Darren woke up with a splitting headache and a dull pain on his left shoulder. He let out a groan and got up, nearly falling down from how weak his body is. He was vaguely aware that he sensed a ball of something flying over his head and, for some reason, he really wanted to grab it. The ball kinda felt like a fly.

So, after predicting where the ball would go next, Darren's hand shot up and grabbed the ball which felt extremely familiar.

"HEY! What's the big idea!?" A familiar voice yelled, definitely coming from the ball.

Memories of what had happened to Darren slowly filled Darren's mind and he let out a groan and brought the ball to his face, flinching from a sudden spike of pain in his left shoulder as he did so.

"You, Black. What happened? All I remember was lunging at something after your not-so-helpful advice," Darren asked flatly. 

"W-well...buddy. Y-you see, after you looked at your stats-" Black began but was cut off when Darren threw them into a wall, his eyes flashing red for a second.

"Ah yes, my lovely stats," Darren spat out, her voice gaining back its energy. 

Ignoring the cry of pain from his left shoulder, Darren stood up completely and walked over to Black and knelt down. While he was walking, he noticed that he was in a different part of whatever ruined temple he was in. Yes, temple. He came to the conclusion that this place had to be a temple of some kind. There was no other possible explanation.

"So, Black. I'm going to assume that the Gods made you as some kind of guide, right?" Darren asked, trying his best to sound friendly.

"Um, no. They did make me but they just gave me some of your memories before throwing me down with you," Black explained, shaking its...head?....entire body before floating up in the air.

"You're not lying to me, are you?" Darren asked, doing a slight growl unconsciously.

"I'm stuck in the same boat as you, buddy," Black said with some slight sass, "so why would I lie about that?"

Darren stared at the ball of something for a couple seconds before nodding and turning away to fully examine his surroundings. Compared to the room he woke up in, this room was decorated with jewels and, even though it still looked like it was falling apart, the room looked fancy. Darren somehow felt annoyed at that.

That annoyance grew when he realized that this room was a storage room and was really just a room between two hallways, meaning this room has no importance. 

'What did I wake up in, a random coffin!? I guess this culture doesn't praise the dead.'

Black studied the room and quickly saw a picture of a mummy-like figure raining jewels on a coffin. Realizing what Darren was unhappy about, Black quickly went in front of the picture before Darren could find it, knowing that they will be affected by her temper if it grows any worse.

Luckily, Darren only spared Black's new spot a glance before he focused on a bigger concern. Like, I don't know, the bad-looking gash on his left shoulder.

"...Care to explain?" Darren asked, surprising her-himself with out calm he felt.

"Well, I figured out that, while you may be OP, you're not terribly so. You're more like one of those hard-to-kill enemies that are usually tougher than the mid-boss," Black explained with a slight nervous chuckle afterward.

"...I get what you're saying but at the same time, can you explain?"

Black let out a sigh and quickly hovered closer to Darren, going to the left of him so he wouldn't notice the painting.

"You went berserk pretty much and started killing a bunch of things, really goblins. Then, the goblins got smart and laid out a trap for you. You killed like, twenty of them before the trap could be successfully sprung but, in the end, one of them managed to get your shoulder with an enchanted weapon before running away. After they escaped you, you walked into a random room, found a pile of...wheat or hay or whatever that is, and then fell asleep."

Darren turned to look where he woke up and realized that he had indeed fell asleep in some kind of makeshift bed like a bird's nest made up of something that looked like hay.

"Well, I should probably find something to cover the wound with. It stopped bleeding but that doesn't mean it is fine. It'll probably get infected," Darren explained his plan to Black with a sigh. 

Not knowing where he'll find any kind of cloth, Darren looked down at his tattered outfit. He reached down to tear some off but, the moment he thought of it, he shuddered out of disgust and threw the idea away without a second thought. Then, he realized what just happened and reached down again only for the same thing to happen again.

Black watched Darren with a look of confusion, glad that they had no face otherwise Darren would probably be punching them with the look Black was giving her.

'What is wrong with her this time?' Black thought, trying to piece why Darren had, for the fourth time now, reached down towards her tattered garbs only to stop herself with a disgusted look on her face and pull away.

"What are you doing?" Black asked before Darren could reach for her garbs a fifth time.

"I can't bring myself to tear up my clothes for a band aid," Darren explained, his voice a mix of anger and panic.

"Then use a goblin's cloth. While most wore armor, they still had cloth on them," Black suggested, not understanding the situation.

Darren gave Black a look of disgust and disbelief.

"I don't care if I'm stereotyping, I'm not touching any cloth that comes from goblins," Darren hissed, utterly horrified by what Black had just suggested.

"Of course!" Black quickly agreed, not risking angering the loli they are attached to, "But, do you have a better idea?"

Black quickly cursed themselves for asking and watched Darren fearfully. Darren had a completely neutral face, though her blue eyes were slowly turning red, which meant she was getting angry.

"Well, for now I'll guess we start searching," Darren said, breaking the tension he wasn't aware was in the air, his eyes returning to their nice light blue color.

"Before that, I should see how much health I have. If this is anything like a videogame or isekai novel, I should be able to see how much health I have."

Upon Darren saying that, both Darren and Black felt a piece of their soul die from the cringe they just spat out.

"Never say anything like that again," Black demanded in a weak voice, not caring if they sounded rude.

"Agreed," Darren said, feeling like his open is the least of his worries.

Darren eyed his stats for a long time, the light blue of his eyes turning back to their blue and red color. Black took that in with a nod, understanding something. 

"Well, at least my stats are working fine," Darren said with a groan, "Still can't read my skills though."

"Well, on the bright side, that wound isn't that harmful," Black pointed out, "And I also think I may have learned how to tell how angry you are."

Darren considered punching Black but decided against it.

"Well, you going to tell me or not?" Darren asked, crossing his arms.

"Well, when you're not angry, your eye color is light blue. When you're angry, your eyes become blue mixed in with some red. When you're very angry, your eyes become red. And, finally, if your eyes are orange, you go berserk and I assume lose control of yourself until you take a nap."

"In other words, I don't want my eyes to become orange, right?" Darren asked, which Black responded to by nodding.

"Now, depending on how unrealistic this world is, you may not need to try and cover your wound since it may not get infected."

Darren shook his head.

"Still going to do it. Better to be safe than sorry and suffering."

"...Well that's a new one."

Ignoring Black's comment, Darren started making his way out of the room, somehow aware that he should be heading to the north exit of the room since the other entrance was where he came from. Before he walked out the door, he stopped and turned to face Black.

"Say, you don't happen to have some kind of skill shop, do you?" Darren asked, knowing that the answer is probably no.

"What do you think I am, some kind of system? I doubt I have a skill shop-" Black began before they froze as a purple box appeared in front of them.

Black and Darren met each other's eyes before Darren bounded over to look at the purple box.

Black finished reading the skills outloud, but it was pretty clear what Darren and Black wanted.

"Say, Black. You don't think the robes will give me back normal arms and hands, right?" Darren asked just be make sure.

"I don't know entirely but, if I had to take a guess, I would say yes."

Darren nodded before standing up straight and putting her skeletal hands on her hips.

"Then that is our goal! To get the Robes Of Auola!" Darren proclaimed, sounding more like a loli that also has a bad case of chuunibyou.

Darren did an evil laugh, falling deeper into the dark side, before he squinted his eyes.

"...Black, how do we get the skill?"

Black studied the skill shop and realized the problem. There was nothing indicating how to get the skill. Black studied it further and, finally, came up with something.

"You have to be level 2," Black explained.

Darren raised an eyebrow.

"Where does it say that?" Darren asked, searching the skill shop.

"I just know," Black explained before shaking their body/head, "The better question is how do you level up? I didn't see anything that looked like a level or experience bar in your stats."

"It's probably either hidden or under skills," Darren said, trying to hide the fact that he was nervous about him no being able to level up.

A silence set in between the two that was broken off after Darren frowned.

"Wait a second! I killed twenty goblins and I haven't leveled up!? How much more do I have to kill to level up?"

"Well, you are pretty overpowered-but I'm sure you'll get there in no time!" Black stated before quickly reassuring Darren after seeing her face.

"Well, we might as well not waste any time," Darren grumbled, walking back towards the doorway he went before, "Let's go, Black. We have some stuff to do."

Black nodded once and quickly flew towards Darren as she left the room. Before Black left the room, they turned back and nodded at a familiar skeleton-like rat that was hiding in the makeshift bed Darren made.

Western42

I had some trouble with the black text that Black uses but I finally managed to find a way to get the text to work properly. Anyway, hope ya enjoy!