The Systemic Lands (Dark Progressive LITRPG)

"It is too quiet," I said on a rare day I was taking off from grinding. Mentally I needed a bit of a break, killing level 7 monsters was stressful. They could hurt me if I wasn't careful, and I had to push myself to clear out two zones every day. I was working harder than I ever had. I was about a third of the way to my goal of 30 billion points, I had around 10 billion saved up so far.

"They might have given up," Michelle replied as we sipped our tea out on the deck of the airship togeather. It was fairly subdued behind us. I knew someone was listening in. There was no privacy with how much hot bunking was being done. That meant using one bed to have multiple people to sleep in.

"I wouldn't have given up," I replied. After everything that had happened, to go to nothing just after we changed locations, it was suspicious. I would have been suspicious of anything. Also, the soldiers on board were getting slightly stressed by the conditions. Too many people, too little room, too little privacy.

"Well, you are you. We can swing back to Purgatory right now to take a look at things," Michelle suggested. I shook my head at that. If we had lost my enemy, then it would only draw their attention back. Better to wait and let them think that I was content hiding out in the wilderness.

"That is an idea. But I think something else is up," I replied and sipped my tea. It wasn't my favorite, I would have preferred fruit flavored water, but Michelle liked tea. No need to alienate one of the last friends I had with my beverage choices.

"Well, what can be done? This was always the plan," she said, happy to play devil's advocate while I sorted my thoughts out. We were traveling very slowly in a circle. I did not need to smell the laundry hanging up behind us. There was a smell developing from all the people. Even in my own room, there was an odor. It was annoying me.

"I know, I know. I prefer waiting, but it just seems odd. After all the previous attempts," I muttered.

"What would be funny, was if they ran out of points for their airships. All that can't have been cheap," Michelle said. I shook my head at that hilarious suggestion. There was no way someone who had brought my Empire down would have budget problems. They had probably been saving up for quite some time.

"Funny. Just another sixty to seventy days and I will have reached my goal. Just taking time," I said and sipped my tea. I had needed this off day. While tempting to head back, that was still inviting trouble and scrutiny.

"And you can fit all those crystals in your room?" Michelle asked me. I smiled at her.

"A lot less monsters, a lot less crystals, compared to you and the team of soldiers out there grinding," I replied happily. At least that would be a good problem to have. "But it will get cramped a bit. No issues with you?"

"Just frustrated that I can't figure out how they were controlling things at such a distance or how to counter it. I was thinking we might want to look into an astrolabe," she said, and I considered that.

"They only disrupt tethers at incredibly close range. If we build one, you would be impacted as well," I replied and Michelle nodded.

"Yes. It is something to consider. My summoning ability is only so helpful." I considered the idea. I felt that the astrolabes weren't that useful. But they did let one hide from the Regional Map. Clarissa had hidden them as a final contingency everywhere, and I wondered if she activated them. They would run for quite a while with how they had been built. Unless their buried location was discovered, they would easily run for years upon years, maybe even decades with powerful enough crystals.

"It is an option to be sure. But building one in such size and the level of enchantments, well only Purgatory has those facilities and it is probably on fire," I replied with a shrug. I wasn't going back. While it might seem like a good idea on the surface, that was a foolish idea and what someone would be expecting. I would use a dice roll for when we planned to leave and pick all the cities I was least likely to go to. It didn't take a genius to realize that there would probably be an ambush once we returned to civilization.

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"Well, I am out of ideas then until I get a stat boost," Michelle said and I nodded at that, but my mind was elsewhere. Of course there would be a trap when I tried to cash in the points. This enemy was a Divine Empress fan based on what I could tell. My ascent to power began with stealing her treasury. They would want to steal the points I had collected. With them, they would ascend in power and might even be a match for me with my meta-point.

We were probably being tracked in some way. That much was obvious. Now was it a person, the airship, or some other method. "How do you think we are tracked?" I asked Michelle.

"No clue, but my guess would be something to do with the Regional Map building," she replied. While that sounded reasonable it was too simple. "But if it was me, then probably energy disturbances. It is subtle, but major uses can be felt. The engine on this super large airship, is like a beacon. Which makes it hard to practice," she said.

"Not something more esoteric?" I asked. The Avatar did something like that.

"Could be. The Avatar is the obvious choice. Why?" Michelle asked me.

"Just rambling," I replied and sipped my tea. There was always someone listening and if I was trying to get me I would have put a soldier or someone who was compromised on board the airship. It would be too easy with so many soldiers.

A sabotage at just the right moment would put me in a very tough situation if the Crystal Vortex lost its mobility. How would they pick a city to ambush me in? That was the real question. Each city they prepared an ambush, would decrease the resources for when the ambush did occur. While Michelle might think they would give up, I trusted my gut.

I wouldn't have given up after everything that had occurred. That showed focus and determination. I wasn't dealing with a raving lunatic. I was dealing with someone at least as smart as me, or smarter. Which begged the question, of how they would prepare an ambush when I made to return to civilization?

Without an answer, the chances of a trap occurring were quite high. I could try and delay things with dice rolls, but people had seen me do that. I also liked to announce what each roll was beforehand, but then have a hidden twist. So, no one would trust the outcome even with such a roll.

How they would lure me into a trap, when even I created my itinerary on the spot was a huge question in my mind that was bothering me. I liked to think I was smart, but I couldn't see through whatever was being planned. If I was on the other side of the equation, I would have no idea how to go about making a trap happen. But my guess just felt right.

I needed a third option, and I had a great one. I would take the airboat we had with us and leave in forty days, while only telling Captain Francis. It would be a test if he was compromised. Since he controlled the direction of the Crystal Vortex and its operations. I would tell him where I was going, tell him to tell no one, and then spend two days going off on a solo adventure to the Indian Sultanate.

No one would expect me to go there. Not even me. The sword was a threat, but unless I had completely misread the situation they didn't even care about the Divine Empress. No, it would be a danger to my opponent as well. They might seek to harness it, but they wouldn't be able to set up an ambush easily in that city, without taking into consideration the sword.

I would fly in, right over the plaza, and quickly cash in all my points during the middle of the night. While there might be a response, I wasn't worried about whatever it might be. They wouldn't be able to threaten me. The main risk would be the airboat, but even if it was damaged, I could always run back to this location or keep a chest of points to trade for another airship.

The more I thought about the idea, the more I liked it. Since the airboat left every day to deliver a team of soldiers to go grinding in a level 4 zone, it wouldn't be suspected until it didn't return during the evening. I would schedule another relaxation day for the entire crew 40 days from now.

That way there would no realization by anyone except Captain Francis for about a day. I would set it up to plan to leave 65 days from now, but secretly plan with people to make it 60 days, to throw off any possible spy even more. I went to sip my tea again, but I had finished.

Tea really was the drink of deviousness. I felt excited at the prospect of this came of cat and mouse. The real question was, who was the cat and who was the mouse. If I could get back in a reasonable time frame, I would just claim that I was doing some scouting of nearby zones. We would still go to a city, and I would watch to see how that decision was made. Once there, well I would reverse whatever trap there was with my new stats.