I entered Neo Brasilia and was quickly pointed to Governor General Sam’s office. He had summoners so he managed to get an alert of my arrival and was waiting for me outside.

“Champion Michael,” Sam greeted me.

“Sam. How are things?” I asked and gave him a head nod to his bow.

“Good, things are finally stabilizing. What brings you out this way?” Sam asked me.

“I am clearing dungeons. The one’s to the East?” I asked.

“I can clear the schedule for you. We only have the one to the Southeast. The swamps are quite nasty. Would you like a room prepared?” Sam asked me.

“Yes, please. Along with a meal. Then we need to talk, alone.” Sam gave me a nod and had one of his guards escort me to a room with a bathroom connected to it.

I cleaned off my equipment and clothes and then went to a private dinging room with Sam. Food was laid out. Not as good as Purgatory, but they had bread, but no butter. I dug in without fanfare and Sam copied me.

After eating for a bit in silence, I finally spoke up. “How are things going?” I asked.

“Fairly well now that a good rotation is going on. Hunting camps are being set up as well. Finally have the economy stabilized. Clarissa has been quite pleased with my progress. Still, I haven’t heard anything from Governor General Gerold,” Sam wasn’t asking a question, but he was asking a question.

“The entire city is dead. An outside context disaster killed them.” There was silence as that as I continued eating my stew.

“Outside context? What exactly does that mean?” Sam asked me.

“That it was a disaster from outside the Systemic Lands. A piece of solid energy was impacting multiple zones and the people were ensnared by it. The Almighty System intervened personally, containing the disaster,” I explained.

“The people?”

“Well they were floating above a void and their spirits were corroded. Or brain dead, same thing. I suspect they plummeted into the void when the Almighty System intervened. It sent a monochrome wave, similar to the city shield to purge and reset multiple zones.”

“That…can that happen here?” Sam asked me.

“No idea. But I wouldn’t take safety precautions lightly. Governor General Gerold poked it too hard. First rule of eldritch abominations, leave them alone,” I explained.

“Ah. That makes sense. Well, at least it has been resolved.” We finished up our meal and he let me get some sleep.

The next day, or night really, I set off to the Southeast. I entered the centipede zone that I had camped out in for several grinding sessions. Good memories, even with the golems. I found the ruined town dungeon covered in mist. I quickly rushed through it and killed the monsters. I noted there was a giant red hand monster from the zone in here as well.

The two skills were Flesh Fuse and Poison Cloud. The first one was kind of interesting, but not something I cared that much about. Why would I need to fuse flesh? If I was injured heavily enough to need something like that, I was probably dead anyways.

I picked gestureless for the tenth and final upgrade for Air Burst. Air Burst. The skill didn’t need any hand signs. That was the confirmation I needed that the hand sign and verbal count increased when the level of the skill increased, but was not tied to the level.

There were two hand signs though for Air Burst, which was weird. Or perhaps the upgrade, removed all the words, or gestures. That would be a huge pain in the rear if that was the case. It would be most beneficial to invest only in cost then, and then the other two upgrades once the skill was at the level you wanted.

But that wasn’t possible unless a person went back to various dungeons to optimize their build. I also didn’t think it would be that simple with how the Almighty System worked. It would not let a person get away with cheating the energy costs. Also energy seemed tied directly into the power of the skill. At a certain point, one needed energy to make the skill function. You couldn’t get blood from a stone.

I had been wrong before, so I was probably wrong again. This was the kind of stuff I wanted the Astrologer for. This kind of knowledge was priceless, but it took time and effort to collate and gather. I left the dungeon and set off to the North for the next dungeon, with an East slant to my direction.

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This dungeon was much closer to the edge of the zone than other dungeons. The randomness of the Almighty System wasn’t paying attention when placing this one.

There were leeches and it was a pit dungeon, of course. I unleashed wave after wave of acid. If a tactic worked, there was no need to change it. I cleared the boss room and got the skill point. I poked it and the two skills were Crush and Perception Decay.

This time I really hesitated. Crush was just an enhanced physical attack. Nothing that special. But Perception Decay was a skill that impacted a stat. It was unique. It sounded amazing. I could erode a person’s danger sense. That was much more dangerous in high level combat than losing footing from a Null Field.

Danger sense from Perception was the great savior of all high-speed fights and all combat so far. It allowed people to react to attacks and not be completely caught off guard. I let out a long sigh. A very long sigh.

It was not easy to make this decision. While Imbue Reform was a good utility skill, I could always get someone else to have a utility skill. I needed combat skills. This was the perfect supporting combat skill. I really should have asked the Astrologer for a map of skills and dungeons. Why couldn’t this have been a couple of bite skills?

I thought back to the monsters I had steamrolled and tried to think if any of them had used the skill on me. The problem was that I had rushed through them, they weren’t a threat at all. The dungeon had seemed darker than a normal pit dungeon. The word decay was interesting as well. Perhaps a stacking effect the longer the skill was applied in combat.

If that was the case it had amazing synergy with Air Burst and my massive amount of Spirit stat points. I let go of the stat point and paced in the dark boss room, only the light of the skill crystal illuminating the wet dripping pit and soggy ground.

To take the skill point or to not take the skill point, that was the question. I left the skill point behind. It was a hard decision, but Perception Decay was too unique and interesting to not take up as my fourth skill.

Not taking a skill point here would be a major hassle if I found a better skill. I hadn’t even thought such a skill was possible, but apparently it was. It made many other skills out there possible. It was an incredibly hard decision as I spent a couple of minutes carefully considering the full range of possibilities with the skill and how things would work in the future.

I poked the skill crystal and picked the silent upgrade for Aqua Sphere before I could hesitate anymore. Eventually I could come back and get new skill points and do an optimal build, but I lived in the present. There were only three skill slots, and I couldn’t afford what ifs at the moment.

While I liked to think I would come back out here, I couldn’t guarantee that. I also couldn’t guarantee the skill would work against targets with a lot of stats. So, while it sounded amazing at first glance, it wasn’t that good. Like a used car, it looks decent on the dealer lot, but once you leave you are screwed.

I didn’t want to be stuck with a skill that useless in a high level combat. I knew mental skills had less effectiveness than physical attack skills. This was clearly shown by the Ritualist’s monsters. If this skill was similar to mental skills, then there would be an issue in getting it to work when I needed it most.

I needed direct damage skills, which could stack up damage. Another shot type skill would be great. That would be the best in my mind. Shooting orbs of stuff at people was the best way to handle them at a distance. I did not want to swing a sword or my fists. I wanted to bombard people. The fact I needed a high Body to dodge was a compromise I had already come to accept.

I left the dungeon. I had cleared the level 2 dungeons I had been planning to clear. I raced back towards Neo Brasilia. I would buy a cart and lots of supplies for a long grinding session against the level 4 Bulwark Shields. They really were the best monster for me.

Well, hopefully Doctor Katz had figured out how to heal the thing that was the Astrologer’s will. It needed a better name. It wasn’t a projection. It was a deformed human, so perhaps homunculus was a good name. The Astrologer’s homunculus. A false or artificial person, it was the perfect description for such a thing.

That was the other wildcard about everything. The Astrologer’s homunculus was a massive ass. If he had the memories and personality of the original, then it would be an ass as well. But the real Astrologer wouldn’t be humble with his power. If he could match up against the Divine Empress, then he wasn’t weak in the slightest.

Still, I viewed trying to free him as an action of last resort. I wanted to put it off for as long as possible. If he was on the 49th floor, then I would give the tower at least 49 days. That meant I needed to start climbing no later than day 950.

The thought made my legs and back hurt. That was the true level 100 boss, stairs. If there was a stair boss, I would just turn around and say nope. Or a stair zone, then I would really know the Almighty System was reading my mind and creating things to torture me.

That would be the worst. Just endless flights of stairs. I rubbed my gut. I still had no abs. If I got a meta-point, that should be what I asked for. No powers, no knowledge, just abs. Perfectly chiseled abs. That made me smile. It would be like winning the lottery and then using the money to buy something completely useless, sport’s cards came to mind.

Then burning them all and laughing. Or just pulling a Joker and burning all the money for laughs. That would be what using a meta-point on abs would be like. There was no fat or anything, but there were no defined muscles.

That would beat the Divine Empress, just show off some brilliant abs and they would impress her so much with my giga-chad powers, she would surrender and obey me as a harem member for the rest of her life. I snorted at the pure and utter stupidity of that idea.

It would be a death match for sure. One does not become a Divine Empress, without a throne of corpses. For the game of thrones was to either win or die. And while normal political maneuvering shouldn’t require copious amounts of death, in the Systemic Lands where personal power equaled political power, death was the currency of rulership.