Premeditated killing of an innocent.

That was what I was doing.

It was different from an accidental killing or killing in self-defense, and it was often considered the most damaging act to one's spiritual path. This was because it required you to know exactly who or what you were killing, to have a clear, settled desire to end that life, and to take the necessary steps to perform the deed. But most importantly, it required you to feel a sense of accomplishment or relief after the death.

After hearing our situation from Leon, I realized that if I wanted to survive… if I really wanted to make it out of this realm alive… I needed to gather as much black karma as possible.

But that was the problem.

Gaining a significant amount of negative karma in this realm was not that easy.

Actually, let me rephrase that:

Gaining lots of negative karma in any realm was simply not easy for me.

I hated evil deeds and I loathed evil people. That was why this irony sucked so much. It sucks that In order to use my bonded ability, I needed to be evil. It sucks that in order to survive, I need to pay for it with my humanity. It sucks that In order to have lives, I had to allow even my very heart to decay.

Ahh…

It really is a very miserable cost to pay.

…Looking down at Damon pleading for his life, I repeated:

"I want to live…"

Then…

I brought down my hand and clamped it over his face.

Damon struggled and screamed as the flames engulfed his face, then traveled downward, wrapping around his throat and chest like hungry, obsidian serpents. I forced a painful, bitter smile as I watched him, until the smile eventually broke.

And then, as if something snapped inside me, I no longer felt anything.

The seconds until Damon's entire body was consumed by the dark chill felt so long. But eventually, Damon's body and clothes vanished into nothing but a fine, grey ash that scattered in the cold wind.

The only thing that I didn't let decay was his haversack, which sat undisturbed on the ground.

At that moment, a series of notifications popped up for me.

[You have acquired 500 Karma points.]

[Available Karma points: N1,875 / P410]

[EXP: +220]

I sat on my heels and for a moment just stared at where Damon used to be.

Meanwhile, Aika walked over and picked up Damon's haversack. She opened it and turned everything on it onto the floor to check what was in it.

There was one oil lamp, one mana elixir, one bottle of alcohol and two loaves of stale hard bread.

At that moment, another series of notifications popped up:

[You have acquired 150 Karma points.]

[Available Karma points: N2,025 / P410]

This one was for his haversack and the things in it that we were stealing.

Aika threw the bottle of alcohol into our inventory, then hung the haversack around her shoulder. Then she reached out a hand to me and nodded towards the direction leading back to the grove.

"Come on, let's go."

***

We both wore a cloak that helped us blend into the shifting shadows of the forest. Then we began walking back to the campground.

With the rain falling, the cadets who did not have tents and stayed in this ashen campground looked like miserable, half-drowned ghosts.

Most just lay on the fabrics they had spread out over the cold ground, drenched by the rain, while others were huddled together under whatever scraps of fabric or lean-tos they could find.

As we walked through the edge of the camp, a sudden, sharp sound caught our attention. We stopped and turned to see the source of the noise, which was coming from two cadets a few meters away.

It was the same girl we had seen when we first arrived at the Puppeteer's Grove. She was the one who had her meat stolen before. Apparently, the same boy who robbed her back then was robbing her again now.

"Don't do this! You always do this to me. Please, just let me have this meal today! I beg of you."

The girl cried as she clutched her meager bowl of soup against her chest, trying to shield it from him.

"Bitch, just stop making a fuss and give it to me already!"

He dragged the bowl of soup, but then the ceramic cracked under the pressure and the hot liquid spilled all over the girl's hands and the muddy ground.

At that moment, I could see Aika's body tremble with a cold, suppressed rage as she clenched her fists so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

In the next instant, she lunged at the guy, tackling him before he could even react. Then she slammed him into the wet ash, pinned him down and began pummeling his face with a series of heavy, frantic blows.

She punched his face again, and again, and… I didn't do anything to stop her. By the time she stopped, her fists were dripping blood, and the guy's face was a swollen, unrecognizable mess of bruises and mud.

[You have acquired 50 karma points.]

[Available Karma points: N2,075 / P410]

"Bother her again, and I will kill you."

Aika spat the words out before letting go of his shirt. Then she stood up, her chest heaving as she wiped the rain and blood from her knuckles.

As she turned to leave, she glanced down at the crying girl. Then, after a few seconds, she took off Damon's haversack and threw it to her.

"There's some food in there."

The girl caught the bag and held it to her chest like it was a lifeline. Then her voice cracked as she whispered, "Thank you, thank you so much."

[You have acquired 300 karma points.]

[Available Karma points: N2,075 / P710]

Aika looked away and began moving, and a feather suddenly appeared in the air.

It drifted down slowly, catching the faint light from the moon as it spiraled through the falling rain, until it landed some meters from the girl's feet.

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