The Systemic Lands

Chapter 221: Day 508 – A Stirred Nest

We paused in the summoner ant deadlands to the East of Purgatory at coordinates (0,2). I looked up at the mound. I wouldn’t call it a mountain, but a hill with some holes. I was debating about poking the dungeon.

Killing summoner ants was easy if one was quick enough. It was a clear case of quantity versus quality. I wanted to see what a level 3 summoner looked like, so I could make a guess about a level 4 summoner type monster.

I was hesitant about dungeons, but I did want to find each of them at the very least and see how feasible they were.

“The main issue would be attrition. Even if we smashed the first group of monsters, the number of summoners along with level 3 summoners is concerning,” I said.

“Flood the entire thing with acid?” Asked Naran.

“Twenty five shots is a lot, but not a tidal wave. There seems to be six main holes into the hill from our loop. I don’t like it,” I finally said with a heavy sigh.

“So East?” Naran asked. I nodded at that, but didn’t move, still looking at the summoner ant mound dungeon. I was trying to think of a good way to clear it and not get overwhelmed by useless summon monsters.

“We are going to poke it,” I finally said, changing my mind. I looked at Fethee and our cart. “Let’s clear a path East first and leave the cart at the boundary to the level 1 zone around Heaven.”

“Then come back? We should be able to outrun the monster’s if they chase us. Doubt the summons are fast. Makes sense,” Naran replied, and we got to work. We cleared our way towards Heaven.

I had personally taken the chance to get crafting crystals from the striped meerkats and summon monsters. The crystals from summon ants were silver in color, meaning they were construct type crystals. No crafting crystals from the monsters that had been summoned, same as with the point crystals. Summons just didn’t count in terms of crystal generation, but the summoner did.

That was weird since the summons should be the constructs, not the summoner. But that was weird Systemic Lands logic. The deeper you looked the more mind bending it became. The striped meerkats had been a bit of a pain to kill while touching them with the Processing Rod.

I got a very misty, or light gray crystal from them. It was an unknown type and didn’t match up with their stripe color. Color coordination seemed to only be a thing for some types of low level monsters, but the higher level monsters or the ones with unique skills could have multiple colors.

This was important to notice and not make assumptions when I spotted a colored monster, especially at a higher level.

We made it to the edge of the zone, left Fethee, and raced back to the Ant Mound. I made sure to grab our lamp and light it before racing back. I noted Naran was working on his footing while carrying that monster of a sword. It was good he was taking practicing seriously and not thinking he could use it in high paced combat right away.

I considered high paced combat a level 4 or multiple level 3 monsters. The dungeon would be pushing things, but he could always ditch the weapon and retreat.

We made our way back to the dungeon. “You first?” I offered to Naran and he nodded. He should be the front line if we were going to be doing this properly and as a test run. That was what a high Body stat meant.

Naran rushed forward and I was right behind him. His weapon slammed into a summoner ant, and it was ripped in half. Naran was already moving to the next monster. Picking up crystals could come after we had won.

Acid Shot x3. I aimed at clumps of monsters, the splash damage taking several of them out. More ants began to emerge as we reached one of the holes in the hill side. Naran cleared the entrance and leapt away.

Acid Shot x10. I raced into the hole. Naran would make sure I wasn’t trapped down here by keeping the entrance clear. The deluge of acid had cleared the way. I came to a large chamber, my lamp giving me light to see by.

That was a big ant, maybe a queen ant. It popped out a level 2 summoner ant out of its rear every 5 seconds or so. Those ants in turn were calling up more level 1 ants below the ground. Acid Shot x5. I targeted the boss monster, but the summon ants flew up and intercepted my attacks with their bodies.

I was forced to retreat as the numbers grew to be too much, not wanting to risk bottoming out my energy inside an active dungeon.

It was frustrating, but poking this dungeon was done. Trying to eek out a win, was just asking for trouble and headaches. It might be winnable, but I would have preferred more energy and more overall stats. It was just too much of a headache to try and hunt down each summon monster.

I made it back outside and Naran noticed me. We ran away towards Heaven. “Any luck?” Naran asked after the ants stopped chasing us. We slowed our pace down a bit to talk while moving quickly.

“Just a level 3 summoner ant underground. One level 2 summoner every five seconds or so,” I replied.

“Insane, completely insane,” Naran said.

“I agree. But it was good experience I think. You?” I asked.

“Yes. I needed to adjust to a lot of small low level opponents. I needed to swing through and chain my attacks. Also, to move while swinging and account for the blade’s trajectory. Nowhere good enough with a monster blade like this,” Naran said.

“It is a completely new sword style. I mean one of your blows has a lot of weight behind it. And force. Is it holding together?” I asked.

“Quite well. One solid piece of metal. Especially around the hilt,” Naran said. I had noticed that. “Can’t use it in close quarters either. The real issue is if an enemy gets inside my range. I had to punch away two ants.”

“Movement will be more key and managing distance with a blade like that. You need to get in closer, but further away than with a regular sword. Try using it like a shield?” I asked.

“Briefly. But attacking was much better. I need to work out stances and practice moving between them,” Naran said.

“Just wait. You master a weapon like that, you can name the style you use. I am thinking slab style,” I said with a grin.

“No, just no. It needs to sound eloquent, like dragon blade style,” Naran said.

“Well, it is quite a domineering weapon to be carrying. I almost regret not having it myself. Ah, I would call it the beat stick style,” I said.

“My style, my name,” Naran countered with irrefutable logic.

“Fine, fine,” I said. My mind went back to how annoying summons were. A level 4 summon type monster would be a nightmare.

That kind of exponential growth if it could summon level 3 monsters would be insane. However, I was hesitant to say there was a trend. The fact that the level 2 monsters came from the level 3 monster and the level 3 monster wasn’t moving, showed there were huge tradeoffs to higher level summoning for monsters.

It made me think about my theory of stat distribution among level 4 monsters. If summoners were a half step into the next level, they could easily have focused stats. In fact, I would go so far as to say they were hyper focused in terms of the boss summoner ant.

A very low Body stat to have a lot more Spirit and therefore energy. It wasn’t engaging in combat since it had summons so it made sense to go all in with imbalanced stats. Not having a mental attack and a summoner of our own were the big holes in the current team lineup.

That would allow a team to exploit the imbalanced stats monsters had. The big issue there was no one I trusted who had reached the level necessary with those types of builds. I could find two people and train them up. It wouldn’t be that hard, but I didn’t want to train people.

I wanted perfect teammates to form from the ether with the skills and stats necessary. Also, they would be completely trustworthy. This was unrealistic unfortunately. I would wait and see. Rushing a team, would only lead to interpersonal drama.

That was the one thing I wanted to avoid. Naran and I trusted each other implicitly. Adding more people would make that level of teamwork we had much harder in the future. Still a summoner and someone focused on metal attacks would be insanely useful.

“I am thinking we need a summoner and someone with mental attacks,” I said to Naran, curious what he thought.

“It would be good. But their stats would suck. They would need a lot of points to get up to our level and then a lot of practice. Also getting upgrades for Sleep or the other mental skills,” Naran said.

“I know, I was just thinking about what we really need. Besides a chef and a bard of course,” I added.

“Of course you would want a chef. But a bard?” Naran asked.

“To sing of our exploits and give us some battle music. Grinding is boring, I would pay a musician to follow me around,” I answered.

“That sounds like the stupidest thing I have heard from you yet. Music while you grind?” Naran stabbed me in my gaming soul.

“We need music to liven up the grind. Build it up, and then bam, get some action music while fighting monsters. You know how boring it can get,” I said.

“I know, but it would be distracting…oh, you really are joking,” Naran realized I had a shameless grin on my face. “I don’t even know how I fell for that. Good one.”

“Just keeping you on your toes. Pfft, a bard for combat music. That is probably the single stupidest thing I have ever come up with,” I said.

“It was pretty stupid. Still, if we can cook outside the city, I wouldn’t say know to a chef,” Naran said.

“Yes. Maybe. The harshness of grinding for long periods without good food or a bed is good practice for learning to push through the headache,” I said.

“But those annoyances degrade combat performance,” Naran countered.

“When did you steal my arguments?” I asked.

“Since you brought up a similar topic before and I actually pay attention to your ramblings. Anyways, where to next intrepid leader?” Naran asked.

“All the way East past Heaven. Keeping going East and then either North or South after that. Then follow the boarder of level 2 and level 3 zones. The swamps will be the biggest pain,” I added.

“Thinking about the Ritualist?” Naran asked.

“Yes. Curious where he ran off to. Also, if you have a good idea about the swamps, let me know,” I said.

“No. There is zero way to move a cart through that type of landscape. We would have to find a camping spot, then do day trips. It would be a hassle, but if we want a cart that is the only way,” Naran said.

“So annoying, but it is the only way. I really wanted that airship,” I complained.

“Surprised you didn’t wait and grind up more until the next time Purgatory upgrades the store,” Naran replied.

“I already had plans to explore, and I want to get a better sense of the world. Also, I need a break from grinding. Yes, I know I am the grind king of kings. But it just is mentally exhausting doing it day after day, without end,” I said.

“I would have stopped earlier, but I am not complaining. More stats helps. Just curious since this is not optimal,” Naran said.

“I also know that any airship will be a point trap. My bullshit detector regarding the Almighty System is pinging very heavily on that at the moment. Especially after the latest setback,” I replied.