The hero they deserve.

John was greatly enjoying the show. Five pairs of soft round asses bouncing as the girls were trailing the jungle was exactly the kind of thing he considered good entertainment.

While crossing a small clearing, the girls suddenly scuttled away. John immediately thought of a trap and got ready to defend himself, he assumed a fighting stance, holding his sword with both hands. Where was the threat though? He suddenly realized that the diminished light wasn't caused by a cloud.

Three flying reptiles, mounted by lizardmen were dive bombing towards them. He had noticed them too late, he was totally exposed and had nowhere to hide or flee. All he had time to do was to aim a strike to the neck of the creature speeding towards him.

140 dmg (crit)

The flying monster lost control of its flight and slammed on John. John flew a few meters backwards only to see the two other flying creatures getting away, holding an elf and....

"SYLVIA!!! NO!!!" he screamed as loud as he could. Due to the thick jungle the hunters disappeared with their prey before John could cast a spell to stop them.

John got up and looked around. The flying reptile had broken its neck and was agonizing on the ground, losing copious amounts of blood from the gash on its throat. The rider was looking exactly like the hunters he faced earlier, he was obviously from the same tribe. John remembered the horn call of one of the dead hunters, he had been calling for reinforcement.

John used Restrain on the wounded lizardman, still dizzy from having been so violently dismounted.

"Where is she? WHERE IS SHE? Talk now scaly piece of shit or I will cut you to pieces!" he screamed at the paralyzed rider that he was raising against a wall, a hand on his throat and moving his dagger under his snout.

The creature began to croak and hiss, John didn't understand a thing, but the creature was obviously fearing for his life. They took her, they dared. He wouldn't succeed in begging for his life, even if John could actually understand him.

"It's no use, the lizards can't speak any language we can understand. They took them to the mouth of Tarkos. We will never see them again." said Cali, who had come out of the bush she had hidden herself in.

John turned to face her after slitting the throat of the wounded and helpless hunter.

60 xp

John was irate, Sylvia was gone and he couldn't leave this place without her or he would lose her forever. The elves knew the attack was happening, but they only thought of themselves and didn't even warn their saviors.

"Why the fuck didn't you warn us? We could have defended ourselves. Your cowardness just cost me Sylvia and one of your own. Don't you care about your own lives? Haven't enough of you died today?" he screamed. Cali recoiled in fear. John wearing his armor and weapons was covered in lizard blood. He realized that he was now a vision of horror for the girls, especially if he screamed at them.

"She... She's not dead... They don't kill the women they capture. They offer them as brides to Tarkos. They **** our moon priestess two days ago we wanted to save her. We thought you were the one who would come and vanquish him. I don't want... My sister is so sweet, she doesn't deserve that... " she explained, sobbing and crying.

90xp

The flying creature finally died from its wounds. The elven girls had gathered and were holding each other in tears.

"How long to get to your village? How long to this mouth of Tarkos? How many lizards are there? And who the fuck is Tarkos?" he asked her, calmly and firmly.

"Not far from our tribe. Two hours to the mouth of Tarkos. With all the ones you killed, the ones that would be hunting, maybe 40 hunters there. Tarkos is their god, a fire spirit who gives life to the volcanoes around here... Are you really going to do it? Are you really the hero of legends? " she asked, understanding from his change of attitude that he was analyzing the tactical situation.

"Lead me to your tribe, I'm not leaving without Sylvia." he stated, eluding her question.

Sylvia had dropped her staff while being captured and John retrieved it. He also picked the meat and leather of his enemies. The girls led the way and hurried in the thick vegetation.

The village they finally reached barely deserved to be called one. A few dozen structures looking like some sorts of spherical bird nest were hung from branches. They were made of woven twigs and leaves. All around them John couldn't see anything demonstrating any technological advancement. There wasn't even a fire in the place, women were hanging thin slices of meat on strings to dry them using the sunlight. Weaving and basic woodworking were the only thing these feral elves looked able to do.

A woman approached them, painted in bright colors, wearing a feathered head dress and various collars of bones and bits of fur.

"I am Talila, leader of our tribe. You have our thanks John, Cali told me how you saved her and the other from the Yelloscales. I heard that your companion had been captured, you have my sympathy, my own daughter Ferulia had been captured not long ago." explained the elf.

"How many hunters do you have? How many warriors?" he asked in response, his mind focused on a single thing.

"We have few, hero. You can't think of going there! I love my daughter, but no one ever comes back from the mouth of Tarkos." she explained.

"I will not leave this forest without Sylvia. I saved six of you, no that's right, five. And you cost me one person. You owe me six lives. So six of you will follow me to help save our loved ones." he told her.

"This is suicide! I won't allow it. This is too dangerous." she complained. John looked at her and charged his left hand with lightning.

"You can face probable **** coming with me, or refuse and face a certain **** here." said John , trying to look and sound as menacing as he could.

"I will come with you. It's my fault, I should have warned them. I want to help them, I want to bring Ferulia back." said Cali, cutting short the further protestations of her mother. A few male hunters stepped forward and raised their spears.

"Oh and Talila, this isn't a choice I will leave to you. I wasn't asking for your permission. Gather what you need, we're leaving in less than an hour. I want to reach this place by nightfall." he announced.

These elves were hopeless, clothes, armors, weapons... They had nothing of any worth. John couldn't even introduce them to the concept of bows, it would take to long to train them to their use.

The life of Sylvia was worth anything it would take to save her. He took out of his inventory the lizard hides and obsidian shards, he also spotted a pile of wood lying under a nest.

For 45 minutes he crafted simple armor, better spears, long knifes and shields. The elves were so amazed by his powers and the quality of what he was crafting that in the end 12 of them joined him (7 men and 5 women. As his mana recovered on the way, he used Alter Body on them to enhance their strength and reflexes. He had downed two of his BlueBoar cans to boost his regen and recover enough to have the best chances.

On the way he listened to everything they knew about the place. Tarkos was a giant lizardman possessed by a fire spirit. He rules with an iron fist on all the scaly tribes of the valley. He ordered them to capture females that became his brides during a ritual, searching for centuries for the one who could survive such an union. The good news was that this ritual had to be performed at midnight and John would have a chance to rescue Sylvia before that. There was even hope for Cali's sister as they only made this on days that had a special meaning for them in their strange calendar.

The hunters were checking their equipment with appreciation, having never seen such a quality in anything man-made.

Having disposed of one sentry they learned that they were now really close to the mouth. The smoking mountain was visible through the canopy.