"You are leaving?" Young Michael asked me.

"Yes. You are better off continuing with Hendricks and working to improve over time on your own. The difference in our skill sets is to great. I doubt you want to pick up crystals forever," I said with a smile.

"No. But, I learned a lot from you," Young Michael replied.

"It is nice to hear that. But I don't know if I will return. It isn't going to be an easy fight unfortunately," I replied.

"Who are you fighting?" he asked me.

"The sphere, or the thing that caused the calamity, both recently and before you were born. I am trying to prevent a third calamity," I replied. "Hopefully I make it back, but it isn't going to be an easy or safe journey and there will be a hard fight at the end."

"If anyone can win, it is you. You beat it before, you will beat it again," Young Michael said. I appreciated his optimism, but I wasn't as hopeful. I would be going into a hostile terrain, against a being that had widespread powers to manipulate the environment and to use attacks.

If the Avatar wasn't dead, I would have dragged her along. It was unfortunate, but there were no other options but me. "I would suggest you don't test yourself against level 5 monsters without being extra careful for the next month. Even level 4 monsters, you should be careful. Apparently they have been getting weaker due to the sphere. If I win and that suddenly changes, it could be very bad."

"Any chance we can get a ride back to the East half of the Systemic Lands?" Hendricks asked.

"One of Clarissa's people will be escorting both of you people back," I told them. Young Michael looked at me and I held out my hand towards him. He hesitated and then shook it.

"I thought you didn't like to shake hands," he said.

"I don't. But I respect the hard work you put in. While you might have complained occasionally and your cooking needs a lot of work, you put in the time and the effort. I respect that. Keep that drive alive, no matter how tedious things get. Take care," I said to Young Michael and released his hand. I gave a nod to Hendricks.

I then went to my airship. Clarissa was already on board with her two guards. "Flying with me?" I asked in surprise.

"We need to begin discussing our coordination. Once we arrive, there will a chance to get some sleep, and then we will depart immediately. Follow my airship closely," she said. They began to take off and I followed them. It took a bit of time to reach cruising speed, and I also dealt with the monsters that had started trailing us. We reached cruising speed, and we all stood on the tiny bridge.

"Not the older larger Crystal Vortex, but it is home," I told her to start the conversation.

"It was nice to see that Young Michael survived. How is he doing?" she asked me.

"Well, enough. He worked for a while picking up crystals for me," I replied. "You grab up Dylan?"

"He is being watched, but he is focusing on trying to form a team to fight with. His priority has been downgraded," Clarissa replied. "There is something else. Something I kept secret as a trump card."

"You have a meta-point?" I asked.

"No, but someone had one and asked for an item. It was recovered and I kept the news suppressed. A portable store," she replied. I could tell she was nervous.

"A trillion-point item. And very powerful for any person grinding or hiding." I was quite unhappy with this. Also, another point of data to confirm how desperate the situation had become. "You find it while I was Emperor and hid it?"

"Yes," she replied. I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing, so I didn't do anything rash.

"I suppose it can't be split. And there can't be joint custody either. And neither of us want to pay up half a trillion points." That was a 1,000 days of grinding for me. A lot more Clarissa since I doubted her organization was capable of pulling in the income I was able to.

"There aren't any good answers. But I figured I would tell you. Since it is going to be a key component for our survival once we depart. And if we need supplies, we can purchase them," she explained.

"It works in rainbow land?"

"It does. Everything else works. And energy regeneration is not limited as far as we can tell."

"A serious favor. Worth half a trillion points of effort. Or you can arrange a payment plan. Unless you want points and to give me the portable store?" I asked.

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"A serious favor is fine. Any ideas about what you would want?" she asked.

"No. But who knows what craziness will come up that I could use some assistance with." I was glad she didn't bring up her help during the crisis since I was coming along with her. After all the lamenting about people I wasn't able to work with, Clarissa and I were still capable of being adults without resorting to violence. I chuckled slightly.

"I am almost afraid to ask," she said.

"Just thinking about how we can have a conversation like rational adults and not try to murder each other. I was appreciating that."

"Ah. Well I wouldn't be here if we couldn't have a conversation and I thought you would kill me."

"I like to think there is trust, and I do trust you. But there is also self-interest. You need me to handle things like this. I need you to handle problems that I can't kill. I do have to ask, you aren't hiding anything else?"

"No. Unfortunately the portable store was the only useful thing that was worth hiding. I would love to have some super skill or powerful weapon as a backup. Instead, I have you," she replied. That was what I liked about Clarissa, she was respectful but was willing to spice the conversation up. Or she just hid her fear of me really well.

"And your organization? They aren't going to rebel with you leaving?" I asked.

"The disloyal and questionable have no place working for me. And handling this problem with you, will confirm in people's minds that I am very capable and have friends in high places." I didn't glance at her two guards. If she brought them, then they were beyond question.

"Well, I know you wouldn't joke about how dire things are and revealing the portable store." The thought did cross my mind that she might try and abandon me, but that wasn't going to happen. If one sphere showed up, another one might in the future. And unlike the Avatar, I was able to have a reasonable conversation with a person.

"I will be responsible for maintaining our gear. My men will be responsible for protecting me and providing ranged support, scouting, and basic healing. They are only low combat level 6 at best," she said.

"If you can afford all this research and everything else, you must be earning a lot of points," I pointed out.

"About fifty million on a very good day. Most of that is spread out to other people. I made far more while I was Supreme Governor," she said with a heavy sigh.

"But you have complete control, no one to answer to." I pointed out the benefits.

"That is true. You seem to be happy," she said.

"Just a lot of grinding. It never ends. But I do enjoy being away from being in charge. I won't be remaking the Empire or asking you to do so," I replied.

"That is good to hear, but I wouldn't be going back regardless. We accomplished a lot, but sometimes things just don't work out. I like to think of it like business. We both had different goals and priorities."

"Should I be worried there will be Empress Clarissa in the future or some kind of shadow ruler?" I asked.

"Only if you want high quality food that isn't from the store. Spices are a big hit."

"Well, when we win, you are in charge of the celebration dinner," I replied.

"That, I am more than happy to host. I have a bottle of Carbonated Fruit Wine with your name on it."

"Any luck tracking down where the Sword is hiding out?" I asked.

"No. But word has gone out and there are spotters looking, and my people are asking questions. The current guess is North of Meech or somewhere inside the city. Once we can find where it is hiding out, I will let you know."

"That would do it. All threats eliminated. May peace reign for ten thousand years," I replied.

"If we are still around in ten thousand years, there will be much bigger problems. Even an idiot will be able to get up to combat level 7 after fifty years of working at it."

"I suppose you have your math people working on it?" I asked.

"They are more focused on logistics and resource consumption. Without computers, it is a lot harder to keep everything organized."

"Math as well."

"Ah, you finally double checked your numbers on the total points needed."

"Wait, you knew and didn't tell me?" I asked in shock.

"Not for sure. You mentioned some things that seemed off a couple of times. I had my people check. But then I forgot since you never said anything. And you took pride in your mental math skills," Clarissa replied. I gave her a look of betrayal.

"And you didn't want to embarrass me," I replied.

"Or get into an argument. It was also a minor thing. Either you realized or you kept going. I had an Empire to run which wasn't easy. And while I didn't exactly forget, it was never a pressing issue."

"There were too many zeroes and I was counting in an abnormal way, only increasing the first digit, which meant jumping up an order of magnitude," I tried to defend myself. Clarissa just gave me a look and shook her head.

"I can assign you a mathematician to assist you if you want," she joked.

"Laugh it up. I am just a big dumb brute. Dur de dur. I did the math and never really went over it. Also they were big numbers, so I didn't think about them that much before. It didn't impact anything."

"Except your ego," she joked.

"Fine. Whatever. Any other things I missed?" I asked.

"There are lists Michael, lists. But nothing critically important."

"Name one?" I asked.

"You really want me to do this?" she asked, and I hesitated for a moment.

"Yes. Give it to me."

"There was a sex shop in Purgatory, that made specialty phalluses. They were called Michael's Sword as a code name."

"What?!" My mouth hung open like a fish.

"That was their street name with the people who partook in such things. No one dared mention that anywhere near you."

"I…I feel violated in a way I don't know how to describe. Okay, you made your point. Sometimes it is better not to know."

"I can keep going. Like the Cult of Eternal Damnation. It was a small group of people who believed we had been sent to hell and had to atone for our sins. They would light themselves on fire and burn as long as possible before getting a restoration from the store."

"What happened to them?" I asked.

"They disappeared in the wilderness, probably dead. There were lots of things going on while you were traveling about. Things that required my attention no matter how stupid they were."

"I will have to pay this sex shop a visit," I replied.

"And you can yell at the old woman who runs it. She doesn't use her name, but people aren't going to say they purchased something like that. They will say something like, 'Michael's Sword is quite powerful, you know.'"

I closed my eyes. I didn't want to know this. "Point made." At least the mood had been lightened. I should probably talk about my sword and see if anyone reacts. I don't even use a sword. Maybe another beat stick to carry around as a joke.

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