An apex predator, huh? Though, I still needed to make it to stage 5 development and unlock an achievement by the same name. Not only that, but the attributes required were a bit steep, so I’d either need to rack up some achievements or some levels in the meantime.

  I held my kill down with my paws and began eating. Its flesh was muscled, wiry, and hard to chew. As I sat up, working through my mouthful of the hard-to-chew stuff, I looked down at the Shadowmartin. It was small but fierce. If I were to fight it head-on, I wouldn't walk away without injury. And what's more, I could imagine that a couple of evolutions later, it would become an even fiercer predator.

  But it didn't taste good. So what's the point of killing such things?

  That made me wonder again: Why did the red masks kill my father? They didn't want anything from him; they lost some of their own people, and they didn't eat him.

  Could it have been simply for sport?

  That thought filled me with new anger.

  I thought of the humans from my last world and knew that for them, killing didn't need to be for survival. It was sometimes just for fun.

  I swallowed the tough meat and sighed as I thought about it further. As much as I wanted to be disgusted with such a mentality, I wasn't sure I could do so without being a hypocrite. I also enjoyed hunting. I had practical reasons to do it, and I took no pleasure in causing my prey to suffer. But the act of taking a life, of knowing I was stronger, that I was the hunter—it filled me with a pride that I couldn't deny.

  I forced down another tough bite of meat. Shadowmartins were not good food… but…

  This world had something else my last world didn't. Levels. No kill was truly pointless because the simple act of killing made me stronger.

  Maybe that's why they killed my father.

  The dragon rider must have gained levels from it. My father was the most powerful monster in the vale… hell, probably outside the vale as well. That also meant he must have been a very high level, and his death would bring much experience…

  I let out a low, frustrated growl. The conflicting thoughts and emotions were too much for me to understand.

  This also led to another realization. The stronger I became, the better I could defend myself. Yet at the same time, that also made me a target.

  Just like how, upon leveling up, I had little interest in hunting rabbits myself or other small creatures. As I thought of future hunts, I thought of stronger and stronger foes.

  Genzo had said my parents were likely from that place he called the depths, where, supposedly, monsters level 100 or higher lived. If they could survive there, then that meant they were also at such a high level. They must have left the depths with the plan to make the vale their home, as it would be safer and a much better place for us pups to learn to hunt.

  No longer interested in the Shadowmartin, I instead sniffed out the kill it had been working on before I ambushed it. I eventually found a mousy-looking thing, though it was plump and more the size of a large rat. Or a rabbit. I took a bite from its plump but half-eaten belly. It was really good! It was soft, and the meat practically melted in my mouth!

  I nudged it with my nose to turn it over, then took another moment to sniff it and familiarize myself with its scent. Then, I prowled back into the darkness, deciding to get at least one more kill for the night before returning to Lily.

  I quickly found the scent of one of those plump mouse things and followed it, continuing with my strategy of simply using my nose instead of relying on Pulse Sense. Once I rested and restored my mana, I could afford not to use skills so sparingly, but for now, there was no reason to waste it.

  As I followed the scent, I suddenly lost it and doubled back. I picked it up again easily and then realized it had disappeared into a hole in the ground. I stared into the hole, trying to allow my Night Vision to do its work, but I couldn’t see anything.

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  I sniffed more carefully, and it was hard to say if whatever I picked up was still there or not. I slowly approached and lowered my head, listening. My high sense stat improved my hearing as well.

  Then, I heard a very slight chirp sound, and then a gnawing sound.

  My tail wagged. Yes, there was certainly prey down there, and I didn’t think it was too deep either. I knew I could dig it out.

  Wasting no time, I got to work, digging into the ground and scooping back paws full of dirt. After making some progress, I stopped to listen and heard an unsettling commotion in the hole. It was probably more than just one! Even if they are smaller creatures, I’d easily get multiple kills all at once!

  I dug further, deciding I wouldn’t stop until I saw my prey.

  Then, something bolted at me out of the darkness of the burrow—another of those plump, mousy things slashed its claw across my nose.

  I jolted back with a yelp of pain—scratches on the nose REALLY hurt!

  But that didn’t stop me.

  The mousy thing retreated back into the burrow, and I continued to dig for it as it made threatening noises. When a claw lashed at me, I jolted my head back to avoid it, then snapped my jaws forward.

  It was a little too fast and escaped into what remained of the burrow—but it wouldn’t last much longer!

  I dug back a few more strong pawfuls of dirt, and then I saw it. It was in a defensive posture but clearly had no more space to retreat. It continued to spit and click those threatening sounds at me, raising its clawed hands and slashing them in my direction.

  But this would be easy—this would be too easy!

  I prepared to pounce. It might get another scratch on my face, but that’s fine. It was small enough that I was sure a quick shake would be all I needed to—

  My muscles relaxed just before I pounced. There was another sound behind the hissing and snarling. I let my gaze search behind the mousy things and saw a litter of much smaller ones. They didn’t even have any hair and made small, panicked cries as they squirmed together like living gummy bears.

  Guilt sank through my heart as I backed off a step. The mousy thing continued to stand in defense of her young. She stood no chance against me. That was obvious. Even she probably knew as much, but she was ready to fight to her last breath to defend her children.

  She was a lower level than me… Yet, despite the moral dilemma, I thought she looked plump and tasty. But if I killed her, even if I left the babies alone, they wouldn’t survive. Heck, even destroying their home, as I already had, would severely hurt their survival chances. They couldn’t hunt or find food the way they were.

  I stepped aside as nonthreateningly as possible while the mother continued to snarl at me.

  Finally, I turned and left.

  I was deep in thought as I sulked back through the cavern. It was prey, just like all the other ones I’ve killed. How could I know that any of my other kills didn’t have families waiting for them? That didn’t mean I could just stop being a hunter, did it?

  No, if I didn’t kill, I wouldn’t survive. It was the way of this world and my life as a Hell Hound. I was a predator, not prey… I couldn’t survive on eating plants, and nor did I want to.

  I stopped and waited. Half expecting an achievement to pop up. New experiences were usually met by achievements, but none came.

  Of course, because sparing my prey's life was the opposite of what I was supposed to be doing. There were no rewards for that!

  I growled in frustration, analyzing the whole thing in my mind again.

  This was different. This was different, right? Digging up a burrow with babies inside it was different than finding grown prey out by itself. But what if the one the Shadowmartin had killed was the father? The mother would have to do the hunting herself, and if she were killed, they would starve and die anyway. I very well could be the predator that kills her if she crossed my path on a future night’s hunt. The only difference is I wouldn’t have had to directly see the results.

  So what did this mean? No more killing plump mousy things? No more digging up burrows on the chance there might be babies inside? Predators didn’t think like this! I’m a Hell Hound, and prey is prey! It’s okay to kill prey! It’s what I’m supposed to do!

  Whatever the case, this rationalization did not convince me to turn back and finish the job.

  Instead, I headed back to our temporary den to find Lily’s eyes softly glowing in the darkness. I guess she wasn’t able to sleep while I was away. Her tail wagged, and as I came over and settled down next to her, she gave my face a single lick, and I nosed her back.

  Lily snuggled up closer to me, and when I heard her breathing turn to a soft, restful snore, I knew she was asleep.

  I couldn’t help but wonder if my brothers and sisters would ever feel the way I did now about killing. It’s not like I would stop being a hunter, but I was now thinking about it in a way I hadn’t before. Was it because I had another life, in a world that was so much more forgiving than this one?

  Those red masks didn’t care about what they did to my family, and really, if I wanted to beat them, neither should I let such things trouble me.

  That night I had a dream that started nice. Perhaps it was Lily cuddled against me that made me remember sleeping in my den with my pack—with all of my brothers and sisters around me. I felt so warm, comfy, and safe with everyone around me. But then, the walls of the den began to break and crumble. We cowered back as it was torn completely open, and towering over us were those red masks, but they were huge—even bigger than dad! Like giants that could stand with their heads in the clouds.

  The dragon rider with the mask that had rows of long teeth reached in, the shadow of his hand consuming us before snatching us up.

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