The Systemic Lands

Chapter 87: Day 213 (2) – Power Move Gigachad

“Stop,” I said and let out a long sigh. It was hard to keep the smile off my face for what I had planned now but acting was key. I had been playing into Ruth’s hands by what I was doing.

Time to flip the table completely and not give her a chance to counter me. Ruth lowered the blade, and everyone stared at me. “Pay the debt you owe me on time, and I never want to see you again. I mean it. Live your best life away from me. Tom, you staying or coming back to Purgatory?” I asked in a soft and defeated tone. This was the make it or break it time depending on his response. I slouched my posture to appeared defeated and looked down at the floor.

“Umm?” He looked at Ruth, then me. There was a long moment of hesitation. “Coming, I guess?” I had won! All that was left was to put on a show.

I then pulled out and ripped up the debt contract I had him sign. Ruth was willing to cut her tongue out, but that wasn’t enough to win this confrontation anymore. She should have done it instantly and won, but she wanted to drag the situation out for some reason.

She was trying to win Tom to her side and present me as completely unreasonable. To create her own power base with someone who had learned under me and was competent. I had been too angry to see the situation for what it really was for most of the conversation.

Once a scheming traitor, always a scheming traitor. With what I was about to do, Tom would never turn from my side after this. A loyal minion was far more critical than a piece of tongue that could be healed and some petty revenge from such a horrible woman.

“That was unfair to you. I was quite angry, and I wanted you to stay out of this, but you were right to intervene. I was wrong to escalate things the way I did. Threatening death and bodily harm are not things a person should do in a situation like this. Sorry. Sorry for putting you in such a spot and making you risk my anger. I don’t think I have said that since I have come here. If I say it, I mean it.” I pulled out my dagger. Don’t hesitate! Commit!

I placed my left hand on the wall behind me and stabbed down, cutting off the tip of my pinky finger. Ahh! That hurt a lot.

“What? But why? You were just going to-shutting up now,” Tom said as I reached down and picked up the tip of my finger. I tossed the tip over to him. He caught it and looked back up at me, a bit queasy. I let my left hand bleed off to the side.

“I live by what I say. A hand wrote the contract that was pure bullying and completely unreasonable, so as a true apology have a piece of my hand back. I have a temper problem and I know it. I am self-aware enough to step back and apologize. I am sorry for putting you in the position you were in Tom and thank you for making me see sense.” He gave me a smile and a nod at that. I paused and turned towards Ruth who was in shock and probably to think about the sudden change this entire confrontation had undergone.

“You are still a traitorous bitch Ruth, and I will enjoy every single crystal you have to work to pay me off.” After that I would wait and see. My anger would probably cool off by then, but if not, I would use those crystals to have a team bring me her head. Still, it was probably better to spend the crystals on upgrades, future me decisions.

“I see,” she said in a frosty tone. Her eyes weren’t smiling anymore.

“Not even thanking me for stepping back, that is fine, I don’t expect thanks for an issue I escalated.” I could tell she was grinding her teeth. Yes, you had Tom on your side, but now he has come back to mine. But I was nowhere close to done. The best was yet to come.

“Good luck, I expect my first payment by day 233. Let’s go.” I began to walk towards the door and then paused and turned towards Ruth once more.

“One last piece of advice. You can earn the crystals quick enough by taking charge of this place. The name Truth is very apropos. It fits you perfectly.” I saw Tom mouth the word off to the side. “It means appropriate to the situation. No one reads nearly enough these days, I swear.” I walked out of the room and down to the cart.

I couldn’t resist that last dig at Ruth. For all the times she had badgered me about my decisions, it felt good to return that abuse right back at her. The contentment I felt was all the confirmation I needed that I had made the correct decision in how to handle things.

Naran was right on my tail and Tom behind him after a quick goodbye to Ruth. She didn’t say anything back to him, probably still reeling from what I had just done. I listened closely, but no words were exchanged, and I heard him moving towards us. Once he came down to the cart, I spoke up. “Tom, toss Ruth’s stuff out of the cart. Naran you are on cart pulling duty. Go easy on it, the axle is quite worn.”

“Got it,” Naran said. He was being quite quiet, knowing that it was a good idea to avoid drawing attention to himself with all this drama happening around him.

“Thanks for stepping back,” Tom said while looking at my hand. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“I did. I will not ask people to do anything I refuse to do. If you ever feel the need to speak, please don’t hesitate to do so.”

“I really thought things would have turned out worse. Could have turned out a lot worse. Thank you for listening Michael. Ruth…well, I know what she did really hurt you. If you ever want to talk about it. I am here.”

“I appreciate that, Tom. But I would prefer to put her behind me. You know what?” I reached into my pack and got out the contract I had made Ruth sign. “You think this is reasonable?” I asked him.

He paused and his face went through a variety of emotions. He then let out a sigh. “It isn’t that bad if she only has to pay every 20 days. Also, she really cares for the people of the city. I am sure she will make it work out. She can even sell the dungeon spots if she controls this city.”

Oh, you sweet summer child. People could pay me that much in Purgatory, since they were being funneled money by Tyrese and Ken. I wasn’t an idiot. There was no way the Union had that many crystals on hand for that many people. Math people. MATH!

There were a set number of crystals coming in each day. I had access to the ledger for the tax income, which was a percentage of the crystals. Everything had to go through the store, unless it went into circulation, but that too would eventually go to buy raw materials from the store. Combined with my knowledge of monster density, it was a simple matter to work out the difference in taxes and how much could be collected each day.

All those crystals I had been paid with to get people skills came from that difference. The hidden stash being accumulated by businesses in Purgatory before they could land in the store. There were only two people with that kind of pull, Ken and Tyrese. Then the only question was remaining was why would they spend that much to invest in other people?

They wanted people with skills in debt to them, so they had leverage on me. Here in Truth, there was nothing. No secret reserve stash. No culture of grinding. No people Ruth could count on. It would be just like me at the start of Purgatory, trying to hammer things together.

Also, the dungeon spots, well those went to whomever was the strongest. That was me. Still, Ruth could run this place, it was the most horrible thing I could inflict on another human being. Having to manage and deal with the mess that was Truth.

Of course, Tom didn’t understand this. He just looked at the surface and saw an interpersonal dispute. I almost got sucked into that as well. It was honestly too close for comfort, but Ruth had just kept pushing my buttons. The reality was that the entire situation was just an aftershock of the power plays that Ken and Tyrese were engaging in to counter my power.

“Well, she might need some time to get on her feet. I will have the first payment due on day 250. Let me note that down. Also, you can hold the contract and collect the payments from her.”

“What? Why?”

“Tom, I really don’t want to see her ever again. She spied on me. If it was just concern about my mental health, why was she taking crystals?” I shook my head. “I can’t stand plots and spying like that. I prefer to say what I think and not do the political dance. If you collect the crystals, then things can cool down.” Also, she had not objected to the accusation she had been sleeping with Tyrese. That was the final nail in the coffin.

“I see. Want me to tell her?”

“Sure. But Tom, one thing,” he stopped turning to go back upstairs and turned to look at me. “Ruth is no longer part of our team. This is a permanent divorce. There won’t be any reconciliation later on. I can’t forgive her for what she did to me. That is why I want to keep my distance. I know I don’t have the right to ask this of you, but…”

“What is it, Michael?”

“Don’t talk with her about me or anything we do or discover. I won’t ask you to tell me about her or what she is doing. I don’t want to get into another spying situation. I hope you understand?” I asked.

“Of course. That makes perfect sense.” Yes, it does. It completely makes it impossible for you to support her. If she said she couldn’t pay, I would tell Tom I trusted him to handle it and he would come to resent Ruth for not cleaning up her mess. It helped that at the end of the day she had spied on me, and I held the high moral ground. I didn’t plan to let it go any time soon.

“Thanks Tom. I appreciate it. Why don’t you tell her about what I agreed to while I figure out what to do with my finger.”

“Yeah, you want this back?” He held out my finger stub. I took it.

“Thanks.” He opened his mouth and then closed it, choosing to go upstairs. I went to a side room and gestured with my left hand. No Acid Shot. That was critical to know. A hand injury was a critical injury for skill use. I paused. Oh no. I might have screwed up big time.

“Naran. Stay here. I will be back shortly. I need to fix my hand.”

“Got it. I will pass it onto Tom,” I barely heard him as I rushed out the entrance. I raced into the plaza towards the pillars. People quickly ran out of the way in a panic. I put both my hands on one of the pillars. My heart skipped a beat as there was no reaction.

I put my head down on the pillar. The store came up and I let out a breath of relief. That had been way too close for comfort.

I paid 3,891 points for a restoration, leaving me with 20,856 in reserve. I looked at the cut off finger and my healed hand. Well, that was one way to put meat back on the menu. I just shook my head as I made my way back to the cart.

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