Aiden rests beside the horses, caressing their back. 

*BOOOOM!!* 

An explosion abruptly erupts massive clouds of dirt into the sky. The sound of wood breaking collapses into the ground. 

Aiden jumps up. 

"What?... Loi?" 

================== 

10 minutes ago...

================== 

Deep in the dense jungle, hidden from prying eyes, lies an orc base. Following the footsteps led me here. 

Gnarled and giant nature envelops the base as a natural camouflage, making it nearly impossible to stumble on. 

I climb a tree to get a better view. 

A network of wooden huts and platforms intertwine the base with a thick log wall around the perimeter bound by ropes. Surrounding the base are spiked wooden barricades and trenches to thwart invaders. The infrastructure is clean and smooth; The base was constructed recently. 

Orc warriors, adorned with bone accessories, patrol the perimeter with a variety of crude weapons. 

I can smell burning torches and hear bits of chatter. The chieftain's imposing hut rests at the corner.

An established base with history tends to be embellished with the bones of their enemies which explains the clean slate but why set a base here?

Orc bases tend to be around areas they can dominate. In most jungle habitats, wild animals are agile and can fly. 

My instincts scream in my head something suspicious. 

...

Should I leave?

!!!!

Suddenly, I spot a human in the base. A hooded man wearing a black coat seems to be casting some magic on orcs, mana in the atmosphere flows towards the mysterious figure. 

I turn around and leap off.

It's too dangerous. Excessive greed will always lead to death. 

"UCK?!" I feel a sudden tightness in my chest, a terrifying chill overwhelms my instinct. I recognise this feeling: the gaze of an overwhelming enemy.

The man noticed me!?

I put everything into my legs and zap away, blasting from branch to branch. 

Suddenly, an inexplicable visceral sensation spreads. 

My primal instinct forces a jump to the side. 

*BOOOOOOOOM!!!* 

A tiny and precise ray of purple shoots through my original location, detonating the tree it hits into a festival of flames. 

"Hah! Huff! Ah! Fuck!" adrenaline runs wild as I continue my escape. 

What is this feeling? 

I can tell when an attack is coming.

Relying on the otherworldly instinct, I barely avoid the barrage of rays but that isn't the end. 

Piercing lights shower from above. I look up to find a mini-golden ball of the sun. 

"T-Tier six magic, Meteorite Strike?!" I exclaim. "That's too much to use against an apprentice knight!"

Wait a second, I still have fate so I shouldn't 

-----------

Warning! Plundered fate does not stop imminent death. You are a variable after all.

-----------

What the fuck? You are telling me this now?!

I stop at an uneven terrain and hide at the slope, bracing for impact. 

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!* 

High-pressure shockwave radiates from the point of impact, obliterating fiery destruction in its path. The blast scoops out large terrain and propels me into the sky. 

I crash into the canopies of nature and land on a bush. 

"Ack!...fuck!! Ah...huff huff..."

Defeaning rings in my ear as the world constantly splits apart. 

I grasp my head as I pull myself up. Sharp pain scratches my body, particularly on my left arm and legs. I glance at my body to find half of my skin burning from the firestorm. 

!!

"Fuck! Fuck!!" 

I attempt to move my body but it won't listen. 

What fucking luck is this?!

"Ah...it hurts!! Fuck!!"

"Loi!...Loi..."

The sound of someone familiar echoes from a distance. I slowly lose consciousness to the pain despite trying to stay awake as the throbbing headache eats away at my sanity...

If I am going to die a worthless death in this jungle, why was I even given a second chance?

...

Or was it merely my arrogance that bit me? 

It doesn't matter anymore. 

I greet death once again, the second time.

================================== 

...

howling gusts penetrate my eardrum. The cold and frostbite chills my existence. 

This feeling...is familiar. 

Ah.

I open my eyes to find myself back on the snowy battlefield of death. 

Blood and corpses were washed away by the blizzard. 

I can't move. I can't do anything.

The melancholy sight stands fixated in my sight. 

...

...

*crunch crunch crunch* 

Distinct abnormal sounds of footsteps overwhelm the deafening wind and get louder. 

Louder.

Louder. 

Soon, the silhouette of a young girl appears in the snowy madness. 

"Go back." She says.

*WHOOOSH!* 

"Hah!!! Huff huff huff!!" I jerk up and burst into erratic breathing. 

The sight of a stone ceiling with a wooden truss and a soft comfortable sensation enveloping my body. 

I'm not dead?

"Yes, you are not," Kaine says beside me as if I spoke out loud. 

"What...? How am I..."

Kaine sighs and sits on a chair. 

I seem to be in an extravagant room. Tapestries garnish the walls above a fireplace. Fine carpet covers the floor around the canopy bed I lie on, the texture is smooth and soft with velvet fabrics. 

"Do you want to hear the good news or bad news?" Kaine asks. 

"The good news." 

"The orc village that you found was an artificial hideout for devil cultists. A foreign noble's daughter was found in the village after everyone raided it. However, the mage that almost killed you was nowhere to be seen."

-------------

+20000 fate 

-1090 karma 

Destiny has altered its course.

-------------

!!

You can obtain fate this way?

The daughter's disappearance was one of the triggers for tension between nobles in the Darto kingdom, triggering a civil war before the outworlders invaded. 

...

Devil cultists...a group of lunatics that worship the God of Death and Chaos. Descending the world into an utter bloodbath is their mission. 

"Oh yes, how am I alive?" I ask.

"That's the bad news..." 

Kaine looks away. "You have a very good friend." He says.

"Yes?" I raise my brow. 

"To save you on the brink of death, healers had to use an elixir potion."

!

An elixir potion is ten gold coins!

"I...will find some way to repay it," I say. 

"No need. Your friend Aiden has paid the price."

"What do you mean? He can't afford it either."

Wait...why would they use an elixir on me, a  commoner with limited potential and an abysmal chance of paying back the debt?

Even if Aiden or Kaine pleaded, they wouldn't use such a miracle on me.

"Looks like you noticed it. Aiden underwent a lifetime slave contract to help you." Kaine says. 

...

Soul-crushing despair invades my mind the moment I hear that. 

"What?..." I say softly. 

...

...

Aiden...

I gaze down and ask "To whom?"

"Prince Julius."

*CRACK* 

My grip digs into the side of the bed frame. 

"I-I...need to go see him."

"No. You are in no shape to move!"

Kaine is right. Every fibre of tissue screams in agony as I drag them. 

Still...I push myself off the bed and across the room. 

"Where is he?" I turn to Kaine. 

"In the room at the far end." 

I push myself through splashes of pain and suffering to push a single door at the end of the hallway. 

*creak* 

Aiden is pinned to his knees by two cadets in front of Julius, sitting on the bed as he drinks some tea. 

"Hm? What does a sorry sight want?" Julius turns to me. 

"Aiden...why?"

...

Aiden looks at me and smiles. "It's alright." his face is bruised. 

"I admire your friendships. Really. My siblings and I are in constant war for the throne." Julius says. 

"Shut up." 

"Y-You dare-" Julius puts out his hand, stopping the two cadets. 

"I understand your anger but think about it. This is a steal. How much do you think your life is worth? Not even ten silver coins. Aiden traded his life away for ten gold coins, I'm making a loss here. What should you say, dog?" 

Aiden buries his head into the ground. "Thank you very much!"

"..."

I can see Aiden holding back. 

Between the both of us, Aiden hates the nobles to the core and takes pride in his dignity. He would rather die than serve the nobles. 

...

This is the destiny of commoners.

On that day, my fist clenched till blood flowed to my fingertips. 

Some time later, never did Julius think that my resentment would trigger a chain of rampant destruction and deaths.