The Systemic Lands

Chapter 41: Day 90 – Council of Captains

I woke up without any beeping. I checked one of my watches, it was quite early in the morning of day 90. I cleared my eyes of gunk and looked around and it was pitch black. Wait, I could barely make out the table, my heart soared. The Perception stat was doing something. I slowly got up and went to the table. It wasn’t an illusion. A combination of my Perception stat and my eyes adjusting to the darkness.

I considered for a brief moment getting an eye patch to keep one eye constantly in the dark. The idea had potential, but it wasn’t worth the loss of half my vision. I wasn’t going back into a dungeon any time soon either.

I went back to the bed and collapsed back on the bedding. It wasn’t like a foam or spring mattress, but it was a lot better than a cart or the ground. I tried to go back to sleep, but I was just filled with too much energy.

I got back up and turned on the light. At least it wasn’t a blinding bright glare. Soft white light was definitely the best. I began the process of putting on my armor, making sure every strap and lace was tied correctly and tightly. That would just be way to embarrassing to think about, my armor falling off in the middle of something. Especially when I had spent so much on it.

I looked at the black color. It was definitely an edge lord choice, but anything else would get dirty way too easily. I needed a cloak and a helmet. Maybe a tabard if there was a good enough design, I could pick out for one.

I moved the table and chair out of the way and unlocked the door. No one outside. I left the key on the table, grabbed my packs and made my way downstairs. There were two guards playing dice at one of the tables. They looked up at me, since I wasn’t exactly light on my feet.

“Heading out, left the key on the table in the room.”

“No breakfast?” one of them asked.

“No,” I replied and left the building. My cart was still outside the Red Dawn’s headquarters. I tossed my packs into it and nodded to the guard on duty outside. I passed by one patrol as I made my way to the plaza and the pillars.

I tossed 10 crystals to the captain on duty and went into the Store. A mirror was 1,000 points. No lantern or other portable light source besides torches and wood logs. No scissors, paper, or anything to write with.

Before I could go down a rabbit hole, I spent 22,950 points to purchase 20 upgrades and put them all into the Regeneration stat. Once that was done, I had 2,703 points left. I looked at the Reinforced Club for 1,000 points. I gave in and purchased it out of curiosity.

It materialized above the pillar, and I grabbed it. There were two big differences compared to the cheap 10-point club. The first was a leather grip at the bottom and a thick iron ring wrapped around the wood at the other end. It was almost a war hammer but not quite.

I gave it a couple of test swings. Heavy, but my shoulders were solid muscle after all the swinging and stabbing I had been doing. I then got to purchasing food and water. I spent 400 points to load up my packs for 20 days.

I began searching the store for anything else. No hints, manuals, lots and lots of crafting tools, wood, copper, and iron surprisingly. Iron plates and bars only cost 500 points each. This last upgrade seemed to be the basic crafting and home building package, not a huge combat focus.

Nothing magical or hot weapons. It was all cold weapons with only a very basic bow as the only ranged option. Well, there were javelins, but I couldn’t see them becoming widespread. I looked at the housing options again and the prices made me wince.

When I was earning 10k points per day, then I would consider housing. Even then I hesitated. I would want around 100k points to really furnish a house the way I wanted, like a fortress. It would need to be well lit and could survive a siege for at least 100 days.

I could be extra obnoxious, get four buildings and combine them into a super building. But then it would just be a dick measuring, point wasting contest. I would leave that to Carlos and the Guild. The best way forward was to maximize my grinding efficiency. I had leverage in the form of my skill, and I needed to exploit it for all it was worth.

I almost forgot. I checked for helmets, nothing. I checked for cloaks, there was an option. A cloak with shoulder clasps cost 1,000 points, default color was gray. A dye job would bring the cost up to 1,500 points.

I checked for customization option, nothing. Probably needed another upgrade or two. It was tempting to get one, but it would vanity more than anything since there was no rain and the temperature was consistently nice.

I left the Store and double checked my cart. Everything was in order. I pulled the cart back to Carlos’ headquarters. The guard let me into the entry area. The meeting room was on the second floor and that was off limits until Carlos woke up.

I sat quietly using my knife to carefully trim and clean my nails. Dawn came and I was served a platter of food and water. I picked at my food as people showed up.

“Tyrese.” One of the few captains whose name I knew.

“Sicario.” I gestured at the seat next to me and he sat there.

“Still surviving I see?”

“Yes, but you have been doing quite well for yourself. You just walked off and we were all wondering what happened.”

“I figured you and Carlos had this place sorted out. I just…I just needed to get away for a bit.”

“Find anything interesting?”

“Not really. Just a lot of grinding away. Will be doing another trip after this morning.”

“You should stay for a couple of days at least, rest up.” I shook my head at that.

“I like to keep moving.”

“The room is ready,” Abby the maid said. Everyone began making their way upstairs to the conference room. I was directed to the seat that was to Carlos’ left. The captains took their seats, and I noted the seat to the right of Carlos was empty.

He came in and two of his guards were carrying a pot. Everyone stood up, I did so as well out of politeness. He had it set down on the table and took a seat. Everyone sat back down. I noted Ruth sitting near the far end of the table. “Today we welcome back Michael from the wilderness. He has shared quite a bit with me.”

“I have decided on two things. The first is the position of Underboss.” Everyone perked up at that. “Captain Roger.”

“Thank you, Boss Carlos.” I saw everyone else looking at him with envy. He was Carlos’ main enforcer from what I could recall of him.

“You are taking up the position of Underboss to run the day-to-day operations of this city. I am taking a step back to deal with larger issues. We will still have this meeting every ten days and my accountant will be keeping track of the crystals. Your new pay will be 25 crystals per day.” The captains were getting 8 per day and the guards 4 per day the last I heard. That was quite a pay raise.

“Take your seat.” Underboss Roger took a seat on Carlos’ right side. “Captain Tyrese, find a person to nominate for the empty captain position. I will speak to your pick when we convene next arrival.”

“Yes, Boss Carlos.”

“Before we get into the second piece of business. Michael, this is for you.” Carlos pushed the pot on the table over to me. “Go on, open it.” I opened it and a putrid stench came out. I didn’t close it right away and looked. There was a head inside.

It took a moment to process that this was Evaline. I felt sad, happy, frustrated, and relieved all at the same time. Sad, since she was someone whose name I knew. Happy, since she got what she deserved. Frustrated, since things had reached this point between us. Relieved, since I didn’t have to worry about her plotting.

The silence in the room lingered for over a minute as I was lost in thought before Carlos spoke up.

“I trust that satisfies the bounty you placed?”

“Ah, yes it does. Thank you.” I closed the lid back up, but a bit of the smell still lingered in the air. I didn’t know what to say to that.

“Any future bounties, will require my personal sign off in the future, that won’t be a problem, will it?”

“No, of course not.”

“Good, unless you want to keep it?” I shook my head and he gestured to his guards to take the pot out of the room. Putting me in my place to score some more credit, consolidate power, and to warn his Underboss. Carlos was truly made for this craziness.

“Now the second piece of business. It has been confirmed that there are other cities out there.” He quickly held up a hand before anyone could speak. “This was discovered in the course of gaining a skill. Where they are, who they are, and how powerful they are is unknown.”

“That is why we need to renegotiate with the Guild or wipe them out. We can’t risk not being united when confronting other cities. Ruth, you will sound out the Guild and draw up a permanent treaty. None of this piecemeal business that we have been doing. Something concrete that solidifies our respective positions in the face of an outside force.”

“Yes, Boss Carlos, but what concessions are you willing to give?”

“The right to rule on their own internal disputes. Permanent 25% tax as long as their members are not in designated city areas. This is necessary to prevent conflict, which I am sure they know. Finally, a representative can be appointed to the Council of Captains.” There were several frowns at that. I liked that name, Council of Captains. It had a ring to it, probably since both words started with the letter ‘C’.

“A minor concession, but an important one. It will lay the groundwork for future additions. We aren’t just a gang; we are a government. With how many red-blooded Americans are in this room and outside of it, unless there is some kind of unified government there will be issues. In the future a possible elected representative or a businessperson outside of our immediate interests will be appointed as well.”

“Boss Carlos, with all due respect, we have a solid grip, we shouldn’t let go. We have the most powerful person on our side and the largest number of guards,” one of the captains stood up and spoke up.

“I would agree with you, if it wasn’t for the threat of outside cities. Our expert isn’t always here. While we suspect that this is day 90, there is no guarantee.” Carlos looked at me and I nodded at that.

“I have nothing else to add Boss Carlos.” The Captain sat back down.

“We will be making several minor changes as well. The first being the city will now take on the name of Purgatory as the official name. Second, Underboss, I want you to begin thinking about how to get up on the wall, patrol the gates, or just keep track of who our people are. I don’t want someone or something to sneak in as we grow larger.”

“It might take time.”

“You don’t get to be Underboss just by cracking heads. Consider it a test Underboss Roger.”

“Yes, Boss Carlos.”

“Good, now to the second big announcement and change. This is something that is only discussed in this room. Is that understood?” Boss Carlos looked around at everyone as they gave their affirmatives.

“If this gets out, then I won’t be happy. It has been determined how to give people magic skills. We can grant one person a single skill every ten days.” I gave a nod at this as confirmation for the captains that looked at me. “These people will need upgrades to use said skill effectively, which makes it acceptable only for someone at the level of captain.”

“I have given it a lot of thought but would like to hear suggestions on how to move forward first.”

“The ten-day thing, it is a hard limit of this place?” Ruth asked and Carlos gestured at me.

“Yes. I have not tested it, but the knowledge came with the skill similar to the store,” I replied.

“What upgrades?” Ruth asked.

“Spirit is the gas tank. Regeneration is the fuel line. At least ten in each to not be completely useless. More is always better,” I replied.

“What options are there for skills?” Ruth asked another question.

“Limited by what boss monster is killed in the dungeon. The slime dungeon only gave two options, Acid Shot and Entangling Roots. You can’t get a skill point from a dungeon more than once. So, the slime dungeon is worthless to me.” Several the captains nodded at that.

“An elite team. Four or five people. We skill them up and they hunt monsters to earn crystals. The skills would make it easier, right?” Tyrese asked.

“It is like a gun. Any idiot can use a skill, but pardon the pun, it takes skill. Aiming and managing one’s hands are the biggest concerns. As for grinding monsters, a person would need about 150 upgrades to effectively grind due to how slow Regeneration is. One energy every 100 minutes. So, 50 Spirit for the tank and 100 for Regeneration to grind in a more dangerous area.”

“What kind of monsters?” Tyrese asked.

“The only one I have seen is a large brown scorpion, the size of a big dog. Two vicious claws and a barbed tail that is probably poisoned. Armored heavily, only worth 50 points.”

“Are we sharing this with the Guild?” Ruth asked.

“Not even as a trading point. Skills are key. But we need to look to our future strength,” Carlos said.

“We could try and bring a team over. None of us have the right mindset to go after monsters,” Tyrese suggested.

“The issue is trust. What is to stop said team from turning on us?” Carlos was having the same problem I had. Letting other people have power. Carlos looked at his Underboss who was already appearing to be a bit stressed.