“It wasn’t a victory over a hard foe,” Doctor Katz speculated. “Well that may be part of it, but I don’t think that was the main reason to get a meta-point. Also you had help as well, which targets the myth they can only be earned solo.”

“Well, the monster was a person, who used a meta-point. That Gregorovich character. But the Divine Empress and the Astrologer had meta-points?” Michelle asked.

“Yes, both of them did. I have killed other people with meta-points as well,” I replied. We were discussing the mindset of the Almighty System as we continued to fly back to Purgatory. It was a pointless but fun conversation.

“Well, was it stronger than the Divine Empress?” Captain Francis asked.

“They had different strengths. The monster was far more agile and prone to escape. The Divine Empress was a human bulldozer of death. I would put the monster as slightly stronger, maybe. But most likely the monster would have escaped. The Divine Empress, while strong, wasn’t great at chasing a person down,” I replied while thinking of my escape from her.

“I still think that it was a combination of past achievements and the power of this monster. Probably a hidden ranking system of some kind,” Captain Francis said while scanning the horizon as he steered the airship.

“Perhaps. But one of the few things we know about the Almighty System is that it is brutally fair. I don’t think it has killed anyone directly,” Doctor Katz said, and I nodded at this. “I think the monster was overly disruptive. All those people killed off over such a long period of time was bound to draw negative attention.”

“Then why not award me for killing the Ritualist?” I countered with another example.

“He only went full monster at the end and his threat level was low. Multiple cities for years, while the Ritualist didn’t last that long,” Doctor Katz countered and I inclined my head towards him, showing he had won a Michael point for that strong counter argument.

“You went with the stat increase?” Michelle asked me.

“Yes,” I replied. I had considered lying about my answer, but it would have made things awkward in our small group. We had been fighting for long enough that I trusted the people, including the soldiers on board. That was the nice thing about my choice as well, it had no overt weaknesses.

“I guessed as much,” she said calmly.

“Information on this place would have been nice,” Captain Francis said.

“Well, when you get a meta-point, you can ask all the questions, and get answers we can do nothing about. Still, earning one is possible, just with a lot of effort,” I replied. “If only there was a repeatable method.”

“Something so valuable wouldn’t be repeatable. I wonder what kind of airship would have been offered?” Michelle asked.

“Something high end most likely. But it is better to pick the stat choice,” Captain Francis said.

“I would have gone with a portable store to heal people,” Doctor Katz countered.

“Useful. That would be a good choice, but I doubt it would be that simple,” I replied.

“Maybe, but it would be worth checking,” he replied.

“Let me guess, a summon of some kind or a pet?” I asked Michelle.

“Yes. Something small and powerful. Or a skill to let me keep my summons in low energy zones without issues,” she replied.

“That would be powerful and allow for a more permanent roster. Good to fight against people and take cities. But beyond that, not that useful compared to other choices,” I replied. It was a good choice, but not an amazing one in my mind, when she had monsters like the Infinite Block that could be left dormant and manage low energy zones.

“A shadow clone skill would be useful. Get a lot more done,” Doctor Katz said.

“I thought of something like that, but if there was me, that wasn’t the original, it could end up very badly,” I replied. I had no idea what a clone of myself might do, but I didn’t trust anyone, including myself. I could easily see my clone selves trying to work out how to replace me.

While it might help me grind faster, there would probably be a distance limitation. That would prevent me from scattering clones all about to grind. Even then, we might draw from the same energy pool, which would be a huge risk in a fight. Sure, the tactical advantages of having clones was powerful, but that was offset by Michelle’s summons to a large extent.

“A growth type choice is the best. I already have a fighting style and skills that work well. Trying to go beyond that would create a massive headache in learning how to fight all over again. Better to double down on what I do well,” I replied.

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“Well it makes sense with your income from the Empire,” Doctor Katz said and I nodded at that. He really was on target today. “I wonder if you could ask for a small bonus for everyone?”

“Maybe? But who would waste a meta-point doing that? The real danger are other people and the limited number of zones. You would need to give a boost for people to fight in level 4 zones more easily, but even that is only a temporary measure, no matter the size of the boost,” I replied. Doctor Katz and his bleeding heart.

“You couldn’t think about anything for that?” Doctor Katz asked me.

“Double the size of the Systemic Lands? Again, only a stop gap measure unless there is another landmass hidden somewhere else. The best option is to get strong enough to get to the end of this place. A combination of the towers with their votes and probably beating a level 10 monster,” I replied. “It stacks.”

“What stacks?” Michelle asked.

“The meta-point. The multiplication factor stacks. So, a three, then a nine, then a twenty-nine. It would save centuries of grinding to crawl up the last couple of levels,” I explained.

“That is broken. The Divine Empress had two meta-points and didn’t pick something like that, completely stupid,” Doctor Katz said.

“Possibly. But she had some strong regeneration skills. I mean super strong. But yes, I agree with you, going for increased stat points would have made her unbeatable. And it would have been the smarter choice. I guess that is the advantage of knowing about them, and thinking through possible options ahead of time,” I said.

“I suppose so. Having to make such a massive decision on the spot, can lead to a lot of poor outcomes,” Doctor Katz said.

“It has. So many wasted meta-points, when they could have just asked,” Captain Francis said.

“I am thinking about publicly announcing meta-points, but then the downside is that any crazy person can claim they asked a question and got an answer. No way to tell the truth from the lies,” I said with a sigh.

That was not taking into account they would be harder to get. If other people asked questions and I could get answers that would be nice. But that was never going to happen.

“Everyone would lie, and it would just cause more confusion,” Captain Francis said, and everyone nodded at that.

While the small airship was cozy, it was too cozy. It was not a long term mobile base for a group as large as ours. Once we got back, I would need to start shelling out all the points for an extra-large airship, which would include the facilities to build it.

Over the years I had gotten used to sleeping in rotations, and sharing rooms, but it wasn’t something I enjoyed doing. I guess I was becoming soft. Well first thing would be to arrange things with Clarissa and then come back West to set up a beachhead in one of the cities.

That would require upgrading the city to the max level, along with another city. While it was tempting to use Purgatory as the departure point, that invited a major security risk. Perhaps building the portal building at the edge of the city and isolating it from everything else. That would be the bare minimum.

As for the timeline, things should move quickly. Clarissa would pick a city, and then we would turn right back around and head back West to claim another city, with the military owned airships. The biggest hurdle would be appointing a new governor for the city that would act as the outpost to the West side of the Systemic Lands.

It would be a dangerous position. Perhaps a military appointment instead. Less a civilian city, but a full-fledged military base. The real cost would securing the outer wall. We would need the same level of defenses that Purgatory had. Multiple Regional Map buildings, towers, secure gatehouses, cannons, multiple city shields, and more.

Also, we would need to do what was done with the Forbidden City and build a road around the entire city. That would ensure clear sightlines from the wall. Also an inner portion of the city that was much more secure. Perhaps begin buying up all the building plots, so no one could hide.

I know that was something that had been considered by Clarissa, but the expense just wasn’t worth it. But for a city we absolutely could not afford to lose that would be the best option. There were just too many places to hide in unclaimed buildings. Even with the Regional Map buildings, it was too hectic to scan everything and spot people where they shouldn’t be.

Well, we could send supplies and enchanted goods through the portal, mark them up, and then have an economy of some kind. People would rush to the West and grind crystals, and trade for high end goods from the fortress city.

It would also stimulate trade through the Empire if people had to move goods. Probably not Purgatory then, since we were already getting a large chunk of the economy. Going from the city of The Abyss, West and a bit South, would be the abandoned city of New Kochi.

That city might need a name change, but the maps and information we had gotten from the nations to the West had that name. If we started changing the city’s name would lead to confusion. But no one in my Empire knew of the names.

I was happy with what I had named so far. Purgatory and the Systemic Lands were great names. At the moment nothing could really big down my mood. Sure, there was a lot of grinding and administrating to do in the future, but it was nothing too serious or life threatening.

What my mind kept drifting towards was whether I could grind level 7 monsters. If that was possible then I could really boost my income from 120 million points a day. No idea how much I could boost it and how much more dangerous a level 8 monster would be or the terrain. It all depended on the monster type as well.

There was a change in terrain from level 3 to level 4, the same with the monsters, including level 6 to level 7. But I had not checked any level 7 terrain at all. There could be another massive jump in difficulty. Thinking on the issue, that probably was the case. Level 6 terrain was a hellish nightmare. It was manageable with a platform, but still a nightmare.

With my stats and energy reserves, I wasn’t that worried about level 6 terrain anymore. But if there was another jump in difficulty, then level 7 grinding would be off limits for a while still. I would need to kill all the level 7 boss monsters in level 6 zones first. On my own as well, to make sure I had a good handle on their combat abilities.

The real danger was being swarmed by level 7 monsters in a level 7 zone. One on one, I wasn’t that worried anymore. But if there was a swarm, that could make things incredibly difficult. Well, none of that was a huge deal at the moment. I had my meta-point, regardless of the reason, and the future looked bright.