Chapter 49

Wendigo, possessing the doppelganger, slowly turned his head and looked over the shamans.

Each of their faces was full of tension, as if they had some scheme…

‘Ah. Is it because I’m holding a sword?’

Wendigo noticed why they were tense when the shamans’ gazes turned to the sword.

Certainly, it was natural to be tense when meeting a monster wielding a weapon in such a dark space. Especially if that opponent was a spirit.

‘Habits are this frightening.’

Usually, when meeting someone, if they weren’t his people, they were enemies…

Wendigo, standing in front of the shamans, planted the sword in the ground. Even with this brief action, the shamans watched carefully.

They felt that if they disturbed Wendigo’s mood even slightly, the terrible cold energy imbued in the sword would engulf them.

‘Saying he’ll test us, yet brandishing such a terrifying thing in front of us…’

‘That Isaac bastard must have spouted nonsense.’

The shamans discarded what little trust they had left in Wendigo. Surely Isaac must have fallen victim to some vile(?) trick.

Wendigo, having read the shamans’ emotions, felt a bit wronged but couldn’t help but empathize with their thoughts.

Certainly, drawing a weapon at the first meeting was rude.

Wendigo decided to just go with this skewed meeting and deal with them more intimidatingly.

“I can guess why you’ve come to the forest. Since you’re shamans, not others, you must have come to enhance your shamanism.”

“That’s right. O spirit who rules the end of the world, caretaker of the forest, and possessor of the frosty heart…”

‘Do all shaman fellows prepare and spout such greetings?’

As one shaman offered greetings as a representative, Wendigo was disgusted.

In fact, Wendigo didn’t know, but this shaman was famous even among shamans for his eloquence.

The anecdote of him calming an enraged spirit with words alone was quite a topic among shamans…

However, even this shaman’s silver tongue couldn’t sway Wendigo’s indifferent emotions.

Such things only work on those who know how to enjoy them, but Wendigo didn’t like such things.

Rather, high-quality meat or a new food recipe would have been more appealing than such sugar-coating.

‘Indeed, befitting a shaman who’s said to have calmed a spirit with words. With such eloquence, even that spirit would be favorable…’

“Your words are sweet but lack substance. Let’s quickly get to the point.”

“……”

The shaman who had been singing about how cool and thrilling Wendigo’s appearance was until just now froze as if struck by lightning.

Wendigo didn’t want to rebuke him, but he couldn’t help that time was precious.

“As you all heard from Skadi, I will ask you questions. They’re not particularly difficult questions.”

The shamans didn’t believe Wendigo’s words. If the questions weren’t difficult, why would he ask shamans?

Surely they must be abstruse questions that could gauge the depth of a shaman!

“Yes! We are ready!”

“Then I’ll ask. Would you be willing to antagonize the forest for the sake of shamanism?”

“… Pardon?”

The shamans who had been eagerly awaiting the question blurted out a stupid response that even a novice shaman wouldn’t make to Wendigo’s question.

Wendigo looked at them as if they were pathetic and asked again.

“I asked if you would be willing to antagonize the forest for the sake of shamanism.”

Though the shamans knew Wendigo had no expression, they strangely felt he was looking down on them.

They felt wronged. What kind of crazy spirit would ask shamans who came to visit, “Are you thinking of becoming my enemy?”

The shamans judged that Wendigo was a more unconventional spirit than they had thought.

“We absolutely have no such intention! How could we turn our backs on the forest where the spirit resides?”

“We have merely come to explore shamanism. Knowing whose dominion this land is under, how could we do such a thing?”

“Hmm…”

Great shamans should also be skilled in acting.

The shamans answered the question with expressions as wronged, sad, and pitiful as possible.

Wendigo approached the shamans and scrutinized them one by one, bringing his face as close as possible.

As the cold energy flowing from Wendigo’s mouth brushed past their necks, the shamans shivered with goosebumps.

“You.”

“Y-Yes!”

Wendigo called out while tapping a shaman’s shoulder with his claw. The shaman responded sharply as if he had returned to his childhood days studying under his master.

Wendigo looked straight into his eyes and pointed to the side.

“You go over there.”

“?”

The shaman couldn’t understand the situation but obediently followed Wendigo’s order. Unnecessary questions could disturb the spirit’s mood.

Wendigo then selected a few more shamans and sent them to the side.

After one round of questions was over, Wendigo manipulated the wooden cave. With a huge roar, the roots forming the cave moved to create two passages.

“The shamans who stepped aside, go through that passage. The rest, enter this way.”

“O spirit. I’m truly sorry, but with our humble minds, we cannot understand why you have divided us. Could you tell us the reason?”

As a fairly experienced shaman raised his hand and asked, Wendigo nodded.

“I can’t tell you the reason, but I can understand your fear. I’m just choosing whether to pass you based on your answers to the test, I swear I will never attack you.”

As Wendigo swore, the shamans were relieved. Spirits valued oaths as much as shamans did.

As the small group of shamans headed towards the passage with sour expressions, the rest entered the opposite passage and…

Wendigo was standing there.

“???”

The shamans were startled and turned around, but the passage had already disappeared.

They hastily opened their spirit vision and looked at Wendigo before them, but vast mystery was still flowing through Wendigo’s body.

Clearly, they hadn’t sensed the spirit casting any shamanism…

‘… Is it because he’s a high-ranking spirit that we couldn’t notice?’

“Now, let’s move on to the next question.”

As Wendigo threw out the question, the shamans let go of the fleeting doubt.

Surely he wouldn’t do something as inefficient as creating a doppelganger with so much mystery.

---

Wendigo appeared before the shamans and asked questions every time they passed through a passage.

If he had asked about manageable shamanism or experiences, or treasures they could offer, the shamans would have responded calmly.

However, Wendigo thoroughly asked only questions about character. The shamans couldn’t understand the spirit before them at all.

‘What on earth is he judging based on??’

“You lot, enter there.”

Once again, the divided group entered their respective passages. They racked their brains over Wendigo’s questions, which were more difficult than any challenge they had faced so far.

Excellent flattery or detailed descriptions, or if not that, a confident attitude.

None of these could be the standard.

To the shamans’ eyes, it seemed like Wendigo was just choosing based on his mood.

“How on earth did that Isaac fellow obtain an ice crystal from such a spirit?”

“Who knows. Maybe he had connections with the shaman we met at the entrance.”

“Be quiet. Look, there’s an exit visible.”

As someone said, a passage with the outside visible came into the shamans’ view.

The shamans passed through the passage with excited expressions, and what greeted them was the entrance to the temple.

“Ooh. Is this the temple where the spirit lives?”

“It’s not as grand as I thought…”

“Congratulations on passing!”

Skadi congratulated them on their passage with a bright voice as the shamans were looking around the temple.

At that bright appearance, those who passed smiled. This shaman with different skin color and hair was far from unsettling, rather strangely endearing.

Osa, the only female among the shamans, looked around and asked Skadi.

“Where are the other shamans? There are only five of us…”

“The others failed and had to leave the forest.”

“Uh…”

At this unexpected news, the shamans looked at each other. They had thought that each group was taking a different test when they headed to different passages each time.

But for over ten shamans to leave without any gain due to questions with unknowable intent…

Skadi immediately understood what they were thinking and smiled mysteriously.

The shamans knew well what such a smile meant. They too made such expressions when playing tricks on others with puzzling words.

“Miss Skadi. Do you know why the spirit asked such questions?”

“Yes. I’ll tell you about that on the way to meet Wendigo-nim in person.”

“Huh? But we’ve already met the spirit in person and taken the test?”

Skadi smiled enigmatically again and guided them. The shamans headed towards the temple, not knowing why Skadi was acting this way.

---

The atmosphere in the temple was even heavier than usual.

Warriors wearing bone helmets were stationed throughout, watching the passing shamans, and workers were silently performing their tasks.

‘How… are there so many warriors armed with enchanted equipment?’

‘That weapon seems to be made of wood… but the energy it exudes is not ordinary.’

The shamans couldn’t help but feel tense from the pressure they naturally felt. If they made a mistake here, those warriors would surely brandish their weapons.

Skadi smiled bitterly at the shamans’ reactions.

‘When Geron-ssi suggested it, I thought it was quite good… but thinking that these are people who passed Wendigo-nim’s test, I feel a bit sorry.’

Although Geron usually conversed casually with Wendigo, in fact, few people thought about Wendigo’s authority as much as Geron did.

Geron had hoped that the shamans coming from outside wouldn’t view Wendigo too lightly…

As the shamans looked around with anxious expressions, Skadi calmed them down.

“Don’t worry too much. Since you all passed Wendigo-nim’s test, those people won’t attack you.”

“Right. The test, what was the meaning of the test?”

“The content of the test was exactly as it was, a test to judge your character. Just that no matter what you said, you couldn’t have deceived Wendigo-nim.”

“Most shamans are adept at lying, so why?”

Skadi nodded as if agreeing with those words. However, the fact remained unchanged.

It was nearly impossible to hide lies or truth from Wendigo.

“He can discern sin, lies, character… such things through smell.”

“Huh? Isn’t the spirit not related to truth or mental aspects?”

One shaman reflexively asked, unable to believe what he heard. It was completely incomprehensible by their common sense.

It was already hard to accept that he handled contrasting attributes like cold energy and plants, but to even possess attributes related to the mind?

“I don’t know where Wendigo-nim’s limits are either. I’m just telling you because I know from experience that he has such abilities.”

“Hmm…”

The shamans hurried their steps with expressions of utter incomprehension. At times like this, it was best to meet directly and ask.

They stopped in front of the room with Wendigo’s throne, in the inner part of the temple.

Two particularly large warriors knelt with a thud and greeted Skadi.

“Ahem. Op-Open the door!”

Skadi awkwardly ordered them, and the helmeted warriors opened the door, grinning as if they had seen their daughter’s admirable behavior.

Fortunately, the shamans couldn’t see the warriors’ expressions thanks to their helmets.

The huge doors opened and the shamans entered. The surroundings were lit by torches, but an inexplicable chill lingered in the room and…

“Gasp!”

“Ah, Isaac’s story was true.”

A giant was sitting on a large, beautiful lacquered throne.

A giant in the form of Wendigo that the shamans had encountered was looking down at them.