They left Springwater without much fanfare.

  By design. Katarina wasn't in the brightest mood, and Simon didn't want to tell Lucia – again – that he didn't have an immediate solution to the Water Artifact problem. This led to them kinda-sorta sneaking out of the village, hopping onto their loaded carriage and activating its Navigation Crystal as people nearby called out in confused tones.

  Simon expelled a sigh of relief as he watched Springwater shrink into the distance. He'd been getting a little too emotionally invested, which wasn't conducive to his long-term goals. Best to cut ties for now and check back later.

  All was quiet for some time after. Simon gave Katarina the closest thing to isolation he could, sitting at the opposite end of the carriage as she processed this next chapter of her life. A line from her Identify Description rose to the front of his thoughts.

  'Fled from Caelryn City to seek a better life. Partially for herself – but mainly for her father.'

  From what he'd seen of her memories, although she and Gerold hadn't been completely attached at the hip, they'd lived together their whole lives. Leaving him behind in a sickbed couldn't be easy, even if it was for his own sake.

  Simon granted her a few hours of silent contemplation before eventually speaking up. Much as he wanted to give her longer, they had vital plans that needed finalizing. "Is there an area where Fell Beasts congregate?" he started with.

  "Huh?" Katarina turned towards him, a befuddled expression on her face as her train of thought shifted gears. "Why ask?"

  "As mentioned, my capacity for growth is exceptional – and that growth is primarily stimulated by combat and killing." With the occasional stimulus of bonus EXP from Heroic Valor, but he didn't know how to explain that yet. "We couldn't take on a lower-ranking noble family in my current state, let alone Duke Helmund."

  His right arm tensed with anticipation. "I need more power."

  Slowly, Katarina nodded. "I...understand. Is that a trait other Demons also possess, or is it just you?"

  "Don't think they do, but I can't be certain."

  "Because of the memory loss." She sent him an exasperated look. "Still can't believe you hid that from us. Successfully. You'd have fit right in among the conmen of Caelryn City."

  The system agrees with you, Simon thought, laughing to himself. "I'll choose to take that as a compliment. So: the Fell Beasts. Where can I find them? Are there any specific biomes they gather in? Or a nest where they spawn?"

  "Maybe. If such places exist, then I am unaware of them."

  She rested her chin on her hands, thinking. "The origin of Fell Beasts is a mystery. They're less like wild animals and more like roaming calamities. Decently rare, too. You can go years without ever seeing one."

  "I've met three since I 'awakened' twelve days ago."

  "Somehow, I am unsurprised." She rolled her eyes. "Trouble seems to seek you out. Or is it perhaps the other way around?"

  Or it's a ploy devised by the gods of Evil, ensuring that I transmigrated to a location where everything was about to hit the fan. If I look at things from their perspective and treat Valtia like a cosmic strategy game, then they'd have planned several steps ahead. Assuming I survived Stuart, the Red-Eyed Hunter, Kirkelas, and the slavers...

  I would've naturally headed to Springwater, the closest nearby settlement. Where the Ravenous Wanderer awaited.

  He grinned internally. But their plans for me shouldn't extend far beyond that. Now that I've transmigrated, the gods aren't allowed to further influence Valtia. And theoretically speaking, I could travel anywhere after leaving Springwater. There's too many options for Evil to account for. They can't have booby-trapped the entire world.

  Probably.

  "Whatever the case," Simon continued, "I'll need to find more of that trouble if we want to achieve our goals. Start fights, win fights, grow stronger. I could wander through the wasteland without Warding Orbs, inviting Fell Beasts to come snack on me, but..."

  He drummed his fingers on his leg. "No. Isn't consistent enough. Especially if the Beasts are an uncommon occurrence. Would be faster to hunt people instead."

  The words were out of his mouth before he could revise them into something socially acceptable. They hung in the air, thick and heavy, portending a violent, blood-soaked future.

  Katarina took her time to respond. "You can't defeat any of the nobles as you are," she began, in a careful tone. "Not even those of lesser renown. Many are trained extensively from birth, and their lineage typically grants them high affinity with mana. The ones that fail at both will still have access to hundreds of well-paid soldiers."

  "Correct." Simon put on a warm smile. "Yet it's a wide, wide world out there. There's plenty of acceptable targets who I wouldn't lose sleep over killing. Weak people with weaker morals."

  He gestured at the carriage. "You've already encountered some of them. It's how we met."

  Katarina's expression hardened. Memories flashed in her gaze – visions of time spent imprisoned in a dark carriage, bound and tied, her autonomy stolen. Questioning if she would ever be free again.

  "If it's villains you seek," she hissed, "then look no further than Caelryn City. I can point you towards a dozen gangs of outlaws. Unfeeling reprobates who paint the streets in blood, always taking and taking and taking, no less of a ruthless parasite than the nobility. You definitely wouldn't be losing sleep over them."

  Not roaming slavers? Simon had expected her to suggest groups like Lucette's, specifically. What Katarina was describing sounded closer to locally-based criminal gangs. Unless...

  Is she trying to use me to settle old scores? A demonic hitman aimed at longtime enemies?

  "Why Caelryn City?" he said. "You've made it explicitly clear that you despise that place. Figured you would want to go literally anywhere else."

  Her fists clenched. "Things will be different this time."

  Oh yeah, she's absolutely using me to go on a revenge tour. Whoever made her life miserable growing up will be the first names that spill out of her mouth.

  Simon quickly decided that he didn't really care. He could vet Katarina's suggestions with Identify and Sin Scry. If she chose well, then fantastic. If she chose poorly, he'd just ignore her. Caelryn City sounded like the quintessential hive of scum and villainy, so he would be spoiled for choice regardless.

  And most of all...he couldn't help but feel a measure of sympathy for her. Simon understood how she felt.

  Shame that I'll never get to go on an Earth revenge tour of my own.

  "Caelryn City it is." He motioned at the Navigation Crystal. "You'll have to make the adjustments. I don't know how, because of the amnesia, etc, etc."

  "You aren't to blame for that. Few people outside of the well-traveled know how to operate a Navigation Crystal."

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  "Then how do you?"

  Faint redness crept into her cheeks. "I...found myself in a circumstance where I would be able to drive a carriage. For a brief period of time. Once."

  After narrowing down the possibilities via process of elimination, Simon went for broke, throwing out the only idea that made sense to him. "You hijacked a merchant's caravan and took it for a joyride, didn't you? Probably crashed it too."

  He flinched at the thought. "You seem embarrassed rather than regretful, so I'm guessing and hoping that no one was seriously injured."

  Katarina leaned back, thunking her head against the wooden carriage interior. "I was a child, alright?!" she grumbled. "Knew I couldn't steal the Crystal – they'd hunt me down and slaughter me. Should've just taken a handful of baubles and left...but it was unguarded...and they're never unguarded...and I had time to experiment...and..."

  "And when were you ever going to get that chance again?" Simon finished.

  She chuckled, glancing over at their carriage's Navigation Crystal. "If I'd known that I would own a caravan someday, maybe I wouldn't have been so desperately eager."

  "Was anyone injured in the crash?" he repeated, more insistently.

  "Aside from the carriage itself – may it rest in peace – no. Wasn't the sturdiest contraption. Lost a duel with the broad side of a brick wall."

  Katarina suddenly perked up. "How about a change of topic to distract you from my embarrassment of years past? Because I believe I've made up my mind."

  Simon relaxed. "Made up your mind in what way?"

  "The demonic Boon." She met his gaze. "I am ready to accept it."

  A smile spread over the transmigrator's face. "Glad to hear it. I was pretty surprised when you rejected it last time, you know."

  Evidently, Boons could be spurned even after they'd been Granted – which is precisely what Katarina had done, shrieking and shaking her hand like a venomous insect was crawling on it. The mark of the Boon disappeared soon after.

  "You shouldn't have been surprised," she murmured. "What sort of madwoman would immediately accept demonic energy imposed upon her body? You didn't even inform me of what the Boon was until after I'd already rejected it in a panic!"

  "Fair, but considering the understanding we'd reached back then, the vows exchanged, the handshake..."

  He shook his head sadly, like she was an uncultured boor who just didn't get it. "Don't you have any sense of dramatic timing?"

  Two unimpressed eyes glared at him. "I'm going to regret this, aren't I?"

  He replied by extending his arm. It swirled with a blackened, demonic aura, the energy pulsating as if it was a living creature.

  Katarina hesitated only a moment before reaching out to grasp his hand in hers.

  This time, instead of pulling away in a flash, she waited until his energy had settled onto her. When they finally unclasped hands, her palm was marked by what appeared to be a shining tattoo – a symbol of the Boon that had been granted.

  There were five connected lines pointing upward in the same direction. Like the sharpened edges of a thrusting trident, ready to skewer its enemies and lay them low.

  The sigil of Kirkelas the Conqueror.

  Simon recognized it from just a glance. The knowledge felt implicit and instinctual. He was recreating the Sealed Demon's of Ruination's powerset, one ability at a time.

  Will I be able to recreate more after my next Class Advancement? And when combined with the gods' system...how long is it before I eventually surpass him?

  Katarina frowned at the Boon's symbol, glowing conspicuously on her right palm. "That's inconvenient. Suppose I'll need to wear gloves from now on." She looked up at Simon. "So, this power I'm meant to gain, how does it–"

  With a gasp, she stumbled back.

  Simon's heart started racing, confusion melding with fear, his adrenaline surging as he moved to help–

  Until he noticed the look on Katarina's face. As she laid there on the floor, tense and open-mouthed, her eyes were also rapidly moving back and forth. Her gaze was focused intently, yet directed seemingly at nothing.

  Like she was reading invisible text.

  "Ancient's blood, what is this?!" Katarina swallowed a lump in her throat, laboriously picking herself up off the ground. "There's...words! In the air! Like pages from a book! But the pages are clear, like peering through water! And the words–"

  Her eyes widened even further. "Simon, I don't know this language! I've never seen it before! So why can I understand it?!"

  Simon remained silent for ten awkward seconds.

  The first five seconds were spent perusing his Character Sheet, confirming that – despite Grant Boon's extensive Description and long list of rules – it had never specified the exact form his Boon would take.

  The next three seconds were spent comprehending that he'd bestowed some variant of the gods' system onto a resident of Valtia. In English. Which she could now read.

  The final two seconds were spent attempting to devise an explanation.

  "Demon magic," is what he went with.

  "No! You can't just 'Demon magic' your way out of this one!"

  "Don't know what to tell you. That's how my power has always appeared to me – floating, translucent pages that denote my abilities and personal parameters."

  Katarina ran her hands down her face. "This is utterly unlike anything I've heard of. Not in stories or legends or...are you doing this on purpose? Rather than manipulating humans into selling their souls, do you derive sustenance from astonishing people? Is giving me constant gray hairs the price I must pay for you being a decent person?"

  "Funny as that would be, no." Simon calmly sat back down, the very picture of serenity. "What does your Character Sheet say? That's what I call it. You should see lines of text stating 'Class', 'Attributes', and 'Level', to start with."

  Sworn to Secrecy hadn't kicked in yet. The Trait's Description specified that: 'The existence of other worlds, and the transmigration process in general, cannot be revealed in any capacity to the natives of Valtia.'

  Was the system itself free game, as long as he didn't expose where it came from? Or was Grant Boon providing an unexpected loophole?

  "I see those words," Katarina affirmed. "Class. Attributes. Level. What do they mean?"

  "Class describes your overall life vocation, like a swordsman or an archer. Attributes will depend on what's written in that section. Level is a general barometer for inherent power – you may remember me mentioning that several days ago."

  She squinted at her Character Sheet, reading closely. "The letters 'N' and 'A' are written next to Attributes, with a diagonal slash in between. Level has the number 11 beside it. Class..."

  Her face scrunched into an affronted snarl. "I'm an Urchin?!"

  If Simon knew how to whistle, he would have done so nonchalantly.