Halonar

No Bark, All Bite

Jack prepared for the worst. What was an Akaluma doing here?

Actually, he answered it right away. Forests were thick with threats, Adaraians loved killing monsters. In fact, Jack should have counted himself lucky that there wasn't a whole damn party.

But for now, the threat at hand.

The guy approached closer. Jack literally saw him, but for some reason, he didn't see him. He had dyed hair that fell over one eye. His armor had cylinders all over. He wore a coat over it with an emblem with wings on it.

The ditch.

His shovel basically saved him from being caught.

But not for much longer.

"The fuck...?"

Now.

He sprouted up, yelling a battle cry. He swung his shovel, which formed a blade. It slammed into the hero, sending him flying into the bushes.

He got up, glaring at Jack.

"Who the hell are you?"

He didn't appear to be that badly injured. He focused his glare on the shovel. "And the hell is that thing? Never seen anything like that."

Jack frowned, relaxing his fighting stance slightly. He appeared to be talking to himself almost...

Without much of a warning, the guy lifted his hand quickly, somehow, creating a blast of air. Jack felt himself being lifted and thrown as if he were a small child. He yelped in surprise.

Jack's plummeted, only cushioned by tree branches. He hit the ground hard, most certainly breaking one of his ribs.

"Not fun is it?" The guy was right next to Jack now, a gust of wind blew against his hair. "Let's see how you like this!"

The guy kicked Jack, somehow, with another blast of air. Jack's ears popped as he soared, narrowly missing trees.

The guy bounded forward, his feet barely touching the ground as he approached Jack rapidly. Jack got back into the fighting position, the guy drew his sword.

"That was fun wasn't it?" The guy laughed. "I just really needed someone to throw around."

He refocused on Jack. "Now, why don't you tell me what that is, you got there?"

Jack lifted the shovel. "This?"

The guy shrugged. "You probably have no idea what you're-"

He stopped. "Wait, are you..."

"A hero?" Jack asked. "Well, no one asked me that, so I'm glad you did."

The guy didn't say anything. Jack read his nametag, which manifested above the head of a hero, unless they chose it to be hidden.

His name was Leand.

Leand laughed. "You have a good sense of humor, I'll give you that. So why don't you give me a bit of compensation for wasting my time, and you can be on your merry way."

Jack pulled out a single coin and tossed it onto the floor. Leand walked forward to pick it up.

"I am not one of you, by the way." Jack sneered.

Leand lifted his head. But it was too late.

Jack slammed his shovel into his head, sending out a clang that echoed through the forest. Leand flew back.

Leand hit a tree nearby. He got up, this time with an angry look on his face. "So what the hell are you then?"

He seemed almost completely unharmed.