SL: Chapter 744 – Day 6,511 – The Grind Never Stops

“What’s the count?” I asked Young Michael. This was the going to be our last day tower grinding. It was time to return to civilization and get some more stat points, specifically Regeneration.

“A new high, 1,068 level 7 point crystals,” Young Michael said. I wrote down the number in a log book with a smile. “Did you dip below a third?” he asked.

“No. I just got better. Emperor Michael, monster slayer.”

“You mean more like kiting and positioning. I watch you darting around corners to lure in the flying monsters closer,” Young Micheal said.

“Better, exactly. Positioning is part of combat, and I am just using the very limited terrain up there in the air. The corner of the tower. That is 807 million points,” I replied.

“And you took half a day. Definitely stretching the fighting out,” Young Michael said. I was stretching it out a bit as well, rationing my energy more.

“At least the spawn rate is based on how many are killed and how quickly. Hitting 2,500 should be possible if I had enough energy to not hold back and used all day,” I replied.

“Which is 1.89 billion. But can you get that fast?” Young Michael asked me.

“Well once I upgrade my Regeneration stat, we will see how much that improves things, but at least it isn’t inferior to zone grinding,” I replied.

“That isn’t counting my share either,” he added. Young Michael got to keep all the points from the monsters he killed. He still got ten percent of my total, but he had to clear stuff out in the morning while I got to sleep in. I considered it some extra pocket change that he could earn on his own. While it was only a small amount compared to the 10% he earned off me, he took great pride in earning his own points, instead of picking them up.

I thought it was a bit silly, since points were points, but I wasn’t about to say that. Enjoying combat and wanting to grind out some points was not a bad thing in my mind. I wasn’t afraid of him becoming more capable. It would only remind me that there were other people out there who were willing to work hard and that I couldn’t slack off too much.

“Sleep, then leave?” Young Michael asked me.

“Yes, we leave tomorrow morning. Grinding is exhausting. Two nights in Purgatory,” I added on.

“Really?” he asked.

“Yes. I need a slightly longer break. Tower grinding is brutal. I don’t mind putting in the work, but I feel like my brain is turning to mush with how much I have to think each grinding session. Level 7 monsters hate patterns,” I muttered.

“Its good combat experience,” Young Michael replied, using my own words against me.

“Yes, yes. You are right.”

“What about reaching out to Clarissa?” he asked me, and I shook my head.

“No rush. If we meet then we would just talk about things we already talked about. As for the rest of the Systemic Lands, it doesn’t matter that much. If I need to act, she will reach out,” I replied with a shrug. Clarissa wasn’t shy. If she needed my help she would ask. Bothering her just to chat would be a bit awkward.

“Hopefully Purgatory is still standing, that city is cursed,” Young Michael said.

“Perhaps. But I left them in a strong position and gave a solid demonstration to the people there. They aren’t about to cause me trouble. Regardless, I am going to upgrade the store so we have more food options if they haven’t. I will call it a donation,” I replied.

“I would say you are being charitable and it isn’t like you, but the cost is quite low compared to what we earn,” Young Michael said.

“A shame that the price jumps way too high for things that might be useful. A trillion points, urg, that would take forever,” I muttered.

“A portable store, means we could grind all the time,” Young Michael said with a grin.

“You can grind all the time. Breaks are needed for this kind of thing. Over a hundred days of fighting nonsense. You go fight those flying monsters.”

“No way. Just fighting the ground golems are hard enough,” he replied.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. A shame, that this method is such a struggle. It would have been nice if it was quicker and I could have increased my grinding income quickly,” I said.

“Nothing is ever easy. So back to it after Purgatory?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said in a forced tone. I knew I couldn’t stop. I had to keep pushing myself. It was too easy to say that I was strong enough and relax, but that was people who were going to die would say. I needed to keep my sense of urgency no matter what. Even a hundred, thousand, or ten thousand days later, I couldn’t let up on the grinding for stat points.

That was the ultimate end of this place. When there were no more stat points to get. “So another thousand days of this?” Young Michael asked.

“Maybe. I need to see how much a higher Regeneration stat impacts things. At least we are going to speed up in the next session.”

“It would be nice if we hit 2 billion per day. That is 200 million for me, which is insane,” Young Michael said.

“Going to focus on Regeneration as well?” I asked.

“Balancing things out for now. I don’t have a second meta-point like you, so tower grinding isn’t going to happen. Being more balanced with all my stats is more useful. With a focus on Body and Mind,” he replied.

“Close combat?” I asked.

“Considering it. But I would need to invest quite a bit,” he replied.

“Yes, you would. Which means no investments into Regeneration and Spirit. That is the issue with specialization, you are specialized,” I replied. “Also the weapon problem.”

“Fists. Get my Body stat up high enough, and just punch everything to death,” Young Michael replied.

“Not going to copy me?” I asked.

“I want to push myself, that means melee fighting,” he replied.

“You have been thinking about this for a while,” I said and he nodded.

“Your stories about the Divine Empress made an impact and close quarters fighting is very hard to deal with. If someone with the same number of stats as you fought in close quarters you would struggle,” Young Michael pointed out and I nodded.

“The problem is the mentality one needs to have for such combat. It isn’t easy. It also isn’t something you can train easily either. Since you need to get close to monsters and most of them focus on melee as well. Well, we can spend some time having you fight through a range of level 4 monsters,” I replied.

“Level 4?” he asked and I nodded. “Isn’t that too low?”

“Trust me, you aren’t fighting close quarters to the golems at the base of the tower. Starting off on level 4 monsters will give you a sense if you want to keep going down that path. It has a lot of potential, but the difficulty is much harder than launching beam attacks. Not a fan of me anymore?” I asked with a fake pout.

“Just seeing all the energy issues you are having makes me realize that focusing on Body and Mind might be better long term for me. Along with raw manipulation of energy to protect myself and attack. I picked up a lot of exercises and have created new ones.”

“Now I am getting worried, you really put a lot of thought into this. Well, it is your choice. I don’t mind going through some lower level zones to see how you handle weird level 4 and possibly level 5 monsters. At that point I think you will start to struggle.”

“Really?” he asked and I nodded.

“Nothing against your skill level, but that is where I would struggle if I had your stats. With my stats, I would struggle against level 7 monsters in melee,” I replied.

“But you could win?” Young Michael asked.

“Not easily and only if it were one on one. Skills are a huge help. And getting in close to high level monsters even makes me afraid of the nonsense they can do.”

“Well, I want to give it a try at least. Get a handle on that kind of fighting style myself,” Young Michael said and I shrugged. It was his choice and spending a couple of days indulging in his foolish idea was fine. I had no doubt he would give it up as the fear and difficulty became too great.

Only someone like the Divine Empress would be willing to put their life on the line in melee combat. Humans weren’t meant to engage in knock out brawls with monsters. There was some deep primal fear that came up. That was why I used beam attacks and focused on my skills as my primary means of combat.

Even if I trained for 100 days, it wouldn’t be enough to overcome that mental limitation. I hated melee combat. While I could throw a punch and manipulate my energy to help me, it wasn’t something I liked to do. The risk was just too high in my mind. I would rather keep my distance and launch annihilation attacks at monsters instead.

That was why I respected the Divine Empress, even after all this time. She was utterly fearless. Insane of course, but utterly fearless. If that woman showed up right now, I would probably take a step back in fear despite being stronger than her. The memory had sunk in that deep.

While it was amusing every time I showed back up in civilization, I didn’t get that much amusement about punching down. For someone who was capable of such a high level of melee combat she was incredibly petty and narrow-minded.

If Young Michael truly did succeed in becoming a melee combatant, then we would be an unstoppable duo. He would be able to directly engage while I attacked from range and covered his back and flanks. It was the ultimate combination of long and short range. But finding someone like the Divine Empress was not simple.

That was why I didn’t get my hopes up. The true test was if he could fight a level 7 monster and win with his stats in melee combat. It would be insanely dangerous, but with the correct manipulation of energy, it was technically possible. And if it was technically possible, he had to be able to get a win, or pursue it without fear. You couldn’t hesitate or second guess yourself in melee combat.

But when you are faced with powerful attacks at close range, you needed to move ahead fearlessly. I gave him a 20% chance. That was about 20% higher than I gave anyone else. Young Michael wasn’t that young, but he wasn’t completely set in his ways either. If anyone could adjust their mentality for melee combat it would be a child born in this place.