Chapter 14 - Lizarkin

The plan did not go well.

Bam

...urgh...

I have fallen to the ground once again. Stupid horn! They're too heavy now! How am I supposed to walk with these?

Ah, my horns seem to have grown bigger since my transformation. It's a good thing, I was worried that they would never grow. But the problem is that my body is too small now. I may have augmented my durability, but my strength has certainly decreased. Because of that, my horns are now making me fall because of their new weight.

At least when I fall, I'm not destroying myself, which is the reason why I made the transformation in the first place. The new horn also allows me to have a bigger radius while utilizing my power. Before, I could only control ash in a 3-meter radius, but now, I can control all ash in a five-meter radius. It also seems easier to control them. It's just getting annoying to always fall on my face. If only there could be a monster that I could burn so that I could steal its sweet ash! But what are the chances for this to...

''Sho''

...I looked behind me and saw exactly what I needed: a bunch of drooly! It even has an adolescent, how lucky!

I immediately stand up and formed a whip out of my ashornic. The drooly replied by forming their own fire saliva ball. We fixed each other for a moment, and we both looked at each other with the same expression: hunger.

I made the first move by taking the position to whip him. Immediately after, he opens his maw and spits his fire on me while his subordinates have taken the opportunity to launch at me.

I slashed one of the young monsters, expecting it to just receive a slight mark, but the result was better than expected because he receives a deep cut inside his belly, killing him.

Ah! That's what I was waiting for. Finally, I don't need to wait for them to suffocate or overwhelm them with a slash! If the whips were on fire, it would've been perfect.

But I couldn't stay in my tough forever because a fireball was coming toward me. I decided to create a shield to block it, however, it didn't do as well because it got completely destroyed.

At least it was able to stop it, but it did cost me a lot of my ashes.

Welp, no big deal, I just need to whip him until he...

''Everyone! Let's show these monsters pain!'' I hear a sudden scream at my side. I turned my head just to see a spear hurling my way.

I catch it in mid-air, but the force was too much, and I was sent flying while holding the spear.

Crash

A rock stopped me from flying. I looked at my side, and it seemed that the spear pierced my shoulder and was stuck in the rock. So I dissolved my arm and escaped from it, then it instantly regenerated.

I finally got time to inspect my new assailant. They looked like lizards, but contrary to the drooly, these lizards were walking on two legs. They were also dressed with cloth made out of leather from animals of this region. They possessed orange scales that covered all of their bodies, with the exception of their belly, which was made of normal black flesh.

They were the lizardkin, the third species that the lord of fire and pain made, the lizardkin. A race of warriors known for their excellent combat skills with the spear and reputed mercenaries recruited from all the provinces of Astelga!

They were currently fighting against the rest of the drooly, slaughtering them with ease, with only the teenager able to put up a fight with what seemed to be the leader of the group of the lizardkin.

Hey, they were mine, no touchy.

I gathered normal ash from the dead body of the young monster and formed a ball with it and threw it at the leader.

The leader of the lizardkin saw it and dodged out of the way, but the teenage drooly wasn't as lucky, and the ball exploded on his eye, making him howl out of pain.

The leader of the lizardkin was looking at me intensely before taking a more relaxed form.

''Ah! It seems you weren't even able to hit this little pest, Skall! Hahaha!''

The rest of the group accompanied their leader in the laughter, and all started to laugh. All of them were laughing, except for a small lizardkin. His teeth weren't as formed as the others, so I presumed he was a child, but his scales were red instead.

''I hit him! I know it!'' The little lizard grumbled with a grumpy expression.

''Hahaha, don't make excuses, Skall.'' The leader still laughed at him.

''But...but...grrr...''

''You know what, we have already finished with these unioptile, so what do you think if we let you kill this ugly right there? It would do great training for you.''

''...pff...alright...but it will be easy!''

''Sure, sure, just be sure to not underestimate him too much. I don't want to bring your corpse to your little girlfriend.''

''SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!!!'' he hurled at him with an embarrassed expression.

''Yeah, sure, like anyone believes that.''

The rest of his gang snickered at him, while the little boy was looking very embarrassed. He looked at me with an angry expression and started walking toward me.

It seems they've finally finished their bickering; it was starting to get annoying. I do wonder if I'm allowed to fight them? I mean, Orion did send me here to save his creation. I should probably just leave.

That's too much tough for me! Let's just burn them first, then I will answer the question. That's the perfect solution.

I nodded at myself, once again amazed by my genius.

''Hey! You monster, give back my spear!''

I looked confused at him before simply throwing the spear the same way he did for me… but it seems I lacked force because the lance didn't even fly properly; instead, it fell directly on the floor the moment I threw it.

'''Hahahahahahahahaha''' all of the gang started to laugh at me, with the exception of the kid that simply threw me a scowl before tilting himself to take his weapon.

Well, that's not fair! I never threw a lance at anyone before. My mother liked to see me fight bare-handed against other beasts or gladiators! I'm only decent with the whip because my mother took deep joy in me hitting myself with it.

...I shouldn't make excuses. They don't matter anyway.

I summoned my whip and took my fighting position; my opponent did the same with his spear, looking at me fiercely. We we're both waiting for the one that will make the first step…