It was a lot to think about when he got into his scavenger coat. Figuring out he could talk to Chaos and Order was a big thing, but it also made him deeply uncomfortable. It was like this was what he needed to fully integrate into the system. The ability to talk to these higher beings if he so wished. These two beings, one that hated him, and one who was definitely playing with him because he was bored. Things were still happening that made him deeply uncomfortable whenever the idea of a higher power was introduced. Those higher powers could not be trusted, and he wanted nothing to do with their game.

  Savannah was awake, but Lucy still wanted to watch her, which meant Marcus, Richard, and Leylah were given the okay to go to the beach to restock some minor items for Amrynn and her potions. They made a stop in the clover field inside the forest to fill up on those. Richard’s inventory was completely full before they even reached the beach. They only ran into a few lower-level monsters he was delighted to identify. A few level five tree monsters that glowed with a red outline so he could easily dodge attacks and stab them. He also stopped Leylah from stepping into a crawler. It wasn’t much, yet it still felt huge. He remembered being the bumbling newbie running into every low-level monster in this forest. Now he had just enough knowledge and abilities to function. Just as long as someone stronger was always by his side.

  Once the clover field was taken care of, his little group headed toward the beach through the trees. Marcus had him switch out the clover for higher-level loot in his inventory. It was probably just a superstition to help him level up his abilities, but it was worth trying. So Richard switched out some clovers for bark bits, then silt, before they broke through the trees and came to the beach. Richard took a deep breath of salty air, his eyes falling on another tiny island in the distance that was definitely a monster.

  “I’ll keep my eye on it, but a lot of islands come and go,” Marcus said, as though sensing Richard’s thoughts. “I saw quite a few in my time. Didn’t realize they were crab monsters until one got brave enough to attack us.”

  Richard glanced at their small numbers, specifically how Leylah and himself were considered freshies.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure we’re gone long before it gets close enough to hurt us.”

  They walked down a section of the beach that Richard hadn’t explored yet, and he could almost feel his scavenger self excited about the prospect.

  They were getting closer to the large cliff. It started with a rocky base at the beach, then a bit of a grassy hill heading into the ocean, creating a rocky cliff that waves crashed into.

  “Eddie says there was a base over there.” Marcus gestured at the cliff.

  Richard’s eyebrows shot up. “Really?”

  “Yeah, long ago. I think Eddie said the opening was at the top of the cliff, like some sort of mechanism that lowered you into the ground. Most of the base was underwater, but they had discovered some way to keep the water out.”

  Richard almost shivered with the possibilities.

  “I guess since our base camp is number two, it would make sense that there’d be more,” Leylah said.

  “Yeah. But don’t get your hopes up. See that?” Marcus pointed at a long vine near the rocky bottom. “That’s the sensor for a huge ass squid monster that hangs out by the cliff base. You can’t kill it unless you go into the water. And if you go in the water, you also alert twenty other monsters to your position. So… yeah. Apparently, the underwater base was the first to fall.”

  Richard gave a quiet sigh of defeat. Not that he had high hopes to begin with. They didn’t have the manpower to split everyone in base camp now, which is what would need to happen if they opened up another base camp. That, and he doubted he’d get past the giant squid Marcus mentioned.

  “One day, when the apocalypse is less intense, it’ll happen,” Marcus said. They kept walking past the cliff, following the beach. They reached a small area where the tide had pulled back, and there were hundreds of clams. Richard and Marcus settled down and started looting as Leylah watched the water. Richard felt like it was a perfect opportunity to ask about “the old days”, but he was far more concerned about the future. Twice their crops were ruined, and now they were down to two years of food. Richard had a bad feeling that if nothing changed, the people would run out before the food did. Richard didn’t want to remain here if the food ran out. The people of base two were nice enough, but what would happen if none of them got a meal for two days straight and there was nothing in the silos to feed them? How quickly would their survival structure break down and everyone would be at each other’s throats.

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  Maybe it was better if Richard put those thoughts aside. After all, there was still two years’ worth of food, which gave them at least a year to make sure they had the farmlands going again. If Marcus felt safe enough to bring Richard out to the beach without Savannah or Elias, things had to be going better, right?

  Additional Inventory Slots (basic) > Additional Inventory Slots (advanced)

  Adds 3 more inventory slots > Adds 4 more inventory slots

  Additional Loot (basic) > Additional Loot (advanced)

  10% chance of getting good loot > 40% chance of getting good loot

  Richard let out a breath, feeling something inside him warm as he read the information. Marcus glanced up, and Richard still watched as the words faded away from his vision.

  “Both inventory and loot upgraded,” Richard said.

  Marcus relaxed at that. “Good. I’ve felt bad having you remain in the farmlands for so long, even if you started with an insane level of growth. I guess it all balances out. Fast growth in those first two weeks, caused by plateauing. You’re probably right where you need to be if the apocalypse wasn’t so crazy.”

  Richard mulled over Marcus’s words. There was something in the meaning that he should pay attention to, but he wasn’t sure what. Insane growth, then not. Chaos, then Order fighting back. He still couldn’t get out of his head that Order was way too involved in the past month.

  Richard got back from the beach, happy to be alive. Perhaps the beach was a monotonous journey, but it was one that gave him the occasional spike of adrenaline. He also upgraded two of his valuable abilities.

  Once his food making ability ended its cooldown, he was in the kitchen under Lucy’s command. He probably needed to experiment a bit. Richard had a lot of questions, wondering if his ability meant the entire cooking process or if he could start cooking while the cooldown was ticking down. He wasn’t sure, but he had a feeling Lucy’s constant demand for food meant he might soon wake up in the middle of the night to make a meal. Then again, he kept thinking about Dmitri. If this could help wake up the leader just a few days earlier, he would wake up in the middle of the night to do this.

  “The newbies decided on their class today,” Lucy said when Richard walked into the healer’s with two bowls of soup.

  Richard did not expect this kind of news. “Wait… without the full… ceremony.” He paused, glancing at Dmitri. Their leader was a large part of that ceremony. His newbie experience was always uncomfortable, if not cultish, but he was surprised how much he felt left out.

  Lucy shrugged as Savannah stood up to take her bowl of soup. “Elwyndor talked to them all beforehand. They’d finally reached level ten. We had a quick ceremony, and all of them chose the farmer class. Pretty sure they didn’t mind remaining inside the walls. But know that it happened, so expect some more newbies tomorrow.”

  Richard sighed as Lucy did her best to hide the fact that she was examining Savannah as she drank her soup. Richard still thought over Lucy’s revelation. He didn’t mind not being involved, but he remembered how rigidly Dmitri demanded they all follow Order. It made him think, once again, that Order could not be the one in charge of sending those locusts because of how badly it disrupted the almost cult-like Order he had experienced his first few weeks here.

  “Did you upgrade at all?” Savannah asked between sips.

  It took Richard a moment to realize Savannah was talking to him. “Oh, uh, yeah. Loot and inventory both.”

  “Nice. I’m looking forward to going on scavenger trips without Elias. It will be such a breath of fresh air.” Savannah drained the last of her soup.

  Lucy took the bowl back. “Alright, you’re cleared for duty. Go check in with Marcus.”

  Savannah needed no further instruction, as she was almost out the door when Lucy finished speaking. “Thanks, Lucy,” she called back.

  Lucy sighed as she took the other soup and fed it to Dmitri.

  “How is he doing?” Richard asked.

  “I just need to get him awake. Once he’s awake, he can trigger his own healing wound ability, and he will no doubt feel better overnight. That, or I wait for my legendary heal ability to grant me the power to press another person’s ability for them.” She said that part louder as though expecting someone to hear.

  “Was that… a suggestion for Order?” Richard asked.

  “Unless you’ve got another hidden ability I don’t know about, then yes. I am talking to the higher power that can actually grant my wishes.” Lucy carefully fed the bowl to Dmitri.

  “How is it working?” Richard asked.

  “Minimally, but a few more weeks of this, and hopefully you’ll advance your ability.”

  Richard tried not to think about how defeated that sentence made him feel. He was finally upgrading abilities in his class, but her sentence reminded him how much longer he had, and how underprepared he felt for everything. At least Savannah and Marcus would look out for him.

  “I still expect you to tell Dmitri everything when he wakes up,” Lucy said.

  Richard sighed. “I know.”

  “Good. Because I’ll keep reminding you of this every time you come in here to bring him food.”