“So, doctor, medical question for you.” Another reason to bring the good doctor along. Bombard him with medical questions to pass the time in the late evenings and early mornings.

“Yes?” His white coat was becoming increasingly dirtier. He had gone from looking like a prestigious doctor to looking like bum living on the streets. I could tell the grind was already wearing him down. One must embrace the grind and the grunge.

“After 258 days, I still don’t have abs. The flab on my stomach is gone, but no defined muscles. No abs. Why is that?” Perhaps I would gain some insight to this question that had been at the back of my mind.

“There could be any number of reasons. I would say the lack of protein is a big factor. Just vegetables and fruits are not a healthy diet. Also, specific abdominal exercises might help.” I was not exercising just to exercise. I refused to. I hated exercise. Another reason that I was convinced the Almighty System was sadistic. But it had given the possibility of restorations. Hmmm.

“The fact is you already have abs. They are just not defined. There is a layer of fat covering them.” Well, I knew that. But I wouldn’t make fun of the good doctor for answering my questions and distracting me.

My feet stubs were killing me still. They constantly throbbed with pain. Karma, she was real, and she was a vindictive bitch with a capital ‘B’. If restorations weren’t available and the risk of increasing the cost, I would have had the bottom of my legs chopped off due to how bad the pain felt.

I couldn’t imagine how Mute must feel. Their determination to get a restoration even while brutally disfigured was impressive. If they could do this, I could do it. Just a few more days. Just a few more.

“It will be interesting experiencing one of these restorations myself. How would it even work?” The good doctor asked. Naran just rolled his eyes since this was something I had gone on about. There was only so much to talk about in the wilderness to destress.

“Restorations work by the grace of the Almighty System.” The good doctor just stared at me. I smiled back. “I know you aren’t convinced yet, but it sees all, knows all, can do anything, and is everywhere at all times. I would just label it a miracle. But instead of prayer you pay in points.”

“You should start a church the way you go on about the Almighty System,” Naran said. I grinned at him. “What, really?”

“Yep, it is something that is in the works. I am debating on if I should name it the Systemic Church or the Church of the Almighty System. Also, church has too much Catholic overtones for my taste. Maybe something like, The System Sacellum for the Order of Systemology. The priests would be moderators and the head person would be the administrator.”

“You have given it a lot of thought it seems,” Doctor Katz said. “You seem to be taking control over everything?”

“Despite my current state, I am in charge effectively. This is what happens when your Supreme Leader has to go out, kick ass, and take names. Like Harrison Ford on Air Force One.” I had been thinking of flying and airships a lot lately.

“Do you think we will get famous people?” Naran asked.

“Who knows? Figure there are 1,000 famous people at most. Out of a population pool of 100,000,000 that our city is pulling from. With only 250 people at a time? I am not doing the math and even I can tell the odds are incredibly low,” I replied.

“What about family members? Children? Loved ones?” Doctor Katz asked.

“I wouldn’t hold out hope, unless you become an Immortal and survive for a long time. One day it would be nice to be able to track people down, but with the city in turmoil, it isn’t a priority.”

“Better to think they are dead,” Naran said let out a long sigh. There was a long moment of silence. I thought about my family. My parents, my sister, and everyone else in my life. What would they say if they could see me now? Probably happy that I am alive. But that came with a row of corpses behind me.

One of the reasons I liked picking out crazy names for the city, this place, and branch of government was to make this place feel different. Trying to recreate a life I had lost would just bring heartache. I had shed my tears, now it was time to embrace the insanity.

Well maybe not embrace, but at least really accept it as my new reality. No matter what I said, I always kept hoping there was some way to escape this death trap. Whatever had done this, had very little compassion and no sense of entertainment.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Days and days of grinding. What looked like to be years and years of grinding in my foreseeable future? I looked up at the pinpricks of light. What would the pinnacle of power look like? As a slight breeze made my feet stubs hurt, I doubted I would live that long. I would try, but realistically I would make a mistake. That mistake would be fatal.

There was a reason human civilization was built on the accumulation of knowledge. While it didn’t look like it at first glance this place was the same in that regard. The accumulation of knowledge. That was the reason why I had wanted the crystal powder process and was willing to pay.

I decided to voice a concern I had to see what people would say. “I am concerned. The title of Ritualist implies much worse than summoning monsters.”

“You are thinking something with people or something else?” Naran asked.

“I don’t know. Well four heads, well three, sorry Mute, are better than one. The worst outcome is some kind of mind control for proxy minions disguised as people. At least that is my guess that makes any kind of sense.”

“Ritualist implies a process of the occult. Couldn’t that just be the summoning?” The good doctor asked.

“Yes. But I fell into one trap already since I didn’t think that slimes were compressible into chests.”

“I think the worst thing would be if he managed to gain control of a level 4 monster. If that happened, only you would be able to fight it in any capacity,” Naran said.

“Level 3 monsters are no cakewalk either,” I replied.

“True. Multiple high-level attacks would pin anyone down. Death by overwhelming firepower.” Now wasn’t that a depressing idea. I tried to think about what had happened to the level 3 crystals, but I honestly couldn’t remember. Just great, one more thing to be worried about. A Radiant Beam to the face. Make that multiple Radiant Beams.

Get a high enough elevation and then unleash. The buildings of the city were fairly sturdy, but could they resist a level 3 skill? That was the question, something I should have tested. Anything at level 3 would be devastating to a city. The wide area of effect and massive damage would just wipe people out.

There was also no way for normal humans without skills to counter something like that either. “What do you think doctor. You have a military background? What would they say to do in a situation like this?” I asked.

“Drone strike,” and he shook his head. “You just need to find this man and kill him inside a city?”

“Yes. It is the finding part that is going to be very hard since he can sense through his monsters. If I knew where he was, then I could rush that location and kill him.”

“I think you are thinking about this the wrong way. Elevation, like how he scouted his attack. His monsters can’t use tools. If we had a mobile bridge, we could quickly transverse the rooftops. Drop the bridge down, cross, pull it back up,” Naran said.

That was genius. “Naran, you are a genius. We would have mobility. Sure, we would be spotted, but he has to hide from us, not the other way around. We could quickly transverse the city without getting trapped on the streets.”

“The real problem is moving such a huge bridge. It would also be targeted. One blue slime and it would melt,” Naran said dousing my hope for the idea. Still, it was a good one and something to consider for the future.

“Ladders. We need collapsible ladders to ascend and descend quickly. The roof tops are a pain to access. If a monster is waiting up top, the moment I would try and pull myself up it could go badly,” I said.

“Could we seal the city? I mean points only come from crystals and they are the only source of food and healing?” The good doctor asked.

“Not with what he stole. It would be impossible. Also, if someone is desperate enough, they will resort to cannibalism.” Truth, I was thinking of you when I said that. “They might have a fled to Truth to be honest. I doubt it, but it is a possibility.”

“I am not going back there, so don’t ask me,” Naran said.

“I wouldn’t. It is just I am making a lot of assumptions. That Ruth teamed up with the Ritualist. That she fled to the East past the summoning monsters.” I let out a long sigh. There were a lot of assumptions.

“Walk me through it then,” Naran said.

“The Union team sent after her disappeared right before the battle. There was a cloaked figure behind the Ritualist with a mask on the same height as Ruth when I confronted him. They were hiding, behind the cart along with other people, but they were there. Also, people were put to sleep with the Sleep skill.”

“Multiple people have that? Have they been accounted for?”

“No. So it could be another person who got the skill, or someone from Neo Brasilia. But I just know it. Too many coincidences. I don’t believe in coincidences.”

“But you could be wrong?” Naran pressed.

“I could be. I am tempted to grind up 7.6 million points and then go looking. I know I can out grind them. But if they attack in the meantime, without knowing their base of operations…” I trailed off.

“It would be the end of Purgatory most likely,” Naran finished for me, and I nodded. It would take a long time to grind up those points.

If I had a good level 3 grind zone, I could bring in nine times what I was bringing in now if Acid Shot could one shot whatever monster was there. That would be about 120 to 140,000 points per day if I pushed myself. Doubling my stats would take about 55 days.

I was very tempted to go with this option. If Purgatory was lost, I could always rebuild it. It would be a pain in the ass, a massive pain. But it could be done. I could out grind the Ritualist and leave everyone to their fate, probably death by melting.

My mind drifted to the horrific scene at the plaza. People screaming and melted. That woman trampled to death. Ken being ripped apart and I was too late to save him. I looked at my bandaged feet stubs. The constant pain I felt.

Was I too focused on vengeance? If one sought vengeance they should dig two graves, one for their target and one for themselves. I needed more information. A lot depended on the Ritualist’s limitations. I would find their base city, get information, and then make a decision if a successful attack was possible or if I should grind up instead.