The Systemic Lands

Chapter 178: Day 399 (2) – All The Buildings (2)

“The image is the same, day or night,” Clarissa added.

“Really cool to see the city from above. The streets are a mess.” I kept playing about zooming around. I could even move to a location with just a thought.

I then thought about the purchase options. Getting a city map cost one million points. People tracker, another one million points. Increasing the map to 3x3, five million points. Up to 5x5, ten million points. Then 7x7 was twenty five million points.

Then there were road options. A road in a level 1 zone cost 10k. A road in a level 2 zone cost 50k. A road in a level 3 zone cost 500k. “Have you purchased any roads?” I asked Clarissa.

“No. That is something that needs to be discussed but isn’t a priority. The cost is immense. Each road purchase is about a quarter of a mile. It would take 80 road purchases to cross a zone in a straight line.”

“Hmmm,” I let out a hum as I considered the road options and looked at the map. “Why roads?”

“The best guess is that it removes all monsters nearby. So, roads would be a safe form of travel. They would also cut into grinding efficiency and lead people right to Purgatory. Also, carts would have an easy time,” Clarissa explained.

“That makes sense. No grid pattern, more of a line.” I frowned a bit. Each road purchase was the same as purchasing a tiny bit of line, that could then be slapped down on the map. “I am really surprised that we can effect anything outside the city,” I said as I tried to consider the ramifications about the road.

“A 7x7 view would give us a lot of insight as to what is out there,” Clarissa said and I nodded.

“But that isn’t cheap. The upgrades need to be purchased in sequence like the rest of them. No skipping a level. So, 40 million points. Quite a bit to invest.”

“Exactly, this seems like a huge point sink, so I held off on making any decisions for now.”

“Good. I need to think on this and consider where we want roads if any. Probably want to expand the map first and pinpoint the dungeons. I could see it making travel easy through swamps.” The possibilities were already rushing through my head.

If we could connect cities safely, with limited monsters, then we could pressure them. Also, a map and roads might represent control of some kind. What would happen if two cities tried to build roads in the same area?

I would need to think about how I wanted the roads to be laid out. I took my hands off the pillar and the holographic map disappeared. “What’s next?” I asked Clarissa.

“The Recycling Center.” I followed Clarissa out of the Regional Map building, and we made our way around the Meeting Hall further North. I looked at the tall tower nearby. That was probably the Airship Port. That was the next stop. Two soldiers of the RMPF saluted us and opened the double doors. Instead, we entered a large box building.

There was a large spiral pattern on the floor and a pillar next to the entrance. I put both hands on the pillar. Any object put into the center of the spiral could be reclaimed for a quarter of the points spent on the object.

“Earth objects don’t work. Including people,” Clarissa said, which answered an immediate question I had. There were three purchase options. For one million points, half the points would be returned instead of a quarter. Another million points bumped the number of uses up to 200 per day instead of 100 the building was currently limited to.

Finally component extraction could be purchased for five million points. “Enchanted items just return the base cost and not the crafting crystal,” Clarissa explained, and I nodded at that.

I let go of the pillar and went over the spiral pattern. “Not a circle. Try this with the crystals?” I asked.

“Nothing happens. It appears a circle is to release and a spiral is to condense. We have tried placing a monster inside the spiral, but getting one all the way inside the city is impossible,” Clarissa said. I nodded at that. Low level monsters refused to enter the cities and I wasn’t about to bring a level 4 monster here to test this spiral.

Still, I would count it as the second rune that had been discovered. One with limited use, but it was an interesting dichotomy. A circle and a spiral. “Partial items?” I asked.

“Return points based on their volume. With the return penalty, it isn’t worthwhile as a wealth transfer,” Clarissa said.

“Open to the public?” I asked.

“To the trash collectors employed by the city. They can toss everything in here to try and get points back from items they find. It is treated as bonus income,” Clarissa explained.

“Interesting but a low priority for now. I am more interested, in the tower. What was it?” I asked.

“The Airship Port. Shall we?” Clarissa asked and I nodded. I followed her out of the Recycling Center.

When I entered Purgatory early this morning, this building had stood out. Towering over everything else. It was ten stories tall. An easily visible landmark from the entire city.

It was a square tower and reminded me of the super tower in the level 3 zone. It took up four plots in the city, which made it bigger than the Enchanting and Alchemical Hall, and the same footprint as the Meeting Hall. There was one entrance at the bottom and the base was quite thick. The guards stayed outside again. Clarissa and I walked through a tunnel and came to a circular room. I noted a pillar just outside the room.

There was a second pillar in the center. Clarissa gestured at me, and I put my hands on it. There was only one option. First flight deck, 100 points. I chose the option and lost the points out of my account. The ground under us began to rise. I only noticed the movement since the stone bricks that made up the walls were transitioning. I looked back at where I had entered and the opening disappeared out of sight. I didn’t feel any force. It was an elevator with no feeling of acceleration or momentum.

“Can’t feel anything, it is neat like that,” Clarissa said. I let go the pillar, but the movement didn’t stop. We reached the top in about 20 seconds. The rate of ascension wasn’t fast, but it wasn’t slow either.

“That was scary and impressive.” I exited the elevator and looked around. Three of the walls had solid gray railings and were open to the outside. I looked up and there was a roof, supported by the column around the elevator and four large pillars, one at each corner of the tower where the railings ended.

The last side of the tower had a railing as well but a small gate and a platform extending away from the tower. There was a pillar next to the gate. I touched the pillar and there was no option or mental indicator. I leaned over the railing and looked up. “This is the spot that was purchased as a Small Airship Dock. Four available slots. The tower cost 100k, and each dock will cost another 100k. The best guess is that when there is an airship, someone can activate a docking mechanism.” I nodded since above the extended walkway were two beams extending out of the tower.

“A medium dock is 500k, a large dock is one million, and a super large dock is five million and takes two slots. Repair bays go up in cost at 500k, one million, five million, and then twenty five million from smallest to largest. With the largest taking two slots,” Clarissa explained.

“But no airship purchase option?” I asked. That was the big question, and I knew the answer. I still had to ask regardless.

“No. And a port is needed before it can be upgraded into a repair bay. But no requirement to purchase the smaller size first,” Clarissa explained.

“Well, the view is amazing. Should charge people to come up here.”

“That was the plan. If you approve, I will sign off on it and arrange things,” Clarissa said.

“Being ten stories or so, the elevator is really the only way up or down.” I looked at the walls and the gate towers in the far distance. At least there was no distance obfuscation effect within the city. There was still a haze, but nothing as bad as the zones.

“I really wanted an airship,” I muttered as I walked along the railing looking out over my city. I was almost tempted to make this my new home. It had a great view, and the weather was never bad. “The RMPF is protecting the city buildings?” I asked.

“Yes. Your guard protects me, your home, and the research lab. The President’s guard protects him and manages new arrivals. There is discussion on making them rental guards for various businesses. The RMPF has jurisdiction over everything else. The main reason is to prevent conflicts arising between the different groups. Clear lines of jurisdiction,” Clarissa explained, and I nodded at that.

“Anyone else building up a personal force?” I asked.

“The Union has guards, but I am keeping an eye on the size. Some businesses employ one or two, but nothing serious and are looking to pooling resources with President Bob. I am keeping the Union to a quarter of what you have and the President to the same level. With no cap on your personal guards, since they will eventually double for the Immortal Council.”

“Any news on that? I am expecting people to make a fuss any day now?” I asked.

“No one wants to start grinding level 3 monsters. There is a lot of risk and people want to build up their stats first. That doesn’t even get into the issue of level 4 monsters.” We really should hold all our meeting up here. I never understood why CEOs wanted to live and work in skyscrapers, but now it made sense.

Just looking out over everything made you feel powerful. Like the world was in the palm of your hands. “That is fine. If people want to go slow, no need to pressure them. How many Union teams?” I asked.

“We are up to 20. With the rotations completing, there has been a surge in new teams. The standards are kept to 100 stat points and 250 stat points for a Union team leader, but two of the old Union teams split up and the people took up leadership positions of new people. They get a cut of what the new people grind, but the new people have lower stats.”

“How much?” I asked.

“Ten percent. Which is reasonable for them to train up people after they have gone through rotation and take them into the wilderness. We have lost two teams, might be more, but our attrition rate is quite low. Better than just sending out brand new people with no idea about the monsters,” Clarissa answered.

Knowledge made fighting monsters a lot easier. It took away that initial surprise factor when they were the most dangerous. It was a big reason why I kept hesitating about exploring more. There was just an insane amount of risk for each new monster I ran into.

There was a bit more of a breeze up here than on the ground. It was nice. I looked down at the plaza and the mini-wall was arranged in a square, with two gaps, one in the South, and one in the North. People entered by the South and left from the North. It was good way to manage traffic and keep the pillars semi-secure.

“A lot busier in the city,” I commented.

“Yes. Things have picked up since the rotations are finishing and people have points or are pooling points to start businesses. There have been strict crackdowns on vagrants and a mandatory curfew.” That was good. I didn’t want Purgatory to turn into a trash filled slum.

“Any pushback?” I asked.

“Nothing important. The people who caused problems were sent for testing. If they resisted, they were killed. No shortage of people causing trouble no matter how many times things are explained to them. The RMPF is also expanding its numbers as well.” I nodded at that.

“Are people going after level 2 monsters?” I asked.

“Some. One of the issues is people camping outside to get a head start on level 1 monsters and people killing level 1 monsters after rotation. For the first issue, people can do that if they want. For the second, these people are hunted down and killed.” That was quite ruthless of Clarissa.

“Then the problem comes from people after that,” I said, making the next logical step.

“Yes. A permanent camp has been set up to the West to hunt Chameleons. One person with everything in Perception spots monsters, the rest gang up on it. Then split the crystals. No one wants to go to the swamps to the North or South or deal with the scorpions to the East.”

“Good. People can’t just grind level 1 monsters forever. Any idea how long things will be stable?” I asked.

“For a while. New level 2 hunting camps will be set up, with experienced people. They will take a cut and train people to kill level 2 monsters in those zones. Like a franchise model. Camps have to be registered with the city for tax purposes and to secure their area, but it is only a matter of time,” Clarissa said. She really was kicking butt and taking names.

By bringing in hunting camps under the city’s control, we would have outposts in time, or they would act as outposts. This would also create an influx of crystals towards Purgatory while creating a safety net. “I am waiting to see how the first hunting camp does to flush this idea out a bit more. But I am thinking camp leaders would fall under the Union, with the same rank as an exploration team member, but below an exploration team leader.”

“Ranks in the Union?” I asked. I wasn’t sure if I liked that idea.

“To clearly define rights and responsibilities. Team leaders have the right to request a meeting with me. Access to information and to pick who is on their team, up to four other people. Also, all Union members get priority as the store. Businesses and individuals have to wait if there is a line. In time the benefits will expand as a smaller subset of the Immortal Council benefits,” she explained.

“Which will only get worse, so setting up privileges like that now is smart. Clarissa, well done. I know we haven’t gotten to everything, but I am impressed. I hope you gave yourself a raise.”

“I gave myself three raises. You don’t want to know what you are paying me. The city is running smoothly and under control.”

“Now I am curious. How much?” I asked.

“Ten thousand points per day,” Clarissa replied. My eyes went wide at that. Ten thousand! A day!