The Systemic Lands

Chapter 561: Day 5,036 (4) – Team Tensions

We stopped on the road outside of Meech as it was getting dark for a break. While I was fine to keep traveling, other people in my team needed a bit of rest.

“They won’t welcome us back,” Fiyaz finally got the courage to speak up. I let out a sigh. It would be all too easy to yell at him and get upset about him making a comment on my decisions, but he was addressing the comment to me not mumbling. Since he wasn’t complaining, off to the side I could respect that.

“They are useless anyways. Being stuck in one city for however long?” I asked and then shook my head. “They are stupid and useless. It is honestly infuriating.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of whomever is holding the sword they were talking about,” Fiyaz said.

“That is why I didn’t kill all of them. That Rurik person was a bit too weak,” I said.

“Wait, you didn’t mean to kill him?” Michelle asked me.

“If I attack someone, I mean to kill them. I just wasn’t trying to kill, kill him. Just hurt him a lot. You know with the Sense stat, I can only estimate someone’s total stat count. Not the full amount. I don’t do much face slapping,” I countered.

“Ah,” Captain Francis said. “I thought you would have ordered us to kill them all and purge the city.”

“One death, like that, well it makes a statement. I am not some person they can casually disrespect,” I added.

“They won’t forget that,” Fiyaz added. “Also, I don’t speak Pashto or Dari. I know a little bit of Farsi.”

“That is a problem, why?” I asked.

“We are going West, and the cities are controlled by Al Qaeda,” he said.

“They probably aren’t,” I replied with a sigh. “If you wanted people from America to wipe out a couple of cities, what would you label the inhabitants as?” I asked.

“Al Qaeda,” Michelle said, and I nodded at that.

“Exactly. Using an Earth label like that, I didn’t realize it at first, but they have probably been using that name regardless. If anything, they are probably sick or annoyed about Meech and the Indian Sultanate.” I explained.

“That makes sense. I am surprised you thought about that,” Captain Francis said. “If that is the case, should we change our approach?”

“I will take the lead in the next city. Enough playing around. We are going to sort out this sword and monster issue. You want to know the worst part,” I added. There was silence at that. “We can’t return until we sort them out. Both of them.”

“Can’t we just get an airship?” Michelle asked.

“I have been thinking about this since we left, but that beam attack, which took out the Crystal Vortex, was from the sword and zones away. That isn’t a coincidence. That monster we ran into, well, it is even worse.” I took a deep breath before I continued.

“However, it started, there is a balance in play. The monster holds several cities. The sword targets the monster. While the people say the monster is limited to a specific area, there might be more complex instructions involved. Like, ‘keep this area clear of control by the sword.’” There were nods at that.

“So, you take out one, then the other has free reign,” Fiyaz said, and I nodded.

“Exactly. And what happens, if we somehow drag their conflict back with us? Whatever commands that monster has, it isn’t simple. Its combat skills are quite a bit and it spoke. It also retreated. That implies its reasoning and situational abilities are just as high. I am not at risk, but if that was unleashed in the heart of the Empire?”

“Disaster. No one would be able to grind. It would kill all the grinders. There would be no way to counter it either,” Captain Francis said, and I nodded at him.

“Bingo. We need more information, but we can’t break the balance that has been set up. No matter what. Both the sword and the monster are hostile to us. Which means we have to figure out how to take them both out at once, or leave them be,” I replied.

“That implies that one doesn’t beat the other in the meantime and it is possible to take both of them out at the same time,” Fiyaz said.

“The monster isn’t a threat to me. The problem is that it is tricky to kill. The sword has power and is tricky in its own way, finding a new person. We need more information, and I want to see this sword myself. I poked Meech enough that the sword user should come out.”

“And you think you can survive against that kind of beam attack?” Michelle asked me.

“With the stats I saw, yes. Unless that sword gives a massive boost, I am not too worried. The important thing is to dodge, which I can do.”

“A trap of some kind. Maybe not spider webbing. But a level 6 monster, with some kind of ability to immobilize a target. Preferably level 7. The issue isn’t killing the monster or the sword. The issue is their ability to escape. I can think of some combinations, but what we really need is a monster that can counter them at that level,” she explained.

“Getting a level 6 monster was hard enough, you want to capture a level 7?” I asked.

“It is the only way. We also need a monster with sensory capabilities, that I can tap into,” she said.

“We should consider getting an airship, returning, and sealing the boarder,” Captain Francis suggested. I turned towards him. “It makes sense. There is only one small strip of land connecting the two halves of the Systemic Lands. “We keep ignoring things,” he replied.

“And if one wins, either the sword or the monster? Then what?” Fiyaz asked.

“We deal with in then. A large enough annihilation bomb or beam attack should solve either problem. We can return, get the necessary equipment and come back,” he replied. It was a decent suggestion, but I didn’t like it for one key reason.

“The issue remains, that the beam attack took us out from an immense distance. I would rather get more information and then look for an immediate solution, than retreating,” I added. Captain Francis gave me a nod at this. The three soldiers with us were listening and keeping watch while we took a short break to discuss things.

There was a long stretch of silence. I was thinking about how both the sword and the monster were disasters, but in different ways. The sword could attack at super long range, with accuracy. Why hadn’t it been able to kill the monster? That was something that was bothering me, and we needed more information.

We set out again and the road quickly turned Northwest, and we began passing through a level 3 zone. I spent my time thinking on my build and how I would fight the monster if I ran into it again. Its stealth was incredibly high and its versatility. Since it was willing to retreat, it was also a donkey type monster, making it exceptionally difficult to kill or even pin down.

Capturing it would be a huge boon, but that kind of power, in anyone’s hands was too big a risk. Since it could counter Michelle so easily, I had no doubt that it could counter being pinned and someone trying to use a rod on it. She might want something like that, but it was at least level 7, which meant capture was just not possible.

Also, once the monster was dead, there would be several cities that would be open for the taking. Hmm, even if control was lost initially, as long as the sword and the monster were dealt with, then my forces would pour into this land.

Since Meech was tied to the sword users, it was not a good option for a beachhead in my mind. While Raji Gupta and Rurik were probably lying about Al Qaeda, it really didn’t matter. They could be called the Happy Friendly People, and I still wouldn’t trust them. I wanted to say I wouldn’t trust them as far as I could throw them, but I could throw them quite far.

I was honestly curious why they hadn’t been wiped out yet either. The only real answer was the sword, but it would be a simple matter of just acting when it wasn’t around, using spies to report when it wasn’t present. Then send in people and wipe out that useless group.

Or it could be like the Divine Empress. They are too afraid of the sword to do anything. They didn’t need to see it in action more than once or twice, for that fear to take root in their souls. Since the people who survived the sword’s attack would be the strongest now, the knowledge would continue.

Once I put that all togeather, I was rapidly putting togeather a picture of the nightmare that was the West side of the Systemic Lands. There were more cities to the South and West from what I had learned. Other cities that might have their own government and culture, but they would be a limited threat.

At the end of the day, what really mattered was the number of cities that were supporting a person and the timeframe of that support. Some person with 10 cities, taking double taxes would match my growth, but they wouldn’t outpace me.

There were only so many known cities left. That was why I wasn’t too worried. Anyone with any power would have looked at removing the sword and the monster, but they hadn’t. The stalemate was beneficial.

Such a stalemate would have kept any probing by the Divine Empress away as well, and vice versa. With how long I suspected the stalemate had stretched for, it was quite possible. The area above the monster was a no-fly zone as well due to the sword’s beam attack and whatever that monster could do.

I just needed to scout out the edges of the Systemic Lands to get a better feeling of the scope of everything and then settle in for a long grind. While the Avatar had claimed the stats were useless, I believed her very little, if at all. Even with her mind broken, any knowledge she dispensed was highly questionable. Better that I find out everything myself.

That self-confidence had come from years and years of fighting. I trusted in my combat abilities and knew their limits extremely well. While the sword was a threat, the bigger the attack, the longer the charge time, and the harder to aim.

The fact that the beam attack had missed and only did shockwave damage was proof enough it wasn’t that strong. Or strong enough I would instantly run away. It was dangerous, but it was like a level 7 monster in that regard. The most dangerous aspect was when it was a complete unknown. Now that everything was falling into place, I felt quite confident in finding a solution that would benefit me.

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