Chapter 179: Day 399 (3) – All The Buildings (3)

Chapter 179: Day 399 (3) – All The Buildings (3)

“That is quite a bit,” I replied after getting my head around that number and trying to stay calm.

“Yes. It is comparable to what a CEO would make of a top-rated company, based on the value of crystals. Which is about a dollar to point, based on their purchasing power and the rule of thumb most people are using,” Clarissa replied. A good thing she didn’t say she was underpaid, or I would have lost it.

“That means in a 250 days, you will have 1,000 stats,” I said.

“Well, it doesn’t all go to stats, but yes.” She didn’t say anything more as I tried to weigh her salary versus taxes and everything else.

“How much are our guards paid?” I asked to get a better understanding of what was going on.

“They are paid 200 points per day. For non-combat positions, 100 points per day. Researchers and guard captains, 1,000 points per day. Expenses are deducted out of their salary,” That was a lot, but taking expenses made it a bit more palatable.

“Days off?” I asked.

“Yes, and they aren’t paid then. When I get a day off, I will let you know.” I knew she was sassing me a bit, but didn’t point it out.

“I am tempted to have the city invest in myself. What are you pulling in per day for city upgrades? That should be half the tax revenue,” I asked.

“About 100k points per day at the moment,” Clarissa replied.

“And a tenth of that is your salary?” I asked just to confirm.

“Yes. Unless you want to run this city?” And there was the rub. There was no one else. She knew it. I knew it. She could easily be taking more, but I knew she wouldn’t lie. It wasn’t worth the risk to go behind my back. That was why she was upfront about what she was making.

“You don’t think as your boss, I should make more than you?” I asked.

“You are on the board of directors if anything. And while you have close to a 100% controlling majority, there are no profits, therefore no dividends. Everything is being reinvested back into the city. I am your CEO, so I handle the day to day. Which is why I get paid, and you don’t. But you are welcome to change that,” Clarissa said. I took a second to think that over. It made sense, kind of. But I didn’t like it, but could accept the situation as it currently stood.

“No. It is fine. But no more than ten thousand a day. I am serious. I know I haven’t pressured you about what you are pulling in since you do such an amazing job, but no more than that.”

“I wasn’t planning to,” Clarissa said, and I nodded at that.

“What are your stats?” I was curious now.

“Secret.”

“Secret?” I gave her a look. She sighed a bit and looked right back at me.

“Yes. But I have a total of 300 stat points at the moment.” I waved my hand indicating she should keep going, but she didn’t.

“Body?” I asked. She smiled slightly and shook her head. “Wait, you didn’t. Everything into Mind?” I asked.

“The vast majority. It hasn’t helped me think better, but it is hard to say. But the risk of mental attacks is quite scary. Right now, I am spreading them out. It is a work in progress.”

“Well, there is a difference between having stats and being combat capable,” I said.

“I know. Trust me. I just want to be able to protect myself if things get tricky.” Well, she was too critical to lose. So, I didn’t get that upset about taking such a large salary to invest in herself.

One of Clarissa’s guards, or my guards left. They needed a name. Something that evoked grandeur and respect for me. Perhaps the Immortal Guard. That sounded grandiose enough. I followed Clarissa to a nearby building that had a large footprint like the Meeting Hall and Airship Port.

Soldiers of the RMPF opened up the double doors and the Immortal Guard stayed outside. “This is the Training Hall.” We made our way to the pillar in the center of the open room. There was nothing else. I put my hands on the pillar.

Point crystals from monsters could be brought here and placed on the pillar. They would be recorded and could then be summoned for practice combat as an illusion. Each session cost 100 points, no matter what was summoned. That was quite cheap. I selected two small wolves. I was prompted to pick where it would appear. I picked the far wall in front of me.

Both materialized along the wall and waited. It would only start moving once I removed my hands from the pillar. I took my hands off and the monsters rushed at me. I moved and delivered a kick to one of the wolves sides. It went flying and then turned to dust, not dropping anything.

The other wolf lunged and bit down on my leg. I could feel pain, but there was no blood or damage. Acid Shot. The monster was killed, and a small part of my boot melted. Not perfectly safe. If multiple people were using skills, there could be friendly fire.

“Interesting. Expensive for training at the low tiers, but good practice for the higher tiers,” I replied.

“It is. The issue is the cost and memory. Right now, it can only store five monster types. Upgrading to ten monster types costs 100k. Upgrading to 25 monster types costs 250k. A level 2 Training Hall costs 500k and a level 3 Training Hall costs one million points,” Clarissa listed out the purchase options that I had noted from the pillar.

“Make this a priority for purchases below a million points. People need to pay 25 points for one hour and can book ahead of time. No cap for now, but that can be changed. This might be the first city building we need to buy a second copy of,” I said.

“If we want one copy of every monster, then yes. I am thinking curating the selection. Whomever runs the place can decide,” Clarissa said.

“Too bad it can’t do level 4 monsters,” I muttered while looking at the pillar in the center of the room. It would be a great way to test my combat ability. There was one other thing I wanted to test. Acid Shot.

The pillar and floor weren’t even damaged in the slightest as the acid pooled on the floor and disappeared after a bit. I looked at Clarissa once the acid had disappeared who was looking at me. “Curious to see how durable the pillar is, if I am going to use this training room,” I said.

“That is fine. This place only cost 250k points,” Clarissa said in her usual deadpan, but I could tell she was exasperated with me.

“Hey, it was a valid test. Better to know now before we upgrade this place,” I said.

“Fine. It is fine. The only building left is the Prison and some minor purchases,” Clarissa said.

“What purchases?” I asked.

“Upgrading a processing table to level 3. It just got some gold and silver mixed in with the wood when it upgraded, but nothing affecting the circle just the appearance. People couldn’t sense anything different about it.”

“I will take a look, but that is minor, what else?” I asked.

“The third floors on several buildings. Your house, the President’s office, the RMPF headquarters, and the city treasury,” Clarissa said. I nodded at that. It had been quite obvious. “Finally, communication stones, between two gates and the RMPF headquarters.”

“That I have to see.”

“Like the pillar, but with a large orb on top. If one person is touching an orb on one end, the other glows. If people are touching the orbs on both ends, they can see a projection of the other person and speak to them,” Clarissa explained.

“How big are the orbs?” I asked.

“About the size of a large beachball and incredibly heavy. Not something that can be easily moved. And the pillar has to be moved as well. Only works inside the city. In time we will have a communication room set up to communicate to any point on the wall. There are discussions of purchasing four more towers to place between each of the gates. Having eight points to get up and down the wall, deploy from, and communicate,” Clarissa explained.

“I will want to check them later, but the plan is fine. I want to stay below the one million threshold for now. So, feel free to make these purchases. So, Prison?” I asked.

“That can wait. Rod of Control first, the prisoners aren’t going anywhere,” Clarissa said. She probably wanted to know what it did just as much as I did.