Chapter 72: Day 166 – Time to G-G-G-Grind

Chapter 72: Day 166 – Time to G-G-G-Grind

Tom, Ruth, and I left through the East gate and made our way across the small wolf grassland. I had a reinforced pack with my spare outfit in it. Hopefully I wouldn’t need to use it, but at least I had it, just in case.

I was back to being poor. Well now was the time to grind out an insane number of crystals in the next 23 days or so.

I was even on cart duty since I had Tom take the lead killing small wolves. To let him get practice with fast moving enemies, before the meerkats. Ruth was there as back up. Once we reached the shadowlands, I took over at the front killing scorpions while Ruth provided back up again.

We made it to the meerkat deadlands and turned to the Southeast. We made camp once we spotted the large rocks in the distance and moved back into the shadowlands, clearing out some scorpions.

“You have a handle on them?” I asked Tom about the meerkats I had him fight.

“Yeah, but how do they keep appearing behind me?”

“I told you, blink, an instant teleportation skill with observation limitations in this case. Just be glad that it is the only super dangerous thing about them and getting overwhelmed.”

“I got it, so this is our camp long term?” Tom asked.

“Yes, I will be going to the South to the rocks. Ruth?”

“North, but I will make sure East is clear for you,” Ruth replied. I nodded in thanks to that. If the flies didn’t work out, then I would be going after meerkats. I didn’t want to waste time on the nearby scorpions.

“There you go, you go East and kill meerkats. If you reach ant land, which I doubt, just run away as quickly as you can.”

“Got it. I do pay attention to everything you both have been telling me,” Tom said.

“I just get worried about my cute apprentice.” Tom and Ruth both stared at me. “I always wanted to use that line.”

“Don’t cause trouble. Taking a torch?” Ruth asked.

“And the fire starter. If there is a mega-boom, don’t be too surprised.”

“I still think you are crazy for wanting to do this,” Ruth said.

“The speed. I might be able to break 500 50-point crystals in one day. If I really get fast enough, might need help picking them all up,” I said with a cheeky grin.

“Use the time to regain energy,” Ruth said, giving a deadpan response to the exuberance I was emitting. Picking up crystals was annoying, just like dragging the cart.

“What are apprentices for then?” I asked. There was a stretch of silence at that. “Well, true apprenticeships would require the apprentice to pay a fee or a portion of their work.” At least that was how it was historically back on Earth.

“Ah...” Tom muttered.

“But I am a nice master. My house could use some more lights and reinforced windows.”

“They cost 10,000 each,” Ruth said.

“Details,” I waved a hand. “You can get strong enough and treat your master to a skill point crystal or three.”

“Three?” Ruth asked.

“Are you the apprentice, or is he?” I asked.

“Just making sure you don’t take advantage,” Ruth replied with a grin. She then reached over and gave Tom a tight hug. He just smiled goofily.

“No causing trouble. Anyways, we are leaving day 189. This is your time to grind. Remember, what is the saying?” I asked.

“Marathon, not a sprint master.”

“Excellent, excellent.”

After that we turned in. We all got up for night clearing duty and then back to sleep. It was becoming an instinctual habit at this point. Once dawn arrived, I gave Tom and Ruth a light kick and began eating.

“Really?” Ruth groaned.

“The day was too long. Cleared out the pit,” I told her about the layout, monsters, and skills.

“A beam attack sounds useful.”

“Well, I am not in a hurry to go back. Level 2 dungeons will cost, if you want me to do them for you.”

“How much and don’t you dare upcharge me.”

“I would say 25,000 points for the headache.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. Anyone else, 100,000 points. You are getting the team discount.”

“I will think on it. I got 122, you?”

“Only 278. What about you Tom?”

“41.”

“Not bad, not bad at all,” I said.

“Same thing tomorrow?” Ruth asked.

“I will be heading South and angling in and out of meerkat territory to regenerate energy and then back to the flies. Too much waiting otherwise.”

“Alright. Tom, go at your own pace, don’t die.” He gave Ruth a thumbs up and a smile. Probably not wanting to spend energy to speak.

The night was uneventful besides having to kick Tom twice to get him up for the midnight clear. No slacking on this team. The next day I went on another grind session.

I almost forgot how annoying the meerkats were. They were really annoying. It made me want their skill all the more. Still, I rushed forward fairly brazenly, not too concerned about over aggro. My iron greaves protected almost all around my leg, which gave me a measure of comfort I wasn’t going to be chewed up that easily.

The most annoying part was having the meerkats attack when I was trying to pick up a crystal from one, I already killed. It was like they could sense vulnerability. It didn’t matter if I had already waited a minute, there was always one that would attack once I went to pick up crystals.

More annoying than dangerous with proper equipment and skill to fight them. I also routinely dipped back into venom fly shadowlands and used my skill Acid Shot to kill them off quickly. When I returned to camp, I had a grin on my face.

“Let me guess, some number that will make me feel shame?” Ruth asked.

“512.”

“That is nonsense. Only 131,” Ruth said. Tom looked tired and dejected.

“37,” Tom said. “Am I doing something wrong?”

“No. Ruth has what 50 Body upgrades?” She nodded at that. “I have 100 Body upgrades. You have 5 Body upgrades and nothing else?”

“Yes, it really makes that big of a difference?”

“Not that big, I have twenty times your number of upgrades into the Body stat, but I am not doing twenty times better. Same with Ruth. You keep up the same rate, then you can afford 100 upgrades when we return. Can even start using that skill of yours. That is the job, kill things, get crystals, get upgrades, get skills, and repeat.”

“Yeah, just frustrating,” Tom said. If only he knew how long, it took me to get to this point and how lucky he was.

“Don’t compare yourself to that machine disguised as a human being. Just think how long the poor saps have to grind out 5-point crystals to reach what you have.” Thank you Ruth for saying that.

“Yeah, just tired,” Tom said.

“Fair enough. You decide your pace. So, Ruth, looking to get another skill point?” I asked her.

“No, I need upgrades more than anything. My energy is the limiting factor at the moment,” she said.

“Alright. If you change, your mind, let me know. The price is going up,” I said with a grin.