I finished cashing in my points in New Delhi. The city was just South of my grinding position and was my go to city for resupply and turning in points to the store. It was also mostly deserted, only a couple of people passing through who were grinding the surrounding zones.
The new arrivals were starving and desperate in the city. Killing a couple of them made sure to send the message not to bother me. We arrived in the middle of the day. I wanted word to leak out that I was coming to t...
2024-03-08 23:43:54 +0000 UTC
View Post
Young Michael
“Purgatory,” I muttered as Hendricks, and I approached the city. We had been pretty far out in the wilderness for quite a while, grinding monsters. I was getting close to the point where I would be able to handle level 4 monsters, but Hendricks said I still needed more stats and skills.
“No guards,” he said as we entered the city late at night. Buildings were burnt out. Shops were closed. In the distance there was the occasional scream that w...
2024-03-08 23:43:29 +0000 UTC
View Post
Dylan and I were taking a rest day after 25 days of grinding. While I wasn’t a fan of rest days, I needed one. Clearing three zones every single day was beyond exhausting. Just the constant fighting over and over. I was really beginning to hate level 7 monsters with how adaptable they were.
Unlike lower-level monsters, they had a much more varied attack pattern, where if I changed things up, they would change things up. There was no optimal fighting strategy, except to beat them direc...
2024-03-08 04:58:57 +0000 UTC
View Post
We had cashed in the points for Dylan and just spent one full day grinding. He was barely able to handle a level 7 zone, but he could move and pick up crystals. The cold and lack of air were rough on him, but he was capable enough. We had only cleared two zones today and planned to clear three tomorrow.
“Vegetable stew,” Dylan said as he served me a bowl. The frustrating part was that the nearby cities didn’t have a high enough level to sell mystery meat from their stores. It was ...
2024-03-07 23:51:00 +0000 UTC
View Post
“This is the location,” Dylan said as I scanned the area. The air boat was near the ground, and I had killed all the nearby monsters easily. He had quickly picked up the point crystals they had dropped. That reminded me of a time long ago. I really was going down memory lane lately.
“You know. If we get your stats up so you can survive a level 7 zone, it is more efficient that you pick up the crystals the monsters drop so I can keep moving and fighting continuously,” I said. Dyl...
2024-03-07 00:48:20 +0000 UTC
View Post
After reading the letter from my mother, I felt tired, and incredibly grateful to Michelle. She had mentioned things only I could know, so she truly was related to me. I carefully put it away to read later. My emotions were already quite raw. I sat down and wrote a letter myself. One to Michelle and one to my mother.
Mom,
I am glad that you are alive. The difficulties of the Systemic Lands are immense and Michelle is one of the few people who has my trust. Listen to h...
2024-03-06 23:52:02 +0000 UTC
View Post
I looked out of the hovercraft at thousands of crystalline spiders. Their webs were impossibly black, drawing in light and my guess, providing the creatures sustenance. Also trapping unwary idiots who passed through their habitat.
The area they inhabited was immense. They clearly had no natural predators but were only constrained by the number of resources available to them. It was hard to make out their pitch-black bodies. It was like I was looking at shadows and not actual creatures. ...
2024-03-06 23:51:33 +0000 UTC
View Post
“I worked as a truck driver,” Dylan talked about himself as we continued to fly towards New Kochi. “It wasn’t that interesting, but it was a good job. Definitely when you get a nice long route in the Midwest, you could listen to a book on audio and mentally relax.”
“Well, you will be flying the air boat here for the most part. So that is kind of like truck driving,” I joked Dylan shook his head.
“No monsters while driving. Mostly concerned about weather on those lo...
2024-03-05 23:58:55 +0000 UTC
View Post
There was no airship waiting for me. I closed my eyes and let out a sigh. Michelle and Captain Francis could both be dead. My home was gone. The original location had no one there along with the backup location. The Crystal Vortex had been lost once again along with my two teammates.
The soldiers had died as well, but I wasn’t attached to them like I was to the airship, Michelle, and Captain Francis. I felt old, very old and very tired. I kept going while the people I worked ...
2024-03-05 23:58:09 +0000 UTC
View Post
I double checked my one spatial ring I had that worked. It had been downgraded to a small room in terms of size, but it was more than enough to store the solid energy bars that had been packed away for trade and a variety of equipment that wasn’t based on arrays or formations.
Speaking to the man named Smith I had spent the last cycle learning about the equipment I would needed to survive. The two main things were keeping an atmosphere to breathe and the right temperature.
While...
2024-03-04 23:37:44 +0000 UTC
View Post
Amy
I looked at the woman who had saved me. She was worn down and bloody. I carefully gave her water from the flask she had been carrying. Her right arm was a deformed mess. Her left arm was missing below the elbow.
“Thanks,” she said as I lowered the flask. We had stopped in what she called a level 3 mistlands zone to hide out in. It was very misty and I could barely see anything.
“You rescued me. It is the least I can do,” I replied, and she shook ...
2024-03-04 21:52:53 +0000 UTC
View Post
I surveyed the battle at a distance, interfering where necessary. It was time to clip Michael’s wings. He had left his airship alone to cash in all his points. A shadow war was now inevitable. Each of us was trying to drag the other down.
I still had my prisoner, his mother locked away in a secure room. She would survive the higher energy levels. Jacob had many wonderful techniques for such things. I would also have my airship and he would have not have his main one.
It was all ...
2024-03-04 21:52:03 +0000 UTC
View Post
Captain Francis
I looked at the letter addressed to me on top of Michael’s desk in his private room on the Crystal Vortex. Of course, he had a plan of some kind. I opened it up, read it, closed my eyes, and then folded it back up. I put it in my pockets and considered the instructions he had left for me.
There was a huge choice in front of me right now. Michael had left my orders very open-ended based on what happened after he left so that I had the fle...
2024-02-04 23:57:53 +0000 UTC
View Post
My eyes snapped open. I had been performing my evening checks and was just alerted that Michael hadn’t returned to the airship and the tiny airboat was missing. He had left. How had he known?
All that preparation was pointless now. “Well played,” I muttered as I got up. “I was being too passive anyways.” A cold anger coursed through me. “Set course for Meech, we have people and supplies to pick up,” I declared.
One of the slaves on board scurried off. Time to unleash...
2024-02-03 23:40:12 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Sir!” one of my soldiers saluted in surprise as I landed on the deck of the airboat. It was standard procedure to keep one person on the airboat while the rest cleared the level 4 zone. The other soldiers nearby who had just gotten off while finishing the last of the flying monsters, stopped and spun around.
“At ease. We are making a detour,” I explained. It had taken a lot of preparation on my own to get to this point. I had moved all my point crystals onboard last night, afte...
2024-02-02 23:31:43 +0000 UTC
View Post
“He is still just sitting there? Well it seems like he has committed to the strategy of running away,” Jacob said. I glared at him. He didn’t cower at all under my glare. The incompetent pig that he was. His usefulness was quickly coming to an end.
“And you found nothing about this rumored sword?” I demanded. Something that powerful had to be out there. It would make a nice addition to what I had planned.
“It is real, make no mistake of that, but it is in hiding at the...
2024-02-01 22:29:24 +0000 UTC
View Post
“It is too quiet,” I said on a rare day I was taking off from grinding. Mentally I needed a bit of a break, killing level 7 monsters was stressful. They could hurt me if I wasn’t careful, and I had to push myself to clear out two zones every day. I was working harder than I ever had. I was about a third of the way to my goal of 30 billion points, I had around 10 billion saved up so far.
“They might have given up,” Michelle replied as we sipped our tea out on the deck of the ai...
2024-01-31 23:57:39 +0000 UTC
View Post
I quietly listened as Amy continued to share everything about her son. I had been negligent in questioning her, preferring to just use her as a chess piece against Michael. But he was proving to be more troublesome than I expected.
“And then he fell off his new bike.” I was only half paying attention as I had her narrate his entire life story. I had put quite a bit of fear into her. While she had been hesitant at first, she was not resilient to the blunter methods of persuasion. A s...
2024-01-30 23:56:12 +0000 UTC
View Post
Clarissa
Everything was on fire. I watched as Purgatory turned into a massive funeral pyre. The stone itself was melting and the waves of heat were coming off from the city. I turned away from the massive sunken inferno.
A short distance later, my personal guard was waiting next to an airship resting at the top of trees, a rope ladder descending downwards. “Is the city lost?” I glanced at the woman who had asked that question.
“Yes, we are should-“
2024-01-29 23:57:09 +0000 UTC
View Post
“He appears to have run away,” Jacob said. He fell to the ground screaming for his insolence. He had said it would happen, but I didn’t believe him. A few seconds later he stopped screaming as I released him. “Feeling better?” he asked petulantly.
“How could he just leave?! His mother is right there, all ready to be rescued!” I yelled out in frustration.
“He knows it is a trap and has accepted her death. I told you that capturing her would just deal emotional damag...
2024-01-29 00:01:19 +0000 UTC
View Post
As I returned to the Crystal Vortexfor the day, I saw another airship, or airboat as I liked the call the small airships, in the distance that had come to a stop. I landed on the deck of my airship and after a quick check by the soldiers I made my way to the bridge.
“Status?” I asked. Since there wasn’t a battle going on there clearly was something important happening.
“There is a golem on the airship as well as a bound prisoner. They want to make a trade,” Capt...
2024-01-27 23:49:46 +0000 UTC
View Post
I had my eyes closed as I felt the subtle shifts of energy about me. The energy of the Heavens was everywhere but it was slippery. One needed absolute control over their thoughts and an incredible sensitivity to attempt what I was doing without support of the Heavens.
I reached up with my right hand and carefully moved my fingers. Thought and focus infused into each action. Smalls enclosed packets of energy transitioned into the weave of the Heavens and hurried onto their destination. I...
2024-01-27 00:00:04 +0000 UTC
View Post
“DIE,” I blew away another level 7 monster and looked around. There were no more. It was great stress relief to kill the monsters and get their crystals. I picked the dropped crystal up and tossed it into my pack. I then looked around, there were no more.
I set off back for the Crystal Vortex. What new thing would my opponent try today? Traps and evasion indicated weakness in direct combat. But their skill in causing trouble was unmatched. Also their skill in energy manipul...
2024-01-25 20:06:29 +0000 UTC
View Post
“I told you it would be a stupid idea,” Jacob said off to one side. I turned to glare at him, but he didn’t flinch. He knew I wouldn’t kill him or tell him to shut up. While I had absolute control over him, he was far more useful as an advisor than as a puppet.
“Then come up with a better idea!” I yelled back. He just shook his head, and I clenched my fists.
“Killing Emperor Michael is like trying to kill a cockroach. You will end up ripping everything apart and he w...
2024-01-24 23:57:36 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Your only hope?” I asked slowly. “I doubt that. You are quite capable yourself,” I told the fake Clarissa. If I went along too easily then this would make the person doing this suspicious. I needed to push back a bit. The silence stretched out and the fake Clarissa didn’t respond. “What is it?” I asked her.
“You realized instantly? Didn’t you?” The tone was much colder. I guess I wasn’t that good at lying. Interpersonal communications were not my strong suit. Well...
2024-01-24 00:04:26 +0000 UTC
View Post
Air Burst. I landed on the deck of the Crystal Vortex. I noted the clotheslines that had been hung up to dry out the laundry that had been washed. Since we were going to be here long term, there was a long term effort to maintain a certain level of cleanliness.
I heard shouts going up across the moving airship in regards to my return. “Sir, code of the day?” a soldier came up to me and asked. I repeated the code to the soldier.
“What is your favorite color?...
2024-01-22 23:15:23 +0000 UTC
View Post
I sat in my room onboard the airship. I looked at the red envelope in front of me. We had reached our planned destination very late last night, or early this morning. Michelle had given it to me and I was hesitating before I read it.
After about ten minutes of sitting and staring at it, I finally picked it up and opened the envelope up. I then pulled out the sheet of paper inside. The first thing I noticed was that the writing was print not cursive and a bit messy.
Emperor Mic...
2024-01-21 00:05:10 +0000 UTC
View Post
“Sir, airship on our six,” a soldier rushed onto the bridge and reported.
“Helm, spin us around, all hands battle stations, hold fire,” Captain Francis ordered. My heartbeat quickened. Someone was chasing me. It was getting dark as the light source was setting behind the horizon. We had been heading West, and were over the void between Esperanza and New Beijing.
“Battle stations! Battle stations! Hold fire!” the cry quickly echoed throughout the airship. I spotted the ...
2024-01-19 23:43:46 +0000 UTC
View Post
I rolled the die. “South this time,” I said as the airship altered course. That way our flight path was randomized. It was the easiest way to disrupt any plans with randomness. At least that was my hope. The airship changed course.
Purgatory was left behind along with everyone there, for better or worse. Time to lure out this person who had caused this nightmare to begin with. I picked up the die and pocketed it. I would roll again in a little bit.
The Crystal Vortex ...
2024-01-18 23:59:56 +0000 UTC
View Post
I took several deep breaths as I thought over the situation. I hated being forced into a decision with only two options. That was the kind of strategy that was used to manipulate an opponent and lead them to their deaths.
It reeked of the illusion of choice. It was a common trick in magic. To present a choice, but all outcomes were accounted for and led to the eventual conclusion of the act. The real trick was getting whatever person was watching to buy into the choice.
It was all...
2024-01-17 23:51:19 +0000 UTC
View Post