Renalia ate her oatmeal breakfast with deliberate movements, keeping her left hand motionless on the table. At the opposite end of the rectangular table, Penny weaved between the obstacles that they had placed before it. Cups, bowls, candle holders, and so on. Once in a while, it would raise its head up and smell the air, as if to get its bearings.

Sammy stuck his hand out in front of the tiny bogling. It lifted its head and scaled the minor hurdle instead of walking around it. Sammy’s face lit up as Penny climbed onto the back of his hand. But scrunched up as Penny left without even a pause in its steps.

Shim pretended he was too old for games like this. However, Renalia noticed how he tracked the bogling’s journey across the tabletop. As it made its way close to Minnie’s location, Minnie scooted her bowl away, as if Penny would try to take a bite from her breakfast. Penny finally staggered up over Renalia’s fingers and perched on her forearm. It resumed its previous position before Sammy had dislodged it for the obstacle course.

Marcy, seated across from her, cheered.

Renalia did not know how to feel about this, though. While she had named the bogling, Penny did not really belong to her. So she had consciously kept an emotional distance from the little critter. But Penny treating her like its mama weighed on her heart, heavier than its physical size would suggest.

“Let’s make it a maze this time,” Sammy suggested. He started rearranging the obstacles before anyone could say no.

The front door opened, and Malchim walked back in with leaden footsteps. Lexi and Donaldson had arrived earlier in the morning and had called him outside for a chat.

Marcy brushed the tabletop with her fingertips, causing Sammy to glance up at her. And with a quick shake of her head, prompted Sammy to place the tabletop items back the way it was. Fluent now in the silent communication of the Ongock kids, Renalia spooned the last of the oatmeal in her mouth and got up to place Penny back in her jar.

Malchim sat by his breakfast, swirling his spoon around instead of eating. As Renalia reached for the front door to leave, he said, “Give ‘em hell, Renalia. Kill those bogling bastards.”

“Yes sir, Malchim sir.”

 

On their way into the bog, Renalia cataloged her “Core” bogling powers for her two teachers. Lexi nodded encouragingly at various points, but did not interrupt her.

Meanwhile, Donaldson whistled multiple times and, once Renalia finished, exclaimed, “Man, I gotta see this! Using bogling powers to fight boglings.”

“Yes, but remember that she’s supposed to be learning from us, not just hunting with us.”

Donaldson rubbed his chin. “Are we sure she’s actually with us, though? Boglings come to greet her daily and she’s got a bogling baby in the village. How do we know she’s not some bogling spy in disguise? Sussing out our defenses before she takes over the village?”

Lexi rolled her eyes while Renalia sputtered. Of all the reactions she imagined, being accused as a bogling agent was not among them.

Donaldson dropped to his knees, putting him at eye-level with Renalia. “Spare me, Great Bogling Queen!”

He directed Killer into a bow while he clutched his hands in front of his heart. “I am but a humble hunter. I shall bring you offerings for your graciousness in sparing my life.”

Renalia muttered an “um” before hurrying after Lexi, who had not stopped walking.

Donaldson called out from behind them, “A plump, juicy spider for Your Majesty.”

“Ew!” Renalia caught up to Lexi and asked, “How do I make him stop?”

“Let me know if you ever find a way.”

“Oh? Perhaps Your Grace prefers the crunchy long-legged ones?

Lexi sighed and said, “Ignore him; it’s how he deals.”

Donaldson dashed back to them and continued to list various kinds of bugs. Once he paused for breath, Lexi sighed again and asked Renalia, “Do you know Hunter Allain?”

“Is he the one with the bushy grey beard?”

Lexi nodded. “He had not come back by sunset yesterday. While it’s not unheard of for hunters to engage in longer battles, it’s rare for someone as powerful as Allain. So we formed a couple of search parties…”

Lexi trailed off before holding her shield closer to her body and resuming. “We found him early this morning: torn to pieces while still in his wolf-man form.”

“It’s fucked up,” said Donaldson. “How are we supposed to fight boglings when they could do that to someone like Allain.”

“We do as we always have. We practice and prepare. And the three of us travel as a party now. No more solo hunts.”

“D-do you know what killed him?” Renalia asked.

“No, the fight was too chaotic for us to identify any meaningful tracks. But his Core transforms him into an eight-foot-tall wolf-man, with the strength and tenacity that form would suggest. For a bogling to defeat him…” Lexi shook her head slowly. 

“Is it safe to be out here, even with the three of us?”

“First of all, Renalia, remember what I’ve said about running. Don’t look back and get to the village as fast as you can to fetch reinforcements. And second, while hunters make a good living, it comes with a responsibility. We hunt the boglings in the bog so that they don’t hunt our loved ones in the village.”

“Yep, be safe,” Donaldson said with a lopsided grin. “But also go risk your life out there in the bog. Makes complete sense.”

Lexi shrugged. “People have tried building a wall around the village, but the ground shifts too much for it to work well. So it’s up to us to keep the village safe. Alright, enough depressing talk about what we have to do. Let’s talk about what we can do.”

Lexi turned toward Renalia. “Your abilities–with its balance of offense, defense, and mobility–make you a natural skirmisher. Someone that goes toe-to-toe with the bogling. Just be aware that, even with the same armor as them, you’ll need to care more about defense than they do.”

“They don’t feel pain,” Donaldson interjected.

“Exactly. You bleed blood and they leak water. Formation-wise, try to fight close to me. With practice, you’ll understand what hits I can block for you and which ones you’ll need to dodge. For now, I’ll try to call it out.”

Seeing Renalia nodding in agreement, Lexi continued. “The two of us will practice this first. In the future, we’ll go over how to set up my brother for the lethal blow. Donaldson, keep a lookout and only step in when necessary.”

With their assignments defined, they continued to patrol. While they walked, Lexi and Donaldson suggested ways for Renalia to incorporate her powers into a cohesive fighting style. 

She had simply thought that becoming stronger and faster would make her a better hunter in the general sense. However, Lexi and Donaldson gave her very specific tips.

Like, instead of strengthening her arms for a forward thrust, she should instead focus on the solidity of her stance to receive the lunge from a bogling with a fixed spear. Or, how a dodge in the last second not only avoided a hit but also placed the bogling in the correct position for a speed-empowered side-swipe.

It was an eye-opening experience, as it introduced her to a different way of thinking: from a brawl to a tactical contest between brains and beasts.

As the siblings slowed in offering their suggestions, Lexi counseled, “But these are all just our ideas. You’ll need to try them out and see what suits you. And, more importantly, become familiar enough with these actions that you don’t waste time thinking about them while fighting.”

“Yep,” Donaldson agreed. “Now’s a perfect time to call up some boglings to practice with, eh?”

He raised an eyebrow at Renalia, who whined, “I’m not a bogling queen! I can’t–”

Boogie barked, interrupting her. He leapt, trying to chump at a black shape hovering in the air above him. The other two dogs joined him in a jumping chorus.

“Wow, I was only kidding,” Donaldson said, squinting into the distance at the commotion ahead of them. “But this should work.”

With enhanced sight, Renalia could see an insect the size of her forearm, zipping in the air with two sets of wings, each as long as its body. She recognized it as a dragonfly, having seen it before in the book of illustrations that Granny had shown her.

Upon hearing their voices, the dragonfly made a beeline toward them.

“Alright, Renalia. Just like we talked about.” Lexi handed her spear to Donaldson, keeping her right hand free for her special skills.

Renalia assumed her position in front of Lexi, facing the bogling and the three dogs making their way toward the humans. She wiped the sweat from her clammy hands and tried to slow her beating heart. While she felt secure under Lexi’s protection, having the sole responsibility of bringing down the bogling made her nervous.

The dragonfly made its steady progress in their direction. Thankfully, it seemed much slower than the peregrine falcon the siblings had previously fought.

Inspired by her teachers’ suggestions on her bogling powers, she refrained from simple uses of her original Deck to save it for more creative uses too. Without activating [Dull Emotions], Renalia’s breathing steadily quickened despite her attempts to keep it controlled. But she succeeded at standing her ground without relying on [Restrain Impulse].

As discussed previously, she dodged left at the last minute and brought her spear down in a sped-up swipe as Lexi raised her shield to block the bogling. Except, instead of crashing into the shield, the bogling pivoted with one set of wings and stopped in midair. And it swung its butt down with the other set of wings. It hung vertically next to the shield as Renalia’s spear whipped past where its body had been.

“Oh, what beautiful wings,” Donaldson remarked from off to the side.

Lexi didn’t pause to admire the wings before thrusting her shield forward. Similarly, Renalia pivoted on her front foot, turning her body and tracing the butt of the spear across a lateral arc to ram the bogling into the shield.

But the bogling proved too maneuverable. It flew sideways out of the potential spear-shield sandwich while still vertical. It shot toward Donaldson while Renalia’s strengthened swipe clanged loudly against Lexi’s shield.

“I’ll stop it,” Lexi said. Understanding the intent, Renalia activated [Bogling Leap] and flung herself through the air after it. Meanwhile, Lexi thrust her palm forward, and the dragonfly smashed into the solid plate of air that her skill formed.

But before Renalia could reach it with her spear, it flew up and out of reach. She quickly formed padding on her feet and knees as she landed.

Donaldson chuckled as she slid to a stop near him. “I didn’t expect to attend a circus performance today. Especially one with clowns.”

Renalia groaned but couldn’t help but agree. It was silly to chase an insect with a stick, one so agile it could easily avoid sped-up swipes and thrusts. She had to fight smarter.

“Here, hold this.” Standing up, she tossed Donaldson her spear. She smiled as Donaldson fumbled it, his hands already full with his own and Lexi’s spear.

“Come on!” she shouted at the insect, slapping her chest with her hand. “Come at me!”

Attracted by the noise, the dragonfly dived at her. Renalia opened her arms wide and planted her feet. The bogling smacked into her chest with enough force that she felt it through the layers of bogling skin she had conjured.

She ignored the pain.

With [Bogling Speed] and [Bogling Strength], she grabbed a set of wings before the dragonfly could back completely away. It crunched in her hands but stayed intact enough for her to pull. Bog water arced out of the wing sockets and the bogling fell to the ground.

It flopped around erratically with only one set of wings. She leapt after it, landing with the dragonfly between her legs and stomping on the remaining wings with satisfying cracks. With the bogling pinned, she thrust her hand down, striking it with the five mini-spears of her claws. Enough pierced through the reinforced exoskeleton. It flailed one last time before collapsing.

“Note to self,” Donaldson said as he walked up beside her. “Don’t pick fights with bogling children.”

Lexi arrived on her other side. “Not as planned but–”

Next to Renalia’s feet, the dead bogling spasmed and black worm-like tendrils emerged from its butt, twitching in the air. 

“Eek!” Renalia yelped in shock. She backed away, but in her haste, tripped and fell on her behind. Noticing the movement, the worms shot out at her–if something moving so fast could be called worms. As a tendril brushed against her unprotected foot, she screamed in terror, barely noticing the dogs howling in solidarity.

Lexi slammed the edge of her shield down on the worms. Meanwhile, Renalia kicked out, screaming again as it brought her foot into the writhing mess of dying worms.

“Are you okay?” Lexi asked.

Renalia scooted backward on her butt and hugged her knees to her chest. She barely registered Lexi’s question with her heart pounding in her ears. And she could not have answered anyway while uncontrollably and desperately sucking in air.

She had never been so scared in her life.

Lexi knelt by Renalia and, with the cuff of her sleeve, wiped away the tears, sweat, and snot that intermingled on the little girl’s face.

“You’re okay,” she said softly. “It can’t hurt you. It’s natural to back away in surprise or kick at something that’s trying to grab us. It’s human instinct, and it saves us in many cases. But we’re also hunters with hunting skills.”

Lexi brushed back the hair sticking to Renalia’s face and continued. “It can’t get through your armor. It won’t be able to hold on to you with your strength. Or you could even dodge or leap out of the way.”

She patted Renalia’s head. “Your human instincts make you act like prey. But your hunter instincts will make you a predator.”

Renalia nodded, not trusting herself to speak yet. Boogie nudged her with a wet nose and she buried her face in his shoulder, feeling embarrassed at how she had acted in front of her teachers.

She felt stupid, too.

The new bogling had caught her by surprise, making her forget about [Restrain Impulse]. She realized now how it was not just a “don’t flee in fear” ability, but enabled everything Lexi had mentioned. And [Dull Emotions] would have helped when the tentacle had probed the sole of her foot and pushed between her toes.

She shuddered again at the memory and hugged Boogie tighter. I’m the hunter, she repeated to herself. You’re the prey, she thought to the memory of the tentacle that had wriggled against her foot. It didn’t sound very convincing in her head, though.

“Oh, the beautiful wings,” Donaldson lamented. The pensive wailing interrupted Renalia’s thoughts and caused her to look up. Donaldson crouched by the bogling, shards of crushed wings held in his open palms.

Lexi sighed. “What my overly dramatic brother is trying to teach is that our primary job as hunters is not to destroy boglings, but to harvest them.”

“S-sorry.” Guilt drove away all other emotions as Renalia realized she had denied the siblings their payday.

“No, no. It’s our bad, kid. I should have realized that you didn’t grow up in a hunting family, so haven’t internalized the business side of things.” Lexi’s comforting words about what other children already knew filled Renalia with shame, and she buried her head in Boogie’s fur again.

Donaldson approached the two of them. “That was good thinking, giving the bogling the hug of death. But what caused you to toss your spear away, even though we had a very specific lesson about never losing your spear?”

“Um, I don’t know. It just seemed too fast for me to hit with a spear. I thought if I could approach it from two different directions…”

“Yep, that was a trick question. These lessons we’re teaching you are for the general case. In any specific fight, they could all be worthless. But you have good hunting instincts, so trust in them. It’s like you’re already a full hunter, right, Lexi?”

Lexi cleared her throat. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. You did well in applying your powers to take down the bogling, Renalia. For the rest of the week, we’ll go over the business side of hunting and harvesting. That has the added benefit of avoiding the bog while a monster still roams free in it.”

She stood up and stretched. “For now, relax while my brother and I pack up the dead.”