The Systemic Lands

Chapter 38: Day 70 – Viewpoints 3

Carlos

“Still no sign?” I asked, concerned and worried while staring at the man in front of me. It was only Captain Tyrese, my accountant, and two personal guards in my office at the moment.

“Nothing,” Tyrese responded. “With what he purchased, he could be gone for quite a while.”

“I know!” Letting out a heavy breath, I calmed down a bit. “I know.” It was frustrating, since Michael had apparently learned some magic from the dungeon. Two more groups went down into its depth and didn’t come out.

His helper Alex had told a bunch of different stories that just became more jumbled with each retelling, so it was hard to know what the truth was and what wasn’t. The number of people had grown as well, and the hunting spots were becoming increasingly contested.

There had been attempts with the wolves, but they were a lot harder than the slimes. The good hunters took the easy spots, and the bad hunters didn’t want to go to new areas. Everything was stagnating. Even with a tax discount for people going after wolves, it hadn’t done enough to fix the crowding issue.

It was the general feeling of fear that was draped over the entire city like a wet blanket. It was honestly hard to believe how useless people were. The adventurous types had died off or were mentally broken. The exception was the topic of conversation.

There was no good solution. The only leverage I had was the tax, but even that was limited in its effectiveness after a certain point. Maybe a sponsored team, no taxes at all, but they have to hunt in uncontested areas. That idea had possibility. Create my own front liners to allow for expansion beyond the slime forests.

“What is the top team?”

“Death’s Hand, leader is The Gasp. He runs a tight ship and the two other people with him are tight knit.” At least I had good assistants, but no one with the brains and loyalty to be an Underboss unfortunately.

“Invite him and his team here nicely. I have an offer to make him and his team.”

“Got it, will try and get him here in the next day or so. Anything else?”

“No.” I shook my head and Tyrese left my office. I got up and looked out the window on the second floor. My street was lively, and I could hear various sounds of people screwing and gambling.

With everything I had to purchase and expenses, I had no idea when I would be able to afford the next store upgrade. The last one was quite useful, so the next one might be as well. Still the prices were insanely prohibitive. I didn’t dare think about the next upgrade after this one.

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I looked at my accountant. “Tell me the numbers.” He had stacks of wood tokens on his desk.

“We are holding a reserve of 2,000 crystals. Daily expenses are 700 crystals. Income is around 1,500 crystals per day.” I drummed my fingers on the nearby wall.

“It hasn’t been going up?”

“My best guess is that some people are hoarding for the future when there is a tax break, like when new people arrive. But that is minor compared to the lack of hunting grounds as you know. No one wants to keep a large number of crystals on them.”

After that one robbery a couple of days ago, people were on edge. There were complaints about the taxes if I wasn’t going to provide safety. I looked over at my accountant again. The man had an accounting degree from Earth and good memorization skills. With the lack of paper that was critical. The glasses and smaller frame completed the look. Still, I would make sure not to take my eye off him.

I was regretting the death match more and more. Michael had been crazy, but he didn’t want to take control or micromanage things. He was a very straight forward kind of threat. I looked at the ceramic jar in the corner that had cost way too much along with the alcohol to fill it. It had been a pain to save it, but I didn’t relish the prospect of not having it when he returned.

At least there were showers now and they are running non-stop to clean people and clothing. That had been a good investment. Not for the one crystal cost to use, more for the relief it gave people and reduction in smell.

The Gasp

“The boss wants to meet with you,” Tyrese said. The captain of the Red Dawn had intercepted my team and I at the city entrance.

“He say anything, about what it is for?” This had potential. I considered my options carefully. After my initial mistakes I had a better understanding of this place.

“Something about taxes and sponsoring a team. I brought your group up.” I passed over a handful of crystals to Tyrese.

“Alright, I will head over this evening.” Tyrese gave me a nod and left.

“You sure Gasp?” Left asked. No real names. Only code names. I planned to return to civilization without any complications leading back to me. Long term thinking. With cloth covering our faces, our identities were secret for the most part if we changed outfits.

“Yes. A shame Evaline isn’t around anymore. Anyone stepping up as an information broker?”

“Her former guard Carl. He is running the news service now,” Left said.

“Good. He has his head on right, but that probably means no information on the Sicario based on their history. You know him, set up a meeting.” Left nodded at that.

“I wouldn’t worry about him. The man has been out of pocket for a long time already. Might be dead,” Slasher said. I turned my head to slowly look at him and he quickly raised his hands up. “Might be dead, might be.”

“He had supplies to last over a month out there in the wilderness. Gathering crystals. Gathering power.”

“The only place left is the grasslands and the wolf forest,” Left said.

“Of course, that’s where he is. Unless he wandered off somewhere, he would be close by in case he was wounded. The man isn’t an idiot no matter what people say about him. A day away at most.” I considered going out and looking for him. A cart full of crystals was no small thing.

“We will head back this evening and speak with Boss Carlos. You two will come with me.” I got two affirmatives. At least they were more useful than the idiots that had run off. It sucked to be them since they were dead in the dungeon. A waste of points and effort to help them.

Sam

“Pack, club, food?” My guide asked me.

“Yes.” I had just finished with the Store. This place was crazy. Garick gave me a small smile and then a pat on the back.

“Don’t worry Sam. I have done this once before. It really isn’t that complicated to kill some slimes.”

“I…alright.” There were too many thoughts going through my head at the moment. I was still trying to process everything.

“Come on. Getting a good line is hard enough, better not dally.” I followed him as we left the plaza. “Now some people prefer teams, safer really. But as long as you follow my rules you shouldn’t run into trouble.”

“What rules?” I asked.

“Always cash in your crystals and keep at least 200 points in reserve for a restoration. Preferably 500, but that is a lot. Trust me on this. It will save your life one day.” I nodded at that since it seemed sensible.

“Second rule. Crystals aren’t worth getting injured for. So, if you are robbed just dump them out and walk away. Those people don’t last long anyways. It you fight…well not worth the risk.”

“So, Carlos handles it?”

“Maybe, not really. What happens is they might bite off more than they can chew and go after a big fish. That big fish is a shark, and they get killed off. That brings me to the third rule.”

“Gear up. It is all about displaying your power and strength. Sword and sheath are the best. Also, a shield if you know how to use it. No one messes with a person holding a sword.” He had his weapon hanging on his hip.

“Really…that seems, I don’t even know.”

“Think of it like a nature documentary. Threat displays and all of that. If you look weak, you probably are weak. If you look like you will fight, then people will stay away.”

I shifted uncomfortably. I didn’t like the idea of fighting other people. “So, you arrived here 20 days ago?” I asked.

“Yep, I got to see the megalodon himself, the Sicario. That is one crazy shark you never ever want to mess with.”

“Really, what did he do?”

“Well, the day I arrived he had a death match right in the plaza. Flattened the idiot against him. Just beat him to death with a club. Before that he killed ten people by himself in the Battle of Blood that cemented Carlos and his group in power. They say he knows magic and even put out a bounty on someone who spread rumors about him. Her head was delivered to Carlos.”

I tried to process all of that. “Why…why hasn’t anyone stopped him?” Garick turned to look at me.

“Who? If you want to be the fish who wants to be a shark, go ahead.” I looked away. “Exactly. He has left this place and disappeared into the wilderness, so no one has seen him for quite a while.”

“So, he could be out there?”

“You are lucky people aren’t worth any points. Otherwise, he would be stacking up the bodies. People say he has over 100 upgrades, at least. The strength of five people in one. I can sense your skepticism. I question half the rumors I hear too, but there has to be truth since there are so many. Also, the bodies he has laid out are real.”

I latched onto the one part that was really exciting and interesting to me. “Magic?”

“Supposedly you can get it in the dungeon. Well good luck. That place is a pit. People go in and don’t come out. There is talk of mind slimes, whatever the heck they are. Also, it is pitch dark, so you need torches, 30 minutes of light at 500 points a pop.”

“What?!”

“Yep, it is insane. But he went down there with just one other person to carry his pack. Killed everything down there and came out with a skill to melt people like the blue slime acid. Bunch of groups went in after, no one has come out.” Garick shook his head.

“Anything else about Sicario?”

“Ah, that means assassin in Spanish. Don’t know his actual name. Supposedly he was the first person here on day 0, today is day 70. So, the entire calendar is based off of the man.”

“What…what about the other people he showed up with?”

“The veterans are from day 30 and no one knows. Best guess is that he killed them all. Maybe ate them before figuring out how to earn points. Some people prefer to call him First for that reason. But you ask ten people, you get ten different stories. So, thinking about taking him out? Become the megalodon?”

“No! Just…it seems crazy that one person could have such power in this place.”

“Just kill everything in front of you and you can reach the top too. Well, we will start on brown slimes. They are bit tricky, let me explain the best way to spot and take them out.”