The naga's face sways like grass in the wind, trying to make us look into its eyes. This fight is going to be difficult, not because they are fighting a naga, but the fact that Zeruna's current goal is to eat food. By joining a party of higher-ranked adventurers, she has access to higher-level quests meaning more money despite it being shared. No matter what world one is in, one rule remains unchanged: money equals food.

"Stand down, naga," Aldue says, his eyes glowing. "My Lord needs people, not bodies."

'He's not what I expected...

Ok, Nagas have good hearing that exceeds that of humans, looks like I'll set up a mental bridge with the Sparrow Knights and us. That way, we can plan without being disrupted. Ha, why is this reminding me of my days in RPGs when you could set up a private chat room. This is kinda like that.'

(Zeruna) [Can everyone hear me?]

(Arin) [Yo! I can hear you in my head.]

(Eleana) [Psionics are so cool, I can hear you both.]

(John) [Wait, does this mean you can read my thoughts? All of you.]

(Arin) [From what Shi made you say, I sincerely hope not.]

(Argon) [Who knew we had such a pervert in our party?]

(Tina) [I have known him for hours, and he already disgusts me.]

(Zeruna) [Cut out the chatter, we have around fifty seconds left before we have to fight this thing, therefore, we must devise a plan else we're all dead.]

(Tina) [Naga's have very efficient regeneration abilities, their breath is poisonous, their blood is acidic, and will turn you into a statue like a Basilisk if look into its eyes.]

(Arin) [Yeah, in other words, we have like forty seconds till we die? Any additional confessions you want to make John?]

(John) [Fuck yourself. That fact your still a twat in the face of death is scary and annoying.]

(Zeruna) [I'm being serious, we need a plan. I have one in my mind but it requires cooperation to the highest level from you all.]

(Argon) [We're the Sparrow Knights, we may be a bunch of misfits that have no chemistry together. But damn, we are survivors and survive this we will.]

(John) [Hell yeah!]

Aldue watches as the group of humans silently scheme with each other, the only way he knows they're even talking is the fact that they are making hand gestures. He didn't know how they were interacting, maybe there is magic being used to silence their conversation. It wasn't a problem for him, his only job was to watch them fight; whether they won or lost against the Naga, it wouldn't affect him much. The real matter is the fight between these people and Lord Caspian, that is if they survive this short trial.

Aldue looks down at his magical watch, it's time, "Your time is up, I will be observing this bout."

A low hissing rises up from the depths of the Naga as it swayed its head around like a cobra. Like a bullet from a gun, it suddenly explodes forward. It slams directly into a Psionic barrier creating a deafening noise similar to a thunderclap. Tina immediately sends a wind spell both eyes of Naga. It screeches and moves it's head upwards.

Quickly, Arin and Eleana, both being in light armour and being able to move fast, dart forward. They both jump to an inhuman, their abilities enhanced by another spell from Tina. They move upwards into the sky and plunge their weapons into what's left of the Naga's eyes, increasing the time it'll take to regenerate by lodging their weapons in the sockets.

The Naga attempts to whip its tail into the area it last saw its opponents. The tail crashes into another psionic barrier that bounces it away. Eleana darts in and out of the barrier, hurling her daggers into the soft underside of the snake. It tries to kill her with a bite but collides with another barrier. One of its fangs snap from it's mouth and lands on the ground.

Slowly and meticulously, Zeruna was crafting the mightiest mental attack she'd used thus far, she's also utilising the skill Parrell Thinking to use multiple Psionic abilities simultaneously. She can't open her eyes, it will sever the amount of concentration she's pouring into her attack. She's relying purely on the faint messages being sent to her via Arin.

A purple light begins to gather around Zeruna. Only a few more seconds before the attack is fully charged.

The Naga attempts to pinpoint the position of its enemies using its hearing but is unable to due to loud banging and screaming. The Naga lunges in that direction but is again blocked by another barrier. John is perfectly safe slamming his weapon against his shield. The Naga attempts to encircle the area, yet is unable to. With every movement, it is thwarted by a barrier. Like a spider trapped in glass, it has nowhere to go.

A pillar of rock extends from the ground and crashes into the jaw of the Naga.

"Now!" screams Zeruna, slightly collapsing due to the amount of Psi she spent on the attack. Her arm muscles ache painfully and even she has a headache, but it's nothing compared to what the Naga is feeling. The attack would be enough to hurt Zeruna if she had no Psionic resistance, to the Naga, it is lethal.

Now Argon is up, he leaps upward with a massive physical enhancement and bashes his mace into the skull of the naga. It hisses, sways and falls with a thud. Blood cascades from its mouth and spills onto the ground. It twitches for a few moments.

"I wish I knew Psionics," Arin says. 

"Wow, Shi, your Psionics saved us," Eleana says.

"That was, kinda easy," utters John. "Well, easier than what I thought it would be."

'Thanks for your praise, but currently I'm thinking of how to progress forward into this mansion. This could very well be a series of fighting tests, or we could just progress right onto the boss (Caspian).'

"Retrieve your weapons, we've still got trouble ahead," Argon says as he inspects the corpse of the Naga.

Eleana and Arin pull their weapons from the Naga's body, being careful not come in contact with its acidic blood. They look at their weapons. Eleana's sword has been practically ruined and Arin's weapon has began to loose shape. The two inspect their gear, most of it is completely unusable.

"Looks like we need to get more weapons," says Eleana.

"Well, we will make loads of money selling the scales of the Naga," replies John.

"Let's hope we have enough left over to replace some of Eleana underwear that John stole," Arin taunts. "I'm sure she won't want to use it again if you've fiddled with it."

"Fiddled! What sort of lowlife do you think I am!?" yells John.

"Shi, Merille, protect yourself from this weirdo!"

Something suddenly soars past Zeruna's vision and into a tree, breaking it in half. She looks over to the place of impact and sees Argon against what's left of the tree, inside, he's probably just a broken mess of bones. Zeruna looks over to Naga to see it still kicking. It slowly begins to raise itself upwards, hissing madly and beginning to stare down a terrified Eleana who is barely managing to look away as it slowly moves its face towards her.

'Bastard secretly regenerated its eyes while it was lying down! I was too busy thinking about what's to come to notice I didn't get any SP.'

"Foul beast, I'll kill you for getting Argon!" roars John as he heroically, but foolishly, leaps into the Naga.

John is slapped upwards by the tail of the Naga and sent into the air. Like a missile, Tina darts upwards and catches her while Zeruna saves Eleana from being petrified. Arin escapes by himself with the assistance of speed enhancement magic from Tina. It of that happened in under a second, so fast that even the Naga didn't notice that its prey was gone. Aldue too was confused and he himself couldn't follow the events.

(Zeruna) [Tina, heal John and Argon out of view. I was starting to like them so I don't want them dying on us.]

(Tina) [Same, I starting to like them too. It will be hard to heal him thoroughly using only second-tier spells. Most of those spells only deal with surface damage and bones, not internal bleeding and ruptured organs.]

(Zeruna) [Use healing magic appropriate to the wounds.]

(Tina) [What of Arin and Eleana? They to be frozen completely in fear.]

(Zeruna) [Send them both to sleep using magic, I'll deal with them later. Make sure Argon and John stay unconscious too.]

(Tina) [Yes mistress.]