The bulb had been cleared early in the morning to give another guard Radiant Beam. Now we were making our way to the South back to the tower grinding spot as I thought of it. While there were other places I could go to, I wanted to poke the tower and I knew exactly how to do it.

While the thing was clearly a death trap, new options had recently opened up. While it would take some preparation, I wasn’t that worried. Naran knew what was needed and we could always head back to Neo Brasilia if we needed more supplies.

We had just gotten past the city by the time night arrived and would hit the grinding spot mid-day tomorrow. I had taken the unusual position of killing the monsters myself and using the Processing Rod. I was quite curious what kind of crafting crystals and enchantments monsters like the sword dervish, spear dervish, chameleon, and bright red hand would produce.

The points from the low-level monsters didn’t mean much to me or Naran. That allowed me the opportunity to rush around filling up a pack with crafting crystals as we made our way forward and lessened the annoyance at going so slow.

The level 2 monsters I ran into while traveling would become crafting crystals to store up and test in the future. I figured after two to three trips back and forth to Purgatory and building up my reserve of crafting crystals would let me get a lot of testing done.

I could have other people enchant items, since that was a waste of time for me. I would want to see the end result. With the turmoil happening with the Union, it would take them a while to get their act together to begin testing the crafting system in earnest.

It was time to start getting answers while grinding, multi-tasking for the win. It would also be my last trip to this grinding spot for a while most likely. After this one I wanted to poke more level 3 areas and do a complete circuit of the map, to map everything out.

There had been good options for the city store like the mapping option, but I wanted to know the crafting system first and foremost. Now that the basics were understood, Clarissa could begin unlocking everything else at a rapid pace. The only thing left that I wasn’t going to let out of my hands was the Rod of Control. That one, I was going to be present for and Clarissa knew that.

The Rod of Control was sure to have some amazing city functions or just overall functions. Also, what was better than one hard rod, two hard rods.

I hadn’t talked to Oscar much yesterday since the group of soldiers from the RMPF were there with us. Some things are better discussed in a smaller group and not spread around casually.

I munched on a salted cucumber that Aahan had prepared before speaking up. “So, Oscar. Leaving the walls of Purgatory to join me, out in the wilderness. Quite brave of you.”

He looked up from where he was sitting as Aahan handed him a small plate of cucumbers. “Standing guard, sure it is kind of safe. But not really. It is an illusion. Better to be out here with someone who knows what they are doing.”

That made sense and matched up with what Clarissa had told me. “So, what did you do before all of this? Your 9 to 5?” I asked.

“Ah, well. I prefer not to speak about it.” I just raised my eyebrows and he let out a sigh. “I normally don’t like to talk about this. But I was doing time. Drunk driving accident during college. Ran over and killed two people. Samantha Wildman and Michael Jonas. Got 15 years, got through 10 of it. Regret it every single day. Then all this happened.” That was both sad and disturbing that he killed someone named Michael. Also point to him for remembering their name.

“That didn’t come up during Clarissa’s interview?” That was something she should have picked up on for sure.

“I said I did construction.” So, a lie and a criminal. “Wanted to put that all behind me. I wouldn’t even answer if it wasn’t you.” It made no sense to lie about being a criminal from Earth. A point to his favor for telling the truth now but minus points for lying to Clarissa who worked for me. I could also understand being ashamed of killing two people in a drunk driving accident.

Drunk driving was bad. But not as bad as murder. I did worse since coming here, but he did worse than me before coming here. I needed to think on this a bit.

“You plead out or go to trial?” I asked. I was curious if he tried to fight the charges. If he had when he was clearly guilty would show determination but also poor judgement.

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“I took a plea deal. Was hoping to get parole when all this happened.” I nodded at that. “Not much to do inside, but exercise.” He seemed depressed, but this was a depressing subject. Still, it was important to understand him as much as possible if we would be teaming up.

“Once you came to the Systemic Lands, kill anyone?” I asked.

“No. Only monsters.” I nodded at that. “Is that a requirement?”

“Not a requirement, just trying to understand you better. Being out here, part of this group,” I waved my hand, “it is a matter of trust and understanding.” Oscar nodded at that.

“I get it. You don’t want me rocking the boat.”

“More than that, I need to know you can sail and what happens when a storm roles in. Naran, he has my trust and has saved my life twice. You are new, killing monsters is easy, having trust is the hard part.” Oscar was silent after that. That was a good thing in my book, if he professed his trust worthiness, I wouldn’t have trusted him.

Naran chose to jump in. “Being out here for long periods of time is mentally tough. Grinding all the time wears on a person. And then having to fight, it can get tough mentally. Don’t underestimate that. People who do, tend to break and become monsters.” That was his experience from Truth speaking.

“I get wanting power, but I like to investigate the mysteries of the Systemic Lands as my hobby,” I said.

“I prefer to enjoy good food, and work on my poetry,” Naran added. I looked at Aahan who was quiet. The man was just waiting to die.

“You can’t just focus on grinding. Trust me, day after day, this gets incredibly boring. And you need to keep your mind sharp, so you don’t make a mistake. Especially since we all grind alone and not in a team like the Union,” I said.

“Ah, that makes sense. High risk then,” Oscar said.

“Yes, but high reward and you can set your own pace. You aren’t going to be micromanaged. If you die, well that is on you. If you are injured, most likely you will die, since no can save you. Knowing your limits, but also pushing yourself is something I can’t teach you,” I replied.

“And I also need a hobby.” I nodded at that.

“Yes. Or something to focus on that isn’t grinding. Write a story. Sing a song. The grind is long. There is no quick path to high stats. Any idea besides power as a long term goal?” I asked Oscar.

“Maybe the Immortal Council one day. That would be cool, but for now I don’t want to be at the mercy of any random person who is having a bad day,” he said. Well that was just asking for a juicy follow up question.

“You want to be able to stand up to me?” I asked with questioning tone.

“Umm, well, you see, I just want to be strong,” he finally said after stumbling over his words.

“It is fine. I get it. There is no problem seeking strength. That is the entire point of how Purgatory’s government is set up. Only the strong have a right to have an opinion. For now, that is just me. One day, that could be you. But that also means being willing to fight,” I replied with a grin.

“That is fine. I will have more choices then. Just don’t want to be standing around doing nothing all day. I had enough of that for the last decade,” Oscar said.

“Anything else, you think I should know about?” I asked and stared at Oscar heavily. He looked at me and then looked to the side.

“No major infractions while I was locked up. A couple of shots for stupid shit, but that is it. Didn’t want to wreck my chance of getting out. Kept my head down and did my time for the most part.” I slowly nodded at that. I didn’t notice any tattoos, so gang affiliations hopefully.

“What about the small part, you said for the most part?” I asked.

“A couple of fights over stupid shit, like one mentally ill guy stealing a book I was reading. Then a general fight when things just blew up at chow time,” I slowly nodded as he spoke. “That’s it.” He was up front with me at least. Still the lying to Clarissa and other people was concerning. But it wasn’t like a criminal would just say, ‘Hey I was a criminal and killed two people for drunk driving.’

The fact that he knew the two people’s names made it much more likely to be a true story. “Alright. Consider yourself pardoned for your past crimes by the great city of Purgatory. And now you are on probation on this team. Tomorrow pay attention to the centipedes, Naran can show you the best way to kill them.” Oscar nodded at me. I looked over at Naran.

“We will be sweeping East to set up camp at the four-point corner. From there, we will grind out to the East. The green and black centipedes. Get some experience with them tomorrow. I will kill the green ones, you get the black ones to the South,” Naran explained.

“How long are we out here for?” Oscar asked and Naran looked at me.

“We will spend a day rotating to Neo Brasilia when we close in on a million points total and cash them in there. Then go back to grinding. You should be aiming for 400 to 600 kills per day once you get comfortable,” I said.

“More is always better, but don’t base your speed off Michael over there, or mine. Really, even 100 a day is quite good. We have higher stats. Go at a rate you feel comfortable. Got it?” Naran asked.

“I got it. Anything else?” Oscar asked.

“There is always more. But for now, that is enough. Probably 6 days grinding, then back to Neo Brasilia. Aahan will stay with the cart. No gambling for points as part of the group. Too much risk of bad feelings. Naran?”

“That should about cover it for now. As Michael likes to say this is a marathon of marathons, not a sprint,” Naran said.

“Yep. This is something you need to get your head on right for and focus on your own. No hand holding. Well not that much,” I said.

“Got it. You are grinding level 3 monsters?” Oscar asked.

“Yes. You won’t last a second in the cold. You can test yourself, but you will realize fairly quick. Anyways, get ready to be woken up at midnight, for clearing with Naran and I.”

“Clearing? No watch?” I looked at Naran and we grinned at each other. I still had some tricks saved up.