The Systemic Lands

Chapter 191: Day 404 (2) – A Betrayer Of Feelings

I stood there looking at the wrecked body of Tom. Fingers, toes, were mutilated. His face was a carved up piece of flesh and I could only tell he was alive was from how he was breathing.

“You have the crystals to heal him?” I asked Governor General Gerold.

“Yes, but, it would be a personal expense, since it clearly isn’t going to be cheap.” I winced at that, since it was true. Was this man’s life worth 20,000 points or so to heal him up. It was tricky question. He had already walked away from me once to go help Ruth.

But that had clearly backfired on him. Even if I healed him, his mentality was probably broken. The way he was curled up on the stone floor. I began to bring up my hand and then I hesitated and lowered it. I didn’t need to gesture to use my skill, but my thoughts were currently a mess.

I let out a long sigh. “I am done with him, but he has skills and stats. If you want to heal him up and have a contract to make him pay you back, then I have no objection. But I am not going out of my way to help him.” I paused for a moment to get my thoughts in order.

“He chose to leave and try and get back together with Ruth. Ruth who has allied with the Ritualist. I can’t promise anything on his behalf,” I tossed the ball back to Gerold’s half of the court. I didn’t like killing people I knew if there was no good reason for it.

He was also so far behind me. I wasn’t worried about him. But I also couldn’t trust him as part of my inner circle anymore. Choices had consequences and this was his. I was not intervening to help him or save him.

“How many stats and what skills?” Gerold asked. It took a moment to try and recall.

“I believe 100 stats, with the most invested into Body. Also, he has the skill Grass Blade,” I recalled.

“Mediocre stats and a weak combat skill. I am going to work him to the bone, I think getting a five times return on investment is appropriate,” Gerold said.

“Do what you want. I want nothing to do with him. Feel free to remind him of that fact,” I said.

“I will Champion Michael.”

“Anything else?” I asked.

“No, feel free to send people to inspect the city and my books any time. I am not planning a betrayal like Laura,” Gerold said. Well at least my actions had some effect in a positive direction.

“That is good to hear Governor General, urg, I should have picked a shorter title,” I said.

“It is fine. If I was promoted above a General, that could cause issues with Purgatory’s military command, but I also need to command the civilians that will soon fill this city. The new title was well thought out,” Gerold said as we left the building.

It had been a spur of the moment thing. I had just picked the first title that came to mind. If he wanted to think I was some kind of 4D chess master, then I wasn’t about to complain. A lot of what I did in the moment was by the seat of my pants.

While I planned and thought about things, often these split-second decisions I went with my gut. Like in combat, in ruling, one couldn’t hesitate. Being hesitant was the same as being weak. Better to be quick and wrong than slow and right. You could always change your mind later, the benefit of being a dictator.

I wondered briefly if I would see Tom again. There was a possibility, but once trust was lost, he was never getting it back. He could chart his own path as Gerold’s wage slave.

“Champion Michael, there are two remaining issues, control of the skill points and the surrounding zones,” Gerold said. I thought about the real question he was asking.

“As a vassal Purgatory gets one skill slot every ten days. In addition you can coordinate with Clarissa with setting up Hunter Camps. I would suggest focusing to the North or East, away from Purgatory,” I came up with a compromise on the spot.

“That is reasonable, but North and East either have swamp terrain or summoner monsters,” Gerold said.

“Yes, they do. Purgatory is the Capital, this is an outlying town, supporting the Capital of our Empire,” I said.

“An Empire, a bold ambition,” Gerold said clearly thinking about the word, Empire.

“I liked the sound better than Kingdom or City State. Regardless, I hope you will use this position to gather up a lot of crystals and take up a position on the Immortal Council. Also, what about the gambling halls and brothels of RMPF?” I asked.

“Ah, well it was decided that they would be jointly controlled by all Captains. With crystals going back into their operations and being split equally to boost our stats and give regenerations for the lower ranked members,” Gerold explained.

“Smart. Well now that you have a city. I expect crystals to be flowing to Purgatory. Not the other way around. You control this city, so the people who stay here, have no more ownership stake of businesses of the RMPF in Purgatory, but the reverse is also true,” I said, heading off a future problem that came to mind.

We both continued to walk slowly through the plaza to the carts that were being made ready to depart the city. “I understand Champion Michael. If I need your support?”

“I will help, but I can’t be everywhere, and I support Purgatory over any other city. So don’t go poking the Ritualist, I don’t think you will hold against an assault any time soon,” I said.

“The powder for summoning, I will need some, or to be allowed to train up my own summoners,” Gerold said.

“Also, negative energy training,” I added and sighed. As part of the leadership council, he knew the methods behind both procedures. But letting it out of Purgatory, would mean that it would spread and risked falling into the hands of my enemies.

“No hybrids, share all discoveries with Purgatory, and keep a close eye on the summoners. That includes the same checks we implemented in Purgatory, no exceptions. Keep the crystal powder process under wraps and controlled like we have, with only one person making the stuff, and not the summoners,” I said.

“That will work. Thank you Champion Michael, I didn’t think you would give me such latitude,” Gerold said.

“You understand my power.” I stopped walking and Governor General Gerold stopped as well. “Don’t try and scam me. I know I am putting the squeeze on points on Truth, but the idea is you use this place to quickly powerup to over 1,000 stat points, create a new income stream for Purgatory, and prevent new threats from this direction.”

“I understand. I am not here to build up a civilization or play at being warlord. You want me to succeed so other people will copy my achievements, bringing more cities under your control and creating a pipeline for powerful people to work on your Immortal Council.” He clearly understood the long term plan.

“Exactly, which is why I am leaving the development of the city up to you and giving you a free reign to manage Truth,” I said.

“What about a name change?” Governor General Gerold asked.

“That will just cause confusion. We can’t go renaming every city that is conquered. If you step onto the Immortal Council, then you can petition for the name change,” I said.

“I see. Well, that is reasonable, and it isn’t a terrible name,” Gerold said. It was a terrible name, but no need to create unnecessary confusion. “Well, I will be seeing you around Champion Michael,” Governor General Gerold saluted me, which I returned.

After that, I was thinking about how a battle with the Ritualist would play out as Vice General Jeff took command to return to Purgatory. I didn’t get involved with the logistics. While it was tempting to run off, I could clear the level 2 floating crystals much easier than the RMPF could.

The main issue in my mind was that we would need to clump our forces together, which would open them up for a massive counterattack. The same was true in reverse, with Radiant Beam. Large battles wouldn’t work once that became the new meta.

That was a common problem and joke about the military, they were preparing to fight the previous war, not the next one. Understanding the new paradigm was important for staying ahead in combat. While summoning opened the possibility up for large scale coordinated engagements, it was only a steppingstone to future combat.

I tried to imagine how a large-scale battle would go in the future between with equal capabilities. It all came down to one of two strategies. The standard and safest strategy would be to deploy summons in a huge arc. These summons would encounter other summons.

Attrition would begin and summoners would bring more forces to bear. Once summons were worn down, foot soldiers would begin to fight with skill users as support at a distance. Then champions would deploy to break through against the opposing army and kill the other.

The opposite strategy would be having the champions deploy first, but it would be much riskier. I had been wondering why in cultivation stories, the weak were sent out at first to build up an advantage. It was to gain a minor advantage for their champion.

So, while sending a champion out first would save a lot of lives initially. Even if the champion lost 10% of their combat power, then that difference could mean defeat. You could wear down a champion, but you couldn’t kill one with pinpricks. Also, the first champion to act would reveal their strength, position, and skills.

If we were going to war against the Ritualist, we would need to have a large stockpile of monsters. Slimes and wolves were a powerful combination. Just have them rush forward and self-destruct against the opposing monster.

My soldiers could follow up right away, to keep the pressure up. Elite teams would cover the flanks. I would stand at the front against the Ritualist’s army. Not against another army. Since he would be focusing everything into his summons, if he focused on me, it would be to my sides advantage.

I would need more Spirit, a bigger gas tank. That way I could have more staying power on the field of battle. Regardless, of how a battle would go, I wasn’t going to let the Ritualist escape one more time. I would hunt him down and force a battle. Even if it took days and days of sieging a city, I would do it.

If the Ritualist didn’t make a move, then I would wait. More crystals would come in and more people would develop stats and skills. While he might jump ahead with consumption, it wouldn’t be a huge leap.

Still, an army of level 2 hybrids would be concerning. If they had zero upkeep cost like the level 1 hybrids, then he could be forming an army of about 50 level 2 hybrids per arrival. What was the possible cap? Was there a cap?

I could only hope Naran was doing okay. It was a risk sending him off to negotiate, but he was the best person for the job. He knew what I wanted and was capable. One didn’t become a lord of a city by being an idiot.

The real question, was what to do once I got if the Ritualist didn’t do anything? I could go around and find the boarders. Clear dungeons for skill points. Or I could grind more. It was probably going to be grinding. Boarder scouting was useful for information, but not critical. I would rather do it when I could poke all level 3 zones without worry.

Clearing dungeons would allow me to boost both my skills, but they were still costly. I needed more energy regardless, if I wanted to use Air Burst or Aqua Sphere more than once per fight while also spamming Acid Shot.