Chapter 108: Day 247 (6) – An Evening of Elites

Chapter 108: Day 247 (6) – An Evening of Elites

“I like the dark green dress,” I said to Gertrude. I noted she had a sword on her hip just like me. Also, there was a long cut at the base of the dress so she could move about easily. Smart wardrobe choices for the combat oriented. She was on the younger side, and I thought I saw the faded marks of past piercings and maybe hair dye. Paying attention to people’s appearances was never my specialty unless they looked unique or super important.

“Thank you, Champion Michael. You are quite handsome,” she offered an arm, and I took it. We began to stroll across the plaza.

“Something Elise drew up. She is quite skilled.”

“I will have to look into her services once I have the points.” I wracked my brain for something to talk about.

“So, what monsters do you grind?”

“The last rotation my team was on the black pigs in the deadlands to the West.”

“Ah quite difficult to fight.” I didn’t know what else to say.

“Very long metal spears are quite useful. Lure one in and have it charge. At least two backup spears to keep distance.” Spears seemed a bit too risky to me. A monster could get past, and you would be vulnerable, and they required two hands.

“I guess with a high enough Body stat the weight wouldn’t be that bad. No skills?”

“As a backup. But with energy costs, and the need for stats in other areas. It is quite tough to have enough energy to grind efficiently.” That was a common problem I faced as well. I couldn’t wait for when I had enough energy not to worry about that.

“That is something I agree with completely. Hopefully in time the issue can be mitigated.”

“Indeed.” We arrived at the Gray Duck. A door greeter was there.

“The names to announce you both by?”

“Champion Michael of the Triumvirate.”

“Gertrude of the Emerald Wolves.”

“Fancy.” She leaned over and whispered in my ear. I felt a tingle run through me. We followed the person into the bottom dining area, which was quite large since several walls had been removed in the building.

“Announcing, Champion Michael of the Triumvirate and Gertrude of the Emerald Wolves.” Everyone in the room turned to stare at us. I counted thirty people. I spotted Laura. I went over and Gertrude followed me.

“Laura, a pleasure as always.”

“Champion Michael. Gertrude.”

“Impressive to host a dinner here,” I said. Laura suddenly looked quite uncomfortable. “What is it? Someone else is hosting? Don’t tell me Ken managed to push this all into the city budget.”

“Actually, you are paying for this,” Laura said. Clarissa hadn’t mentioned anything. This was a major misstep on her part. Embarrassing me like this. I just smiled.

“Well, I couldn’t ask for better company. You will have to introduce me around. Gertrude is the captain of her team the Emerald Wolves?”

“Yes, currently there are 12 active teams and we are bringing on 3 more. Right now, 4 are currently managing the dungeons at Truth and Neo Brasilia.”

“Well at least that is being handled well.”

“Let me introduce you to the team captains. They all have different team names. Animals and colors are quite popular.”

“You took the wind out of their ambitions. That still doesn’t change the fact that different groups want to bring in people they prefer as the new teams.”

“Then this was a move to push back on other teams?” I asked.

“A bit. Teams that push into new areas and bring back information are more highly regarded. Laura is probably going to codify everything fairly soon. Junior teams, senior teams, and expert teams. With the top teams getting first pick of grinding spots for their efforts.”

“You needed people to see you as a higher ranked team so Laura wouldn’t be seen as favoring you.” I worked out what she was doing now.

“Exactly. Also, you are kind of cute.” She leaned into me.

“Cute. More like brutish. Also, I can’t afford distractions.” I needed to plot out my stat choices and think on the map of the Systemic Lands a bit more, maybe a new grind spot.

“I can feel how tense you are. Ready to spring into action at any second.” She leaned into me. I wasn’t that dense not to notice things, but books were never a substitute for real life.

“Indeed. You never know when an attack might happen.” If Gertrude wasn’t leaning against my left side, I would have rubbed my left arm.

“That is why you need to live in the moment.” I was silent as my mind considered the possibilities. “Don’t think too hard or you might burst a blood vessel.”

I slowed down my speed walking across the plaza and Gertrude slowed down with me. I looked up at the pinpricks in the sky. Tiny dots of light that probably weren’t other stars. A part of me felt sad about losing the stars. It made no sense, but it just hit me.

If immortality was truly real, I would be here for a long time. It was the same issue as how big the universe really was. Humans had a very hard time contemplating large numbers. It just hit me how long eternity really was. Would I outlast the stars I used to look up at?

That was a scary thought. Would I be alone the entire time? Would this be my last chance to be with a woman before a high Body stat made anything in the future impossible? Now that was depressing to think about.

Another problem that comics, movies, and all the other media I had read just skimmed over. “A crystal for your thoughts?” Gertrude asked.

“Just thinking about the future and how bleak everything is,” I replied.

“You don’t have to fix everything you know.” I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry. Even if she said that just to be nice, the idea that I was trying to fix things was a joke. I couldn’t fix anything. “You aren’t shy of women, are you?” She said in a teasing voice.

“No. Just thinking about other issues.” My home was coming up. I wished the plaza was bigger, so I had more time to think.

“If you want to brag, I plan to if you don’t mind.” That wasn’t on my mind at all. I let out a long sigh.

“I promised myself a long time ago that I would do anything to survive. Distractions from my single-minded focus and self-improvement were a weakness. Now temptation falls right in front of me once again.”

“Even one night?” I was silent.

“I normally wouldn’t ask this or share this. My Body stat is 300. What is your Body stat?” I asked.

“Only 100.” I closed my eyes and wanted to cry. “Is it that serious?”

“There is some risk.” My mind immediately jumped to children. How would stats even work with children? Shut up brain. We were not going to deal with children or babies or any of that right now.

“Well, we can be careful. I don’t mind doing the work.” She leaned into me. I turned my head, and she landed kiss.

“This is just some fun then. Nothing permanent,” I said.

“Like anything is permanent around here. Just fun, no commitments.” After the long day of headaches I had, I wasn’t about to walk away. It would be nice to end things on a happy note.