The voregar seemed more tactical this time. Instead of charging in immediately, they began spreading out in a circle around him. Dex considered making the first move, but waited a moment to see if one of them was going to be foolish enough to attack alone. Leaves crunched as the beasts continued their formation, forcing Dex to snap his head side-to-side in order to see the whole pack. One of them started growling, then another. Soon the forest seemed filled with a deep, gutteral sound. His nerves shot when one of them howled, similar to the sound the first one made when he killed it on his first day in this world. Following the howl, they leapt into action.

A few of them were closer than others, which gave him a very small window to lessen their numbers before more arrived. The first one lost a leg to his sword as it charged, rolling over itself as Dex sidestepped its attack. Blood trailed behind it, and the voregar remained down.

The next two came together, only a second after the first. Dex’s weapon shifted from shield, to sword, and back again, as he exchanged a flurry of blows and swipes. After only a few seconds, the second and third voregar fell, leaving only twelve remaining - and they weren’t slowing down.

Dex had just enough time to chuck his sword, which shifted into the spiked mace again, at the body of one that had reared up. It fell back ten feet, turning into a crimson fountain. He recalled his weapon, holding a shield now to block the next two.

As he plunged his sword into the sixth one’s skull, a sudden pain shot up Dex’s back. He was hit and hadn’t seen it coming. The pain was noticeable, but likely much less than it would have been had he not just gotten his Grit of the Warrior passive. He shot around, swiping wildly, hoping to hit the one behind him.

He missed, swinging and turning so hard he fell over from his momentum. This, however, barely made him fall out of the way of another swipe, crashing to his back. Scrambling to his feet, Dex noticed a bloody patch where his back had just been. He definitely had taken a massive hit, and that amount of bloodloss wouldn’t let him go on for long.

He plowed through three more of the voregar, spraying blood and limbs everywhere. One of their legs flew off and swiped his face by accident, causing a nasty gash in his cheek. Within seconds he could feel it closing up from his Warrior’s Regeneration, but even Dex knew that wouldn’t save him from a mortal wound. He had to be more careful. Well, not like he had a lot of options here.

Six remained and began backing up. They knew that this fight was no longer on their side. Even a wild animal knew when to retreat, but Dex wasn’t having it. He had to complete his quest, well, two quests, really. Once he completed Hunt the Predators, the First Expedition quest would be completed automatically, and that’s an opportunity he wasn’t going to pass up.

The voregar hadn’t gone into a full retreat yet. They just backed off and became more defensive. Now that the crowd had died down, and there weren’t as many of them, Dex noticed that one was different.

Sitting near the cave entrance, looking almost relaxed, a massive purple voregar stared calmly at him. This one was nearly twice the size of the others, and more importantly, it looked like it was smiling. The damned thing looked almost amused, like it had been waiting for something like this.

Deciding to save that one for last, he kept his distance as best he could as he charged down the other five. None of them ran when he engaged, but they should have. The wound on his back had already begun closing, just like his cheek, but he still felt like he was losing blood, his vision blurring slightly with each exertion.

Shifting between sword, spear, shield, and mace, he took down all but the big one. The boss voregar, as Dex decided to call it.

Deciding to take a moment to breathe, he stood over his work with some pride, but mostly wonder. What was the world doing to him? Only a few days ago he’d never have even thought of killing wildlife, but now he was doing it with the intention of ‘it’s just a job.’ He wanted to feel bad, knowing in his heart that these creatures didn’t know any better. They were just acting on instinct. Yet, his thoughts were pushed down for the moment. He still had one left to tackle, and that monster was still just sitting there staring at him, its face looking much more serious.

Slowly, the boss voregar started walking towards him. It moved in a way he had never seen one move before; calmly. Almost like a dog walking to its master. He stared it down as it got within a few feet. Dex remained ready to react, but his curiosity was piqued. Why was this one not attacking? Why was it coming towards him like this?

While sitting, this thing was at eye-level with Dex. Up close and calm, the voregar was majestic, almost beautiful. Its dark purple stripes against its slightly lighter purple fur felt so unique, nothing like he had seen on an animal on Earth.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The boss voregar moved one of its paws in front of it, pressing one claw into the grass. It swiped slowly back and forth for a moment, scratching deep into the dirt.

Why? It drew into the ground.

“You can talk?” Dex asked it, realizing that writing isn’t talking, but hoping it would understand what he meant.

Nodding once, it pointed its paw at its question again.

Dex nodded back, responding out of respect since this was the only one that hadn’t immediately tried to kill him. “I have a quest from my House to slay your pack. It says you are ravaging the wildlife in the area.” He realized this wouldn’t justify his actions to a sentient creature, but up until now, he hadn’t even considered them as having any level of intelligence beyond that of a simple wolf.

The voregar’s face changed. It looked sad somehow. Moving towards one of the corpses, another purple voregar, it scratched another word into the ground. Laying down next to its fallen comrade, it placed its head on the other’s back.

Wife. Was all it said. Dex stood over it, noticing its eyes were closed.

Dex’s chest heaved in and out, tears welling in his eyes. The boss voregar never moved, never opened its eyes as he stood overtop of it for at least a minute. Could he bring himself to kill this thing? He had to if he wanted to complete his quests, but it was intelligent, not just a mindless beast. It had a wife, some of the others were probably its children. Yes, he could. Dex had already taken everything from this poor creature. What did it have left to live for? It was already laying with its beloved, accepting death. Waiting for that final moment, hoping to see her on the other side.

Dex felt compelled to explain himself, to justify his actions to the voregar. “I... I didn’t know. I’m so sorry.”

The voregar looked up, its eyes watery, just like Dex’s. Swiping lightly at the sword in Dex’s hand, it moved the blade to the back of its neck, nodding once. It wanted to go. It truly had nothing left in this world.

Dex’s heart sank with the blade as the voregar’s head rolled to the side. He made it quick, instant, making sure there was not a moment of pain. It had already suffered enough.

As the head rolled to a stop, Dex fell to his knees, then onto his ass. He wept, his mind racing with what he had done, not knowing it would affect a creature so strongly. Princess came rushing over from her bush as Dex buried his head in his knees. She didn’t say anything, she just stayed with him.

A few minutes passed before he finally stopped crying. His stomach was sunken, but something told him he had to move on. Not that he couldn’t be upset, but what was he to do? This world was ruthless. He’d fought for his life several times already, and if he had died, there wouldn’t have been a tear shed for him.

[Slay the voregar: 22/22]

[Reward: 2,200 points]

[Reward: Voregar claw seal]

[Complete two quests in one day: 2/2]

[Reward: Compass of Intentions]

His rewards appeared nearby. He collected them quickly, not paying attention to the quest popups. All he wanted to do was to get out of here. He gathered Princess, putting her in the usual place in the front of his poncho.

Breaking line of sight with the massacre, Dex moved as far away as he could as quickly as his legs would move. He didn’t care where he went, at least not yet. He just knew he wanted to put distance between him and his actions.

Finally, feeling far enough away, he rested against a tree. “Are they all smart like that, Princess?” He echoed, hoping she would say no. He begged her to say no. That the boss voregar was the only one, and he hadn’t just slain a village of sentient creatures with feelings, goals, ambitions, and everything else that made him human.

“I don’t know,” she replied. “That’s the first I’ve ever seen anything like that, but to be fair, my kind is usually their prey.”

“I can’t do this,” He said, feeling like he was going to reply again. “I can’t just go around slaughtering anything and everything for my own gain.”

Princess got in his face, staring him down. “I’m not going to tell you it’s okay, it sucks. But that’s how this world is. It’s kill or be killed. Do you think everyone in the line at the quest crystal just loves killing for a living? We make hard choices to survive.”

“Maybe that’s how it is, and maybe I need to get used to it, but it still doesn’t feel right.” Dex mumbled aloud.

“Let’s just get back home and you can rest. Take the night off, get some more takeout. I’m sure you earned enough points to justify something good to eat.” She offered.

“That sounds nice, just one problem. Which way is home?” He asked, realizing that the portal spat them out in an unknown location.

“Maybe that compass will tell you? It’s a longshot, I know, but these trinkets that the quests give out can be quite cool.” She scurried down to his pocket, plucking the compass out herself. Shoving it into his hand, she backed off and waited for him to make his decision. “We can’t just sit here and die, dude.”

She was right. As much as his heart hurt for the boss voregar, and the others he’d slain, he couldn’t just let it all end here because of that.

Dex looked the compass over. It was in a small black case, the top flipping open to reveal the compass inside. The whole package reminded him of one that a quirky pirate used in one of his favorite movies back on Earth. Maybe this worked similarly? That one pointed to what one wanted most in the world. Perhaps, based on the name ‘Compass of Intentions’, this one pointed towards where you intended to go?

Indeed, the arrow pointed somewhere. It didn’t spin randomly like he half expected. Deciding it was his best bet, he got up and followed where it led.

The sun was setting before long, and Dex had no desire to see what this forest had to offer after nightfall. Picking up the pace, he ran through the woods. His poncho felt rigid from dried blood as it flopped in the wind, but at least his wounds had healed up nicely.

It took at least an hour of heavy jogging and running before he got there. The compass was amazing. It led him straight to the front gate of Fort Moortin. Again, several guards stood at the entrance.

“Name, rank, and house, please.” One of the guards said, holding the same book that Melli held on his first arrival.

“My name is Dexter Halden. I’m a probationary with The Frostsworn.”