Chapter 35: Day 55 (3) – Departure

Chapter 35: Day 55 (3) – Departure

I became a bit more somber on my walk back, thinking if I could have handled the Evaline situation in a better way. It was hard to say, but I was leaning towards no.

She hadn’t shared information about the group that had shown up with her at all. That was the clearest sign she had been holding out on me. I should have gotten a second source to keep her honest, but then I would have to pay two people.

It was just a headache all around, the kind a Mind upgrade or two wasn’t going to fix. I wasn’t invincible, I had to keep repeating that to myself. If I hadn’t spotted the ambush, I would have been in trouble, if they had two more people to fight me, also trouble.

The problem was I was stuck on this path now. It hadn’t turned out the way I had envisioned. I figured a more shadow role, in the background. Like a grandmaster showing up occasionally to dispense sage advice and save the day. I thought that would be the directions things went, but my actions and the results told a different story.

I felt the best policy in a fight was aggression, you don’t win if you don’t attack. If I can’t win, just run away. That mindset had carried over to all my personal interactions. Fighting and killing, did not give one social skills. There was no charisma stat upgrade either.

Well, I made my bed, time to lie in it. “You still sticking around?” I asked Alex who was trailing along by my side.

“Um, well...don’t kill me, but that...it was horrible. The screams. I can still hear that woman screaming.” Oh, he meant the woman whose torso I melted with my Acid Shot. It was pretty gruesome, but there was worse on television, to say nothing of my imagination. That place was the darkest and scariest dungeon out there.

“Disappointing. But understandable. Still, I won’t throw you away just yet. Let you get in tax free one last time.” He had done a good job, so no need to punish the poor man.

“Oh, thanks.” I could only shake my head at him. One could wish for someone to act a certain way, but that didn’t make it a reality. I was about to be solo once again. At least I had managed to clear out the slime dungeon and get a skill.

We reached the plaza and there were a fair number of people lined up for the store. I got in line with Alex. The captain managing things walked over after seeing me.

“You don’t have to wait, Sicario. You can skip the line.” Several people gave me looks and then quickly looked away.

“Thanks.” I pulled out one my last crystal I had gotten from a white tunnel mind slime. “Here, don’t have change at the moment. It is worth 50.”

“Ah, thank you. Follow me.” I followed the captain and Alex trailed along. We got the next opened pillar. I took my 8 crystals from Alex and left them in my pack as spending money. The blue and brown slime crystals were each a disappointing 50 points like I suspected.

“Yes, Sicario.” I picked up the handles of my cart and began rolling out towards the grassland. I wasn’t going to get trapped yearning for things and the drama. Still, the thought of a shower and a real bed pulled at my heart. I really wanted a shower and a bed.

By the almighty System, I really wanted a bed and a shower. But if I went after them now, I would be trapped. I was taking a vacation from people. I would let this place sort itself out. Ten packs worth of food meant I had about 40 days of provisions. I figured I would go through the grassland, check out the other dungeon and then push on.

I wasn’t sure exactly where I would go, but I had two goals. The first goal was to get a second skill. The second goal was to get 10,000 crystals or 50,000 points. That should let me get 50 upgrades. I planned for 10 into Endurance and then 20 into Spirit and Regeneration. I couldn’t decide if a bigger tank or a faster refuel was better, so I would split the difference for now.

I stopped at the gate and checked, there was no one following me. I then left the city and felt a weight lift off of me. I would become a legend and myth. I felt this was the best choice I had made in a long time. Even if I died out in the wilderness, I could accept that.

The city was a trap. I had joked about this place being purgatory, but it was the city and the people that had made it horrible. I also included myself in that list of people. No, better to leave and see if I could actually survive in the wilderness.

That was the only way to progress, to make a trip more than half a day from the city. I pulled my cart through the grasslands. The axle and the entire construction were well done and smooth. I stopped and picked up a sword and shield from the front of the cart and banged them.

I didn’t try to block the little wolves. I went directly for the skewer with my sword. They didn’t try and dodge, so it was quicker than the block stab technique I had been using before. Just aim the blade and let the monsters impale themselves. I had an empty pack on the cart I began filling up with crystals.

I shook my head at the dark blue color after grinding for a bit. That had been a poor choice to spend points on, but I liked it. I had thought of bright orange, but that would have been a bit much. Also, I preferred dark blue and dark red. But I didn’t want to take Red Dawn’s color. Paying for the color had been a bit of waste, but I didn’t want to see any more gray.

I slowly advanced into the plains killing small wolves. The sun began to set, and I stopped on top of the largest hill nearby. I cleared out the little wolves around the hill and cut the grass at the top to clear out a small space around my cart.

I practiced my Acid Shot twice to get a better idea on the speed, aiming, and range. I could cast it in about one second with the hand gesture and spoken words. Aiming was fairly instinctive, with a possible mental assistance from the System that controlled the skill crystal and store. Maybe it was the Mind stat, hmm, something to ponder. The speed and the range were constant. I could get about 20 meters without arcing a shot and it took about a second to cover those 20 meters.

I couldn’t float the acid ball in front of me either, which was unfortunate. Once cast it would be shot off right away. I classified it as a primarily mid-range spell.

I sat on the edge of the cart eating some fruit and looking out over the grassland. It was beautiful as the gentle breeze waved the grass back and forth. It suddenly clicked, no wonder the wolves were bothering me, they never howled or barked.

Another thing to add to the list of strangeness. Once I was done eating, I maneuvered the packs to one side of the cart and then laid down. I made sure to keep my sword at my side and closed my eyes and listened.

I forced my breathing to stay steady and to think about nothing. Just black, void, black, nothing. I drifted off to an uneasy sleep.