The Systemic Lands

Chapter 93: Day 216 – Chat With Laura

“Looks good,” I said after inspecting the new cart first thing in the morning. It was a dark blue like the previous one, but with a gold dragon on the back. I also checked the supplies, Naran had done a good job. It was a pain in the rear to get everything into packs and put it all into the cart.

“Anything else for today?” Naran asked.

“No, but we are leaving first thing tomorrow morning. So, get a decent night’s sleep.”

“Got it. Nice to be in a civilized place for once.” At least someone appreciated the city. I left my home and began to walk around.

My home was on the East side of the plaza. To the North of me was the Union. I noted that several buildings had been claimed around their headquarters. I entered and there was a man at the front desk. He quickly looked at me and stood up.

“Champion Michael, how can I assist you?”

“Just coming by to speak with Laura.”

“One moment, she tends not to get up too early.” I just waved my hand, and he rushed off. I took a seat in a nearby chair. I straightened out my town outfit. It was a nice outfit. A few minutes later and Laura came into the room.

“Champion Michael, welcome. What brings you here today?”

“I wanted to speak with you for a bit. It concerns the planned future of this city.”

“Of course, please come to my office. Garrett, please get refreshments.”

“Yes, Laura.” I followed her into her office, and she gestured at a table and not her desk. I took a seat.

“I am glad you took care of the situation yesterday. We don’t have any high-ranking people in Purgatory at the moment.”

“I understand you do a 20 day out and 5-day break rotation?”

“Yes. It allows the teams to meet up with each other and share information.”

“That information?” I asked.

“Was earned by the hard work of our members.”

“And you are saying I am not a member.”

“You do not pay any dues.” You really wanted to go that route? I just stared at her and could tell she was getting more and more nervous.

“You clearly want something, ask.”

“Points, 500,000.”

“That is exactly what I am owed by the two contracts. So, the people want to get out of them?”

“It is a fair trade for the information, people have lost their lives fighting to get.”

“No.”

“Just, no?”

“No. If you don’t want to share what progress you have made in charting out the nearby areas, then that is your choice. I expect to be paid promptly. I am currently owed 64,000 points as of today, I believe.”

“There is a 25 day period between each payment.”

“Ah, my mistake. Well, I expect you to have 200,000 points prepared for when I return. In addition, with the recent crisis, there is a need to increase taxes, on tier 2 crystals specifically.”

“The teams won’t accept that.”

“If I add that if they bring me your head, the tax stays the same?”

“You are threatening me?”

“Yes. I provided the opportunity for you to form your little group. I also know you used to be part of the Guild. Don’t think for a moment I won’t put my boot down if I need to. You are enjoying the benefits of my hard work, well time for you to pay up.” She stared defiantly at me across the table. There was a knock on the door. Her helper Garrett brought in water and some salted cucumbers.

He then left, while we stared silently at each other the entire time. “You think you can just bully anyone you want to?”

“No. But, why are you being so resistant to me getting information. Wait, you have discovered something and want to leverage it. The grid?” She looked at me in shock. I swear people thought I was just a pretty face that was good a killing.

“How?”

“You think I don’t realize these things with how much I have been outside the city?” I picked up a piece of salted cucumber and bit into it. Laura let out a sigh and hung her head.

“Fine, let’s go to the map room.” She got up and I followed her into an adjacent room. I looked at the pieces of paper, and wood tiles laid out.

“The tiles are the teams,” she said, and I nodded at that while looking things over. Southeast was still a mystery and there were three red ‘X’s on the map. “Teams lost in that area.” Other areas like the summoner ants had the monster names underlined in red indicating a higher difficulty.

Not much of a push into the swamps, but I noted the monsters in those locations anyway. “Big push to the West,” I noted.

“Yes. It is easy enough, just need to avoid the dervish type monsters to the Southwest. Also, the river is an obstacle.” I counted up seven total teams.

“Only 12 teams?” I asked.

“Will be 15 next rotation if we don’t lose any. But you see the pattern, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do. Since you are sharing, I can say this area is a void, next to Truth to the West, and this area is probably level 3, and highly dangerous, two spaces to the East or 2,2. North of Truth, all swamp with vine monsters from what I was told, making it impassable.” I gestured at the relevant portions of the map.

She took a moment to think over what I said. “Purgatory is at 0,0 then.”

“Exactly. The issue is that the swamps to the North and South block us off there. The East will be a struggle and the monsters aren’t easy. So that leaves the West.”

“I had the same thought. But to the South of Neo Brasilia is living armor, wielding swords. Not easy to kill with physical weapons. To the East of that city is are green leeches in the swamp and green centipedes. We have no counter to poison, so more no-go areas. To the West is the white crabs, and people tend to not have enough Mind stat so…”

“A poor area. Then the axe dervishes are cutting you off from the area to the South of the canyon.”

“Exactly. We have enough space for now, but we are hemmed in for the most part. We need more strength before we can really push through level 2 monsters without issue. Or a way to easily clear swamps. Those places are a nightmare,” Laura said.

We both stood there in silence, thinking, and looking over the map. Finally, I spoke up after a couple of minutes. “I want to ask you to work with Ken on the constitution he will be working on. A large portion of it will impact the Union and the future of Purgatory.”

“In what way?” Laura asked.

“Stats, you notice that they impact everything. Food, sleep, everything about a person. I suspect that one of the stats increases lifespan. Then there is the issue of people continuing to teleport in. While the city can survive for a while, the problem will continue to get worse and then unbearable.”

“The Union can’t take more people. We already have strict standards and expenses we need to cover.” I shook my head at her statement.

“Nothing like that. In fact, you will probably need to increase your standards or find some way for standard humans to fight and kill level 2 monsters or they will themselves as a requirement for entry. No, what is going to happen is the formation of an elite branch of government. The starting entry requirement will be 1,000 stat upgrades.”

“A thousand?! That is what, 2.5 million points?”

“Around 2.6, but that is the point. These people will be completely exempted from taxes as much as possible, asked to defend the city, and will be provided other benefits. We can’t afford to lose people. What would happen if I left Purgatory for another city?”

“Disaster, chaos. People would fight for power.”

“I am glad you understand. We need to bring elites here, or at the very least not lose our elites. This is beyond critical for the future. We need to be the Harvard of cities. We want the elites to demand to come here. To consolidate power within our city.”

“I understand, and Ken is working out the details?” I nodded at that. “So, what will this group be called or branch of government, unless you are calling everyone champions?”

I rubbed the back of my head. I kept my voice level and didn’t get embarrassed thankfully when I spoke up. “The Immortal Council.” Laura gave me a look and then burst into laughter. It was tempting to get mad, but it was pretty over the top and a bit silly. I began to laugh to.

After half a minute the laughter settled down. “Really, The Immortal Council. Well, I suppose it fits this place,” Laura said.

“I know it is pretentious, but I want people to strive for a position. Also, no people just sitting in the city either. A requirement will be killing a level 4 I think. I need to fight one first but having that as another requirement will be useful.” That would be a clear requirement for entry and a show of combat power. Still, I hadn’t met a level 4 yet, so I would need to see first.

“You are serious then. You really don’t think we will get back to Earth?”

“How? Look at this place and how it is set up.” I shook my head. “No. We are going to be stuck here for a long time. I suspect forever. Anyone that would go to the trouble of setting all this up, won’t make it simple to leave.”

“I was always holding out hope someone would discover something.”

“Possibly a fully upgraded store might give answers, but that is a long way away. With the factorization of 10 and the decrease in monster points, it doesn’t look good for a fast resolution.”

“You noticed that as well, why am I not surprised. So, you are guessing a level 4 monster is only worth 3,600 points then?”

“Yes. That would put the max level at 10, with only 18,144,000 points,” I replied. Any System, no matter how Almighty, that used math could be extrapolated.

“I would have thought the point curve would have gone the other way, but this place…it just feels so arbitrary sometimes.”

“Indeed, but the real issue is the skill cost. That is going up like the store costs. Each level higher will require more and more work. But the incoming points aren’t going up at a similar rate.”

“That brings up an issue about stat points. How do we judge if someone spreads them out, to someone who focuses on only Body?” Laura asked.

“I don’t know. Don’t look surprised. That kind of question isn’t simple. That is why I want a combat proficiency portion as well. A person with spread out stat points is more balanced and likely to survive but is less capable overall. They will be advancing quite a bit more slowly than another person. I leave that to you and Ken to figure out.”

“More work, thank you for that. Though I suppose I shouldn’t complain sitting around all the time.”

“Well, you might not be one of the Triumvirate, but you are still a pillar of the city.”

“Yeah, no. That name hasn’t caught on, and it won’t.”

“They can’t all be winners you know. I still think Purgatory is a damn good name.”

“I could do without the religious overtones, but it is what it is.”

“Alright, I will stop bothering you, Laura. Thank you, for not being difficult.”

“You’re welcome. I suppose I should thank you for all the free information you have handed out. Also, here. The first payment on the debt.” She went to a large chest, opened it, and pulled out a pack. She then tossed it to me.

“How much?” I asked.

“That is 50,000, half to each contract.”

“Thanks. I didn’t want to be difficult about it.”

“It is my entire emergency fund. I hope that settles anything between us.”

“There was never anything between us and if there was, this settles any issues between us.” I wouldn’t have made a fuss about something like this. But it was nice to end our meeting on a good note. Maybe my reputation wasn’t completely terrible.

“Good.” I nodded at that and departed the building. Time to go see a lady about an outfit.