Chapter XXI – Day 329 (Part 2) – Treaty Signing

I finished signing the fourth copy with my werewolf. This couldn’t be over soon enough. The entire process had been exhausting and Champion Michael seemed to delight in hammering out the details.

I didn’t push the issue of him having his name first. The treaty was named after my city after all. The biggest win in my opinion was the third clause about assassins or attacks. Also, clause four about people outside of Purgatory.

It wasn’t that big of an issue. I was only concerned with Champion Michael. The rest I could easily kill if they bothered me. He was the only real threat. The issue of compensation was that his people were more valuable than monsters. If I killed them, it would mean war. But if they accidentally killed a monster, I could only ask for compensation.

I didn’t like it, but what Champion Michael didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. The fifth and sixth clause were incredibly annoying for how uneven they were. But Champion Michael refused to budge arguing that my forces were more adaptable, while he had to talk to people.

I got the seventh clause for trade negotiations. I liked the wolf crystals and wanted more. He clearly knew that and put off any discussions of trade until after he was sure the truce had stuck.

The last clause was a pointless one that I only asked for to ask for something. I had the feeling he agreed as well that it was pointless since he just agreed to it. But it was included in the end, a minor win on my part.

In the end it came down to trust. We didn’t trust each other, but we could kill the other. Something that was incredibly frustrating. I had a weredeer take my treaty copies to a decoy location, in case he was trying to lure me out.

I had no doubt that if I showed my face, he would kill me without hesitation.

He then stared at my werewolf for a bit. I could almost feel like he was gazing directly at me. He then inclined his head and body slightly. “Goodbye Ritualist, you are a dangerous opponent.”

“Goodbye Champion Michael, I will say the same. I would never face you with my real body.” He was far too dangerous. I thought I saw him smile slightly as he turned to leave, but it could have just been my imagination. It was over. The War of Heaven and Purgatory had ended with a treaty.

I had failed and lost. After so much effort to kill one man, it just wasn’t possible. He was growing stronger with his focus on stats. I would need to figure out a way to counter him, if at all possible.

I was a genius a master of everything I put my mind to. I had bluffed Champion Michael into backing off. I wouldn’t have died, but if he had destroyed my building and my reserves, his advantage would have been impossible to overcome.

The next time we fought I would be ready. There would be a lot more preparation and research. The first step was to fix myself. “Ack! Ack!” I coughed up more blood as I made my way to the store pillars. I put my hands on them and purchased another regeneration.

My condition wasn’t improving. I noted Michael stop outside the city and look back. Was he thinking about coming back to kill me? Maybe, I could feel the hatred in his stare.

What an unrelenting opponent. Every trap, every monster or hybrid combination, and every tactic I employed he just brute forced his way through. I respect you, Champion Michael. You may have won this war, but I would win the next.

There was a reason I had stopped negative energy training. It wasn’t just the loss of control over my summons and hybrids. It was also the mental impact. I needed to change directions. Everything up to this point had let me match Michael, but I was falling behind.

I needed a way to surpass him. I needed to dig deeper. I had only scratched the surface of what Energy was. I needed to figure out more fundamental truths. Pain coursed through my body. Right after I fixed this issue, which hopefully I could fix.

Champion Michael finally turned away and left. I let out a sigh of relief. I had been thinking of the problem and had an idea how to fix myself.

I had my remaining hybrids run out of the city entrance to the East and then cut the tether on everything. The pain was still there. I began expelling my energy, all of it.

I quickly bottomed out my energy. The pain began to fade. Finally, I could have a moment of respite. I collapsed into my bed, exhausted, and glad to finally get some proper sleep.

I woke up the next day, the pain was still there, but it had come back with a vengeance. If the pain was less, it was only marginally so. I expelled all my energy again. The pain decreased once again. I would probably have to cycle my energy at least 40 to 50 more times for it to decrease enough to do other things if the process was linear. Could be up to 150 if it was a percentage decrease each time. Worst case the issue persisted. Fear coursed through me at the thought of permanent damage.

That confirmed my guess that my energy was impacted in some way. The tether showed energy movement, so how did the energy from the mimic impact me? The only difference between that monster and other monsters was that it had more of my energy to take my form.

A possible type of resonance. My mind began to spin at the possibilities. It felt good to be working on a problem, coming up with new techniques. It was the distraction I needed from the pain that kept coursing through my body.

The arrival would be soon. I had no werewolves, which was unfortunate. But I would need to make a personal appearance. It was unfortunate I had no one like Ruth this time around, after having lost everything.

I smiled to myself. Despite everything I was still alive. As long as there was life, there was hope. Hope that I would ascend to being all powerful one day and escape this hell.