“Good morning,” I greeted Naran as he came to breakfast with Clarissa and myself.

“Good morning, Michael, Clarissa,” Naran said. Clarissa greeted him as well.

“Enjoy the vacation. I know I did. I cleared two of the swamp dungeons, so you don’t have to go there. Took the rest of the time auditing Clarissa here. She loved it,” I said with a grin. I had decided that clearing two dungeons on my own in the swamps was enough. I spent the last couple of days being decadently lazy.

Lots of laying on the roof, enjoying the sun, and watching people move about the plaza. There was some auditing and review of how Clarissa ran things, but I wasn’t concerned about her. I also needed the mental break. Sure, it was a long break, but two side quests on my own without Naran was more than enough.

“Yes Michael. I love audits and questions about various expenses we have. It was an endless fountain of joy and love,” she said in her usual deadpan. She was hilarious sometimes.

“What about you?” I asked Naran.

“It was good. I needed the time to think through some things.” That sounded interesting. “What things?” I asked.

“I was thinking about stepping back and not grinding and exploring so heavily anymore?” That was a bit of a shock, but I could understand. It was mentally exhausting and very few people had my sort of stubbornness.

“But you decided, no?” I asked. Losing Naran would be a huge blow to my team.

“I am not leaving. But we are having more vacations, like this. I insist,” Naran said.

“Sure, sure. If you want, you can always head back to Purgatory for a few grinding sessions. I know I like to go all in and don’t mind it, but I can see wanting more breaks,” I replied.

“Thank you, Michael. I would have thought you would have been upset?” Naran asked.

“For you. Pfft. Take your time. If you want to retire, retire. You have earned it. Sure, it will be hard and annoying, but you aren’t my slave. I had quite a bit of fun at the dungeons in the level 2 zones. Rose tinted glasses looking backwards and all that. Also, you are a great sparing partner and always up for a good conversation. It would hurt to lose you. I am saying all this wrong.”

“What I mean is. You can make your own decisions, and I would like you to stick around, but you aren’t a slave,” I said.

“Thanks. I mean it,” Naran said.

“Honestly things have become a bit boring, I know I am tempting mistress fate by saying that, but nothing has come up that we haven’t caused ourselves,” I replied.

“Mistress fate? Are you not telling me something?” Clarissa asked.

“Ah, just my personal joke. How it is lady luck and mistress fate. Mistress since she cracks whips and is quite harsh,” I replied grinning at Clarissa.

“Sure. Whatever you say. So, exploring or more grinding?” Clarissa asked. I looked over at Naran and gave a small nod. I didn’t mind either way.

“Exploring. We started, might as well finish and see if there are other cities out there. Northeast of Heaven for the Ritualist?” Naran asked me. He was reading my mind.

“Of course. That rat bastard is out there somewhere. Just need to hunt him down and mount his pelt to the wall. You know, if he transforms into some kind of abomination, and it has fur, I am so making that a cape or a rug. A rug sounds better, so I can step on it,” I replied.

“That is quite a picture you have painted,” Clarissa said.

“I take my vows of revenge seriously, and the man was a worthy opponent,” I replied.

“Was?” Clarissa asked.

“Even with consumption, he won’t be ahead due to the cap. Losing store access would be catastrophic. Even if he has hordes of hybrids, Naran can easily cut them down, while I support. Also, Fethee is coming along fairly well, isn’t he?” I asked Naran.

“He is. But he needs a lot more stats. We could power level him?” Naran asked and I considered the question.

“That is a possibility. But those are points not going towards our stats. He would need as much as you to fight in melee combat against level 4 monsters. Building up on level 2 and level 3 monsters will help give him the right mindset and experience,” I replied.

“It will take time. Ten days, we could get him up to around a thousand stat points,” Naran suggested. I took a long moment to think about this.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“What you do with your points is up to you, but I am not grinding for other people. Even if he paid me back, there is a time value to points. Since the more my stats go up, the faster I can grind, and can accumulate more points,” I said.

“But he would be able to assist in combat,” Naran countered, and I nodded. That was a very good point.

“Part of the climb upwards is having the mentality to fight. I could boost a lot of people but having high stats does not translate into combat effectiveness. Gertrude is the perfect example of this. The climb upwards is just as or even more important than stats,” I explained my reasoning.

“But that can be trained as well. Gertrude did it, but she still died,” Naran countered again.

“That is fair. But she probably only grinded on one type of level 3 monster and very few level 2 monsters. Like I said, the choice is yours. But, I am not giving away points. I didn’t do it for the early iterations of the store, and I am not about to do it now,” I said.

“Alright, but it will take him time to catch up,” Naran said, and I just nodded at that.

“Any options for a summoner?” I turned to look at Clarissa. She grimaced slightly at the question.

“I made the inquiries like you asked, without mentioning you, high risk, high reward position. Each and everyone with the necessary talent turned the offer down, or was happy where they were,” Clarissa explained.

“How many?” I asked.

“Eight people,” Clarissa answered.

“Eight! Stupid Darwinism,” I muttered. All the adventurous people were killed off or on Union teams they didn’t want to leave. I didn’t blame them, but it was annoying. I had wanted a scout, but I needed someone with stats and able to use summons well.

“We have two summoners in the guard here, which you can take, but they aren’t the best unfortunately,” Clarissa explained.

“Just keep an ear open. Eight. Ridiculous,” I complained. How could so many people be so useless.

“Well, this is a high risk job,” Naran said. I gave him a death glare and he just smiled at me.

“You might get some bites if people knew the requests were from you,” Clarissa said, and I shook my head at that.

“They have to accept the risks first before they know they would travel with me. I am not running a daycare. Well, I guess it is what it is. People will eventually rise up and teams will split. Keep an eye out please,” I told Clarissa.

“Not a problem. I am regularly monitoring everything in Purgatory,” she replied. I didn’t doubt it. Her power of management was the scariest thing around.

“You were thinking of expanding?” Naran asked me.

“A summoner, for scouting, and luring. To maximize grind efficiency. Have a summoner pull in the monsters towards us and we just kill them, pick up the crystals once they are all dead,” I replied.

“That could work, but level 3 monsters?” Naran asked.

“That is why we need someone experienced, not someone freshly arrived. Someone with a high level of experience controlling level 3 monsters and can use them as lures and scouts. I wasn’t expecting much, but is it so hard to find people?” I looked towards Clarissa.

“It is a matter of numbers. We get more fast-food workers than CEOs. We get more stay-at-home parents than military personnel. We screen at the arrivals, but then there is the issue of how well people adapt to arriving here. By the time things settle down, there isn’t that much of a selection. Trust me, it has been a struggle to get people to work under me that aren’t idiots and who won’t cause problems,” Clarissa explained.

“Anything I need to worry about?” I asked.

“No. It is my job. But I have to make things very clear to people, have reporting structures, and make sure no one is taking advantage of their position. Putting processes into place and making sure they stick has been a headache. That is why some places have issues, like with the researchers selling stuff,” Clarissa explained.

“Did my actions help or hurt?” I asked, curious to the outcome.

“With the level 4 monster attack, right after, I would say help. Troublemakers are quickly removed, but the trick is not to get frivolous reporting. Things are working and have settled down for the most part. The real challenge is when the city starts to experience pressure from its growth as the years go on,” Clarissa explained.

“Well, the layout is being changed right?” I asked.

“To do the entire city will be expensive and the main issue is the store itself. Cashing in points and taking out food will soon be a bottleneck. We are working to mitigate the bottleneck as much as possible, by shipping out large amounts of food to the gates and camps, and bringing in crystals, but the limit on the city isn’t housing, but the store,” Clarissa explained.

“There is probably something in one of the higher levels of the store that will sort it out. I wouldn’t worry about it that much,” I replied.

“If we can make pillars outside the plaza, are you okay with that?” Clarissa asked me. I nodded at that.

“Gone are the days where power in this city is decided by who controls the store. It is controlled by personal power. The main issue would be taxes. Anywhere pillars would be set up, would have to be closely monitored. The gates seem like obvious locations, so people don’t have to travel to the plaza for supplies and to turn in points,” I replied.

“I am hoping that is the case. Are you both set for day 605, for the second attempt?” Clarissa asked. I looked at Naran who spoke up first.

“I will be set. I could handle one to two of those sky worms.”

“I don’t feel comfortable with aerial combat. But I should be fine. General Smith is gearing up?” I asked.

“Yes, preparations on our end are proceeding apace. We just need to get more Radiant Beam users. That is what he has been focused on. Using the current ones to clear the monster on the cliff to get the skill crystal,” Clarissa explained.

“Smart. Good practice as well as long as no one dies. That will be some serious firepower. We can cover the gates as well, if there is an attack. Hopefully we can poke wherever the Ritualist is hiding hard enough to make him want to come back for a visit,” I said. A defensive battle was always easier than an offensive one. We could rain down fire and activate the shield in the event of an emergency, since that would disrupt summons.

“It is going smoothly last I heard. We won’t suffer from someone like the Ritualist again,” Clarissa said I nodded at that and turned to Naran.

“We all set to go?” I asked.

“Yes. Cart is loaded up. Just need to grab Fethee and Heba and we are all set,” Naran said. Well, time to find out where the Ritualist had run off to. I knew he was still alive since his property was still owned by him in Heaven. He was not getting away, no matter what tricks he had up his sleeve.