The light intensified as I reached the summit’s peak. I shielded my eyes with my forearm, peering through a gap at an armored silhouette standing on the cliff’s edge. Nervous adrenaline pumped through my veins. The overbearing light was unusually harsh.

  “Can you tone it down?” I asked nicely.

  Justice floated inches off the ground, glaring down at me like I was a dog who chewed up her new shoes.

  “Is that how you address a goddess?”

  I took a knee and bowed my head, stars blurring my vision from the vibrant light. “My apologies, dear Goddess Justice, it’s wonderful to be graced with your presence once more.”

  Justice drew her sword and pointed it in my direction. “Raise your head.”

  I complied and the overwhelming light dissipated, but the tip of her sword remained a little too close to my face for my liking. If she sneezed, the blade’s tip would've probably stuck me in the eye.

  “I've deemed this as an appropriate time for you to brief me on your progress,” she said, her voice sounding colder than I remembered.

  “Well, despite the learning curve, I’d like to think I'm making decent progress. I’ve slain Drayvoss, likely disrupting a major smuggling operation. So, you can put that in the win column. And as you can see, I’ve also reached level three.”

  Whether the smuggling operation was even slightly inconvenienced by the loss of The Bandit Lord or not, it sure sounded good as the words left my lips. But Justice didn't seem impressed. She turned her back to me, taking in the horizon and the distant outline of Ingcaster.

  “Your progress is imperceptible. I'm disappointed.”

  I bit my tongue, tempering my rising frustration. “This is only the fifth day I've been here, and you've given me nothing but a vague objective. No explanation of this world, its systems, or how I'm supposed to 'cleanse the realm of corruption.’ By the way, what exactly did you mean by that? Cause it seems like a tall order.”

  “The aid I can give is limited,” she said, eyes never leaving the horizon. “A righteous god would never violate the laws of causality.”

  “Then at least give me a goddamned minute to get situated,” I said, realizing my mistake as the words left my mouth.

  The goddess scowled, forcing my entire body to drop against the rough terrain, scraping my forehead across an inconvenient series of pebbles as an invisible weight pressed into my back.

  “Curse me again and I'll return you to the ether. Balance will be restored. Killing off a few bandits is like casting a pebble into a river when I asked you to change the currents.”

  “My apologies,” I said, barely able to choke out the words. The blood vessels in my eyes constricted as she sucked the air from my lungs with her immense aura.

  The rocky terrain scraped my exposed skin as the invisible weight slowly amplified.

  “Give me more time,” I muttered, fearing my innards were on the verge of exploding along with my spine. “I have a plan.”

  It was a boldfaced lie, but I concentrated every fiber of my being on concealing that thought from skipping across my mind.

  Justice flicked her hand, lifting the spell. I drew in desperate breaths, keeping my forehead pressed against the dirt.

  “You should've led with that,” she said. “What does this plan of yours entail?”

  Blood smeared across the back of my hand as I slowly wiped my broken nose, using the crucial seconds as a crutch to come up with an inkling of a plan.

  “You're right,” I said. “Drayvoss was a pebble cast into a river. It won't change the current, but it will cause a ripple. To change the current, you must first observe and understand its flow.”

  The vague metaphor and improvised proverb seemed to lighten the god's heavy demeanor. She finally sheathed her sword and cast me a pitiful look.

  “Perhaps I broached this subject too harshly. An ignorant mortal like yourself could never fathom my responsibilities. If this realm passes the threshold, I’ll be the laughingstock of the Outer Dimension. Immortals never forget one another’s failures. Losing a tenth realm in a row to Chaos…” Justice blew out a massive sigh of misty breath.

  Chaos? Ten realms?

  I bit my tongue, drawing my mind away from that bastard's name, knowing exactly what would happen if Justice discovered Chaos meddled in her summon by bringing me into the fold.

  She raised an eyebrow but moved on. “It may be a tall order, but we're running out of time. With every passing day, Gadika slips further into darkness. Look across the horizon.” Justice turned her back, facing the horizon once more with her arms outstretched. “I painstakingly built this view and cultivated life over a millennium. For it to slip from my grasp, too…”

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “Are we short on time because others before me have failed? How many were there and are any of them still alive?” I asked.

  “Sacred knowledge can't be imparted unto mortals. You’ll make do with the instructions I’ve given you. I can’t be any clearer.”

  Was she embarrassed and lying, or telling the truth? Either way, I knew I wouldn't get a proper answer. “Well, can you tell me about this world's skill system, the root of this corruption, or anything useful?” I asked, knowing the hint of attitude in my voice could very well end my life.

  But Justice gazed down at her golden armored boots, momentarily stumped. “Divulging that information would violate several higher laws. But I can tell you that you're the only one that possesses Karma’s Gaze.”

  “Sorry,” I said and shrugged. “I appreciate the extra damage against low life scum, but it's not exactly a cheat code, I—”

  Fury flickered across her face before she cut me off. “That's exactly what it is, a cheat code. A tenth tier, divine ability. It takes years, sometimes decades, for a normal human to reach your current level. They don't have a convenient UI with access to skill trees and mastery point allocations. They learn their skills slowly, through years of training or studying spell scrolls. But you can simply spend a skill point and gain an ability in a mere instant. Let alone, no human has ever reached the tenth tier. How dare you utter such a contrived protest!”

  Finally, the true advantage of Karma’s Gaze dawned on me. I hadn't fully grasped it before, previously assuming everyone and their grandma had access to a system with XP notifications, levels, and talent trees. This revelation changed everything.

  Still, my mind ran rampant with questions. “Wait, what about karma? Can you tell me how it works? Is there a point in accumulating it? What acts lower it? Also, can you give me a brief rundown about the mastery system? I still don’t clearly understand this system you’ve blessed me with.”

  “I must be going,” she said. “But next time, I expect a bigger splash. Work harder.”

  “Wait,” I called after her, barely catching her attention. “I can't read or write in the native language. If you can do something about that, it would speed up my plan.”

  Justice snapped her fingers and disappeared into thin air.

  +117 Written Language Modules Installed

  I gathered my composure as the highlighted text floated down from the sky. Reeling from the near-death experience, I lay on my back, thankful to still be breathing.

  Crazy ass goddess.

  She hardly answered my questions, nor offered guidance regarding my mission. Although it confirmed Chaos and his wicked intent, I didn’t see how I played into his plan. Nor was I entirely certain what the consequences would be if he took over.

  And what did she mean by following her instructions?

  What fucking instructions?

  Too many questions remained unanswered, leaving me at a loss. Was I even close to the right track?

  After wiping the dust from my clothes and stretching my sore back, I headed back toward the elf and my horse. Maybe Justice was right, and I'd taken the incorrect approach, my perspective clouded by the devil inside, drawing me from the path I should've been on. But seeing the bigger picture was impossible. How could I, when I was still this weak?

  Whether Justice was correct in her assessment, her outlook was the only one that mattered. To avoid an extended stay in the ether, I needed to accelerate everything. Maximize efficiency and minimize downtime. Most importantly, I needed more experience, abilities, and to figure out what the hell mastery was.

  Viessa rode up on her horse with Greymane trotting at her side, meeting me just before the peak.

  “I thought I told you to wait.”

  “Was that divine light?” Viessa asked.

  “No, the sun just peered through the clouds.”

  “What happened to your face?”

  “I tripped over a rock.”

  With that, we came to a mutual silence that lasted until we cut through the mountain range and rode through a clearing, quickly approaching Ingcaster’s perimeter. I glimpsed at a road sign that read, “1 Mile to Ingcaster” and smiled, knowing the language models Justice had installed were indeed working. That feature alone was worth the beating I had taken.

  Travelers and merchants formed a line as they paid their tolls and passed through the front gate into the city. Despite lacking the silver for the toll, the guards happily accepted two bottles of aged wine as payment and allowed us through without the slightest hint of scrutiny.

  Like always, Ingcaster buzzed with life that congested the streets and simmered our pace down to a slow trot. As we maneuvered through a congested intersection, I noticed Viessa sink back into her riding stance and readjust her hood so that it nearly obscured her eyes.

  “Relax, we're more invisible here than we were out in the wilderness.”

  The elf seemed worried, clearly growing more uncomfortable with each passing minute. I sighed, slowly guiding us through a district marketed toward travelers, using our molasses-like pace as an opportunity to familiarize myself with the street names and various landmarks. As we turned down another street, I realized we weren’t far from The Wheat Brew Tavern and Inn.

  However, our destination was The Gilded Boar. It was already dusk, and The Bandit Lord's severed head was giving off an awful odor. An odor I didn’t want to permeate my room. I barely noticed the scent, partially because of my broken nose, but it was strong enough to turn heads amongst the crowds.

  Carrying a rotting head in broad daylight without the slightest worry of someone calling the cops was surreal to say the least. Drayvoss’ hairline had been peeking out from under the basket’s lid. After a lifetime of running, I wasn't taking my new circumstances for granted. Sanctioned killings? Sign me up. Even with how poorly the meeting with Justice went, I was oddly hopeful for the future.

  We arrived at The Gilded Boar by nightfall and tied off our exhausted horses at the watering troughs outside of the building. Judging by the sheer number of tied off horses, the guild was once again mobbed with adventurers.

  Admittedly, I was nervous about bringing the elf along. I considered leaving Viessa outside with the horses, but ultimately decided against it. Her presence was already complicating matters. Possibly sensing my unease, she reached under her borrowed robed cloak and tore a cloth strip from her shirt and wrapped it over her mouth and chin.

  Viessa ran her hands through her horse's mane and glanced over her shoulder, making sure we were alone.

  “Where are we?” she whispered.

  “At the adventurer's guild,” I said, holding the woven basket containing Drayvoss’s head that had now gathered a loyal fleet of flies. “Don't make eye contact with anyone and stay quiet.”

  I walked ahead, but she stayed by her horse. She could’ve been thinking about running. If I was in her position, I’d have probably done the same. How much trust did two free rations build? For all she knew, I was leading her to a slave-trader.

  “I won’t chase you if you run.”

  She glanced over her shoulder, hand on the horse’s saddle. But eventually she lowered her hood and fell in behind me as I walked up the sprawling stone steps toward the guild.

  It was time to get paid.