Squinting hard, I hoped Karma’s Gaze was glitched, not wanting to believe this level of ineptitude was possible. But it that was indeed the case. Roxham was stripped down to his drawers, getting tugged along the ground like a toy wagon. His captors were all level twos with -3000 karma combined, and one of them was already wearing Roxham’s armor despite it being two sizes too big.

  "Shit," I muttered, wondering if Roxham had been after the Guinness World Record for getting kidnapped.

  "What is it?" Sairees asked.

  "Well, there's at least 20 men in the camp over there and they captured your friend."

  "What?" Panic shook her voice as she approached the cliff's edge. "I can't even see them."

  I pointed to the four blips slowly making their way toward the camp.

  "Are you sure that's him?"

  "Yes, I've got excellent vision."

  "We have to hurry back to Ingcaster. If we pool our funds, we can hire mercenaries to assist us."

  "No," I said. "I took this contract to make money and limit test, not bankrupt myself."

  "We'll pay you back," Sairees said.

  "Forget it."

  I squeezed past her. "Don't worry, I'll bring him back in one piece."

  It was an empty promise, said in the heat of the moment, to keep her off my back. Even with my combat advantage, I was unsure of how many bandits I could handle. Nor was I sure how screwed I’d be if there were higher leveled bandits napping in their tents.

  "Hold on, you can't rush in there without a plan." Sairees tried to grab my shoulder, but I slipped through her grasp.

  "If I can catch them before they reach the camp, he'll have better odds of surviving."

  "What about us? What should we do?"

  "Keep to the rear and stay out of my way."

  Before Sairees slowed me down any further, I dashed downhill, rushing across the jagged terrain that eventually leveled out before inclining once more toward the camp’s plateau. As sweat drenched my brow, I danced over a series of rocks jutting out of the ground, fiery excitement filling my lungs. By concentrating purely on my movement, I felt the muscles in my legs contract as if they were summoning hidden strength.

  Was this the effect of my increased stamina or agility?

  My legs sped up, carrying me at a far quicker speed than my old body was ever capable of. The path curved up to the left, leading me through a plateau filled with dead trees, but the echo of chatter suggested I was closing the gap.

  Without slowing down, I ended up two dozen yards behind Roxham and his captors. They had bound Roxham's hands behind his back and were dragging him by a rope, his bruised body bouncing off the ground.

  As they neared the hill’s peak before their camp, Roxham spotted me rushing in after him. Blood trickled from his broken nose, but instead of being happy to see me, he shook his head, signaling me to back off.

  But it was too late. An insatiable hunger drove me forward. If I could figure out how to use Dagger Step, maybe I could catch them off guard before the entire bandit camp was aware of our presence.

  "Dagger Step," I whispered, but nothing happened.

  My legs ached as I forced my feet into the ground, shooting myself forward. After I gained a few yards, something in my mind clicked. Focused on activating my ability, I felt a surge of unknown power course through my body.

  It was as if there was a lag between time and space as I instantly appeared just a foot behind them their backs, surprising even myself. The skinny bandit wearing Roxham’s gear turned around, and I carved his neck open like a thanksgiving turkey. Blood sprayed across the stunned faces of the other two bandits. With my main dagger still in the big guy's throat, I snatched my backup blade from its sheathe and threw into his friend’s forehead.

  The remaining bandit spun around, mouth agape, prepared to scream. I lunged at him and rammed my knee into his chest. His leather chest-brace did little to soften the impact as his ribs cracked and he crashed into the ground.

  As he wheezed from the pain, I stomped my heel into his face, splitting his skull open like an egg. Brain matter squelched beneath my boot as I twisted my foot into the ground.

  "Are you alright?" I asked.

  "Get me out of this," Roxham said.

  I retrieved my dagger from the bandit’s neck and sliced through Roxham's bindings. The man sprung to his feet and scooped his sword and shield from the corpses and began reclaiming his gear.

  "Who are you?" he asked. “And was that teleportation magic?”

  I stood over the soon-to-be corpse with a blade protruding from his forehead. A wicked smile spread like wildfire across my face as the light faded from his eyes.

  +75 XP

  +75 Karma

  Pumped to hit level three, I sheathed my daggers, one on each side of my belt, and started patting down the fallen enemies.

  "What are you doing? We must get out of here. This encampment is much larger than the contract implied," Roxham said.

  "I'm looting," I said, as I retrieved five silver coins from the bandit’s pocket.

  "Are you listening? This ain't the time to be rifling through the dead's belongings. Our escape window is fleeting."

  Shut the fuck up.

  I palmed my face. At first, I quite liked Roxham, but his sense of concern over my wellbeing was as disgusting as it was a total buzz kill.

  "Go on, escape then," I said, waving him off.

  "You plan to fight them alone?" he asked. "Are you insane?"

  "Yes, and yes. I'm just starting to have some fun. Wait for me at the top of the mountain or don't. It doesn't matter to me."

  Feral instinct urged me forward. Uninterested in hearing another plea from Roxham, I waltzed up the hill, reaching the edge of their encampment.

  Retreating was the wisest move. Back home, I never would've tried something as brazen as taking on these many opponents. Striking with the element of surprise against a small group of untrained combatants was my specialty. Charging into an organized camp of bandits armed with swords and bows, massively complicated things.

  Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

  Yet confidence swelled through me, overriding my sense of self-preservation. Fighting the devil beetle had been the closest thing to a challenge I'd experienced so far in this world. I needed to determine my limits, even if that meant risking my life.

  "Wait up, I didn't say I was going to leave you behind," Roxham said with Danphar and Sairees in tow.

  "Do you have a plan?" Sairees asked as she rushed to our side.

  I sighed. Not really. The encampment was packed too tight for me to reap much benefit from a sneak attack.

  "Yes, don't intervene unless it looks like I need help," I said.

  Sairees objected, but Roxham shushed her with a finger to his lips.

  At least there was a safety net if I needed one. I strolled up the path, walking straight into the center of their camp. A dozen bandits sat around a bonfire, chatting with mouthfuls of roasted meat, drinking too much to notice me.

  I cleared my throat as I approached, gaining their attention.

  "Lay down your swords and chicken wings. This is your one and only chance to be spared."

  Laughter erupted around the bonfire. Varous, a level three human with -800 karma, stood up, tossed his chicken leg into the fire and drew his sword.

  "How foolish are you? A solo adventurer dares to wander into our camp and issue threats. Do you know who we are?"

  "You're Varous and you all work for Drayvoss."

  "So, none of you will surrender?" I asked as the rest of them stood up, drawing their weapons.

  The commotion drew more bandits out of their rows of tents.

  "Take him alive. He'll make a fine slave," Varous said.

  Pleased that no one leaped at my offer of mercy, I grabbed a dagger with each hand.

  "Dagger Step," I said, teleporting directly in front of Varous and sweeping my blade through his throat.

  Men on each side collapsed in on me, crowding themselves as they attempted to drive their blades into my flesh. But I moved with the raging bonfire to my back, dropped into a low stance and swept my leg underneath them.

  I deflected a blade from behind with the dagger in my left hand while I rolled around, stabbing the fallen men with my right. Battle shouts erupted throughout the entire camp as they charged into the center of the encampment.

  I danced past an overhead swing and severed the man's wrist. He dropped his sword and created an opening. I sliced through his knee as I burst past him, away from the swarm, barreling up a ramp toward the two bandits that had just popped out of their tent.

  Creating space was fundamental when outnumbered. Preferably, I’d put a wall to my back, eliminating 180 degrees of potential death. But here it wasn’t an option. Instead, I needed to pick off the smaller groups quickly and brutally, while staying on a constant move.

  I surged forward and dove between a series of horizontal slashes. By the time their weapons finished arcing through the air, my daggers had taken up residence in their throats.

  Blood spewed from their necks as they staggered backward with a wild look of shock plastered across their face as I freed my blades from their flesh. Hearing a series of heavy steps, I swiveled around and barely parried a furious series of blows from a massive axe-wielding brute.

  Arms vibrating from the impact of his heavy swings, I backpedaled defensively, aware if I got bogged down here, many pointed objects would appear in my spine. The brute raised his axe overhead and brought it down with an ear-piercing scream.

  "Shit," I muttered as I crossed my daggers overhead.

  The brunt of the attack knocked me backwards, off balance. Someone tried donating a knife to my back, but I side-stepped at the last moment and elbowed the fool in his nose and shoved him into another group behind me.

  Karma’s Gaze activated, and the brute’s status appeared.

  Target: Luther

  Level: 2

  Karma: -1325

  Compared to everything else at that level, he hit way harder than average. Too bad the time to strategize vanished as the mob of pissed off bandits swarmed in at his side.

  I blocked another vicious swing, nearly dropping the dagger from my right hand.

  "You're dead." Luther tilted his shoulder and charged.

  I threw the dagger from my left hand, aiming for his head, but he swayed at the last moment, catching the blade in his shoulder. A moment prior to impact, I sprang over him like I was playing leapfrog and crashed into a bandit behind him.

  The bandit wrapped his hands around my throat as I drove my dagger into the side of his skull. His dying grip kept me pinned just long enough to catch a boot to my gut.

  I rolled over, laying on my back, lungs gasping for air.

  Shit, this is bad.

  Luther rushed at me with his axe while bandits flooded in from every direction, stamping their feet as I lashed out with my blades, aiming for ankles and heels, desperate to get off the ground.

  As Luther's axe tried to split me in two, I pushed myself off the ground, leaving a dagger behind in the bandit's skull. In one swift motion, I scooped a handful of dirt from the ground and tossed it in the faces of the men in front of me.

  I shoved through them as Luther chased after me, knocking them out of the way. His axe whistled through the air, and I avoided a nasty decapitation as he sliced through the top of my hood.

  He followed up with a diagonal slash, but I weaved under it and caught his wrist. His metacarpal bones shattered beneath my grip as I twisted, ripping Luther to the ground. As he yelped like a stuck pig, I drove my knee into his thick forehead until I felt his skull cave-in.

  "Kill him," they shouted.

  An arrow pierced through the back of my shoulder. Twisting in pain, I stumbled toward the edge of the camp, shifting away from the many swords pointed in my direction.

  A blade kissed my cheek, slicing through my flesh as I turned my attention to an assailant on my left. Ignoring the blood streaming down my face, I drove my fist into his unguarded knee and ripped the sword from his hand. By the time he realized what had happened, his head was rolling away from his body.

  With blood in the eyes of the men at his side, I seized the opportunity to open their bellies. Another goon stupidly backtracked over a rock, tripping himself. I drew my short sword through his groin and left him to bleed out.

  The onslaught slowed as the bandits, who were stupid enough to approach me, lost their lives in a horrific manner. Corpses piled around me as I lost myself in an endless cycle of violence. Only a dozen men remained standing, but moved with hesitation, no-one brave enough to lead another charge.

  Eventually, the sound of iron clashing broke me out of my trance.

  The Iron Shield swooped in from the flank, lightening my load and drawing the attention of those that still drew breath.

  "There's more of them!" a bandit shouted. "Don't back down."

  "Dagger Step," I whispered.

  The bandit's panicked back-stepping filled me with joy as I teleported in front of him, amazing myself with the ability’s profound utility. I swung my sword down, removing his hands from his wrists.

  He collapsed, and I turned my attention to those still breathing. The Iron Shield moved in a coordinated formation, picking off the remaining stragglers. When Roxham got overwhelmed, Sairees would step in while Danphar cast bursts of fire from his hands, targeting their archers at a distance.

  I walked down the sloped embankment, cutting down those that attempted to flee. Eventually, the battle concluded. Four bandits threw down their weapons and dropped to their knees.

  "That was reckless," Roxham said.

  "Yeah, I guess it was." I reached around my back and touched the arrow embedded in my shoulder.

  "You're hurt, and we don’t have a healer," Sairees said, and prodded the arrow.

  Searing pain shot up my spine. Even with Karma’s Gaze I wasn't impervious to damage. If The Iron Shield had abandoned me, I may have wasted my second life.

  I marched in front of the four surrendered bandits and examined their statuses. They were a pathetic group of level twos, with -2120 karma between them.

  "We surrender," a bandit named Jackson said.

  The darkness inside me took over. I watched as my hand gripped the hilt of my sword and swung the blade through the air. Jackson's head rolled off his body, landing at Sairees' feet.

  Her eyes widened, her concern over my injury replaced with horror.

  Moving on autopilot, I rapidly decapitated two more and hovered over the last surviving bandit. Before I could bring my blade down once more, Roxham grabbed my arm.

  "What's wrong with you? They surrendered," Roxham said, shoving me back.

  Snapped back to reality, I dropped the sword to the ground.

  Whoops.

  Tears streamed down Sairees' cheeks, looking at me with pity in her eyes.

  "Why?" she asked.

  "For the experience," I said.

  My answer only darkened the mood. Even the silent Danphar was staring at me like I was inhumane.

  "What type of man are you to execute those that surrendered?" Roxham asked.

  His judgement irritated me. Less than ten minutes ago Roxham was at their mercy, about to lose his life or at the very least his freedom. Now he was suddenly their advocate? Which was all too ironic, considering he was also covered in their blood.

  "My apologies," I lied.

  I didn't feel an ounce of sorrow. Yet I needed to control the damage surrounding my reputation. If my name became one associated with instability and fear, I imagined it would be difficult to gain the assistance of other parties during my stay in Ingcaster.

  "From my understanding, the contract was to eliminate these bandits," I said, playing it off as a mere misunderstanding.

  I dropped my bloodied sword at the sole remaining bandit's feet.

  +375 XP

  +350 Karma Rating

  LEVEL UP

  +1 Ability Point

  +1 Strength

  +1 Stamina

  +1 Agility