General Abdullah was an alright kind of guy. At least he had things organized properly and the camp on the road was well set up. No camping in the mistlands. That would have been inviting disaster and headache. Still the surrounding monsters were cleared of course. Trash and other waste was handled well with such a large group.

He really knew how to organize a small army. Managing 200 or so people was a lot different than managing 20,000 or something. Still, the fact everything was handled so well, gave me confidence in his ability to manage my soldiers for my Empire.

It was dawn, the light source was coming just up over the horizon, which was blocked by the jungle. Still the area lit up as the light source was coming back up. I was becoming immune to the weird headache it generated when thinking about the implications too hard.

Looking at the road stretching to the West, I could kind of make out the light source shining at the horizon as the road was perfectly straight. It was a very weird effect. I knew I shouldn’t be able to see the light source, but that was round Earth thinking.

I chuckled at the flat Earth conspiracy theorists who might show up since this was a flat world as far as I could tell. Or was it an island or something else entirely, since the distance I had explored wasn’t that far. Maybe I should tell Clarissa to find one and get their understanding of astronomical physics, it couldn’t hurt.

Looking at the road, I rolled my head around my shoulders. I was in a shirt and shorts. Since any armor would just be paper without enchantments. I kicked off the ground and entered the road into the jungle zone of the Fox Clan.

I kept my Sense stat going as I looked around watching for any shifts in energy or any traps. No response. I transversed through the jungle to the other side without an issues. After that came the darklands with the Phase Worms. No monsters came at me, but I couldn’t spot any near the road either.

That had been surprisingly boring. Alright, time to head back and run some more tests. I raced back along the road. Once I saw the edge of the zone and General Abdullah’s camp, I went off road into the jungle. That Fox Clan began to immediately start attacking.

I retreated to the road, and they followed me. I retreated out of the zone back to the camp and they dispersed back into the jungle. I went back onto the road, and they didn’t attack me and their traps on the road had disappeared. Interesting, very interesting. Well at least this made travel possible through a level 4 zone, but very dangerous. I hadn’t spotted the boss monster either.

“Emperor Michael,” General Abdullah saluted as I entered the camp again. I noted all the soldiers looking at me and I had no doubt they had watched me testing things out.

“Mostly good news General. There is no aggression from the monsters while on the road. But one foot off and they will swarm and attack people on the road. Absolutely no going off road for any reason. If a single person does that, it will be a disaster,” I explained, and he nodded at that.

“Well, that is good to know. At least we can move through. We will wait another day, then move out tomorrow morning first thing, since I want to cross the zone in a single day. Thank you Emperor Michael,” he said.

“You’re welcome. Do you need me for anything else?” General Abdullah took a long moment to consider that question.

“Not really, but it would be useful to have you as a deterrent and safety measure. But that is up to you. As far as immediate military concerns, there is no need for you Emperor Michael,” he said and I nodded at that.

“Then, I will follow the army through the zone tomorrow, and then leave things in your hands. Probably should send someone as a test,” I replied.

“That would be wise. There could be differences based on stats.” After that General Abdullah rounded up four volunteers. They were to go to where the zone transitioned into the darklands and see what happens at night. Then come back here.

I wouldn’t be going with them, since the purpose was to test out if something different happened with someone other than me. Better to lose a couple of people than the entire army. If level 4 monsters attack in mass like the Fox Clan it would be a massacre.

While their speed and abilities were laughable as I fought them, for anyone else that wouldn’t be the case. That was why precautions needed to be taken, to test the waters. Again, General Abdullah showed his competence.

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I watched as the four soldiers left and sat on my chair at the edge of the road using my skill Acid Shot over and over while trying to adjust it. I was getting better at it, but it was slow work. I hated not being productive with my time and there was nothing I could do in camp.

One of the downsides of being Emperor, I couldn’t play dice or card games with my soldiers for three reasons. First, I was their Emperor, so there had to be some distance. Keeping that sense of danger, mystique, and mystery were important for me. Second, it wouldn’t be a fair game. Since some would intentionally try and lose. I didn’t want to put anyone in a spot, by feeling threatened. That defeated the point of playing games to relax.

The third reason was that I was obscenely rich and collected a part of all tax revenue. Gambling with the points people gave me to take more was not the image I wanted to project. Branding was important and gambling went against the brand I was trying to cultivate. I was never a big gambler anyways.

I only did it occasionally to stimulate the economy and try something new. Now I was the economy, or at least a major part of it. And not just from collecting taxes. My very existence created stability as the absolute power at the top of my empire.

While also using the skill, I had been regularly and constantly dealing with the minor curse damage. The damage to my head was something I wanted to be in my anti-curse box for. But the rest of it, I could maintain my focus while using my skill. It wasn’t the best. Like trying to talk but thinking about something different at the same time.

I stopped using my skill as it got dark and let out a sigh. I wasn’t tired, I had slept last night. My protection detail rotated in and out around me, but they let me be. I didn’t know what mood I was in, but the best way to describe it was drifting. My enemies were dead, and it felt strange.

Knowing they were dead and having no immediate threat hanging over my head was an odd experience. I had gone straight from the Ritualist to the Divine Empress, and then the Astrologer. One after another and overlapping in some cases.

It was a weird feeling, not being constantly on edge, planning how to kill an enemy. I didn’t like or hate it, but the vast majority of my thoughts had been focused on dealing with them. Now that they were all dead, I had a lot of spare time mentally that I had no idea how to fill.

A soldier without a war, a warrior without a cause. Peace wasn’t a bad thing, and I wasn’t about to stir up trouble. But it made sense now why the Divine Empress caused trouble in her own Empire. She was probably bored if I had to guess.

I mean she could fight monsters and grind, but that was repetitive. It didn’t take up much mental energy. Just enough to make sure you didn’t mess up. Improving combat skills had a hard cap on the number of stats and fighting style. Which in turn went to passive income and time.

What I needed was a hobby. Not energy research or combat training. Something I could do in my spare time. I used to read and browse the web before the Systemic Lands and play some games. Now that was all gone.

Perhaps I should have joined the soldiers when they were gambling instead of sitting at the edge of camp being a loner and anti-social. I rubbed my face as I looked out at the mist and tried to think of anything I could do that wasn’t embarrassing and not related to fighting or ruling. I wasn’t going to listen to someone do ASMR near me again.

Once had been more than enough. Any more right now would probably cause my ego to explode. Better to do something more productive if possible.

I was coming up blank unfortunately. I tapped my hand on my leg as I tried to think of an idea. Oh, I was an idiot, I knew exactly what I needed to do. It would be both amusing and a welcome distraction. Thankfully there was a spare empty book on hand and a pen. I had a table brought over along with a lamp.

It was time to start up my own religion. For that a Bible was needed. One of my own making. The Power Guide. Something that was clearly hilarious, but also conveying important information while making me look good.

Now, how to start it. There was only one way. In the beginning the Almighty System created the Systemic Land. Looking at that first line it felt off. Hmm, the first part was good, but it needed a bit more. In the beginning the Almighty System created the meta-rules.

That was a much stronger first line. What were the meta-rules? Well, that could come later. It was important to leave thing vague for my Power Guide. That way there could be some debates and religious discussion.

I chuckled to myself as I looked over the first line again. This was a great hobby to start up. I could write it out, and then copy over a final version which could be massed produced for the masses. And sell it of course. Clarissa wasn’t above starting her own businesses, but I had kept the monopoly on religion for a very good reason.

It was exhausting having to do it all myself, but I couldn’t trust anyone else with something like this. Before I had been too busy, but now that things were settling down, I could finally get to work and begin indoctrinating the masses.

The real trick was to make myself appear humble, yet threatening, kind, yet firm. More vague statements were going to be needed, but first I needed to make sure the opening was memorable. Once people got hooked, they would finish the entire Power Guide and become converts.

Perhaps Saint Michael could be added to my list of titles. Saint Emperor Michael didn’t roll off the tongue like God Emperor. But I wasn’t a God and wanted to avoid getting a big head. I would need to think on the issue some more and the structure of my new religion. Lots of tithes to ensure one’s soul. Paying your way to heaven was a time-honored tradition. I began making notes while writing more down.