I took his words in, weighing them, and found them grating. It was what I wanted, but I did not enjoy being maneuvered into a decision that was not of my own making.

Nonetheless, I dismounted without a word, albeit a little awkwardly with all of my new gear, and then gave Jasper a winning smile, “Very well,” I acquiesced. “But let us make a game of it. Let us see who can kill the most of these terrors,” I added, unstrapping my shield from my shoulder.

Almost as if on cue, Sukhbat asked, “What are we wagering? Not that I care, for I am bound to lose,” he furrowed his brow for a second in thought before he found enlightenment, “Perhaps, I could wager on a winner!”

“How about a copper, just for fun? Would not wish to rob you before the evening’s games, for that would truly kill my enjoyment,” I grinned at my fellows as I patted Mouse. Smiling weakly, I handed her reins to the genial Sukhbat.

“Ha, I’ll show you lot. I’ve still got a bit of bite left in me. I’ve been killing these things when you were still soiling your small clothes. By the smell of things, you lot still do!” Likam added to the mix with a good-natured growl.

“This is a serious thing! Hah! Even as men, our hearts are as boys, or so my wife reminds me, often and loudly. Perhaps the old Likam is right. Good thing there is a river nearby where you can clean yourself up,” our leader Jasper sighed as he placed a slightly-worn nasal helm on his head.

Grinning secretly to myself, I followed suit, placed my helm on my head, and took my place at the front of our group. I began to whistle a tune from my old world as I walked ahead. A few seconds later I looked back to confirm the distance between us, not that I was worried, only to see Jasper drop a medium-sized purple stone onto the damp sands. I noted that Jasper kept his cavalry lance, even on foot, while Likam and Tomorbat held small bows at the ready.

The rascals let me walk about fifteen or twenty paces in front of them before they started to follow behind me. It seemed I really was going to be the lure and bait. However, I planned to be much more. Every single one of those creatures that I could get my hands on, I would turn to experience points. With Larynda now sharing a wagon with Cordelia, I had lost easy access to my Mana battery. I needed to get to the next level as soon as possible, in order to get to the next level in Mana Regeneration, to help make up for the deficit.

But these were thoughts for another time, I chided myself, and shook my head. Since it was my job to lure the creatures, my new Quassian crossbow would be of little use, so I drew the sword-hammer at my hip. The weapon felt solid, a comforting weight, and I moved onwards.

It was getting a little hotter now, just a touch outside the realm of uncomfortable. Already I could feel the sweat beginning to form across my skin. I was warmed from within and without as my eagerness to accumulate experience mounted.

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Ten or so minutes later, feeling uncomfortable, I turned again to check on the rest of my group when I felt it. Instincts that were gifted to primal man, from when we warred with the saber-tooth and the Neanderthal flared, to life and I spun around with my shield raised.

Another sticky pink thing, a tongue from a Sandgorger, wet with saliva, had smacked against my shield before wrapping around my arm. This time, without the benefit of Mouse’s added weight and Strength I struggled against the monster’s pull. I braced myself for a moment in the sand, pulling against the creature before I saw arrows start to fly towards it.

Luckily, all but one of the missiles hit the creature. However, even the ones that hit failed to cause great damage, as its tough, warty skin absorbed most of the force.

Even as we struggled against each other, I cast Entropic Aura, almost as if by second nature. Waves of raw Entropy burst from me and washed across the creature, and I had the satisfaction of watching the creature blink in what I considered to be fear. “How the hunter is hunted,” I whispered to myself, in grim satisfaction. I gripped the monster’s tongue and the creature began to panic, trying furiously to extricate its wriggling, vile appendage. Not today, little one, not today, my heart sang in joy.

The guards were shouting at me, but I could hear none of it. I was so focused on this contest of man against beast, my blood was up and none would stand in my way.

Using Dash, I tried to close the distance and my Stamina fell by a negligible amount, thanks to my inordinately high Constitution. My sword arm rose high before I brought it down in a savage blow, fueled by a Power Strike. The creature gave a high-pitched gurgle as my blow connected with the side of its ugly face and smashed out a few of its teeth. Green blood seeped from the wound, and instead of white, I saw that the bones of its exposed jaw were turquoise in color. Disgusted, I raised my sword and fell into a festival of release, this time taking out its eyes with slashes and stabs.

Behind me, the group was still shouting some indecipherable nonsense. Could they not see that I was preoccupied? I had experience to farm here, I roared in glee.

Then another alien pink tongue shot out, this time from the water’s edge, and coiled itself around the wrist of my sword arm. With a new foe, my first reaction was to let go of the first Sandgorger’s tongue.

This one seemed stronger, and I saw a large horn on the snout of the new creature. Damn bloody things, one after another. In the corner of my vision, I saw the first monster limping away, trailing blood as it wandered in circles across the new vegetation. Digging my heels in, I formed the spell incantation of Drain in the silent halls of my mind, as the dark voices lent me their guidance. Once the spell was ready, I let the magic form a different sort of connection with my foe, grinning when the hungry lines traveled up its thick pink tongue.

Impressions of sleep, thirst, and hunger over long months clouded my mind for half-a-second before I ignored them. They were irrelevant and unnecessary, so I simply prepared another Drain spell. Going through the motions of the spell, I released questing tendrils of black midnight, invisible to anyone else but me, that reached out for the other struggling amphibian, as it made strange, alien cries of pain.

Using another Dash, this time away from my foe, I pulled the larger, horned monster away from the water’s edge. Now that things were a battle of attrition, I had things well in hand, and I planted my feet and faced the creature. I pulled, pulled, and kept pulling at the horned one before me, in a contest of Strength.