I opened my eyes, surrounded by smoke. Agonizing pain shot through my back. My health bar was down to 21, flashing red. Slowly, my vision cleared, revealing the face of the tall French woman just inches away. Her dark brown eyes gazed at me, her short black hair and pale skin emphasizing her defined jaw, marked by a red and purple bruise. She spoke to me :

"Are you going to move?" she asked.

"Hu... yes, sorry," I replied, rising slowly to my feet.

I used a health patch, feeling immediate relief as my health returned to 46. Checking my inventory and status, I confirmed what the woman had mentioned - I had a 5-minute cooldown for the health patch, which I hadn't realized before.

"Are you still on cooldown?" I inquired.

She nodded, and I handed her a Tiwuiwui snack, saying :

"Eat this; it will refill your health."

"I'm not hungry," she replied.

"It will heal you," I insisted, gesturing the snack in front of her. Reluctantly, she took it and consumed it quickly. Her bruises faded, and for the first time since I met her ; she smiled.

"It's delicious!" she exclaimed.

"And it heals. I was not expecting it to follow the same rules as the health patch," I explained. "Glad it worked."

She stood up swiftly, stretching her body. Pointing behind me, she informed me :

"He is still alive."

I turned to see the boss, grumbling and slowly rising. His face was completely burned, and the exposed flesh underneath appeared charred. One of his arms was missing, with blood dripping from the stump.

Anger radiated from him as he locked his gaze on us.

"I WILL KILL YOU!" he bellowed.

The tall woman gently pushed me aside. "You should stand back," she advised.

"I can help," I insisted.

She looked at me with determination ;

"It's time to finish this," she murmured, moving toward the boss who growled like an enraged animal.

Tapping a red Gem on her armband, she began to glow red and levitated a few inches from the ground, her body surrounded by ethereal crimson smoke. She clenched her right fist, and it transformed into a brilliant ruby-like gem. Standing about 15 feet away from the boss, she punched the air, conjuring a gigantic ethereal fist that materialized from her hand. It crashed into everything in its path, destroying the ground and engulfing the air in flames. The boss roared as his body disintegrated from the magical impact, with flesh and blood scattering through the air. Only smoke and debris remained in a straight line before her.

"Wow!" I exclaimed in awe.

She turned to me and explained, "It's impressive, but since it's only a Category I Gem, its cooldown is quite long. It takes about 24 hours to recharge. I only use it in emergencies."

The Gem on her armband now appeared as dark as charcoal.

"I assume you chose the warrior class," I guessed.

She nodded.

"You chose the worst one," she stated.

If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

I looked at her, surprised.

"What do you mean, the worst one? And how do you know my class?"

She looked defeated for a moment, then met my gaze again :

"You're some kind of idiot, right?" she said in the kindest way possible.

"I am not!" I replied defensively.

"You can use FOCUS on anything, including other Revivals like us. Didn't your guide tell you?"

"She didn't. Besides, she doesn't show up anymore."

She facepalmed.

"Guides can only appear in safe spaces. That's one of the rules. Didn't your guide explain that to you?"

"Nope," I replied, starting to wonder if Calexa was a subpar guide. It seemed she kept forgetting to inform me of important things.

"My guide is called Patate, which means potato in French, and she's awesome - except her dirty jokes aren't funny at all. Anyway, try FOCUS on me," the woman suggested.

I did as she said, and a description appeared:

"Carol W. Revival Level 4; Warrior Class."

"Level 4!" I exclaimed.

"I guess I gained a level just now," she replied casually.

"So, Carol, I'm guessing you're French, with the guide's name and accent," I stated.

She nodded. "And you're American?"

"Yes," I confirmed.

She sighed and looked around before returning her gaze to me :

"We should loot. Let's divide it equally. The boss will also have loot, but we'll each get our own."

"So, boss loot is individual, but the rest is shared?" I asked.

"Correct. Again, your guide should have told you that."

"I'm starting to see a pattern here. I'm guessing my guide wasn't doing a great job."

"You're right about that," she replied, walking toward what remained of the boss.

I followed her, noticing a pulsating yellow star on my HUD, similar to the experience points but without any number. I opened my Status bar.

"I leveled up too!" I announced.

Carol stopped and asked, "Wait, you were level 2, so does that mean this is your first time leveling up?"

"I gained some XP, but not much," I explained.

"When did you arrive?"

"Two days ago."

"Do you know what to do when you level up?"

"Hu... not really. But I see a new tab on my Status," I mentioned.

"Correct, you can distribute 5 points to your Stats. Once you reach level 10, you'll receive 10 points per level."

"Thanks to your guide," I inquired, already knowing the answer.

"Yes, Patate."

"Patate," I repeated, butchering the pronunciation.

I pondered where to allocate my points. Carol noticed my contemplation and advised :

"Do not put them in Chaos. Chaos is bad - it's like a negative effect that you want to avoid. You already have Chaos points from the Rider class. Chaos is not good."

"But I got a good Gem thanks to Chaos," I pointed out, indicating my now charcoal-colored Orange Gem of Hermes.

"Maybe sometimes, but Patate said Chaos is bad and should be avoided. You never know what will happen. Think of Chaos as a price to pay for out of the ordinary gear. Like a balance."

I nodded, reminding myself to investigate deeper on how Chaos worked. I invested some points in Intelligence, as I needed 20 to learn the knowledge stone, and the rest in Dexterity, which had saved me more than once.

My new stats were as follows:

"Strength : 17 (15 + 2 Iron Ring of Strength)

Vitality : 170 (145 + 25 Survivor Suit)

Intelligence : 14

Engineering : 30

Dexterity : 46 (41 + 5 Survivor Suit)

Charisma : 5

Luck : 5

Chaos : 5

Mana : 14 "

I realized that Mana was mirroring Intelligence points. I made a mental note.

We reached the boss and looted his remains. I acquired two sticks of dynamite and a metal ring. Using FOCUS on the ring, I read the description :

"Iron Ring of Chaotic Strength :

+10 Strength

+1 Chaos"

"Did you get the same ring with Chaos?" I asked Carol.

"Yes, it's useless. We can't sell it, and using it would be stupid," she replied.

"I already have some Chaos. Maybe it'll be fine. The extra 10 Strength would be welcome."

"Don't," she warned, turning toward me.

"And we can't sell it because of the Chaos too?" I inquired.

"That's correct. Vendors don't want gear with Chaos Stats since they can't sell it."

I wished Calexa had informed me of all this. I needed to catch up before it was too late. Suddenly, Carol held a violet Gem in her hand.

"The Gem of Abzu?" I asked excitedly.

"Yes, finally," she replied with a sense of accomplishment.

"You found it on the boss?" I inquired.

"Correct. The one who lands the killing blow gets the unique Quest Item," she explained.

"We can bring it back and finally finish that quest," I suggested.

She looked at me, surprised. "You're naïve," she exclaimed.

"What do you mean?"

"I have no intention of bringing it back. This is a purple Gem, one of the rarest colors. Do you know what it does?"

"No, but that's not the point—"

"It's a summoning Gem," she interrupted, a hint of excitement in her voice as she looked deep into the Gem in her hand.

I examined the violet Gem and used FOCUS :

"VIOLET GEM of Abzu - Category II

+10 Vitality

+5 Dexterity

+5 Luck

Unique Power: 'Abzu Counter' - Summoning: Praise Abzu. Cooldown: 24 hours."