Chapter 67: Day 156 (3) – Viewpoints 5

Chapter 67: Day 156 (3) – Viewpoints 5

Lucas

“What a mess,” I let out a long sigh and held my head in my hands.

“Maybe we should have let him kill people. At least then...” Marcos muttered.

“I know.” We were sitting in a building waiting for the other three Council members to return to the mess that had just occurred.

“I was wondering how other cities handled things, they just let people die,” Marcos said.

“I am more concerned about the magic he used. He wasn’t joking. He really wasn’t joking about melting people.”

“That kind of guy, they are either the biggest bluffers or are dead serious. Killing people right off, that shows he is a serious guy,” Marcos said. I could see the fear in him, the same fear that was in me.

“He could have killed all of us?” People were still screaming out there in pain. There weren’t enough points for the needed restorations to heal them. We barely had points for food.

“Yes, well maybe. There have to be limitations.”

“What are we even going to do? Another city, we are barely handling our own problems. If they attack?”

“They probably won’t, what do we have?”

“He wanted to check the store and was adamant about it.” I thought on that some more. “He clearly had equipment we don’t have access to. So, his city is investing in their store.”

“Or he is. He had to have come from beyond the grassland or the forest.”

“Well, he came in from the West gate, and Eloa said he came in from the Northwest.”

“Northwest, which is troublesome. We haven’t scouted that way at all,” Marcos said. I heard footsteps and the other three Council members who were out killing monsters today came up the stairs.

“What happened, there are people saying we were invaded?” Jose asked. I explained the situation to the rest of the Council as they took seats around the table. One of the few luxuries we had, table and chairs.

There was a long stretch of silence as everyone digested the news. “He formed acid in the air and fired it off at people?” Lorreta asked to confirm.

“Acid Shot was what he said, and he made a hand gesture like this. Doesn’t do anything, I have been trying.” Marcos said.

“We have to rethink things. It has been building up for a while, but now it has reached the breaking point. We can no longer support people,” Maria said.

“I know, but it will be the blood bath we have been trying to avoid,” I said quietly.

“It must be done. Anyone who wants to eat, must hunt for crystals. Charity will be optional from now on,” Marcos said.

“And the guards at the plaza?” Jose asked.

“They are free to hunt as well. We will need to speak to the other teams, a shame about Alanyo, he was one of the best,” Lorreta said.

“I can reach out, I know all of them,” I spoke up.

“Good, let’s do it now as a group, you know where they are based out of?” Jose asked.

“Yes, it feels like we are playing into his hands though,” I said.

“You mean Michael’s?” Marcos asked.

“Champion Michael and yes,” I replied. I wouldn’t forget the man’s title.

“Champion, an interesting title. Champion of his city, a tournament?” Loretta asked.

“He did check two larger crystals on the pillar and the pack he turned in was full,” Marcos said.

“Stronger monsters, give better crystals. Not a surprise,” Maria said.

“Deal,” I said.

“Excellent, first location?” He was grinning at me like the devil himself.

“Southwest of here.”

“Perfect. Let’s go.”

Ruth

The line between genius and insanity was if it worked or not. I would swear, even now, that going into that crowd was crazy and a death sentence. But Michael didn’t give one twit about the entire thing.

He just did it and then killed people to make a point. That was why I had joined up. He would either get really far and find a way back to Earth or die horribly. My brain kept telling me the second outcome of a horrible death was going to happen any moment, but my gut knew. He was the type of person to never let go once he got hold of something.

It was endearing in a way that was scary. He only consulted himself. While he listened to advice, he didn’t hesitate to ignore it, if he thought his way was best. I needed more levers on him. While he did listen to me, he still kept me at arm’s length.

The confidence had to come with power, but even then, he just went off into the unknown like it was nothing. And now two dungeons had landed in his lap. Still, it wasn’t a big guess, since there were two dungeons near Purgatory, so with the design being similar to this city, having two dungeons near Neo Brasilia wasn’t a huge leap to take.

I still didn’t get why Estevo joined up. I wanted to shake him and scream at him to ask for more. He could have asked for 10,000 points and Michael would have paid, per dungeon. Skill points were incredibly valuable. Also, the information was known knowledge in Purgatory.

I could tell Michael just wanted to burst out laughing at this idiot. It was the huge stupid grin he had on his face. He wasn’t even hiding it. He would take both skill points and I would have to find my way back here to claim them sometime. He was getting further ahead, while I fell further behind.

I cut down another of the grass monsters. Michael and I each took one half of the front as we chopped our way forward. After a couple of hours, we reached a large hill with a pit in the side.

“Who is volunteering to carry a torch and who is staying with the cart?”

“I will carry the torches,” I spoke up. I wanted to know what was down here for when I returned. I wasn’t about to pay him a bunch of crystals to take me through.

“Alright, you two can stay out here then,” Michael said. I arranged a pack with ten torches and a Firestarter. I lit it and followed in after him as he took the lead into the dungeon.

“At least the floor is not covered with roots.” He moved fairly quickly, pausing to check behind and above him. I would not forget that useful piece of advice he constantly mentioned. Occasionally he would poke the stone walls with his sword.

We came to a chamber with clumps of grass and a larger clump in the center. Michael easily began cutting through the smaller grass monsters. When he moved on the larger one in the center it shot out grass blades that impacted his iron shield.

“Acid Shot.” The monster was quickly melted and left a 50-point crystal. The next chamber had 3 of the level two grass monsters. Michael didn’t hesitate to Acid Shot them right away. After that there was a double door.

All of that had only used up three torches so far. “No side routes or dead ends, how interesting,” he muttered. He pushed open the doors. “Light another torch and throw the current one inside.” I did as he said, and he didn’t enter the room yet, preferring to look around first.

I looked in as well. “A clump of red grass there, there, and there, you see it?” He pointed it out and I had to squint.

“Yes, what are you thinking?”

“Something fire based most likely. Three of them as well, but no minions as far as I can tell. You want to come in?” I considered the question for a moment.

“Yes, I just need to run away, right?”

“Yes. Don’t worry, this shouldn’t be too bad. Let’s do this.” We entered the room and the doors slammed shut behind us.

“Acid Shot.” The red clump of grass burst out of the ground and danced to the side, only getting hit with a bit of acid. The other two clumps burst out as well. They then burst into flames and began to quickly advance on Michael who was out in front.

“Acid Shot. Acid Shot. Acid Shot. Acid Shot. Acid Shot.Acid Shot.” Two of the clumps of grass went down from the barrage. The third danced in close and Michael was forced to step back quickly to avoid the flaming grass that swiped at him. “Acid Shot.” He timed his shot and took the monster out mid-attack.

He had good fighting instincts, no matter what else was said about him. All that grinding against monsters honed one’s instincts. The monster died and he picked up the crystals as a skill crystal formed in the middle of the room. He went over and touched it. It disappeared and he let out a sigh.

“What was it?” I asked.

“Grass Blade and Imbue Fire, I went with an upgrade to Acid Shot instead. I don’t need more attack skills. Acid Shot.” The ball of acid that formed was twice as large as the previous ones. He released it into a wall.

“I would have thought you wanted variety.”

“No, that is part of my skill plan. If Imbue Fire could stack on other skills and not just physical attacks, I would have considered it.” He had a skill plan. How could someone plan out skills when they didn’t know what they were? He might have mentioned something, but he mentioned a lot of things.

This entire dungeon clear confirmed in my mind, I had to prepare. Both myself and finding levers I could use on Michael to influence him. If only he wasn’t so stubborn.