I took a deep breath and released Dekka's collar. "Go get 'em, girl!"

  She shot forward like a furry white missile, disappearing into the nearest hole with an enthusiastic bark that echoed underground, making it sound like she was multiple dogs. Everything topside was muted, just the nervous shuffling of feet and the distant sound of children laughing, creating an air of anticipation.

  For a few long, agonizing minutes, the entire field waited, people staring intently at their assigned patch of dirt, shovels and clubs held high. The scen a pre-mole whacking tableau.

  A breeze picked up, rattling through the tops of Cecil's dying crops, bringing with it the scent of corn and dust.

  It began as a low, subterranean vibration, a thrumming of panicked movement just beneath our feet. A faint, furious barking echoed up from a dozen different holes, muffled by dirt and turf.

  "It's working!" Cecil breathed next to me.

  "Get ready!" I yelled, gripping my own club.

  Then the chaos began.

  The first mole erupted from a hole near the barn like a hairy cannonball. It was exactly as Cecil had described - mid-thigh high, with massive front paws and tiny beady eyes that blinked in the sudden sunlight. The farmer standing guard at that hole brought his shovel down with a satisfying thunk.

  The ground near the far edge of the field erupted a moment later. A woman screamed as another creature, this one a bit smaller—the size of a bulldog, all leathery and scything front claws, launched itself into the air. Before it even landed, the lumberjack had sprinted over next to her brought the flat of his axe with a wet, definitive THWACK.

  "Got one!" he roared.

  “Stay by your hole!” I yelled and pointed. One had taken advantage of the unguarded exit and was dashing across the field only to get brained by a quick-thinking blacksmith.

  Also why could they leap? What terrestrial rodent needed launch capabilities?

  [LOCAL EVENT INITIATED: THE GREAT MOLE EXTERMINATION -FLEETING] [All participants who remain in the environs will share experience points] [Objective: Eliminate the mole infestation - 0/23 moles defeated]

  It was like turning on a fountain. Suddenly, they were spouting up everywhere.

  "By the well!"

  "Here! Here's another!"

  "Watch it, Tim!"

  The field devolved into downright, confusing mayhem. I let out a sharp laugh. That was how you got people to help. You make it a party.

  Dirt flew as farmers, who clearly had some pent-up aggression against these creatures or just pests in general, started swinging. It was a frantic, messy, real-life game of whack-a-mole. Squeals and shouts mixed with the dull, percussive thud of wood on flesh alongside the crunch and schlick of shovel edges finding their mark.

  A mound of earth directly in front of me shifted. I braced myself, my knuckles white on the club. A mole burst out, its long teeth bared as it lunged. It was fast, but I was faster. I swung the club in a low arc, just like I had with the rabbit.

  No xp? Oh, right—must be tallied after the event, like the system message mentioned.

  CRUNCH.

  "I said watch it, Tim!" a woman shrieked.

  “There! To your left, Martha! Your other left.”

  “It’s coming up behind you!”

  “Hit it again! It’s still moving!”

  “Watch your swing, Gerald! That was my ear!”

  I looked over. The lumberjack—Mr. Axe Wielder—was having the time of his life. He let out a bellow as a mole popped up at his feet. His axe came down in a gleaming, horrifying arc.

  He didn't just kill it. He bisected it.

  The two halves landed with a wet splat, and the woman next to him, who was now spattered with mole innards, looked like she was going to be sick.

  "I got 'im, didn't I?" the lumberjack bellowed, grinning, already scanning for his next victim.

  "Just... keep your swings low!" I shouted at him, though I doubted he could hear me, and I wasn’t sure if it would make a difference.

  The chaos and fighting was thrilling, but a sobering spike of fear lanced through me.

  "Dekka?" I yelled, scanning the battlefield. All I saw were frantic farmers and dying moles. "Dekka! Here, girl!" I hadn’t seen her pop up in a while.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  To my immense relief, Dekka shot out of one hole in the middle of the field, covered in dirt, panting with glee, and immediately dove into another without a moment’s pause. She was in her element. This was what she was born for. I took a deep breath and focused.

  Then, the ground near my feet heaved upward, not with the panicked scramble as before, but with a slow, powerful force. The soil parted, and a muscular mole shouldered its way into the sunlight. It was the twice the width of the others, its claws were like curved daggers, and its snout was a mass of thick, sharp yellow teeth. A red, angry glint shone in its beady eyes.

  As chunky and low slung as it was it flung itself upward aiming for my neck. No skipping leg day for this beast.

  I knocked it aside with [Hit] Its bulk was no match for my stats and skill. It landed hard in the loose dirt. It scrambled but wasn’t nimble enough to evade my skull-crushing blow. I didn’t even need to use a skill.

  [7/23 moles defeated]

  I was only getting the notification of what I was killing. I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad. I would like to know more about what was going on, but I also liked not being blinded by text. A mole popped up directly in front of me as the big one was squealing its last and looked around in confusion. It wisely decided this was not the correct exit and ducked back underground to try another route. I brought my club down just as it was disappearing, just missing it.

  The surge of moles began to slow. Most of the townsfolk were leaning on their tools, chests heaving, but every single one of them was grinning.

  "I think... I think that's it," Cecil said, wiping mud from his face.

  “Oh god,” I wheezed, bending over. “I just invented fantasy pest control.”

  "Dekka!" I yelled again, my voice cracking. I had been yelling during fights. Not sure why but it had seemed right in the moment. “Dekka,” I called again wanting to tell her what a good dog she was and check to make sure she was ok.”

  There was a shriek over to the south of me. A man was carefully lowering a raised pitchfork.

  What now? Then I saw a creature I barely recognized stagger into the sunlight. It was caked in so much mud, drool, and gore that it was almost perfectly brown, save for two shining eyes and a filthy red-and-white-chequered cloth, which was now half across her face and hanging off one ear.

  Dekka shook herself violently, sending a cloud of filth (and what looked like fragments of mole teeth) flying into the air. She spotted me, and gave a what I could only call a grin, and trotted over, her entire body wagging, clearly expecting a reward for the Best Game of Chase Ever.

  I dropped to my knees and grabbed her, not even caring about the grime. "You're disgusting," I whispered into her filthy fur, relief making me weak. "You are the best, most disgusting girl in the whole world."

  I was just wondering when I would get the notification for all the xp that event had been worth when the ground rumbled. It shook like a minor earthquake.

  Oh great it wasn’t over. I stood up and looked around. All the townsfolk were also looking down in apprehension.

  A new hole formed in the centre of the field and a fat whiskered nose poked out followed by teeth as long as my arms.

  [MINIBOSS MOLE MATRIARCH -level 8]

  My brave, insane dog bolted right for this monstrous ROUS. She had taken in the situation and assessed it instantly. Instead of barking, she went silent and low to the ground, a predator’s stalk. She circled, watching. The mole seemed oblivious to the small dog. Dekka’s filthy fur now blending in with the field, giving her a camouflage she normally didn’t have. Once behind the mole, she waited.

  The matriarch slowly continued extending its head out of the hole. Dekka darted in, breaking the stunned silence with her terrier battle screams and attached herself to the mole’s tiny leathery ear.

  The Matriarch focused on this new, smaller annoyance, swiping at her. Dekka held on, dangling feet above the ground as the mole came out and stood on the ground.

  The mole kept spinning in circles trying to get the creature that was so loudly and painfully attacking her delicate ear.

  It was the opening we needed.

  “Now! Everyone! Now!” I yelled, charging in with my club raised.

  It was like watching a medieval gang in a movie. The ones where the villagers show up at the gates of the vampire’s castle.

  Only this time I knew the people, and my sympathy was firmly on their side. They rushed in, shovels and clubs rained down on the massive creature. Borin’s axe found its mark in the creature’s shoulder with a sickening crunch. The mole matriarch screamed in pain and fear.

  Ok, maybe I did have some sympathy for the poor beast. But it was just a computer-generated obstacle.

  I swung my own club with all my strength at its head, the impact jarring my arms.

  The Mole Matriarch thrashed, but it was overwhelmed. With a final, pathetic squeal, it collapsed onto the churned-up earth.

  The system notification glowed brightly for everyone present:

  [Local Event: The Great Scott's Hill Mole Hunt - Completed!]

  Mole Matriarch Defeated! +150 XP.

  Total Event XP Gained: 475. XP Shared among all participants.

  +25 Reputation with Scott's Hill.

  Title Earned: Verminbane.

  CONGRATULATIONS FIGHTER YOU HAVE LEVELLED UP! You are now a level 2 fighter +2 to strength, +1 to constitution. +2 to speed You have one skill point to allocate.

  Would you like to allocate you skill point now? Yes/No

  I tossed a point in [Crippling Blow]

  A massive cheer erupted. Tools were raised in the air not as weapons, but in celebration. Though I noticed people were careful not to get gore and bloody mud on each other. People were clapping each other on the back, laughing, and pointing at the vanquished giant mole.

  I dropped to my knees as Dekka barreled into me, a wriggling, dirty, ecstatic ball of fur, licking my face with her dirt-gritty tongue. I hugged her tight, my heart swelling with pride.

  “You brilliant, brilliant girl,” I whispered into her fur.

  Cecil walked over, his face flushed with victory and relief. He looked at his field, at the celebrating people of his town, and then at me and my filthy dog.

  “Elizabeth,” he said, his voice thick, as if he was about to be overcome with emotion. “I don’t know what a ‘carnival’ is, but that was the finest sport I have ever seen. Thank you. You’ve saved what is left of our harvest.”

  He gestured to the tables where the women were now laying out food and drink. The festival was back on.

  “Now,” he said, clapping me on the shoulder. “Let’s eat. You’ve more than earned it.”

  I gave him a genuine smile back.

  Finally, maybe, I was playing this game ‘correctly’.