The leader is clearly getting frustrated with him. I try to tune him out as we continue training. The leader dodges fireballs that the Feline throws at him. Meanwhile, the Viperion proceeds to shoot arrows at me as I block them. “Ha ha ha! That ain’t a blockin’ shield! Thas a fightin’ shield! Ya gotta worry ‘bout what you can do! Not what ya can’t!” Smoke bellows from the leader’s mouth and nostrils as he snaps. “ENOUGH!!!” the leader shouts in an intimidating roar. “You’ve done nothing but drink and criticize us! What is your problem?! Are you just too drunk to take this seriously?!” While I’d like to be on the leader’s side for this, Mange could most likely handle this fight on his own. He has more than enough reason to not take this seriously.

Mange finishes off the drink he’s holding, throwing the bottle off of the platform into the freely flowing lava below. He then stands onto his feet. “Alright! Ya wanna piss on me good time? Then I guess I’ll show ya what yer missin’!” Mange steps over to the side of the platform across from us. He turns to us, stumbling as he tries to hold himself up. “Come on, then! Hit me! I’ll show ya what a real tank looks like!” The leader looks to the Feline and waves his head, signaling him to throw a fireball at Mange. The Feline charges a small fireball, then throws it. The fireball hits Mange in the stomach and dissipates. Mange doesn’t even flinch.

“Ha ha ha! That it?! If ya can’t take me seriously, yer gonna die against them idjit Heroes!” The leader quickly shapes into his dragon form. “You want us to take this seriously?! I’ll show you serious!” The leader opens his mouth. A ball of light begins glowing as the leader charges some kind of attack. The light continues to get larger and larger! This may be dangerous! Suddenly, the light condenses into a focused ball, no bigger than an eyeball, before it’s launched at Mange. I know a strong attack when I see one! I grab the Feline and Viperion and hold them down as we huddle in a defensive crouch behind my small shield.

The ball hits Mange straight on, causing a massive explosion with an array of light and fire bursting from it. As the burst of the attack dies down, the room becomes clouded in thick smoke. The platform is still swaying from the impact of the attack. As I continue to fend off the strong wind circulating through the volcanic pit, I begin to see through the smoke. A feint glow illuminating in the dark, swirling ash. Mange’s name is still there! As the winds die down and the smoke begins to settle, we can see that Mange has not only saved from taking the damage, but somehow, without a shield in hand, completely negated it! Even if his level is very high, how is this possible!

“Ye got an eye for showy attacks, but ya just ain’t got th’ power behind’em!” The Viperion, Feline, and I stand up now that things have settled. The Viperion steps towards Mange. “What kind of monster are you to survive such a strike?!” Mange gives her a smile that looks sinister, but… I can feel something else in his tone as he says “Ya don’t wanna know, missy.” Mange looks past the Viperion, staring a hole through my face. “Ye ready ta take a crack at me, skelly boy?” I guess it’s better to test my skills against someone of his level to really see the difference in power. Raise my sword and shield, and slide towards him cautiously.

As I approach, Mange rolls his eyes and lets out a sigh. “Yer takin’ this too seriously! I ain’t gonna hit ya!” He doesn’t seem like he likes how I’ve learned to fight. “Look, skelly boy! Yer job is ta’ hit hard! If ya got a good team, ya won’t be gettin’ hit! Thas my job!” well… I suppose he’s right. Maybe I should step up my aggression a little. I raise my shield and charge in close. I immediately use impactful strike. The burst of wind and energy flows forward, slamming against Mange’s stomach, then… breaking apart??? My-my attack just now! It couldn’t even budge him! I leap backwards and prepare for another charge!

I begin a chain of attacks, using Roaring Charge to get in close, performing a strike, then leaping back to do it again. After a few attacks, I look up at his face mid-charge to see his eyes. The coldest, most hostile stare I’ve ever seen. The pupils of his eyes are hyper focused, piercing through my charge, and sending chills through my bones. I cut my charge short and leap back, raising my shield. “Ha ha ha! That all ye got?!” I find myself struggling to move because of his piercing gaze. There must be something to that stare that’s making this difficult… While I try thinking of a way to hit him, the leader exhales smoke from his nose.

“Hero! I will provide you cover! Strike when you find a moment he isn’t watching you!” The Feline and Viperion step forward as well. “We’ll distract him, as well! Find your opening!” The Feline says as he and the Viperion take combat poses. I look back at Mange. His eyes are piercing again, but he has a smile on his face. “Go on, then! Le’see what ye got!” The Viperion and Feline begin firing a barrage of fire and arrows at Mange. The fireballs are merely burning out against Mange’s fur, whereas the Viperion’s arrows can’t even break his skin! Such endurance! The leader roars out. “Strike the wall behind him!” The leader shouts as he begins firing beams of light at the stone wall behind Mange. The Feline and Viperion follow suit, causing the room to become full of dust and smoke once more.

Through the smoke, I can only see Mange’s name glowing over his head. However, that’s all I need! I charge in close, preparing to use my Impactful Strike! Before I can perform my attack, I see Mange’s large, clawed hands slap together, clapping with such impact that the dust around him bursts away in a short gust of strong winds! I’m already in position! I can’t back down now! I use Twist Strike, slamming my shield into Mange’s left arm. His body spins around, facing him away from me. I quickly perform a second attack, striking Mange in the back with my shield, successfully pushing him forward... a single step?! That’s it?!

I look up towards Mange as I begin trembling. Mange looks back at me slowly. His eyes have that piercing look again. He turns around, standing over me. In this moment, while looking into his murderous eyes, the only thing running through my head is “I think I’m gonna die…” Mange breathes in, leaning back, taking in as much air as he can. What kind of attack is he going to kill me with?! I raise my shield to my face! I hope if he kills me… it’s at least painless! Mange snaps his body forward, letting out a loud shout! “AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!” His shout, while loud and annoying, isn’t doing any damage! I peek over my shield as his shout dies down into a laugh. “AAAAHHH HA HA ha ha ha! I ‘ad ya soilin’ yerselves widdat one, didn’ I?!”

We all let out a sigh of relief as we relax a little. We were so caught up in the combat that for a moment, we thought he might have forgotten what we were dueling for. “Ya shoulda seen yer fashes! Ya looged sho…” Mange started slurring his words as he stumbled around. “I wash like AHHH, he he~ ya shully bui~!” As Mange continued his incoherent rambling, I watched him stumble closer to the edge of the platform. I drop my shield and sword, quickly dashing over to him just as he tilts forward, falling over the ledge. I dive towards him and grab his leg, holding him over the pit of lava. I-I can’t lift him! He’s too heavy! I swing him around a little to wake him up, but he had passed put! This drunkard pushed too far!

The others quickly ran over and grabbed my legs. The leader flies down below the platform and raises Mange up as we drag him back onto the platform. We grab onto Mange and carry him to a safer spot on the platform. We lay him down and just stand over him, watching as he sleeps so peacefully on the cusp of a battle. This Jackal has a really… unique personality… to say the least. The leader shapes back into his humanoid form as he approaches. “This cretin may be an irritation, but he is undoubtedly strong. I’m more curious why he needs a shield at all.”

The leader stretches his arms while letting out a long-drawn yawn. Subsequently, the Feline and Viperion simultaneously yawn as well. I’m not sure why yawning has that effect, but I do know lacking a bottom jaw really saves me from joining them. “We should check to see how the others are doing.” The leader says as he lifts Mange, throwing him over his shoulder. As we exit the room, the leader lays Mange in the hallway. I suppose he could still fall into the volcano, but I guess there’s more chance to live here than in there. As we walk through the halls, something… feels off.

There’s no sign of any other monster… what’s going on? We make it to the second floor. We hear no sound apart from our footsteps and the sound of the blazing torches crackling. “I have a bad feeling about this…” The Viperion nervously says. While we don’t want to think that anything bad has happened, we can’t shake the same feeling she has. We begin picking our pace up, sprinting through the halls. We round a corner and stop dead in our tracks as the group of Heroes stand in front of us! It appears that they had no intention of waiting for the new day! They thought to sneak up on us as we slept!