Lizardmen [LEON]

One day, as the group passed through a dark swampy area. They noticed something unnatural.

It was quiet. Too quiet.

A sudden shift in the atmosphere sent a ripple of tension through the party.

The eldest triplet spoke with urgency. "Young Lady Noel!"

Noel was already on high alert. "Umm."

Leon felt it too. A cold sensation that wasn’t just the swamp’s unnatural chill, it was the weight of unseen eyes upon them.

Youngest Triplet, “We are surrounded”

Middle Triplet, “And there are quite a great amount at that”

Then, they emerged.

Lizardmen.

They are surrounded by a large group of lizardmen.

A lizardman is a humanoid reptilian monster that lives in groups and colonies: with green scales and pointy eyes.

They slowly circle the party pointing their spear towards them.

They charged.

The triplets sprang into action with their coordinated movements. The eldest swung his colossal Warhammer, sending a lizardman hurtling through the air before crashing against a tree with a sickening crunch. The middle one swung around his ace slashing up one after another. The youngest spun his spear with deadly precision, deflecting an incoming strike.

Leon barely had time to react before two lizardmen lunged at him from either side. He sidestepped the first attack, his slashed through the air.

Another one charged from behind. Leon pivoted, lifting his blade just in time to block, but the sheer force sent him stumbling back. His feet sank into the muddy ground as he regained his balance the eyes flickering with fiery determination.

Noel wove her ice magic with deadly grace. With a flick of her wrist, a wave of frost surged forward, encasing the ground in a sheet of ice. Several lizardmen lost their footing, slipping and falling.

The enemy was relentless.

Leon manages to slash a lizardman,

Then, out of a sudden…

“Bzzt….”

A glitch.

It was only for a fraction of a second. The entire world flickered like a broken image on a faulty screen. Then it was gone but something had changed.

“Damn you human….” Something unexpected occurs.

Leon understood what the falling lizardmen said,

“STOP!!!” Leon shouts.

Everyone, both Leon’s party and the lizardmen stops. Nobody relaxes their stance but everyone stops fighting, Lizardmen murmur about human speaking their language. Actually, Leon just used lizardmen’s language so it caused massive confusion.

Triplets ask “Leon, what happened? And what happened to these monsters, why did they stop attacking?”

Leon, “I don’t know why but I thought we could converse”

Noel is also shocked by a sudden statement of Leon.

Triplets angrily, “What are you talking about Leon? They are monsters.”

As the lizardmen were murmuring, a certain lizardman who had a scar on the left side of his face stepped up,

“Human…Can…you...really…understand us?”

Leon heard that and was sure it wasn’t some illusion. It was real. Leon could understand them.

Unreal as it may look, Leon starts a conversation with a lizardman, “Umm…Yeah”

The scar-faced Lizardman, “So it’s true”

Seeing this sight also shocks Noel and the triplets.

Leon to the scarred lizardman, “Who are you?”

The lizardmen exchanged uncertain glances before the scarred one spoke again.

“We should be asking you that, human.” His eyes narrowed. “What are you doing in our territory?”

Leon hesitated. There was no use lying.

“We’re traveling. Our goal is the ancient ruin beyond this swamp.”

Lizardmen's murmurs grew frantic after hearing they were after the ruin.

Scarred lizardman in disbelief, “Are you really here to venture to that ruin?” There was some sort of hope in eyes but why?

The triplets and Noel could still not believe what they were witnessing. A human conversing with a monster.

Then a thought appeared in Noel’s mind, “I don’t know if it really makes sense and has a connection but Leon is not from here and is a mysterious entity. He could also use fire magic without any chant. So…” her mind puzzled with thoughts and the triplets in awe due to the situation.

The scarred lizardman with a loud and commanding,

"Listen, all of you! You have heard this human. They claim to seek the ruin. Perhaps… only perhaps…"

He didn’t finish his thought.

“So, we shall escort these humans to our village”

Lizardmen were shocked by such words and many opposed the decision,

"What nonsense is this?!"

"Bringing humans to our home? Have you lost your mind?"

"They are our enemy! They slaughter our kind without a second thought, and you wish to welcome them?"

The opposition wasn’t just anger. It was the raw instinct of a species that had suffered. These were creatures who had learned through blood and battle that humans were not to be trusted.

“SILENCE!!” A certain authority in the scarred lizardman’s voice.

Everyone stops.

“You shall do as I say” His words carried weight. Though resentment lingered, no one dared to challenge him.

Scarred lizardman looking towards Leon, “Human, we do not seek violence. We only attacked because we determined you guys as threats. If you are really here to venture through those ruins then please let us escort you first to our village”

Leon hesitates, he doesn’t know what to do so he asks for others' suggestions and interprets Lizardman’s words.

The triplets oppose, “Leon, you don’t really believe these monsters, do you? What happens if they are luring us into a trap?”

Leon responds, “But please, do you really sense any hostility from this guy?”

The triplets had also realized that the lizardmen really didn’t want to fight.

Then Noel, “It's fine, I guess. We should just take up his offer. This could prove as an opportunity, who knows.”

The triplets tried to oppose but couldn’t do so.

Therefore, Leon and his group decided to follow the lizardmen. Many lizardmen were still suspicious of humans so they were keeping an eye. The group could feel it.

The scarred lizardman assures them, “Please I hope you let it slide as it's unnatural to trust the humans right away”

Leon, “Oh, it's fine”

After a while, they reached the village of Lizardman.

Right amidst the swamp. It was hidden. Multiple huts made up of mud. It was truly like a human village but much more ancient and consisting of lizardmen.

The Lizardmen of the village notice the arrival of humans and are confused by the action of the scarred lizardman.

Females, kids, and elderly, everyone was there being wary.

Then two older lizardmen arrive at the scene. They are the elder of the tribe.

Angrily, “What do you think you are doing by bringing humans to the village, head warrior.”

The scar-faced lizardman was the head warrior of the lizardman tribe.

Scarred lizardman, “Elders, this human” pointing towards Leon, “can speak our language”

Leon with an awkward smile, “Ah-hello?”

The elders and the people around them are shocked to find this,

“But even so-” the elders add but before they can continue,

Scarred lizardman lizardmen interrupts, “And they say they are here to venture to that ruin…”

They are even more shocked, “So basically you brought help, but humans, really?”

“Elders, they are strong and we need their help”

Elders give up and welcome the group.

Leon and his group exchanged glances.

They had just stepped into a world they had never imagined.