Coming back down the hall, Matthew casually took time to get another drink from the water fountain, before going and turning his attention back on the bathroom door. Stopping in front of it, he concentrated for a few moments until his eyes returned to normal and the dark glow around them faded away until he needed it once more.

‘Hel’s Sight’ was what his talent was called, and it was an innate skill that he’d received when he’d reached level twenty, and he’d found it unbelievably useful since then. Using no mana, it only required him twelve seconds, at his current skill level, to activate or deactivate the ability, and then he could keep it active as long as he wanted. Being able to see in any manner of darkness was a powerful bonus that he’d taken advantage of several times already, and the added bonus that he could see the souls was just icing on the cake. Even someone invisible would be unable to hide from him, as they’d only conceal their flesh and not their spirit.

Of course, like most great things in life, his eyes had a massive drawback as well, not the least of which was simply the way other people look and react to a man with a black glow emanating from his eyes. For whatever reason, guys with dark glowing eyes always seemed to create a panic and get met with considerable opposition. And, on top of the social ramifications, activating the sight had an emotional effect on him as well, causing him to feel colder, more distant to the living, and more dead himself.

Sighing, Matthew couldn’t help but think it was all related to his choice of god, back when he’d signed up as an unwitting beta tester. Hel was known as one of the children of Loki, and was depicted in stories as a half-white, half-black woman of immense power, but indifferent disposition, who ruled over the land of the dead. From the tales, she was supposedly quite possessive about what was hers, but otherwise rather indifferent about the state of the world, or the gods and goddesses that meddled in it.

She simply didn’t seem to give a shit about such things, and when he invoked her gifts, Matthew found himself becoming much less concerned about things. Had he not been using his sight, chances are that he would’ve just left the boy alive and simply left him on his own when he found him hiding. He didn’t have any reason to go out of his way and rescue him; he didn’t even know him. The boy would just be an unskilled, untalented peon that he’d have to take care of and watch out for – and he wasn’t going to do that.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Maybe, if it’d been a girl instead, Matthew mused to himself, but not a guy. He saw no reason to waste his time trying to take care of every jackass in the world – but at the same time, he normally wouldn’t have killed him. The problem was with his gifts. Using ‘Hel’s Sight’ and ‘Hel’s Blade’, he’d channeled more of the essence of the goddess and simply didn’t care if they boy lived or died at all. When a stray thought passed his mind that the boy would see Rebecca – who was now his woman – naked, he didn’t like it. With a completely apathetic lack of concern if the boy lived or died, he simply took the expedient route and got rid of the problem.

Sighing deeply, Matthew shook his head a few times and then shrugged. He didn’t have to worry about the boy seeing Rebecca now, and it’s not like he could do anything about what happened anyway. What was, was, and one can’t dwell on it to the exclusion of what is.

Taking several deep breaths, Matthew rubbed his ring and then pulled off his Cloak of Shadows and tucked it into the hole that had appeared, before rubbing the ring once again to close the hole. Taking another moment to splash some water from the fountain across his head and face, he finally paced back over to the bathroom door and unlocked it.

“Ready or not,” he called in a soft sing-song voice as he slowly pulled the door open, “I’m coming for you…”