A lion looked at the group of humans in front of it, sitting on top of its rock.
It had bright yellow eyes that shone brightly, alongside mostly dark red fur and a bright orange mane, which was tipped with yellow.
All of them held weapons and looked at him alertly. One of them said something to the others, which seemed to anger another one of them.
"It's just one, and it ain't even big! I ain't running away from it!"
The man pointed at it with his sword as he whispered angrily.
"Better be careful."
The first one spoke in a soft tone, not taking his eyes off of the feline that looked at them curiously.
"I agree."
The voice of a woman sounded, she was holding an axe and shield.
"We don't want to get hurt unnecessarily, and it-"
She was rudely interrupted by the angrier man.
"You think it can hurt me?"
The woman was taken aback by the man's aggression.
"That's not what she said." The first man tried to calm the man down, but that seemed to anger him further.
The majestic king of the jungle seemed to have had enough of the human's chatter as it jumped down and advanced towards them while letting out a deep rumbling growl.
"Get back!"
The fourth and last of the group shouted for them to move as soon as the lion had moved.
They all did and were now looking at the creature walking towards them as they walked backward.
"Prepare to fight!"
The first man brought his shield up.
"I'm readying a freeze ray!"
The third man spoke for the second time, behind the other three.
The lion seemed to feel something, it growled and jumped towards the closest person, its eyes glowing and streams of fire emerging from its claws.
The angry man thrust his spear as he moved to the side.
The spear broke as the spearhead impacted the lion's swinging forelimb and caused no visible damage.
"Shit!"
The man jumped back and summoned a sword and shield while the sole female of their group put away her shield and held her left hand out behind her.
The lion moved to dodge a light blue ray that pierced through the position it was just in.
"What the hell is that skin made of?" The angry man spoke with more than just a little bit of trepidation in his voice.
The lion roared and opened its maw wide, and they could all see a glow in its mouth.
"Flame breath!"
The man who had cast the freeze ray exclaimed as he and the other two men took defensive positions behind shields.
However, the woman did not, as she had put away her shield a few moments ago.
The lion spat out a large stream of fire towards her.
Suddenly, she raised her empty left hand and opened her glowing palm to the approaching fire.
A burst of wind emerged from it, sending the wave of flame right back to its origin.
She had been preparing a wind blade but had hurriedly thrown that plan aside when the opportunity to throw the lion's attack back at it had made itself apparent.
"Well done!" The first man exclaimed as the lion roared in pain.
"Prepare your spells! It likely had some fire resistance!"
The third man rebuked them as he moved back while preparing his next attack.
The woman agreed with him silently as she moved back with him.
The other two looked back at the quickly disappearing flames and brought up their shields, ready to block any incoming attacks.
The lion let out a rumbling growl as it bared its teeth.
Its mane seemed to glow as it reared back before spitting a fireball at them.
The fireball was too fast for them to dodge and the second man was sent flying back due to the ensuing explosion, landing a few meters behind to the left of the third man.
The lion dodged another blue freezing ray, only for a bolt of electricity to strike it as it was moving.
It landed with a thud, as the first man prepared a spell of his own.
The lion got up before he could complete it, and jumped at him.
As the man despaired, something slammed into the lion's side, pushing it off its course and saving the man.
*BANG!*
A loud bang sounded and the feline collapsed with a hole in its head.
The newcomer was completely covered in armor from head to toe.
On his helmet was a symbol that sparked recognition in his eyes.
It was a pair of golden crossed scimitars placed, with a green silhouette of a bird with spread wings over it. On top of it all was a golden circle with intricate detail that he could not make out from this distance.
"That's..."
The armored figure looked at him and pointed at his chest.
The chestplate had another symbol, but he could not recognize this one.
It was a silvery ladder-like structure with two rungs.
In the direct middle, between both of the rungs was a red triangular shield with a yellow sun emblazoned on it. There were small curvy lines around the bottom two edges to resemble trembling.
Below the bottom rung was a brown-colored leaf with a small stem, for some reason, there were dozens of white strands on the bottom side of the leaf, all of them pointed to the ground.
Above the higher rung, there was a symbol that looked like a mechanical left leg.
The man shook his head, and the armored figure seemed to lose interest in the interaction.
The figure then moved over the injured man who was now sitting up, supported by the other two.
They seemed to be wary of the figure, but it didn't seem to care as it crouched down in front of them and held out a hand in front of the injured man.
"Thank you."
The now-healed man spoke with a nod.
"No problem." The figure spoke for the first time as it straightened. It removed its helmet revealing its mouth, with the rest of its face obscured by another mask that covered the top of its head and most of its face.
"So, interested in making a trade?"