Burning Tongue (2)

A tense, standoffish atmosphere spread out through the cavern as the leaders of the two opposing Lizardmen tribes stood opposite each other, barely five meters between them. Michael took his time to get a feel for the Ignis, the Red Scaled Lizardman leader, using his system vision. He had used his unusual privileges that were provided when he was reborn into The Evolution Chronicles to access more information than he usually did.

[Red Scaled Lizardman Leader]

-Rank - D - Early

-Growth Stage - 3/3

-Overall Energy Level - 670

-Rank Elevation out of reach.

[Skills and Abilities]

-<Active>-

-Tongue of Fire <A result of the mix of the Yellow Scaled and Red Scaled Lizardman bloodlines, this tongue can carve a flaming path through the flesh of its opponents.>

-Breath of Fire <A potent release of fire from the throat of this Lizardman is sure to leave its enemies in ashes. A tell-tale sign of the activation of this skill is a glowing bulge that swells in the throat.>

-Dash <In exchange for a burn in stamina, execute a quick burst of speed.>

-<Passive>-

-First Fight(Unique Title) <Boosts attack power by 20%. This Title has a stackable effect of Skills and Abilities per level.

-Kin Slayer(Rare Title) <Increases attack power by 20% when fighting against members of the same race. This Rare Title can be gained by killing and consuming members of the same race.>

___

'A Kin Slayer... Great.' Michael couldn't help but curse Ignis in the depths of his mind. The Kin Slayer title could only be gained once one had killed masses of ones own race. Just this alone was enough to make Michael cross Ignis off the list and cast aside any thoughts of sparing the hostile Lizardman.

There were a couple more irrelevant titles and skills in there, but Michael just skimmed over all of them. He had seen the most important of them, and frankly, this was going to be an incredibly difficult fight for him, what with all the various bonuses that would be stacked on Ignis. Michael himself had the First Fight title, and the Proof of Leadership Titles, but the only one that could help him was the First Fight title that boosted his attack power by a decent margin.

Ignis moved, snapping Michael's mind back to the present. The large, red Lizardman flexed its limbs, leaning from side to side. The reptilian eyes of the Lizardman visibly raked over his body, getting a feel out of him. Even he himself could feel the lick of his instincts in the back of his mind where his split consciousness rested, waiting for the moment it was needed.

All of a sudden, Ignis dashed toward him, his prodigious strength showing itself in the way the Lizardman moved itself. Michael's eyes widened as the thick arm of Ignis slammed into his middle section. The force contained within those muscles transferred over into Michael's body, throwing him back and into the red walls of the cavern, throwing up a cloud of dust in the process. Before Michael could process what had happened, a glowing red tongue suddenly pierced through the cloud of dust, heading toward him at an insane speed.

At that moment, Michael forgot all about planning his next moves, his mind totally absorbed into the moment. His instincts kicked in and his movements went into overdrive as he dove, dodging the tongue that sought his life, and dashing toward the origin of the tongue.

As he rushed toward Ignis, his own serrated tongue had already been deployed, the potent poison glistening over its surface area, lit up by the dying embers of flame that littered the sides of the cave from Ignis' earlier breath attack. A loud screech, followed by the enraged voice and a string of curses from Ignis lets Michael know that his tongue was successful in scoring a hit on the opponent.

All this happened in the span of a couple of seconds, and in that bracket of time, Michael dashes out of the cover of dust, heading straight toward Ignis. The moment the Red Scaled Lizardman comes into view, Michael takes stock of the damage he was able to inflict.

A long gash runs down Ignis' side, the blood dripping out of it already taking on a darker, purplish shade of color, clearly a result of the potent poison that covers Michael's tongue. His eyes scream murder as they find Michael, a look Michael is all too ready to return.

'Want to kill me, you damn lizard? Let's see how much luck you have. Come at me!'

Michael reaches melee range, immediately bringing his sharp, vicious claws that are usually retracted to bear against the hulking frame of Ignis. Ignis reciprocates, his own claws glowing with a bright red color. None of them were taking this fight lightly, as the future of their people laid on their shoulders.

WHOOSH!

With a mighty gust of wind, one of Ignis' large, thick arms swiped over Michael's head, the yellow Lizardman barely dodging it with the tiniest of margins. His instincts screamed at him to retreat, but his intelligence told him he could win if he utilized all his advantages well. He swung upwards, his claws raking yet another gash through Ignis' scales. The enemy Lizardman screeched with a rising rage, angry that Michael still stood.

All of a sudden a ton of alarm bells went of in Michael's head, urging him to leap back, which he promptly did, and not too soon. A shower of red hot flames washed over where he was standing just a moment ago, the heat enough to singe him, even from his current position a couple meters away from the site of the flame shower.

'Things are getting heated, I can't draw this out.' Michael thought to himself just as Ignis launched his flaming tongue at Michael again, using the flames as cover. The tongue just barely scraped Michael as he nimbly dodged, before opening his mouth wide.

[Sonic Scramble!]

A sonic screech rocked the cavern, forcing everyone present to cover their ears, lest they go deaf. The sonic wave slammed into Ignis' head, shaking the foundations of his consciousness, but he quickly regained his focus. His mind wasn't so easily swayed. Unfortunately for him, Michael never aimed to knock him out with that. All he intended was to distract the proud Lizardman long enough to launch another offensive.