The Systemic Lands

Chapter 273: Day 543 (3) – A Discussion Of Interesting Topics

“What about the other things, like the tower? Can it help us?” I asked. I was curious about the tower. It was such a huge feature that it often made me wonder what was in it.

“The towers. You are dreaming if you think you can make an ascent. Before you ask, one does not lightly fly in the sky. I avoid the worst of it by hiding myself, but flying is a huge risk. Your summons are just specks of dust. Flying to the top of the tower, pointless and suicidal. One must clear it to get the reward at the top and you are far too weak for that,” the Astrologer answered. There was a reward, good to know.

I had also noted he had said towers not tower. That was interesting to know. There was more than one tower out there. Clarissa asked a question before I could follow up on this detail.

“How will Spirit help rescue you? What about the other stats?” Clarissa asked. Maybe he was trapped in a void area. That seemed like an interesting and a highly likely outcome.

“Ah, now we are discussing something valuable. Stats, skills, and energy types beyond the beginner explanation on the topic I have given you for free. All I have seen is complaining and no sincerity,” the Astrologer said.

“We are speaking with you,” I replied.

“Speaking!” he shouted and then slumped into his chair. I frowned. He was becoming unstable with these mood swings. “So, you realize it,” the Astrologer said. Clarissa looked at me.

“He is becoming mentally unstable,” I replied.

“Once again you speak and remove all doubt of your idiocy and show your lack of true understanding. Emotions are affecting me more heavily than they would my real body. To be so open and explain things without sounding like a robot, they have become a flood. One of the minor defects of a body like this. My control is perfect, but once it is loosened, there is only limited control,” the Astrologer said with a sigh.

“I just don’t understand why you haven’t guided people from the start?” I asked.

“Think Michael. Really think. How do I know who to invest my time into? How do I know who will have the drive to survive? These questions are not easily answered or risked. I pick the wrong person, then my time will be wasted. There were no second chances after the calamity. I had to act quickly to stop the Divine Empress and salvage the situation.”

“Now, you have survived and are the only one who lives, who has even the slightest chance of freeing me within the limited amount of time we have. Spirit is needed to survive the environment. Have this tidbit for free. I am sure you noticed that Spirit is needed to guard against the voids and the torrent of unfiltered energy gushing forth.” Clarissa and I nodded at this.

“The Spirit stat also increases the energy inside of you. What is energy inside of you? Your sense of self. Anchoring your essence, energy, spirit, to your physical body. Don’t ask me how it works at the atomic or molecular level. But the simple answer is that Spirit increases oneself at the most basic.”

“And skills?” I asked curious how all of these things tied together. It was amazing having someone answer these questions and put words to things I suspected or kind of knew.

“You donate your energy, and the System recognizes patterns and enacts its will. That is what the hand signs, words, and thoughts are for. You always require a mental trigger. If someone was to never use a skill and quickly upgrade it to have a gestureless and silent casting, they would die horribly as the most likely outcome since the skill would malfunction. Just like the System registers everyone’s ideal state for a restoration, it needs to understand what the mental trigger for a skill is.”

“You have probably gotten better at time, triggering your skill. This is a nuance of the System and more free information to motivate you to trust me. You want to know the true age of this place?” I leaned forward in interest.

“No idea. I arrived about 5 years before you and the Divine Empress arrived about 6 years before you. The oldest person arrived 10 years before you that I can work out, possibly more. Now you want to ask why they aren’t here. Why aren’t they alive and dominating everyone?” I couldn’t help but be drawn into the Astrologer’s knowledge, curious over every scrap.

“They are dead. Killed by either myself or the Divine Empress. The gulf between level 3 and level 4 combat is far greater than you can imagine. To bridge that gap, you must trust me. To risk certain death at my command. Or we can only hope for you to grind up enough Spirit stat to make an attempt to free me instead.”

“You keep coming back to this issue. It seems that knowledge of the gap, will stop me from crossing it?” I asked. The Astrologer didn’t answer but only tilted his head slightly. That was all the answer I needed, and I hated it. How could knowing something stop one from walking that path. “Wouldn’t knowing this much hurt me?” I asked the Astrologer.

“Maybe. This is not an exact science where one can measure every micro-gram and mix and match in a laboratory. Energy is psychoactive and psychoreactive. Your understanding of energy effects how well you can use it.”

“That is why the Ritualist was able to gain such insights from stuffing crystals into his body. One of my Valkyries called it the Akashic Record, the recording of everything. I do not believe that, but energy does contain knowledge. But what the Ritualist did was like hitting two stones together to make fire. A far cry from more elegant solutions. Solutions that I do not have, so I am just as useless in this regard,” the Astrologer replied.

“You could stuff crystals into people and learn that way?” I asked.

“These aren’t knowledge crystals. They are monster crystals. It would take decades for the crystal’s knowledge to seep into you and your sand to return to its yellow color. You would be better off trying to work things out yourself. You can’t explain how to think, or how to understand. A certain mindset is needed, that is something that would require extensive research and development to create and reliably produce results. So, for now, the only path is the one of trial by fire.”

“Speaking of the Ritualist, why was he able to capture other people and not me?” I asked trying to put off the issue I knew I would force an answer on.

“Worried about that are you? Well don’t be. I already gave you the answer. The Spirit stat and your Aura stat. They aren’t just for show. The Ritualist was putting his energy into people’s spinal columns and brains, to control them.”

“It was a crude technique. Useful only on lower levels. And your friend once he grabbed him. What does he have. Let me guess, one hundred in each of those stats?” I didn’t want to confirm that, but I did. If the Astrologer could guess that there was no point in hiding Naran’s exact stats except to be difficult. “That was why the Ritualist needed to grab him, bypassing his Aura stat. The second highest out of anyone in this city after you.”

“If I don’t help you?” I asked.

“Then we all die horribly. You might live for a while but there will be no countering the Divine Empress or her forces forever. You will amuse her hiding out in the wilderness before you make a mistake and are crushed without remorse once you outlive your entertainment value. She only respects strength and you are lacking,” the Astrologer answered. We sat there in silence mulling over what he said.

“I still don’t understand why a lot of bombs won’t work?” Clarissa asked.

“She would sense them. Through the energy within them or her danger sense. They are crude tools at the higher levels. Her speed and reactions are unmatched. Our only hope, and I cannot over state this, is to free my original body,” the Astrologer said.

“Or unleash a new horror?” Clarissa countered.

“I am not a good person or a kind person. But compared to her tender mercies, I am a saint amongst saints. To call her evil is to be unkind to the word evil. But I can offer no proof beyond my word. For once proof comes it will be too late for all of us,” the Astrologer replied.

“I can’t believe she cannot be assassinated in some way. Even with a high Perception stat, there has to be an overwhelming attack or something?” I asked. The Astrologer just shook his hooded head.

“You are welcome to try, fail, and suffer her retribution.”

“What about using Imbue Reform to combine crystals into a super bomb?” I asked. The Astrologer paused at that before shaking his head again.

“That skill merges things at the physical level. Spreading out what is there. Using it on crystals is destabilizing. Remember energy is thought given physical form. Once the thought is disrupted enough, it is no longer valid. This means the point crystals will no longer work and break apart or explode. The same with other crystals. An interesting thought experiment, but ultimately pointless. What, thinking making a crystal sword?”

“Or merging a skill crystal and not a monster crystal,” I replied. I knew my questions were all over the place, but I was asking them as they came to mind. The Astrologer want completely still.

“Now that is interesting.” Then he shook his head. “Combining a lot of crystals would be hard physically but would be like wearing an unstable bomb. A bad idea for anything you wanted it to resist. Let me guess the Ritualist had some kind of transformation once you activated the City Shield?” I nodded at that.

“As for a skill crystal, they are immovable and incredibly unstable. You would have to remain in place and touching on skill concepts, is not simple or easy. What monsters do, is only a reflection of a skill, but without a lot of their inbuilt functions. Just raw energy manipulation. A skill is so much more than raw energy and type manipulation.” I took a deep breath before speaking up. I had reached my decision.

“I have decided. I would like to know. I cannot place my trust into something I don’t know about,” I said

“Of course, you want to know. If I tell you, I expect you to earnestly work for my freedom. I will explain things, but I want your promise,” the Astrologer said. I carefully thought about this. It would not surprise me if he had some kind of truth or promise related skill. I would pick my wording carefully.

“I will do everything in my power to free you that doesn’t endanger my life beyond a reasonable amount.” The amount would be decided by me. The Astrologer just sat there still. Maybe he was communicating with his main body?

“I know you are hedging your bets with that kind of weak promise, but it is fine. If you don’t free me, then you can enjoy her tender care. So, feel free to pick another direction than the one I suggest. It will be amusing before we all die horribly.” The Astrologer paused for a long moment just to build up suspense. The man was a showboat.

“Meta-points or god-points granted by the System.”