30 – Lizard king Gerard
Day 1
As the lizards retreated once more, Jake started praying allowing the healers to heal the group more efficiently. As they healed, Jim started planting all of the various seeds around the seed of the world tree. The mana around Jake was drawn to this soul. It was not significant enough to be noticed, but a small amount was constantly being sucked in. As soon as everyone was healed, the group saw a fortress built out of a mud like substance. Calling it a fortress was an overstatement and was closer to a size of a village. The walls were 20 foot high with a square-like structure.
Jake commanded the group as he summoned his golden hands to pick up large boulders and nearby trees. He threw the large objects at the front wall. After the fifth attempt with boulders and trees, the front wall collapsed. Jim immediately started praying to provide a group wide buff. In order to conserve energy, Jake started praying and meditating at the same time. He learned that he can consistently draw mana from the surrounding environment using pressure. He was able to redirect the mana to gather at the stomach and create a hypothetical mana cylinder with holes everywhere. As there was a high pressure of mana around his stomach, it logically will be moved to a lower pressure toward his heart allowing him to forcibly gather mana and provide extra mana to all over his body. This increased the potency of his golden hands but currently did not provide any benefits. Instead he diverted his mana to his ring where the seeds were placed. Jim and Jake could vaguely sense that seeds wiggling wondering if this was there was of expressing joy/happiness.
The group made quick work of the first group of lizards. Only 100 lizards remain with one having the title of lizard king. As the two sides clashed the lizard king made his move. The initial clash was a blur of scales and steel. The group, hardened by their previous skirmishes, moved with lethal efficiency. Arrows found their mark, swords bit deep, and magic crackled in the air. The lizard horde, though numerous, began to thin rapidly. Yet, amidst the chaos, a figure emerged. Larger, more imposing than its kin, the lizard king was a terrifying sight. Its scales shimmered with an unnatural light, and its eyes burned with a predatory intensity. With a guttural roar, it charged.
Jake commanded using a basic strategy of tanks in front and ranged attacks in the back with close range melee attackers mixed in with the tanks. Jake's voice, clear and commanding, cut through the chaos. The group responded instinctively. The heavy-armored warriors formed a protective wall, their shields raised, while archers and mages positioned themselves behind them. Nimble fighters, swords drawn, slipped through the gaps, ready to strike at opportune moments.
The lizard king, a monstrous figure, bore down upon them. Its scaled hide glinted in the sunlight as it charged, its roar a deafening crescendo. The first line of defense braced themselves, their bodies tensed. The battle was about to escalate to a whole new level.
With a cunning that belied its reptilian form, the lizard king abandoned its initial charge and veered towards Jake. Its target clear, it moved with surprising speed and agility. The creature's eyes, burning with a cold, predatory light, were locked onto Jake.
The rest of the group, realizing the grave danger their leader was in, shifted their focus. Arrows flew, spells were cast, and swords were raised in a desperate attempt to intercept the monstrous creature.
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Jake commanded the group to focus on the other lizards while he takes care of the king. Others interfering with this battle would only hinder him. As the lizard king was getting closer, Jim took on a horse stance. He summoned his golden fists which started breaking the lizard kings momentum. However, the lizard king was too strong and started putting its arm up to slowly advance. As it staggered its way within 10 feet of Jake, it dashed at full speed towards Jake. In order to take this to a close range fight, Jake stopped summoning his golden fist and instead enveloped his own fists with a golden aura.
As the two sides clashed, it was obvious that the lizard king was at a disadvantage. As Jake switched from golden hands to golden fists, redirecting the aura towards his own fist decreased the area of impact, but increased its destructive force. As Jake continued to pummel the lizard king, the advantage continued to grow. Eventually, the lizard king met its end after a couple of minutes. The remaining group were finishing their battles. Jake moved the corpse of the lizard king into his ring. He rang back into action and started praying to provide the buffs back to his group. Eventually all the lizards were killed. Everyone tried to fit as much of the corpses, armor, weapons, anything they could see into their storage, however, the storage space was limited unless it was a special item like Jim’s time ring. Jim went around and collected samples of the dirt, more corposes, literally anything he could get his hands on. People started to wonder how many items he could hold and greed started to appear in some people’s eyes. They concluded that their commander must have a rare item that allows a huge storage space compared to what they have. However, no one acted upon their greed as they knew the difference in strength between the group and Jake. After all, Jake was able to best them in a battle royale without breaking a sweat and the lizard king was not an opponent they would survive against. The system announced the reward for the clear and provided one sealing page of the lessor demons leg. After everything ended, a portal appeared and everyone stepped into the portal. They arrived back to the main hall.
The healers started to heal the group while jake was praying to provide increased healing buffs. After everyone was healed, they waited for the other groups to return.
Eventually, the other 12 groups returned one by one. The leaders of each group formed a circle and discussed what they found. Each group faced a different environment. Each group received a sealing page for a body part. One group received a hand, another group received a foot. Everyone could see the pattern. Each portal provided a sealing page for a body part. If everything worked as planned, each group would only need to clear 2 more portals each to have all of the sealing pages to face the lessor demon. Everyone was resting and healing as the other groups did not have as many healers. The only group that was healing as fast as Jake’s group was the church; however, they were still slower than Jakes group. A glint of greed shined through Sera and Jim’s eyes. He took over the main body and walked to each group to expedite the healing process. He said that he will accept payment in 10 gold coin per group or they can trade items they found in the dungeons. Most of the groups rejected the offer, but one group was significantly injured. They accepted to trade what they found in the dungeons. The injured group came over to Jake’s group and requested healing. Jake started praying and his healers started healing them. All the other groups were shocked at the healing speed. Everyone was back to full health in less than 5 minutes. Meanwhile, all of the other groups were still healing as they were closer to 70% health. Everyone still rejected the offer as they wanted to save money. Little did they know, this would harm them in the future.
Once everyone was healed they each picked another portal to enter.