The Fool's Freedom

It was time to level up. The rest also jumped on the idea, as sitting around waiting for the unknown didn’t do anyone any favors. Only Salla and Eldon, who were taking Matt’s actions and Rob’s death very heavily, showed reluctance. They wanted to stay by the campfire but Tim convinced them that it would be safer if they were all together.

Interestingly, Salla was the second person to level without combat apart from Florence, whom only Alan knew about. Cooking gave levels after she had done it enough and considering she had joined in hunting the lizards for a bit, she was finally level 5. Her [Spark] had turned into [Heat] which of course she used to cook better. Not that there was much room when her only ingredient was lizard meat. The older woman greatly enjoyed the ability and her new pan and was itchy to get new foods in it. Her second skill was [Heat Resistance], which Alan considered a waste, but he understood that it had its advantages for a cook.

No one was surprised that Florence was joining them willingly, as the girl had always followed the group.

Finally, they set off towards the place where they had met the boar. Nadia raised the question of taking care of the remains of Joey and the woman, but she was been met with half-mumbled answers and Tim’s reassurance that they would do it if it was possible.

Alan summoned his Status page while following behind Ashlyn. He still had one free point and put it in Will. Once he got to 30 base Will his [Strong-willed] 5% bonus would give him 1.5 points and he was eager to see if the shit System rounded up or down. He’d bet his left nut it was down.

INFORMATION:

Name:

Alan Morgan

Race:

Human

Class:

Adult

Level:

8

Titles:

Pioneer

ATTRIBUTES:

Strength

15

Dexterity

15

Vitality

6

Will

30 (+1)

Mind

20

Magic

5

TRAITS:

Severe Weakness; Tongues of the four corners; Limited Vitality; Strong-willed

SKILLS:

Efficient Basic Movement; Mind Jab

Apart from his two (Epic) traits [Tongues of the four corners] stuck out like a sore thumb. The trait had been absolutely useless so far and Alan hoped it would remain that way unless they ran into someone from a different region of Earth. He was not looking forward to meeting any aliens, as something told him they probably wouldn’t be very friendly.

It took them a short amount of time to reach the thicker part of the woods on the other side of the lake. Everyone was tense, throwing worried looks towards the depths of the woods. Ashlyn was extra careful about any traces of wildlife or anything else.

Davis was acting as the second scout since the man couldn’t help but take full advantage of his now [Efficient Advanced Movement] skill, making Alan jealous. He weaved around the trees, climbed, and jumped, never straying too far. Alan was long used to people being better than him at physical activities, but having had the skill longer and still managing to only apply it as a walking aid stung.

They soon reached the place where they had fought the boar. The group tensed at the memory of the carnage they had witnessed and as they neared the sight was somehow even worse than the first time around. Both his and the woman’s corpses were just balls of crawling grey maggots similar to the ones Alan had seen on the Plagued Wolf. No normal maggots.

Almost no one puked this time around, although there was a lot of gagging and curses. Nadia broke down at the sight of her former friend, but surprisingly managed to gather herself quickly. Either she had grown stronger or… Alan caught Florence’s gaze and the girl winked at him.

She was frankly terrifying and Alan swore up and down to never cross her if he didn’t have to, as he doubted his higher Will attribute would be helpful for long.

They came upon the first boar a bit after they passed the place with the festering corpses of their former co-workers. It squealed in anger as it charged toward the first person it saw, which unfortunately for it was Emerson, who sent it rolling with a single hit. He was left staring with surprise at his mace.

Alan hurried to get close enough and cast [Mind Jab] a few times, eliciting more squealing and resulting in a dizzy but otherwise fine boar. He hoped that was enough to ensure his contribution before Ashlyn’s arrow pierced it in the eye and ended its life.

The whole thing lasted less than thirty seconds and the group was a bit stunned at how much difference a few levels and skills made.

“Shall we get a few more?” Tim asked.

Everyone was eager and they managed to kill five more before they decided it was enough, earning quite a few levels and stocking up on meat. They took only the two biggest boars as there was no way to preserve them long enough anyway.

Alan considered staying behind, but the group needed Ashlyn to guide them through the forest; he wasn’t sure if he could manage to find his way back alone even if he survived. Still, his gains were probably the best out of everyone as all he had to do was daze each boar with his [Mind Jab] before it got finished off. Ashlyn was a close second as all she had to do was shoot at non-vital but still squishy parts of the boar to get credit for the kill. Her skill with the bow was impressive.

Level up!

You have reached level 11!

+9 Attribute Points

Alan had hoped for something to happen at level 10 but he was left disappointed. The hunt had only taken them around five hours and the sun was high up in the sky when they returned to the still lingering fire near the lake. There was general excitement for something different than lizard meat and Salla got to preparing the boars quickly, making full use of her new stats and pan.

While waiting for lunch to be done Alan carefully put 1 point in Will, bringing the total to thirty, and watched as it jumped to 31 due to his 5% modifier. Fucking piece of shit system.

He put another 3 points in Will and the rest in Magic, bringing them to 33 (35 after the system finally rounded up and gave him a 2-point bonus) and 10 respectively.

With Florence around he wanted his will to be in top shape before he even considered putting points in Mind as well. He wasn’t even sure what the attribute did.

The meat was ready in no time and everyone had a decent share. Even Florence seemed to enjoy it and complimented Salla in an uncharacteristic show of emotion. As everyone was finishing the food Alan spoke.

“There is still plenty of daylight left. Do you guys want to go hunt some more? Wolves perhaps?”

There was a brief silence before Tim replied. “We shouldn’t get too greedy. It’s dangerous.”

“It’s dangerous being right here in the open too. You saw that beast the other night.” Florence interjected. Everyone turned towards her and Tim frowned.

“Since when do you give a shit about anything you leech?” Nadia barked from Tim’s right side. Florence smiled at her and Alan felt shivers run down his spine at the sight. He looked towards Nadia with pity, which the latter took as a challenge as she glared back and even bared her teeth. What the fuck was up with people?

Fuck you too. Maybe I won’t stop Flo from making you go crazy.

“Calm down, everyone.” Tim raised his hands.

“All I am saying is that we need levels. Florence is right. We cannot hope that this thing or something else won’t attack us. We should probably consider finding a new camping spot.” Alan added.

“And who made you the leader?” Nadia asked and Florence’s eye twitched. Alan felt cold sweat run down his back.

Just shut the fuck up, goddamn it.

“I am no leader nor have I ever claimed to be. I am one of the weakest here. I just don’t want to die and I think we need to get stronger in order to avoid that.”

“Why don’t you go on your own then?” Ivan suddenly asked. Many looked at the older man with surprise, Alan included.

Since when am I on your bad side? The fuck? He considered Florence, but it probably wasn’t her doing.

Let’s do it this way then. Stupid pricks. He stood up, using the spear for support. “Fine. Whoever wants to can join me. You won’t get fired, probably,” he chuckled at his own joke and turned to leave.

Ashlyn stood up almost at the same time as him and so did Florence. Davis was already packing his things from the moment Alan had proposed more hunting. His things included a spear and the system bag everyone had. Only Emerson looked torn.

“It’s okay to stay, Em,” Alan said to him. “You are not picking a side; relax. This won’t be the last hunt.”

The big man looked relieved and thanked Alan. For all his strength and talent for bashing things he really preferred to take a more passive approach to the situation.

Walter simply nodded towards Alan. “Maybe next time. I need to figure some skill stuff out.”

This is good too. More levels for us.

Eldon was kind enough to create a bunch of water bites, which were now more like globes of water. The young man hadn’t had much success with shaping water into weapons for everyone as was his initial plan. The globes were way more round than the bites though, which was a significant improvement.

The small group left in a hurry, with Ashlyn in the lead. She kept throwing glances towards Florence but Alan remained silent until they were deeper into the forest.

“So… Flo? Care to explain why you decided to come with us now? Won’t that ruin all your scheming?” Alan asked. Maybe that was not the right way to go about it but fuck it.

“I haven’t done any scheming. And I need a way to explain my sudden rise in power, I can’t hide forever you know,” she replied.

“What’s all this about?” Ashlyn raised an eyebrow.

“Wanna do the honors, Flo?”

“Don’t call me that. And I’m good,” the girl replied sweetly. Bitch.

Alan sighed and gave a short explanation that made their two companions gape at Florence as if she were a three-headed monster. He was not sure how to explain the part about Matt and Rob so he conveniently skipped it, deciding that it could wait.

“So, you bottle emotions up, shake the bottle, then spray people with it?” Ashlyn asked.

“In a way. It’s a bit more complicated but… yeah.”

“You can scare away beasts?”

“Yep.” Florence frowned, “I don’t know about that big one.”

“Don’t expect you to. Well, I am certainly glad you are on our side. You are, right?”

“Yep. Totally.”

Ah, women bonding. It’s the best thing in the world right after sleep and silence.

“Hey Davis,” Florence suddenly called. The man in question almost floated closer with the ease of a butterfly. “You can punch stuff hard?”

“Yeah, real hard!”

“Why pick a spear then? Why not some iron knuckles or gloves or something.” That got Alan’s attention. Yes, Davis, why?

“Figured there are things I don’t wanna get close enough to punch, you know?”

That was a very good reason by all criteria and Alan caught himself nodding in agreement. He wouldn’t want to punch some of the things in the forest either.

The walk seemed shorter than last time but they were both moving faster due to Alan’s slightly improved mobility compared to before and Ashlyn’s more expert guidance. To Alan, the forest looked the same in each direction.

They reached the ruins in no time at all. There were no signs of the two dead dark wolves, with only the charred remains of the plagued one waiting there to greet them. Davis climbed the more accessible ruins and hovered over the rest while keeping watch as they examined the place.

They found a lid for a jar, a piece of broken glass, and some strange berry-like plants that grew in one of the corners of the ruin. Alan picked a few and stashed them in his bag just in case they were edible. He couldn’t believe he was craving fruits and vegetables, but the apocalypse did wonders to a man’s palate. There were a few places where the earth had sunk, leaving large gaps beneath the large blocks of concrete. It looked like one could crawl under if they really tried, not that anyone showed such desires. They did have a rope with them, no one wanted to be stuck in a small crawl space filled with maggots or unknown alien terrors.

After a short discussion, the group left the ruins behind and ventured into the part of the forest where the wolves had come from. They passed a few unrecognizable piles of maggots that were distantly human-shaped and had probably at one point been their coworkers, which made them slow down and become extra careful.

Just when Alan started considering going back, as much as it pained him to do so without any gains, Ashlyn found an arrowhead. It was distinctly different than the ones the system had provided her, crude and made of strange reddish stone that after some testing proved to be extremely sharp and durable.

“There are multiple living beings approaching us from there.” Florence suddenly said in a low voice, nodding towards the depths of the forest. Alan neither saw nor heard anything.

“What do you mean?” Ashlyn was nocking an arrow as she asked the question.

“I can sense emotions at quite a distance. They are certainly not as complicated as a human, but they are not simple beasts either.”

Alan groaned internally. Of course, she can do that too.

“Can you pinpoint how many?”

“No. It’s just one big ball. Whatever creatures are coming, there are more than one and they are excited.”

“We need to take cover if they have bows. One with [True Aim] and we’re done for.” Davis proposed. Yep, Ashlyn’s skill became terrifying once she had picked up a bow.

“It is clear behind us.”

“Davis, maybe climb a tree and jump them if they don’t notice you? I will try to hide and [Mind Jab] the fuck out of them while you pick them out, Ash. Florence just…”

“I got this, don’t worry,” Florence said. Alan saw her rub her sweaty palms on her clothes and he would be a liar if he said he wasn’t anxious too. But this was his life now and the choice was to adapt or die. Beneath the anxiety and fear, he also felt a bit of anticipation. There was probably something seriously wrong with him, or it was the system’s influence, but fighting and leveling gave him satisfaction like nothing else.

It took the creatures another few minutes to appear. They moved carefully and slowly, low to the ground. They were certainly bigger than the tutorial imp but not by much. Each was wrapped in different pieces of rough cloth and had small rocks and fetishes hanging all over. No two were alike. Big elongated heads with sharp teeth and red eyes peeked under hoods and bandanas.

Alan tried to see Davis from the bushes he was hiding in, jealous of the man’s ability to disappear in the treetops and move like he was raised by monkeys, but he had no success. His mind was itchy to unleash his [Mind Jab] but they had decided to wait. He saw Ashlyn, to his right, raising her bow. The plan was for her to take out the dazed one, but that seemed silly now. It would probably be better if she focused on those further back. Alan hoped his spear would be enough to finish the closest ones.

Any second now. The creature at the very front, the leader of the scout, was headed right where he was. It sniffed the ground and growled something to its companions. Alan gripped his spear tighter.

They are fucking talking!

The creature sniffed a few more times, its gaze slowly scanning its surroundings. Suddenly, it looked up and growled something louder. Few of the other creatures also looked up.

They couldn’t wait anymore.

“Now!”