The Systemic Lands

Chapter 61: Day 150 (5) – Mistakes All Around

“Carry the torch,” I said and looked at Ruth. She froze up.

“I…I forgot to get any torches,” she said. I slowly turned to look at her. That was a huge oversight.

“Really? Well, you better get running, we will wait here. You are lucky I don’t clear the dungeon for Tom here.” Ruth let out a sigh and after checking her gear she ran off. I had explained things to Tom the on the very late afternoon walk out here. I showed him how to kill a slime and made him kill the rest we encountered. There weren’t many since people had already swept through the area.

Now, we were going to be waiting for a couple of hours on a stupid mistake. It was going to be a long night. At least the forest would be clear of monsters until they came back at midnight. “Get your club out,” I told him, and he got it out. “Some sparring while we wait for queen idiot to get back.”

“Why not with swords?” Tom asked as he got his club up in front of him.

“They would dull and cost points. Clubs are disposable for the most part.” I sent a slow jab at him. He struggled to block and step back at the same time. “With a jab turn your body to the side and interpose your club, like this to deflect a follow up slash.” I twisted my body to my side and brought the club up.

“Got it.” I jabbed him again. This time his block was much better. I then went to an overhead blow.

“Sidestep and counterattack or deflect the blow to the side. Don’t try to block such an attack head on.” I continued sending attacks at him, forcing him to block.

After ten minutes, he was breathing heavily, and I was still fine. “Rest then we go again. I need to deal with some trash in the meantime. Following me really? Hoping to steal my cart of something equally silly?” I called out. There was a stretch of silence and I noticed Tom looking around.

“How?” The man from earlier today stepped out from behind a tree.

“Your bloodlust.” I just kept checking behind and around me. Then a random call out to lure people out. “So, I take it you want to team up on me?” I asked.

“No…we want to join you. Kind of hoping to show our ability to you.” They were superfans. I didn’t want to kill people for being superfans, but I couldn’t tolerate this kind of nonsense either. It would set a bad precedent.

I asked the Almighty System to hear my thoughts and prayers to give me patience. “The answer remains no. You aren’t qualified. Anything more would just make things difficult. Leave.” There was a long moment when the man and his group stood there.

He turned to look at his friends. “Guess that is it.”

“But-“

“That is, it. If we push this will turn into a fight.” I nodded slightly at that. “Let’s go.” They left without incident or someone screaming as they melted. That was a pleasant surprise.

Tom looked at me and the group leaving. “Wouldn’t a larger group be better?” Tom asked.

I looked at him and gave him a small smile. “They are like High School football players. I am an NFL quarterback, possibly Tom Brady if you squint really hard. They are asking to join a pro-team expecting to get carried.”

“Then why did you accept me, not that I am not grateful, but…”

“You have a drive those people lack. Your first day here, and you asked to join me. Even when I didn’t know that fact, you asked me in front of everyone else. What I do, it requires balls. Giant steel balls infused with titanium.”

“Ruth?”

“She took her own risks to join me. Still has a way to go, but she has steel balls. Gender doesn’t matter. No more practice, there are vultures circling.”

“Thanks. I mean it.”

“Say that once we get back and you are still alive.”

“A lot of people die?”

“Yes. Level one monsters are easy enough, but at level two they come with abilities. These abilities make them far more difficult to defeat and to understand the kind of threat they pose. Like playing a football team and not knowing if they are a college or NFL team. No playbook or game footage either. There is a real risk of instantly being crushed.”

“What about formation tactics or preparation?”

“You stay back and don’t die horribly. Keep your eyes open, always looking, up and behind you are key. No one looks up enough or behind them enough to catch trouble. The stuff I had you buy was the preparation and this talk. So, tell me, linebacker in football. You enjoy it?”

“A bit. Got a small scholarship to play ball in college. Was about to go to practice when this happened.”

“Everyone got snatched sometime on September 1st. Don’t think too hard about the time delay, you were either in hibernation or there is temporal manipulation going on.”

“This place messes with time?!”

“That surprises you?” I shook my head. “The Almighty System controls everything about this place. You will soon learn it is all completely fake. Like a movie set. You start looking too deeply and you will notice so many things don’t make any kind of sense.”

“That…and no one knows anything?”

“Just guesses. You think too hard, and you go down a rabbit hole with no end in sight. I find that only worrying about things I can do something about is how I cope with all of this.” I slowly looked and listened to the area around us. I counted at least one person hiding.

“I never thought I would make a pro team.”

“Glad you see things that way.” I got up from my sitting position on the cart and stretched. It made for a great bench. “The problem is fear, fear is everywhere. Human beings are more fearful of new and interesting things like sharks than cars. But cars kill far more people than sharks. Or heart disease.”

“That fear is what makes people do stupid things or bad decisions. Fear of the unknown and focus on the wrong things they should be focusing on.” I then burst into motion. I pulled out my iron sword and rushed over to where the person had been hiding behind a tree. The man spun with a club drawn.

I raised my off hand and pointed it at him. “Why? Did you really think I wouldn’t notice your heavy breathing?” I asked. He quickly dropped his weapon.

“I was just asked to keep track of you.”

“And who sent you?” I asked. The silence stretched on, and I brought up my sword to point at him. He visibly gulped.

“I…if I say, then I won’t last long.”

“If you don’t say you won’t last at all,” I responded.

“Tyrese,” he said with a sigh. I nodded at that and lowered my sword. I didn’t think he was lying, but there was no way to verify what he said. I just wanted to know who was spying on me, or who the blame was being pushed onto. I really hated plots like this, it was aggravating in every sense of the word.

“Tom, what do you think I should do as a punishment for this person for spying on me?” I asked my apprentice.

“Um, I don’t think I know what to do here.” I shook my head at his response. Where was the earlier decisiveness?

“This was an indirect attack on me. There are no police or government to complain to. I am a key member of the government. I can’t put this man in a prison. The simple and easy answer would be to kill him quickly to send a message, but that isn’t the response I want to send.”

“I can convey the message you want to send,” the man spoke up.

“I wasn’t speaking to you. What do you think Tom? No answer is far worse than any answer at all. Take your time, we have a lot to spare right now.” I wanted to understand Tom’s moral inclination and how he would resolve something like this. Maybe there was a better way, I already had an idea, but it never hurt to get suggestions while there was time.

“Having him deliver a message would be the best way along with a warning,” Tom finally said. “But I don’t really understand all your history and Tyrese’s history.”

“At least it is an answer. I don’t like these little power plays. That is why a point is needed to be made. Put your right hand on that tree and spread out your fingers. You don’t want me to miss.” The man looked at Tom and then at me. “You either do as I say, or I melt you.”

The man reluctantly put his hand on the tree. I then stabbed out with my sword cutting off his smallest finger. He grit his teeth but didn’t yell or scream. “You tell Tyrese or whomever hired you, that the next time someone spies on me it will be both their eyes and not just one finger. Then they can try and find their way back blindly. I don’t like these types of minor power plays. Now get out of here.” The man quickly ran off. I looked down at the finger on the ground and shook my head.

I then cleaned off the blood splatter on my blade. Tom was quiet while I did that. “That was necessary?”

“If anything, I was a bit too lenient. I should have taken an entire hand. But then he might not be able to get a restoration then. Just the finger means he can easily get it back with a restoration at the store. Hopefully. It wasn’t even permanent. It will cost points, more points than he got spying on me. Now his backer has to pay out for his restoration and spying will become a lot more expensive. If I killed him, that wouldn’t be the case. Lies are cheap here.” I needed the person behind the spy to feel the same annoyance sending a spy after me caused.

“Oh. I didn’t think of that.”

“This entire place requires a person to change how they think. The old rules and the old way of thinking no longer work in this place. Personal power matters a great deal. A big thing is appearance. Look at me, store armor, iron sword, and helmet, this all screams wealth which means power.”

“Look at you. In the same clothes you arrived in. Anyone can tell that you are fairly fresh. The sword and sheath offset that to some degree. That is something that has been lost in the modern era. A billionaire will wear regular clothes and drive a beat-up truck. That doesn’t mean they aren’t a billionaire or that Joe the hillbilly is a billionaire. This appearance thing is medieval type thinking.”

“History was my worst subject.”

“Well, you are part of history now. Being my apprentice. If and when people write about this place, you will be listed as at least a footnote in my story.”

“It might just be my story and you get to be the footnote.” I gave Tom a small grin at his reply.

“Very bold of you to say that. Well, I look forward to your future exploits. Hopefully you remember your poor old master when you become famous and take care of me.”

“Don’t worry I will Master.”

“You don’t have to use that kind of title with me. You can call me Michael or sir as long as you are respectful. I don’t want misunderstandings to occur with something like that.”

“No problem, sir.”

“You can come out now.” I turned my head slowly and paused. Tom looked over where I was looking. I waited about a minute before speaking up again.

“Another trick is to routinely call out like that. You never know who might pop out.” Tom spun back to look at me.

“What?”

“My senses are good, but that last man was clumsy. I routinely call out like that to draw out hidden watchers close to Purgatory. So don’t be surprised if I do something like that. If no one is there, they don’t realize anything. If they are, then the pressure is unbearable, and they tend to slip up in some way.”

“That…is actually clever.”

“I know.”