Another Road

"Honored Agamaggan, do you know of another route? As far as I know, there should only be that one major crossroads leading to Mulgore." Rend was naturally interested in Agamaggan's proposal, but as a veteran player, he truly could not think of any other route. Nor did Rend know how he ought to address Agamaggan. Since he was a demigod who had sacrificed himself for Azeroth, it was better to use honorifics.

"Rend, though I do not know what world you came from or why you know so much despite coming to Kalimdor for the first time, you have your secrets. You need not address me so formally. Just call me Agamaggan. As for the reason, do not be deceived by appearances. Other than that road, do the others not count as roads? Is it not right before your eyes?" Even though Agamaggan had bestowed a portion of his soul power upon Rend, he still could not see through Rend's soul. That mist continued to block his vision, making Agamaggan even more convinced of Rend's mystery. His choice should not have been wrong.

Before my eyes? Rend suddenly understood. Right before him was the Quilboar tunnel Hamuul and the other three had come through. In other words, the Quilboar tunnels connected all the major strongholds. Rend had long suspected one thing: Narache Camp and Razorfen were connected! They were pressed tightly together with only a mountain range between them, and the tunnels stretched in every direction.

"Thank you, Agamaggan. I really did overlook that. Then you must know the way, right?" Rend had been bound by habitual thinking. Just like the road Rend had taken from Loch Modan to the Wetlands, which did not exist in the game, many narrow paths that had originally been impassable in the game world became broad, passable roads in the real world.

"Of course, Rend. Wherever my descendants use thorns to devour the earth's nutrients, I can sense it." The thorns had originally been part of Agamaggan's body. Only after his fall had the Quilboar used them as a means of acquiring power. After all, Agamaggan's power was limited. The thorns had to devour the earth's natural power and pass it to Agamaggan, who would then transform it before the Quilboar turned it into Blood Shards. They practically treated Agamaggan as a converter. It was hard to imagine that the Quilboar would treat their god—the god who had created them—this way.

Rend then divided his twenty-five thousand troops into three groups. The Tauren's size did not suit movement through relatively narrow tunnels. If they encountered Quilboar, they would surely be unable to fight at their full strength. This time, the Orcs would protect the Tauren warriors.

Broxigar, a warrior even more powerful than Warchief Varok, led the way, while Rokhan handled scouting. They needed to scout ahead and prepare in case they encountered a massive Quilboar den housing tens of thousands.

Magatha and Hamuul brought up the rear, as they could use the powers of nature and the elements to alter the terrain and prevent the Quilboar from pursuing them.

Warchief Varok and Samuro assisted the Tauren brothers and their Kodo Beasts in the center, while Chieftain Rend, as a highly respected elder among the Tauren, naturally took charge of the central Tauren force as well.

Thus, the mighty army filed endlessly into the cramped tunnel. Rend finally understood what it meant to be initially extremely narrow, barely allowing a person through, before suddenly opening up. At first, the Quilboar tunnel could barely accommodate a single Kodo Beast moving forward. Later, it became like an enormous hall, with hundreds of people standing in a line and still leaving ample room. Rend had previously known that only Kobolds and insectoids possessed such a talent. He had not expected the Quilboar to share this specialty. Though they were nowhere near the Insectoid Empire's level, these were still excellent tunnels. But the smell inside...

Although the Quilboar had dug many upward ventilation shafts, they could not change the horror created by Quilboar living habits. The air reeked of rot and excrement. The Quilboar had no concept of sanitation; they threw feces everywhere, while discarded waste and trash were piled together. The most disgusting smell Rend had encountered in his previous life had been a box of foul socks worn but never washed by his roommate. Compared with the sour stench of those socks, this smell was more than ten times worse!

"Ugh." Rend truly could not endure the smell. It made him dizzy and nauseous. The others fared much better by comparison. The Blackrock Clan's mixed living quarters in Blackrock Spire had not been much better, but Rend had mostly lived in his private room back then and rarely visited those chaotic communal areas. The Tauren brothers had competed brutally with centaurs and Quilboar for thousands of years and had faced every sort of harsh condition. They could accept something like this. Only Rend had never had the chance to experience the cruelty of such a smell in his previous life. This was the most revolting stench he had ever smelled.

No one had expected Rend to vomit endlessly because of the smell of the Quilboar tunnels. He threw up everything in his stomach, and even when there was nothing left, he continued dry-heaving, completely losing both his combat strength and command ability. Rend was not being delicate; the living conditions of his previous life had simply been too good. He had never experienced such an unbearable smell. As he vomited, Rend silently swore that he would properly establish sanitation plans for the Horde in the future. They absolutely had to measure up to his previous life.

Rend was sent to the central army and handed command directly to Rokhan. Since Rokhan could also receive Agamaggan's power, he could follow Agamaggan's guidance through the tunnels without losing his way. Moreover, Rokhan was an excellent commander, having assisted players before. Meanwhile, Warchief Varok remained with the central army, guarding the Tauren brothers and Rend, who lay atop a large Kodo Beast.

"Who would have thought Quilboar dung could defeat a Blackrock chieftain? Truly unprecedented." Warchief Varok mocked Rend, who lay weakly on the Kodo Beast's back. Shamans and druids had cast protections around him to isolate the smell, but he was still feeble. Warchief Varok simply could not accept that an Orc warrior—especially the chieftain of the Blackrock Clan—would lose his fighting ability because of the stench of feces. Though Warchief Varok also found the smell somewhat unbearable, he had retained his strength.

Rend also felt deeply ashamed. This would probably become the joke of the entire Horde. Blackhand's son, Rend Blackhand, chieftain of the Blackrock Clan, had lost his combat ability because of Quilboar dung and could only lie weakly on a Kodo Beast's back as they advanced.

But there was truly nothing he could do about that smell. Just thinking about it made him—"Ugh"—break into another violent fit of vomiting. Even Rend's body could not withstand it, and all his food and water had been thrown up. He did not even have the strength to retort to Warchief Varok now. He only wanted to lie quietly and leave this damned place as soon as possible. The honest Tauren warrior caring for him had his entire bovine face twisted as he fought to hold back a smile, because the good-natured Tauren truly felt too embarrassed to laugh at someone while he was weak.