed of an evil spirit, which then becomes a powerful creature which hungers for humanoid flesh. Brone had mentioned that he and Yuurei had fought creatures similar to the description, but Egra was quick to warn the dwarf that these creatures are difficult to fight against, having near indestructible skin, and strength to rival giants, and specifically this one that has been lurking nearby the village for the last month had killed and devoured three of their best warriors. The dwarf made sure to heed the witch's words before exiting her home.

Description:

Huginn and Muninn took flight as per Brone's request to look for Wendigo and return with it's location. When it comes to the ravens, he had mentioned them to Yuurei that they were scouts, but he never said anything about the contract they have with him that limit him from relaying any information provided, which was why whenever he spoke of the ravens, though he preferred not to say a word, he would be vague and try to cut the conversation short by switching topics or leaving the conversation entirely.

When the ravens returned, they whispered into Brone's ear as they perched upon his shoulders. Without a word, the dwarf mounted Geri the tempest wolf and they sped off north.

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Yuurei had been doing a lot of work throughout Fiore again. It had felt like yesterday, where he had gone on his adventure for two years. It seemed like he was doing that again, which wasn’t bad, but he did miss the people in the North. Brone had reached out to him, and it would seem like he wanted him to go to Iceberg to hunt a creature. This was going to be fun, and he was happy to help him out. It seemed like someone that trusted him had given him this task.

Renji was with Yuurei, but the Exceed had given Yuurei’s his equipment so he could be warm. The Nephilim had his helmet underneath his arm for the time being. They would walk through the cold area, and their path would make it to a village. The berserker would stay quiet when Brone exchanged words with a woman. He would wave at her when she looked at him but didn’t say anything.

It wouldn’t take long, but Brone would finish talking to the woman before they left her home. He would look at his friend with a smirk on his face. It wouldn’t take long, but he would see Brone get on his wolf after the crows had come back. It would seem like they were talking to him, but he didn’t know what they were saying. He would see his friend run off on top of the wolf, and Yuurei would start running as he was moving at full speed soon after.

“A Wendigo huh? It seems like it will prove difficult to fight. It seems like the crows knew where to find them. I guess they are scouts that you can only understand. What did I miss during the time I was away from the guild?” He asked him as they kept moving to the North.

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Geri carried Brone through the snowy banks as he ran as fast as he could, snow kicked up behind him, leaving a cloud of the white frozen water in his trail. Though cold and barren of much wildlife, Geri was use to this, for this was his original home, as for Brone, the mountains he called home gave him the sturdiness to handle such a terrain. The dwarf had fallen into thought, trying to think about how he would need to go about fighting this creature; he heeded Egra's words, though he had fought powerful creatures such as dimensional dragons, he should never let his guard down, but it was also what Huginn and Muninn told him during their recon. This creature was tall and lanky with horns, but stood on two feet like a humanoid, but looked powerful and looked like the embodiment of death; there were no creatures in the surrounding area, as if they all knew and feared whatever this being was to be anywhere close to it.

Yuurei and ran up beside Brone and Geri, the half-elf's own speed on foot rivaled that of a tempest wolf in it's own environment. He assumed of the ravens and questioned of his absence. Brone looked ahead, silent for a moment as he thought; he couldn't say a word of what is spoken to him by the ravens as part of the contract they had made with him; as his eyes peered slightly upward, ahead of him, the two ravens flew onward, he knew that those two were listening. To make sure he would never risk even accidently breaking the contract, he avoided any talk of the ravens all-together, "The guild has been keeping watch of the north, though making sure that we always have a strong defense at home; we know how serious these times are, with the invaders causing trouble and -" he stopped himself, realizing the bit of information he was about to say was told to him by Huginn. Irritable, Brone gritted his teeth, still keeping his eyes on the path ahead while subconsciously grasping the black and red cloth that was tide to his left arm with his right hand. How difficult this contract was, Brone was reminded too often; he began to wonder if gaining two companions made him more isolated.

After some time of travel, dipping into snow covered groves, scurrying through clusters of frozen trees, and scaling hill-sides, the two ravens flew off ahead and into the sky, signaling to Brone that they were closing in, so he actively searched about him as Geri continued to run on. It wasn't until he heard several caws from his ravens that Brone pulled on Geri's reigns, turning his direction. Now the dwarf was tensed, he lowered his body closer to the furs on Geri, his left hand holding onto the reigns while his right hand grabbed the handle of his black axe Dhuraindarin.

Up ahead in a cluster of trees, Huginn and Muninn were perched high the high branches of a tree and right below them at the base of said tree, was the creature described to him; just viewing the tall, lanky thing was off-putting, looking as if it had starved to death, but still walked even though it had a skeletal head. Geri pulled to a stop, not only from fear of the wendigo, but because the area was too clustered with frozen trees, making it difficult for him to go further, though the wendigo didn't mind the terrain, for it was moving through the trees, it's lanky body made him flexible to get through.

Wendigo:

Brone dismounted and sent Geri running off to safety as he pulled his black axe off his back, then drew Spellcleaver, "Let's hit it hard and be done with it" the dwarf grunted as he ran through the snow. With his boots crunching against the snow, the wendigo heard the noise in the silent area and turned to face the hunters.

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While they were running through the snow, he would see the Ravens moving around the place. It would seem like they were doing a lot for such small creatures. Still, he knew about crows and knew they were smart birds, and not the type to be messed with. It wouldn’t take long, but he would hear Brone give his report on the North. It was good to hear that everything was fine. He would nod as the invaders had worried him as well. The Nephilim wanted to take them out as soon as he could, but it was why he was looking for the lost pages.

Yuurei would see that he paused, and he wondered what was going on with his friend. He wondered if someone was stopping him from talking, but once again he wouldn’t bother him.  They would continue their run and soon enough Brone would make a stop. This would bring Yuurei to stop as it would seem like his Crows had notified him that they were in the right place.

“Are your crows telling you where the Wendigo is, but you can’t say it out loud?” He joked as he wasn’t sure if that was true.

He looked around the area as he was looking for the creature, he had seen in the picture the witch had shown Brone. His eyes scanned the area, and soon enough when the Wendigo was twenty meters away from him, he would feel a tingling sensation on his neck. He would look in the direction the monster was coming from. It would seem like it was moving around the area near them. Yuurei had a smile on his face as he would put the helmet on his head as he cracked his neck.

He would see Brone moving to the Wendigo and when it turned to look at them Yuurei would chuckle.

“It seems like it noticed us, but it doesn’t know we wanted to fight it. Still, it’s messing with the two wrong people.” He said to Brone as he checked his gauntlets together by fist-bumping them before running.

The Wendigo would screech from seeing the two of them as it would put its right lanky arm onto the ground and it would do something that they wouldn’t know. A bunch of roots would spike up right under them, but Yuurei would feel the danger coming from below. He would push Brone away, hoping his friend would allow him to knock him to the side as he flew upward with the wings that sprouted from his back. The pointed roots covering the ground that they had were on as it seemed like it was a close call.

“Are you alright Brone?” He asked as he would land on the ground and wondered how it could do that.

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Brone saw the eyes which looked like flames within the eye sockets of a white skull. As Yuurei asked about the ravens, the dwarf pretended not to hear him, though he wasn't sure whether to feel nervous or relieved that his guild master figured it out, even though he laughed, which made Brone wonder if he was joking.

His train of thought was interrupted by the screech of the wendigo. Instinctively, Brone tightened his grip on the axes and ran forward. The dwarf has been battle forge; he would mostly pick fight, rather than flight when the choices are there. The wendigo slammed it's long arms onto the ground, causing a series of roots to quickly surge upward like jutting spikes. At the speed of the movement of the roots, Brone knew he couldn't jump out of the way in time, so tried to brace himself, though he wasn't sure if he would be able to defend himself in time.

He was shoved out of the way by his friend, thankfully. With the strength of Yuurei, he was able to shove the heavily armored dwarf far enough to avoid the uprooting attack. Brone tumbled in the snow for a bit before he quickly picked himself back up. Though the attack caused a flurry of snow to cover the area for a few seconds, he could hear Yuurei call out to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine! Just wish the witch mentioned the damn thing knew magic!" Brone called as he rushed towards the area where he saw the wendigo last, despite the flurry of snow limiting his vision for the moment.

Huginn and Muninn cawed towards Brone's right side; to the dwarf, he heard them yell "Over here! It move!" Yuurei would have just heard normal raven caws. The dwarf turned on his heal and rushed in that direction. He was just about to yell out to Yuurei about the positioning, but remembered not to speak; he grunted angrily, mad at the contract that kept his lips sealed.

Within the next few seconds, the flurry settled and Brone could spot the tall lanky creature appeared behind two trees, looking as if it was trying to sneak around the perimeter; unfortunately for it, the dwarf had scouts. Brone cried out as loud as he could, hoping Yuurei could hear, as he swung his black axe once he neared the creature. The blade slammed into the shoulder of the wendigo which made it's body jerk slightly, but it stood it's ground. The dwarf was surprised that not only did he not see blood, but the blade didn't even break the greyish skin. The next thing that happen was in a quick motion, the creature was fast. It's right arm slammed into Brone with great strength that caused the snow below the dwarf to disperse, revealing the greenery below, but the sturdy dwarf kept his footing as well, the only difference between the exchange of attacks was that the golden armor cracked heavily.

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Yuurei would take Brone’s silence as a yes and when he heard Brone’s words, he would feel a sense of relief. He had been able to do something in a matter of seconds that he had to react to the creature’s attack. He would chuckle a bit as he heard his friend was upset that the Wendigo could use magic. He would shake his head as he remembered that these creatures would come from evil spirits. It must have been a mage before it died. It could possibly use plant magic, but he wasn’t sure that was all it could do.

Of course, he only knew this information because it was something the witch had said to him earlier. Yuurei would hear the crows make noise, and his cape would tap him on his right shoulder. The berserker knew what it meant; in conjunction with the tingling sensation, he felt on the back of his neck, he knew that the Wendigo had moved to his right. He would look over in the direction where the monster had gone. When the snow debris had calmed down, it would seem like Brone would be the first of the two to make their way to the Wendigo.

Yuurei would sprout the wings on his back as one of his eyes would change into a golden color, while the other stood red. His feet were no longer touching the ground as he would fly straight toward the two fighters. He would seem like nothing had happened with Brone’s blow and an attack would be exchanged between the two of them.

The Nephilim was now on the side of the Wendigo, and he had a smirk on his face as he would swing his right hand straight at the back of the Wendigo. This blow would do some damage as it would shriek from the pain. Yuurei had given it some weakness with his red eye, but it would seem like it had some resistance as it would kick Yuurei. The Nephilim would be pushed back from the blow, but his armor would take the blunt force of it all. The difference between their armor was that Yuurei’s armor was destroyed.

He would flap his wing to stop the momentum of his moving back. He would laugh a bit as he would give Brone some advice.

“Your crows can tell you things, you cannot, but don’t worry about me. I have a cape that sees all and a new sense that allows me to know about danger.” He said to his friend.

“The Wendigo could use magic because it probably used to be a mage before it became this abomination. The witch kind of brought that up, so the fact that it used magic, could only be that. Still, be on your toes, it hits hard.” He said to Brone as the Wendigo would shriek from them being too close to it.

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Brone pulled his axe back from the wendigo, readying to strike with his other axe, but with such great speed, Yuurei came into view within a blink of a eye, his fist slamming into the creature, causing it to shriek, "Yes!" the dwarf practically cheered, to see that the enemy can be hurt was more assuring. But seeing the power of it's strike, sending Yuurei back and breaking his armor in one hit, was assuring of the danger.

The dwarf jumped back to get some distance, trying to find an opening as he tightly gripped his axes. When Yuurei mentioned his ravens, Brone didn't acknowledge what he said, fearful that even replying or confirming that statement would break the contract, but when the guild master noted the ability of the wendigo, "Aye!" he shouted, understanding and realizing this could be a way to get the advantage.

The wendigo shrieked again as it raised it's arms, causing thick vines to lash out from it's body. As the whipping vines neared Brone, the dwarf swung the green axe and as the blade touched one of the vines, the entire spell vanished. The wendigo cocked it's head, confused, but only for a moment before it rushed towards the dwarf, it's arms thickening in a strong white birch bark. The dwarf was ready. As the wendigo swung it's right arm which looked like the trunk of a tree, Brone met it with the greed blade which shattered the wood on the arm, but the left arm came in fast and slammed into the dwarf's chest, breaking the armor entirely.

"Damn!" Brone coughed up blood as he did his best to stand his ground. As he found the strength to look up, his vision was blurred for just a moment before he spotted the wendigo raising his both it's arms, then both arms solidified into thick treetrunks, readying to drop both of them upon the head of the dwarf.

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Yuurei would see that Brone was ready to fight, and he was doing well with the Wendigo. Still, if they didn’t dodge the creature’s attack, then it would be dangerous. He could see the moment Brone had gotten hit. The Nephilim wouldn’t just stay in one place as he would move straight toward his friend. It would seem like the attack from the Wendigo had staggered him. When he saw the attack from the monster closing in on his friend. He would use his Golden gauntlet and he would punch the arms with his fist dispelling the enhancements of its arm.

Now that he was the one in front of the attack, the Wendigo would slam it down on Yuurei’s head. He would feel the impact of the attack, but he wouldn’t allow it to stop him. His helmet was fine, for now, and it had done its job. Yuurei would grab Brone and he would fly away from the Wendigo until they were a good distance. While he had done this, he would stretch his free hand out and a magic circle would appear before a second one would appear above the Wendigo.

It was then a barrage of arrows would start shooting down at the ground.

“Artemis Barrage is that spell’s name.” He said out loud as the Wendigo would look up and a bunch of arrows would hit him.

He would let go of Brone as he would start flying straight at the Wendigo now, but before he got too close to it. He would swing his right arm as it would stretch at spell speed and connect to the chest of the Wendigo. It would shriek again from the pain it felt from that punch. Of course, it wouldn’t just stand there as it would shoot a bunch of thorns the size of branches toward Yuurei and Brone.

The Nephilim’s helmet would activate its precognition spell, and he would see what would happen if that attack would hit him from this close.

Yuurei would dodge the attack of the thorns as they would miss him without a problem. He would just look at the Wendigo as it would seem like it was cracking from the damage that the two of them had done to him.

“How much life do you think this thing has left Brone?” He asked curious to hear what he had to say about this oversize monster.

Yuurei was getting ready to continue his battle, but it would seem like the Wendigo was up to something, and he couldn’t tell what it was.

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Brone was saved by Yuurei's interception, destroying the enchantment on the arm of the wendigo. Though the creature did bat the guild master away. The dwarf was going to swing his axe at the creature's legs, he noticed a yellow magic circle appear above the wendigo's head; he was familiar with this spell, so he quickly dove out of the way as the wendigo was pelted by a barrage of arrows made of light.

As the dwarf got back to his feet after the tumble through the snow, he saw the wendigo conjuring forth a barrage of it's own, of thorns. Brone flicked his wrist, causing the innate magic of his ring that caused his black axe to vanished and instantly be replaced by a golden shield. With the shield positioned in front of the dwarf as it blocked the array of thorns that was heading in his direction.

[color#996633]"I don't know, I never fought something like this before!"[/color] Brone yelled out to Yuurei in reply to his question while the spray of thorns pelted against the shield. The wendigo took damage, as indicated by the screeches, but there was no bruising on the thick hide.

The pelting stopped, and Brone looked over the top of his shield to see what the creature was doing. It looked more passive now, but just for a moment before it's body faded from view, "It's gone?" Brone asked, wondering if the creature teleported away, but then he noticed a footprint appeared in the snow where the wendigo stood, "It's invisible and heading my way!" he called to Yuurei as he braced himself for the creature who's footprints made their way to the dwarf.

The shield was slammed into, but the dwarf still felt something rake against his arm and across his face, possibly a finger slipped passed the shield to catch his face. Either way, he retaliated by swing the green axe. When the blade hit something, the wendigo came back into view, standing over the short dwarf. Brone forgot that he could negate magic for a moment.

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Yuurei would look at the Wendigo and soon enough it would become invisible. His eyes widen as he was not expecting that thing to do such a thing. Still, he could sense it due to the necklace around his neck. Of course, it wasn’t just that, but the prints that it had made on the snow that it was making. He would see Brone as it would seem like the Wendigo was going for the dwarf. Yuurei would see his friend use a shield this time, and it would seem like he had more weapons with him. He didn’t expect him to have a shield as well.

He would see Brone block the attack with his shield, and that shield didn’t look like it took any damage. His eyes blinked a bit as he wondered what was going on. I been away from the North too long, when did Brone get that shield? He thought to himself.

He would see that Brone would negate the magic from the Wendigo and Yuurei would be able to see him. Renji was on Yuurei’s shoulder and knew that this was probably going to be the end of this. Yuurei would use his helmet’s ability to talk to Brone telepathically.

“Keep it busy Brone. I’m talking to you in your mind, and you can do the same with me.” He said to him telepathically.

He knew that Brone wasn’t smart, so he wanted to let him know. The Nephilim would make his way to the Wendigo now that he had given Brone instructions on what to do. He would move through the air and toward the two of them. Yuurei’s cursed arm would tingle as he was ready to hit the Wendigo with everything he had. His eyes focused on the Wendigo making it weak against Yuurei and he would swing his right arm. It would stretch at twenty meters per second, and it would crack right on the Wendigo’s nack.

He wasn't sure if the damage would do it, but he was hitting the Wendigo with maximum strength. His arm would snap back into place as he would look at Brone and the monster they were hunting.

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Brone blocked the next attack with his golden shield as the wendigo's left arm came crashing down. He held up the shield above his head and did his best to keep his footing; the wendigo's strength was great, despite having lanky arms. Suddenly, he could hear a voice in his mind, which startled him, though he quickly recognized it was Yuurei. The wendigo's right arm came sweeping down to strike at the dwarf's side, but Brone deflected it by slamming it's green axe into it's incoming wrist.

"Then hurry the hell up!" Brone had thought in his mind, not wondering whether or not his thoughts were reaching Yuurei or not, he didn't have time to figure out what kind of magic this was, he was too busy, trying not to be squashed. All of a sudden, there was a loud thud which caused the wendigo to jerk downward onto the dwarf. There was a moment of stillness, but he could hear the breathing of the wendigo, meaning it was still alive. Brone peered from beneath his raised shield to see the wendigo was slowly turning it's head with difficulty; then he spotted the reason to why the creature was struggling to turn it's head, it's neck and the center part between it's shoulder blades were caved in. The guild master must dealt a great blow.

Brone needed to act now before the creature could get another attack off. The shield vanished and was replaced by the golden axe. The dwarf then yelled at the top of his lungs, causing the golden axe to emit a spell that increased it's wielder's strength. He then jumped up and used the wendigo's knee as a stepping point to jump off of as he was aiming both his axes for it's head. The wendigo saw this coming, but couldn't move it's body in time, so it used a magical spell quickly cover it's body in thick bark; Brone slammed the green axe against the bark first which negated the magic, shattering it, then the golden axe came down with a powerful blow.

In the next moment, the wendigo's head fell to ground, then it's body followed next. All went silent, save for Brone's heavy breathing. He looked to Yuurei and nodded with a smile. Soon enough, Geri came back to give the dwarf a lift, then he was off riding back to the witch, Huginn and Muninn leading the way. The region was safe for the moment.

[Exit]

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Yuurei would hit the Wendigo with everything he had, and even then it was still standing but barely. This was good because this was exactly what they needed. He looked at Brone as if he was expecting him to do something. It was then that Yuurei would watch Brone switch weapons before going on the offense. It was remarkable to see how he moved, and soon enough even though the Wendigo tried to protect itself, it would be for nothing. Brone would cleave the monster’s head off as he dealt the final blow. It was amazing, but he could see that the shield he had before was really strong. It was impressive that Brone had gotten a hold of that.

The Nephilim would look over at him and he would give him a thumbs up as he could see that Brone was tired. He needed more practice and more training. It wouldn’t take long, but Yuurei would see the wolf would come back to Brone after it had run off. The Nephilim would flap his wings as Renji would hold onto his shoulder. The two of them would start moving back to the village with the witch. They had stopped the Wendigo from causing havoc, and now they would get paid for their monster hunting job. Yuurei did wonder how he could get Brone to talk to him without breaking the crow's contract, or so that was what he thought it was.

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[exit]