The Systemic Lands

Chapter 72: Day 166 – Time to G-G-G-Grind

Tom, Ruth, and I left through the East gate and made our way across the small wolf grassland. I had a reinforced pack with my spare outfit in it. Hopefully I wouldn’t need to use it, but at least I had it, just in case.

I was back to being poor. Well now was the time to grind out an insane number of crystals in the next 23 days or so.

I was even on cart duty since I had Tom take the lead killing small wolves. To let him get practice with fast moving enemies, before the meerkats. Ruth was there as back up. Once we reached the shadowlands, I took over at the front killing scorpions while Ruth provided back up again.

We made it to the meerkat deadlands and turned to the Southeast. We made camp once we spotted the large rocks in the distance and moved back into the shadowlands, clearing out some scorpions.

“You have a handle on them?” I asked Tom about the meerkats I had him fight.

“Yeah, but how do they keep appearing behind me?”

“I told you, blink, an instant teleportation skill with observation limitations in this case. Just be glad that it is the only super dangerous thing about them and getting overwhelmed.”

“I got it, so this is our camp long term?” Tom asked.

“Yes, I will be going to the South to the rocks. Ruth?”

“North, but I will make sure East is clear for you,” Ruth replied. I nodded in thanks to that. If the flies didn’t work out, then I would be going after meerkats. I didn’t want to waste time on the nearby scorpions.

“There you go, you go East and kill meerkats. If you reach ant land, which I doubt, just run away as quickly as you can.”

“Got it. I do pay attention to everything you both have been telling me,” Tom said.

“I just get worried about my cute apprentice.” Tom and Ruth both stared at me. “I always wanted to use that line.”

“Don’t cause trouble. Taking a torch?” Ruth asked.

“And the fire starter. If there is a mega-boom, don’t be too surprised.”

“I still think you are crazy for wanting to do this,” Ruth said.

“The speed. I might be able to break 500 50-point crystals in one day. If I really get fast enough, might need help picking them all up,” I said with a cheeky grin.

“Use the time to regain energy,” Ruth said, giving a deadpan response to the exuberance I was emitting. Picking up crystals was annoying, just like dragging the cart.

“What are apprentices for then?” I asked. There was a stretch of silence at that. “Well, true apprenticeships would require the apprentice to pay a fee or a portion of their work.” At least that was how it was historically back on Earth.

“Ah…” Tom muttered.

“But I am a nice master. My house could use some more lights and reinforced windows.”

“They cost 10,000 each,” Ruth said.

“Details,” I waved a hand. “You can get strong enough and treat your master to a skill point crystal or three.”

“Three?” Ruth asked.

“Are you the apprentice, or is he?” I asked.

“Just making sure you don’t take advantage,” Ruth replied with a grin. She then reached over and gave Tom a tight hug. He just smiled goofily.

“No causing trouble. Anyways, we are leaving day 189. This is your time to grind. Remember, what is the saying?” I asked.

“Marathon, not a sprint master.”

“Excellent, excellent.”

After that we turned in. We all got up for night clearing duty and then back to sleep. It was becoming an instinctual habit at this point. Once dawn arrived, I gave Tom and Ruth a light kick and began eating.

“Really?” Ruth groaned.

“No slacking on this team, person with the most points at the end gets to name the team as well.”

“Really, you are going to do it like that?” Ruth asked.

“You two can combine your efforts,” I said.

“We don’t stand a chance,” Tom muttered.

“Not with that attitude.” I gave him a grin and a thumbs up. “Well, I am off, try not to die.”

“Bye,” Tom said.

“Good luck and don’t blow up,” Ruth said. I picked up my pack and rushed off to the South. I easily killed the venom flies in my path and made my way back to the shadow pit dungeon that exploded before.

“Alright, come on, let this work.” I lit the torch and tossed it. As it was flying through the air, I ducked down behind my angled shield and opened my mouth and exhaled.

BOOOM!

The ground just shook like before as chunks of rock rained down and smoke rose out of the pit dungeon that exploded. I was already running and put my back to one of the large black stones that rose out of the ground.

“Acid Shot.” I kept up a steady pace of casting once every thirty seconds while running to force the venom flies to clump together. I did a large loop, and must have killed at 80 with 15 uses of my skill, and I was now out of energy.

There were around 120 more of the venom flies that kept chasing me. It became a slog after that as I ran and waited for my energy to come back, and I killed around 5 at a time, but that number gradually decreased. It took 2 hours to finish off the rest of them. I needed more energy to go faster. It was like fuel for my killing engine.

Once I was done, I gathered up the crystals and then went over to the pit. I waited to regain the rest of my energy. Eventually the smoke had cleared and there was no more black oily mist. I lit up another torch and entered the pit. I came to a chamber with a burned-out pool, that probably had held tar or something.

No monsters and no crystals. There were two tunnels, one to my left and another ahead and a bit to the right. I picked the left tunnel. It sloped downwards, there were no monsters. I entered another chamber, which was also burnt up. Two tunnels, one straight ahead, one to my right.

I picked the one straight ahead, making sure to remember. The burn marks ended, and I ran into a purple venom fly. I quickly killed with an Acid Shot. It dropped a 50-point crystal. So not a level 3 thankfully. I entered a chamber and counted several of the purple venom flies.

I finished them off quickly before they could attack me and lit my second torch. There was tunnel to my left and another straight ahead and to the right. I took the tunnel on my left. It ended in a dead end with more purple venom flies and a large blue venom fly.

I hung back until some of my energy came back. I had to light a third torch. I then unleashed my Acid Shot on the monsters, paying special attention to the level 3. I wiped them out before they could put up a response. I didn’t get as much information, but I wasn’t about to casually tank unknown attacks if I could help it.

There was only the way I had come in and nothing else in this chamber. I returned to the chamber I had mentally labeled as number three and took the other path. I ended up in another dead end with purple venom flies and a large blue venom fly. I took them out the same way and was now on torch four.

I returned to the second chamber and took the unsearched path there. The entire place was burnt up and there were the boss doors directly across from where I had come in. I went back to the first chamber I had entered and checked the last path.

The next chamber was burnt up as well, with no monsters. A level 2 dungeon had 6 chambers, while a level 1 dungeon had 1 to 2 chambers. That was not counting the boss room. A large leap, but nowhere as large as I feared. Still, I could only imagine how big very high-level dungeons could be.

I reached the boss doors and pushed them open. It was a larger chamber than the previous ones I had seen for underground boss rooms. I tossed the torch inside after lighting another one. Lots of purple and regular venom flies near the ceiling. Also, a yellow or golden venom fly at the back of the room, out of reach of an Acid Shot.

I began to take out the minions one by one. I was able to reach about half, but there were still twenty left. I lit my sixth torch, tossing number five into the boss room, and waited for my energy to come back.

Once I was topped off, I entered the boss room and unleashed six Acid Shots on the boss without hesitation. It was hit three times before it flashed brightly and appeared off to one side of the chamber. It then collapsed and turned to dust.

Now that was how things should be done. I finished off the minions easily enough and the skill crystal appeared. Proper preparation and planning were key to not getting killed or injured. I touched the skill crystal and got two options.

The first was Confuse. It appeared to be like Sleep but worse. Well, it came from a higher level dungeon, so it was probably stronger. The other option was Piercing Beam. I wanted that flash teleport the boss had showcased, but I wasn’t that lucky. The upgrade options for my two new skills were the same, power, speed, and cohesion. I did have the option to give a fourth upgrade to Acid Shot with either nullification, persistence, or minor effect.

I still wasn’t that sure on the death effect. Nullification probably canceled magic defenses and persistence made the acid stick around longer, dealing more damage over time. I chose nullification. Magic defenses like the AquaSphere that the large blue rocks used, were incredibly annoying and a powerful counter to the skill.

Having my main attack be anti-magic was a good way to get through defenses. I picked up the dropped crystals and left the pit. I went back to grinding away at the venom flies. When I returned to camp, I had managed to kill 278.

A very good number. Still, it was exhausting. I would be heading South and mixing in meerkats to be more efficient going forward. The pit explosion just wasn’t worth the risk of getting hit by flying debris and having to run around. I would rather have more control in my encounter rate. It just wasn’t efficient enough to justify the risk in my mind.

Tom showed up looking tired, and just a bit chewed up. “You survived, congrats.”

He collapsed next to the cart. “Thanks. That was exhausting.” I let him rest and Ruth showed up shortly after a bit worn, but not chewed up.

“Slacking already?” Ruth asked.

“The day was too long. Cleared out the pit,” I told her about the layout, monsters, and skills.

“A beam attack sounds useful.”

“Well, I am not in a hurry to go back. Level 2 dungeons will cost, if you want me to do them for you.”

“How much and don’t you dare upcharge me.”

“I would say 25,000 points for the headache.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. Anyone else, 100,000 points. You are getting the team discount.”

“I will think on it. I got 122, you?”

“Only 278. What about you Tom?”

“41.”

“Not bad, not bad at all,” I said.

“Same thing tomorrow?” Ruth asked.

“I will be heading South and angling in and out of meerkat territory to regenerate energy and then back to the flies. Too much waiting otherwise.”

“Alright. Tom, go at your own pace, don’t die.” He gave Ruth a thumbs up and a smile. Probably not wanting to spend energy to speak.

The night was uneventful besides having to kick Tom twice to get him up for the midnight clear. No slacking on this team. The next day I went on another grind session.

I almost forgot how annoying the meerkats were. They were really annoying. It made me want their skill all the more. Still, I rushed forward fairly brazenly, not too concerned about over aggro. My iron greaves protected almost all around my leg, which gave me a measure of comfort I wasn’t going to be chewed up that easily.

The most annoying part was having the meerkats attack when I was trying to pick up a crystal from one, I already killed. It was like they could sense vulnerability. It didn’t matter if I had already waited a minute, there was always one that would attack once I went to pick up crystals.

More annoying than dangerous with proper equipment and skill to fight them. I also routinely dipped back into venom fly shadowlands and used my skill Acid Shot to kill them off quickly. When I returned to camp, I had a grin on my face.

“Let me guess, some number that will make me feel shame?” Ruth asked.

“512.”

“That is nonsense. Only 131,” Ruth said. Tom looked tired and dejected.

“37,” Tom said. “Am I doing something wrong?”

“No. Ruth has what 50 Body upgrades?” She nodded at that. “I have 100 Body upgrades. You have 5 Body upgrades and nothing else?”

“Yes, it really makes that big of a difference?”

“Not that big, I have twenty times your number of upgrades into the Body stat, but I am not doing twenty times better. Same with Ruth. You keep up the same rate, then you can afford 100 upgrades when we return. Can even start using that skill of yours. That is the job, kill things, get crystals, get upgrades, get skills, and repeat.”

“Yeah, just frustrating,” Tom said. If only he knew how long, it took me to get to this point and how lucky he was.

“Don’t compare yourself to that machine disguised as a human being. Just think how long the poor saps have to grind out 5-point crystals to reach what you have.” Thank you Ruth for saying that.

“Yeah, just tired,” Tom said.

“Fair enough. You decide your pace. So, Ruth, looking to get another skill point?” I asked her.

“No, I need upgrades more than anything. My energy is the limiting factor at the moment,” she said.

“Alright. If you change, your mind, let me know. The price is going up,” I said with a grin.