We both checked into rooms at the motel and met up in Carol's room before summoning Calexa and Patate. The two white Gems materialized and immediately started bitching with each other.

"Why is she here?" Patate asked.

"Because I'm Simon's guide, you weirdo," Calexa replied.

"But you're useless. They obviously have questions, and I'm all they need."

"I'm a great guide."

Patate pretended to cough, even though he didn't have a throat.

"Enough, you two," I interjected.

"We have a dilemma and we need your advice," Carol added.

"I'm listening," Patate said.

"WE are listening," Calexa corrected.

"Alright, here's the situation: Danelii and Malii, two Enkis we helped on the previous floor, are in trouble. Danelli has been kidnapped, possibly by my killer, and Malii is trying to save her. He asked for our help," I explained.

"Malii also has the Gem of Abzu," Carol added.

"That's correct," I said. "Now, they are in this mess because of us."

"Maybe," Carol interjected. "We're not 100% sure if this is your killer."

I nodded in agreement.

"The thing is, we also need XP and to level up," I continued. "So the plan was to help them and use this opportunity to raise our levels. But there's a risk of running into my killer and possibly falling into a trap."

I continued to explain the situation to the two guides, and to my surprise, they listened without bickering with each other.

"You need to level up ASAP," Patate finally said. "You're way too low right now, and while you might manage on this floor, I wouldn't recommend facing the Emerrits until you're at least level 18. The difficulty will increase rapidly. Moreover, your gear is subpar. You need equipment from Bosses and heavy hitters; the shop can only do so much."

I looked at Carol, knowing that we were underleveled, but level 18 seemed like a distant goal.

"If it is indeed your killer," Patate continued, "it's better to confront her sooner rather than later. The question is, how did she align herself with the goblins and what level is she?"

"And we definitely don't want her to get her hands on a Gem like the one from Abzu," Calexa said.

"Correct," added Patate. "It's a low-level Gem, but as low-level Gems go, this one is quite powerful."

"What's its unique ability?" I asked.

"Abzu Counter," Calexa replied. "It creates a magical shield that blocks any physical attack and regenerates your health for one second per point of Intelligence and Luck."

I looked at Carol, impressed by the power of the Gem.

"But you still want to return the Gem to the Enkis from Green Village, right?" Patate inquired.

"That's the plan," I confirmed.

"What do you think about that, Patate?" Carol asked.

"Hmmm... that Gem could help you a lot on the early floors. The Enkis are always in trouble with goblins, so that's nothing new. However, the Green Tree has never been in such danger. You have a choice - you can do what feels right to you. No one can decide for you, not even us. Your end goal is to reach the top of the Tower before the person who was brought in with you kills you for good. How you achieve that is up to you."

Carol and I stayed silent for a moment, contemplating the decision ahead.

"Are the Enkis real? Or are they some kind of NPCs created for this world, like in a game?" I asked.

"No one knows," Patate replied.

"Even you? The fantastic and genius Patate?" I tried.

"Your flattery won't work. We don't know. We were brought here to help Revivals, and we've been doing this for a long time. If these were NPCs, they were created a long time ago. That being said, they could be real, or our memories could be false. With the Dominants, you can never know."

That wasn't a helpful answer at all. Although we had to make a decision soon if we wanted to help Malii, I had a few more questions for Patate. He seemed to know a lot more than Calexa for some reason.

"Do you know how Chaos works?" I asked.

"Chaos doesn't work. Avoid it like the plague," Patate replied.

"Chaos can be both good and bad," Calexa added.

"Mainly bad," Patate concluded.

"But how does it work? I feel like there must be some sort of trigger," I continued.

"Only the Dominants know," Patate explained. "By now, you must have realized that Revivals don't follow the same rules as the rest of the Tower World. You can use Gems with your armband, you have stats..."

I pondered for a moment before following up with another question.

"Does the world react to good versus bad actions, like in a video game?"

"Cause and effect certainly exist here," Calexa replied. "Just like in any world."

"But it won't be as simple as 'do something good and something good is rewarded'," Patate added. "While Revivals don't follow the same rules when it comes to them, the world still reacts as a real world would. That's why it's difficult to distinguish what's real and what's not. My suggestion is to do what you need to do to reach the top before your killer gets you. The rest isn't important."

But it was important to me. While this world might be "real" in some sense, in regards to Revivals it still operated as if we were in a game. That meant I needed to understand the underlying system.

"Listen," Calexa started. "You both need to do what feels right and makes sense to you. Patate and I can only guide you without interfering in your decision."

We remained silent for a moment, absorbing their words. Then Carol spoke up.

"Alright, we need to think about this. You guys have been helpful. But if we truly want to help Malii, we need to make a decision soon."

Calexa and Patate returned to our third eyes, leaving Carol and me alone in the room.

"Simon," she began. "If we go to help Danalii, we might be walking right into a trap set by Cleo. That's something you need to consider. We could just keep going while she wastes her time waiting for you to go save Danalii, that way we will create a bigger gap for her to catch up."

I nodded, understanding her point.

"But I still feel we need to help them," I replied.

"I knew you'd still want to help them. Let's just kill this bitch."

I smiled, reassured by our shared determination.

We left the room and exited the motel. Carol stopped me suddenly.

"Hey, wait a second. I'll be right back," she said.

She walked over to Tabi, who was engaged in a conversation with a waiter. I watched them for a moment, contemplating whether to join them. By the time I made up my mind, Carol returned, and the old Watoo waved at me. I waved back.

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

"What was that about?" I asked.

"I just wanted to find out the name of the fish dish we had," she replied, a mischievous grin on her face.

I laughed :

"You really have a passion for food."

"It was delicious!" she exclaimed.

"It truly was."

Leaving the motel behind, we set off in the direction of Bawa's camp. We moved slowly but cautiously, taking about two hours to reach the camp. It was a small, desolate camp situated amidst broken pathways and dilapidated houses. A large sign reading 'BAWA' was painted on a wide, low metal door on wheels. The camp seemed open and vulnerable, with several openings that allowed us to sneak in and no protective walls. They appeared unconcerned about potential attacks, which worked in our favor.

"How do you suggest we proceed?" Carol asked.

I pondered for a moment before replying :

"We could sneak in through one of the openings and assess the situation first."

"That's a good plan. After all, we don't even know if Malii is there."

We moved slowly, making our way through one of the openings while staying low and concealed. Surprisingly, there were no guard towers or sentries on duty.

"They really don't seem worried about being attacked," Carol observed.

"I suppose it's because no one usually targets them. It's a remote area, and the closest village is inhabited by fishermen," I speculated.

As we ventured further into the camp, we quickly took cover behind a destroyed house.

"Okay," I whispered. "Let's try to maintain stealth as much as possible. The Watoos are higher level than us, but a well-aimed shot or stab to the head can take care of the average ones. I haven't spotted the Oxanes yet."

"A crossbow would be the best approach," Carol suggested. "But first, let's locate Malii."

I nodded in agreement.

Moving cautiously from one house to another, we eventually reached the center of the camp. There, around a crackling fire, sat half a dozen bandits, roasting flying fishes and discussing with one another. Suspended in the air were a few cages containing Watoos and something else.

"There," I whispered, pointing discreetly.

In one of the cages, Malii was confined, his clothes dirty and stained with blood. His eyes were closed, his face bruised.

"Is he alive?" Carol asked, concern evident in her voice.

"I hope so," I replied.

I attempted to use FOCUS on Malii, but we were too far away.

"The center is heavily guarded," I murmured. "Attacking head-on would be suicidal."

"I agree. So, what's the plan?" Carol inquired.

Before I could respond, two enormous Watoos emerged from a nearby house. They were much larger than the others, adorned in leather and metal armor that accentuated their massive muscular frames. At that moment, they resembled human-sized bears or raccoons more than mice.

"Oxanes," I whispered.

Carol nodded in acknowledgement.

"We can't face them directly," I said, leaning against cover. "We need to try to pick them off one by one until only a few remain."

"How do you propose we do that?" Carol asked, her eyes fixed on the formidable Oxanes.

"Let me think," I replied, mulling over our limited options.

The challenge lay in the absence of guard towers or isolated Watoos on rooftops. This wasn't like the games I had played before, where we could silently eliminate enemies and disable alarms, because they were all separated from each other in group or two or three at max. Here, most of the bandits simply lounged around without a care, oblivious to potential attackers and stayed in big group like the one in front of us. Furthermore, most likely, they were all of higher level than us, making a direct confrontation a stupid choice.

"Hello?" Carol interrupted, growing impatient.

"I'm still thinking," I assured her.

There were approximately six or seven Watoos, along with the two Oxanes, gathered at what seemed to be the center of the camp and where the prisoners were kept. I wasn't certain if Bawa was among them. We were still too low level to engage them head-on. Additionally, based on Tabi's information, there were likely more bandits lurking about.

"Okay," I finally spoke up. "Here's what I think we should do : we retreat for now and search for other Watoos around the camp. If we find one or two alone, we take them out quietly and hide their bodies until we've cleared the rest of the camp."

"But that doesn't solve our problem with this group. They're right beneath Malii," Carol pointed out.

"Yes, but once we eliminate the others, it will serve two purposes. Firstly, they won't be able to call for reinforcements, and secondly, taking down the additional Watoos will raise our levels, making us stronger. Once that's accomplished, we can focus on dealing with this group," I explained.

"Alright, alright. It's a good plan," Carol agreed.

We slowly moved away and began to investigate the camp. It didn't take long for us to spot two Watoos drinking in a partially destroyed house, engaged in a loud argument.

Now that was more what I was used to playing games, I thought to myself.

"Our first target," I whispered to Carol.

She nodded and drew a knife.

"The head," she said, a smile playing on her lips.

"The head," I replied.

I positioned myself on the left side of the house, while Carol circled around to the right. We carefully ensured that no one else was nearby.

SIMON: Go.

I used my crossbow to shoot one of the Watoos directly in the head, causing him to collapse. The second one stood up, dropping his drink, as Carol swiftly leaped through the window and stabbed him in the back of the neck, catching his falling body. I hurriedly entered the house. We looted the bodies and concealed them as best we could before moving on.

We continued to make our way through the camp, eliminating nine Watoos in this manner, both Carol and I leveling up once.

As we kept going around, we arrived at a house where two Watoos were engaged in an argument with a small goblin.

"Hold on," I whispered softly to Carol.

We moved closer to get a better look.

One small goblin stood in front of a wooden desk, while a larger Watoo sat in the chair behind it. Another Watoo stood nearby, clutching a metal pipe. We carefully leaned against the wall, attempting to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"You're asking for too much, Bawa," the goblin remarked.

Carol and I exchanged glances. The Watoo sitting at the desk before us was Bawa. He was sizable but nowhere near the size of an Oxane, toying with a large axe and sporting a smirk on his face.

"I'm simply asking for a fair price. Enkis are worth a lot as slaves. And this," Bawa said, dropping the Gem of Abzu onto the desk, "is worth even more."

The goblin grinned in response.

"You've been offered a fair deal. If you're not satisfied, take it up with Kage."

"And why is Kage associating with insignificant fools like you? Why didn't he come himself?"

"You're not worth Kage's time, Bawa," the goblin smiled. "You're barely worth mine."

Bawa's grip tightened on his axe, his frustration evident.

"Listen," the goblin continued, "you can either accept their offer, or we can simply come here and take what we want. Consider yourself fortunate that we're even engaging in conversation with you."

A heavy silence filled the room as Bawa and the goblin locked eyes. Bawa seethed with anger, while the goblin maintained his smile.

Suddenly, Bawa's expression changed to a smile.

"You know what? You're right," he said. "I should feel lucky that you came all the way here to talk to me. But since you're only offering half of what I asked, I think --"

Bawa hurled his axe at the goblin, the weapon piercing the middle of the green monster's head, causing blood to splatter across the room.

"You should only get half," Bawa finished, erupting into laughter.

The goblin collapsed onto the ground, blood pooling around his lifeless body. Bawa stood up, retrieved his axe, and then turned to the Watoo standing behind him.

"Something feels off. Bring the Enki merchant here," Bawa commanded.

The guard nodded and left the room.

CAROL : What the fuck! Why are there goblins here? And who is this Kage?

SIMON : No idea, but if they bring Malii here, it could be our chance.

CAROL : How do you want to handle this?

SIMON : Let's assess the situation first. But I'm thinking, when they start talking, I'll snipe the guard, and then we both rush Bawa.

CAROL : Got it. Just give the signal.

As we waited for the guard to bring Malli, we decided to distribute our newly gained stat point. I put all of mine into Strength ;

Level 7 Rider BASE Iron Ring of Strength Chrome Survivor suit Ring of Blood Wall Sword Of Tamius Cat II TOTAL Strength 25 2 10 8 45 Vitality 145 55 5 205 Intelligence 20 20 Engineering 30 5 35 Dexterity 50 8 58 Charisma 5 5 Luck 5 5 Chaos 5 5 Mana 20 20