The Fool's Freedom

“We can’t just rush back so soon.” Kalyntha said after a while, seemingly having thought things through, “We need to check for other artifacts and portals. If the temple keeps getting flooded by monsters from the battlefield it might collapse. The portals are making space more unstable by the minute and the formation is limited in what it can do to keep it all together. It's one of the best around, but this place is unstable, largely due to the void element present everywhere. We might all be doomed… well, not me as my main body is out there somewhere. It will hurt though.” She was fuming and Alan kept his mouth shut trying to come up with a plausible explanation. Everything was too complicated, too weird. It had all been a mess since he’d come to the fractal itself.

“This is a small segment of the Temple but it is believed it is somehow still connected to the others. Our raid was to check on the dragon and clean up some of the dolls. The portal implies that someone had managed to come along and set this up without us noticing. No one below tier one should be capable of that unless they have a very specialized class.” Zirida added.

“Because specializations make one’s power shoot up in one direction?” Alan guessed. It was pretty obvious that it worked similarly to education on earth. A person with a PhD would have extensive knowledge on the subject they’ve focused on, while not necessarily knowing much about other fields. At least in theory.

“Yes. Someone with the stealth and skills needed to do all this by himself should have next to no combat abilities. Some people make such choices, but they are a rare sight.” Zirida explained.

“The issue,” Kalyntha interjected with annoyance, “is that if the balance of the fractals is destroyed in any way, it might cause a chain reaction among other fractals. We still don’t know how far the roots of the Void Tree stretch. As I’ve said before, fully killing a God is almost next to impossible.”

Well, that complicates things further. Fuck, I prefer bashing heads in and leveling. This is way over my head.

“Okay, hold on. So, parts of the Void Tree might be living, someone is setting up portals as distractions or as a way to make the temple collapse, which in turn will put the whole fractal system at risk, the dragon’s gone for some reason, you were searching for that shit lizard, and the Outpost Master is nowhere to be seen?” Alan tried to sum up. He was getting a headache.

“Pretty much.” Zirida nodded.

“So can we assume that someone is trying to either use the dragon to make someone up top very mad while acquiring whatever valuable things the dragon can offer, destroy the fractals and kill everyone for some reason, OR, and bear with me… revive the Void Tree?”

The two women remained silent and Kalyntha landed them on one of the ruins near the largest of the groups. The fighting against the various monsters was continuing in full force and Alan saw few of the larger parasites in the distance. To him, they were the most dangerous if left unchecked. And also the most attractive when it came to levels.

A few shifters crawled out from the ruins around, wiggling and screeching. Alan prepared to fight but the orbs of Kalyntha took care of them with efficiency and speed scared him. In mere seconds, the monsters were no more than a bunch of scattered cores on the ground.

“All three of your versions sound insane,” she said. “My family is directly responsible for a few of the higher-level Void Tree fractals. So, if this is a conspiracy then we’re talking about a direct attack against us. I’m really hoping it's just some whacko trying to get the Dragon’s bloodline or something. Riasko was a suspect because of the attack we suffered, and he still is. However, his family is not nearly as important as they’d like to think they are.”

“They can be used then. By someone stronger.” Zirida added from the side.

“Only the Dragon’s presence justifies the existence of the outpost and the resources poured in here. We will be on the hook if something happens and Master Wilbis will be directly executed, or worse.”

Worse than an execution? No thanks. Thoughts of Emerson rushed into Alan’s head. He was still unsure of the man’s fate and felt bad about not taking the time to at least see a glimpse of the man. His punishment could be considered worse than death.

“What’s the plan then?” Alan asked. To him rushing back and trying to find clues was the best course of action. At least before it became clear that the portals could doom them all.

“We run through this place as fast as possible. Close any portals we find, and look for clues. Then, we rush back. Hopefully, Master Wilbis is doing something about it all. Even letting things deteriorate to such an extent is already a guaranteed punishment for him.”

So much for our kobold cheese venture. Damn, and here I thought I can establish myself in the universe.

Kalyntha took to the air. Her armor twisted and shimmered as it became flowing metal before Alan’s very eyes. A fearsome aura blanked the battlefield. It made Alan think she’d jumped tiers even though it seemed impossible. The aura made him feel as if she was a ruler he had to obey and a fearsome knight who was about to execute him in one.

“What the hell?” he whispered.

“It’s her will. She has no special properties about it, but it is honed and perfected to a level we can hardly imagine. A will is a will, despite the tiers. And she’s a tier-three outside of here. That’s a powerhouse in most places of the universe.” Zirida explained next to him.

So that’s a will? Mine makes my skills break things better. How can I just project it like that?

“You will get there. Wills that carry special properties take a while to manifest properly, but when they do they can be better than high-tier skills.”

Alan nodded. He felt excited to see how far he could push things. The translucent shadows around him seemed to respond and grow darker to his thoughts. He felt something stirring in his mind. It had been hours since he cast [Monochrome Armor] now, but it was going stronger than ever.

Kalyntha’s steel orbs spread all over the battlefield becoming thin plates. Alan lost count of how many there were now.

“Warriors!” Kalyntha called, her voice spreading far and echoing. It overpowered the sounds of the battle. Her orbs were acting as speakers, vibrating in the air and carrying her every word. “We need to pick up the pace. Some information has surfaced that makes me believe the integrity of the fractal itself might be in danger. I don’t need to tell you what will happen if that is true. No one wants to die in such a place. So… stop holding back and save energy. Let’s rush through this place. Leave no monster alive and keep every artifact you find.”

There was murmuring coming from the crowd and a few voices yelled trying to ask questions. One stood out though. It was a thin man carrying a sword larger than himself. Even if they were in a world of magic and skills, the weapon looked completely ridiculous to Alan. Then again, he was also making his daggers look as cool as possible each chance he got. The man was flanked by the large woman Kalyntha had taken the dragon scale from.

“Why is a thief ordering us around?” he asked and flew to stand level with Kalyntha. There was no obvious use of an item or a skill.

Oh, buddy. Don’t do that. Alan put a hand on his face.

“A thief?” Kalyntha asked with wide eyes. “Me?” She started giggling before transitioning to full-blown laughter. It spread all over like Christmas bells and even Zirida shuffled in discomfort. “Are you referring to this? A scale of the dragon? You do know what will happen to you if you are found with it outside, right? I’ll return it to the Outpost Master, who will give it to the proper authorities.”

“It’s a single scale dropped by a large lizard,” the man scoffed eliciting gasps from the crowd below.

All the explanations Alan had received during his stay made it sound like no one questioned the so-called Thrones or their decisions. It seemed now that it was not so. He’d been shushed for way less.

Kalyntha seemed to hesitate before she spoke. “You must have quite the backing to speak like that,” she eventually said. Her next words made the sounds of the coming monsters and the ongoing battles only minute details that were not worth attention. “You must be involved in what is going on eh? Care to lend me your brain?”

The thin man hesitated, “Are you mad, you thief? Do you even know who—,” he barely dodged an orb that came from behind. “What are you doing?!” he screamed. “I’ll—”

His words were cut off once again as a scream came from below. Alan looked down and saw the large woman from earlier. Her left arm was coated in crawling metal that was ripping pieces of her flesh as if it were a living thing. It was slowly crawling toward her shoulder and neck.

Another two orbs were slowly circling her as if daring someone to try and help. All the while Kalyntha stood unmoving, her eyes piercing the thin man who had accused her of being a thief.

His calm display was now completely shattered, instead, he looked on confused and unsure of what to do. “What? Who did you say you were again? Were you about to tell me what daddy will do to me if I touch you? I always hate it when little tier ones act arrogant. Don’t you know at that level we’re just ants for the slaughter? There are places where even a tier three is only fit to serve wine and kiss the boots of those above them! And they are thankful for the opportunity! Yet here you are, throwing away your life and future because of… what? Did she fuck you good?”

True terror was written on the face of the man before her. Alan tried to remain stoic but his heart was thumping in his chest. She was right. Even if her words were not aimed at him they held truth that seared itself into his mind. He had been growing confident, which was a good thing. Confidence opened doors and helped progress. However, letting it step over the border and turn into arrogance was a grave mistake. If he had acted like he had done a few times in the Sanctuary when he met Kalyntha or any of the others, he would have been just a nameless kill under their belt.

A weak ant that had dared to bare its fangs.

The shadows became even more restless and it caught his attention. Are they responding to my emotional state?

The screams of the large Amazonian woman suddenly ceased and Alan turned his eyes in her direction. The liquid metal was entering her mouth. She dropped to her knees, tears pouring out of her eyes. Her one remaining arm clawed at the metal which only cut her fingers until they were only a bloody mess.

“S-Stop!” the man yelled. He pointed with his large sword and a fearsome aura briefly appeared around it. Kalyntha didn’t flinch nor did she stop. He hesitated.

Alan wondered why he was so soft at this level. True, they were weak, but reaching the end of tier one seemed like a tough ordeal, or at least it had been for him. Was it possible that not everyone had to struggle for their levels and power? He was sure those born in powerful positions had it better than him, but he always assumed the System did its part in making things fairer. He had thought it was guiding them towards power, towards evolution. That typically involved a lot of struggling and difficulties though.

Aren’t I the same? I’ve lucked out countless times, and I owe most of my power to a few chance meetings. I’m just another type of lucky.

The woman stopped struggling seconds before the metal bore through her eyes and nose. She dropped to the ground dead, and the metal reformed into an orb that slowly flew toward Kalyntha.

The man stood frozen in the air opposite Kalyntha.

“She’s already dead. Wanna try me too, kid? Or are you a good daddy’s boy and listen to what I fucking say?”

Some laughed, but most were silent as the man’s sword became streams that poured back into his chest. Seconds later he flew back down to his group and blended with the crowd.

“Alright, anyone else?” Kalyntha asked. No one spoke up. “Then let’s fuck this place up. Chop chop!”

The burst of various skills that followed made Alan’s blood boil.