The following day, the now-resurrected lizardmen, Bob and Ted, were sitting 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 one.”
Wielding a branch in his hand that was obviously larger than his brother's, 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.....Anyway, 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 drawing's 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 as they both spoke.
““WOOD!””
Spinning around, Bob threw his stick into the forest and outlined their 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, devoid of disturbances, was now steadily starting to resemble a pond where a giant carp had broken 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 senses, he quickly spoke.
“Ted, the demon!......It's the demon, RUN!”
““SHIT!””
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 Bob's 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 more than to run as fast and far away as possible, but his body would not allow it.
The demon saw the two lizardmen charging towards them from the forest, and a slight chuckle was elicited from their mouth as they spoke aloud.
“Hello, Red!”
Holding out a hand towards Ted, a red coloured Magic Circle appeared on the lizardman's chest.
A moment later, 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 the burning flames could be felt.
Bob continued charging, his brother's death having absolutely no impact on his charge.
The demon ran at Bob and leapt into the air, their 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 sitting 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 their face close to Bob's 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 forward 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 a boiling point. Suddenly, he stopped and got to his feet, pleading eyes looking towards his brother, Ted.
“Ted, that demon didn't kill me. It untied me and left. Do you know what that means?............I'M STARVING FOR FUCK SAKE! ARGHHHHH!”
Hearing his brother's 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 his brother, 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 every day!”
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 every day 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 were 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 comprised of only two people prepared to enter after signing in for their time slot.
An old man in his seventies was dressed in garb that marked him as a Mage. Beside him was a teenage boy whose 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.
“G-g-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 grandson's 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, his grandfather had joined him. Cocking his head to the side, he let out a noise of confusion.
“Huh?”
No monsters were in the vicinity, not even the blue and red lizardmen who usually appear from near the fallen logs.
What greeted his eyes and led 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.
“G-g-grandpa, did the lizardmen make it?”
Resorting to violence, the boy's grandfather tapped the back of his legs with his staff, causing them to buckle and nearly drop him to the ground.
“Lucas, you silly boy, this is exactly why you require more practical training! Monsters cannot create; they only destroy!”
Stretching out a hand and rubbing at the back of his legs, Lucas looked embarrassed about speaking such foolish words.
“O-o-oh, sorry, Grandpa.”
The old man continued examining the sign in front of him. Even though he had 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 monster's claw.
A sudden series of loud shouts rose from the forest before several lizardmen appeared, charging straight for them.
Reflexively, upon hearing the monster's shouts, the old man lifted 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....Don't worry, though, there are still plenty of monsters in here for you to practice with.”
Lucas grumbled at his grandfather, but did not say anything for fear of his familial wrath. Moving forward, he set out to eliminate the remaining lizardmen that inhabited the Dungeon.