The majority of the bargain sect arrived without any other trouble. The spring air cooled them as the groups began to split off and search for lizardmen's nests. Various plants had begun to bloom as four clawed footprints in the mud created various trails leading off and then disappearing suddenly.
Looking around, Yang saw a few damaged homes and upturned farms, as well as the smell of rotting flesh. Moving with Angel they entered the village leader's house.
The leader appeared to be pushing into his eighties with a bald center of his head and white hairs flowing past his ears in a halo around his head.
Angle pulled out a medallion with the number 2/1 in the center. “We come from the Bargain Sect and are here to deal with the lizard problem. But personally I’ll like to attend to those who have been injured.”
“Welcome, welcome. Come sit! I have prepared tea.”
The two sat at a small round table.
“The lizards have been around for a long time, ever since I was a kid. But they didn’t go anywhere near the village. Now it's like they've become an infestation.
“Years? You let this fester for how long?” Yang asked as his face paled.
“No, usually we’d hire cultivators to get rid of them when there are too many. This is the first time we’ve had them attack the fields and locals.”
“Leaping lizards are usually docile. Which means there is someone commanding them.”
“Could it be a demonic cultivator?” The old man paled.
“That would be a best case scenario.” Yang had read up on this. Demonic cultivators were still mostly human and simple to deal with. But this smelled like a precursor ruin gone haywire; anything can happen when those entities are involved.
The duo left and got to work helping out with the sick and injured while slowly getting an idea of the potential numbers and hearing local gossip.
Yang found that after spending hours in the village watching Angel heal people treat bites, and dismemberment with various items from the strange book Fonta held. He was bored, the monsters hadn’t attacked the village and few had been discovered in the field. He was mostly sitting around or doing manual labor.
The last two hours were pure boredom as no new arrivals came. Deciding to conserve his time, Yang began to meditate, increasing the speed at which he drew energy into himself and holding it in for later.
As the sun hit the horizon and had begun to set a howl shook the village to its core and an eruption of lizards shot from the ground, ready for the intruders that entered their lands.
Leaping lizards by the hundreds appeared in an eruption above ground many dying upon landing while the rest hopped over the corpses of their comrades. Each was around two feet tall and erratic as they attacked anything that moved which was usually each other. This was due to their pounce tactics mixed with a lack of coordination.
The next monsters to arrive were Lizardman, they were eight feet tall, muscular, and ferocious with another three feet in length from just their tails. Wielding claws, fangs, and makeshift weapons made from bone, and teeth. While shamans commanded floating skulls, and undead leaping lizards, with grimoires made from an eerie pale leather that resembled human skin.
“Lizard Wizards?” Angel said in surprise as the familiars floated towards them.
Yang drew his long thin blade and dashed forward, slashing a floating skill in two and watching the energy around it dissipate.
Two other skulls shot past him only to be sliced along the way as Yang placed his sword back in its sheath and closed the distance between the mage and himself, nearly decapitating the monster in a smooth slice.
Black blood fountained from the wound and the mage tried to close it with their hands only for Yang to thrust the blade through its right eye and into its brain as a blue dragon shot out of the back of its head. Flying into a second lizardman standing above one of his fellow disciples with a jagged stick with teeth sticking out, making it look like an ax.
The second lizardman blinked as its torso was consumed and its head landed where its tail was sitting. Black blood slowly leaked from the fresh wounds.
The down disciples got back to their feet and went back into the fray attacking other students instead of trying to fight them on one.
Yang returned to his Angel and sighed. “Should I stay back?”
“Don’t go too far. I have a summon that can protect me but my abilities won’t keep me alive on their own if a swarm hits me.”
“I’m going to have a busy night.”
“Yes, also, saving lives is more important than landing a kill. Pace yourself moving straight into a technique like that will eat up your energy too fast.”
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“Yes, Mamm!” Yang darted off, moving into a group of lizardmen, slashed wildly then darted out in their confusion with a well-timed jump. Moving to a second group as the first was put down arrows falling from the sky.
Yang repeated the previous maneuver multiple times darting around the battlefield leaving behind gaping wounds as he saved sect members, weakened his foes, and conserved chi. The land looked more like a swamp than grasslands as the black pools of blood resembled a muddy swamp.
Within thirty minutes the eruption of lizardmen had slowed and the rest of the sect members could handle it. Turning back to the healing station, Yang began ferrying the injured back to receive healing.
“Welcome back.” Angel said after the first trip. Three bodies were placed on cots moments after.
“Not done yet. Quite a few injuries but no deaths. We’re all decently trained in combat and so long as most stay in their groups it's simple.”
“How are you?”
“I haven’t used much energy, I can keep up this pace pretty well. Where did the attack force go?”
“The strike team went underground to attack the nest directly. I dont know whats going on in there but monsters have stopped coming out of that eruption.”
Yang nodded then dashed back out to pick up the injured. After each trip, he noticed the last group was up and resting as the healing took. Then after that, they were running back into the fray pushing back the foe with newfound fervor.
The ground shook wildly as a lizard standing twenty feet tall with 9 silver protrusions on her head. She wielded a piece of stone ten feet long and similar to a club which she used to crush the ribs of one of the strike force members. Merham was a stout man with a long beard, he wore heavy metal armor and was quite resilient, though the blow seemed to break multiple bones through the armor and various defenses. One hit had taken him out of the fight.
Ling dodged the slash only for the energy surrounding the weapon to tear him to shreds as he was sent flying in another direction.
Yang had begun dashing the moment the monster appeared, hoisting Merham over one shoulder and Ling over the other as he ran back to Angel.
There was no sign of Casimar or Zara, as Tang Bao was the only person fighting above ground.
“How long until they can fight?”
“They are done for the day. Their injuries will take time to heal. Thirty minutes. Can you hold the monster off that long?”
“We’ll have to beat it, or at least last until the other two arrive.” Yang said with a smile reminiscent of Fonta’s, shown on his face.
Angel saw that face and knew Yang was going to fight to win regardless. “Try not to die. Brother Fonta believes in your rehabilitation.”
Yang felt irritation as he now knew Fonta was the ringleader behind the misunderstanding, though he let it grow as it wanted as Fonta didn’t have the same common sense most people held.
“I’ll get him one of these days.” Drawing his dueling sword.
Tang dodged each blow and held strong against the pressure of each strike pushed him back. When there was an opening he attacked with his spear. On occasion he fired the head into a gap in its scales and slid into its weak spot then yanked to remove the scale in its entirety.
Piercing the scales was beyond his power but if he created a crack in its armor he could thrust into its flesh.
“Come on, you overgrow pests. I’ll show you the power of Tang Bao!” With a swing, the spear spread out into sixteen segments held together with a thin wire as he jumped past the lizard's neck and grabbed the other end. Holding it like a garrote he made black blood leak from the monster's neck as the wire pushed deeper into it.
A roar and the monster began to buck only to drive the wire deeper as it gave ground.
“Die you stupid lizard!”
The lizard seemingly underwood and muttered. “Thank you!” its eyes landed on Tang as it fell back crushing the young cultivator like a bug, his hands letting go of the weapon and letting it fall off his consciousness failing him as the garrote was snapped and the matron raised its club to crush him.
The club came down followed by a sudden clang and the snap of metal as Yang appeared, his dueling sword’s blade broken off as his sword was tossed to the side.
“A, you’re smart. Let me get this Bao out of here and we can fight each other. If not, I’ll have to hurry and I'm sure neither of us will be satisfied if the fight ends quickly.” Yang drew his greatsword menacingly, his body hiding the small familiar that had begun healing Tang behind him.
“Bao? He does look like food. Why would I let you walk away with him when I can just–”
“Fine. You got me. This fight won’t actually last a short amount of time. Since you’re strong too, it may last ten or so minutes.” Yang said with bravado. He wasn’t as sure as he acted but he wasn’t going to leave Tang to his death. No matter how irritating he was.
Derdof appeared from behind a house a greatbow drawn back as far as he could and fired a lance into the monster's neck the lance grew into a metal collar as four chains extended down into the earth trapping it in place.
Yang slashed at the trapped lizard seven times causing it to bleed black, as it bucked at the new restraints before it bent down slamming its head into Yang who was mid swing. Its crown chiping the greatsword as it jumpend with enough force to shake the ground, the four chains around its neck going with it as it flew straight up.
As Yang watched it rise he recalled that they were referred to as leaping lizards for a reason and knew that if he let that creature fall on the city. Quite a few would die, he would die, worse Angel and the others he was protecting could die.
Pressing his legs hard into the ground, Yang lept with more velocity than the now-falling leaping lizard Matron. The power of his lower body and legs had been his focus ever since he could walk again.
As the two foes met in the sky Yang carved a deep vertical slash through the lizard and was paid back by a tail swipe that smashed straight through his sword, sent him flying, and broke a few of his ribs.
Grabbing onto one of the chains instinctively with his right hand, Yang pulled at it with a snap like a whip, the maneuver sending him toward the monster's eyes. Drawing his bastard sword with his left hand he stabbed Into the ocular organ and into the magic nucleus that acted as its brain.
It wasn’t enough to kill it but he did manage to push its trajectory away from the village but it was still too close. He needed more power, he needed to push himself beyond what he had done like his teacher. If Fonta can do it, so should he.
Pushing all the chi he could muster and all of his strength he felt something in him snap as his body passed into the monsters skull then through it as an explosion of blue light reminiscent of a dragon's mouth erupted from the other side with Yang in the center his right arm mangled, his left arm holding the sword straight out and his eyes burning with golden flames before returning to a deep azure hue.
The monster had died and disappeared as is customary for creatures from ruins; only its crown had shrunk in size and began to fall with Yang.
A loud crash followed by a new crater ended that day for Yang as he forcefully awakened his secondary talent. Though his body would need time to heal as well. He went down satisfied.