hunter's runt

How curious...

To see a single human wander by in such manner. It picks up the interest of the Serpent, and already it slithers on forward to gaze upon Jack; the yellow snake-eyes that constantly keep observing, if only eventually for the sound to be made.

"Hsssss..."

It's odd how this area was bustling with activity the other day- with the meaningful duel that happened between the king and Stellus, and now...

Potentially, a single human all in trouble.

"Interesssting..."

"To see a human all alone, not protected by anything, or anyone..."

"Are you not ssscared?"
(Fidi)

There was determination in his eyes as he finally was setting out on the quest in order to seek out his teacher, though before he wandered toward Theria he realised that his feet carried him slightly too far forward...

Yet, it was a hissing that seemed to then catch his attention. Turning to look toward where the noise was coming from he had a look of disappointment. It was so ugly and bigger than any other snake he had seen before.

"A talking snake... I've probably seen it all now."

Laughing for a moment he was going to press on into what it was talking about, how he was alone and not protected.

"Why would I be scared? I think this is the first time anything has actually ever started a conversation with me! I'm delighted!"

Looking over the creature he pondered something, it talked... Was this what they called a Demon or something? Perhaps another type of mystical creature, he wasn't entirely sure.
(Jack Worthington)

"Ssso you're unaware..."

It left the Serpent pondering as to what exactly some of the humanity may think about whatever creatures they meet. Would they not be terrified at the sight of an overly large snake, one that is clearly not normal?

One that isn't from this world?

"You ssshould be scared, however."

"As many of your peersss are. As many of humansss are... you can see their fear in their eyesss, each time they encounter me."

"Or my kin for that matter."

There is a tiny, brooding laughter to that; the maw of the Serpent closes, and yet, the forked tongue extends in and out to pick up on various scents. Slowly, it begins to slither to Jack- the golden snake-eyes staring at him.

Close..
Closer.

"Tell me, human.."

"Are you thisss lonely, that you would speak to a demon?"
(Fidi)

It seemed that he was finally getting some answers as to what the creature was, a Demon. First time and all, yet he never feared the unknown since he had delved into the mind boggling ideals and theories of Metaphysical magics.

"I was unaware, yet even though you're here I do not feel any fear. That which I do not know shouldn't be feared, though I do understanding a certain level of caution."

Perhaps it was the fact he was so delighted with something actually conversing with him that he didn't seem to back away from the Demon which was slithering in closer.

"My teacher told me that your kind didn't hold a candle stick in accordance to his power, perhaps that's just another reason why I wouldn't fear... But I have been quite lonely."

Truly he had, friends were so few that it could be knocked down to a single possibility and that wasn't even a friend... As for his mentor, well he was a rough person to deal with.

"You are quite interesting."
(Jack Worthington)

The Demon doesn't stop.

It seems to slowly slither on about, the body of a Serpent carefully circling around Jack; the golden snake-eyes inspect the human from different angles, an exposure of its elongated body becoming terribly clear once it seemingly covers both the front and the back in a ring-like manner.

It's large enough to strangle a bull.

And perhaps, something even bigger than that... yet, when it continues to circle around Jack, it seems that the Demon becomes almost amused at the words that he speaks of.

"You feel no fear, jussst because you're that curiousss and unfamiliar... and becaussse your teacher boasted about his power?" Of all things, it seems that the Serpent truly struggles to take the reasoning as such seriously. After all...

"Humanity and their minds..."

"So full of delusionsss… so full of self-importance, lost in their false image of grandeur.."

The Serpent, while circling, eventually stops right infront of Jack; its eyes gaze upon him, and he remarks.

"Of courssse I'm quite interesting. All of Demonkind are."

"But tell me... do you truly think we are thisss weak? That your teacher was right?"
(Fidi)

Watching as the creature would twist and turn around him, he tried to maintain a level of eye contact with the snake. Obviously if he had wanted to run away in terror, well it would have been done earlier. Though his magi-legs were not exactly super strong compared to the speed of most creatures so it could just piss off the Demon.

"Frankly yes, just as you feel no fear for me because I happen to be wandering around alone. Though I am sure that my Teacher has shown your kind a few things, perhaps you would know him?

The Magma Drakanite Thryne." speaking his teachers name, perhaps the creature knew of him. Yet it wasn't exactly what mattered, but the talk of weakness started and thus.

"Weak is about what it is relative to. Perspective! Me compared to my teacher is like a pebble against a boulder. You compared to me could be much the same, though I'm unsure.

Yet, perhaps you are extremely powerful. I am unsure, but like I said before. I do not fear what I do not know."
(Jack Worthington)

The words upon words.

While Jack continues exploring the topic and theme of this encounter, it seems that the Serpent's attention is mainly taken by something entirely else that he mentions- something that causes the Demon not only to fall silent for a moment, but seemingly even emit a quiet hiss.

The name of Thryne.

"Hssss..."

The tail of the Serpent annoyingly thwaps! against the ground nearby, and soon, the hiss of the Serpent becomes much louder; the coiling body seems to near even closer, essentially wrapping around the legs of Jack. One thing is clear - suddenly, the Demon became very agitated.

"That coward.."

"That obnoxiousss.. despicable, conniving, ignorant ape.."

"One who huntsss the lesser of my kind, but flees at the sssight of anybody who could be a challenge to him."

Jack might be in trouble just now. With the agitation of the Serpent rising, and the displeasure evident now with the mention of his mentor's name, it doesn't seem like there would be an easy solution to their encounter. If any at all...

Because there is hate in those golden eyes. The fine slits that dilate and narrow, the bared fangs that threaten to overspill their venom, and the coiling body that only seems to tighten. The remarks that could be considered flattening are seemingly easily disregarded as well.

"You runt.."

"You were with thisss coward all along.."
(Fidi)

The mention of his mentor seemed to strike a nerve within the Snake Demon, quite amusingly so. Perhaps it was something that he needed to speak with Thryne about after this was all over.

"Are you sure that he is the one who hunts you? Never really came off as the type to go out looking for something, guess I'd just have to take your word on that one."

Mulling it over, perhaps this was something that wasn't going to start moving down hill quickly. The coiling around his legs appeared to be something that he was aware of, yet there was still no fear within his eyes. As a matter of fact, the only visible expression that he had burned onto his face was brimming curiosity.

"No matter what you might think of the master, obviously it has upset you to even hear that name. Here I thought we were having a decent conversation."

Though as it approached the end of the conversation, where he was called a coward and a runt... Didn't exactly seem nice, so he had a retort.

"One little detail, you know of him. Speak like you've had an encounter. So if he only happens to bout with the weaker Demons, that would make you one of the lessers?"

Since this situation was more pressing, he had completely ignored the voice of another person approaching.
(Jack Worthington)

Could he not tell?

That this only greatly angers the Serpent. The Serpent that has been rampantly growing, no less- pushing beyond the boundaries of what once could be considered lesser, and into the area of becoming a truly formidable force that no longer could be stopped anymore. If anything..

"You know ssso little.."

"To speak of your master this way - and never know of hisss exploits."

But it seems that Jack isn't even taking this seriously. It's rather evident to the Demon that he doesn't understand the predicament that he's got into- that despite the Serpent's body which coils around his body in such manner, it is something that he so easily disregards.

Yet..
To call him a lesser?

It is an insult. Amidst the brewing storms, such is taken as attempt to only add further insult to the injury experienced by the Serpent. Couldn't Jack tell that he's in trouble? That he agitates the Serpent only more? But whereas it once was thinking of how it could play around the connection he has with Thryne..

There's a roar.

One of reptilian kind- deafening in its volume, the golden snake-eyes brim with anger and seethe with hatred unlike any other. The coiling body tightens more.

"You.. wretched..!"
"Repugnant..!"
"Annoying..!"
"Runt!"

"You've brought this on yourself."

Suddenly..

The Serpent lunges. To bite into Jack, to distribute venom to his body. There are no more choices left for him.

The talk was over.
(Fidi)

The demon seemed to be angry about this entire thing. Perhaps it was the fact that he called him a lesser creature, yet it had to be true with the way that it was talking about Thryne and how everything seemed to be turning out.

"Yet, I am so eager to learn."

The words came from what the Demon had spoken about, though it was very clear that it was just a boiling pot waiting to explode with frustration. A tiny smirk began to shimmer through the curiosity because for once he could learn more about the creatures alongside with how far he had come.

As it was screaming at him like he had just stabbed it in the face with a hot prong, the staff was reached for. Yet it had lunged toward him... Would it be capable of reaching him in time?

"Oh, fun."

The manipulation of time itself was majority of what he was, a desperate Chronomancer who wanted to improve himself beyond the natural limitations. This was the first test.
(Jack Worthington)

There was little regard to the teachings that Jack desired.

Instead, it was more like a 'crash-course' through which the Serpent has mercilessly dragged the youth before him. Is it any surprise, then, that he would be confronted with the force of the Serpent in a manner that practically guarantees he would not only be hurt, but also be taught a lesson of how it's like to annoy a Demon?

"You shouldn't speak that way."

Even as the Serpent's voice bellows across the battlefield of two magi, the constant lunge of its maw upon Jack proves to be the sign of hostilities each and every single time. Is there any chance for him to talk down the Serpent?

At this point, no.
It's far, far too late.

"You shouldn't be speaking to someone like this - when you're this pathetic."

"You shouldn't be speaking at all when you know so little."

The Serpent bites onto Jack. Once the venom acts, once the defences of the young man were broken, he finds himself lifted into the air, only to be slammed back down- the pull of gravity and illusory phantasms making it difficult to fight back.

He's thrashed across the ground.
Clothes torn, dirt and grime gathered on his countenance.

There's blood. Plenty of it... and while the bite is eventually released with theatrical throw across the fields of a limp body, the Serpent hisses once more.

A warning for the times to come.

"Run back to your shoddy mentor."

"Since that is the only place where you might find some actual bite behind your bark."
(Fidi)

The first fight he had ever been in, yet it wasn't like he had done absolutely nothing to the creature. There was no question that he was far lacking from the abilities of a master, but there was a little reality which didn't seem to come off. Sure he was beaten down, bit multiple times and took a barrage of Gravitational and Illusion magics...

Yet, even though he was getting his ass formally handed to him he persisted and fought back. Utilizing his knowledge of Time and Gravity, two things he had never actually performed in a spar or even in too much live action testing. But he tried with all the little power that he possessed within the manipulation of the Metaphysical.

In truth the fight was the two of them mainly keeping distance throughout it, utilizing their magics and eventually the Demon completely overwhelmed him with raw physical power and the magical might that he seemed incapable of competing with. He had been bitten, thrashed, bloody, yet he did not simply crumple into a ball and cry.

"You speak big... But you're still lesser compared to the rest."

The last spiteful words that he had before collecting himself and heading to where he was going to be safe from this monstrous creature... Time and training was going to spark, there was a desire to come back and prove to this creature that it wasn't always going to be stronger than he was.

"This isn't the end..."
(Jack Worthington)

Him, a lesser?

To hear that alone was displeasing as it is, but the pride of a Demon was stung to be hearing of such things at all- he despised to hear it, he despised the fact that he was an actual lesser Demon. How could he inspire terror to the world as a whole, when he remained in such imperfect, incomplete form?

A brooding, quiet hiss is given in return.

The Serpent stares upon Jack. No, he got one thing right - this wouldn't be the end. This wouldn't be the first time that they see each other, and most certainly it wouldn't be their first fight either. Instead, it would be a beginning of something else.

A beginning of the end.
To one of them.

"Bold words to call someone a lesser.."

"When your place is in dirt, right where you belong."

Yet, the pursuit seems rather futile. He's too far to reach in time, and the Serpent realizes that all too well. While it begins to move elsewhere, the snake-eyes gaze upon him.

"Next time.."

"I will tear you apart."
(Fidi)