The Systemic Lands

Chapter 9: Day 10 – New People

The group I had killed managed to gather up 20 crystals in total. A pitiful amount. I left very early in the morning. I wanted a brief window to look at the forest in the dark. There was nothing different, but the slimes stood out more with their very slightly glowing blue bodies.

Dawn quickly came as I started grinding away. I left my pack open, not putting the flap over the top, so I could just toss the small crystal marbles in over my shoulder. Maximum grinding efficiency.

I made sure to pace myself as well. After the area was cleared out, move slowly to the next one, manage my breathing. I also kept an eye on the time and my gathering speed. I spent 12 hours gathering crystals and managed a decent rate of around 15 per hour.

When I was done, I had reached 200 slime crystals total. The reason for my faster speed compared to when I was in a group, was that I had spent the entire day grinding away. There was no one to share with either. So, while I was more tired than if I had been with a group and made less overall, it was a reasonable pace for just me.

The main slow down, was having to walk between groups of slimes, not killing them. Killing them was quick enough. I just needed them to come to me on an assembly line.

I made my way back to the gate. I saw people standing on the far side and looking out. I ducked behind a tree and mentally cursed. From what I had seen they appeared to be fairly fresh. Day 10, other people had arrived.

Well at least the bodies from yesterday had been disappeared by the mysterious System that controlled this place. It certainly wasn’t nature. So, there wasn’t a massacre on the other side of the gate. Still, it was annoying. I didn’t want to deal with people right now.

I took a seat behind the tree and waited calmly. There was no need to rush. I would stay out here during the night if I had to. With that thought, I got back up to my feet. This wasn’t a good spot to rest at. I carefully maneuvered my way to the wall while making sure to keep trees between me and the gate.

I made it to the wall and went a bit closer to the gate. I picked a spot behind a tree. A tree could easily conceal a single person, two people would be a lot more difficult. I sat down there and waited. I heard some voices but couldn’t make out the words.

“See, there is nothing out here.” I head a woman say. They must have gotten closer, so I could finally make out what they were saying.

“We need to be careful, this entire place is creepy,” a man said. “We should probably head back.” That confirmed they were new arrivals. I smiled at being right at the 10-day guess. No need to think about my 5-day guess, 100% right all day here.

“What about food, or points. We need to find something, and the secret must be out there. The city has been scouted already,” the woman said.

“And die like the other people who stepped out?” That was quite fast if they arrived today. Very fast, which implied they were far more organized than the group I had shown up with.

“And die in the city like starving dogs, no thank you,” the woman countered. The man let out a sigh.

“Alright, say you are right. Then what should we do. All we have are these useless wooden clubs.” There was a long stretch of silence after that.

“I don’t see anything in the trees or hear anything. You?” the woman asked.

“No, nothing either. Which means we will have to leave the wall. It is getting dark. I don’t want to be out here in the dark. Let’s find a building near the gate and camp there. We can check in the morning,” the man said.

“So up for some adventure,” the woman said.

“Not really, but that plaza is a death trap. Those survivors looked…raw. Almost beast like and starving to death.”

“Too bad we don’t have an axe. Wait, there is no dead wood, is there,” the man said.

“No, no dead wood. Put that in the weird and creepy category,” the woman replied.

“Come on, let’s go back and find one of those tombs to sleep in,” the man said.

“They are probably important historical-“ I couldn’t hear anymore as they moved back into the city. I double checked my memory of the conversation. It didn’t sound like they were trying to lure me into a trap.

I settled in against the tree and steadied out my breathing. They didn’t sound like bad people, but I couldn’t lose the slimes or have competition. It was too risky. The real question was whether to take them out during the night, or in the morning.

Before dawn, before they woke up. I set the alarm on the watch. I slowly drifted off, thinking how right I was. Day ten and people showed up. Unfortunate that there were still survivors at the plaza. Probably traded information for food to live.

That would just prolong the inevitable. Still, it would motivate this second batch a lot more than the first batch who was fairly useless. I drifted off into a light sleep, only waking up a bit to look around when it got dark and dozing off again.

I knew what I had to do. I was on the path of murder and blood. I could see my way off of this path, but I didn’t want to lose control. I had seized my own destiny. Problems were much easier to solve when it came down to whether or not I could kill a person.

It wasn’t a good or healthy way to view the world. I knew that, but there was an underlying fear. Fear of what the people in the plaza might know about me, fear of people killing me, fear of this place, fear of the unknown. The list went on.

It was one thing to overcome fear that rooted in primal instincts like the dark. It was another thing to overcome social fears versus the fear of losing my life.

A beep went off and I awoke. There was a brief moment of panic and then I calmed down. I turned off the watch and it was quite dark. No moon, just lots of stars to give light. Unfortunately, in the forest, it was a lot worse due to the canopy which blocked the sky rather than the open city streets.

At least it was only a short walk to the gate. Time to check the stone buildings. First one, nothing. Second one, nothing. Third one, there was some breathing. Second floor like I preferred, and I guessed most other people did as well. I carefully made my way up checking for any string or objects they might have set up as an alarm.

I doubted they had the supplies or the knowledge to do something like that, but it didn’t hurt to be careful. I made my way into one of the rooms. Two figures sleeping next to each other near the wall with their heads on their packs.

I checked the floor, nothing in the way. No third person either. I moved in and swung down, hitting a head.

“What-“ I swung down again and killed the second person. I pulled their packs away from the split blood and struck their heads again, making sure they were dead. Fruit in their pack. I took some and ate the rest.

Nothing else in the pack. The woman had a watch which I took, and the man had a lighter. Now that was useful. His shoes were too small for me unfortunately.

With the deed done, I left the building and made my way to another one. I slept the last couple of hours of the night.

I woke up a bit after dawn. I left the building and saw no one at the gate. I got back to work in the slime forest. I took it more slowly, due to not getting a good night’s sleep. I also called an end to my farming near the end of the day, with 152 crystals.

I made my way carefully back to the gate. There was no one around. This put me at 352 crystals total, or 1,760 points. I had enough food for another three days easily. I was going to spend my time out here, racking up crystals.

The following day was day 12 since I had come to this purgatory. I raked in 145 crystals. No sign of anyone by the gate and I breathed a bit more easily. The next two days I managed to get 151 and 142 crystals respectively.

I was in desperate need of a restoration, and I should be able to blend in with the second group now. I made my way back into the city, tracing my standard route back to the plaza. I picked a building just a short distance away and went up to the second floor to spend the night. I couldn’t help but smile.

Soon, I would be far enough ahead to put aside my fears. At least that was my hope. To be strong enough so I didn’t have to trust anyone else.

I woke up pre-dawn and made my way to the plaza. My body was sore, tired, and my pants had a hole in the crotch. It was time to spend some points on pants. There were some people scattered about sleeping in the plaza, but no one was up keeping watch.

There were no bodies or blood stains. It appeared things were calmer than the first batch I had arrived with. Maybe they had found another monster to get crystals from outside one of the other gates.

It made me wonder what had happened here, but it was only a minor concern, but I wanted to know. I didn’t need to know, but there was a curiosity inside of me how other people handled this situation and a need to gloat, at least to myself, that I was the best. I moved to one of the eight pillars and put my pack down on top of it. My points shot up to 3,383.

I spent 159 on a restoration. I looked at the clothing options. I got a mental indication that the clothes would be my size. Something I wanted to be sure about before I spent the points. I spent 100 on pants, 20 on socks, and 50 on shoes. I then spent 2,925 points for ten upgrades. I put 6 into body, putting me at 31 and then one point into the other 4, putting them at 3 each.

After that I restocked up on fruit and two new clubs for another 50 points, leaving me only 79. I quickly put everything in my pack and began to leave the plaza. After a short distance from the plaza, I went up to the second floor of a building and changed.

My old shoes and socks were quite ripe. I took the belt off my worn-out khakis and used the belt with my new pants. The material was quite coarse. I frowned at that. I couldn’t tell what it was, but there was a reason why I didn’t buy new underwear after initially feeling the pants.

The synthetic fiber of my underwear had held up far better than the cotton of the khakis. They were also quite ripe, but I needed to bear with them for a while more.

“Hello?” I heard someone call out and looked out the window from the second floor. A worn-down looking man stared up at me.Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m nov𝒆lb(i)n.c(o)m

“Yes?” I asked while scanning the street for anyone else. I didn’t like people coming up to me, not at all.

“Parley.”

“What?” It took me a moment to place the word.

“I want to negotiate.” I looked around but didn’t see anyone else on the street. I considered my options, but it wouldn’t hurt to speak. I was also in a good mood and good condition for a conversation at the moment.

“Alright, come on up,” I said. The man made his way up to the second floor, stopping in the middle of the room while I leaned on the wall next to the window. I just gave him a slight hand gesture to get on with it.

“I want to team up. You clearly know a way to get points. I refuse to die.” What an idiot. He had a club in his hand and was desperate. Each fight meant another risk taken.

“And why would I help you?”

“You probably have to fight something or do something, so half. Half of what I get I will hand over as payment.” I considered that for a long moment. I already knew my decision.

“So, what is happening in the plaza?” I asked.

“The first wave starved to death, none of the people who left have returned. There is complete hopelessness.” I really was lucky with the gate I had chosen. Probably used my luck all up as well. This also meant the monsters out there besides the slimes were no joke, since no one returned.

I made another gesture to go on. He swallowed nervously. “I know everyone who is left and kept watch on the pillars for an opportunity. You purchased clothes.” I nodded at that.

“Alright then half.” I reached into my pack that I had set beside me and pulled out an orange. “Here, a gift to start our partnership.” I tossed the orange to him. I watched carefully as it sailed through the air. He dropped his club to catch it with both hands. That was what I had been going for.

I smiled as he quickly began to rip off the peel to get to the juicy inside. I rushed forward and he scrambled back. But I was upgraded and had a restoration. He was tired from spying all the previous night and had dwindling food and water. I swung the club and he blocked with an arm.

I could hear the familiar crack of a bone break. He let out a cry of pain. He rushed at me as I stepped back. I gripped the club with both hands and thrust it forward. He tried to twist and block, but I managed to jab him in the ribs. The air went out of his chest. Another swing into his head and he was dead on the ground.

“Foolish.” I shook my head.

“Maybe.” I looked up in shock and saw another man enter the room. He was quite large and didn’t look tired at all. He looked around and was taken aback by the body as he recoiled. Then he looked at me and put on a grin. It wasn’t a happy grin; it was a Joker type grin. I had been out maneuvered. Dammit! The first man was a patsy.

“Dammit,” I muttered. He wasn’t like the brute I had to wear down from the group that chased me. But he was clearly fit and in shape. Even with the upgrades it would be a difficult fight. His eyes weren’t sunken, and he appeared confident. I would have to think of a way through this.

This was going to be the toughest fight yet. I could feel it.