We arrived at the small Watoo camp, which wasn't too far from the fishermen's village. Surprisingly, aside from a few bandits, we didn't encounter anyone else on the way. Carol was almost at level 10.

The camp was quite small but well protected with tall metal walls surrounding the courtyard, about the size of a soccer field. The houses were built on top of each other, metal and wood sheds typical of the Watoo camps, and the entrance was a large arch of steel guarded by four Watoos.

"I kind of want to test my Purple Gem," said Carol.

"Well, better now than in the middle of a dangerous boss battle or something," I replied.

"So, I have a plan," she started.

"Is it better than the last one?"

She grinned and continued, "We've wasted enough time, don't you agree?"

"Yes, I agree."

"Okay, I'll use my Red Gem attack to blow the walls, we rush in and kill as many as we can in a surprise attack."

"It's a stupid plan," I stated.

"How so?"

"The camp is small, but based on what we've learned so far, there must be a leader, and he must still be strong," I explained.

"Yes, so we take over most of the camp and then deal with the leader."

I shook my head.

"How much did you invest in intelligence?" I asked.

"Not much, I put most of my stats in Strength. I'm already quite intelligent, I don't need a boost."

I laughed. She didn't.

"Let me think for a moment," I said.

Attacking the camp head-on like that was really stupid. Our levels weren't high enough, and we had no idea how many or how strong the Watoos inside would be. Even if Carol would blow a wall down - and she totally could - we had no clue where most of the bandits were. We needed intel. I quickly examined the camp in more detail. The walls were made of metal sheets stacked on top of each other, and with no guard tower, I could climb them using my 'Hide and Seek' ability. I had an idea.

"Okay, what about this," I explained. "I'll climb one of the walls using my 'Hide and Seek' ability. Then, I'll report to you via DM what I can find. From there, we can decide if blowing a wall is a good idea and also which wall would be best."

She thought for a moment, then replied :

"Okay, a waste of time, but if it makes you happy."

"Oh, so happy," I said with not-so-subtle sarcasm.

She smiled, and I went on my way.

With caution, I made my way to the left side of the camp, taking cover behind the wall before starting to climb. I couldn't help but be amazed by my newfound strength; it was effortless, and I noticed how my arms had grown significantly bigger and more muscular. My whole body seemed to have undergone a transformation. I had always been what they call 'skinny-fat'—skinny with a big belly. However, ever since I started investing my points in Strength, it felt like my body was adapting accordingly. I couldn't help but wonder what Intelligence does for someone, and that thought led to a brief chuckle as I imagined Carol's experience with her chosen stats.

I swiftly reached the top and activated my ability, a 50-second counter appearing on my HUD. I stood on top of the wall and looked inside.

SIMON : There are maybe 10 bandits in the courtyard, chatting, drinking, and such.

CAROL : Any others?

SIMON : Some are in front of their sheds, maybe an extra 3 or 4, not certain.

CAROL : Which wall should I blow?

SIMON : Wait.

CAROL : Sleepy emoji

SIMON : I think I see the leader. He is in the courtyard, way bigger than the others. He is walking away.

CAROL : Where?

SIMON : Hold on.

The biggest Watoo was wearing metallic armor covering his chest and holding a big club with metal spikes. He was arguing with a smaller Watoo who seemed quite drunk. They moved towards the entrance, and the bigger one kept pointing there. Then he suddenly smashed the smaller one with his weapon, breaking his skull.

SIMON : Holy fuck, the leader just killed one of his men.

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CAROL : Time to attack.

SIMON : Hold on, two more are going towards the entrance.

SIMON : No, four.

Four Watoos rushed towards the entrance of the camp, looking scared and panicked, while the leader was laughing.

SIMON : Blow the entrance, you can get 8 in one shot! Do it now!

A few seconds later, the whole entrance archway exploded as a giant red fist smashed it, destroying the ground and collapsing the steel supports. Bodies flew around.

I didn't waste time; I quickly jumped into the middle of the courtyard and triggered Ceto's Wrath in the direction of the boss. The wave of fire and flames rushed towards him, pulverizing at least 2 other bandits on the way.

The leader was taken by surprise but managed to evade my attack, barely, his left arm catching on fire.

"What is that?" he shouted. "We are being attacked--"

Before he could finish, I shot two explosive bolts at him. He blocked them, but they still pushed him backward, and he fell on the ground, his metallic armguards destroyed. Four bandits came from behind me, and I turned around, triggering my last Ceto's Wrath. They vanished in a wall of flames and ashes, leaving behind only their weapons. I drew my sword and rushed towards the leader, who was now standing up. Carol finally rejoined me.

"Time to test the wolf!" she shouted as she tapped the purple Gem on her armband.

From the gemstone came thousands of bright purple particles fading to white and blue mid-air, flying towards the ground in front of Carol. A giant ethereal wolf, a quite bigger than a grizzly bear, materialized and howled loudly, the force from his scream pushing away every enemy around us.

"I can't believe it!" Carol exclaimed. "We can communicate, I can hear him and talk to him. He is FENRIR!"

Fenrir looked at her for a second, then rushed towards the leader.

"He will take care of the leader; we finish the others," Carol proposed.

I nodded as I took a last look behind me at the beast. Fenrir was fast, and with every movement, he left behind a trail of white and blue particles and ice shards, emitting a stunning light. He looked scary, and I felt glad he was on our side. He jumped to attack the leader, and they both battled. The Watoo had zero chance of surviving.

In front of me, Carol was fighting two bandits, and three more came from the sheds, wooden stairs leading them towards her. I ran for them, slid on the ground, and quickly pivoted - similar to how I saw Cleo do during our battle. This move gave me momentum, and I slashed forward, cutting one of the bandits straight in half.

The two others looked at me with fear and anger. I didn't wait a second and dashed towards one of them. He quickly evaded my attack, as the second one swung his axe aiming for my back.

Once more, I swiftly pivoted and blocked his attack.

BAM!

I was hit on my back; the first bandit I attacked had pulled a pistol and shot me. Luckily, my armor took most of the impact, and my health only dropped to 197.

I kept going and targeted one of them by leaping in the air and rotating - again, copying Cleo's moves. It took him by surprise, and the speed I had gained broke his defense, slashing his face as blood splattered in the air. He stepped back, and the second Watoo rushed to help, but I was already on my way, pushing toward my target and stabbing rapidly at him. He blocked, and I twisted my sword, disarming him as his axe flew in the air. Then, once more, I pivoted to give myself momentum and swung my sword, cutting his head cleanly.

I turned around to prepare for the second attack, but Carol was there, her war hammer deep into the neck of the bandit, as he collapsed on the ground. She had a maniacal grin.

"I reached level 10!" she shouted.

I smiled back.

"Any more left--"

Before I could finish, a loud howl was heard. We turned around as Fenrir was screaming at the sky, and at his feet, the leader was torn apart in a pool of blood.

"Who's a good boy?" Carol said with satisfaction. "You're a good boy!!"

We surveyed the aftermath of the battle - the camp was half-destroyed, Watoo bodies and blood scattered all over, and Fenrir sitting like a faithful dog, gazing at us.

"How long will he stay?" I asked.

"I don't know, I can only see his health," Carol replied. "It's at 400 out of 400, he didn't even get hurt. But there's no timer."

"I guess as long as he's alive, he'll stay?"

"Maybe. We should ask Patate when we can," she suggested.

I nodded in agreement.

After a quick search, Carol found a magic ring on the leader.

"Hey, you should use it," she said, tossing it to me.

I caught the ring and used FOCUS to examine it:

"Jade Ring of Intelligence : +5 Intelligence."

"You sure you don't want it?" I asked with a grin. "You need it more than me!"

Carol laughed :

"Nah, I'm fine. You're starting to have more spells, and you could use the extra mana."

She had a point. As I reached level 10, I was getting 5 stats points - considering that we'd get double the stat points from level 11 onwards - I decided to invest everything into Intelligence.

My new stats were :

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

This would give me enough mana for either three Ceto's Wrath spells or one Ceto's Wrath and one Kali's Anger.

We also found several health patches and gold in addition to the ring. Finally, I turned to Carol :

"We have about 10 hours before nightfall. We could try to hit the second camp. Tabi mentioned it was about the same size."

"Yes, we should do the second one and stop at the Flying Garden for the night," she replied.

"The issue," I said, "is that you used your Gem attack, and I used both my Ceto's Wrath. I mean, we went a bit overboard here."

Carol chuckled. "It was fun! Plus, we still have Fenrir!"

I glanced at the giant wolf now sleeping on the ground next to us.

"We do," I agreed. "Alright, let's go now, because I'm not sure how long Fenrir will stay with us."

Carol nodded, and we resumed our journey.