Though there was no more snow falling from the grey skies, Tier felt his vision was blurry. He was unsure if it was due to his rage or his bloodlust status from the fight earlier. He was not actually in the mood to fight, but some yetis are too persistent to leave him alone. He finished all of them in cold blood without even bothering to take the items dropped from them.

He was unsure about himself. Waves upon waves of contradictory emotions just kept crashing on top of each other in his heart. Among all the rage burning in his chest, there were parts of him that felt betrayed and another that felt he might have gone too far with his words.

“I… she will hate me….”

Tier mumbled to himself several times right before cursing at himself again for being too meek. If he just struck the final arrow to Manna or even let the jaguar land the final blow, these things wouldn’t happen. Yet, if he did let Manna die this time, then…

The image of the lonely girl flashed in Tier’s mind. He wouldn’t have the heart to steal her position away from her. Something that she had worked hard to earn in the past, shouldn’t be taken away lightly. If so, then he wouldn’t be any different from Vertoc and the gang.

However, his mind argued that whatever Manna did was not any different from Vertoc. She might have used Tier to smooth out her levelling experience, then now she just scrapped him away like the trash he is.

His breath started to get heavier again as the agony he felt in his chest grew stronger. Someone who took an off-meta build wouldn’t mean anything on a grander scale. He would just be viewed as a burden later on.

Manna was a veteran player in this place, so it shouldn't be surprising for her to have such a view. She would need the best of the best to participate in Clashing Realms. Thus, she might have actively tried to sabotage Tier in completing his character.

But would she be that evil? Couldn’t she just be gullible?

“Who cares damn it?!” Tier roared his pain at the yeti standing in his path. The creature was double his size, shaped like a typical snow sasquatch or bigfoot in fantasies and folklore, and had two massive horns sprouting from his head. There was a thicker fur on its lower arm as if making the shape of a pair of gauntlets.

The creature howled back at Tier, as if trying to intimidate him. But Tier had none of it, other than the rage and guilt, there was nothing left for him to feel.

Changing to [Mimic: Eagle], Tier struck wildly without remorse. Even when the yeti got close, Tier didn’t bother taking distance away and just fought back in melee range with his staff.

It was a fight he couldn’t normally win nor would perform. However, there was a nearby priest player who saw the fight and helped him with healings.

“Take care, rakhs,” said Brightwall, the dwarven priest, after Tier had finished the yeti. “Did that elite yeti attack you suddenly? I heard their aggressive range was pretty wide.”

Tier was dumbfounded with the fact that the yeti that lies on his foot now was an elite one. He took a few deep breaths along with the dissipating bloodlust, before checking again and just realised the yeti was kind of different than others.

“You okay?” Brightwall asked. The level 74 priest seemed concerned. His long silvery beard swayed by the harsh wind of the valley. His dark robes were the exact contrast of the land he was standing on. The darker colour was the clear sign of the holy magic based spec that he took.

“Oh, s-sorry,” Tier answered abruptly. “Thanks for the help. The loot’s all yours.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

Brightwall happily walked towards the yeti’s body after Tier set up a command in enabling people not in his party to be able to take the item from the yeti. He didn’t move away from the position and just took more deep breaths. He still couldn’t fathom why random people helped each other like this. He likes to do that as well, just for the sake of him feeling better about himself. Perhaps…

He wondered if his saviour back then was the same as him.

“By the way, uh.. Ty-er?”

“It’s teer.”

Brightwall nodded. “Ah alright, Tier, you don’t have a companion beast yet? Are you taking the Hawkeye path?”

“No,” Tier shook his head. “Predator’s Tactics.”

“Ah, aiming for the snow jaguar? It should be around here.”

Tier went silent. His eyes wandered at the countdown that he set to appear above his minimap. 6 days, 23 hours, and 37 minutes left for it to respawn. It was the add-on available specifically for Loremasters that gave them the information of creatures' respawn time based on the data gathered by fellow loremasters. Seeing the number made his heart sink.

“Uh, you missed the timing?” Brighwall asked again as he checked the yeti’s body. “It’s okay, you can ask for a loremaster for a cooldown timer.”

Tier nodded. “Not exactly,” he said. He was not sure if he should tell the stranger of the whole ordeal. However, his heart was longing to burst out some of the emotions pent up. “Tried to tame it, someone took it down during the process.”

“Say what? I don’t understand those people, man.” Brightwall sighed. “If someone else managed to tame the creature, then they have one less competitor in taming it next time.”

Tier replied sullenly, “It was my fr… acquaintance who did it. She’s not even a hunter, not sure why she did it.”

There was a brief silence between the two afterwards. It was finally broken when Brightwall spoke first, “Sorry to hear that. By the way, this yeti got a bow, you should take it.”

Tier shook his head again. “Take it, you deserve it, you can sell it.”

“It’s a longbow or something, I think,” the dwarf countered. “Won’t sell much, you know. Not many rakhs hunters are around anyway.”

“Also,” he continued, “I’m in the Brotherhood guild, maybe you want to join and secure some help inside. I believe we have the manpower to help you out.”

The offer was kind, perhaps too kind for someone like Tier. He was pondering whether it would be wise to take it, but then he remembered his character build. The Brotherhood was the biggest guild in Zurefgar. He wondered if they would ask for the best of the best out of their members.

“Thanks, but I have to refuse,” Tier said. “I took Predator’s Tactics and also Loremaster, I… don’t think I could serve your guild any good.”

Brightwall sighed. “Yeah, meta stuff, I know. Though I believe our guild leader Rosdan wouldn’t mind, some people might show their distaste out of it.”

“It’s okay. You’re such a help today. Thanks for the bow as well.”

“Want to party up? I’m curious on how hunters such as yours would fight”

“Sorry, man, I have school tomorrow, need to log out soon.”

“Aw, shucks, let me add you to my friend list then.”

Tier and Brightwall went their separate ways afterward. Tier continued his journey westward towards a dwarven city located near Coalbeard Mountain. He calmed down a bit though he still felt bitter about Manna, thus he warned some hunters who were trekking down the valley in search of the jaguar.

They were displeased with the news. However, one of them was more than displeased.

“You are a criminal! You must have took it down on purpose!” Mal’esh yelled at Tier.

“I told you I didn’t do it,” Tier hissed back.

“Nuh, uh, I'm not buying it. You killed the snow jaguar so others can't tame it. You suck.”

Tier didn’t want to bother anymore and was about to ride upwards. But then, he stopped in his tracks.

“He did what?” asked Slicer, who stopped his skeletal horse before Tier. His eyes were glaring at Tier though his question was aimed at Mal’esh.

“He killed the snow jaguar on purpose so people can’t tame it!” Mal’esh shouted in an over dramatic way. His blonde hair that swayed by the cold wind made the whole scene even more nauseating than it would.

“You TRASH!” Slicer suddenly jumped on Tier and struck him right in the chest. “Do you know how much money we can get for securing people during the taming process?!”

Tier tried to thrash himself free. The attack was so sudden he wasn’t ready. Also he was not in any good mental state to pick a fight.

He switched to [Mimic: Rhino] just to push Slicer away. However, a shot suddenly came from Mal’esh, piercing Tier’s stomach, along with a very weird nauseating feeling. It was definitely not the typical poison used by Slicer.

Tier glanced at the elf and saw the disgusting smile on his face. That moment, he realised that Mal’esh might be the same as him.