“Alright, who knows the first rule of healing potions?” Lucy asked.

  This jolted Richard back to the present. Or at least the present that he was now a part of. Lucy waited for an answer from the newbies, and that caused his thoughts to scramble. “You, Richard. What’s the first rule of healing potions?” she asked.

  He had already answered by this point in the last time loop. He struggled to remember what he had said. What was the actual answer?

  “Don’t… drink it?”

  Lucy’s stern face relaxed into surprise, and Richard realized his mistake. He was supposed to pretend this time loop hadn’t happened. He had information he wasn’t supposed to know.

  “That’s… right.” Lucy shook herself out of the shock, then dived into the lecture of how to use a health potion topically. Richard tried to calm his thoughts. He didn’t know what to do. He could honestly say he never thought he’d run into a problem like this. Traveling to a different world was a big enough issue, but why did he keep glitching back in time?

  He wasn’t sure if he could trust anyone enough with this information. Lucy and Dmitri both looked shocked that he knew his last name. He’d been here less than a day. Maybe he’d feel differently in a couple weeks. But for now, he needed to keep this quiet.

  Lucy kept lecturing, and Richard tried to remember what questions he’d asked before. Despite already knowing this information, he needed to make sure things stayed the same. The butterfly effect kept popping into his mind, which he tried to remember. He also sifted through his memories to remember when he needed to ask his question. What was it?

  Right, what Lucy did with her gift when healing potions were a thing. That was still a bit away in the lecture, though. Richard placed a finger against his chin, doing his best to pretend he hadn’t heard this lecture before when the door to the hospital building opened.

  Lucy stopped her lecture. Her posture immediately changed to that of someone fully prepared to operate on someone. Marcus walked further into the room, smiling. “Hey, Lucy. Big apology. It was brought to my attention that this might actually be the perfect opportunity for the newbies to get a taste of scavenging.” Lucy almost said something, but Marcus kept going. “I know it’s a shitty move. But we’re going to the beach. It’s one of the safest places besides base camp itself, and it’ll be a good experience.”

  Lucy sighed. “Can it wait until after my lecture?”

  “We’re leaving now. And… no one really knows when your lectures end.”

  She picked up a basic healing potion and chucked it at Marcus’ face. Marcus caught it with surprising agility. He smiled. “I’ll make it up to you.”

  Lucy groaned.

  When a butterfly flaps its wings somewhere, a tornado happens… somewhere else. The butterfly effect. Richard blinked as Marcus gave Lucy another smile. In an apocalypse, no doubt things were in constant chaos.

  “Alright, this is your first lesson in an apocalypse. Go with the flow,” Lucy said, heading toward the locked back room. She opened it and began placing things into her inventory. “Each of you will take two healing potions with you.”

  Marcus frowned. “Two?”

  “Yes, two.”

  He gestured over his shoulder. “We’re off to the beach. It’s not that far.”

  “Two potions, Marcus,” Lucy said, her voice more stern.

  “Having extra inventory slots makes things a hell of a lot easier, and you just used up…” Marcus glanced at the four of them, “…eight slots.”

  “You know the first rule of healing potions, Marcus?” Lucy asked.

  “Don’t drink them!” Fang said, a little too eager.

  “Incorrect.” Fang’s smile dropped, and he was about as confused as Richard was the first time before the world reset. Lucy focused on Marcus again. “Come on, Marcus.”

  Marcus rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Lucy...”

  “What’s the first rule of healing potions?”

  “It would be a lot easier to keep track—” Marcus started to say.

  “Tell me the first rule?”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  “—if you actually stayed consistent with what the first rule is.”

  “Safety is always number one; therefore, every safety rule is rule number one,” Lucy said.

  Marcus groaned. “Just tell me.”

  Lucy sighed, much in the way a teacher sighed at a student that’d been held back a year. “If someone is not past level ten…” Lucy trailed off, waiting for Marcus to finish.

  “Then they must have two healing potions in their inventory at all times,” Marcus mumbled the rest.

  “Good. You have been listening.” Lucy began passing out two healing potions to Richard and his group. “I have a good feeling about you, Marcus. You might last longer than two years!”

  Marcus pursed his lips as Lucy finished giving everyone two healing potions. Richard watched as Fang slid the two potions into his inventory without a second thought. Amber, too, didn’t seem disturbed by placing potions in the small of her back. It was Leylah’s reaction that Richard was the most weirded out by. Leylah, as though subconsciously, kept the bottles in her palms, waiting for something to happen. It was only when nothing did that she frowned, then placed the bottles in the small of her back. Richard eased them into his, making sure the bottles were well in the small void before he let go. At the bottom of his vision, he saw a picture of two bottles with three empty slots.

  “Alright, everyone, follow me,” Marcus said.

  Once they left the healer’s building, Fang hurried to catch up with Marcus.

  “Hey, I really hate to be that guy, but didn’t you tell us we wouldn’t go outside the wall for a few days?” Fang asked.

  “I did, yes. And that’s part of the reason I resisted so much in asking you all to come with us today. To be fair, if we weren’t going to the beach, then I would’ve been happy sitting you all down and teaching you about the different plants and roots. But the beach is one of the safest places here on Kaelune.” Marcus paused, then closed one eye as he thought about it. “As long as you don’t touch the water. In fact, yeah. Reminder that we’re going to the beach, but do your best not to touch the water.”

  “What could happen?” Fear strangled Fang’s voice.

  “Sometimes nothing. Sometimes death. Hope there’s not a creature powerful enough to feel where you are when you touch the water,” Marcus said.

  Fang waited for something. Marcus glanced at Fang as though waiting for him to say what was clearly on his mind. They were walking toward the gate, and Marcus simply kept looking at Fang expectantly.

  Fang finally let out a sigh. “I can’t tell if you’re joking or not.”

  Marcus gave a small, albeit sad, smile. “Nah. Not here, not now. I’m not the joking type. The apocalypse is too insane for even me to think of something crazier.”

  They met up with a small group, and Richard was struck with the realization that this was it. This was all the scavengers of base two. Marcus, Elias, and two other women. One woman was about the same height as Amber. She had cropped brown hair, and her brown eyes gave the impression that she had been crying for a while. The other woman had a lighter shade of brown hair and pointed her livid gaze at the ground. Elias was standing further away from everyone else, arms folded, looking way more relaxed than the other two women. This reminded Richard why a group of newbies was needed. This class had taken a serious blow yesterday, which is why Richard and his group were here.

  “Alright, Reggie and Shrub are coming with us for added protection,” Marcus said.

  “Yeah, see? Added protection? Why do we need added protection if the beach is the safest place here?” Fang’s voice shook a bit.

  Elias grunted, a smile on his face. “Someone’s going to be a coward farmer.”

  Marcus shot Elias a glare. The woman with the livid look curled her fingers into a fist, and the other woman rubbed the other’s shoulder like that would somehow ease the anger out.

  “Every class has its importance,” Marcus said straight to Elias, who didn’t listen. Marcus then turned toward Fang. “It’s one of the safety rules we have. Any group of fewer than five needs two guards to be with them. Or any group that has members who are level ten and lower. We have a group of over five, but we have the four of you and need guards.” Marcus’s gaze ran over the wall.

  Richard could practically hear Fang’s concern. There were a lot of newbies here. How much protection could two guards give them? The silence made Fang’s eyes bulge out of their sockets. Thankfully, Leylah spoke up.

  “So how long have you been in base two, Marcus?” Leylah asked.

  “Going on seven months now,” Marcus said.

  Richard was relieved that someone else had started a conversation. He hated looking needy. He didn’t understand why he didn’t want to seem that way, but he was glad, all the same. The two women were named Savannah and Meredith. Both were from Leylah’s world, Callro. Meredith had answered questions as best she could while still glowering at the ground. Savannah and Meredith both arrived only three months ago.

  Otrin’s warning came back. Richard didn’t want to think about it, because it was bleak, but he couldn’t help but wonder how much longer the people standing around him would last.

  The two guards arrived. Richard noticed the forest goliath almost immediately. He now understood why Dmitri was confused about why Richard didn’t react. The goliath was at least eight feet tall. At first, Richard thought Shrub was wearing armor, but it was tree bark. At the sight of Shrub, Fang relaxed so hard Richard thought he would collapse. Richard didn’t blame him. There was a sense of safety when looking at the eight-foot humanoid.

  Reggie looked positively small next to Shrub, even though the man was still at least six feet. Much taller than Richard. He tied his long blonde hair in a ponytail. Next to the goliath, Reggie looked very unassuming.

  “Reggie and Shrub here reporting for duty,” Reggie said.

  Marcus smiled. “Good. We’re off to the beach. It will be a relief to give you two watch while we fill our inventories.”

  Reggie waved to the person on the wall, and they waved back. The gates creaked open, and Richard saw the dark forest in the morning light.

  “How much space do you two have in your inventories?” Marcus asked.

  “Three stacked,” Reggie said.

  “Just three,” Shrub said.

  Richard frowned, glancing at Leylah. He could have asked what that meant, but Marcus kept talking.

  “Great. We have a lot of space between us all, then. Let’s go make Elwyndor’s day.”

  With that, Marcus turned around and gestured for everyone to follow. With a deep breath, Richard walked through the gates as he kept an eye on the forest that had almost killed him yesterday.