10 Jinx the night away

After a quick walk to the camp they wordlessly entered the tent and got onto their respective cots without even removing their daggers from the sheaths not to mention their clothes.

Zhang Wei closed his eyes for a second laying on the hard cot as suddenly Old Tibs asked:

"Do you think they will notice that those three didn't come back?"

"Who knows?" Zhang Wei was too tired to get into a discussion about hypotheticals so he seemed rather indifferent.

"But what would they do to poor Bakrash if they notice...?" Old Tibs trailed off his sentence in an ever quieter voice.

"We can only hope for the best and prepare for the worst. If we did nothing you two would die for sure at least now you have a chance." Zhang Wei replied.

"You are right. At least now we have a chance..." Old Tibs murmured.

After a few minutes when Zhang Wei finally started to relax he was rudely stirred awake by a loud snoring.

"Damn. No wonder Bakrash sneaked out. It was your fault all along old man. How could anyone sleep beside you?" Zhang Wei whispered.

'Master since apparently you won't be getting any sleep tonight could we perhaps discuss some pressing issues?' Jinx suddenly interrupted Wei's thoughts of smothering Old Tibs with a cushion.

'Are you after my karma points?' Zhang Wei asked.

There was quiet inside Zhang Wei's head for a while as opposed to a deafening crescendo of noise coming from Old Tibs from the neighboring cot.

'Ahem. Yes. I strongly suggest using 500 karma points to upgrade my authority as that would be in your best interest. It is just a suggestion from this humble servant to my master.' Jinx continued.

'What will this authority get me exactly?' Wei asked.

'A lot. At D level authority I am able to open a Quest system and Karma shop, ' Jinx continued with enthusiasm.

Zhang Wei frowned.

'Quest system? How does that work? ' He asked.

'Through my intensive library of knowledge and gathered intelligence I can suggest Quests for you which will help you gather Karma points and additional rewards.' Jinx replied.

'Which I can then spend at the Karma shop or use on upgrading you further I am sure. You sound like a rep for a scam company.' Wei replied.

'I assure you I am not! Trust me. ' Jinx replied as if offended.

'That's exactly what a rep for a scam company would say in such a situation.' Wei answered with a snort.

After a while with no reply from Jinx, Zhang Wei finally said: 'Go ahead upgrade yourself it's not like I can use those points on anything else.'

'Thank you!' Jinx quickly replied because it was afraid Zhang Wei might change his mind if he knew there was a use for these points after all. He could speed up learning things from books or mentors using his karma points but since no such event transpired the topic has not come up. Zhang Wei didn't ask. Jinx didn't answer.

[System upgraded]

[Grade D authority unlocked]

[Karma shop unlocked]

[Quest system initiated ]

[Gathering data]

[Quests available]

Several notifications jumped in front of Zhang Wei's eyes and quickly faded into oblivion following the upgrade.

'How do I use it?' Zhang Wei asked.

'Just think about viewing quests or say the "Show quests" command in your mind.' Jinx explained.

'Show quests' Zhan Wei thought.

A transparent window opened in front of him. There were two quests available for him at this time.

[Eat 10 Headache roots - 4/10]

[Enter the Oasis fortress and find Dolan Smith]

He first thought of the first one since he found it odd and an additional window opened immediately.

[Eat 10 Headache roots. Reward 1 karma point.]

As he thought about the second quest the window changed.

[Enter the Oasis and inform Dolan Smith of the impending robbery. Reward 50 karma points. Note: This is a chain quest.]

'Jinx who issues these quests? Is it you or is this the observers doing?' Zhan Wie asked.

'Both. The quests are recommended based on your knowledge from me to the central and are then confirmed by the observers as you call them.' Jinx replied.

'What's the point in me eating 10 Headache roots?' Zhan Wei asked.

'I guess they hope you will do something entertaining again or they just like to watch you suffer. Your video of taming the green bull is still trending.' Jinx replied.

'Oh, really. Higher beings like to watch me embarrassing myself? What is really going on? This can't be all there is to it or?' Zhan Wei frowned at the ridiculousness of the whole thing.

'Well, humans like to watch animals doing ridiculous things . So I get it's in the nature of biological beings to like such stuff.' Jinx tried to find some logic in it.

'Jinx, show me my status..'

Name : Zhang Wei

Age: 27

[Strength: 4]

[Endurance: ???]

[Vitality: ???]

[Agility: 5]

[Dexterity: 5]

[Intelligence: ???]

[Wisdom: ???]

[Karma points: 26]

'So, I earned 526 karma points by killing those bastards. Why don't I have a health bar?' Zhan Wei asked.

'I guess I could make one for you but it would have no effect in reality. Should I do it anyway?' Jinx asked.

'Nah, forget it. I hoped I could get some kind of healing spell or potion like in video games.' Zhan Wei replied.

'Oh. We have similar things to that in the [Karma shop].' Jinx replied.

Zhang Wei frowned and then thought about the [Karma shop] and an interface similar to a webshop opened in front of him. There were different categories. Weapons, manuals, consumables. As he clicked in his mind on Weapons rows and rows of weapons opened.

From swords to guns he could have a pick of anything. If he had the right amount of karma points of course. The cheapest dagger called [The setting sun] cost 50 karma points and it was rated F grade. As Zhan Wei was not in the mood of drooling over stuff he could not have he quickly closed that category in his mind.

He thought about healing items and they were immediately filtered. He expected potions and spells but what he got was completely different.

[Healing Nanobot injection small - 50 karma points]

[Healing Nanobot injection medium - 250 karma points]

[Healing Nanobot injection large - 500 karma points]

[Nanobot energy shot small - 25 karma points]

[Nanobot energy shot medium - 125 karma points]

[Nanobot energy shot large - - 250 karma points]

'This is?' Zhan Wei asked.

'They are nanobots. Don't you have nanobots on Earth?' Jinx asked.

Zhang Wei frowned. 'We do but only in literature. So how does this work?'

'Oh. You mean you don't have such advanced nanobots. Well, that is completely normal. We used to have a lot of different items but they are not really applicable while you are still hmmm… how should I put it … mortal. So nanobots are the most efficient solution. Just inject yourself with them once and supply energy to them once they run out and they will keep your body in perfect condition.'

'What is the difference between small, medium and large?' Zhang Wei asked.

'Well, the quantity and energy supplied is bigger. The rest is the same. If you amputate your arm for instance the small one won't be enough to regrow it but the large one can.' Jinx replied.

'What if I amputate my head?' Wei asked.

'Then you are dead.' Jinx replied without pause and there was an awkward silence afterward.