We set off to the East the next morning. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before Naran called for a halt.

“The energy in the air,” he waved his hand like that was supposed to mean something to me.

“What is it exactly?” I asked.

“There is a void zone ahead of us. I can see the energy changing directions, blowing towards us,” Naran said. I frowned at that and looked at Fethee and Heba. They barely had any Spirit, so it wouldn’t make sense for them to get close to the void. I didn’t want their brains scrambled.

“All right, I am going to race ahead. You head North, we can split our efforts. I should easily be able to catch up with you,” I replied.

“Okay,” Naran said with a nod. That was the good thing about being able to trust him to handle himself. We could split up needed to go faster. I raced to the East, killing any monsters in my path.

It wasn’t long before I felt the cold wind, more like a light breeze. Then I saw the endless black blocking my progress further East. I quickly turned and made my way North. I wanted to check out the corner of the zones to get a better idea of what I was up against and where the Ritualist had hidden.

I recalled the single test that had been done with summons and void zones. Summons and tethers didn’t do well against the void energy wind. The maximum range was much shorter. It also was a good explanation why the monster density near the void zones was lower compared to the rest of the zone that bordered a void zone.

Good places for traveling to avoid monsters. Bad for one’s sanity and health. I angled a bit to the West myself to put some distance between myself and the void zone. I might be quite capable and have a lot of stats, but no need to get Systemic Land radiation all over me if I could help it.

It was weird that energy was used for everything. Like a universal power source. I guess it could be something like an electron, so calling all energy types on Earth electrons wouldn’t be a stretch. Maybe something similar was going on with Systemic Land’s energy. Not like I would be finding out things at the atomic level any time soon.

One could infer the presence of atoms based on observations of the natural world. But working out protons, electrons, and neutrons, was nowhere near as simple and what they all represented. That was the struggle I was having with energy. Also, how it interfaced with one’s mind was another big question I had.

There was a clear connection between electricity and energy, since phones stopped working out in level 2 zones despite having a charge. Energy and electricity were tied together in some way, but I still hadn’t worked out the framework. That was where the Ritualist exceeded me greatly, being able to make intuitive leaps of understanding, and all the more reason to find and kill him.

I saw mist ahead of me and let out a sigh and angled more towards the East. To the East was the void zone. To the Northeast and North were level 3 zones, both mistlands. That was a type of zone that was a no go for both me and the Ritualist in my mind.

I turned hard West while keeping the level 3 zone in sight to my North. Eventually I ran into Naran and company where the mistlands turned into frostlands, about the middle of the zone. I explained what I discovered to him.

“Try North?” Naran asked me and I looked at the frostlands.

“Yes, unfortunately. Straight North, tomorrow. It is only mid-day, but we will need all our time to cross a level 3 zone,” I said with a sigh.

“You don’t sound happy,” Naran said, and I looked at him.

“Just annoyed. Level 3 zones are hard to transverse, especially with two terrain types that are impassable currently. If there is no route to the North, we know to the West is a level 3 zone and to the East is a level 3 zone. That means spending the night in a level 3 zone to go beyond it,” I shook my head as I explained the headache I was having regarding the situation.

“Are we doing that?” Naran asked me. I let out a long sigh at that question. I wanted the Ritualist. I just wasn’t sure what to do if he had fully crossed multiple level 3 zones. It was nowhere near as simple compared to running about a level 2 zone.

The biggest risk wasn’t so much the terrain or cold. That we could survive. Even fighting level 3 monsters at night, wasn’t that bad. It was the risk of a level 4 monster showing like Death. I still wasn’t sure why it had showed up to begin with.

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That unknown was still plaguing me. It was easy to say it was the one million point mark, but now the possibility of it coming from a dungeon in a level 3 zone was in play as well. Somehow it was triggered. We would have to go back to that initial level 3 grinding spot where we had run into that monster and explore there.

Naran knew this as well, which was why he was asking me. I looked at the swirling mist to our Northeast and considered my stats. I hadn’t tested the mist in a long time and my stats had gone up quite a bit since then. I shook my head and decided it wasn’t worth the risk.

The mistlands could wait. They were too high of a risk. My visibility would be terrible and if a level 4 showed up, I would have very little time to react. Even without the mental effects, the lack of visibility was the most concerning issue.

“No. Maybe. What do you think?” I asked Naran.

“We would have to travel through the night. Supplies would be an issue, since nothing can withstand the cold,” Naran said. I looked at Heba standing by the cart and Fethee off in the distance, making the most of the time to kill level 2 monsters.

“Let’s hope there is a path North. If not, then the only viable route would be to the East. Unless the Ritualist snuck to the West and then North near Truth. He can’t transverse through a level 4 zone, or a void zone. We just have to rule zones out and we will figure out which way he went,” I said.

South was clearly out, but East of Heaven was also a possibility with the frostlands past the swamp. We didn’t explore it and the zones beyond it. The Ritualist could be carried through a swamp and his summons wouldn’t care.

“I also think that we won’t find him. But knowing the zones beyond is a good thing. Once we go North and if we are blocked, we should check to the East to check the corner to the Northeast,” I said.

Naran took a moment to work through the zones I was talking about. “This is zone at coordinates (4,1), and you want to go North and then East if North is blocked to check the zone at coordinates (5,3).”

“Yes, exactly. We know the zone at coordinates (5,2) is a level 3 zone and the two zones South of it are void zones,” I said.

“Like a wall to the East, but then the frostlands we ran past on our last exploration,” Naran pointed out and I nodded.

“Yeah, I was thinking about that. South is out since we saw a level 4 zone. But those Frostlands at coordinates (5,-1) could lead to something beyond them. Also he could have gone West and North near Truth, especially if there is no path North here,” I replied.

“That is also a possibility. But you would think he would attack Truth then,” Naran said.

“That was my thought process as well. No way to the West with Purgatory. Even if he came close and went South where the mimic monsters are, he would have run into us at our grind spot,” I explained.

“Or he could have snuck by to the West. It isn’t easy to run into someone out in the wilderness. You see them at a distance, you can easily change directions, unless they see you as well. And if you are grinding, you aren’t focused on the far off areas all the time,” Naran said.

“That is fair. Well, all we can do is search up North and then if that is blocked go East to take a look. After that, well, I will need to see first. I don’t like the idea of being in a level 3 zone at night,” I replied.

“But that is probably what the Ritualist did,” Naran said.

“Maybe. Honestly it is impressive to be honest. There is no obvious city, so he set off across the wilderness to escape me,” I said.

“And to build up power. If we do push on, what about the rest of the team?” Naran asked. I considered the matter.

“Remain here for three days. It is a decent grinding spot and Fethee has the strength to get back to Purgatory if we don’t return. Unless you want to remain behind?” I asked Naran.

“And let you kill yourself? Pffft, no. Don’t worry, Michael, I got your back,” Naran said, and I smiled at that.

“Thanks. I guess, call it early today and leave pre-dawn tomorrow. Only about midday,” I said and looed up at the light source.

“Just wait, we will head North and it will be fine,” Naran said.

“You are probably right. I have just been stressed out. If the Ritualist isn’t in this direction, then it really will be a search. Probably better off grinding and building up strength. I mean I am skill capped, unless you are looking for skill points?” I asked Naran who shook his head.

“I am focused on stats. Skills are useful and I won’t say no to free skill points, but I am not going out of my way to get skills. It just seems like a different path. You make it work, but stats seem a safer bet long term when focused into Body,” Naran replied.

“I have no disagreements with you there,” I replied. Naran could match me now, despite having 850 less stats than me, even with my skills. If we fought seriously, he would have a decent chance of winning or at least forcing a stalemate.

The higher Body stat also meant that Naran could outpace and catch up with me. I would be forced on the defensive. Air Burst was useful, but it wasn’t a long strategy due to the energy cost, while Naran’s Body stat kept going and going.

Still, he would need to invest Spirit regardless, for the void wind protection and possibly other stats as the need arose. But with Mind being paired up with Body, he countered a critical weakness. Even Aura wasn’t as critical since he would be focused on dodging, rather than tanking attacks.

This was where I was slowing down as a generalist and it was a bit humbling. Still I wouldn’t be changing my strategy until I hit one thousand in all stats, to see what the Almighty System told me in regards to them. Naran being able to regulate his Body stat to some degree outside of movement, was something that he was still exploring.

Like trying to move one your ear muscles, when you have never moved it before. It took a lot of work and coaxing, but the hope was that the ability would lead to something interesting. We speculated that a higher Body stat would allow him more control, but only time would tell if that was true.