Portal Grinding Volume 2 Part 3

The reptilian battlecry continued for what felt like minutes as every creature on the battlefield turned to face the new possible threat. The single call split into a quintet of harmonized voices, all thirsty for blood. Then five red blurs shot out from behind the breastwork, deadly streaks of glistening red scales and glowing white talons. They struck at red scaled and gray scaled alike, leaving nothing but dry corpses in their wake.

These new creatures were faster than John's eyes could register. In the time it took him to turn his head, they had already decimated and drained a formation of Lizardmen.

They're some kind of vampire lizard banshees, they haven't stopped screeching.

The newcomers didn't attack John and his summons. After clearing the battlefield of soldiers, they immediately shot towards the generals. It was a five versus five duel of elites, ones who John now knew he had no chance of defeating on his own. Two of the five generals easily kept up and parried the vampiric Lizardmen. The other three stood still in wait for the opportune moment to strike, taking attack after attack without flinching before swinging with lightning speed and knocking their adversaries back several meters.

Calista made her way to her master's side and immediately began to heal him. John sighed in relief, only now realizing just how close he had been to defeat.

+25 hp
+25 hp
+25 hp
+25 hp

"Thank you, Calista."

She nodded with a warm smile as she continued her spells. Meanwhile, Ignis was circling the final battle with hackles raised. They all moved much too fast for her to take advantage of any openings, though, and so she merely watched and analyzed what she could. Or at least, that's what it looked like she was doing.

Maybe if I activate Sparkbody I'll be fast enough to actually fight them.

Calista finished her healing as one of the slower generals fell to the ground, a deep gash gouged out of his broad neck. No blood flowed out of the fatal would.

"The odds are now in our favor, unless I'm reading the situation wrong and those red scaled speed demons aren't on our side," John observed.

"They massacred their own people but spared our lives. I have no understanding of their reasoning," was Calista's response.

The screeching intensified for a few seconds as one of the Lizardman banshees was thrown into Ignis, incinerating the glowing clawed noise machine. Ignis, indignant about being used as a tool to **** her (perceived) comrade, pounced into the fray.

****!

She finished off another of the slower generals before being **** to retreat under the onslaught of the more agile duo.

"Should we even try to attack?" John mused with a ghost of a smile.

Calista laughed. John loved the sound.

"I am no fighter, Master Newman. I struggled even against their weaker soldiers. I would be of no help in an attack against these monsters."

John shook his head as he activated Sparkbody, his aura electrifying into a web of red sparks all over his body. The remaining Lizardmen slowed to an admittedly still above average speed, but they were no longer blurred to his eyes as he sprinted into the fray. He took firm hold of the haft of his spear as he leapt towards one of the remaining generals. The enemy's back was turned towards him, engaged in a duel with Ignis.

How are they even doing physical damage to a creature made purely out of magic fire?

John had but a second to foster the thought before his short flight landed him on the Lizardman's back, his spear buried halfway inside his target.

Critial Hit! 40 dmg

He kicked off of the general's back, performing a backflip, and landed in a spray of sand before casting bolt. The ball of red lightning in his hand hovered above the sparks that covered his body, glowing a more vibrant hue. The bolt shot towards the general as he turned, landing on his chest and making him stumble. Ignis took this opportunity to pounce, her fiery jaws locking onto the back of the Lizardman's neck.

40 dmg
50 dmg
-10 hp (Ignis)
25 dmg
-30 hp (Ignis)
25 dmg

The general dropped onto his back and started rolling and thrashing, refusing to die without a valiant struggle. John had to duck as the Lizardman's tail nearly knocked his head off his shoulders, only to be painfully reminded that there were still two enemies behind him.

-5 hp
-5 hp
-5 hp
-5 hp
-5 hp
-5 hp
-5 hp
-5 hp

HOLY FUCK

A searing pain exploded into his consciousness as a blade sliced across his back nearly a dozen times before he even had the chance to react. He dropped into a roll, earning himself half a dozen more cuts across his legs and arms before he came to a stop. He spun to face his foe, hands aglow with a dual cast of sparks aimed at his assailant's arms.

-5 hp
-5 hp
-5 hp
-5 hp
-5 hp
-5 hp
10 dmg
10 dmg
10 dmg
Enemy stunned! [5 seconds remaining]

John's dagger materialized in his hand at a mere thought, though he had no time to contemplate why it was so easy. He took advantage of his enemy's spasming incapacitation, slashing and stabbing with wild abandon.

10 dmg
10 dmg
Glancing hit! 5 dmg
10 dmg
Glancing hit! 5 dmg
Critical hit! 20 dmg

John, eyeing the stun countdown, tried to tackle and grapple the agile Lizardman, but even in its debuffed state, it was too strong for him to pin down. As the last second ticked to zero, John kicked the Lizardman's sword arm, disarming it and creating an opening in its defenses to attack its chest rather than its arms.

Layla had been standing outside of John's dorm for half an hour, knocking every five minutes so as not to seem like some psycho stalker that was obsessed with him. She had chosen to wear a white string bikini under a slightly sheer red sundress to seduce the love of her life. It was a bit risqué for her usual tastes, but she was more than willing to wear the outfit for John.

She pouted as her seventh attempt at knocking yielded no results.

Where is he? I can't feel his aura, but for some reason his aura just randomly disappears sometimes. He could be hiding it, but why isn't he answering the door? Is he having sex with that whore?

Her breathing quickened in panic and a sudden surge of rage before she managed to smother the negative feelings with thoughts of how she would earn his attention. She began to search around his door.

Maybe there's a spare key somewhere around here?

She reached above the door frame, running her fingers along its length while standing up on the tips of her feet. Her dress rose above her waist, revealing her small bikini bottom to any that might walk by. No one did. Having no luck above the door, she checked under the doormat. As she knelt to her hands and knees to inspect the floor, her dress revealed ample yet modest swinging cleavage barely kept in place by the flimsy swimwear fabric. Her efforts were met with the same disheartening results. Getting back on her feet, she took a good look at the hall she stood in for the first time since John had moved in.

We're in the corner of the building. Top floor. His door is on the side of the hall that faces outside. There's a fire escape out there. Fire escapes are accessed through windows. I can just take a quick peek and see if he's home or not and then leave... Yeah.

Nodding to herself, Layla walked away from John's door.

+25 hp
-5 hp
10 dmg
-5 hp
+25 hp
10 dmg
-5 hp
-5 hp
-5 hp
-5 hp
+25 hp
10 dmg
10 dmg

Calista was doing her best to heal John as he weathered the onslaught from one of the more agile generals. It was working fairly well, but her mana was limited. She could only keep up the steady healing for so much longer. John and the general were still locked in heated battle, trading flurries of blows for blasts of lightning and clumsy slashes back and forth savagely. The general's superior agility, even with John's Sparkbody, rendered his parkour evasion practically useless.

10 dmg
Enemy stunned! [5 seconds remaining]

John pressed his advantage, burning through the last of his mana in an attempt to finish their duel to the ****. He cast bolt in his left hand, slamming the spherical lightning into the Lizardman's chest as he stabbed its neck with the dagger in his right hand.

40 dmg
Glancing hit! 5 dmg

He cast bolt again with his palm still pressed against the spasming general's chest, the red sparks exploding into existence only to instantly dissipate into its body. The impact threw both of them back, wasting precious seconds for John where he couldn't reach the Lizardman with his dagger.

Critical hit! 80 dmg

John willed the dagger back into his inventory to dual cast bolt as the final second of stun hit zero. The twin red lightning bolts sped at the general just as it regained its senses, slamming into its stomach and knocking it onto its back.

40 dmg
40 dmg

The general spun and squirmed on the ground, kicking up a spray of sand that obscured it from John's view.

-5 hp
-5 hp
-5 hp
-5 hp
-5 hp
-5 hp
+25 hp
-5 hp
-5 hp

FUCK THIS SHIT

John dual cast bolt again, seizing an opening left by the Lizardman's flurry technique in which its head would stay locked in place and **** while it slashed at John with reckless abandon. His palms slammed against opposite sides of the general's head, shoving lightning bolts into its brain.

****! [1,120 dmg]

The general slumped onto John, its full, dead weight way too much for him to handle. He fell under the corpse, effectively trapped.

Over a thousand damage! Holy shit! Oh fuck no, nonononoooo… this is disgusting

John continued to grumble mentally about his situation as Ignis grappled the final, tanky general. Globs of red hot glass flew in every direction as Ignis and the Lizardman rolled in the sand. The general's thick scales could only do so much to protect it, soon succumbing to the firefox' intense heat and relentless attacks. The stench of burned flesh permeated the air as Ignis wore away at her enemy's defenses. She tore into the Lizardman's scales with her jaws, the severe heat of her flames burning the skin and muscle underneath. She pinned the Lizardman to the ground with her paws, the extremely hot fire slowly but surely melting through the scales to the meat underneath. The general did its best to squirm, snap its jaws, slash with its claws, and knock Ignis away with its tail. All to no avail, for as the seconds ticked by, the Lizardman's movements grew weaker and more erratic. It died in Ignis' jaws, spasming in its **** throes, letting loose a disgusting squeal as its final breath.

Ignis roared her victory as she stood above the corpse of her enemy, a gout of flames erupting from her maw. John felt the already unbearable temperature rise drastically as she celebrated her triumph. He finally managed to push the Lizardman corpse off himself with her help once she finished. Calista was suppressing an incredibly amused smile as John brushed stray grains of sand and beads of glass off his cloak… which hung off his shoulders in tatters. A glance was all it took to confirm that his spear had also been destroyed in the battle.

I need better gear. Quick.

Only two of the original five vampire banshee Lizardmen remained, and as John watched them walk by chittering excitedly to each other, he remembered to cast observe on them.

I should have been doing this the entire time, for fuck's sake.

Level 8 Slikopethakath, "Vampire Banshee Lizardman"

Lizardman priestesses cursed with a savage thirst for blood and other bodily fluids, causing them to scream in agony as they attack victims and suck them dry. Can be appeased peacefully if negotiated with carefully. Summoned and cursed by Slytha, High Priestess of Shihai.

"Well, shit," John couldn't help but react out loud to the revelation.

"Master?" Calista reached out to John, healing him to full with a concerned look on her face.