After a quick walk to the camp, they wordlessly entered the tent and got onto their respective cots, without even removing their sheaths holding their daggers, 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’s reply seemed indifferent but on the inside he found everything surreal.

"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. He tried making some noise but the snoring just rhythmically continued. It sounded like a mix between a chainsaw and a grizzly bears roar every few seconds.

"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 he 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.

While Jinx was upgrading Wei thought about what he did today as finally the adrenaline rush had gone away and he had some quiet time all by himself.

‘I killed three people. I should feel something. Remorse, guilt, something. I feel absolutely nothing. Am I a psychopath? Eh, whatever.’

‘It’s done.’ Jinx happily announced.

'This took you a while. 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 bll 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.

‘So you’re saying they are treating me like those funny animal videos I can see on TV.’ Wei asked.

‘Basically that is it.’ Jinx replied.