The Systemic Lands (Dark Progressive LITRPG)

"DIE," I blew away another level 7 monster and looked around. There were no more. It was great stress relief to kill the monsters and get their crystals. I picked the dropped crystal up and tossed it into my pack. I then looked around, there were no more.

I set off back for the Crystal Vortex. What new thing would my opponent try today? Traps and evasion indicated weakness in direct combat. But their skill in causing trouble was unmatched. Also their skill in energy manipulation.

Talking with Michelle, she indicated that whomever they were, their skill was far ahead of hers with how they evaded detection while still communicating with me. Whatever was being done was something she had never seen before. A new way to control things remotely.

Air Burst. Flying through the air never got old. It was the best way to travel, free and unencumbered. I returned with another load of point crystals. I landed on the deck carefully, making sure not to damage my airship. The soldiers saluted me as I was questioned once again. Once that was over I dropped off my crystals in my room, got a shower, and sat on the bridge.

It was a shame we didn't have a separate conference room, but the bridge was considered a sensitive area on the ship. "How was your day?" I asked Michelle putting off the conversation I didn't want to have.

"Long. But the crystals are coming in. I am used to the grind," she replied. I looked over at Captain Francis.

"Nothing to report. The grinding team didn't encounter any issues. Our reserves are at thirty seven percent." I frowned at that number. It felt low.

"That feels low," I said and Captain Francis nodded.

"We didn't refuel fully when we were in Purgatory since the tax revenue, we had available was used to give more stats to the soldiers so they could survive this amount of energy density," he replied. I slowly nodded at that. "We are slowly going up, but our ongoing operational costs are expensive."

I knew what he was really asking. He wanted to use my extensive point accumulation from grinding to fill up the reserves of the airship. It really was a Crystal Vortex. I considered the question and shook my head.

"It would take billions upon billions to fill up the reserves of this airship. We have more than enough for right now. Especially when I am present. Better I use my skills, since that is a renewable energy source," I replied. "Any complaints?"

"No. Everyone knew what they signed up for by joining your personal guard. Still, it would be nice to raise up the overall combat level and get more skills," he said, and I shook my head.

"That isn't going to happen. I will need all my points to push up my stats. If there is an emergency then that can change."

"Michael, I read the transcript, are we really going to wait here?" Michelle asked me. I closed my eyes. After the meeting yesterday, I had written down what was said so I could review it later as well as Captain Francis and Michelle. I slowly nodded at this question.

"Yes. We have the high ground and time is on our side. Every day I can gather up around three hundred million points. In ten days that is three billion. In a hundred days that is thirty billion points. That is around a base of three hundred and fifty thousand stat points. Tripling that is over one million more stat points, more than doubling what I currently have," I calmly explained.

This ability to massively increase my stat points was due to two factors. Being able to grind in a higher level zone and the meta-point multiplying my stats by three. If I was nearly unkillable right now, doubling my stat points would put that issue to rest for a long time. It was just a matter of cashing them in.

"If there isn't a large attack," Captain Francis said. I shook my head at this.

"If a large attack was possible, it would have already happened. I have to work at it to clear two level 7 zones, but I don't believe that I can be outpaced. That means there will have to be an attempt to kill me using the terrain. Either tossed into the void, or some super monster. A trap won't work. And I doubt I will fall into the void. That leaves one option left, the sphere," I replied.

"Unless there is something else, we don't know. Or the sword?" Michelle suggested. I nodded at this.

"The sword is a weapon, but one that has its own agenda in my mind. Better to leave it to the side for now, unless it is used. Also, it seems to consume the user. If they were willing to suicide on me, then there would have already been a large attack. No, the sword won't come into play unless I am gravely mistaken," I replied.

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"Also, Jacob was studying the sphere, so that does line up. But the one to defeat it was the Avatar," Captain Francis said while looking at the bound biological item.

"Indeed. The protocols for the movement and maintenance of the biological item are being adhered to?" I asked.

"Yes. Two guards at all times. Two more when she is cleaned off in the bathroom or fed," Captain Francis replied. I nodded at this.

"Good. The ability to repel the flying monsters is priceless. As long as we keep our guard up, even if there are some infiltrators, we won't be crippled." I replied.

"Everyone has been triple checked and there is a buddy system in place. Every area is under watch, but if there is a saboteur it is impossible to prevent damage. The biggest risk is a bomb," Captain Francis said. If I was my opponent, I knew exactly what I would make into a bomb. I felt my heart hurt at the thought. I looked at Michelle and she shook her head.

"You would need Doctor Katz or Jacob. After them, you would be the best option. I am good with monsters, but people are another story entirely. My experience there is limited to triage at best for curse damage," Michelle replied. I knew how tricky curse damage was. Jacob was the Master Fleshcrafter, not the Master of Hugs.

My mother would be turned into a weapon to either kill me or damage the airship heavily. "We will use the airboat in the event we receive anything or anyone that is suspect to quarantine them away from the Crystal Vortex. Keep it a distance away that an explosion won't impact us, while we hold position."

"No one else on board?" Captain Francis asked. "If they take control of the airboat, they could attempt to ram us?" he asked.

"I wish they had keys," I said with a sigh. But that would just offer a false sense of security. "We can a team of four and restrain whoever is over there. Or throw them over the side to the ground. I will leave the security arrangements to you, but let's have something ready if we get a gift," I replied.

"Are you sure you want them to be allowed to throw whoever is held on the airboat to be tossed away?" Captain Francis asked.

"Yes. Perhaps a long rope tied to them, so they won't fall all the way, but explode at a distance? We have harnesses, so use them. The priority is this airship then our people. No matter who is picked up. I won't have the soldiers under my command sacrifice themselves to make me feel better," I replied. There were soldiers on the bridge, and they were listening in. My orders and general attitude would spread about the airship.

It was more important than ever to pay attention to the morale of the soldiers on board. If I started treating them as disposable, then there would be problems. It was probably not going to arrive to that situation, but we needed to be prepared.

"I still think there will be a massive attack during the day," Captain Francis said.

"Then you can respond and use the chest in my room to counter it with all available force. Also, Michelle is here with various trump cards," I replied with a nod in her direction.

"I am ready and my summons are prepped. I could use a greater depth of crystals, but for now there should be no issue. After one major engagement then there might be issues," she said, and I waved my hand at this.

"That is fine. If there is a major attack, there probably won't be a second one. Until we can figure out how we are tracked, moving to another location won't do much," I replied.

"It could make it harder to reach us. If we move away from Purgatory, then it would be much harder to focus on us and attacking the Empire," Captain Francis suggested. I considered the idea. It was a decent idea.

"For now, we will stay. I believe we have the advantage here and the enemy feels confident in probing us. Each attempt is giving us more information while I can grind up loads of crystals," I said heavily. I was tired. Clearing two level 7 zones in a single day was a lot of hard work. I really had to hustle quite a bit. The light source had already disappeared and the lighting on the airship was quite dim to maintain night vision.

The external lights were off and our speed had increased slightly and our movement was random in this zone. Also, our elevation had been greatly increased. There were several people looking in every single direction in case of an attack. A night attack could be attempted but it would be difficult to strike us without us spotting the opposing airship.

We were burning up a lot of points constantly flying around, but that was okay in my mind. The daily excursion by a team of soldiers to the level 4 zone nearby kept things running. And if necessary, I would toss some crystals into the energy tanks to keep the airship afloat. No matter what the Crystal Vortex couldn't be lost.

If I was the first target on my opponents list, then the airship would be the second, and possibly the biological item Avatar a distant third. There was nothing else that was unique on the airship besides those three things that were worth the investment that I had seen so far. Airboats wasted, knowledge handed out, golems used, and all for nothing except to put me on edge.

Whomever I was up against was either playing a long con I couldn't understand or underestimated me greatly. But in the end I would win, even if they had multiple meta-points. The fact that they did not attempt to ambush me in the level 7 zone, or snipe at a distance from an airship at mine, clearly showed they weren't confident.

That was the biggest thing to winning a war. It wasn't about the battles. You could lose ninety-nine battles, but only the final battle, number one hundred, mattered. Sure, there could be momentum, but I wasn't disheartened. The survival instincts that had languished for so long were coming to the forefront of my mind once more.

I had also thought about this situation quite a bit, that was why I was confident in my approach. I was doing what the Divine Empress should have done. She should have stayed in hiding and built up strength, until she was ready to take me out in a single strike. Running around like she did was just a waste of time and energy, which led to her defeat.

She had been ruled by her heart. But I had killed my heart long ago with the first murder I had ever committed in the Systemic Lands. If I allowed myself to feel, then I would be spitting on the countless deaths and people I had killed to reach this point. I had to be strong emotionally. I kept telling that to myself as I went to bed and could only hope I would be able to manage.