The flame in Chris's hand grew rapidly and suddenly burst, exploding with massive force. Chris was knocked backwards through the tree as it splintered and fell over into the pond. He slide a few feet before he lost his momentum and lay panting on the ground. His shirt was now basically nothing more than rags and cinders with a new massive hole in the front of it. His rib, which he noticed had started to feel better, had worsened again and he clutched at his chest in pain. As he lay in agony on the ground a thought came to him and he sat up fighting against the pain.
"Armonite!"
He said through gritted teeth. He slowly stood up and wandered over to what was left of the tree. He searched around for the bug and found him fifteen feet away upside down flailing his legs.
"Armonite! Hang on buddy I'll help you out!"
He quickly flips the bug over, wincing in pain. Being flipped over Chris can see that Armonites shell has blackened in a star shape. Likely from ash as the blast had very easily burnt away his shirt.
"I'm so sorry buddy. Here let's get that off you."
Stumbling slightly he carries Armonite over to the waters edge and splashed some water on his back. Tearing one of the last pieces of not burnt fabric from his right sleeve he gently rubs it on Armonites back. When that becomes to dirty he dips the whole rag in the pond and continues polishing his shell. After some time Chris hears a light crackling noise and finally notices that the top of the tree has caught fire. Thankfully for him it's in the pond so he's not really all that worried about it. On top of the crackling noise he's hearing weird clicking noises coming from Armonite. It would appear he enjoys being polished as he is doing the cat equivalent of purring. A small smile tugs at Chris's face as he thinks that and he shakes his head lightly. He winces again as he is reminded about his chest. He finishes cleaning off Armonites shell, he sits back and nearly falls over. He forgot there wasn't a standing tree behind him anymore. He looks behind himself and shakes his head.
"I might not be indestructible but dang can I take a hit now. Normally that would've most definitely killed me."
He looked at Armonite and saw he was looking at him now.
'I think it's time we had a talk on safety.'
Chris smiles and ruffles Armonite's shell.
"Why would we need that when we're both indestructible?"
'Unlike you I am uninterested in seeing what it would take to kill myself.'
"Ahhh, no fun."
Chris shakes his head and gestures his hand down to Armonite, who proceeds to attach himself to his arm.
"Alright I think we've destroyed this area enough."
With what little day light they had the two left the ruined pond clearing. To the best of his ability Chris chose the opposite direction he remembered coming to the clearing from. He started jogging and they started making a lot of progress out of the woods. Along the way they'd occasionally see strange animals that Chris would almost swear were normal. Like creatures that seemed to resemble deer but when he saw one with antlers the antlers appeared to be made of flowering vines. He also saw strange squirrel creatures that, like the bears, had rocks protruding from them. The squirrels, Chris noticed, seemed to interest Armonite the most. He wondered if he killed one of the squirrels if it to would drop a strange gemstone. That lead him to wondering what does Armonite actually eat? Because if he eats the monster cores then he was way to small earlier to kill any and get their gems. As he jogged he looked down at Armonite pondering on what to feed him. This was almost immediately followed by a reminder from the universe to watch where you are going. He barely managed to dodge the tree in front of him in time as he kept jogging forward.
"Ah it would seem it's the trees are opening up up ahead. Maybe we'll get a new beautiful clearing to demolish."
Armonite cocks his head at Chris from his arm.
'What do you mean 'we'?'
Chris smiles as he came out of the forest into a narrow clearing that had little to no grass. He looked dow the clearing left to right and came to a sudden realization.
"It's a road! That means a town or maybe even a city!"
Content to have finally found a hint of civilization he begins walking in the opposite direction of the setting sun. A smile on his face he looks down at Armonite without care, as there are no trees in the middle of a road.
"I've been thinking, what kind of a name is Chris? It's a good name don't get me wrong but in a world full of magic it's kind of redundant don't you think? Not many people would fear a name like that don't you think?"
Armonite just stares at him.
"Yeah, nobody will probably care but I care you know. I can punch through trees with my bare hands and summon flames and my name is Chris!? It just sounds anticlimactic."
'Has it crossed your mind yet that everyone might be like you?'
Chris flinched and looked back to the road, the sun nearly fully set behind him.
"It had actually. I guess I'm just hoping that for once I'm something special you know?"
Chris looked back at Armonite who was still just staring at him.
"So anyway I figured I'd go by Leonidas for a while. Pretty cool name don't you think? Back where I come from he was a famous warrior from ancient times."
Armonite just continued to stare at him.
"Oh well, it's just a thought. Hey is that a camp fire?"
In the far distance Chris can see a light of some kind.
…
"I sense something."
Rose said standing near the adventuring parties camp fire. She was the mage of the group of four. They all were relatively new to adventuring but each of them were strong in their respective 'jobs'.
A muscular man named Daren in his mid forties lifted his head, his interest piqued.
"What is it Rose?"
"I can't tell, but whatever it is it's strong."
"Eh, its probably nothing the three of us can't handle."
A lanky blond haired man Erbert said as he came out of the shadows of the forest. Daren was a retired veteran who's 'job' was that of a paladin. While Erbert was the groups thief. Daren looked over at Erbert.
"Calm down hotshot, we don't want to start something we can't finish. Is it coming this way?"
Daren looked back to Rose.
"Yes it would seem so."
"Can you identify what species it is?"
"Not at all, but it is most definitely a monster."
Daren nods grimly at the news.
"Then I don't see what choice we have. Well, let's get ready for our guest."
Suddenly Rose's eyes widen and she shouts.
"It's moving quickly this way now!"
…
Chris was jogging as he laughed with glee.
"Can today get any better! First a road and now people! Today might've sucked at first but it's really turning up now."
He shouted happily into the night.
…
The three had equipped all their gear and were awaiting the approaching monster. When upon the wind they heard a bone chilling laugh and words in a language they couldn't understand. Daren looks over at Rose.
"Is that?"
He doesn't even need to finish before she nods.
"That is without a doubt Monstyria. The language of all monsters.
Rose narrows her eyes as she sees something through the sunset.
"It's here."
At the top of the road partially obscured by the setting sun a humanoid figure in tattered clothing stood and it began talking to them in its strange language.
"Judging from its aura I recommend we finish this quickly."
Erbert said from the back of the group.
"Wait for just one second will you!"
Daren snapped.
"Can you understand what it's saying? If it can speak maybe we can reason with it."
Rose shakes her head.
"I never learned Monstyria while I was at the academy."
Erbert clicked his tongue in frustration.
"It's pretty clear what the monster wants, a fight."
As he said that the figure started walking slowly towards them. Daren looks back at the figure ahead of them and studies it for a while, noting its poor attempt at mimicking clothing.
"I guess you're right. Let's finish this quick Rose."
…
Chris was overjoyed at having finally found people. He told the three strangers all about the crazy past two days he had as he approached them. But as he started getting closer he started wondering if something was the matter. The one in the center of the group had a strange curved staff and was holding it menacingly in front of them. And the ones to either side of them were armed with blades. One in full armor with a massive shield and a sword, the other with two daggers in either hand. Suddenly the one in the center starts chanting in a language Chris doesn't understand and strange glowing circles appear before them.
"What are you..."
Chris is cut off as a massive fire ball easily the size of him comes hurtling straight at him. He hears a clang as Armonite expands to his full size and he instinctively brings his arms up to protect himself. He realized his mistake to late, as the fireball took Armonite full on. The resulting explosion sent Chris flying back thirty feet, not counting the distance he rolled. He stood up quickly, Armonite having taken all the force of the explosion. And he was about to turn to run away until he heard a thud off to his left. He froze in place and looked down, at Armonite's still form on the ground. He'd fallen off Chris's arm.
"Armonite?"
He kneeled down beside him and saw a huge splintering crack going all over Armonite's shell. He froze and couldn't stop himself from taking in every detail of what had become of his friend. Maybe it had only been a day, but it had been fun and Armonite had been there. He looked up and through the clearing dust he could see the three strangers who attacked them. And his eyes began glowing from his rage. The one in armor quickly stepped between the other two people and him as he sensed his intentions and began raising his shield along the way. Too late.
Faster than he'd ever done before Leonidas launches himself at the three and slammed his fist into the armored ones chest. Denting the iron and fracturing bones. He sent the armored one flying into the other one behind him, the one with the staff. The remaining one aggressively attacked Leonidas in a flurry of moves that he could barely follow. He had his arms raised once again to protect himself and blow after blow rained upon them. Every time at the places where his arms were cut steam would shortly after rise up from the wound as it closed up. Tired, his onslaught finished, the one with daggers stood before Leonidas panting from exertion. Stunned at his inhuman healing speed. In a low voice Leonidas growled.
"That stung."
In one quick movement he shot forward, his hand open, and pierced straight through the mans chest. The shield man was somehow standing once again and he roared in anger at his companions death. He charged Leonidas and rammed him with his shield. Only to be stopped with one arm.
"Weak."
Leonidas spun the man around and grabbed him by the head. He then forced him to the ground and started repeatedly slamming it into the ground until he was satisfied the man was dead. A fireball much smaller than the first one then took him in the right side, burning away what was left of his shirt and flinging Leonidas a little ways away. He slowly turned to look at the last stranger, and said to it menacingly.
"I see you like fire magic."
He then raises his hand and makes a slight flicking gesture with his hand and envelops the stranger in flames. Before they can begin another chant they are consumed by the flames and some of the flames even jump to the strangers tents. The last stranger collapses to the ground covered in flames. Leonidas narrows his eyes and suddenly they snap back open in shock. Chris looks over the camp grounds in horror, taking in the fallen bodies of the people he just killed. He bent over and started to vomit on the ground as the smell of burnt flesh reached his nose.
When he could he ran over to where Armonite still lay and scooped the bug into his arms. Then in a blind panic he ran back into the forest, opposite the way he had first come to the road. He didn't care how fast he went and he didn't dare stop. He just ran and ran, sometimes taking off chunks of trees as he bumped into them. At some point Chris realized he'd tripped and he was just laying on the ground cradling Armonite. He felt Armonite move around a little as he tried to get comfortable in Chris's arms. Chris just held him tighter as he fell unconscious from shock. The last thing he saw was a shadowy figure approaching him cautiously.
…
Romaria was walking back from the city of Dalehaven to meet back up with her fellow party members. She was the most well known swordsman in the area for her incredible skills and beauty. She had long brown hair and dark blue eyes. It was getting late as she approached where her party was supposed to be camping and she suddenly froze in place. Dropping the bag of supplies she had brought from Dalehaven she began sprinting towards her campsite. On the horizon she could see smoke.