They'd barely finished up disposing of all the highly aggressive tableware, and now there was already another problem he and Astrid were being asked to deal with? Just how bad could his luck be? Fine then. He'd already helped out some, it'd be a waste of his effort if he let the place be destroyed by something else now. And maybe this would also help to improve his reputation some. He'd never fought a Naga before. He hoped he wouldn't regret his decision.

"Hmph." Xalmann grunted before running for the open door. The patrons, along with some more who had come in seeking shelter from the Naga's attack, gave the fiery Lizardman a wide berth to avoid being burnt by his flames as he passed.

Outside, it was already chaos. The people here, probably bandits and smugglers, were caught off guard and unprepared for the attack. Some of them had experience fighting. Any decent raider would need at least a little. But, it looked like they were a lot more used to fighting other humans than these creatures.

Humanoid in shape from the waist up with a head more like that of a snake. From the waist down, their body was the long, scaled tail of a serpent. These Naga knew exactly how to use such a body, using it to constrict their enemies or rise up and practically launch their upper body toward their opponents, their weapons out. Some had scimitars while others had dual khopesh swords or one sword and one shield. One particularly large Naga who might have been the leader had a bladed whip that reflected the sun off of its black, glass-like blades.

Xalmann decided to run straight for that one, but a few of the others stood between them that he'd have to deal with first. They took notice immediately of the Lizardman that appeared to be made of flames approaching them.

SPOILER: Click to show

Quest Name: Hissing Around Town
Participants: Two or more
Location: Zeinav Desert
Post Requirements: 6 post per person, 200 words per post
Reward: +1 Renown, +1 Scales, +1 Venom
Description: Bands of Naga have always been common out in the wilds of the desert, but over the last few weeks they are been getting closer and closer to the main road and the small settlements around them. They are getting braver, attacking travelers, small caravans and merchants. Their speed and agility in the sand makes it hard to out run them, forcing people to defend themselves against much stronger enemies. You have been hired to act as an escort for a group of travelers, regardless of their business, protecting them from any wild Naga attacks.

---

Naga Leader has Shimmering Scorpion Blade
Xalmann still in Full Elemental Manifestation (Fire)

With the patrons (and some others) rushing inside for protection, Astrid pulls her boot free from the sticky substances of the mimic’s slime and follows Xalmann outside to get a grasp on the situation. She quickly identifies that there’s a group of naga ripping through a few wagons that just rolled into town. Some of the mercenaries who were hired to defend the caravan and fighting off the naga that snap at them with their serpentine heads and grab crates wherever they can. It’s awfully bold of them to attack this caravan as soon as it pulled into town.

“Help! HELP!” one of the drivers cries as a naga makes attempts to slash into him. Luckily, the man’s using a broken board as a shield, but he won’t last forever.

Red beelines for the biggest of the bunch, and Astrid figures he’s probably got that, so she rushes over to help the people fighting for the caravan. “Get the heck outta there! It’s just stuff! Ain’t worth yer life!” she shouts, electricity crackling off of her.

The naga leader directs their underlings in a language that could only be described as a series of hisses and sends a group to interfere with the flaming lizardfolk that rushes him. The one in front with two khopeshes spins its body at high speed in the sand, whipping both blades in a flurry at Xalmann.

---

Full elemental manifestation (lightning) [post 1/3]

"This wagon is my life!" The driver shouted back. He wasn't completely lying, with his wagon filled with food and water that was being delivered to the oasis town, and his entire livelihood staked on this delivery. The supplies really were a necessity and without them, the town would suffer. If he lost the delivery, he'd be out all the money he'd spent on the supplies he was going to sell in this town. He needed to keep the supplies safe, but there was nothing he could do against the Naga except cower behind his makeshift shield. The guards he'd hired were already preoccupied with other attacked and couldn't help him either.

Xalmann continued to charge forward as a whirlwind of blades came at him. As they were about to strike him though, he didn't falter at all. The blades simply passed right through him, his entire body being made of fire. The spinning Naga stopped, looking at their unharmed opponent in disbelief for a moment, surprised that their fierce attack hadn't effected the Lizardman in the slightest.

In the next moment, that Naga suddenly realized just how swelteringly hot it was. It wasn't strange for the desert to be hot, with the sun beating down relentlessly, but this heat was far from normal. The Naga's scales started to turn black and crack, parts of them bursting into flames and the burns spreading as they screamed in pain. Their movement was slow as the heat made them feel fatigued and they found it difficult to breathe. He looked back at the flaming Lizardman angrily. In the strangely unbearable heat, he thought his mind was playing tricks on him. Why were there two Lizardmen standing there?

It wasn't an illusion though, as standing right behind Xalmann actually was another Lizardman who also appeared to be made entirely of fire. If they looked closely though, they'd notice this one was slightly different. Shorter and bulkier, with a large, two-handed axe. The Naga passed out, succumbing to the incredible heat that was radiating from Xalmann, enhanced by the presence of his guardian spirit. Other nearby Nagas also started to faint just from getting near. Entering the immediate area around Xalmann was like stepping into a lit furnace and anyone who came near found themselves bursting into flames.

Xalmann continued on, running toward the leader of the Nagas, keeping to a path to make sure he didn't pass close enough to burn any of the defending townsfolk, but burning as many of the attacking Nagas as he could. The Naga leader took notice of the approaching inferno and backed up, raising a hand and willing the sand to rise and form into humanoid forms wielding their own weapons. They moved to intercept Xalmann, the sand golems not as effected by the heat as flesh and bone warriors.

---

Full Elemental Manifestation (Fire) (2/3 posts)
Spirit Shroud
Heat Cloak
Heat Wave
Sweltering Aura (3/3 posts)
Conflagration

“I don’t see this wagon livin’ an’ breathin’!” Astrid shouts, annoyed that this guy would die for some barrels and boxes. She of course doesn’t know what the contents are, but whatever it is, they can probably solve that problem later! With her lightning manifestation, though, it isn’t like she can just grab the guy and take him somewhere safe. So instead, she defends.

Unfortunately, there are too many naga around for her to take them all out at once. Time for plan B. “Alright, well, don’t get off a’ the wagon or ya’ll get a shock ta yer system,” she says.

“Wh-What??” the driver cries.

He receives his answer in the form of a cage of lightning striking down from a cloudless sky and surrounding his wagon. The naga making attacks on it all get zapped by the lightning that appears in the spaces they occupy. They’re electrocuted and stumble back, hissing angrily and trying to find a way to get to the wagon between the bars of electricity. 

The leader naga, after summoning a protective guard of earthen warriors, glances over, his eyes caught by the blue flashes and angry hissing. It seems like this village has two problematic elementalists. They'll need to handle that. 

---

Full elemental manifestation (lightning) [post 2/3]
Lightning Cage (post 1/2)
Electrical charges: 2

Xalmann clicked his tongue in annoyance. He wanted to get straight to the leader and cut off the attack at the head, but it wouldn't be that easy. The Naga leader obviously had some magic tricks up his scales. These sand golems weren't succumbing to the intense heat like the Nagas he ran by, so he'd have to stop and deal with them. If he ignored them, they'd be a serious problem later. His form made of pure fire wouldn't last forever and he'd rather just fight the leader without it than have two golems pincering him later when he couldn't maintain it anymore, which would be unfortunately soon.

With the two sand golems taking care of the approaching Lizardman, the Naga leader felt he could turn his attention to the other pest causing his raid some trouble. With another wave of his hand, more sand rose into the air and formed into a sphere that condensed and hardened until the sand had become a solid stone ball almost as large as the wagon Astrid was now trying to defend. With a motion like a punch forward, the ball launched itself straight toward Astrid with startling speed.

Xalmann couldn't help Astrid at the moment as he had to deal with his own problem of two sandy fists trying to punch through his skull. The two fists passed right through the fire and Xalmann swiped his axe at one of them. He felt hardly any resistance as the blade met sand and it passed through harmlessly. Shit. These sand elementals were cheating in the exact same way he was! He couldn't cause any physical damage to them and they couldn't do any to him, but that stalemate wouldn't last forever as he could already feel himself starting to turn back into flesh and blood.

The only saving grace was that the number of attacking Nagas had already been reduced greatly thanks to Xalmann and Astrid's attacks and now the remaining guards and townsfolk were starting to be able to fight back more easily by grouping up on each remaining Naga.

A big ball of solid stone flinging toward Astrid wouldn’t be much of a problem for her in her lightning form. With some practice, she learned that she could phase through solid objects. The bigger problem lies in the fact that the giant ball of stone is careening directly at the cart being protected by a lightning cage. (A cage that one of the nagas found out they shouldn’t touch the hard way when they attempted to move through it and received a massive shock to their system.)

Astrid quickly racks her brain for any piece of information that might help in this situation. How can she protect the man on the cart and the cart?? Her eyes glance at her fist. Oh right, she’s pretty strong. Zipping through the lightning of the cage and then dropping her electrical form, Astrid leaps herself at the boulder. She reels back her fist then punches forward with her full might. Her fist meets the stone and smashes through it, shattering it on impact. Dozens of tiny pebbles fling out in all directions, pelting the cart, nagas, and Astrid. Some pieces of shrapnel fly into the sand golems and sink into their surfaces.

Shaking her fist out, Astrid lands roughly on the ground and looks over at the Naga leader with the full determination of a now spiteful twelve-year-old.

“Yer goin’ down, buddy.”

---

Lightning Cage [post 2/2]
Baloth muscles (right arm)

Bits of stone from the shattered ball of stone fell straight through Xalmann's fiery form. That was one good thing, the boulder had been dealt with. This little girl was a lot stronger than Xalmann had expected. That was helpful. Unhelpful was the fact that Xalmann's form reverted back to normal, his body becoming solid again while he was still dealing with two sand golems.

Now that he would actually feel it, probably for a couple days, if the golems actually hit him, he started to focus on evasion rather than attacking. His axe had no effect on the golems, but he couldn't just ignore them. Instead, he hoped to make this a war of attrition. Every second of these golems existing meant more energy being drained from the Naga leader to maintain them. He glanced at him and could already see signs he was running out of magic. A grimace on the serpentine face, slightly slower movements.

And besides that, now the Naga leader had a second enemy to deal with now that he had gained Astrid's attention.

Xalmann moved backward to gain some distance from the golems and then threw his axe straight for the Naga leader while he was looking at Astrid. One of the sand golems moved into the way, the axe striking it in the center and then sinking into it like a sideways pool of quicksand.

The Naga leader smirked at Xalmann, the Lizardman's primary weapon now taken away, swallowed up by the living sand creature. Xalmann looked at him with an emotionless glare that ticked the Naga leader off. As he glared at Xalmann, the sand golem that had swallowed the axe suddenly stopped.

The golem expanded as if it was being filled from the inside before suddenly exploding into a ball of fire that sent hot sand raining down on the whole area. The Naga leader looked at what had once been a sand golem in disbelief before glaring at Xalmann again and noticing the axe was once again in the Lizardman's hand. He didn't have the energy to create a new one.

---

Arcane Focus- Massive Fireball
Always There

The naga leader isn’t so sure it wants the attention of the little girl now that he has it. That makes two enemies to keep a closer eye on, but luckily, his golem consumes the lizardman’s ax. That is, until the golem explodes in a rain of fire and sand turned to glass. Well, these two oddballs are certainly a problem.

Seeing what Red did with the ax, Astrid’s eyes go wide. “WHOA, THAT WAS AWESOME!” she exclaims, nearly forgetting she’s in the middle of a fight. Oh right, the fight! Taking a better grip on her hammers, Astrid focuses on the naga leader and watches as he slithers back slightly as if taking a step back defensively. She smirks. He’s feeling their push, and Astrid’s just getting started!

Coursing lightning magic through her hammer, Astrid launches it at the naga leader, but the naga flicks his blade to catch the light and reflects the sun right into Astrid’s eyes. Her throw goes wide, allowing him to dodge by sliding along the sand. The hammer goes sailing overhead.

Astrid rubs her eyes, having not pulled her goggles down because who would expect that kind of thing to happen? “That blade’s a problem!” She calls to Red. If she can get a lightning blitz off on it, she might be able to pull it from his hands!

---

Charged Object on hammer

Xalmann wasn't one who cared much for praise, especially not in the middle of a battlefield. At least he felt like he was making a good impression. It didn't hurt to have someone in the Fighter's Guild have a good opinion of him, or at least, a good opinion of his fighting capabilities.

With a flick of the Naga's blade, he reflected light in Astrid's eyes and blinded her, making her attack miss. An interesting blade. Xalmann took note of this as he moved toward the Naga leader, circling the sand golem as they fought. He continued dodging punches and jumped back as the golem raised both arms together to slam them heavily into the ground, sending sand up around it with a bang. The golem took a moment to recover from its attack, but that was a moment that Xalmann took advantage of.

Xalmann took a deep breath, the pale yellow scales of his chest glowing like there was a fire within him, and let out a scorching hot breath of fire. The golem held its arms defensively in front of it, but the heat couldn't be stopped as its front melted from the extreme heat. When Xalmann's breath finished, where there had once been a sand golem stood a glass sculpture of one.

Xalmann looked toward the Naga leader again and stepped forward, but he stumbled. That fire breath had taken a lot out of him, making it hot enough to turn sand into glass. He felt the heat he had been giving off around him lessen significantly. He took another deep breath and stood, glaring at the Naga who was now alone on the battlefield against 2 powerful opponents.

With a glare of his own, the Naga leader dived right into the sand in front of it. Apparently, this guy still had some tricks up his tail and wouldn't give up even with all of his group dead or dying. He refused to be defeated by a lizard and a child as he slithered through the sand and suddenly popped up right behind Astrid. The obsidian sword separated into pieces held together by a metallic thread through the center as he swung it at Astrid like a whip. 

---

Drake Gland- Fire
Sweltering Aura ended
Heat Wave ended
Heat Cloak still active

Naga Leader:
Soil Surfing

Blinking away the pain of blindness, Astrid pulls her goggles over her eyes. No way she’s letting that happen again! With the world tinted red, her eyes clear up just in time to see Red let out a flame breath to melt the golem. This guy’s full of surprises! Just as she prepares to go after the Naga leader, he disappears into the sand. Astrid looks around, expecting a surprise attack against her or Red, and deciding that she doesn’t really want to be hit without some form of retaliation, she casts a spell that wreaths her in lightning.

Good thing, too, because the Naga leader does strike at her from behind! The blade swings true and wraps around her wrist, damaging her gauntlet in the process, but not without sending a shockwave of electricity through the whip sword and into the Naga’s arm! He yowls in pain, or something between a hiss and a scream, and drops the weapon when his arm falls limp.

Astrid whips around and grins at the Naga leader shuffling backwards. Lightning crackles through the metal wire in between the blades, and seemingly on its own, lifts into the air and coils around her like a snake. “Thought ya had me, didn’t ya?” she snarks before dashing forward and shoulder-checking the Naga in the chest. Lightning arcs off of her and strikes the Naga leader, making him lose his breath and paralyzing him, leaving him open for Red to finish him off!

---

Sun Sparked Goggles
Lightning Armor [post 1/3]
-1 hit prevention (gauntlets)
Magnetism (-1 charge)
Rushing Charge
Static Synapse (-1 charge)

The Naga leader twitched, the electricity coursing through him causing his muscles to spasm uncontrollably, including his thick tail which was nearly all solid muscle. With sudden, violent movements, the giant serpentine tail thrashed about, slamming down onto the sand repeatedly regardless of the Naga's will.

He couldn't move his body to attack how he wanted, but that didn't stop him from making one last desperate attempt to take out at least one of his foes and survive this attack. As his tail slammed into the ground, the sands all around him began to shake and move, attempting to knock Astrid off her feet and bury her in the desert sand.

At the same time, sand began to flow up around him and cover his body, merging together into a stony exoskeleton that looked just like the Naga leader, but was four times the size. With a great lunge, the stony fangs of the giant sized Naga came down at Astrid, attempting to impale right through her. Before it could reach her though, it suddenly stopped dead.

Xalmann had come running over, seeing that the Naga leader was incapacitated and was ready to deal the finishing blow before it had suddenly pulled out the last of its magic all at once. As the Naga leader lunged toward Astrid, his wooden arm suddenly unraveled itself into vines and roots and shot forward, wrapping around the sand Naga, some even digging into it. With the vines immobilizing it completely, the Naga leader turned its gaze angrily to the red Lizardman.

Without warning, the vines entangling the sand Naga burst into flame and more of them grew, branching off from the existing vines and wrapping the Naga even more tightly. The heat melted the sandy exoskeleton, slowly turning the whole thing into a massive glass statue encapsulating the Naga leader within.

---

Naga Leader used
Rumbling Tremors
Giant Size

Xalmann used
Perennial Prosthetic
Scern's God Killer

The ground rumbles around Astrid and sand sprays her in the face as the Naga leader thrashes violently. Luckily, she’s steadfast on her feet from all her training with her armor. She starts rushing around the Naga leader, trying to find an opening with Red when it suddenly grows to a massive size and makes an attack! She prepares to dodge when things come grinding to a halt, and she looks past to see Red has wrapped him up with vines and roots that then burst into flame and create a giant glass Naga statue.

Things go quiet in the town square. All of the Nagas lay unconscious, dead, or have fled. The chaos that suddenly erupted in the town dies down nearly as quickly as it started. Astrid hefts her hammer over her shoulder and takes a look around.

“Well, that was a lot all at once,” she says, wiping sweat from her brow. Looking over at Red, Astrid gives him a thumbs up. “Nice work! I knew the Guild was full a’–”

Suddenly, sand shifts beneath her feet, and the giant glass statue starts to shift and rumble. It doesn’t take long for Astrid to realize that it’s sinking into the sand. She scrambles back to get away from it and quickly shouts for anyone nearby to stay back. After a few moments, the statue has created an opening to a cavern hidden below. Bits of sand trickle into the darkness beneath the town square, and Astrid cautiously steps over to look inside.

“Huh, all that earth magic must’ve disturbed this!” she says. It’s about then that she hears dry moans from inside. “Ah, crud, now what?”

---

Knight - Immovable Bastion

Next time on Charon Ball Z....