The Systemic Lands (Dark Progressive LITRPG)

"He appears to have run away," Jacob said. He fell to the ground screaming for his insolence. He had said it would happen, but I didn't believe him. A few seconds later he stopped screaming as I released him. "Feeling better?" he asked petulantly.

"How could he just leave?! His mother is right there, all ready to be rescued!" I yelled out in frustration.

"He knows it is a trap and has accepted her death. I told you that capturing her would just deal emotional damage and overplay your hand," Jacob complained. I glared at him, and he shut up.

"We will follow him," I replied while closing my eyes to focus on directing the golems and sensing where Michael's airship was. It was moving West.

"And that is where I have to point out, that your reserves have bottomed out," Jacob said.

"Bottomed out? We had millions of points ready to go," I replied.

"Airships, paying for their fuel, this airships fuel, and there are no more tax carts to rob or easy grinders to attack. You ravaged the Empire of Purgatory and now there is nothing but ruins and disaster," Jacob replied. I focused and closed my eyes. We were broke. He had warned me of this as well. Long term plans required a deep war chest.

While Michael was building up his, I had been using up mine. The golems were useful proxies, but not good at grinding monsters level 4 and higher. The swarming nature of those monsters would lead to small bits of damage, as the golems struggled to adapt and fight without my direct control.

They would manage, but I only had a limited amount left. Everything was running low and now I was bankrupt. It was so stupid. I had Michael on the ropes, and now everything was falling apart.

"So, it is over," Jacob muttered. I could hear the 'finally' in his tone.

"Over? Never!" he crumpled to his knees with a scream. His soothed my spirit. I remembered growing up and listening to the screams of my mother's throne. It was a reminder of her strength and the foolishness of others.

He finally stopped screaming when I released him. "I want solutions, not complaining," I ordered him.

"Two options. You grind up crystals, or you have to take over cities and force people to grind up crystals for you. If you do the second option, you will be exposing yourself to a counterattack from Michael, which is what he wants. That means you have to grind up crystals yourself," Jacob explained.

"And fall even further behind? No. That is unacceptable," I replied.

"Then, I don't know what to tell you. No one keeps large amounts of crystals on hand since the robbery of the Divine Empress' treasury is common knowledge. There is nothing we can do."

"You can go grind crystals," I declared.

"Yes, from a level 5 zone. Which is what Michelle can do, Michael's other subordinate. We no longer have the resources to wage this proxy battle. It is over. Unless you can have the System magic out some points, we can't keep running our airships. We will have to land. Pursuing Michael is out of the question. And before you torture me again, this isn't something I can control, these are the hard truths of the situation we are in," Jacob replied.

He was breathing heavily when he finished his rant. "Done?" I asked calmly.

"For now," he replied. As much as I hated to admit it, Jacob was right. I was bankrupt. Out of all the things that could stop me, I didn't think it would be bankruptcy. Time to use my ability to manipulate energy to solve this problem.

Where he saw only defeat, I saw a challenge to be overcome, just like my mother. That was why I was in charge and Jacob obeyed me. Strength, vision, and the will to triumph no matter what. I went to the engine compartment.

This would be unstable, but it would allow airships to run without points. The engine would take damage over time as well, but that was a long term issue I wouldn't have to worry about. I manipulated how the engine of the airship worked. It would draw energy out of the air, not out of its reserves.

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I should have done this before to save points, but it was no matter. The problem was resolved on this airship. "We will rendezvous with the bait airship and then reposition to attempt another plan," I declared. The airship started moving and there was a vibration. That was incredibly annoying as I felt my teeth shake.

The faster we went the worse the vibration became. But there was nothing else I could do for now but endure. Jacob didn't complain. If he had, I might have killed him, or tortured him in a much worse way.

"Now we need to come up with a new plan," I said as I settled into my throne once more while trying to ignore the shaking.

"Take out the airship he is in. We do that, we have the advantage," Jacob suggested once more. I didn't like that suggestion. It gave Michael too much freedom and I would lose my ability to track him.

"We are chasing our tails. It is time to think of outside solutions and create more chaos. We will set course for that Indian Nation," I replied.

"You mean the Indian Sultanate?" Jacob asked.

"Whatever it is called. I shall investigate this Sword of Ascalon and direct its wielder at Michael," I replied confidently.

"That is a very bad idea. It is a semi-intelligent item of massive power. Attempting to mess with it or whomever controls it, could lead to it targeting us," Jacob replied.

"Ah, but you informed me that Michael has purposely hemmed in the Indian Sultanate. I plan to lift those restrictions and deal with Michael. A team up as it is called," I replied with a smug smile. Then I could look at attacking Michael directly. "You can also attempt to use your lens technique to target him as well."

"That is too risky without us having the Avatar!" Jacob exclaimed.

"Well, it is too late for such a plan. It was foolish to add in that extra step. The plan has changed. We are going with a new plan, a better plan. You can either adapt to make it work, or you can get off," I replied. We were flying over some void right now, so getting off meant death.

"I will stay," Jacob slowly said, and I smiled. Between certain death and possible death, he would always pick the choice of possible death, like the bottom feeding rat he appeared to be. Once a traitor, always a traitor.

Initially I had considered that he was faking the pain I had unleashed on him, but I had tested it carefully when he had fallen asleep one time and he woke up with a scream. The connection was strong and he hadn't countered me.

That was the mistake my mother made. She gave him too much freedom and he betrayed her. Well now he would serve regardless of what he wanted. Or he could kill himself, which he would never do. This was the worst possible punishment I could unleash on him. Death was too good for a scum like the Master Fleshcrafter.

It was tempting to have him mutilate himself, but I needed his combat expertise and his skill set for now. Once Michael was dead, he would be the first person tossed onto the funeral pyre, his usefulness at an end.

This sphere might be a threat, but I would counter it and overcome it like all the previous challenges. What was one more? The real challenge was killing Michael. He was slippery and cunning. I had to admit how impressed I was with his cowardice.

It was hard to believe that someone who had fought my mother and destroyed the Dragon Empire was such a coward, but he was. In the end it would not matter, it was just a minor delay. I would create more chaos, and keep sending attacks at him, no matter how long it took. He would be killed since the Systemic Lands wasn't big enough for both of us.

Even now he was evading my traps without really trying. The strategy of just running away was quite powerful and I would have to remember that. I would learn from my enemies in order to destroy them and become more powerful. Only idiots refused to learn from their enemies and their mistakes.

I had underestimated how much of a coward Michael was, or his deviousness. It was hard to believe he had figured out my traps and deftly avoided them. I looked and Jacob and frowned. Could he be giving Michael information in some way without my knowledge? I wanted to say it was impossible, but I was hesitant to say anything was impossible.

It would be done. My control was strong, but it wasn't absolute. I had to constantly be on the lookout for Jacob's eventual betrayal. It was just a matter of how much use I could get out of him, before he would be disposed of.

It would have been preferable to have a team, but there was no one I could trust. I only had slaves and traitors that were forced to obey me or suffer the consequences. My mother had subordinates to help her. Perhaps the sphere could be negotiated with. I knew that Michael had failed at communication, but that was no surprise.

But perhaps I could do better. It had already suffered a defeat and would be humbled. Perhaps a team up would be possible, with our interests aligned. I had no doubt I could even threaten it. While it was impossibly strong, it also had some fatal flaws. The same flaws that the System had.

By throwing out its energy everywhere, it exposed itself in a way that was incredibly risky. Sure it could be viewed as a sign of strength, but once its physical location was exposed, it would not be that hard to bypass its defenses and strike. I would need to make sure I held the upper hand in any kind of discussion, but it would be a useful weapon.

Jacob was resisting the idea, but he would come around eventually, or I would kill him. Still, the sword would be investigate first. I had been meaning to do that, but then the sphere happened and then everything quickly came togeather for me to launch an attack and capture Michael's mother.