A Man's Romance

After each legion had taken its position and made its preparations, Rend had discussed the timing with all the commanders in advance. He used a small time spell as the signal: a tiny elemental shield would wrap around their arms, and a shaman would control roughly when it vanished, making it an easy way to keep time. Rend decided that every officer of sufficient rank needed to be issued a Goblin watch in the future, otherwise it would be far too troublesome.

As time passed, the magical barrier wrapped around their arms finally ran out of power and vanished.

"Men of the Horde, we're giving the Quilboar outside a grand gift. Grip your torches tight and invite them to celebrate an early Midsummer Fire Festival with us. Let's enjoy a festival of flames together! Hahaha!" An aggression ran through Orc blood. Orcs were born for war, lived for war, and rested only in death.

Eight detachments suddenly burst from eight tunnels of varying sizes. It was deep in the night, and the Quilboar were already asleep. Life in Mulgore meant no worries about food or drink, and there were no natural enemies. The Quilboar of Mulgore could be said to live the happiest lives of all. Every day was the same: wake up and eat, eat their fill and sleep. In the middle of the night, their settlement was filled with nothing but thunderous snores.

There was not even a single guard in sight. Their comfortable lives had numbed their already unintelligent minds and relaxed their vigilance. They had never imagined that death's claws would emerge from within the place they considered safest.

Rend led the troops onward. Any Quilboar they encountered, young or old, were killed without exception. Wherever there was something that could burn, torches were raised and flames immediately set. The panicked Quilboar could not organize any resistance at all. The inferno swiftly devoured the entire camp from within outward. Water and fire showed no mercy; before nature, so-called strength was utterly insignificant. Rend met little resistance as he set fires and slaughtered his way out of the Quilboar settlement. From afar outside, Mulgore's first great blaze rose from what had once been a quiet land, illuminating the entire sky. It was both a signal and a declaration. Before the Horde's flames, Mulgore would inevitably be reshuffled and reborn.

"Let's go. Return to the Warchief's side. The Warchief needs us." After gathering all the troops, Rend glanced once more at the place engulfed in flames and did not linger.

The warriors had not had any time to rest properly after the day's events and were all somewhat exhausted. Because of the terrain, they could not travel in a straight line toward the future Great Gate of Mulgore and had to detour westward, setting off on another long journey. Rend chose to camp and rest beside a vast lake, the future site of Bloodhoof Village. Bloodhoof Village was easy to defend and difficult to attack, bordered by the lake on three sides with only one entrance. It was also mostly open plain. Even if the Quilboar surrounded the place, they could swiftly use the impact of their cavalry to break through across the plains and escape.

Breathing in the fresh air of the grasslands and the breeze blowing off the lake, how could a single word like refreshing possibly describe it? Rend dismounted, ran to the lakeshore, stripped off his heavy armor until only a simple cloth shirt remained, let out a strange cry of "Awoo!" and plunged into Stone Bull Lake.

"Hahahaha, this feels incredible!" Rend shouted like a madman. They had spent so long on the move that they had had no time to wash. Warriors naturally did not care about such details, but during their days in the Quilboar tunnels, every warrior had become covered in dirt, filthy grime, and bloodstains. A strange, nauseating stench clung to their bodies. Rend, who had yet to fully grow accustomed to the hardships of military life, had long since reached his limit. He leaped into the lake, and with himself as the center, the filth on his body began spreading outward.

When the warriors saw Rend jump into the lake first, they hurriedly stripped off their armor and dived into the water in all manner of poses. Before long, a wide stretch of water became murky as tens of thousands of warriors played and washed themselves. From above, one corner of the once-clear Stone Bull Lake had turned utterly filthy.

"Hey! Who was that? Who stabbed my ass? Damn it, get out here!" As Rend and a warrior splashed each other like children in the water, a not particularly sharp object suddenly jabbed him directly in the butt. Fortunately, whoever it was had not been especially cruel and had not aimed for the spot between his legs.

"Hahaha, Chief Rend, didn't expect that, did you? It was me." A blue Troll head emerged from the water. The only one brazen enough to be mischievous and adorable without caring about status was their dear Rokhan.

"Rokhan, it was you! Just you wait. I'm going to pull out your teeth and stab you in the ass with them." Once Rend recognized Rokhan, he swam after him, determined to teach that bastard lurking in the water a lesson.

"Boss, boss, wait for me! I want to stab that Troll in the ass too." Arnak had been the one splashing water with Rend earlier. Seeing Rend chase after Rokhan, he happily followed to help cut Rokhan off.

Led by the representatives of the three races—Rend, Rokhan, and Arnak—the warriors began a huge, joyous water fight. At first, they helped Rend and Arnak chase Rokhan. In the end, it turned into everyone chasing Rend, Rokhan, and Arnak together.

"You bastards, just you wait! Why are you chasing me? I'm your chief, your commander!" Rend swam desperately through the water. Thankfully, he had grown up by the sea in his previous life, or they really would have caught him.

"Boss, boss, save me! I can't swim fast! Save me!" Unlike Rend, who had swum since childhood, Rokhan had fled from the Eastern Kingdoms alongside Vol'jin and lived in the island chain of the Echo Isles, so he was naturally a capable swimmer. As for Arnak Grimtotem, the Tauren were semi-nomadic and rarely went into the water. Though he could swim, he was not particularly skilled at it, and his large build naturally made him everyone's main target.

They frolicked and tussled. In that moment, there was no difference in status, no matter who anyone was. Had they not seen High Overlord Varok Saurfang's pants quietly stripped off underwater by Rend earlier? Now High Overlord Varok Saurfang, leading a main force composed primarily of Blackrock Orcs, was furiously pursuing Rend, the strongest swimmer. High Overlord Varok Saurfang knew that simply chasing him would not work, so he divided everyone into several groups to intercept and surround him. In the end, the net was cast wide, and Rend, blocked with nowhere left to retreat, was captured. High Overlord Varok Saurfang carried him back to shore, grabbed the whip that had been equipped on his mount, and began chasing Rend around while giving him a thorough whipping.

"High Overlord Varok, stop! Stop already! Don't you see there are women here too?" High Overlord Varok chased Rend around nearly the entirety of Bloodhoof Village.

"What hasn't Lady Magatha seen? At her age, do you think she'd be interested in a scrawny brat like you? Stop running! Today, I'm going to beat the life out of you, you little punk with no sense of honor!" There were many powerful female warriors on Azeroth, but the elite allied cavalry force was still made up of men, aside from the female commander Magatha Grimtotem.

Lady Magatha ignored Rend outright. Just as High Overlord Varok had said, after all these years, there was nothing she had not seen. High Overlord Varok chased Rend for several hours, until Rend finally collapsed on the ground and let High Overlord Varok whip him as he pleased.

This was a man's romance. There were no differences in status, no differences in age. It might seem childish, like children roughhousing, but that was what men were like. No matter how mature and steady they usually seemed, a mischievous child still lived in their hearts.