After my innocence was decided, my team took me back to the penthouse with help from Lucas and his aides. Everyone was animated, revved up after the fight but all I wanted was to sleep off my wounds and get my health back up. Apparently the next day would be a day off so I clambered into bed, shaking off my protectors, with every intention of falling asleep early and recovering my strength for the final round.

  That was when I remembered all the notifications which had popped up on my screen. The moment I walked through my bedroom door, a new one appeared.

  You are entering a safe area; would you like to open your loot boxes?

  Loot boxes? I hadn’t even read the achievements yet. Unable to resist the alure, I mentally asserted yes and a stream of achievements, followed by their boxes and rewards appeared on my HUD.

  Achievement Unlocked:

  Oh my GOD

  You’ve committed the most heinous crime in the land and attacked a god. Naughty, naughty. Didn’t you know that people in power only stay in power by making it illegal to hurt or remove them? Unless you’re planning on starting a resistance movement, you better prepare yourself for a night in the slammer.

  Reward: Attempted Deicide Loot Box

  Materialising out of thin air and floating down majestically from the ceiling, a golden loot box with comically small white wings, which flapped maniacally, landed in front of me. A haloed ring of bright golden light sat above the lid as it opened to the backing track of harmonised choir singing.

  Inside the box was a single handcuff and before I had a chance to properly examine the thing, it pounced on me as if it had a mind of its own, locking tightly around my wrist.

  Oh great, as if I didn’t already look like enough of an edge lord.

  Perhaps because the loot and the achievements were all being shown at once, my interface popped up with another notification before continuing on with my achievements. This notification explained my reward which I was staring at intently.

  Sinner’s Cuff

  This cuff marks you as an enemy of the god: Loki. Only he can remove it. His followers will automatically be hostile towards you.

  “Well that’s just great,” I sighed. “As if I didn’t already have enough problems.” It wasn’t even a reward; it was a punishment if anything. Before I had time to lament my new item, the next notification popped up.

  Achievement Unlocked:

  Luck Of The Irish

  You did something so reckless that you technically died, kinda. The backdraft of that arrow shot should have killed you immediately, you were only saved by the luck of levelling up just after the arrow hit its mark, but before your HP drained fully. That was either perfect timing, or sheer dumb luck.

  Reward: You’re still alive aren’t you? Don’t push it.

  Holy shit… I felt my breath catch in my throat as I read the achievement notification. Had that really happened? My HP had dropped down to 20 anyway. Did that mean that I’d have flatlined from the force of that arrow? More importantly, did that mean the mere backdraft of the thing had cost me 2724 HP?

  “Havier,” I growled. That rat bastard never warned me about the life-ending dangers of using his gift. I needed to have a strong word with him later. But first, I had a few more notifications to look at and since I’d already started…

  Congratulations! You have reached lvl 90.

  You are now eligible for the Silver Rank promotion exam, visit your closest Adventure Society building for more information.

  Please choose a new skill.

  The exam would have to wait, instead I mentally clicked through my interface to the stat distribution page. Immediately throwing all of my free points into vitality, I exited out of my stat view and opened the final notification. After the scare I’d just had, the importance of vitality was at the front of my mind.

  Qualified Bowman has evolved into Semi-Professional Archer

  Semi-Professional Archer (0%)

  The Semi-Professional Archer has mastered the basics and is dedicatedly traversing the long road to complete mastery. He has grown into his weapon through constant fighting and shooting things to death.

  From now on, the archer will need to complete greater feats to become better with his bow.

  Upon reaching 100% proficiency with the bow at the Semi-Professional Archer stage this skill will advance.

  Proficiency greatly improved.

  A major bonus to the effect of agility will be added when a bow is equipped.

  Arrows can be imbued with a small amount of mana or soul power (dependant on class) instantly upon nocking.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  A smile spread across my face as I read the notification. I’d already advanced this skill from Newly Qualified Bowman to Qualified Bowman during my year training in the time-protected zone. When I’d arrived back in Celestia it was sitting at 98%. Apparently shooting a god in the face counted as a greater feat. I couldn’t wait to find out what I’d have to do to get it to evolve again.

  Being able to instantly imbue soul power into my arrows was a new one. It should be a great boon. It would mean that every shot I fired from now on would be a mini soul shot. That should increase my power exponentially, especially if combined with my acid rain skill.

  The only thing left was to choose a new skill, however, I wasn’t given any choice. When I opened the interface for skill selection there was only one sitting there.

  Sacrificial Lamb (God-Tier)

  Sacrifice the levels of a defeated outworlder or a willing Celestian participant and gain their experience points.

  Willing participants will yield full EXP.

  Defeated enemies will yield half EXP.

  Warning: if attempted on a willing participant before the level cap this skill may prevent ascension to godhood.

  Warning: This practice is outlawed in Celestia, use it wisely.

  Gaping at my HUD, I sat silently as I read and reread the skill. The system had given me no choice but to take it. Usually I had extra skills to choose from. Why had I been given such an overpowered skill?

  Does the system favour me? That thought from my conversation with The Empress of the Rising Sun rang in my mind, reverberating, drowning out everything else. If I was favoured, then why?

  Could I even use this skill? Should I use it? There was no denying the advantage it would give me, but was it morally acceptable? I honestly didn’t know and as my thought-addled brain descended into foggy darkness I eventually settled on the decision that it would have to be a problem for future Kaleb. I had too much on my plate right now to properly think it through.

  Throwing myself back onto my bed and wincing slightly with the pain of broken ribs and a freshly fixed dislocated shoulder. Star-fishing as my mind continued to swirl. This was only the beginning though, tomorrow I needed to talk to my allies. The final would soon be upon us and we needed to plan for what happened after.

  Was this new skill the key to my goal? Only time would tell.

  ***

  “I just don’t get it,” I said as I sat on the large sofa in the penthouse surrounded by my team and Lucas’ envoy who had refused to leave me after the previous day’s events. “I thought this world prided itself on personal power, how can there be a law making it illegal to hurt a god. Surely that’s antithetical to the fundamental rules of this world?”

  “You’d think so,” Lucas sighed, resting his cheek on his heavily ringed hand. He was looking more and more regal as the days went by. The finest clothing and jewellery adorned his slender figure; a gauntness to his cheeks and hollowed eyes framing a previously strong jaw. “I’ve never known it be any different, but supposedly back when Athena ruled the pantheon, this rule didn’t exist. I’ve heard that the gods voted unanimously after Rotta was killed by Nyx. That was how he ascended, or so I’ve heard.”

  “Who the hell is Rotta?” Bell asked.

  “He was a god, Nyx killed him. Weren’t you listening?” Sally said exasperatedly as she shot a stern glare at the fireball mage.

  “Well I guess there’s no point whinging about it now,” I said. “How does this law work and are they going to use it against me?”

  “It’s called deicide,” Lucas replied, “and it’s the highest law in the land, at least in this region. You have to understand that with the power they possess, the gods can do whatever they want. They’re only kept in check by the other gods and their self-imposed laws which, as you’ve seen, don’t stop them from doing much. They have a pact between them that states that if any god is killed then the rest of the pantheon will work together to execute the perpetrator. It’s supposed to keep the balance of power as-”

  “Sounds like the strong making sure they can’t be usurped to me,” Bell interrupted and Rex nodded, Sally did as well, then she prodded her in the shoulder and placed her finger to her lips.

  “Well, yes…” Lucas continued. “The important thing is that even Diako and Baccus, who look fondly upon you, would be honour bound to act if you were found guilty. Currently the ruling is that, as you didn’t kill Loki, and because he technically attacked you first with his illusion, then you didn’t do anything wrong.”

  “So everything is alright then?” Bell asked.

  “Kinda,” Panda said, crossing his arms and furrowing his brow. “Kaleb didn’t break any laws, but now the populous are against him. It’s bred into these people that you don’t attack gods and as far as they’re concerned the kid has flaunted this ironclad rule in front of everyone. It’s weakened our position, but we’re still on pretty level ground against Chrysus from what I can tell.”

  “That’s right,” Taylor added, pulling a whiteboard and pen from her inventory as she began hastily scribbling names on a list. “Currently our alliance consists of Diako, Baccus, Havier, The Rising Sun Empire, and Castalor and all of its territory. On the other hand, Chrysus only has Nyx. We believe that he’s made some headway into taking control of the central continent but that’s mostly just a desert with a few port towns. He also has considerable influence in the north of this continent but as that currently falls under Havier’s purview, it shouldn’t be much of a threat.”

  Drawing wildly on the board, Taylor wrote out all the names with a “VS” separating the opposing sides, splitting the board in half. From where I was sitting, it looked like we held the clear advantage.

  “How does this pact of theirs work if they kill each other?” I asked, thinking on Chrysus’ plan to take control of the pantheon.

  “It’s never happened before,” Lucas replied. “Technically the same rules should apply, but as these laws are enforced by the gods themselves it’s much more likely to end in a civil war or, in the worst-case scenario, an outright slaughter. This is what we’re trying to prevent and why you’ve been running around collecting allies for the past few days.”

  “Well at least that’s something,” I muttered. “We need a plan though, what’s going to happen after I win the finals?”

  “Confidence: I like it,” Rex said with a gruff smile. Sally nodded her approval too.

  “We don’t know exactly what Chrysus’ plan is,” Lucas replied, leaning forward in his seat, tired eyes locking onto mine. “Currently though, I have a contingent of men just off the coast ready to sail at a moment’s notice. I’ve already arranged for The Empress’ ships to join with mine and they are ready for a swift exit if the need arises.”

  “Half of Broken Sheild already line the stands,” Rex said, crossing his arms. “If it comes down to it, they’ll gladly lay down their lives and join the fray. They’ve been itching for a battle anyway.”

  “We also have my father’s men on standby,” Lucas added. “They’re mostly acting as police inside the arena but at his command they’ll fight for us if we need them.”

  “It sounds like you were busy whilst I was away in the training zone,” I said with a smile.

  “We were, and I’ve been preparing for this for far longer. Ever since I became king, everything I’ve done was for this moment and whatever happens after.”

  “The army,” Gonzo gasped. “This was your reason all along, Majesty. You were preparing for an all-out war across the world?”

  Lucas nodded and leaned back in his chair; his hair looked thinner than it used to. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

  I’m sure he already told us that when he got into that argument with his brother…

  “I just hope it’ll be enough,” I said dourly. “In the meantime, we have an assassination to prevent. Havier told me the attempt would take place this evening so we’d better get back to his box just in case.”

  “After everything that happened yesterday, do you really think Chrysus will go ahead with it?” Taylor asked. “My spies haven’t heard anything to confirm it.”

  “After yesterday,” I said, getting to my feet. “I’m certain he’ll go through with it. Just look at the board, right now we’re obviously the more powerful force. If he can take out Havier and install a puppet emperor loyal to him then it’ll be evened out.”

  “No,” Panda said in a low, dark voice. “His faction will be stronger if he manages to do that.”

  “I don’t understand the idea of kings and emperors in this world,” Bell moaned. “With all the power the gods have, why do they even entertain the idea that someone else gets to have that kind of sway over the people?”

  “Athena’s first law,” Panda explained. “It was the first rule she ever imposed on the pantheon: our lessers must be left to govern themselves. No god should forcibly take regency of them. The unascended must be given the free will to worship whom they desire and govern their own. It’s in the original scripture that literally every Celestian is taught from birth.”

  I felt a flash of anger as Panda recited those words. Lessers. What a condescending way to describe people. I’ll show them. I’m not less than anyone or anything.

  “Then how come I’ve never heard it before?”

  “Probably because you’re not a Celestian?” Gonzo said, shaking his head. “We teach this stuff to kids and we rarely have to mention it past that. Everybody knows this stuff. It would be like talking about the process of walking with one’s friends at the tavern: utterly redundant.”

  Bell scowled at the grumpy, old administrator but didn’t say anything else.

  “Are you nearly ready to go?,” Asmodeus boomed, poking his oversized head through the door leading to the balcony. He’d had to stay out there during the meeting due to his size. He wasn’t very happy about it… he made a great guard dog though. “I grow tired of perching on this inadequately sized veranda.”

  Jack: We’ve got a problem! Chrysus has changed his plans, his assassins aren’t after Havier anymore, they’re heading for Loki’s quarters.

  “Fuck!” Lucas exclaimed, jumping to his feet, I was pretty sure it was the first time I’d ever heard him swear. “We need to get to him right now. If Loki dies, Chrysus will frame Kaleb and use it as an excuse to execute him.”

  “But I thought he wanted to keep Kaleb as a back-up?” Bell said.

  “I think he did, but apparently not at the expense of his champion. He obviously doesn’t want to risk her losing in the final round,” Lucas replied.

  Or he wants to take custody of me and say it’s for executional purposes…

  “He’s the god of wealth, wealthy people always seize advantages when they arise,” Panda added, kicking the floor. “We should have seen this coming.”

  Kaleb: Everyone, get to Loki as fast as you can! Jack, you stay with Havier just in case. We can’t risk him having to fight the soul powered assassins and causing all that collateral damage.

  Lucas: Taylor will head to Jack’s location too. I will join you when I can.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “I need to organise our alliance, make sure everyone is ready just in case this goes south. Don’t worry, it won’t take too long.”

  “Now that’s more like it!” Asmodeus roared. “All aboard the Ass-Kicking Express.”