“That guy’s not going to get executed or anything, is he?” asked Elijah, sitting at one of the long tables in the communal dining area. After his first visit, he’d learned that the locals referred to it as zuushny gazar, which fittingly translated to “eating place.” However, he’d also heard the word “xopxor” thrown around, which he’d also learned referred to more of a dining experience, rather than a place. In this case, the experience centered around cooking various meats – usually involving hot stones – in a communal setting. That description certainly fit what Elijah had experienced, though he was still a little fuzzy about the details.

How the system’s translation feature worked was still a bit of a mystery. In some cases, it would translate everything, but in others, it was quite selective, allowing for certain words to come through. The only thing Elijah could think was that the terms it left untranslated had some sort of cultural significance beyond the English meaning, though he wouldn’t have been surprised if there was more to it than that. Regardless, he’d resolved to simply take things as they went.

“The gambler? No,” replied Tömörbaatar as he speared a hunk of meat with his dagger and dragged it out of the central platter. He took a huge bite, adding, “He will likely be required to work off his debt. It is a shame his class is not physically gifted, or he would be capable of paying it off much more quickly.”

“How much does he owe?” asked Elijah. His initial thought was to simply break the man out – assuming his plan with the boar worked out – but that was needlessly confrontational. Instead, he wondered if he could pay the man’s debts, then recoup that investment – and then some – when his so-called Conclave paid him back “ten-fold”. He knew there was risk in that, but something about the pasty man told Elijah that he was important. Or that he could be, given the right circumstances. Plus, he wanted to know more about the organization to which he belonged.

“No more than a gold,” Tömörbaatar answered. “Enough to matter, but not enough to kill over. For most people.”

Elijah nodded and ate his meal. Upon leaving the jail, he’d fully intended to head out right then, but he’d been persuaded by the grateful hunter to join him for a meal. Mostly, the supper was composed of meat, but there were a few vegetables and mushrooms here and there. More importantly, it had clearly been prepared by someone with a cooking ability, which meant that it tasted much better than anything Elijah could prepare. Even with his new pan – which he still hadn’t used – he would only be able to mimic the real thing. So, it truly didn’t take much to convince him to share a meal with Tömörbaatar.

However, it wasn’t long before he was stuffed, and after saying goodbye to his new friend, Elijah left the zuushny gazar behind. As he did, he caught a few stray glances that lingered a little longer than he would have preferred, but he knew that was because word of his class and level had already begun to spread. That was precisely the sort of attention he’d hoped to avoid, but that really hadn’t been possible after what he’d done. Perhaps some people would have been slow on the uptake, but for anyone who was paying attention, his disguise would have been useless in the face of his abilities.

Regardless, after leaving the building behind, he joined the flow of pedestrians and horse-mounted residents as he made his way out of Khotont. The pace was glacial but consistent, so he made it to the gates before the sun had begun to dip toward the horizon. He got more looks – most of concern – as he separated from the parade of pedestrians, left the safety of the city behind and set off into the grassland alone. After a couple of miles, when he was out of sight, he shifted into the Shape of the Sky and took to the air.

The hunters had seen his flight form, so it wouldn’t be long before the entire city knew about the colorful, reptilian shape. However, Elijah wasn’t willing to flaunt his abilities. Rumors were one thing, but seeing it with their own two eyes would bring more attention than Elijah wanted to endure.

He glided through the air, reveling in the freedom flight gave him. In his other forms – even as a human – he could go most places without issue. But there was something about being capable of flight that felt less restrictive than anything else. In that form, with his wings outstretched, he felt that he could go anywhere, that he could do anything. At times, that freedom made it difficult to focus, but with a mission in mind, Elijah managed it all the same.

After a little less than an hour of flight, during which he kept an eye out for the boar, Elijah reached the site of his previous encounter. The town was no less ruined than when he’d left it behind, but there were a few areas where the destruction was far more recent. It would have been nice if Brand of the Stalker had remained active, but after he’d gotten a couple of miles away from the creature, it deactivated. So, he followed the trail of destruction to the outer reaches of the town, where he found a distinct path through the grassland.

Mostly, the trail was characterized by trampled grass, but there were also areas where the boar had attacked the ground, ripping through the earth with its tusks and hooves. It was such pointless destruction, but ultimately, it was unsurprising. Elijah had already established that the boar was mad, that it would turn its ire on the prairie itself was well within Elijah’s expectations.

Fortunately, that also resulted in an easily followed trail, so Elijah had no issues tracking the mad boar. Gradually, he covered the ground, marveling at how far the beast had gone in such a short amount of time. The miles melted beneath him until, at last, just as the sun had begun to peek over the horizon, he caught sight of the creature.

It had slowed down a little, but periodically, it would randomly charge in one direction, dip its head, and drag its tusks through the soft earth. In those cases, dirt and grass would erupt into a cloud dozens of feet high, and the beast would jerk around, looking this way and that before continuing on its way.

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Each time that scene repeated, Elijah felt his heart break.

Certainly, the beast was powerful. And deadly. It needed to be stopped. Yet, seeing that its mind had been so thoroughly broken was nauseating. Even as he watched, Elijah’s resolve to end the boar’s suffering reestablished itself. He knew it needed to be done, and what’s more, he suspected that he was the only person who could make it happen.

As a Druid, it was his responsibility.

However, he also knew that making good on that responsibility would not be easy. The creature was largely invulnerable. He had seen that the first time he’d attacked the beast. So, given that he couldn’t even penetrate its hide – much less deal with its immense Strength – he’d had to get creative with his plans.

At first, he’d considered a trap. It was a simple enough idea, and he had a little experience with using traps against creatures more powerful than him. He’d employed that strategy in the Sea of Sorrows as well as against the horde of orcs that had assaulted Ironshore.

But he didn’t believe he could build a trap the boar couldn’t break out of. It might take the creature days or weeks to do so, but it would eventually dig its way out, putting him right back at square one. So, he considered the trap to be Plan B. Hopefully, he wouldn’t need it.

Plan A was a little different, and it hinged on his observations having been accurate. Or perhaps the assumptions that followed those observations. Whatever the case, because of the swirling ethera that surrounded the creature, Elijah suspected that its impenetrable hide wasn’t the result of an incredibly high Constitution attribute. Certainly, the creature was naturally durable. But Elijah was banking the viability of Plan A on the suspicion that much of its invulnerability was based on a skill.

And the thing about skills was that they needed fuel. Whether it consumed ethera or stamina, no ability was free. That was an unassailable fact of the multiverse, and one Elijah was reminded of every time he used Iron Scales. As his attributes increased, he could use the ability more often, but even with that increased power, there were limits. He was banking on the boar’s ability functioning according to the same paradigm.

But he couldn’t just slap the creature with one of his spells, then lead it on a merry chase. The moment the creature realized that it wasn’t in any danger, it would stop using the ability and recover its stamina or ethera. No – Elijah needed to put it in a heightened state.

Fortunately, he had the perfect ability to do just that:

Debilitating Roar

Let out an enraged bellow that sends all nearby targets fleeing in fear, decreasing their damage by 15%. Increases caster’s footspeed by 10%. Only usable when caster is under the influence of Shape of the Guardian. Duration based on Ethera attribute. Current: 9.2 seconds. Resistance based on target’s Constitution attribute.

When he’d first gotten the skill, Elijah had been a little disappointed with it. However, after using it in Seattle, he’d come around to how useful it was. And in his current situation, he knew it would be ideal.

Assuming that it took hold, at least.

If it did, Elijah would only need to keep the effect active – which would necessitate using quite a lot of his own stamina – until the monster ran out of fuel. Then, it would be vulnerable.

With that plan in mind, Elijah circled until the boar started attacking a lonely tree in the middle of the plain. It rammed the thing, over and over without any hesitation between. Elijah saw his opportunity, so as he dropped from the sky, he shifted into his lamellar ape form, hitting the ground only a few dozen feet away from the creature. His arrival didn’t go unnoticed, and the boar whipped around. For a moment, it was like time slowed. Elijah saw madness in the beast’s wild eyes. In the thick foam coating its mouth. In the tension in its every bunched muscle.

Then, the moment passed, and the boar’s hooves dug into the soft soil, propelling it forward in a reckless charge. Elijah let out a bellow, embracing Debilitating Roar. The sound hit the creature like a sledgehammer, and it skidded to a stop before its charge could truly begin.

Elijah beat his chest, then charged the beast. For a moment, it looked confused, but only a second after the effects of the ability hit it, the boar whipped around and fled. It moved with the jittery abruptness of a terrified animal, and with its clearly superior Strength, it could cover some serious ground.

Fortunately, Elijah’s hesitation to follow only lasted an instant before he loped forward in pursuit. Even more thankfully, the ability included an increase to his footspeed, which was more than valuable against the hard-charging beast. Seven seconds after he’d used the ability the first time, Elijah let loose with another instance of the ability. As he did, he felt himself weaken by a miniscule amount. That was his stamina draining away. It was barely noticeable, but he knew the exhaustible, yet hidden resource was the key to whether or not his plan would work. If his store of stamina held up, then he would win. If not, then he’d be forced to retreat.

So, Elijah remained hot on the creature’s heels, bellowing his ability every seven or eight seconds. Eventually, he realized that he wouldn’t be capable of keeping it up if he used it that often, so he started to experiment. While the ability-induced fear only lasted a little more than nine seconds, it still took longer for the echoes to fade. For a sane and sapient enemy, it wouldn’t have mattered. They would see through it. But with the mad boar? It could scarcely distinguish reality, much less whether its fear was genuine or not. So, even after Elijah let the ability fade, the creature continued to flee, flaring its own protective ability the whole time.

It was a domino effect. Every instance of Debilitating Roar sent it careening further into fearful madness. It went on for hours, and eventually, Elijah only had to reapply the effect every ten minutes or so. The boar’s madness took care of the rest.

Then, suddenly, when most of the day was gone, the ethera swirling around the beast winked out. A few steps later, it collapsed in a cloud of dust. The sudden stop shocked Elijah, and he very nearly ran into the fallen boar. Yet, he stopped just in time.

As he circled around, the creature continued to shudder, though it was entirely incapable of rising. It had run itself to exhaustion.

Elijah’s plan had worked.

Now, he only needed to follow through with the final act.