The Fool's Freedom

At first, Alan was pretty confused, but after a few moments, the confusion turned into annoyance. He wanted to examine his new book and think through everything that had happened with the spirit. The title from Thorn hadn’t done almost anything but get him into the Bazaar until now, which in itself was technically one of the best things to happen to him. And now, it had given him another great gift – an opportunity to trade System choices for insane treasures. He was sure there would be times when a deal would be against his best interests, but he felt pretty good about the one he had just made.

“Ah, fuck. Look lady, I don’t know what happened to your friends, and even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you because I don’t want the same to happen to me,” Alan said. It was getting tiring for everyone to be stronger than him.

“Don’t trust a human.” The largest one said and lifted his head just enough for Alan to see the lisarni features. “We should interrogate him.”

Of course. Am I being dragged into a race war?

The woman was thoughtful. One of her hands was behind her back, possibly signaling her comrades.

“You will come with us,” she finally said.

“Oh, why don’t you go f—”

“Ha!” Byrr laughed interrupting Alan’s diplomatic response. “Girlie, this boy here has reached an agreement with the Outpost Master and the two of us are here to make sure nothing bad happens to him. I’m sure you’re a good company, but I think he will pass.”

That made the group look at each other with uncertainty. Some hesitation appeared in their body language and the large one seemed to deflate a bit.

“Skinwalkers shouldn’t threaten guards,” Feyrith said slowly. He was fiddling with a badge that had three towers carved into it. This was the first time Alan noticed that the two guards’ current armor bore no other marks. “You’re lucky we tolerate your kind on the fractals, but you should know better than me what it would mean for your people if you angered an Outpost Master. Especially this one.”

Another wave of hesitance. One of the black robes took a step forward and whispered something to the woman who acted as their speaker.

“I see. Our bad. We wouldn’t want to anger the esteemed Outpost Master.” The woman relented. She didn’t sound like she meant it. Alan was sure she was steaming on the inside. “We will talk again, human.”

“Hope not.”

There was a snort from the large lisarni as the group turned and quickly disappeared in one of the passages between the hills.

“What a bunch of weirdos,” Alan scratched his head as he looked after them.

Byrr chuckled and was about to reply when a loud booming noise interrupted him. The large lisarni that had huffed and puffed was sent flying back toward them and into a nearby rock that shattered in pieces.

The trio watched dumbfounded as the dust settled. The large lisarni was struggling to stop a spinning metal orb that was pushing at his chest and creating sparks from the contact with the steel armor he wore underneath.

There was another boom as rocks flew everywhere, shattered by some force, and the spokeswoman jumped backward, followed closely by a hooded head that had been one of their companions just moments ago.

“What are you doing you madwoman?!” the woman cried out.

Kalyntha floated out like a goddess of death from the passage, two metal orbs beneath her feet and the fourth and final member of the black-robed group dangling from a hand coated in liquid metal.

So cool. Alan stealthily summoned Xil’s cube to let him watch.

“What?” the demon instantly barked in his mind. He seemed grumpy, and Alan related. He couldn’t say he was

“Just thought you might want to watch the show,” Alan replied.

“Oh! I knew that bitch wasn’t dead. Fucking crafty, that one.”

Kalyntha giggled, and Alan felt his hair stand. She was terrifying. This could have been him during that first fateful meeting days ago, and he was only alive because she had decided to let him live.

“Where’s that guy?” she asked lazily. “I forgot the last two sneaky bastards I ran into before I killed them. So?”

“What guy?!” The woman responded. One of her arms was dangling worthless next to her.

Kalyntha put a finger to her lower lip and looked up as if she was thinking very hard. The struggling person in her hand didn’t help her image though. “You know, death erases some information from my brain. He was a lisarni, arrogant, betrayed me.”

“Do you mean Riasko?” Alan blurted out earning himself a hateful gaze from the spokeswoman. He was surprised she had heard him. Kalyntha noticed them again too. The large lisarni was still struggling against the metal orb at his chest. It had stopped spinning, instead having pinned him down.

“Oh, I know you, right? We just met! Yes, Riasko was his name. That annoying little lizard that I bonked in the head.” She giggled.

“He ran after you died. Zirida and I had to take an excursion underground until we reached the Outpost. Hadn’t seen him since he ran like a scared cat.”

There was a roar as the large lisarni finally managed to push away the metal orb pinning him down. His robe was in tatters and his armor was cracked, but still whole. It was uncertain if it was due to his own strength or because Kalyntha had allowed him to stand, but for some reason, he ignored the woman who was killing them and looked toward Alan.

“You will not insult Noble Riasko,” he barked through ragged breaths.

Alan sized him up and summoned his staff and true edge. He would’ve loved to try the skills in the book or how it would change his [Shadow Slash] but that needed time. And mana.

“I will insult whoever I want, thank you,” Alan replied.

“I will—”

The orb flew again and sent the lisarni back into the broken rocks he had just crawled out from. His armor fell apart and he spat some blood.

Still alive. Impressive.

“I only need one of you to talk. I might let you leave if you tell me what I want to know,” Kalyntha said. She was looking at the still hooded woman who stood, looking around and searching for escape. Two orbs were circling her though, and Alan was sure she would meet an untimely end if she tried anything. From the beginning until now, the group of four hadn’t been given a chance to defend or retaliate. Alan was certain they were much stronger than him, but Kalyntha was also only tier one, yet she was dominating them.

“Is Kalyntha’s class that much stronger? She’s something called [Metalmancer], I believe.” Alan asked. He was not hoping for a concrete answer, but the demon was observant.

“As I mentioned before, she is hollow. Her strength is beyond my observations.” Xil replied.

Figures.

“Let me make it easier for you,” Kalyntha giggled. The hand that was holding the third black-robed person let go, and instead, the metal that was covering the limb flew and wrapped around them, ripping apart the robes in the process. The face was revealed to belong to a youngish-looking man with dark unfocused eyes and a very wide mouth. He both looked human and didn’t.

“I will question this one my way first, while you decide.”

Another orb flew out from her hand. It was one of her rings, that grew in size until it was similar to the rest of the orbs, only hollow. Needle-thin spikes rose from it and mercilessly penetrated the temples and nape of the man’s head. His body started convulsing midair, while a strange metal glow appeared in Kalyntha’s eyes.

“Reading skinwalkers is always annoying,” she said after an agonizing moment. Alan had assumed few things could surprise him anymore, but Kalyntha’s current performance was putting her straight on top of his list of people not to fuck with.

The needles exited the man’s head and the metal unwrapped, letting the body fall to the ground. It splattered like it was made of jello and had no flesh and bones. Maybe that was the case.

“You don’t even know your names? So fun. But maybe you know something.” Kalyntha giggled again as if she hadn’t just lobotomized a person. Metal orbs rushed toward the spokeswomen who had taken out two daggers. That caught Alan’s attention. Her arm had been broken and limp just a while ago, and now she was using it as if the injury hadn’t happened. He could probably achieve the same with some stolen life force.

She moved fast and was much stronger than her companions. Her attacks were fast and managed to alter the trajectory of the orbs a few times. Her attacks were simple and graceful, but the daggers certainly weren’t.

Kalyntha didn’t seem bothered though, as she kept looking around like a curious child as if the fight was not worth her attention. One of the daggers eventually shattered and the second one followed suit, making Alan sigh in regret. He would’ve loved getting his hands on those after the woman didn’t need them anymore.

The next moment the woman was held by metal and lifted into the air.

“Will you speak?” Kalyntha asked nicely.

The woman struggled, her body morphing and losing its shape, patches of skin and flesh falling from beneath the robes.

“That’s a no then.”

Another lobotomy later there were two puddles on the floor. Kalyntha turned toward the last living member of the strange group, the large lisarni. Alan looked at him too and flinched. ‘Wops’ was all the metal girl said as she gazed upon the broken and bloody form. He was still breathing, but each breath came with a spurt of blood from the shattered chest.

“I overdid it. Oh, well.”

An orb mercifully ended his misery by crushing his head.

Alan could feel the nervousness of Byrr and Feyrith. The two were trying to act nonchalant and cool, but apparently, the events were a bit much ever for the two seasoned guards.

“Well… see you later! I will drop by with Zirida sometime.” Kalyntha waved.

“You’ve seen her?” Alan asked. He didn’t feel nervous at all for some reason.

“Oh yeah, she has some problems too though. All but one of the members of her order stationed here have died under some weird circumstances.”

That doesn’t sound good.

“Well, hit me up if I can help.” He didn’t know why he said that.

“You are insane.” The demon spat.

“So sweet of you. Sure! And you ‘hit me up’ if you see that cowardly lizard! Bye, guys!” Kalyntha waved again and shot out in a random direction, leaving behind the blood and carnage.

Alan watched her go. Even the demon was silent now.

“So… do you think there would be anything useful on the corpses?” Alan asked.

The two guards looked at him, looked at the carnage, then back to him.

“If you want to go through all that, be my guest,” Byrr said and walked away.

“Spatial items or abilities typically collapse upon the death of their owner. It’s one way to prevent theft. We’re all selfish, after all.”

“Makes sense.” Alan didn’t like the thought of someone using his forearm bones to rob him. “Let’s get this over with faster.”

Alan put away the events he had witnessed at the back of his mind. Riasko and Kalyntha were not his problems to deal with.

It took them the better part of a day to finally find enough parasites for Alan to complete his task. The specialization choice was gone and the System remained silent after he had come back from his meeting with Odu. He didn’t mind.

The parasites they found were mostly in the early fifties so he ended up reaching level 55 before they called it off and rushed back toward the outpost. There was a lot to do, and Alan wanted to work some more on his skills.

He wanted to stock up on clothes, as he got ruined often and those sold around the outpost were of quality he hadn’t seen back in the Sanctuary. There was also a lot of work to be done on himself.

He wanted to find mana stones and progress further by enchanting his bones. Doing that would boost his strength a lot and possibly unlock the next level of the skill.

Leveling was also going great on the fractal, as it had taken him a mere few days’ worth of time to almost double his level. If he could reach the border of tier one before leaving the place, he wouldn’t have to worry about anyone back in the Sanctuary.

No matter what was going on there, they couldn’t possibly match his leveling speed… right?