The Systemic Lands

Chapter VI – Day 195 – Cloaked Figure

Ken was doing a brisk business with the drugs I was producing. Or potions as he liked to call them. I was squeezing out all the crystals I could out of him. I knew he suspected something, but he wasn’t saying anything for some reason. He just kept increasing the quota of powder I had to deliver every 10 days.

My guess was that he wanted me to be unable to keep up and then bring in help to get my secrets in the guise of assistance. My extra stat points gave me more than enough energy to keep up with his requests.

I had started to claim the red powder gave a stronger high and he kept giving me people to get fresh blood from to make more. Honestly it was shocking how I kept getting more and more crystals. He was a complete idiot. Probably overdosing on the drugs, himself, impacting his mind. That is why you never get high on your own supply.

I was quite proud of myself for overselling things by a large amount at the start. It gave me enough flexibility to meet the quotas he set. I had no doubt a confrontation was coming, but I was ready for when that happened.

With the crystals he paid me with, I had increased my stat count by another 30 points up to 270. I had put them all into Regeneration, so I could maintain more monsters. Two scorpions, ten wolves, with ten slimes, half blue, half brown. The upkeep was 40 energy for all those monsters. A small portion compared to my 170 Regeneration stat.

I had called up these monsters only yesterday. Every night up until yesterday, I had been pushing my energy sense by dropping my energy below zero. Each time I did that, I was able to sense the energy around me more and more.

It was time for me to act once again, which was why I had created my army. I went a different way along the wall this time to a new gate. I wasn’t followed. I suspected there wasn’t much concern about me running off. I heard about the other cities, but from the news Jerry passed along they were worse off than Purgatory.

I wasn’t sure if I believed him, but it wasn’t a huge concern. I just needed to reach a point where I could break free from Ken’s grasp.

I perked up when I noted a team was entering through the gate. There were other hunters for the level 1 monsters entering as well. I chose to wait. If monsters were spotted inside the city, it would cause a panic. My greatest strength was surprise at the moment.

Evening came, and the level 1 monster hunters had finished returning. They chose to cash in their crystals, rather than wait near the gate. Too great a risk of being robbed if they had crystals on themselves. That left the area near the gate completely deserted.

It got dark and I still waited. Finally, another team with a cart. As they entered the street, two scorpions ran in front of them. There were shouts of alarm. That was when I sent wolves with slimes on their heads from the nearby buildings and from behind the group. I targeted the person that was giving off the most energy, who most likely was their skill user. The team was quickly killed off.

Lots more crystals this time. I began dragging the cart back to the research area. Once I was close enough, I carried my crystals back to my building. Jerry and Sam were asleep, and the guards didn’t seem to care.

Why didn’t the guards care? Why didn’t Ken have me followed every second of the day? I wasn’t complaining, but his lack of care was surprising. I guess he didn’t see me as a threat. What could Chase do against an experienced hunting team? Where would he run to?

I had no doubt if I started selling drugs, or potions outside of his control, he would come down hard on me. Use that as an excuse to get the secret to crystal powder. Maybe he was hoping I would slip up in some way.

I guess this was only the second time I went out, so there wasn’t a pattern. Still, two times was quite risky. I wouldn’t complain, but I was just surprised at how much I was getting away with.

I counted my crystals in the morning. I had managed to get away with 781 5-point crystals and 11,741 50-point crystals. That was 590,955 points. I began cashing in two packs per day after that.

The guards paid bribes to the other guards at the store to get me out of taxes, and I purchased some research equipment and food. I was then escorted back.

“You aren’t curious what I am doing?” I asked one of the guards escorting me. I just couldn’t help myself. This just seemed too easy.

“I get paid to escort you to the store and back. Don’t get paid to ask questions.”

The other guard with me also spoke up. “Exactly. People ask too many questions. Well, they don’t last long. We know you are making the drugs for Ken.”

“Yeah, it isn’t hard to figure out. That Sam lady figured out bread and is working on alcohol,” the first guard said.

“A lot nicer than running around out there fighting monsters. Let me say that. Not going to risk that by poking my nose where I shouldn’t.” They continued to chat, and I just shook my head in disbelief. People could be so oblivious to things they just didn’t realize.

It was day 203 was I turned in the last pack of ill-gotten crystals. I purchased another 270 stat points.

Body-20; Mind-20; Spirit-80; Perception-20; Aura-20; Regeneration-340; Endurance-20; Absorption-20 for a total of 540 upgrades.

I went out for my evening check on the test subjects, like I normally did. That way no one thought it odd for me to be moving about.

“Don’t move or speak.” I froze as a blade came to rest on my shoulder. The voice sounded feminine, but it wasn’t Sam’s voice. I didn’t say anything but was mentally ordering my summons to move closer. I hadn’t been focusing on my surroundings. I wanted to kick myself for letting down my guard. “Walk that way.” The female behind me directed me towards an empty building.

I entered and then came to a halt. I was given a light shove and stumbled forward. I then turned around. There was a hooded woman, I couldn’t see her face. She had a sword in her hand. “It took a long time to find you Mister Chase. Drug and potion producer of Purgatory”

“May I inquire who I have the pleasure of speaking to?”

“Not right now you don’t. You don’t have the qualifications.” My summoned monsters would disagree, but I didn’t say anything. “The process to make crystal powder, how?”

“I haven’t told Ken. You think I am going to tell you?” The woman raised her sword up.

“Pain makes anyone talk.”

“It might, but the guards aren’t far away. I start screaming, you only have so much time. Unless you plan on killing them as well?”

“They are already dead.” Oh, that wasn’t good. “So go ahead and scream. As loud as you want.” I didn’t scream. “I thought so. Now the secret of crystal powder.”

“Then you will kill me once I tell you. So again, no deal.” The figure advanced forward and rested the tip of the sword on my chest.

“You think can negotiate?”

“Yes.” My monsters were in position. “I want to leave this place. Escape Ken.”

“Ken? That buffoon couldn’t find his way out of a paper bag. You really think he matters or is a threat? You should be much more worried about-“ A bell began to ring in the distance and there was shouting as well. The figure backed up, removing the blade. I ordered my monsters to quickly hide.

“When things get to be too much, I might just come back, and we can have another chat Mister Chase. Until then.” The cloaked female ran out of the building.

That was a thing that had happened. I quickly returned to the building I was staying in. Right after I opened the door Jerry was there with a sword in hand. He let out a breath of relief when he saw me. The bell was still ringing in the background.

“Get in. Locking the door,” Jerry said. I listened to him.

“What is going on?”

“The alarm bell from the plaza. That means the city is under attack.” We were under attack from whom? I needed to get the go-bag I had ready in my room in case I needed to escape. “We should be fine, but it has to serious if it is ringing.”

Sam came down the stairs. “What is going on?” Jerry explained the situation to her.

“The noise will probably ruin the alcohol,” she complained. You were worried about that, right now? I hoped she wasn’t serious, since noise wouldn’t ruin alcohol. If she really thought that, she was drinking too much or inhaling some fumes.

We waited in the main room. Finally, there was some knocking at the door. Jerry got up and some hushed passwords were exchanged. He opened it up.

“All safe?” Louis asked.

“Yes, what happened?” Jerry asked back.

“Assassination attempt on the Champion at the plaza. I also noted the guards outside are gone. Probably killed. Any of you notice anything?”

“I was out checking the test subjects, but I didn’t see or hear anything,” I replied. The test subjects were in buildings, if they left, no more food or water. Just flesh and bones waiting to die. Louis stared at me for an extra second.

“That means there is someone else in the city. Full lock down protocols. No one goes anywhere alone. I will assign a guard for both Chase and Sam, just to be safe.” I wanted to complain, but I couldn’t think of a good reason to complain.

The bell stopped ringing. “I will sort things out with Ken. For now, stay in here,” Louis said and left. I would be keeping my monsters for now and wouldn’t be training with negative energy. There were just too many threats at the moment. I also needed to be on guard in case that woman returned.

The next morning, new guards were assigned, and we had the buddy system if we left the building. They waited downstairs along with Jerry. This was quite annoying, but I didn’t change up my routine.

“You hear what happened?” I asked the guard assigned to me.

“Assassination attempt. Three people with skills. Tried to take out the Champion. It means war. There was a declaration and everything. People are saying how the Champion will depopulate the entire city as revenge.”

“You really think that can happen?”

“Listen man, that guy is a killing machine. You get in his way, well you won’t be in his way much longer. The Guild used to be a thing, gone. Carlos used to run this whole place, melted. People challenge him, melted and screaming. Trust me, that is one guy you do not cross, no matter what.”

I understood the Champion ran things along with Ken and Tyrese, but I was missing something it felt like. How could one person be so strong? I guess the stats did help, but even after 20 stats into Body, the effect didn’t feel like that much. Maybe in the hundreds it would start to really kick in like Regeneration.