“God what is that smell?” I complain.

“What the do you think it is? We’re in a sewer for system’s sake Rowan my boy!” Uncle Moren says heartily.

I quickly take in my surroundings, which admittedly aren’t much. Stone brick walls all around us, with metal grating at our feet directly above what I assume is sewer water. Dim, glowing crystals are engraved into the ceiling every 10 or so feet to give us at least a semblance of light.

“At least we’re not stepping in it.” I say relievedly.

“Don’t be so sure of that yet Rowan my boy! These are the nicer area of the sewer, the further we get from the center of the city, the worse the conditions are going to get.”

“Oh awesome, that’s just what I wanted…” I mutter sarcastically.

“It all depends on how well the old-world sewers are holding up. I’ve never seen them myself, as I’m not exactly a regular down here, but who knows what state those old things are in. No one’s probably set foot in some of those tunnels in years.” Moren explains.

We continue to walk throughout the sewers, careful to listen for any wandering patrols. After about 1 hour of walking, we hear our first patrol.

“Alright first patrol coming up, we won’t be able to avoid this one so get ready to attack.” Uncle Moren says quietly.

As the patrol walks around the corner, Uncle Moren quickly presses the signal disruptor, as I’ve learned it’s called, and orders our attack.

All at once, Uncle Moren and both bodyguards take out 4 of the 5 soldiers. The last one is so stunned at the sudden ambush, that he freezes in place wide eyed. He’s young, probably only a little older than me, with brown hair and an oval shaped face.

He attempts to run but Uncle Moren grabs his hand before he even take two steps.

“Alright here’s the deal, you,” Uncle Moren says pointing at the guard, “are gonna fight him.” pointing at me. “If you win we’ll let you go, may the system strike me down if I’m lying.”

The nervous guard looks at me and then back to Uncle Moren, before nodding stiffly.

I look at Uncle Moren incredulously, “What are you doing?! Why don’t you guys just finish him?!”

Uncle Moren looks at me solemnly, “Listen, Rowan, I understand your aversion to killing, I really do, you’re young after all, but you got to open your eyes. No one, and I mean no one, becomes powerful in this cruel multiverse without having killed hundred, maybe even thousands, or tens of thousands. Either way you get my point, you are going to have to kill people that get in your way, whether you like it or not. Not doing so is only being cruel to yourself.”

I remain silent for what seems like hours, my head running at a million miles a second. My face conveying my inner conflict, changing from stunned, to an ugly scowl, and then finally a determined look.

I nod before saying a simple, “Ok.”

Moren’s face quickly relaxes, “Ok good, glad that you understand. People like us don’t have the option of mercy. Now your opponent is a tier 1, most likely around level 5 or 6. So be ready to be beat slightly in terms of physical stats. We already found this patrol’s alarm so don’t worry about time. You got this kid.”

I face my opponent while both the bodyguards and Uncle Moren give the both of us a wide berth. Both me and my opponent, pull out our swords, his being quite a bit higher quality than mine. After five or so seconds of silence, we both push of the ground at the same time.

He brings his sword in a downward slash, which I attempt to intercept with my own sword. While I’m successful, a sting runs through my hands and arms, clearly telling whose strength is higher of the two of us.

Catching my slight wince of pain, he grows more confident, pressing the attack with a multitude of slashes from every direction.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

I intercept the attacks as best I can, but unfortunately a few make it through, causing minor glancing blows.

In an attempt to reset the engagement, I parry a particularly overconfident shot, before quickly throwing out a slash of my own, dealing a not insignificant slash to his hip and allowing me to back up slightly out of his range. Fortunately, they’re only wearing cheap leather armor, or I’d be in a lot more trouble.

This time, I’m the one who attacks first, sending out a quick slash to his neck. As his sword begins to move up to block, I shift the direction of my sword slightly to attack his unguarded hands of the hilt of his sword.

In a moment, multiple of his fingers are sent flying, causing him to drop his sword at the sudden loss of dexterity and allowing me a straight path to his neck, which I quickly take advantage of.

He looks shocked, as a large gash on his neck spews blood. He covers the gash with what’s left of both his hands in a fruitless attempt to slow the bleeding. He eventually falls to both knees, and then to his sides as I watch the life leave his eyes.

Multiple notifications ring out in my head, but all I can focus on is the overwhelming nausea in my stomach. Immediately, I throw up into the green water below. The realization that I had just murdered some kid hits me. Any of the previous times I’ve killed someone, they’ve always been irredeemable assholes. People with no conscience and no remorse for the evil actions they’ve done.

But here, in this sewer, where it smells like nothing but piss and shit, the only thing I’m disgusted with is me.

After 5 minutes of recollecting myself, I stand up and look around. Uncle Moren is looking at me sadly with a hint of understanding in his eye. The giant Gerut, looks much the same as usual, bored with a flat look on his face.

Gael, the older Foxman beams a friendly reassuring smile at me and says, “You alright young man?”

I try to smile back at the friendly old man, but I just don’t have it in me at the moment, so I settle for a nod.

“Alright lets get moving guys, we’re officially on a timer, it’s only a matter of time before another patrol comes across these bodies.” Uncle Moren says, giving me a welcome distraction from my thoughts.

I look back at the bodies of the dead soldiers one more time before following the rest of the group in silence.

Looking for another distraction from the dark thoughts forming in my head, I look at the notifications I’ve been putting off.

Looking at the notifications causes my stomach to twist. The life of another human, quantified, and processed down into just three small notifications. After about a minute of processing that thought, I quickly spend my AP in much the same manner as before.

I put one point into dexterity and willpower, then one into perception. I again decide to save one to be used for if I ever were to need it. What will I need it for? No clue, but it never hurts to have another trump card in my back pocket.

We continue to walk down the dimly lit sewer tunnel. After about 15 minutes, we hear another patrol. Luckily they pass by the tunnel we are in.

“The patrols are picking up, we must be reaching the outer edge of the city. From here on out, we’re gonna have to be extra careful.” Uncle Moren says quietly.

We all nod.

We continue with increased caution. Checking around every corner, stopping and listening for footsteps, and looking out for any simple, temporary traps set down here by the soldiers. Apparently that’s something they do when they suspect a person is trying to escape through the sewers, according to Uncle Moren.

After proceeding like this for another 40 minutes, we hear another patrol coming straight towards us. We prepare to attack, myself included. I’m supposed to go for the newer trainee that theses patrols usually have, much like the last one I fought. This time though, we don’t have time to give a proper duel.

Just before they reach the corner, Uncle Moren yet again presses the signal disruptor, giving us the signal to jump around the corner and engage.

I quickly see my target. A young, stout man, with black hair and a missing front tooth. Before he can even think to reach for his sword, I’m on him, slashing towards his neck much like I did with the other young trainee.

This time though, the kill is a lot cleaner, with my slash sending his head flying towards the ground. I again feel that perverse sense of nausea creep into my stomach. This time, though, I am able to handle it without spilling my lunch into the sewer below.

I read my notifications.

This is a well known temporary buff among soldiers, Rowan told me to expect it before we came down here, but seeing it makes me feel a distinct sense of disgust towards the system.

‘What kind of psychopath encourages killing to this degree.’ I think to myself.

“Ok guys, we can take on one more group of those guys. After that, we’ll either have to kill them so quickly that they can’t even press the alarm, or we’re gonna have to avoid them like the plague. Any questions before we move on? No? Good. Remember keep vigilant, its’ been easy enough thus far, but you never know who or what else they brought down here to stop us.”