“I just don’t get it,” Angie huffed, complaining for what felt like the thousandth time that day as she continued to heal Jack, with Danielle patiently listening throughout the entirety of it.

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  “It’s all new, even if you do see some similarities. Understanding it is important, but you need to accept the fact that you might not be able to, in which case getting used to it will be your only option,” Danielle explained, not minding the small talk with the eccentric girl.

  Angie was… remarkable. It was as if her talents knew no bounds. She was incredibly proficient with magic, she could read a battlefield like a book, she was scarily smart when she wanted to be, and to boot, she was very good looking. She had short, dirty blonde hair, brown eyes and features that always drew gazes her way. Her eccentric personality and positive attitude made her popular with everyone, which she didn’t seem to mind. She enjoyed talking to people, discussing things with them, never shooting anyone down, which made her even more popular.

  Danielle was almost jealous of that.

  Almost.

  Because for all her talents, she had one glaring drawback that made Danielle think she had a few screws loose. She just couldn’t let go of one tiny detail: healers.

  She would complain about how she couldn’t become a healer. Then about the fact that there were no healers. Then the fact that she, as a stormweaver–which was a variant of a mage but with a focus on wind, lightning, and water magic, that required insanely large manapools to sustain its powerful spells, something that Angie had in spades thanks to her [Wisdom of the Ages] title–could use [Minor Heal].

  She reminded her of Matt. His talents also knew no bounds. He absorbed knowledge like the desert did water, he read people like he could see into their souls, which, while scary, made him incredibly easy to talk to. Knowing how you felt made him know how to respond, how to react, making him an incredible conversationalist. And yet, he never channeled those talents.

  It infuriated her to no end. The luck and fortune to be born this talented, yet never utilize or make use of it. He was undeserving, and so was Angie.

  “You are so wise Dani,” Angie complimented, prompting Danielle to wince at the shortening of her name that she had asked Angie many times not to do.

  “Danielle,” she corrected.

  “But Dani is so cute! Danielle is way too formal. We are friends, aren’t we? Come oooooon,” Angie pouted.

  “Fine. Just not around other people. I can’t have anyone else calling me ‘Dani’,” Danielle relented, figuring it was best to appease the girl.

  “Can I call you Dani too?” Jack interjected, reminding the two women of his presence.

  “No!”

  “Yes!”

  Both girls shouted their answers at the same time.

  “But… isn’t he our friend too?” Angie pouted again, looking at Dani with puppy eyes.

  Danielle sighed, walking to the girl and cupping both her hands in hers. “Don’t you think it would be more special if you were the only one to call me that? If everyone starts doing it, I won’t be your ‘Dani’ anymore,” Danielle enticed the girl, honey dripping from her sickly sweet voice.

  Angie’s eyes widened in realization, a dangerous spark in them. She pulled a hand from Danielle’s and pointed at Jack.

  “You!” she yelled at the unsuspecting man. “She is my Dani! Only I get to call her Dani,” she proclaimed, puffing her chest with mock pride.

  Danielle now understood her father’s intentions. When Brammar had told her that Angie would be joining her group, she had seen no reason to refuse. She had heard about the girl and her talents, and knew it was best to be close to the erratic girl. It was one of her duties and responsibilities to draw promising individuals towards her family.

  The unexpected part, however, was her father. She had assumed he wouldn’t care about someone like Angie, who was too unpredictable, even if she had the second highest stats of anyone on Earth. She still informed him of what Brammar had asked of her, and to her surprise, he told her in no uncertain terms how important it was to influence the young girl, control her if need be. He hadn’t gone as far as saying the words, but Danielle could intuit from how he had reacted. The girl was vital to his plans in establishing a permanent foothold in the system.

  She hadn’t asked questions. Her father didn’t like revealing his plans to anyone, even to her, and had always made sure to remind her that her duties didn’t involve questioning him.

  That’s fine. I’ll play the good daughter. I’ll let them hold on to their outdated ideas, she thought. Because soon, it will all be mine…

  Matt’s desert send back was very reminiscent of what Sal had done. He didn’t know whether people in the system were bad at goodbyes or just straight up assholes, but getting shoved into a portal instead of getting his question answered was starting to get real old. He hadn’t even gotten to thank the damn cat.

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  With a sigh, he got up, dusting himself as he did. He was probably in such a horrendous state that he doubted a little dust would even make a difference, but it was more of a reflex at this point.

  It seemed to be the middle of the night in the Egyptian desert. The cool summer breeze, the wide open skies, and a bright full moon illuminating the desert in its entirety made the desolate land look picturesque. The serenity of it was truly unmatched. The only thing missing was the sound of the ocean waves crashing onto the beach, completing the cathartic scene.

  Some people hated the solitude, but he was never one of those people. He enjoyed being alone with his thoughts. After all, being alone had been his only escape back then.

  “Just as calm and quiet as when I left,” he chuckled to himself, cracking his neck as he opened his notifications. It seemed like he’d gotten a new one as soon as he had exited the dungeon.

  Minor feat of power performed.

  Title unlocked!

  First Explorer

  Be the first to clear a dungeon on your newly initiated planet.

  +2 all stats

  +2% all stats

  It wasn’t much, but it was honest work. Not that he was gonna complain about free stats.

  That errant thought had reminded him to put on the final reward he had picked from the reward room.

  Taking it out of the ring, he identified it.

  Blessed Earring of Recovery (rare)

  A masterfully crafted earring originally meant for healers but now only used as a last resort.

  Imbued with the concept of recovery. Once per day, you are able to channel the earring’s power into your target, healing wounds and injuries, and curing any and all ailments in an instant.

  Recovery consumables will be unusable for a period of (1 day) upon being subjected to the earring’s healing powers.

  +2 spirit

  +1 wisdom

  Kara had been against him getting the item, citing that he needed literally anything other than healing.

  He, for his part, simply argued that if an Apache helicopter could carry almost a hundred missiles as well as a chain gun, then he could afford to have a few more heals under his sleeve. Also, it felt like a perfect fit for him since it only specified not being able to use recovery items, which he had none of, effectively negating its one downside.

  It also helped that it worked perfectly with his new gloves, since having access to a full heal would help put his mind at ease when its [Glorious Sacrifice] ability was on. The remaining items were just too... peculiar. They were either too specialized, making them unusable for him, or too generalized making them a glorified stat stick.

  One of them had been a jacket that regulated your body heat, keeping you at whatever temperature you preferred.

  Yep. A walking air conditioner with stats slapped onto it. It sounded ‘cool’ and all, but he doubted a scorpion would care about his body temperature before it started tearing him to shreds.

  He wanted items with combat capabilities, or at least with something usable during combat, and the earring had been the closest to that.

  Next, he opened his status screen. He hadn’t done so in a while, so it was good to see his growth after the last dungeon and after donning his new items.

  Status

  Name: Matthew Ashfield

  Level: 12 (Tier 9)

  Class: Mender

  Race: Human (Tier 10)

  Titles

  Initiated (Initiate)

  Spirited Soul

  The Sole Reject

  Hunter (Tier 10)

  Unrivaled Genius

  First Explorer

  Stats

  Strength - 42

  Agility - 43

  Spirit - 80

  Intelligence - 42

  Wisdom - 44

  Willpower - 64

  Vitality - 51

  Endurance - 44

  16 stat points available to distribute.

  Skills

  [Universal Tongues] (unique)

  [Identify] (common)

  [Revitalize] (common)

  [Repair] (uncommon)

  [Sense Mana] (uncommon)

  [Advanced Mana Control] (rare 7)

  He focused in on the stats, sending a mental command for it to display his gains since he had last checked all the way back at level 5.

  Stats

  Strength - 35 → 42

  Agility - 35 → 43

  Spirit - 58 → 80

  Intelligence - 40 → 42

  Wisdom - 41 → 44

  Willpower - 44 → 64

  Vitality - 39 → 51

  Endurance - 37 → 44

  His stats were going up. Not by much, but a noticeable degree at least. Strength and Agility had gained 7 and 8 points, mainly thanks to his new title and items. Intelligence and Wisdom, on the other hand, had barely gained anything, which was a worrying sign. A healer was still a caster at heart, and those two were the two main stats for any caster, and now they were starting to stagnate, indicating that he might have to invest some of his free points into them at some point.

  The biggest winners, though, were definitely Spirit and Willpower. Two stat points in each per level, along with his title modifiers, were starting to really add up. The problem was that the effectiveness of both was hardly felt. So far, the only thing he knew for sure was that they improved his healing. Mental and soul defense wasn’t easily quantifiable, which only served to make him even more skeptical about the true value of the stats. It was just hard to believe that was all there was to it.

  In the end, while he did come out of the dungeon with some answers and better gear, the answers had only served to raise more questions. Questions he had no idea when or how he was gonna find the answers for.

  Something else he had to address soon was his free stat points. He now had 16 on hand, which was a lot of unused power, but he also didn’t want to simply assign them with no rhyme or reason. The gamer in him craved perfection, but he might have to face the reality that it might not be an option for much longer. Those stats could be the difference between making it out alive, and not.

  For now, he would put it on hold, at least until he was out of the desert. Hopefully in a hotel suite with a glass of champagne in hand, he let his thoughts wander, not letting the endless sand dissuade him from his dreams of grandeur and luxury.

  He also really needed to find some food and water. He'd tried his best to ignore the thought of why he hadn’t felt hungry or thirsty, fearing that merely acknowledging the fact would bring it to the surface, reminding his mind and body that he hadn’t had anything to eat for a few days now.

  There were so many things he had wanted to ask the cats. Unfortunately, time hadn’t been on his side, and asking why he wasn’t hungry hadn’t been as crucial of a question as why people would be coming for his head.

  Guess that’s one more to the list, he thought as he started heading towards his dune buggy that was now covered in sand. It had definitely seen better days, and looked to be in a dire need of maintenance more than ever.

  Matt cracked a smile, and his knuckles, as he prepared himself. It was finally time to put his new skills to the test.