The Fool's Freedom

Alan woke up with a start as something bitter entered his mouth and started burning on his tongue.

“She’s poisoning you! She’s poisoning you!” Xil’s voice echoed in his mind but Alan could barely think so soon after waking up. Every centimeter of his body was stiff. He struggled to open his eyes. Someone was holding his head in a way that left him no choice but to swallow the liquid being poured into his mouth. Warmth immediately spread down his throat and down toward his stomach.

“Rejuvenating potion from the Order. It is used when someone makes a mistake during Bloodline Mediation and suffers damage. Did you try to copy me?” Zirida’s voice came distant, but he heard her clearly and his mind started catching up.

The potion was working fast and fixing a lot Alan hadn’t even felt was wrong. It felt really good, like a good stretch, especially considering how cold he realized he was feeling.

“Are you not cold?” he asked throwing a glance at her barely clothed body.

“No. Don’t avoid the question.” He couldn’t read her facial expression at all.

Fuck, is she mad?

“Yes.”

Zirida simply nodded and sat back down close to him. He could feel the heat radiating from her skin and almost moved closer but held back, suppressing a shiver. Had it always been this cold on this Fractal or did it have something to do with them being underground?

And was she just accepting it like he had done nothing wrong?

“What is your Vitality?” she suddenly asked.

“Five.”

There was no reason to lie and the answer finally made her show some emotion. Her brows shot up and a strange light lit up in her eyes.

“Why?” she asked again.

Alan pushed himself up and made a shirt appear in his hand in a flash of shadows. At least the alcove was smooth and no sharp rocks had added to all the pains. “I was physically fucked before the System came, and it thought it might be a good idea to fuck me up in a different way. Thankfully, some of the more pressing problems were resolved by Lady Luck. Sure, you don’t need clothes?”

She shook her head and helped him raise with one hand so he could put it over his current one, which had suffered a bit but still held on.

“Thanks.”

I need to grab some warm clothes.

“There was something more pressing?”

“Yeah.” He left it at that as a sudden bout of coughing made curl. He could somewhat feel the potion doing work in his body. It was acting almost the same as the vital energy he was stealing from the large parasite. Hopefully, the monster was doing good as it was proving invaluable. Alan decided to prepare the other two marks as soon as he woke up.

“You do know you have a few months at best, right?”

That made him look up. How would she know?

“I know my time is running out, but not how fast.”

“It will get worse each time you strain like that. No matter how much healing you get, some things cannot be fixed. The exhaustion builds up, even if it’s not reflected in a fluctuation of the attribute.” Zirida mused.

Fuck, she’s good. He had to be careful with his words around her. She seemed extra sensitive to some things and it would not take much to reveal more than he was comfortable with. What was he even comfortable with?

“Well, I will keep it in mind. Why is it so cold?”

“It might have to do with your Vitality, I don’t sense it the same as you. Low attributes take time to affect you, especially in a world that has existed without magic for so long, which I assume was your case. At first, the introduction of magic and the changes brought on by the System are enough to sustain you, and many who ordinarily wouldn’t survive, manage to do so. That’s why so many monsters rise with each cycle of integration.” Zirida explained.

Alan listened with rapt attention, mindful to absorb all of the new information that was freely given to him. So, what, he would get worse and worse?

“What other things should I expect?”

She shrugged. “There are many protections in place for newly integrated species. Travel to new System worlds is forbidden for the sake of everyone, not just to give you time to adjust. Mana plague is a real danger and mutation happens easily to organisms unused to existing along with all the energy and laws present in the universe. Not that they weren’t there before, but I assume it was a sort of ‘I don’t know about it so it can’t affect me’ type of situation. Different planes of reality, superimposed to the limit, but never touching.”

“As for what to expect,” she continued, “Lower Vitality can lead to many problems. Typically, over thirty or forty points in tier one, you wouldn’t care about temperatures like this one. You might start bleeding heavily, healing magic and potions will slowly stop affecting you, even mana won’t be able to supplement you and you will eventually waste away. You should be careful around toxins too as they might be the worst of the lot. Your body will react at first, and some of your skills might help, but even if you beat the poison, you will die soon after.”

“Huh,” Alan simply exclaimed. He had forgotten about the cold. Somehow, his situation appeared to be much more dire than he had anticipated. Zirida was not pulling any punches, but he appreciated that. The information was invaluable to him.

“You know of any cures?” he asked. It was a long shot. Alan also wondered why Old Greyheart hadn’t told him about any of this. Did the old man simply not care or had he decided to spare him the gruesome details of the fate that Alan was headed toward?

“There are possibilities but I am too weak and I haven’t dabbled in such magic or skills. Take my words as an eventuality. I think you will die long before most effects come into play. It takes time for the soul and the body to align after an integration and considering your strength, which is impressive for your level, it couldn’t have been long for you.”

“How long ago did you get your class?” Alan asked.

“Two years, when I turned twenty. I’ve prepared for it my whole life though.”

Had it taken her two years to reach her current strength? Which was… what exactly? They had spoken about specializations and tiers but he still had no idea what any of that meant.

“Can you tell me about specialization and tiers? I have no idea what to expect.”

Zirida nodded. “I don’t see why not. It’s common knowledge. Specializations happen for most classes at level 50, after you pick the last skill for tier one. It is a commitment to follow a certain path early on. Then, once you reach level 100 and are eligible for a tier-up, you keep your class since you have specialized already. Those who forego the choice at level 50 can hope for a better to be offered at level 100. Too many factors affect everything. Even some rarer specialization change their class if they decide it's good enough.”

“There are advantages and disadvantages to each choice, specializing is vastly preferred and much safer, especially when people have access to information on class development and available skills and a support system that will cover their weaknesses. Most who decide to chase a rarer class do a lot of research and seek out rare paths and paths to specific skills.”

That… was interesting. What would it mean for him though, a patronless Warlock? It didn’t sound like either choice would be a step back although he didn’t really like to lock onto the path he was currently walking. There was way too much to discover and way too much he didn’t know about the universe. Who knew what powers were buried everywhere around, waiting to be discovered?

“And what does a tier-up bring?” Alan asked.

“In the simplest terms – you reach a higher level of existence. It is something that must be experienced and cannot be explained with words. Many changes come with it and it is different for everyone. It might help with some of your issues.”

At least he had something to look forward to. Hopefully, he would reach it sooner, rather than never. Especially if he was burning through the time that he had remaining daily.

Alan sighed, “Thank you, Zirida. For the information and the potion. I will pay you back, somehow.”

“It is no issue.”

There was silence as Alan closed his eyes and tried to evaluate his condition. It had certainly improved, and the cold was not as biting anymore. He felt much better.

“Can I have a drop of your blood?” Zirida asked, startling Alan. She seemed oddly bashful after asking the question.

“Okay. She certainly shared useful information and not killing her when she was weak might’ve been a good thing but for the sake of my sanity… Don’t agree!” Xil’s urgent voice sounded in his mind.

“Yeah, I wasn’t about to.”

Alan took a few moments to think of the best choice of words. While she seemed much friendlier now than she had been, that was a huge ask. Alan was sure there were many skills in the vast universe that would make use of a drop of blood in various ways.

“Look, I am grateful that you saved me and for all the answers, but that seems like an odd request. I… don’t trust easily and we just met.”

“Ah, I see. I’m sorry, I didn’t think of that. I simply get excited about blood magic.” Zirida nodded. She didn’t seem offended but her face returned to the passive state she mostly kept it in.

“Maybe… after we survive and learn a bit more about each other? What do you want it for anyway?”

“Try to learn something about your skills and how they affect you. Also, I have a skill that will create a connection I could use to communicate with you if we’re close. It is one-sided,” Zirida answered.

It sounded like agreeing would bring him further benefits, but he decided to not rush into blindly exchanging blood with every woman he met.

“Can you walk?” she asked.

Alan tried to stand up and stretched a bit. It was a night and day difference.

“Seems so.”

“Good. Let’s go.”

“Not to be weird but… can’t you just fly us out?” he asked.

“It was my robe that allowed it.” The robe in question appeared in her hand. It was filled with holes and Alan frowned. If so many attacks had reached Zirida, how was she okay? Then he realized it. It was done by her skills as the scars covering her body opened and the blood took the shape of weapons. She frowned at the piece of torn cloth. “I need to stop doing that. It’s the third and last I had.”

Destroying three robes that allowed one to fly seemed a bit irresponsible… then again, Alan was the last person to judge anyone.

“So what’s the plan?” he asked.

Zirida seemed to suppress a smile, “We walk. I haven’t been underground yet. We might find some good stuff. You need levels.”

“Awfully considerate of her. Keep her.” Xil grunted.

“Last time you wanted me to kill her!”

“Yes, because you are bad with women.”

“And that’s your solution?!”

The demon simply grunted and didn’t speak again.

Alan took a breath and turned to follow the already moving Zirida just as a sound from the darkness ahead made her pause. He lifted his staff and prepared to cast, then threw the candlestone ahead. The light bounced off the shiny stone walls and ground, revealing a doll.

That’s right, there were three and I killed two.

It was in a sorry condition, dragging itself toward them. Its legs were broken and looked like branches that had burst apart. Alan noticed a green glow around the shattered limbs. Ever so slowly, the wood was growing and smoothing out.

“Do you want to do the honors?” Zirida asked. “I don’t get much from them.”

“Thanks. I wanna see if any of my other skills can kill those things. The one from upstairs…”

“I wanted to ask about that too,” she said. Alan saw no reason to hide anything and decided to share what he could, before asking more questions of his own.

The doll was almost defenseless as he first sent a charged shadow blade at it. It did little damage at full strength, barely leaving a mark on the wood.

He tried the daggers and even [True Edge] seemed to struggle, although the shadow blade imbued with it seemed to do much better.

“Interesting enchantment,” Zirida noted.

The shadow flame blades created by the dagger from Mr. Muge did the best. It made sense in a way. However, it would still take a doll standing still while he sent a barrage of blades to do any real damage. This kind of sucked.

Finally, cast [Mana Zap], and the small burst did absolutely nothing.

“That’s… embarrassing,” he finally said.

“You shame me, human. Is this all you amount to?”

“Shut the fuck up for once.”

Zirida shrugged, “It’s almost double your level and has resistance to most traditional magic. Let me help.”

She raised a hand and the scars became bleeding wounds as daggers of blood stabbed at the doll’s head until there were about six sticking out. The blood reformed, becoming clawed hands that started pulling in opposite directions. The doll flailed helplessly as its head was split with a loud cracking sound. A black mass reminiscent of a rotten brain appeared there.

“Do it now.”

Alan nodded.

You have slain: Void Tree Temple Doll (81)

…

Level up!

You have reached level 43 in [Warlock]!

+ 3 Attribute Points

+ 1 Mind, Will, and Magic

“Once again, I’m very grateful.”

“No worries.” The blood dug into the wooden corpse and produced a small stone similar to the ones in the parasites. It brimmed with energy. Zirida handed it to Alan and started walking again.

“Don’t you need it?”

“You earned it,” she answered without turning. Alan hurried to catch up.

Hardly…

“I have another skill that might be of interest to you…” he said. It was all he had to offer for everything she had done for him. Her eyes instantly lit up with a red glow, which startled him, but it was just her excitement.

“Well, it’s a ritual…”

The two walked as Alan explained his skill and the ideas he had in detail.