Chapter 577: Day 5,052 – Moving People

Chapter 577: Day 5,052 – Moving People

“I am glad to see you are alive,” Clarissa said as I took my seat at the breakfast table with her. I had gotten back last night but had put off our discussion until this morning. “I thought you would have been more upset about losing the Crystal Vortex.”

“I am upset about that, but I got something much more valuable,” I replied while buttering some warm toast. I then explained what had happened while Clarissa listened to my summary of events. It was nice to know that my people kept their mouths shut about my meta-point. Clarissa would be the only other person I planned on telling.

While I had considered not telling her, we were in a partnership. Trying to hide an advantage in case of a falling out, would be the very thing that would lead to a falling out between us. Also, our roles were fairly clear in how we divided up responsibilities. She kept an eye on the overall government and various programs, I got stronger so I could beat down any threats. Me getting a meta-point would only reassure her that I wasn’t about to die.

“Congratulations. I will have to give it a lot of thought why you got one,” she said.

“If you can figure it out, that would be nice. I considered asking for information on that. But wasting a wish asking how to get more wishes...” I trailed off.

“Is a waste of a wish. You made the right decision. Something that is an all around boost and can grow with you is useful. Surprised you didn’t pick a skill where you got stat points from killing people,” Clarissa said. I let out a scoff at that.

“If it was way back when I first fought Death, then that might have been a good choice. But now, who is left? There are only two known threats left. The Sword of Ascalon and those shards out in that ruined zone,” I replied, and Clarissa nodded at this. “How are the studies going?”

“Slow and carefully. But no results so far. I am keeping an eye on anything done in that direction. Jacob Copper has been quite well behaved. He has been focusing on the nearby terrain changes. He speculates that they me high level terrain, level 7 or higher,” Clarissa said. The Master Fleshcrafter was a dangerous individual, but I would prefer he worked for me under supervision.

There just weren’t a lot of people with stats and a strong grasp of energy. It was incredibly frustrating, but just reaching the level of stat points needed to be a scientist made it very hard position to reach. Energy could only be felt through stats, and there was very little outside of stats where research could make progress.

“Hmm, that would be tough to battle in and raises some serious concerns. Why would there be a flesh terrain, and battling over the void would be a nightmare.”

“He mentioned about developing an energy battery a person could draw on,” she said.

“He can research, no mad science, and I won’t be participating. There is no need to try and grasp more power right now. After we get a link open, then I plan to explore the West before doing a long grind and doing the occasional tower,” I replied.

“Oh, going up the outside?” Clarissa asked.

“Yes. Going up the inside is too much of a hassle. I can pay for a small airship and just smash my way to the top,” I replied.

“Inelegant, but effective.” I preferred effective to elegant, so I took that as a compliment.The roots of this story extend from novell bìn origin.

“What about things on your end, preparations?” I asked.

“It will go up to 45% for all crystals level 3 and below. Level 4 crystals will remain at 30%, and anything higher will be 15%. That will hopefully motivate people into higher level zones.” I sipped some orange juice as I thought about those percentages.

“Same split I asked?”

“Yes. Right now, our GDP is around 600 million per day. Only 5 of that from level 1 zones, 150 from level 2 zones, 400 from level 3 zones, and 35 million from level 4 zones. Level 3 and 4 zones are heavily underutilized. But getting people strong enough for them is a massive headache.” I nodded at this. It was something Clarissa had complained about before.

“Really level 3?” I asked surprised.

“We have over 100 level 3 zones, but only 56 or so are actively being grinded. The utilization is under 50%. You need skills and stat points, which requires a lot of investment.”

“Ah skills, I am guessing that is the bottleneck?” I asked.

“Yes. But also getting enough stat points takes time. Equipment, traveling, supplies, everything adds up. Increasing the tax too suddenly will create a lot of unnecessary drama. If people are going to play the long game, then they can pay for it, but we need to separate them out. Now what about using the city we claim as a trading outpost?” Clarissa asked.

“In secure outer areas near the gates at most. It is not meant to be a long term place to stay. At least we can create an economy by having a market to export to, even if it is fairly small,” I said.

“Exporting beyond the city?” Clarissa asked.

“People can take the risks themselves.”

“This also means that we are going to lose control on our monopoly on summoning. We are ready for that, but that means Ritualist type people might pop up,” Clarissa added.

“As long as the fortress city is secured. If it can resist a level 5 monster, then there should be no problem. No one is going to be summoning beyond that, and if someone gets that powerful, we will hear about it. If they keep their head down, then they won’t cause trouble. Even if they do, I will be around to deal with things,” I said.

“Alright, then I will probably make the fortress cities budget independent, or at least decoupled after the initial investment, with everything going back into defense and beefing up the soldiers stationed there.”

“As long as there is rotation of the soldiers to fight monsters outside the walls. Even the commanders. I don’t what useless people who crumble in a fight. If there is more investment going into them, then they need to perform better. Also seizing nearby skills will be key to increase their power.”

“And skills?” Clarissa asked.

“They can be rotated back to get them on our half of the Systemic Lands, or they can work out something for the nearby dungeons. But I prefer they limit the push outwards. I want the civilians to have a shot, or adventurers. It will motivate them to fight and reduce their numbers,” I said.