Chapter 80: Day 204 – Declaration of War

I woke up in the morning and saw Tyrese and Ken waiting for me outside.

“Let’s go,” I said, not feeling very charitable to them at the moment. We went to the center of the plaza where people were already gathering. A table was set up. Tyrese climbed on top of it as his guards kept a perimeter. We were doing this outside instead of the Meeting Chamber so more people could listen in.

“Silence!” Tyrese called out and people quickly stopped talking. “This is an emergency announcement. The city of Truth has launched an unprovoked attack and due to their government consisting solely of warlords and brutality, the Triumvirate has come to the unanimous decision.”

“As of day 204, the city of Purgatory is now in a state of war with the city of Truth. This means the following rules are being put in place. Silence or else!” People quickly quieted down as the guards drew swords.

“First, anyone aiding an individual of the city of Truth will be deemed a traitor and will be executed. This includes but is not limited to sharing any information or providing introductions. Second, anyone who reports an unregistered outsider will receive a reward. This reward will be tripled if the individual is from the city of Truth. Third, outsiders must register with the Red Dawn until the state of war ends.”

“Our Champion will now speak,” Tyrese stepped aside, and I got up on the table.

“Three of their skill users attempted to ambush and murder me last night. I managed to defeat them, but if I had fallen, this city would have devolved into a blood bath, let there be no misunderstanding about this.”

“I will be investigating the city of Truth and possibly taking unilateral action that includes total war without exception. For now, there will be no large-scale military action, but it is not being ruled out. If there is, that would mean a tax increase to fund such an operation, something we all want to avoid at all possible costs.”

“Therefore, it is imperative, if any of you know anything about the people from yesterday, you go to the Red Dawn and report it. You will not be punished if you report what you know right away. If you find something out in the future, report it. If the information has value then you will be rewarded appropriately. Ken?”

I went down and Ken climbed up. “I know many of you are concerned, but one of the cornerstones of this government is being open and being accountable. That is why it has been decided to reveal this information to all of you.”

“As the situation develops, we will continue to keep you updated. If there are military considerations those may be kept back for information security. If any more confrontations develop, everyone will be informed at the appropriate time. Again, I want to thank you all for your calm during this time and understanding. No questions will be taken at this time. This emergency meeting is adjourned.”

I walked quickly towards my home. I entered my building and both Tom and Ruth were waiting there. “So?” Ruth asked. I was surprised to see her. Apparently, she hadn’t heard about the conversation I had with Ken and Tyrese. I would talk to her about it later after I thought the situation over some more. I still didn’t know how I wanted to deal with it. Honestly, I would probably just ask her to leave my team after this trip to Truth. Let things end on a quiet note. She had saved my life, so that was what I was inclined to do. Curse my stupid feelings.

“Up for some exploration, we will swing East and then North. Hopefully to get around the swamp and to the city of Truth. After that, I plan to clear both dungeons and kill anyone who shows up to them. Once that is done, I will purge the city in fire and blood. Well, more like acid and blood,” I said.

“Isn’t that a bit extreme-“

“They tried to assassinate me!” Ruth closed her mouth. “You aim for me, you better be sure about it, since I will kill everyone who ever knew you.” I took a deep breath and let it out. “It is a city of warlords, death, and misery. At least I am one person to keep things in line but imagine a group. Then that group betrays itself and splinters, other groups move in, repeat the process.”

“The city is a mess.”

“Think an orgy or murder, rape, and violence in general. I wouldn’t care, but they have involved me. We are at war now anyways. They are enemy combatants. Either of you coming?” I asked.

“Yes,” Ruth said with a sigh. I looked at Tom. He looked at Ruth and then back at me.

“I am in, I don’t quit.”

“Good. We leave tomorrow morning. Do either of you need crystals for gear?” They both shook their heads. “Alright, I need to turn in what I got from the trip in.”

The guards kept people away as I turned in my crystals and made my purchases. I didn’t want to deal with questions or people right now.

I turned in 87 5-point crystals, 844 50-point crystals, and 3 450-point crystals for 43,985 points. That put me at 68,822 points total. I spent 321 points on a regeneration and 2,200 points to resupply, lamp fuel was expensive. No upgrades for now. I wanted a lot of points in reserve in case I was heavily injured.

That left me with 66,301 points in reserve. I was okay with that. I worked on my notebook and reviewed information. Thinking of how combat would go and skills I had seen.

The following day we set off pre-dawn. I made the decision to cut to the East to hopefully find a path around the swamp to the North. I really didn’t want to go through a swamp. It took a good part of the day to get through the small brown wolf grasslands and hit the shadowlands with the large black snakes. A quick turn to the North was where trouble showed up.

A beam of fire lanced out from the floating crystal. “Aqua Sphere. Acid Shot!” I managed to kill the monster, but that had been too close for comfort.

“The range is stupidly long,” I muttered. I retreated back to the cart in the black snake shadowlands.

“Problems?” Ruth asked.

“Their aggro range is massive. They are slow, but their attack is way too quick. Also, the range. You just get a glow and then fire. Will have to go for an arcing shot against them.” My energy was depleted, Aqua Sphere was not cheap.

“We are stopping here then?” Ruth asked. I needed to think on how to get to the North.

“Yes. Tomorrow a heavy push to the North following the swamp line.” I leaned against the cart and let out a long sigh.

“Trouble?” Ruth asked.

“Just frustrated. How are you doing?” I didn’t want to ruin what we had, but she betrayed my trust. It hurt deeply. She thought I was mentally unstable. How dare she! You try to keep things together in this place. Deal with the never-ending tide of bullshit that rains down. I let out a long sigh instead of saying all of that.

“Alright, just tired as well. You didn’t go to look at the designs that Elise drew up,” Ruth said.

“You are right. I just got caught up in all of this. I don’t have time to think about something like that.”

“You need to make the time.”

“You my counselor now?”

“No, just concerned. You seem to be throwing everything else away to deal with this.”

I was silent for a bit before speaking quietly. “I almost died Ruth. One second slower and I would be dead just like that. If they ambushed me without walking out in front of me, then they could have taken me out. I may seem strong, but there is a lot of fear.” I was hoping she would confess what she had done.

“Well, you survived.”

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“Luck. I hate luck. It seems stupid with how lucky I have been but relying on luck shows failure to prepare properly or think.” I shook my head in disgust and frustration.

“You can plan for assassination attempts?” Ruth asked.

“Yes. I should have spotted them and been more alert ahead of time. With my Perception, there is no excuse.”

“But you did win, don’t forget that. That slight difference shows the effort you have put in. Getting the skill necessary to block all their skills at the same time. That is the preparation you have been talking about.”

“You’re right. I know that in my head, but my heart doesn’t understand.” Ruth then leaned down and gave me a hug. “Uh, what?” I patted her on the back, and she released me.

“Just remember, that you can lean on others, if you can’t do it. We are here, aren’t we?” Ruth asked me.

“I really wanted to find a cart butler, but here I am,” Tom said with a small grin.

“Alright, thank you both of you for coming out with me. I know I am not the easiest to work with.” I really didn’t want to ruin this. This moment of tranquility. I wanted to hold onto it for as long as I could.

“You mean most stubborn,” Ruth said.

“The most bullheaded force of nature out there,” Tom added.

“Okay, okay,” I said. As I lay down to sleep my mind was going back and forth on how to deal with Ruth. I liked her, quite a bit. She betrayed my trust by getting paid to report on me. I kept going back and forth on this issue and it was eating me up inside.

It just hit me. Tyrese could have said it was someone trying to stir things up, and that was how I got the information. The fact I didn’t mention my source at all, meant he had to defend the accusation himself and instantly caved. I really was too lucky.

Unfortunately, that thought didn’t take my mind off the current issue for long. I had been on the verge of asking Ruth to be my girlfriend. I had purchased earrings. But she had betrayed me. She offered good advice, and I liked her. But she had betrayed my trust.

Dammit. Anything I did would make things uncomfortable and miserable. I needed to deal with this issue, but I didn’t want to. Things were good right now. Everyone was smiling and happy. A tear slipped down my face and I felt my heart crack. I knew what needed to be done. I just needed the courage to do it.

The next day I took my time and bombarded the floating crystals outside their aggro range. I had to take my time and aim carefully, since the Acid Shots would hang in the air for three to four seconds as I arced the shots as much as possible.

We followed the swamp line to the North. The boarder went East and West sometimes but kept going North predominately. The hope was we could get around the swamp this way.

It was just after mid-day that we ran into blue floating crystals instead of red ones. I bombarded them as well, with zero desire to experience their attacks up close.

Shortly after the blue crystals started appearing, I spotted a mountain made of black rocks to the East. “My dungeon senses are tingling.”

“Anyone’s senses would be tingling with something that obvious,” Ruth replied.

“It is really obvious, even I know that is probably a dungeon,” Tom said as he came to a stop with the cart next to me. “Also, the cart is becoming fairly worn. Might consider a new cart in the near future.”

“After this mission, I will consider purchasing a new one. Let’s keep moving,” I said. The swamp began to curve to the West, and I followed the border between the two terrains. We encountered black floating crystals, which died just as easily as the other crystals. I didn’t want to see their attacks or tempt fate like that.

Finally, just as the sun was getting close to setting, we reached a forest with yellow slimes. They released tiny balls of light from their body that would burn and shock whatever they touched. They were worth 5-points. That confirmed in my mind that this was the area around the city of Truth.

“Why Truth? Seems like a weird name,” Tom said.

“The first warlord was probably a Halo geek or religious and the name just stuck. It takes a very self-centered personality to name a city after yourself,” I said.

“Then why Purgatory?” Tom asked.

“Oh, no,” Ruth said. She had heard this explanation countless times.

“That is a great question. Purgatory is the waiting area before Heaven, but it isn’t Hell. A place of reflection and penance, just like this place. I came up with that name by the way,” I said.

“And you are way too proud of it. I still can’t believe you got people to go along with it,” Ruth said.

“Some people, as you can clearly see, are jelly. Very jelly that I named the city and the landmass.”

“The Systemic Lands?” Tom asked.

“See, already caught on.” Ruth facepalmed with both her hands.

“What? They are alright names,” Tom said.

“Better than Michaelopilis.”

“Okay, Purgatory is better than that name, but you couldn’t have picked something like Hope?” Ruth asked.

“When you find Hope, let me know. It is in short supply,” I replied.

“Fine, fine. The dungeon isn’t far?”

“No, but it probably has been cleared. I will clear it to know the threat level inside and then we can wait here in the corner of the city’s level 1 monster territory. Looking at the maps, it appears that areas are laid out in a grid.” A grin popped on my face. I finally decided to share my big breakthrough on how the Systemic Lands were laid out.

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