After walking for a while, I decided to stop and sit down to regain some energy.

  I should find a place to rest for the night……as well as a source of water. This area may be rocky and cavernous, but I'd seen plenty of lizards and bats and other small animals when we'd been on our way to Goldway, so there had to be a water source somewhere.

  I headed into a small cave opening, scanning for any aggressive animals. This area was Giants' territory, so the smaller caves were fairly safe, the worst you could encounter was probably a rabid rat, snake or bat.

  I activated Lightning Boost, focusing on streaming lightning to enhance my hearing, taking care not to damage my eardrums. I pressed my ear to the walls and floor, listening for and trying to find the sound of running water.

  I managed to locate one after a few minutes of searching, and followed the sound, leaving nicked marks on the cave wall so that I'd be able to easily find my way out later. I came across a small spring of water, flowing out from the ground.

  It was cool and clean, I graciously gulped it down thirstily, so eagerly that water was running down the sides of my mouth and onto my clothes, but I didn't care, almost choking as I let out a gasp of relief.

  I scooped up more with my palms, chugging it down.

  I could bear going without water for a while……but I definitely didn't like to, pain was easier to ignore than an overly sore or dry throat was.

  Once I had quenched my thirst, I wiped away the water around my mouth and? sat down with my back leaning against a wall, as I took off my pouches and scanned their contents.

  My weapons consisted of a few throwing knives and kunais, half a bottle of tranquilizer, nearly a full bottle of paralysis fluid, an unopened bottle of confusion fluid, but no needles or poison. The mini-crossbow was broken.

  The rest of the contents consisted of some money, which was useless to me right now, a few dry snacks, my Identification and Adventurer Cards, and two empty Mana Orbs- oh, that's right!

  I should probably take out the orb in my chest already.

  I glanced down at my clothes. My black spandex top was in pieces, the hoodie was ripped in the spots where I'd been bitten but was still wearable, for now anyway, and the extent of damage to my trousers were torn spots around the ankles and one around my left knee.

  I took off the spandex top and tossed it away. It had been surprisingly comfortable, but it was too shredded to wear anymore.

  Now then, for the orb……

  I looked down at my chest, where it was embedded in the middle. Most of it was inside my body, with a part of it sticking outside, looking like a black glass button in my middle of my chest.

  I tried pulling it out, but it wouldn't budge.

  Okay……

  Looks like I've got to carve it out. I took out a kunai knife and cut around it, before pulling on it again.

  Huh……it's really stuck in there.

  I pushed the kunai in deeper like a wedge and tried to force it out……I got it to budge like a millimeter, and the moment I did, I felt a twinge pull on my heart……

  N-no way……is this thing……fused to my heart!?

  If I really focused, I could feel that something was linking the orb to my heart, and I had a feeling that trying to sever that link wasn't a good idea.

  "H-hey, you've……you've gotta be kidding me……when and how the hell did this connect itself to my heart!?"

  I……I should have ripped the orb out the moment I finished transferring the Karma into it!

  I sighed and leant my head back, resting it against the wall behind me.

  Oh, well……

  There's nothing I can do about it now, 'should haves' and 'what ifs' aren't going to change anything……what's done is done. It should be fine as long as I store the Karma inside the orb when I don't need it.

  Speaking of which……I should try getting my body used to using Karma and build up a tolerance so that I can use it for longer. According to that Rion guy, out of hundreds, only six people were compatible with and survived having Karma injected into them.

  With a success rate that low, along with the obscene levels of damage I received, it was almost certain that I wasn't compatible with Karma. But I might be able to slowly increase my body's compatibility to it.

  My body had begun falling apart at an alarming rate when the entire mass was swirling inside me, but when I had extracted a fraction of it back into my body in my bout against Rion, the damage it caused was a lot less severe and was getting inflicted a lot slower too, though it was still fairly significant.

  I should try getting my body used to using a fraction of it at first, and then slowly try increasing the amount I extract bit by bit. There was no guarantee that it would work, but continuous exposure usually leads to increased tolerance……it was worth a try.

  The proportion by which the Karma improved my abilities also applied to my Lightning Boost, meaning that, for example, if I extract enough Karma into my body from the orb in my chest to boost my abilities by, say, x1.5, and then activated my Lightning Boost at x2.5, the resulting speed would be, let's see……a total boost of x3.75 to my normal speed……fuck.

  "Well……I guess this is one good thing to come out of this whole disaster," I laughed half-heartedly, as the events of the last day replayed themselves in my head, "Heh, what the hell……it so wasn't worth the price."

  The fatigue soon caught up with me, my consciousness fading as I passed out and fell asleep……

  I'm not sure how long I was out for, but it must have been at least a whole day before I woke up again. I don't think I had ever fallen asleep that deeply before.

  I felt great, all my fatigue had been eradicated, I was fully rested and ready to head out. I was pretty hungry, though.

  I chewed on some of the dried snacks I'd had in my pouches, and weighed my options.

  The only mammals I'd seen in here were bats and rats……and I don't want to eat either of those. I know that most reptiles are edible though, and there are a lot of lizards around here……ugh, guess I don't have a choice.

  I can't fight monsters and make it back home on an empty stomach.

  I went into the caves and caught a few lizards, before frying them using lightning.

  Ugh……here goes, I guess.

  I reluctantly brought one up to my mouth and hesitantly bit into it……

  "Oh, wow……that's not bad!" I exclaimed in surprise.

  This was tasty, and would be borderline delicious with some spices and seasonings added. I ate the rest and then got ready to leave, as I strapped the pouches onto my waist, with my blades on my back, and I then put my sleeveless hoodie on, zipping it up halfway.

  Time to go.

  I had been trying not to think about it too much, but it was hard to get my thoughts off of the carnage and chaos that were still fresh in my mind, it felt unreal now that it was over……like a really bad nightmare.

  Had that all really happened within a single day?

  I slapped the sides of my face and shook my head……I need to put it behind me and move forward.

  I had survived……against all odds, I had somehow managed to come out of that hellish nightmare alive. So I can't look back.

  Before I go, I should take some water with me, it's easy to think clearly when you're hydrated.

  I found a long, thick rock that I hollowed out using a kunai, and then carved a stone into the shape of a cork. I then filled the hollowed out rock with water from the spring, and shut it with the makeshift cork, before I headed out, walking along the shadows and caves.

  I don't mind taking on some monsters here and there, but I won't make it if I stop to fight every single monster I come across. Giants don't have the best eyesight, so if I stick to the shadows, I should be able to sneak past some of them.

  Half the day went by without incident, as I managed to sneak past three or four Giants while continuing forward.

  Around early evening, I came across a spot where the road widened, with no shadows for me to stick to. Two Giants were roaming the area aimlessly.

  Sneaking past these ones will be tough so……I'll use this opportunity to get used to using Karma. I closed my eyes and extracted a bit of it into my body. I'd say about……five percent of the total Karma inside the orb.

  I ignored the twinge of pain that got sent across my body and activated Lightning Boost at x2, so that I'd be able to more easily gauge and calculate exactly how much the Karma was multiplying my abilities by. Unlike Lightning Boost which only enhances my speed and senses, I could feel that the Karma was also increasing my physical strength.

  I then shot towards one of the Giants.

  Normally, when I use Lightning Boost, a slight, blue tinge emanates from my body, along with sparks around me when my rapid movements cause friction in the air. But right now, the usual blue tinge was black, almost like I was shrouded in a shadow, and the electric sparks around me were black.

  The Giant spotted me and reached down towards me with one of it's massive arms.

  It looked like it was barely moving.

  As the arm neared the ground, I began to charge up a lightning orb outside my left palm and jumped onto it, running along the length of its forearm and bicep till I was by it's neck, I drew out my sword and ran lightning through it, extending its reach by a bit more than usual.

  I then swung it across, deeply slashing through the Giant's throat. As the large body began to fall, I jumped off of it and fired the charged up ball of lightning at the eye of the other one.

  It turned its head slightly, my attacking blasting through the middle of its eyes and out the back of its head.

  As both Giants turned to dust, I deactivated Lightning Boost and forced the Karma back into the Mana Orb. That had been about fifteen seconds.

  My body had been in pain and I felt a slight dizziness towards the end there, but in that short time, my body hadn't begun to break down yet. In my current state, I should be able to fight with that much Karma for about……a bit more than half a minute at most, I'd say. After that, the damage would be too severe to continue.

  Now then……I need to gauge how much that fraction of Karma had boosted me by.

  Let's see, that speed felt……exactly how my x2.5 boost usually felt, so I'll assume that's the amount my normal state was being boosted by in total.

  I was using Lightning Boost at x2, so……extracting and using five percent of the Karma in the orb in my chest increased my overall abilities by another……25%.

  In other words, a x1.25 boost, which when applied to x2 Lightning Boost, resulted in an overall x2.5 boost.

  Woah……

  That much from just five percent……?

  The numbers began rapidly running through my head.

  "Wait, so then using ten percent would be……a 50% increase or x1.5 multiplicative boost……twenty-five percent would be a 125% increase or x2.25 boost……a-and using fifty percent would be a 250% increase or x3.5 boost……and using all one hundred percent would be a 500% increase or x6 boost. Holy……shit," I calculated in disbelief, before shaking my head and snapping out of it, "I'm getting ahead of myself……I can just about handle using five percent of the total Karma for a handful a seconds right now, realistically I'll probably never be able to use all one hundred percent of it for any significant amount of time."

  It was hard not to think about though……if I could access that x6 boost and then use Lightning Boost at x2.5……that would be a total multiplicative boost of x15, which I could barely comprehend.

  And if I could increase my control of Lightning Boost to the point where I can freely use it a x3 boost……that'd be a total of x18- alright, the prospect was pretty mouthwatering, but that's enough fantasizing, I don't have time to waste on a power trip.

  I continued moving, encountering a few more Giants as I did, taking out some of them, until I eventually decided to call it a night and find a spot to rest, as the stars filled the moonlit sky……

  Over the next four days, I continued to fight Giants while testing my body's limits when it came to the use of Karma.

  At the moment, I could steadily use five percent of it for about a minute before it starts breaking down my body, after which I need to funnel it back into the Mana Orb.

  The longer Karma stays in my body, the more damage it inflicts, and inflicts it faster and faster too. So basically, my body starts breaking down when the rate of damage caused by the Karma is higher that the rate of regeneration that my Healing Factor is capable of.

  After I transfer the extracted Karma back into the Mana Orb, I can quickly heal all the injuries that were caused, but since that does sap my stamina, I need to stop using the Karma and put it back into the orb the moment my body starts to deteriorate, otherwise I'll be unnecessarily wasting stamina that I could have saved.

  I had tried increasing the extracted Karma to ten perfect, but I could only fight effectively for about ten to fifteen seconds with it before it starts rapidly destroying my insides.

  I also found that the lower my Mana levels were, the harder it was to force the Karma back into the orb. I should avoid using up too much Mana while using Karma.

  On another note, the Mana Orb was basically a part of my body now. It was a strange feeling to constantly have a marble-like lump in the middle of your chest, but I was starting to get used to it.

  By this point, I was halfway out of the Giants' territory and into the beginning of Cyclops' territory.

  I had already passed by the spot where we had fought the Magic R- or rather, The Valaque Empire, formerly Magic Research Group.

  The crater had been patched over with Earth Magic, though the corpses were still there, rotting away as rats and insects feasted on their putrid flesh.

  It wasn't just the white-robes, there were a few other bodies as well, and they looked fresher than the white-robed corpses……those must be the ten S-Ranks that were sent out here, I guess they must have been ambushed and taken out.

  Looking at the way their bodies were blown apart, they had probably been hit with a Blood Crystal explosion.

  There were signs of a struggle, streaky lightning and fire scorch marks, debris that hadn't been there before, and other instances of damage caused by Elemental Magic.

  I covered my nose and kept moving, past the decaying bodies.

  Before long, a group of four Cyclops' attacked me, jumping out from a cave.

  I triggered Lightning Boost and extracted five percent of my Karma……

  I waited for them to close in on me, before jumping up and slashing one across the eye, springing up off of its shoulder and breaking the neck of another one with an angled kick.

  These things weren't as big as Giants, but they were still big enough that you'd need quite a bit of force to break their necks with a single hit, and the Karma boost gave me that force.

  Lightning Boost mainly multiplies my speed, senses and reaction time, and while my attacks are quicker and can generate more momentum, my physical strength doesn't actually change, only the speed at which I can deliver it.

  However, Karma was different, it boosted both strength and speed, as well as the power of my Lightning Magic attacks, which explained why it took such a heavy toll, a human body can't physically handle such an overall and drastic increase without any problems.

  I landed and stood on my hands, bending my arms before rapidly straightening them, my feet springing up at one of the monsters' jaw like a jack-in-the-box. My kick slammed into his chin, the force snapping his neck backwards.

  I then ended the last one by flinging my dagger at its heart.

  As I returned to my normal state, funneling the Karma back into the orb, I noted that the pain I had felt when initially using the five percent had severely reduced now that I had been using it for a few days. Or maybe I had just gotten used to it?

  Alright, then. Time to keep moving……

  The following days all passed by in very similar manners. I would wake up early and continue heading towards the Rustlands, avoiding monsters when I could, and fighting them when I couldn't, using the opportunity to slowly build my body's tolerance to Karma.

  For food, I'd eat lizards, which were surprisingly tasty, and then at night I'd crawl into caves that were too small for monsters to fit in, find a water source, sleep, and then repeat the process the next day.

  When I went to sleep, I'd first make sure to wash my clothes, at least every other day. I only had the one, torn up outfit, and since I'm walking and fighting all day, it was always soaked with sweat by the end of the day. They were getting more and more worn out with each passing day.

  Over the following five days, I continued fighting the Cyclops, as Lizardmen soon began to appear as well, as I furthered my advance.

  I was now able to handle five percent Karma without damage for about sixty-five seconds, it wasn't a huge increase, but it was proof that the more I use it, the higher I can raise my body's tolerance to it.

  It had been nine days since I had left Goldway, ten if you count the first day, which I spent asleep. I had also been collecting any valuable looking gems and crystals I came across, though I didn't want to get too greedy and weigh myself down, so I stopped collecting more after I had about a kilogram of gems.

  I was up against a particularly large horde of Lizardmen on the eve of the tenth day, a group of twenty.

  They sprang at me, spraying acid from their fangs and slashing at me with their claws. I slashed off a head, before ducking the swipe of a claw, driving my sword through the hearts of two of them and firing a blast of black lightning at a few to my left.

  With the additional boost of Karma on top of Lightning Boost, these monsters were absolutely nothing. I hadn't used Bloodlust Mode even once since that day, the last time was during my short fight against Rion.

  After fighting and almost drowning in an endless sea of Zombies, facing numbers that I could actually count didn't scare me in the least.

  I managed to take out the entire horde within a minute, stabbing the last one in the middle of the chest and twisting the blade, before continuing to move forward as it turned to dust.

  It was getting harder to find safe caves to sleep in, Lizardmen are about the same size as average humans, so they could fit anywhere that I could fit.

  I had to make sure to sleep lightly, keeping my ears alert for any sign of movement or noise. However, that also meant that I was getting less rest each night now……

  Five or six more days passed by, I continued to fight off more Lizardmen, and as I left behind the Cyclops' territory, Devilbats soon appeared as well, as I began to get closer to my destination……

  About two weeks had now passed since that day, it was currently night-time, and I was fighting off a band of Devilbats inside a cave. I had been resting but had gotten ambushed. These things live inside caves, so finding a safe place to stay in this area was near impossible.

  I slashed at one of their wings, decapitating it as it fell to the ground. One swooped down at me, I side-stepped to avoid it, and then plunged my dagger through its heart from behind.

  One of them tried to bite me, I dodged its teeth and stabbed it through the throat, as another fired out a sonic screech from its mouth. I ducked below it as it struck a wall, shaking the cave around me.

  Crap, it was coming down!

  I quickly turned back and dashed for the exit, as it caved in and crushed the monsters. That had startled me for a moment, but I managed to make it out without a problem. After getting swarmed by those Zombies, the thought of being buried alive was a bit……you know.

  Great……

  Just what I needed……more trauma.

  I found a spot outside to sleep, hidden behind a hard to spot corner that looked like a shadow.

  I had made some pretty good progress by now. I could now use five percent Karma for eighty seconds without damage, and ten percent for twenty seconds. Anything beyond that made my body begin to deteriorate almost instantly.

  Speaking of progress, I wondered how much distance I had left to cover, as I yawned and shut my eyes with a sigh……

  The next day, I continued my journey back home, after a breakfast of more fried lizards. After a few bouts against some monsters, around afternoon time, I recognized the area I was in.

  After scanning it to make sure I wasn't mistaken, I grinned triumphantly.

  "Alright, it looks like……I'm about halfway there! Let's keep moving!" I declared to myself, my yell echoing throughout the area……

  I should probably stop talking to myself.

  _____________________________________________

  Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism! Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.