The Fool's Freedom

Alan’s mana clashed with the vitality coming from both curse marks he had placed. The feeling was like being torn apart, but his body held. The destructive life force was struggling to find an outlet.

His first swing toward one of the warriors coming for him produced a line of red that made blood and guts spill fly everywhere as it made contact with the panther-man. The crystal coating on their limbs had no chance of withstanding the attack.

The blade of vitality continued its flight for a while longer but hit no more of the warriors, instead disintegrating into a red mist that lingered in the air. The shadows whispered dark words in Alan’s mind and his joy of the fight only grew.

[Synaptic Failure] turned out to be his greatest ally in the slaughter that followed. He had neglected the skill but now his opponents' maneuvering and attempts at countering him turned against them. Alan’s attacks flowed like whips and no matter how the jadari warriors tried to dodge, they eventually fell. It took a single attack to end them.

All the while the female screamed bloody murder. Alan tried to draw less from Cole and more from her. Her screams changed again, and he sensed more and more debuffs apply to his mana pool, but all it did was make [Synaptic Failure] go off slower. But each time it did, someone fell.

Eventually, it was only her remaining. There were no clean cuts or bisected bodies littering the cavern. Everything was covered in blood and remains as if each jadari warrior had exploded from the inside out. Alan himself was clean, due to the shadows blocking most stray pieces of flesh flying toward him. Life force had a strange effect on things it touched.

Alan stopped the drain on Cole and ignored the slew of messages coming at him. The whole fight had given him a single level-up, but he was pretty sure there would be another when he ended the one before him. Cole’s vitality was halved at this point. Alan wondered what changes that brought unto the man. Was he breaking down, cursing his name? Was he waiting for death? Alan had not stuck around to witness the effects of his curse before, apart from that first fight with a parasite where he had greatly misused it.

The mage or whatever she was snarled at him, twisting her features further. In response, Alan kept draining her vitality. He released the energy he was using to attack. It had harmed his hands, making his skin bubble and twist as if it were trying to mutate. His mana had protected him somewhat, but it still hurt a bit.

Nothing comparable with what he had experienced in the Bone Lord’s illusory realm.

His mana and boosted healing already worked on it, but the damage was extensive and Alan struggled to flex his fingers. Wielding the power of stolen life had a price. Thankfully he had done so only for a minute or so, which had been enough to slay about a dozen of the panther men.

The remaining jadari finally succumbed to weakness. Alan watched passively as she became thinner, her fur lost its luster, and her features drooped as if she was aging before his very eyes. By the end, when her river of vitality was but a small trickle in his mind, there was a bubbling storage of life force raging in Alan’s core.

With a final sigh, he reached for the thin thread and pinched it in two, making the jadari drop to the ground. Even the fall from a kneeling position was enough to make her brittle bones crackle like dried sticks and her fur fall apart in dust.

Quite evil.

You have slain: Jadari [Screamer] (190)

Screamer? Well then, she did yell a lot…

Level up!

You have reached level 108 in Tier Two [Shepherd of the Broken]

+5 Attribute Points

+5 to Mind, Will, Magic

Alan gathered some more of the ore. He briefly considered trying to find a core or something useful from the bodies of the jadari, but since they were too humanoid for his liking, he gave up on the idea of cutting into them. It was obvious that once they had been an intelligent species capable of a lot more. A fall from grace was a theme for the System since he had already found clues and traces of not one or two lost civilizations.

He took the tunnel that looked the most traveled through. The longer he walked the more signs of civilizations appeared. The walls were covered in strange undecipherable drawings and stacked stones marked the corners and different passages.

It was probably some sort of a system, but Alan had no use of it and no chance of understanding anything. He picked the one that appealed to him most.

Running into a few patrols resulted in more fighting, but no group was as troublesome to wipe out as the one with the [Screamer] in their midst. He was ready for another one; just in case he prepared his two curse marks. He wondered if they would last through a Dungeon reset if that’s what it was called. It was doubtful, otherwise, he would technically have a limitless supply of system-provided vitality at his beck and call. If he got a few more skills to use the vitality with, he would be set. Even now he could go on moving forever if he didn’t use skills, since replenishing his stamina with mana was a process that didn’t outpace his mana regeneration.

His leveling speed was slowing down once again, which ticked him off a bit, but it was expected. Last time around, at the very beginning of his journey, he had hoped for something to happen at level 10. This time, he just wanted to speed through. The dungeon was much better than just roaming around in the forest and hoping to find a suitable adversary.

So far, many had proven capable of somewhat countering his simple skill kit though. His curses were a different story, but he couldn’t just spam them as he wished.

The tunnel soon headed upward and Alan rejoiced as he saw daylight. He ended up on a cliff, overlooking a small settlement, or what remained of one. Quite a few jadari were wandering around or sitting in circles in front of simple huts.

A bit further was a land of destruction. Whatever architecture had once been erected, showcasing the greatness of a civilization, was reduced to rubble. In the middle of it all, was a throne. Or a chair of stone. Alan had noticed how much everyone loved thrones and sitting on them. It was the whole goddamn theme of the universe he was in.

On the throne was the largest jadari he had seen so far. A vicious looking, four-armed panther that was more of a mutant than a regular representative of the creatures. He was a giant, and around him other jadari stood, kneeling and worshipping.

Alan licked his lips. This was a proper boss battle if he had ever seen one. All of it was making him excited. The setup with the throne and the rows of jadari before that, the ruins and the promise of lost treasure in the single untouched building of stone directly behind the boss – a small pyramid that was probably not as tall as the more than eight-meter tall four-armed jadari.

This one will be difficult for me alone. If I had a party and a diverse choice of skills, then maybe… But I’m getting so excited just thinking of plunging in there and reaping all those levels. I wonder if it's counted as one of the monsters of the mines?

There were quite a few tunnels leading back into the mountains. The valley was not that big, but its strange shape created the illusion of vastness. If he had to guess, there were probably about a hundred or so jadari down there. Only a few looked like proper warriors, but he also noticed some of the [screamers] walking around with staves. For some reason, all of their features were twisted and grotesque, as if altered by their very classes.

He noted a few strange-looking warriors set around the throne – four of them. They were the only ones covered with jaderin from head to toe, leaving only their heads exposed.

Alan snuck closer to the edge. As he was thinking how to go about it, he noted that the giant took a piece of jaderin ore from a nearby pile and threw it in his mouth. There was a loud crunch that turned the valley into a megaphone.

It would be a difficult fight all things considered. He wasn’t even sure if he could do it himself. A part of him urged him on to try, but the rational mind raged against the unnecessary risk. However, the quest rewards were enticing. The initial feeling of invincibility after tiering up had all but worn off now. He had seen that his skills were limited and despite their nature and all the strange effects they had, they were not strong enough to carry him through the world.

Of course, he could always rely on the [Hateful Mist Cut], but the Tome remained unresponsive and waiting for it to grace him with its presence was something he wouldn’t do. Plus, relying on external power was wrong. It was easy. He didn’t want to depend on the gifts of the spirits or the treasures they could give him.

However, a new weapon or two to boost his capabilities was always a welcome addition. Perhaps new boots?

Fuck it. No risk, no reward. The System favors the brave and where I want to go requires me to take risks. I’ll either die as a foolish opportunist or prevail and rise to the top.

He had enough vitality for a repeat performance of the [Sacrificial Attack] fueled fighting style he had used against the large group. It was certainly not going to be enough if he went against them all, but removing some obstacles little by little would probably be enough to give him an edge.

Alan smiled. The giant was nowhere near small enough to pass through any of the tunnels, and if he figured out all how to traverse the system of passages surrounding the valley, he could just kill them all little by little. If it proved too difficult he could always flee.

Having reached a decision Alan descended left, following a thin trail that led down from the ledge and toward another opening in the mountain wall. A group of jadari was sitting not far from it. He made sure to be as silent as possible, and once he was close enough he took out his daggers once again.

His hands were almost completely healed now, and the debuffs on his mana had gone away as soon as the [Screamer] had died. If a few of them hit him, he would be in a pickle.

Alan smirked and felt the stolen vitality in him stir. A foreign force that fueled his new favorite skill [Sarcificial Attack]. Its many applications were what was carrying him in the Dungeon.

After a brief lamentation that he had turned [Mana Zap] into a single target skill instead of an area of effect one, Alan aimed. The boosted skill completely obliterated the head of the jadari warrior it hit, startling the other five in the circle. There was only one who looked like those Alan had fought in the mines, and his daggers pierced his chest and throat simultaneously in the next instance. The remaining jadari had no iron covering their limbs, which meant he could easily dispose of them.

What followed was a charged shadow nova. It pulsed two times in quick succession.

Alan ignored the messages that rained in his mind and grinned as roars and screams rose from around the nearby tents. He quickly entered the tunnel the group had been guarding and disappeared into its dark depths.

All he wanted was for some of his victims-to-be to follow.