“Clever human, you distracted us long enough to enter the veil without complication, for that I applaud you,” Salzahar praised.

The moustached lizard man still held his massive, spiked mace, but now it was pointed forward in Barry’s direction. In his other hand Salzahar held one of the branches that Swirly had thrown into the mist whilst some other branches were spread around his feet.

“Did he catch it?” Barry thought, “Impossible.”

The other three lizard men stood next to Salzahar, each also in a battle-ready stance. To his left was the dopey lizard man with the tongue hanging out, his spear now right way up. Furthest to Salzahar’s right was the hooded lizard man, and in the middle of the two was the fourth member of their group, a seven and a half-foot tall lizard man who had a tuft of thinning brown hair atop his head, he was breathing heavily whilst struggling to keep a hold of a large glowing wooden spoon.

“Cedric, you might as well dispel the mist and save the rest of your mana,” Salzahar said towards the fatigued lizard man.

“Thank you, sir,” Cedric said with a subtle lisp.

Immediately the bubble around them all popped. Barry could feel that the bubble was gone, but for him on the inside nothing changed, for Tuti looking on from the outside it was as if the mist had simply vanished, and she could finally see everything clearly.

The stalemate continued as neither group wanted to be the first to make a move. After some time, Barry decided to be the first to speak.

“Why are you attacking us?” he asked.

“It’s simple, we will become the strongest within the training grounds, and ensure the lizard men sit at the top of the species food chain,” Salzahar spat.

“But why do you attack us? You can get plenty strong from defeating beasts,” Barry implored.

“Because human, people provide the best experience, and the greatest loot, and the most satisfying meals,” Salzahar grinned devilishly in reply, razor sharp teeth glistening in the sun.

Two of the lizard men beside him sniggered hauntingly in response to the comments, and the dopey one began licking his scaly lips.

“You’re monsters! And if you’re trying to earn respect for lizard men then eating people is probably not the way to go about things,” Barry exclaimed, as he gritted his teeth, and summoned his aura and illusion chains, ready for battle.

“Go,” Salzahar uttered.

With that the hooded lizard man shot forward towards Barry, as did Cedric who seemed to have recuperated. At the same time Salzahar and the dopey lizard man rushed towards Swirly as Tuti shouted out instructions. The hooded man was extremely nimble and had Barry not just spent the last few hours battling the swift clobberfoot falcons, the speed of this man would have been overwhelming. But thankfully Barry had adapted, he traced the lizard man’s movements and swung his aura chain forward. Barry trusted in his vitality, so even if he ended up trading blows, he felt confident that he would come out on top. Barry watched as his chain flew down and he braced himself for it to slam into the side of the hooded man. Instead, Barry’s chain hit nothing but air as the man’s dagger lit up just before the chain landed. At the same time the man flashed and vanished, and a stinging pain streaked across the right side of Barry’s ribs. Confused and injured Barry struggled to comprehend what had just happened.

“An illusion, no it can’t be. It must be a movement skill, maybe an air or time affinity,” Barry thought.

He didn’t have a second to think though what had just happened, or to properly assess his injury as the second lizard man closed in, smacking Barry with a spoon directly onto his exposed forehead.

Barry winced, and panic set in as he came to terms with the fact that he had just sustained two separate blows in quick succession. His body still stung but his head actually felt completely fine. At first, he thought he might have been concussed and perhaps that had dulled the pain. But something about that idea didn’t seem right, shouldn’t he be dizzy or something if he’d been concussed? Finally, Barry’ common sense prevailed as he realised that with his near superhuman vitality a spoon strike from a level three mana specialist was hardly a concern. It was the equivalent of the old Barry being assaulted by a toddler armed with a toothpick. Barry scoffed whilst thinking about the lizard man’s feeble attack, as he lifted his chain again, this time bringing it down onto Cedric’s head, sending him crashing into the ground. Barry paused a moment, waiting for Cedric to get up, but the lizard man was unmoving, face down in the leaves. A moment later a wave of energy entered Barry’s body as he looked down at the dead lizard man with an ounce of pity.

“I guess his job was just to provide camouflage, because he sure wasn’t a fighter. I kind of feel bad, like I just kicked a puppy.”

Barry thought before another wave of stinging pain spread from his side causing him to wince. He finally looked down and saw a long, deep gash running along his right ribs and he was now leaking blood down his side. He took a quick glance at his stat bars and saw that he had over three quarters of his health remaining, along with most of his mana and stamina. A mere flesh wound like the one he had just sustained was no longer enough to cause him critical damage, and he huffed as he turned to locate the hooded lizard man.

Barry quickly spotted the hooded man who had now turned his attention to Swirly. The big ape was surrounded by the three remaining lizard men, who were taking turns stepping forward and striking at the beasts exposed flesh before Swirly could react. Salzahar caught Barry’s attention the most as he was alternating between launching the large branches at the ape and striking with his mace. “His strength might actually be higher than Tuti’s,” thought Barry, as he watched the ease with which Salzahar picked up and threw the branches. Swirly’s body was covered in cuts and contusions from the various strikes, and although they seemed small due to his overwhelming size, they were quickly accumulating. Swirly was swinging his fists wildly but was unable to land a blow as the three lizard men tactically kept their distance, only stepping forward to attack when Swirly was focussed on one of the others. Barry was about to charge forward when he heard Tuti shouting.

“Big fist!”

Barry’s eyes focussed on the vixant as her studded gloves glowed and immediately a pair of matching gloves appeared on Swirly’s huge fists. The ape roared and pushed both fists forward together in a double handed punch aimed for the dopey lizard man.

“It’s too shallow a punch, it won’t reach,” thought Barry as he watched on, but the moment he thought it he saw both of Swirly’s fists double in size to become comically large.

The lizard man’s face turned from dumb to dumbfounded as two studded fists almost as big as him slammed into his body, sending him flying thirty metres back into a tree.

The other two lizard men finally stepped back after seeing the attack, and Barry noticed the first signs of concern appear on Salzahar’s face. However, the gloves disappeared as quickly as they had appeared, and the massive fists retracted back to their original size as soon as the strike was completed. Barry could see that Swirly was looking worse for wear, as he stood stooped over with his arms held lower by his side, blood starting to pool around his feet. This gave Salzahar renewed confidence and both he and the hooded lizard man stepped forward to continue their strikes at the clearly fatiguing Swirly.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Hey! Why don’t you pick on someone your own size!” Barry yelled before the men could begin their attacks.

Barry knew that wasn’t exactly how that saying was meant to be used, and he also wasn’t actually the same size as these two men, but it seemed to make sense in his head at the time and it at least got their attention. Both Salzahar and the hooded lizard man briefly turned their attention to Barry as he walked forward, and Barry saw Salzahar shoot the hooded man an angry look.

“I thought you said he would be no further threat,” Salzahar growled.

“He shouldn’t be, I struck an empowered blow along his side, it should have incapacitated him,” the hooded lizard man stressed.

“Well Draco, he’s clearly not incapacitated is he! Deal with it, I’ll hold off the ape until you return,” Salzahar chided.

The hooded lizard man, Draco, angrily walked towards Barry whilst Swirly and Salzahar traded blows.

“How are you still able to move so freely? I felt my blade cut you,” Draco asked as he closed in.

“I’d tell you, but I don’t like you very much and I’d rather smash you with my chain,” Barry quipped.

This only angered Draco further and he instantly launched forward, repeating his previous attack. Again, Barry’s chain swung down, flying harmlessly through the air as Draco disappeared just before it landed and Barry was left with another cut to his side just below the other. He let out a yelp of pain but managed to turn and see that Draco had appeared just behind him. Before Barry could react, Draco stepped away, out of Barry’s range, but it gave Barry an idea. He took another quick look at his health bar, and seeing it was below sixty percent he activated his rapid recovery skill. Barry proceeded to lunge forward and swung wildly with a circular strike that travelled parallel to the ground. Once again Draco vanished and Barry was hit with a slicing cut to his side as blood continued to pour out of his wounds. Fortunately, his rapid recovery skill was able to counteract most of the damage and he found his health was floating around the fifty percent mark.

Barry turned again and met the cold, yellow eyes of Draco.

“Just give it up, you cannot possibly match my speed,” Draco mocked.

“Maybe not,” Barry panted, “But you can’t match my good looks.”

Draco just stared at him with confusion and frustration before growling and readying his dagger. Barry let fly another circular swing, and again Draco vanished and appeared right behind him as another gash opened up on Barry’s side. This time however, Barry willed himself to ignore the pain and continued his spinning strike, turning his entire body and chain with it, until he slammed it into the side of Draco behind him. The lizard man immediately coughed up blood and doubled over as all of the air was knocked out from his lungs. Barry took the opportunity to kick the winded Draco right in the front of his snout with his newly acquired hiking boots, leaving a thick indentation of muddy tread marks on the lizard man’s face. The force of the kick sent Draco sliding along into the ground on his back, his dagger flying away from him.

Barry walked forwards and smashed his chain down once more before he stood over the defeated lizard man.

“How are you still able to move like that? How are you not dead?” Draco gurgled as blood sprayed from his mouth.

“I’m tough as hell, something you clearly are not,” Barry replied as he raised his chain overhead.

Draco didn’t offer a reply this time, having passed out on the ground. Barry paused for a moment and considered his actions before delivering the killing blow. Did he really want to keep doing this, to keep killing? He had every right to do so, this man had literally stabbed him in the back, or at least tried to, and Barry knew that if their roles were reversed, Draco wouldn’t hesitate to finish Barry off. Why had Barry’s conscience suddenly reared its head now? He’d already defeated numerous beasts, not to mention Devon, and more recently the lizard man Cedric. What was one more name on the list? But to strike at someone when they were down just felt wrong. Everyone and everything else that Barry had fought was actively trying to kill him, this man was just lying on the ground helplessly waiting for death, it felt completely different, it felt wrong. Barry wasn’t dumb, he understood that fighting was a necessity to survive in this place, and death was an unfortunate outcome of this. But to murder an unarmed and defenceless person was something he couldn’t stand for, a line he wasn’t ready to cross.

A loud, pained whimper snapped Barry out of his thoughts as he turned and saw the massive figure of Swirly cowering on all fours, having just sustained many heavy blows in quick succession. Salzahar was grinning as he walked closer toward the cowering Swirly whilst raising his mace overhead. Tuti screamed and Swirly just closed his eyes and readied himself to take another blow, too exhausted to react. Barry forgot about his internal turmoil regarding Draco and instead flung his illusion chain directly at Salzahar, praying that the lizard man wouldn’t see through his trick. Salzahar spotted the approaching chain, stepped back and swung his mace to block instead of completing his strike against Swirly. He frowned angrily as the chain passed harmlessly straight through his mace, instantly realising he’d been duped. That was all the time Barry needed though as he sped towards Swirly and stood beside the panting ape who was still unable to stand.

“It’s ok little buddy, I’m here now,” Barry uttered as he gentle stroked the fur on the injured apes arm before turning his attention to Salzahar. The lizard man sent a chilling snarl towards Barry before gathering himself.

“I see we underestimated you human, you have impressive resilience,” Salzahar said, “However, dealing with my underlings is one thing, but I’m on a whole other level.”

“I see modesty is not one of your strengths,” Barry quipped.

Salzahar just snorted and stepped forward with his mace at the ready. Salzahar’s free clawed hand glowed and Barry steadied himself. With an immensely powerful swing Salzahar heaved his great mace aiming for Barry’s chest. The mace may have radiated with power, but it was moving slowly, and Barry had no trouble tracking its trajectory. Barry went to step back to avoid the blow, but as he did, he noticed his right foot was trapped, unable to move. Something was holding his foot in place. He twisted and arched back as far as he could, managing to mostly move out of the way of the mace despite his foot remaining trapped. Unfortunately, a couple of the spikes of the mace did manage to clip him on the left side of his chest. Two horizontal wounds appeared across Barry’s ribs and blood started trickling out.

“What is with it with these guys and rib shots?” Barry thought, trying to distract himself from the pain.

Salzahar’s speed was unremarkable, and it took him a few seconds to get back into a fighting position after the mace completed its swing. Barry used this opportunity to sweep away the leaves at his feet and his eyes widened when he saw that his right foot was completely covered by hard earth. Barry tried to heave his foot out and hit at the dirt with his chain, but nothing seemed to work. He was trapped in place.

“This must be Salzahar’s magic, an earth affinity,” he thought.

Glancing down at Swirly he saw that three of the apes four limbs had also been immobilised by this skill, with only the apes left arm remaining free.

“I knew it was smart to save my last use of that skill as a backup,” grinned Salzahar, whilst preparing for another swing of his mace.

This time the lizard stepped in even closer and Barry knew he wouldn’t be able to get away from the brunt of the blow this time. He swung his aura chain forward and he managed to hit Salzahar square in the face. The lizard man received a nasty cut across his snout from the blow, but Barry knew there wasn’t much force behind the strike given how awkward it felt still having his foot locked in place. Plus, it seemed Salzahars vitality was much higher than that of the other three lizard men. Salzahar growled and from this distance Barry gained a whole new appreciation for the size and sharpness of the man’s pointed teeth. With that Salzahar proceeded to bring down his mace once more and Barry was forced to activate his heavy fortification skill as the spiked weapon slammed into his chest.

Swirly screeched in concern as Barry toppled over, all the air in his lungs having been knocked out of him from that one blow. He managed to just keep his feet but he was forced to stoop to try and catch his breath. Taking a look at his health bar Barry was relieved to see that he hadn’t received all that much damage thanks to the effects of his ability, and he still had a good fifty percent of his health remaining. Unfortunately, his rapid recovery skill had well and truly worn off by now, and he still couldn’t take another mushroom to boost his stat, leaving him with no other way of recovering his health quickly. Barry pushed himself back upright and glared at Salzahar who looked equal parts impressed and irritated at Barry’s tenacity.

“You need to learn when to die,” Salzahar spat as he prepared to raise his mace again.

Barry glanced across to Swirly who was still on all fours just to Barry’s right. The ape was clearly injured but he did look a little better than a few moments ago. Barry returned his gaze to Salzahar had managed to lift his mace overhead and was about to strike.

“Leave him alone!” Tuti screamed as Barry saw her charge forward from where she had been hiding, holding a small branch that she used to smack into the lizard man’s leg.

Salzahar scoffed in mild irritation as he looked down at the much smaller person with disdain. He didn’t bother to use his mace on her but instead he brought down one of his hands and gave her a backhanded slap across the side of face. The simple strike sent Tuti rocketing ten metres away before she skidded to a stop in the leaves. Swirly let out a furious roar and Barry took this opportunity to swing his chain forward at Salzahar in a last-ditch effort whilst the lizard man was distracted. He aimed his chain directly at Salzahar’s shin, looping it around perfectly and locking it in place. Barry then heaved the chain backwards, knocking a bewildered Salzahar off his feet and onto his back. Barry kept pulling with all his might and managed to drag the snarling and kicking Salzahar closer. Salzahar reacted by bringing his mace down onto Barry’s hands, squishing his knuckles, but again Barry ignored the pain and kept pulling until he too fell back onto the ground.

“You will pay for that human!” Salzahar growled as he began to push himself up, using his mace for leverage.

The furious lizard man brought his chain enwrapped leg forward and pressed his foot firmly into the ground, pushing through it to stand up. Salzahar’s strength was far greater than Barry’s own, and now that the lizard man was prepared Barry could no longer move the lizard man’s body any further. The immovable resistance felt to Barry like he was trying to pull down a building with his bare hands.

That was the last Barry saw of Salzahar. He observed the lizard man pushing himself to his feet, his teeth bared, drool dripping from his scaly lips and piercing eyes staring back at his own. A second later, a blur of illuminated fur passed in front of his vision at the same time as the emergence of a terrible splattering sound that made Barry’s stomach turn. Droplets of something wet hit Barry in the face and he was forced to close his eyes as a rush of energy entered his body. He wiped away the red liquid and stared in horror at the sight in front of him. Where the lizard man had just been was instead a crumpled mess of blood, flesh and scales with a glowing hand resting atop it. Swirly’s massive, powerful palm had flattened Salzahar like a pancake, instantly killing him. As the ape dragged his hand away, bits of stringy, dripping innards dangled down from his hand. The sight made Barry want to vomit and he turned his head away in disgust. His vision landed on Tuti, who was still lying face up on the leafy ground. Her glowing clenched fist was held up to the sky before the glow faded and her arm fell limply down, having expelled the last of her mana to empower a final big fist from Swirly. Barry pulled his chain free from the bloody mess of flesh and jumped up to his feet. It seemed that the earthy restraint that was lodged onto his foot had melted away with Salzahar’s death. Barry sprinted over to Tuti and placed his head beside hers, checking to see if she was breathing. The vixant was battered and bruised, but thankfully her chest was rising and falling, and Barry could feel the air leaving her mouth. Tuti opened her eyes and saw Barry staring worryingly at her, his eyes focussed on her chest.

“So, you’re more of a boobs guy than a bum guy, who would have thought,” she whispered as a wry smile spread across her lips.