Might as Well

After the discussion finished, and after consuming his meal with gusto, Sam spent the rest of the day resting and preparing himself for the next few days. With the attack against their town coming any day now, he wanted to be in tip-top shape, both in the game and outside of it.

As he stood in front of his window overlooking the ever-busy city, cars going everywhere, neon lights illuminating a good part of it and casting shadows that hid who knows how many illicit actions, Sam raised his hand and watched with tight lips as he held his hand for a second before the tremors overcame his control and caused his hand to tremble.

He watched it for a while before clenching it into a fist and putting it behind his back.

'One step at a time…'

In the game, he returned to his group while Lucy, Lara, and the others proceeded with setting up the press conference for the official opening of Farabor. Though there had already been several auctions for smaller plots and whatnot, filling up the city's coffers while also showing people that they weren't about to monopolize it. Hell, they even let several NPC-led companies and families purchase properties in the new city. Granted, that list was vetted by Sam to make sure all of them were trustworthy. He couldn't allow traitors to take root in his city…

For now, his next objective was to reach Level 150, however, that would be impossible without going incommunicado with his people, which would be unadvisable with the current situation. So, he would have to content himself with getting ten levels from the assorted fractures that their guild had access to.

That was the minimum he needed to raise his Wisdom attribute from 80 to 100. Which in turn would make him rather deadly. Well… deadlier than he was now…

It was not like he was the first one to reach those kinds of numbers. There were several people on the internet – both famous and infamous – who decided to invest all of their points into one single attribute.

There were several amusing videos about 'Absolute Strength Barbarian Wrecks Monsters' and 'Pure Endurance Tank Takes Everything', and so on. Sadly, thanks to their hyper-specialization, they all had some rather glaring weaknesses. Not that they weren't strong, but without a competent support group, a generalist like Sam, or somebody specialized in taking out glass cannons or people like them, wouldn't find them harder to deal with than regular monsters.

After ten years of gaming, those kinds of builds slowly fell off, aside from some fun for entertainment's sake, or some edgy streamer claiming to have found the perfect build, with only the pure Magic builds staying relevant. Naturally, they were used by guilds as giant fuck-off lasers against their enemies, but from what he remembered, it was a rather cushy job.

Most people – and researchers – agreed that the ideal distribution of attributes needed one to three attributes that the player would focus on, three secondary, and the last two (with Luck added) would be the dump stat. This would guarantee the power required to play competitively.

Sam, of course, ignored all of that. His ultimate goal was to have every attribute – even Luck if he could somehow manage it – to be at 100. He had no idea what would happen, but something inside him craved for the symmetry.

With his team, thus, they embarked on an epic fracture bender, grinding until they couldn't grind anymore, and then a few more hours.

First, they went through all the available fractures (mostly just to say they ran them) and then went after the bigger ones, killing the 'raid' bosses with just the five of them while the giant groups of players watched enviously.

That was followed by taking a dip into the hidden fractures that were either discovered by their guild or their spies. Surprisingly, when they had shown up at some fractures that were occupied by other guilds not allied with Crysalis, there were no fights, no demands to leave, or anything like that. The guild representatives just took a look at them and stepped aside.

"You know…" Sam spoke up as he was fending off another batch of rabid ghouls. "It was really nice of…what was their name again?"

"Frenzy Snipers," replied Clarissa with a flat tone.

Sam snapped his fingers. "Right. Frenzy Snipers! It was really nice of them to allow us to use their fracture!"

Clarissa just hummed thoughtfully. "I mean, you were generous enough to only vaporize part of their fort…"

Sam just grinned. "Wasn't I? And I didn't even get to the part with Katie…"

Dan pouted. "I wish you would use me to threaten people once…"

Sam bisected another undead and stepped closer to the fire mage while also patting his shoulder. "Alright. I promise the next time we have to threaten people, you can do it!"

Lucy had given him around a week before the conference, and he made sure to maximize the time. He was so effective that the speculation about his plans on the forums reached trending status. People on the internet guessed everything from launching an attack on a neighboring country to speculating that he had lost some levels, and this was his attempt to get back to the top of the leaderboard.

Still, he was rather happy as he managed to achieve his goal. The rest of the team was also happy as they had similarly shot up in levels. Not to mention the metric tons of loot they had managed to gather. According to Lucy, the warehouse staff was still sorting them.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

Sadly, nothing unique or important dropped. A few skillbooks here and there that the others found good for their builds, but most of the stuff would be going into the guild vault for the guild crafters to use, or the players to redeem with guild points.

[Congratulations! You have leveled up!]

[You are now Level 137!]

[Gained 24 unassigned attribute points!]

[Thanks to your agile combat style, you gained +3 AGI and DEX!]

[Thanks to you enduring a marathon fracture session, you gained +3 END!]

[Thanks to being observant, you gained +3 PER!]

Following that, he quickly added 20 points to Wisdom, then the last four to Strength. He instantly felt his Mana Core swell and swirl with a fresh burst of energy.

Closing his eyes, he sat down and focused inwardly. His Mana Core, a perfect sphere, pulsed with a blue light that quickly began to beat to the rhythm of his heart. Sam watched in fascination as mana began to swirl around and began to be drawn toward the core.

He didn't even have to do anything, as the mana seemed to know what to do.

Soon, it settled down and revealed the changes to his Mana Core. The previously perfectly homogeneous surface became marked with swirling lines that seemed to swirl to an unknown rhythm. He felt it out, and his mana felt a bit different. Not much, but he suspected it would be much easier to control…

[Your Wisdom attribute has reacted with your Perfect Mana Core skill!]

[Perfect Mana Core gained the subskill, Touch of Ether!]

[Touch of Ether: Level MAX (MAX%) (Passive) Your mana core has been touched by the ether, granting it a greater affinity to channeling mana. Increases several attributes of the Perfect Mana Core skills.

Mana Regeneration per skill level is now (2+WISx2/MAG).

Gain 1 Mana Regeneration for each skill level per missing mana percentage.]

Sam could help but chortle. Touch of Ether was considered the best Wisdom subskill one could get, but nobody managed to figure out how to get it consistently.

"Hehehehehe…" he laughed to himself as he continued to read the rest of the notifications.

[You went through over 50 fractures. Your title, Fracture Diver, has been upgraded to Expert Fracture Diver!]

[Expert Fracture Diver: You dove head-first into the unknown. It was either very brave or suicidal. Gain +3% experience points in fractures, as well as a 3% increased chance for better drops.]

Another good, though general gain that most people would get sooner or later. Still, as long as numbers went up, he would be happy.

[Perfect Mana Core is now Level 52!]

[You gained the subskill, Strengthened Core!]

[Strengthened Core: Level MAX (MAX%) (Active) Your core has been strengthened by careful and meticulous use. Additionally, it decreases the cost of mana skills by another 5% and grants you a base 5% magic resistance.]

[Mana Scales is now Level 187!]

[Mana Weaving is now Level 72!]

[Void Manipulation is now Level 71!]

[Void Affinity is now Level 83!]

[Void Soul is now Level 69!]

[Obliteration is now Level 3!]

[Mana Body Infusion is now Level 60!]

[Mana Body Infusion gained the subskill, Efficient Channeling!]

[Efficient Channeling: Level MAX (MAX%) (Passive) You channel the mana through your body efficiently. Increases the attribute bonus to 5%!]

[Mana Architecture is now Level 85!]

[The Way of the Forerunner is now Level 92!]

[Physical and Magical Resistance is now Level 45!]

Sadly, most of his resistance skills didn't really increase much thanks to Clarissa's presence.

'Sometimes…a good healer is a curse…' he mused good-naturedly as he closed down the notification screens. 'Time to get ready for the conference…'

The city of Farabor was very green. Mostly because both Lara and Sam liked the aesthetic, but also because they were in the neighborhood of Ironwood, which had a sizable druid presence. The streets were lined with trees and bushes – a lot of them dotted with edible fruits and vegetables – which in turn made them home to a merry band of critters. Thankfully, Lucy managed to wrangle one of the druid circles into the city, so they would be the ones taking care of them.

The buildings were built from local stone and ironwood, the style reminiscent of the one found in Ironwood, but with flair from Lara and the architects employed by her. The city itself was built slightly circular, with a giant square in the middle, four great roads leading to it from the cardinal directions, and surrounded by important buildings for ease of access.

The walls were high enough that even if you could jump over them, the time it took would allow people to notice you and shoot you down. Plus, with the numerous flora surrounding the city, sneaking in will be a rather arduous task. Not that it stopped many people from trying it, according to Tim.

The press conference was arranged to be held in this square, and this was where he was headed.

He wouldn't be personally participating in it, as all of his friends decided that if he showed up, that would be too much provocation to people. So, his job would be to set up in a sniper nest and make sure that if somebody tried anything, they would regret it instantly.

Sam settled into his spot, in the shadow of a taller building, hidden by the parapet and abundant and lush greenery on the roof, looking over the sizable crowd.

The stage was surrounded by a cohort of guild players, all facing the crowd with severe looks and 'subtly' flexing muscles to keep them from rushing in. Apparently, Lucy managed to find all the players without necks…

Behind the stage was a big tent, hiding the rest of the team preparing for the conference, while he could spot several helpers rushing out of it, and then rushing back carrying this and that.

The party chat he had access to was in full meltdown as Lucy freaked out, and he couldn't help but chuckle.

GOOOONG

A bell was sounded, and the crowd milling in the square quieted, before all of them became laser-focused on the stage. Sam could see several small pockets where a beautiful person was speaking into a microphone, looking at a camera that they could only see.

He cast out his senses, looking for dangerous individuals, but he couldn't really spot anybody who stood out. At least, he didn't sense anybody trying to strike when the presenters came out. He caught the whiff of several people who stank with odorous mana and made sure to remember them, but for now, he leaned back and prepared to listen.

The murmur of the crowd rose into excited chatter as the tent's flap moved, and soon the sound of clapping drowned everything.