Body-350; Mind-100; Spirt-200; Perception-100; Aura-100; Regeneration-300; Endurance-50; Absorption-50 for a total of 1,250 upgrades.

The fact I hadn’t received an alert from Purgatory was concerning, but the longer I could grind the better off I would be when a fight finally did occur. It felt good to have 200 energy in reserve.

“So, I tested the frostlands,” Naran said.

“And?” I asked.

“Having 200 Body helps a lot. Possibly providing resistance to environmental effects.”

“Or makes you feel them less. Since it is tied in with health based on regeneration cost. The base environmental damage is too low to impact you.” I looked over at Aahan. He could barely come near the transition area before he was forced to turn away.

Any cart deployment into a level 3 zone would require a better cart and tougher cart puller. An immortal cart puller, now that would be hilarious. I wanted airships instead.

“So, more focus on Body?” I asked.

“Yes. Just to be able to grind I have to avoid being frozen to death. You are right, items are important.”

“I know, but defenses.” Clarissa and the leadership council had instructions to give her crystals if I wasn’t back yet to purchase defenses for the other gates. The rest of the crystals were to be stockpiled for when I returned, and I would make an executive decision on how to spend them.

“Well, no alert yet?”

“No. I keep thinking it will happen any day. The Ritualist has to be preparing a massive army. They might attempt to even scale the walls.”

“Can the walls hold if that happens?”

“No. Fighting defensively is a losing battle. But heading back and setting up an attack now, I don’t think I can win either,” I let out a sigh.

“When are we going back?”

“Probably day 330. That is enough for another 200 stat points and about another 300k into my emergency reserve.” I was not going to let myself be short by a couple thousand points ever again. I could learn from my mistakes.

“Then an attack?”

“Yes. Gather everyone we can and launch an attack on Heaven. I have no doubt it will be a mess.” There would also be a lot of deaths, but that didn’t need to be said. “Even if we don’t win, just slowing the Ritualist down is critical.”

“Taking a city gate will be tough if we can’t get up on the wall,” Naran said.

“Cut down a tree and make a ladder away from the gate. Then we get up top and clear the wall. From there forces can push the gate with support from above. Once that is done, we recoup and make for the store and destroy it.”

“That just might unseal some unspeakable horror.”

“It might, but hopefully it will slow the Ritualist down in some way. Even if the store pillars do self-repair, just killing summons is important. He can only have so many. Hopefully.” There had to be a limit on the number of summons he had.

“Well, you will need backup weapons if he has slimes. Lots of backup weapons. A pack of swords?”

“Yeah. I don’t have time to be careful or switch weapons. If only skills cost less. At 5 energy, Acid Shot would be amazing.”

“Until something stronger shows up. Also grinding level 3 monsters and Death.”

“I know. I know. Just frustrating the cost doubled twice. Complete malarky.”

“Malarky,” Naran said and gave me a look. I just shrugged.

“Well, it is stupid, but extra stupid and completely arbitrary. So malarky.”

“Uh huh, whatever you say.”

“What do you think other cities are doing?”

“No idea, but if anyone is managing a city better than Purgatory, I will be surprised.”

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“Even with all the deaths, battles, and public executions?”

“It is stable and has people who don’t have to fight to survive. That is an accomplishment, something Truth never had.” I didn’t know if the comparison to Truth was a compliment, with how much of a hellhole it was, but I would take it.

“Thanks. Who knows, we might get lucky and that tower has a crystal mine. A well spring of points.” Naran just looked at me and chuckled. I chuckled as well. We sat in silence thinking. Naran got out a book and began to recite a poem.

“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth.”

Naran let out a sigh. “Still can’t remember the rest.”

“Hopefully someone will bring a book of poetry.” Naran gave me a look and I shrugged.

“Well, it would be in one, Robert Frost’s, A Road Less Traveled is fairly well known. Maybe I should ask people.” He had been working on remembering it for a while but had only remembered the first verse.

He only mumbled something about his mother loving poetry when I asked about it. I wasn’t about to pry, and I liked the imagery. I read a lot but never poetry. I could see why it was considered a timeless artform. Without the internet it made people think about the meaning, since there was nothing more exciting to do.

We really needed a bard. A cart puller, a bard, and a chef. I just needed to find some high-level chef that could cook without fire and with just raw ingredients. I guess an engineer was on the list to include a portable oven on a cart. Since the ovens and showers were magic, I wondered how that would even work.

“So, Aahan, what hobbies do you have or had?”

“Star gazing.” Well, that explained why he always was looking up at the night sky and the pinpricks of light. I am sure he had heard my comments about the sun not being a sun and the stars not being stars, but he didn’t care apparently.

“I give up,” Naran said and put his book away. “Any new crazy ideas you are thinking about?” Naran was probably feeling melancholy and wanted me to take his mind off his family.

“Well, I was speculating on the fundamental forces for a while. Since gravity clearly decided to take a vacation from the Systemic Lands. Made me wonder about the rest.” I saw the look of confusion on his face. “The four fundamental forces of the Universe, or at least the ones we knew.”

“Strong nuclear force which holds together protons, electrons, and neutrons. Weak nuclear force which is the force between atoms. Electro-magnetism, electricity and magnetism. Finally, gravity.”

“Gravity doesn’t exist here. There is a downwards force, but the light source and what I can observe makes no sense if this place was a planet. So, if gravity is half-assed and made up, what about the other forces?” It was a rhetorical question and I kept going.

“I am thinking the weak and strong nuclear force are the same. Phones show a charge is present and they work, but there is something interesting.” I pulled out a phone I found turned on and discarded in Neo Brasilia the last time we stopped in, to cash in our points.

“The phone doesn’t work out here, even though it had enough charge. That got me thinking. Watches work though. Energy and skills are doing something. They have to come from somewhere, basically the medium the Almighty System acts on.”

“I think this medium has overlap with the electro-magnetic force in some way and is based or rooted with energy and crystals.” I felt quite proud of myself for working all that out.

“But phones work in the cities?”

“Yes. That is why I said overlap not replace.”

“Or it could be the terrain messing things up. Some sort of natural thing that is oppressing those electrons.”

“That…well that might be happening.” We were in shadowlands, and it tended to be unnaturally dark. If light was being countered, then who knew what else was being affected.

“The cold from the frostlands went right into me. It is a feature of the environment. I can only imagine higher level zones will be even crazier.” I nodded at what Naran said.

“That means to explore further we need stats. Once we can safely explore level 3 zones, that opens up a lot of possibilities.”

“Or checking the swamps.”

“No swamps. Soggy boots and socks are the worst. Also, monsters could come from any direction, including the swamp water. Other people can grind in swamps. I would need to be very desperate to go into a swamp. Screw the swamps.” Swamps were on the list of last places to go check out.

“Well, I am not complaining. Still, you said there were mental effects from the mistlands?”

“Yes. Also, the visibility is the worst. The swamp type area for level 3 zones.”

“I wonder what level 4 or higher would be like?”

“Death. Also, a desert and lava. We are missing those types of terrains.”

“Really lava?”

“If this place has any gaming sense, there will be lava. The question is if the lava is like hot syrup, or actual molten rock.”

“Is that even a question, just pick the worst option and you have your answer.” Naran was right. Molten rock instead of hot syrup it was.

“Maybe some hellscape as well as a future terrain type. After that, well no idea.”

“Crossing the emptiness?”

“And have our souls sucked out? Nope. My nope sense is very finely calibrated. Endless dark voids beneath our feet, nope. Tall square towers with no windows and giant steps leading up to them, nope.” I noped on a lot of things.

“Well, I won’t disagree with you there. That void is…well, as an execution method it was horrible.”

“Can’t be any worse than acid.”

“Lowering people in and they come up as insane. Whatever that blackness is, it isn’t meant for us.”

“This whole place isn’t meant for us. But I suspect that whatever secrets this place has is buried under the inky blackness of the void or up in the tower.”

“Probably.”

“What about you Aahan, what do you think did all this?”

“Evil people, with evil in their hearts.”

“An evil system. Well, I can see that easily enough,” Naran said.

“An alien evil system, don’t forget,” I added.

“My mistake. An alien evil system,” Naran said.

“Well, I will get the good doctor to research that after he figures out summoning.”

“You think he can do it?”

“He better do it. This isn’t a fight that will be settled with words. It is the Ritualist or us, I plan for it to be us.”