The Systemic Lands

Chapter VII – Day 230 – A High Pressure Meeting

The only thing I knew for sure was this place was a clown show. But that would be an insult to clowns. I was robbing Ken blind and he had given up on increasing my quota. He just didn’t have the crystals to spend. Then there had been that Ben person, who had stolen the whole city treasury. Just walked right out the door with it.

Completely idiotic. Who just let’s their entire treasury get stolen like that? The big issue was that, even with my theft, the points were just not enough. Also with the new buddy system, I couldn’t summon or train more monsters. Sure, I could ‘steal’ crystals from Ken pretending it took more crystals to make the powder than it actually did, but I was at my limit.

The test subjects were still alive for the most part but were now blood banks for red powder. I had been trying more combinations and ideas, but after that initial round of success, I was stuck at a dead end in my research.

I kept debating on if I should make an attempt to escape or not. I went outside and one of Ken’s guards tagged along. So annoying, but nothing I could do about it. As I was walking, I felt tired. The guard next to me collapsed. What?

All my monsters began to collapse. Falling asleep. No! I refused to die. I bit my lip hard. Blood dribbled down my chin. The pain kept me upright.

“Impressive, you are still awake.” I stared at the cloaked female figure who had stopped by before. She had returned. I was wondering if she would come back. I wiped my mouth and glanced at the guard “Just asleep, don’t worry.” A skill, which meant this person wasn’t simple. I already knew that, but this was even further confirmation.

“I wasn’t.” I was very worried. She had disabled all my monsters with a single skill. But she didn’t realize it thankfully. I had to project confidence.

“Crystal powder, the secret.” Of course, that was what she wanted. Unfortunately for her, the skill was already wearing off and my summons were quickly waking up.

“I am not afraid of you.” I was moving my monsters into position. If you wanted to fight, then we would fight. The figure seemed to pause and consider me for a bit.

“You think you can take me?” She brought up her left hand. I tensed up a bit, but I wasn’t about to give up one of the few pieces of leverage I had in this place.

“Yes. It will be messy, but you don’t stand a chance against me.” She stared at me, and I stared right back. I noted her tilt her head side to side and look around. I knew my monsters weren’t visible, but she was picking up on something.

“You aren’t bluffing, but you don’t have any skills.” It took me a moment to realize she meant magical skills, not research or school skills. “Something is off here.”

“Let me guess, you only have 30 more energy left. That is what, six uses of Acid Shot?” She didn’t move, but I could tell my words impacted her mental state to read through her energy level like that. All the practicing I had done with negative energy and working on energy sense was paying off. “A Regeneration stat of around 60 if I had to guess?”

“Impossible, you are from Purgatory, and there are no observation skills. But you clearly know quite a bit. Such an accurate guess. Perhaps, a threat is the wrong way to handle this.” She lowered her hand. I was still tense, but it was a clear de-escalation. “I want that information.” We waited in silence for a bit. “This is where you say what you want, and we see if we can reach an agreement.”

“I don’t see what someone like you can do for me. Unless you are offering to kill Ken?”

“I would get through a guard or two, but his security has high stats and skills. He takes his safety seriously, especially after the recent assassination attempt,” the mystery figure replied.

“Then I don’t see how you can help.”

“Perhaps a change of scenery? You leave here to another city.” Now that was interesting.

“And have Ken drag me back. I don’t want or need that fight.” It was one thing to ambush people, but if an entire city came after me, then things would get a lot more complicated.

“It doesn’t have to be like that. If there was a city outside of Purgatory’s sphere of influence and knowledge, would you escape there?” I considered the option. I could see myself being an equal, not a servant or employee. The idea had merit.

“Then how would it work?”

“That depends on how many secrets you are willing to give up. Let me share one first. The level of the zones corresponds to the distance from a city.”

“That doesn’t seem very important.” She let out a scoff and shook her cloaked head. I had made a misstep.

“How are you so unafraid, when you have never left? I am tempted to fight you to discover what trump card you are hiding.” A big misstep apparently. The monsters were no joke it seemed. It was hard to take them too seriously as a threat when I controlled so many

“Back to threats?”

“A question from a possible ally.”

“Possible is the key word there. There is no trust between me and you, mysterious cloaked lady.”

“Trust is a delicate thing. The fact you resisted my skill shows you aren’t simple. Perhaps some stats under that exterior of yours, if I had to guess. You want to leave. I want the secret of crystal powder. Anything more, well we can negotiate on.”

“Another city, are you in charge?” If I was dealing with a city leader, then I wouldn’t have to worry about dealing with another person.

“I will be. An alliance of people who want to be away from this city.” It took a moment to process that. Such confidence and the idea of being in charge appealed to me.

“I would require crystals and test subjects.”

“Crystals, well you would have to get those yourself. We all need points. I won’t stop you from going out and hunting. We could also work out something if we set up a city tax. As for test subjects, that can be easily solved.” The problem was the devil was always in the details.

“You just require the information on crystal powder?” I wanted to see what her bottom line was.

“I am not interested in that anymore. I want to know how you figured out my stats. Keep the crystal powder to yourself. That sensing ability is far more useful.” A direct shift in priority. Was it really that useful? I had considered it a side effect of my research into the crystal powder, but now I needed to reevaluate its worth.

“So, an escort to a hidden city. Joint leadership. All in exchange for how I learned how to sense stats.”

“Yes.” I considered the deal. I liked this one much more. Since I didn’t want to give up crystal powder for anything. That was the gateway to blood powder and summoning. Still the sensing would allow her to sense the tether I had with my summons.

“I can agree to that for now.” I would need to consider other options and set up a plan to deal with this person when they came back.

“Just like that. I will be back, say in twenty days. Day 250 should work. Make your preparations to leave then. I am not fighting my way out, so don’t make a scene.” If I hadn’t been found out yet, I wouldn’t be found out.

“Why the long wait?” I asked, curious to what the figure would say.

“To find a route to a city that Purgatory hasn’t located yet. Also, I need to make my own preparations.”

“Ken is losing his patience with my delays on giving up the secret of crystal powder. Can you make it any sooner?”

“Well, unless you want to go into the wilderness with me right now?” I winced at that. There was a lot more stuff I wanted to purchase and prepare first. “I thought so. If I don’t return, I am dead or captured.”

“A criminal?” With how crime was cracked down on, it was hard to imagine a criminal escaping once found. That was why I was constantly worried about being discovered.

“Something like that. Get ready. Day 260, I will return and escort you out of here.” She turned to leave.

“I never caught your name.”

“Names are dangerous. But I suppose as an ally, you can know mine. Ruth.” She quickly left. I looked at the asleep guard. Now I had a date to escape Purgatory and an ally. I wasn’t sure how much I could trust this Ruth, but she was capable and confident. The only thing I felt I could trust about her was her naked self-interest.

That meant I needed to come up with a trap or a way to counter someone like that. Her mental attack was no joke either. It made me wonder what stat had protected me. Or perhaps it was my distributed focus through various monsters.

The biggest thing troubling me was the lack of ability to sense her mental attack and how I didn’t perceive her right away. How was she hiding her presence? Was I just not focused enough? The attack itself also slipped right by my notice.

It was very concerning that I hadn’t been able to pick up on any of that. I had been vulnerable. Perhaps I should start to conceal slimes on me. She had also somehow picked up on my monsters even though they were concealed.

I had been looking down on the leadership of this city and high stat people, but perhaps that had been a big mistake. I needed to give this some thought.

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