The following day, the now resurrected Lizardmen, Bob and Ted were sat at their fallen logs that overlooked the portal. With a broken branch in hand, Bob tapped it repeatedly on the ground to draw Ted's attention to it while he spoke.

  "Ted, our plan didn't work....We need a new plan"

  Wielding a branch in his hand that was obviously larger than his brothers, Ted tapped it once forcefully on Bob's stick and replied.

  "Bob, how do we know it didn't work?"

  "Ahhh, well, errr....That's a good point.....Regardless, we still need a plan"

  Silence reigned supreme while the two Lizardmen thought about their self made predicament. To help him think of an idea, Bob started to draw on the ground with his stick. A simple stick-man with a tail was drawn, although its tail was in the middle of its legs and looked suspiciously like something else. Pointing his stick at the drawings large circular head, Bob began to ponder aloud.

  "We need to show the Humans we're intelligent and then they'll stop killing us.....Ted, what do intelligent people do?"

  Pointing his stick at his own body, Ted tapped it on his shiny blue scales and spoke with confidence.

  "Intelligent people keep their scales clean Bob!"

  Shaking his head side to side, Bob looked at his brother disappointedly.

  "Well obviously Ted.....But, Humans don't have scales......What we need to do, is something so obvious they take notice"

  With their sticks in hand, the brothers simultaneously rose to their feet and thrust their hands in the air. Their sticks collided with one another's as they both spoke.

  ""WOOD!""

  Spinning around, Bob threw his stick into the forest and outlined the plan.

  "Ted, we will make something out of wood and put it in front of the portal......Let's cut some trees down!"

  Waving both of his hands in the air, Ted's excitement was palpable as he snapped his stick in half.

  "Brilliant idea Bob! We will make....A thing!"

  "Yes Ted, a thing!"

  "The biggest thing!"

  "The best thing!"

  While the brothers were revelling in their world shattering bright idea, a tell tale noise from behind them made its way to their ears. The portal was beginning to activate, with arcs of electricity slowly manifesting across its surface. What previously looked like a clear blue portal devoid of disturbances, was now steadily starting to resemble a pond where a giant carp had broke its surface.

  Looking at one another with puzzled expressions, Ted was the first to speak.

  "Bob, they don't usually come at this time do they?"

  Bob did not immediately reply, instead his body was shaking uncontrollably. The noise of the tip of his tail banging on the ground could be heard over the chattering of his teeth. Regaining his sense, he quickly spoke.

  "Ted, the Demon!......It's the Demon, RUN!"

  ""Ahhhhh!""

  The pair of Lizardmen both let out a shout of panic to one another, before they started sprinting towards the forest. Behind them the portal finished activating and a single person stepped through, dressed in a black hooded cloak that completely concealed their identity.

  By that point it was already too late for the Lizardmen, their eyes had turned red before the Demon fully left the portal. Both brothers stopped fleeing and began running in the opposite direction, directly towards the newcomer. Bob and Ted let out a war cry as they ran.

  ""ARGHHHHH!""

  Within Bobs mind, he was not excited, angry, or raring to battle, his only emotion was fear. The fear he felt could not be expressed, his mind wanted nothing less than to run as fast and faraway as possible, but his body would not allow it.

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  The Demon saw the two Lizardmen charging towards them from the forest and a slight chuckle was elicited from its mouth, as it spoke to itself.

  "Hello Red"

  Holding out a hand towards Ted, a red coloured Magic Circle appeared on the Lizardman's chest. A moment later and an explosion knocked him off his feet, before his entire body was engulfed in flames. With several of his severed limbs lying on the ground, Ted thankfully died before the pain from his burning flesh could be felt.

  Bob continued charging, his brothers death having absolutely no impact on his charge. The Demon ran at Bob and leapt into the air, its feet leading the way and colliding with his face, knocking the Lizardman onto the ground. Before Bob could recover from the attack, he was immobilised and bound with rope, with the Demon sat atop him.

  The peculiar manner in which he was bound, made Bob feel certain ways that he could not understand. The intricate bindings made him smile internally as he struggled. The Demon brought its face close to Bobs and spoke in an alluring manner.

  "I'll just take care of the others and then be right back for our playtime"

  In the distance the noise of the other Lizardmen could be heard as they all ran towards their demise.

  The next day the Lizardmen had all been respawned, apart from one of their number. Bob sat alone on his favourite log, his head lulled forwards as he contemplated life. Off to his side the noise of a twig snapping and then Ted's voice came as he made his way towards him.

  "Yo! Bob, errrr.....Are you okay?"

  In answer to his question, Bob began to frantically scratch at the sides of his head, his frustration reaching boiling point. Suddenly he stopped and got up to his feet, pleading eyes looking towards his brother.

  "Ted, that Demon didn't kill me. It untied me and left again, do you know what that means?............I'M STARVING FOR FUCK SAKE! ARGHHHHH"

  Hearing his brothers lament, Ted looked at him deadpan and offered him a way out.

  "Bob, do you want me to kill you so you can respawn fresh?"

  Letting out a loud sigh, Bob shook his head and walked past Ted, placing a hand on his shoulder as he did so.

  "No Ted, I don't want my brother to kill me because I'm hungry......And to that point, we only have clubs, you would have to beat me to death and that hurts a damn lot you know!"

  The pair made their way through the forest while they continued with their conversation.

  "I've never actually felt hungry Bob....Every time we die and respawn, our thirst and hunger get reset....I've been killed everyday!"

  Bending down to retrieve some pieces of wood he had been working on, Bob handed them to Ted to carry, while he continued looking for more pieces.

  "Ted, getting killed everyday isn't something to brag about.....Anyway, we're continuing with our plan....Operation make the Humans realise we're friendly....And possibly give us some food"

  Letting out a loud noise of excitement, Ted nearly dropped the wood he was carrying, having to jostle the pieces around within his arms, to stop them from tumbling back to the ground.

  "That's the spirit Bob! I knew you wouldn't let that Demon tie you down!"

  Piling some more wood on top of Ted's pile, the new additions covered his face and thus halted him from seeing Bob's somewhat blushing expression.

  "Tie me down...Tie me...Argh, anyway Ted, while you was dead, I had some time to think and I made a load of plans.....We're going to be busy!".

  Outside of the Level 1 Dungeon, a party comprising of only two people prepared to enter after signing in for their timeslot. An old man in his seventies, was dressed in garb that marked him as a Mage. Beside him was a teenage boy who's hands would not stop shaking, as he clutched a Magic wand close to his chest. Looking up towards his elder, the boy spoke while trying to hide his nervous stutter.

  "Grandpa, are you sure this is a good idea? Am I not rushing things a bit by coming here?"

  With a smile on his face, the elderly man placed a warm hand on his grandsons back and then shoved him as hard as he could, sending him tumbling through the portal. The boy was left in shock when he appeared inside the Dungeon, his fear and nervousness at facing real monsters had vanished as he stared ahead. A few seconds later and his grandpa had joined him. Cocking his head to his side, he let out a noise of confusion.

  "Huh?"

  No monsters were in the vicinity, not even the blue and red Lizardman who usually appear from near the fallen logs. What did greet his eyes and lead to his bewilderment, was a crudely constructed sign planted in the ground. On the sign were several amateurishly drawn pictures and an attempt at writing that amounted to gibberish.

  The old man mumbled to himself, while the young boy looked increasingly worried.

  "What is this thing? Has someone sneaked in, a prank perhaps?"

  While he mulled it over, his grandson examined it more closely and came to a different conclusion.

  "Grandpa, did the Lizardmen make it?"

  Resorting to violence, the boys grandpa tapped the back of his legs with his staff, causing them to buckle and near dropping him to the ground.

  "Lucas you silly boy, this is exactly why you require more practical training! Monsters cannot create, only destroy"

  Stretching out a hand and rubbing at the back of his legs, Lucas looked embarrassed about speaking such foolish words.

  "Oh, sorry Grandpa"

  The old man continued examining the sign in front of him, even so he had just admonished his grandson for saying such things, he himself had a niggling doubt at the back of his mind. Looking closely he could tell the drawings had been carved into the wood, with what looked like a monsters claw.

  A sudden series of loud shouts rose up from the forest, before several Lizardmen appeared charging straight for them. Reflexively upon hearing the monsters shouts, the old man lifted up his staff and unleashed his Magic.

  "Lightning Call"

  A giant Magic Circle appeared in the air high above the approaching monsters, with bolts of lightning arcing out and striking their targets. All of the approaching Lizardmen were fried to death.

  At that moment a realisation hit the old man, slowly turning his head towards his grandson, he grimaced while he spoke.

  "Ahhh, sorry Lucas, I attacked them on instinct....Do not worry though, there are still plenty of monsters in here for you to practice with"

  Lucas grumbled at his grandpa, but did not say anything for fear of his familial wrath. Moving forwards, he set out to eliminate the remaining Lizardmen that inhabited the Dungeon.