The Fool's Freedom

He still needed some major rest before preparing the curse mark or trying to curse her, considering the differences in their strength. Zirida warned him that it could be a bit dangerous, but it wouldn’t kill him. That piqued his interest. New experiences were like gold, and each helped him grow.

The more time he spent with her the more she reminded him of Ashlyn. A subtly crazier version of Ash, maybe. Zirida was like a bundle of sharp edges and insane magic waiting to explode, in an ice-cold package marked by a life he couldn’t even imagine. She was nice once she opened up though.

I wonder how Ash is doing. Knowing her she’s holed up somewhere mourning my dumb ass. Hopefully, she’s taking out her frustrations on monsters rather than humans. There are some asses I’d rather kick myself when I get back. But this place is too good of an opportunity. I’m learning daily, and I’m getting a lot by simply running into random people. I can’t go before squeezing all I can from it.

He sighed and ate some fruit while waiting for her to return. She had helpfully offered to go buy him a bed and some other furniture, as the chair she had let him use for the time being was a dear memento of a passed sister. That made him almost feel bad, but she seemed happy for the item to be used.

Alan slowly gathered his strength, wondering where to put his free attribute points. It was not much of a choice. His Magic stat had reached a whopping 231 points. He hoped that tiering up would simplify the numbers a little bit. Keeping track of thousands upon thousands seemed like a chore. Then again, it felt good to watch the numbers grow. And he felt the difference. Typically, it was more subtle, even when he added more points. Now, it was an explosion of mana that still raged inside of him, impatient to be let out.

His mana pool had expanded rapidly and he felt like all of his skills were benefiting a lot from the boost. It made sense that it would raise his overall power too.

He split the 36 free points between Mind and Will, figuring that keeping the boost to his physical attributes even was a great idea. There were 3 attribute points left over again, but he left them to rest in reserve. He was making it a habit to have some, just in case things went sideways with the vitality, although that didn’t seem to be such a problem anymore.

After applying the bonuses, he broke through the 200 barrier in Will too, which felt good. Hopefully, that would help him apply the new effect he had unlocked that was just his trauma taking on a magical manifestation. A will of a broken man. Poetic. And kind of silly sounding.

His new status looked quite nice.

INFORMATION:

Name:

Alan Morgan

Race:

Human

Class:

Warlock

Level:

55

Insight:

Flow;

Titles:

First Pathfinder; Madcap; Slayer; Friend of the Spirit World; Enlightened, Mercenary(F)

ATTRIBUTES:

3

Strength

68(OBOM + 48.3) +5 [15 base

Dexterity

68(OBOM + 48.3) + 5 [15 base

Vitality

5

Will

209 (+48.3 from %) [161 base

Mind

182 (+5) (+16.1 from %) [161 base

Magic

231 (R: EB +115) [116 base

TRAITS:

One Mind, One Body; Limited Vitality; Tongues of the Four Corners; Broken One’s Will; Shadow Mind; Oathbound

SKILLS:

Warlock’s Body Mastery; Synaptic Failure; Shadow Weapon; Ritual: Enchanted Bones; Ritual: Infused Flesh; Mortal Peril; Monochrome Armor; Curse: Stolen Life; Mana Zap; Sacrificial Attack; Last Glimpse

BODY ENHANCEMENTS:

Shadow Space; Rune: Myriad Tongues;

Alan chuckled and shook his head. The most interesting thing to the current him was still the book, which apparently had found itself a place in his inner workings. No mention of it in the status though. With a thought it appeared in his hand, looking just the same as before. He briefly considered feeding it some of the leftover mana from the crystal but decided to wait until Zirida was gone. He had a different job now.

I wonder how it will affect my stronger skills. Would I have a cast of a similar, yet upgraded skill? I can’t wait to test the [Shadow Slash] that’s been resting there. Although I probably need to supply it with enough mana first. Right now it seems almost dead.

The book disappeared just as it had appeared, and he began the preparations for creating the mark. It was a simple process for him now that he had the large parasite to drink from. He cut his hand and poured some blood and a large amount of mana into it. With his newly upgraded mana pool, it didn’t feel like a large drain, but it was still significant. He briefly considered pouring some more than it needed but experiments would be for his enemies, not potential friends.

“I am the thief of life, and in this mark, I leave my blood. Let it become the tool of my salvation,” he whispered. The words struck a chord in him this time.

The Order of Salvation… salvation. It’s probably a stretch. I’m sure it’s nothing.

As the mark formed, he quickly took a pull of life energy from the connection. An insignificant amount. He checked on the mental image of the parasites river of vitality and smiled when he saw that it had grown a bit. It was still less than the first time but that meant his ‘victims’ would be able to heal some of the damage he inflicted. Which meant he could keep it up for a long time.

Alan made a mental list of things to do, after finishing things up with Zirida.

Some more boring grinding would be welcome. He didn’t know if rushing through the levels was a good strategy or not, and there was also the issue of not being able to level up as fast now that most parasites were at his levels. There were surely zones with stronger ones.

He needed to charge the book and figure out the skills inside of it and what exactly it did. Words were one thing but how they translated into the world was another.

Some more meditations and figuring out all the shadow stuff was next on the list. [Monochrome Armor] was behaving strangely and he hoped it would not be a case of possession or something. The more he learned the more questions popped up and remained unanswered.

His new ritual sounded tempting too, but first came dealing with the black stuff in his bones and eventually trying to ‘enchant’ them. He was leaning toward risking it with the piece of bark he had found but then again, if it was a piece of a dead god or something similar it could exactly be counted as natural. Or could it? That was another line of questioning that would bring about another ton of questions.

He could technically just try it. Although poisoning himself seemed like a bad way to go. Then again if his newly enchanted bones showed any draw toward the energy, it would probably be safe. Void sounded like an element with many good uses.

Being wary of Bonez was a good thing too. He felt that meeting him was another mistake, although it had been educational. The guy was unhinged and had a strange patron behind him. He had to ask Zirida if she knew anything.

Just as Alan was thinking about that she returned and unceremoniously dumped a large bed in an empty corner. It appeared with a pop and landed softly on the ground. Alan whistled.

“Are you ready?” she asked. The eagerness in her eyes made Alan hesitate but he nodded nonetheless.

“Let’s get this over with.”

“Thank you for doing this.”

“I don’t understand you, but a deal’s a deal.”

Zirida looked at him. “Haven’t you met people who can only learn through suffering? I’m like that.”

“Oh.”

What do I even say to that? I’m not Shakespeare. One look at her and you will know that she’s had life go seriously wrong for her. She’s strong though, and she doesn’t seem to mind it much. The masochism is worrying. Like I’m one to talk.

Alan summoned the curse mark he had prepared, letting it hover over his hand.

“Fascinating.” Zirida came closer, bringing her face almost next to the mark. It thrummed with magic, hovering above Alan’s palm. Even as it was Alan could feel a slight connection with it.

“There’s blood magic in it, no doubt. It is a bit familiar, similar to skills the Order allows us to learn, but it is also very different. There’s a spatial component too, I think. It’s weird though.”

Spatial? Well, that somewhat makes sense. It literally allows me to call upon the connection from worlds away. Theoretically. He hadn’t tried it yet.

“You seem to know a lot.”

Zirida kept looking at the mark as she answered, “I research skills in my free time. There are very few I can do that to without learning them first, so this is a great opportunity. Thank you.”

“No worries.”

She straightened up. “Let’s do it. Should I undress? This robe is not enchanted.”

“What? No! Just… fuck. Just stand still.”

Alan took a breath and brought the mark toward her chest. He hesitated midway.

“Turn around.”

“But I want to see!” she protested.

“Oh god, just… fine. FINE.”

“I don’t see what the problem is.”

Alan didn’t answer. He just wanted to get this over with. As soon as the mark neared her he felt the resistance. It was unlike any he had felt from the parasites. It was not too much, comparable to the time he had cursed the large one, but it was very different too. The mark flickered, then entered her body without a sound.

Alan felt the connection form slowly. Much more slowly than it had before. Zirida had her eyes closed, probably focusing on the process.

He closed his too and did the same. After some minutes he felt it. A river of vitality larger than the large parasites. It was like a deep red force of nature.

“Should I… try to take some?” he asked.

“Yes. Be careful.”

Is she afraid I will harm her?

Alan reached for the tiniest portion, pulling gently. Then felt the connection tremble. A massive, terrifying force rose from beneath the river of Zirida’s vitality. It was overwhelming, all-encompassing, and stronger than anything he had ever felt. A giant of life energy rose, covering the river with one hand while raising the other. It reached for him and Alan cut the connection in a bout of panic, forcing the curse mark to dissipate.

He found himself sitting on the ground. His clothes were sticking to his sweaty body, and Zirida was staring at him from above with surprise.

Did she try to kill me? What the fuck was that?!

Alan tried to summon a dagger but… he couldn’t. The fear and helplessness that suddenly overcame him made him scramble back from her.

“Alan, sorry! Are you okay?”

His mana was churning inside of him in disarray. The panic was coming from it and toward his mind, as if something had made the mana itself fear for its life and it was transferring that feeling to him.

It took minutes until everything calmed down. He stared at Zirida through it all. She made no attempts to get closer to him, instead looking remorseful and ashamed.

“What the fuck was that?” Alan finally managed to ask. The emotions were going away and he reached for the shadow space pulling at a piece of food rather than a dagger. It appeared in his hand in a wisp of shadows just like it had many times before.

“I’m so sorry,” the [Red Cleric] said. “I… have protections in place given to me by the higher standing members of the Order. I didn’t know it would detect your curse.”

“You used my skill to test it?! Is that why you warned me to be careful?”

“No! The protections are related to my soul, and I didn’t think your curse might affect it. I was genuinely curious how this would go. I think the curse imprints on a level deeper than the body, and that’s why it's so hard to detect. I’ve never met another curse user though. It’s not a skill that affects the body alone.” She seemed genuinely sorry, but also curious.

“That’s fine and all and I’m glad you’re learning. But a giant of red energy tried to grab me through the connection while it hugged your life force. Does that thing live inside of you?” Alan asked.

“I don’t think so. It was hard to detect what exactly you were doing, and at one point I felt a sliver of presence… oh.” She bit her lip. That was not good. When Zirida started acting like a normal person then things were weird.

“Oh, what?”

“Might’ve been a sliver of our God’s will or one of its Prophet’s. Just a tiny one. I’m not that important. It’s fine!”

Alan gaped at her. A bottle of booze appeared in his hand in a whisp of shadows and he took a long drink, grimacing.

He had to bring Arley here to teach those bastards how to make good beer.