Chapter 194: Formulating A Plan

Tyler looked at his system notification in shock. He didn’t know how to begin broaching this subject with Amanda and knew Zinnia was going to be all over the place trying to get Vespa’s poorest areas back in order. The other thing looming on his mind was which city to go to next. He’d been thinking about it ever since they found the slums, but the closest options of Vexa, Polaris and Tonberry were all a toss up. These wouldn’t be investigation missions. They would eliminate and restore the city missions.

Tyler knew he couldn’t do this in Vespa. If he took it over by force, Zinnia wouldn’t be able to infiltrate the organization any higher. If she was killed, he lost a girlfriend and a lead. He knew he could find other ways to make the Illusionists crumble but he was starting to like Zinnia and what she stood for. He just couldn’t imagine what possibly happened the day she destroyed her own village.

’What the hell would she do that for and why would she let a child leave to tell the tale? It has to be something obvious that I’m missing...’ Tyler thought, trying to suppress his anxiety and eagerness to eliminate as many of the masked and Necrams as he could. He knew they were plenty powerful and that his staff was close. He could sense level 10 was within his reach.

’I need to talk to Amanda but I promised Kass time. I eventually want to tell them I’m reincarnated. How the hell do I do that?’

"Not the time champ," Ash said politely. "Maybe when you’re close to completing the Path of the Righteous Quest you’ll get a clue?"

"Good point. I need Kass and Amanda to rank up to SSS so they can hurry up and train to go beyond. If I rush it, they’ll end up dead though, right?"

"You can’t rush it. It comes naturally with stat progression. I suggest you do what you’re thinking and go clear a city and rid the filth of the world. That would help Kass and Amanda rank up. Ask the dean for some of the school’s prize money." Ritsu suggested.

Tyler excused himself to another room and took out his cell phone to call the dean.

Ring, Ring, Ring.

"Hello Tyler, what can I help you with?"

"Hello Dean Pritchett, I was wondering if you knew anything about what’s going on in Vexa? I recently visited Vespa and noticed there are now very poor areas with a weird black and purple masked group taking over these slums and recruiting people to work alongside them in the illusionists."

"So you’ve discovered the Anti-Tyler group that’s working with the Necrams. You’re a student at Ability Academy, not a detective. You should focus on your studies and your future with your beautiful wives."

"I know sir, but with all due respect, we both know my ladies and I are kind of beyond this whole University thing. It’s time we start taking the fight to them while restoring some of these problems. If the government isn’t going to help, we should. I just don’t have the funding and resources to do so. I was hoping you could help me."

The dean sighed. "How much do you need Tyler?"

"Well how much do you think it would take to restore a Vexan slum if we wipe out the entire Illusionist presence there?"

"Probably around two to three million credits. I’ll do what I can. Just be careful. Please keep in mind you never made this request," Dean Pritchett said while hanging up.

"So Tyler knows?" Master Sanju, who was shadowing the dean, asked.

Mr. Pritchett let out a long sigh and sat in his chair. "Not only does he know, he’s taking matters into his own hands. We’re lucky he won the tournament but what happens is pretty clear if he does this."

"I agree, but I also think we should support him. It would be a good look for our University to donate to a charitable cause such as helping repair a city where many of our students come from," professor Sanquin answered.

"I’ll go visit the board. There’s two million worth of credits in the emergency account, transfer half of it to Tyler."

"Understood."

It didn’t take long for Tyler to receive his answer.

[Ding! You have received 1,000,000 credits. Your new balance is 1,750,000.]

’That was quick but that’s not enough. This is a mess. I need to talk to Amanda before I spend time with Kass and we need to formulate a plan to attack,’ Tyler thought while running his hand through his hair.

He walked back out the living area and waved to everyone. They all smiled and waved back cheerfully. They were relaxed and enjoying the downtime. No classes today, they decided against going.

"Hey Amanda, can I have you for a minute, beautiful?" Tyler asked while walking into the living room.

"Sure! What’s up mister?" Amanda said with a cute smile.

"Just want to talk to you about something that happened. I’ll catch up with everyone afterwards and don’t worry Kass, you have all of my attention the rest of the day," Tyler smiled.

They walked into Tyler’s bedroom and he motioned for her to sit next to him on the bed.

"Tyler, what’s wrong?" Amanda asked with a frown.

*****

The Necrams continued to extend their preliminary perimeter. AI bots formed fortified camps with ease with the flattened terrain of the elven kingdom. Draining power from the planet was easy for them and they continued to fill up their container with the lifeforce they stole.

"Aren’t you worried the planet will start to deteriorate with us on it?" Astrid asked Commander Alger.

"This is the biggest planet in the Orion galaxy. A few barren wastelands won’t hurt it too badly. We just have to be smart about this and if there’s another realm with beasts, we should try to find that and steal that lifeforce as well," he responded with a large malicious smirk.

"Won’t the beasts fight back? What if there’s a god or goddess protecting that area?" the general asked.

Alger laughed. "You think I’m afraid of the gods? The same beings that haven’t intervened with us once?"

"Maybe you shouldn’t be so arrogant sir," General Astrid said politely.

Smack!

Astrid took the slap despite flinching and grimacing in pain. She knew she had to maintain her composure and stand strong and tall.

"Sorry sir, do as you wish," she said with a bow.

"Now hurry up and get this over with. We need to find an entrance to the tamer’s realm and figure out why that Tyler kid had such strong summons. There weren’t supposed to be any summoners left." He said as he spat on the ground and walked away.

’What a fucking asshole. Living forever is pointless if his ego will be the death of us all.’