The Systemic Lands (Dark Progressive LITRPG)

"Now, onto other business. First, what is happening with the pillar tax?" Carlos went through his captains and checked to make sure everything was running smoothly. There were some pointed questions on the inn, but he confirmed Red Dawn would hold a monopoly on that business for now to recoup its investment.

Then he talked about expanding. Each captain could hire five recruits who would be spread out to the other captains. That way troublesome people could be weeded out and it would massively increase the number of men they had.

Then there was talk of another barracks. They moved the inn near the brothels and then had the next two buildings down the street from the current barracks also be barracks for their men. It was kind of interesting like watching a piece of furniture be made, but not that much.

It was upkeep and housekeeping mostly. After that, there wasn't much else except Carlos telling everyone to be ready for the arrival and to set up a betting booth. They would use carved wood tokens for a 1 or 5 crystal bet on my opponent and a separate token for a 20-crystal bet on me.

The meeting finished. Carlos just gave me a nod before leaving, and everyone left to do their own thing.

Tyrese came up to me as the room cleared out. "Are you worried?" he asked.

"No, just tired. You?"

"We need a lot of soap and water. The smell…"

"Yeah."

"Want me to place a bet on you?" Tyrese asked.

"I'm good. I don't plan on losing, I can promise that much."

"Well, good luck." Tyrese held out his fist, and I gave it a bump. With nothing left to do, I left the Red Dawn's headquarters.

After that, I went to the salon with Alex tailing behind me.

"Good morning…honored customer." I didn't miss how the woman's voice hitched after seeing me. She was a short Asian woman. I don't remember seeing her so I could only mentally shrug at my reputation proceeding me.

"Is there a problem?" I asked.

"No problem, honored customer. Take a seat and I will trim your beard and hair. I ask that you don't move while I do that."

"Of course. Ten crystals, right?" I asked.

"Yes, honored customer." I pulled out 20 crystals and put them down on the only table in the front room. I then gave 5 crystals to the guard sitting in the room.

"Keep a close watch and shout if anything looks dangerous. Understand?"

"Um, yes. Of course." I nodded at that then turned to the woman.

"Don't mess up," I said to the woman and took a seat in the chair. She shook out a blanket and wrapped it around my shoulders. Her moves had no hesitation. I liked her confidence.

"How short?" she asked.

"As short as possible. If you can't do it, don't push yourself."

"Don't worry. I am a professional." She picked up the two knives, and I felt nervous. I had my knife in my hand under the blanket. The guard in the room was watching intently, which was good. I needed to get my hair cut. While it wasn't a matter of life and death, it just felt awful to have long hair.

She quickly cut my hair between the two knives. She was extra slow while cutting my hair around my ears and cutting my beard and mustache. It was a bit nerve-wracking, but she was professional the entire time. She didn't nick me a single time.

About twenty minutes later, my haircut was done, and I felt lighter and cooler.

"I am sorry, but there is no mirror available," the woman said.

"What do you think?" I asked the guard.

"Um, a bit better than she normally does. It also took a bit longer," the guard said, and I nodded at that.

"That is fine. I wanted a good haircut and got one. Thank you. It was well done."

"Of course. Come back any time, honored customer." She gave me a small bow, and I left the salon.

Alex was sitting against the wall inside and quickly got up to follow me.

"Now where?" he asked.

I walked over to where Carlos was setting up for today's arrival and took the seat next to his elevated table seat.

"You can sit behind me on the ground. Once everyone else shows up, you can stand with the rest," I said. Good thing he didn't complain. I rubbed a hand over the top of my head and over my face.

At least I didn't look like a Taliban anymore. The way my hair grew, if I didn't get it cut, I began to look like Osama Bin Laden. Crazy hair going everywhere. Stupid, but that was what I thought about it. Some people had trouble with baldness; I had trouble with quickly growing freedom fighter hair that refused to be tamed or controlled. Since I was born in America, it was rooted in freedom. Freedom to grow rapidly and in whatever direction it wanted.

I chuckled at my stupid joke. A couple people gave me looks, but I didn't care. Anything to distract me from some of the boredom I was feeling right now. This entire place made me on edge, frustrated, or bored. I really needed to stay away from this entire place. Unfortunately, the other option wasn't any better.

That was the bad thing about grinding all the time. Everything else felt slow in comparison. I rubbed my gut. Still a bit fat, but not morbidly obese anymore. I was waiting for my gut to go completely flat, but it was stubborn. It had been 50 days already, and it was like a balloon. My gut deflated more quickly at the start and now it was limping along.

I wanted abs. It was silly, but when I got them, I would just grin at everyone else and be a shirtless barbarian. I have abs and you don't, and go around without a shirt. A bit silly, but I could live with that. I needed that silliness like this place needed paint. Grey was really depressing.

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Well, if the store upgrade ever got paint, hopefully Carlos would do that. Spruce this place up a bit. I just smiled at how I wanted Carlos to do things, but I didn't want to pay points. Well, all the tips and crystals I spent should help kickstart things hopefully while guaranteeing me a good reputation and top-class treatment.

They planned to purchase the store upgrade five days from now, when I was planning on coming back after a grinding marathon. I should have lots of points to completely regear. Hopefully, there were some skills or something I could purchase as well.

I needed more game logic. Almighty System. Where are my skills and magic powers?!

As the time got closer to the arrival, more and more people showed up. I noted several people looking at me and the betting table was busy. Carlos came out and stopped by the betting table before coming over to his table chair combination throne.

"So how is the betting?" I asked.

"The odds are pushing many people to put a crystal against you. Barely anyone can afford to bet the other way. Not as much as I was hoping with the odds as they are, but people are still betting. If you lose…" Carlos trailed off.

"I won't. Don't worry. If I lose, I might as well lay down and die right now."

"Good. Because, I can't handle the payout if you do."

"I thought it was more mixed than you thought?"

"It is, but more people are betting than I thought as well." It was almost time.

Everyone got quiet as the time approached. Instantly 250 people appeared. No whoosh of air or displacement; the spot was empty one second and then they were there the next. I barely paid attention to Carlos's speech and the question-and-answer session. It was all things I had already heard one way or another. This place was finally settling down. Still, there was one woman who was killed for interrupting him. There was always one idiot.

Soon a large circle was cleared in front of Carlos by his men and people were warned from breaching the circle. It was quite big, and the number of people was limited, so there wasn't that much pushing to get a view.

Carlos's men also set up more tables and chairs, selling the seats for 10 crystals each. At least he was milking the opportunity for all it was worth. I noted a couple people quickly pay for the privilege.

"That is being split with the winner, right?" I asked Carlos.

"Of course. I plan to make this a regular thing. I used to run the books. I just got to squeeze the odds out right and rake it in."

I turned my head to Alex.

"Keep my seat warm for me," I said and got up. He sat down while I walked out into the makeshift arena.

Captain Hamid walked out as well.

"Today we are here for a sanctioned match until death." Captain Hamid spun and looked at Boss Carlos in surprise. I was a little bit surprised, but not very. You aim for the top; you better not miss. Still, it was annoying to have things changed at the last minute. I was going to win, regardless.

I was Carlos's hatchet man. I didn't mess with him and was useful. If I lost, then Carlos was finished. He was betting big on this fight in his own way, but it was a way to solidify his position. I gave a nod to Carlos to show that I had no objections as the crowd shouted. However, I would have words with him afterward about blindsiding me.

He let the shouting go on for a bit before raising his hand. Everyone quickly quieted down. "Begin!" He swung his hand down.

I already had my club out by my side while Hamid had a sword in his right hand. He had a shield in his offhand, the same as me.

I slowly advanced. Hamid stayed in place with a determined look on his face. I could see a bead of sweat roll down his face.

He probably wanted to use this event to boost his popularity. That would not happen. I moved in and jabbed at his face.

He brought his shield up, but it was a feint. I kicked and grazed his left leg. He stepped back and swung at me.

I blocked the attack with my shield and I kept my eye on where his sword was. I brought my right arm back and blocked another swing from Hamid with my shield. I swung upwards with my club. He was forced to leap back as my club whooshed by his shield.

I charged in and he brought his shield directly in front of his body. I slammed into him with my right shoulder and used my shield to push his sword arm back so he couldn't get a proper swing. He stumbled back but stayed on his feet.

I swung out, and he barely got his shield up in time as the blow struck dead center. He stumbled again and swung out at me. I easily blocked with my shield. With shields, it was hard to get in a decisive strike and his footing was too stable to throw him off balance.

He tried to back up to get space, but I kept moving forward and slamming my club into his shield with an overhead blow. I had confidence that my endurance was greater than his shield as it began to splinter and break from the repeated blows.

After about twenty heavy blows, a third of his shield snapped off, and my blow carried through to his left shoulder. He stumbled from the blow and swung wildly at me. I blocked his desperate attack. I might be attacking, but I had a shield as well, and I was going to defend myself as a priority.

With my next overhead blow, I put my entire body into it. My club snapped and he let out a yell I could hear over the crowd as his left arm went limp by his side. I quickly drew my sword from its sheath before he could get his bearings.

I could see the despair etched on his face. I blocked another desperate swing and slammed my blade right through his mouth and out the back of his head. His left arm refused to move up and protect him. The crowd roared as I yanked the blade free, and he collapsed dead on the ground.

I wiped my blade on his shirt and looked at Carlos.

He gave me a nod. I returned it.

That had been tougher than I thought, but it was because of the shields. A good shield was key in a fight with an opponent with a weapon. Sorry dual wielding, but that's not going to happen. It might look cool, but there were a lot of technical difficulties. I would rather have the extra protection.

I made my way back to my seat, and Alex quickly got up.

That was when Carlos raised his hand, and everyone quieted. "The Champion, the frontliner, Michael the Sicario!"

The crowd then roared. I raised my hands in victory. I noted guards quickly move in and dump Hamid's body onto a makeshift stretcher to carry it away to disappear it.

I took a seat. I then grabbed my pack I had left there and got out a flask of water, drinking it down. The fight had been short but exhausting. Carlos got down and stood a bit to the side and in front of me as the crowd dispersed. I noted a lot of them throwing away wood tokens in frustration.

"Good job."

"Thanks. That was a surprise. Not a big fan of surprises, Carlos." I stared at him, to convey how annoyed I was.

"I don't care for them either, but now a troublesome person has been removed," I noticed Carlos was looking directly at me. I couldn't tell, but I thought I saw a bit of nervousness.

"Don't make it a regular thing. We are good as long as I get my winnings, and this doesn't happen again," I said. I wasn't about to be set up for a death match a second time.

"Of course. About to head there myself."

"Alright." I put away my flask of water and got up. I followed Carlos to the betting table. People were still collecting their bets.

"Last call for your bets!" the Captain running the table called out. No one came forward.

"Clear out a space," Carlos said, and his guards shooed away people who were trying to listen in. "So how did we do?" Carlos asked his Captain. The man pushed over a small wood chest on the table and opened it. There was a pile of crystals inside.

Carlos nodded. "Split it in two. You can pick which half you want," Carlos told me. I nodded at that, and the Captain quickly split the pile evenly. I really couldn't tell the difference and picked the closet one and pushed the crystals into my pack.

I estimated I made about 100 or so crystals. People had really gone all out in betting against me, but were still poor. Carlos knew something about odds, though I wasn't qualified to judge such a thing. But the return was quite poor for a death match.

"Till next time then," I said and turned to leave.

"Good luck out there," Carlos said.

I made my way to the pillar and cashed in all my crystals for 645 points, putting me at 8,596. I paid 4,060 for 7 upgrades to bring Body up to 50. That put me at 100 upgrades total. I purchased a restoration for 43 points and a club for 10 points, leaving me with 4,483. I wouldn't need a club for the wolves, but a backup weapon was important in my mind.

I left the plaza with Alex in tow.

"Let's go," I said and began to walk quickly. He kept up with me.

I did stop at the gate for a couple minute break and then left the city to kill some wolves. That was where the real points were. Not in stupid death matches.