The Fool's Freedom

The slaughter that followed was something out of a horror movie. Alan moved around a lot at first, mapping out the tunnels in his mind. The whole of the valley seemed to be the center of a system of caves and passages dug through the surrounding mountains that created a circle around it, and each cave was a potential point he could use to sow chaos.

It was as if the place was designed to function this way and make his strategy work almost perfectly. And if he had a team, it would’ve been even better. He had to remove a few patrols and even got attacked by a group of warriors returning from the depths of the tunnels, but overall everything went well.

He had yet to attract any [Screamers] or those other scary-looking jaderin-covered guardians standing like statues in the vicinity of the boss. He had also avoided the side closer to him since he didn’t know what abilities they had. It was a risky endeavor, for an unknown reward, but he wanted to try. It was a needed stronger than him.

Alan lost track of time as he baited groups of jadari and slaughtered them mercilessly. He utilized his shadows to create traps – mostly holding large rocks he had dislodged or broken from the cave’s wall priorly, and letting them squash his enemies as they came in range. Other times he simply charged the shadows around him with as much mana as possible, before using [Void Step] to appear in the middle of a group and unleash destruction.

It was his version of guerilla warfare. Once or twice he was left to move around the fallen and bloody stone and ore, finishing anyone still breathing and unblocking the tunnel for his next batch of victims. By the time the jadari stopped falling for his baits, he had killed more than fifty of them, bringing him two new whole levels, although most weren’t even warriors, and allowing him to reach level 110.

His attributes' importance could be felt with each level, and he had 50 whole points left to distribute as he pleased. Once no more groups were daring to follow him into the tunnels, he took a breather. They were bound to eventually send a group to explore, and he would be ready. He could hear the raging of the four-armed panther, but it was too big to fit into any of the tunnels, and it didn’t seem keen on leaving its throne.

However, the gathering of the remaining panther people was enough to tell him what was to follow. The screamers were an issue. He couldn’t curse each one, and the strange monsters had proven they were more than met the eye. He had felt the full physical strength behind the ugly visage and the loud yells and killing one without proper planning seemed impossible with his current kit.

There was still some time, and taking note of how he had improved took priority.

INFORMATION:

Name:

Alan Morgan

Race:

Shadowless

Bloodline:

Void’s Shadow | Progress: 1.1%

Class:

Shepherd of the Broken (Unique)

Level:

Tier 2 - 110

Insight:

Flow; Emptiness

Titles:

First Pathfinder; Progenitor; Scion; Inheritor; Madcap; Slayer; Friend of the Spirit World; Enlightened; Mercenary(F)

ATTRIBUTES:

0

Strength

204 (OBOM + 184.2) +5 [15 base

Dexterity

204 (OBOM + 183.6) + 5 [15 base

Vitality

0

Will

798 (+184.2 from %) [614 base

Mind

801 (+183.6 from %) +5 [612 base

Magic

816 (R: EB +115) (+63.7 from %) [637 base

TRAITS:

One Mind, One Body; Empty Vitality; Shadowspeech; Broken One’s Will; Shadow Mind; Oathbound; Shepherd’s Shroud;

SKILLS:

Warlock’s Body Mastery; Synaptic Failure; Shadow Creation; Ritual: Enchanted Bones; Ritual: Infused Flesh; Mortal Peril; Curse: Stolen Life; Void Pierce; Sacrificial Attack; Will of the Dead; Chains of the Dark Servants; Curse of Buried Shadows; Void Step

BODY ENHANCEMENTS:

Shadow Space; Enchanted Skeleton;

He put his 50 free points in Will, just to even it out with his other non-physically oriented attributes. It all looked pretty decent after that.

The attribute growth was amazing, and Alan felt more than ever how it improved his skills too. The only issue was the jaderin ore that seemed to resist the magic in them, despite the strange attributes he was using. Only the stolen life essence was working well.

For a brief moment, he entertained the thought of cursing the giant panther-man and using him as a source during his remaining exploration of the dungeon. It was a decent plan if he could get close to it without dying.

A commotion interrupted his thoughts and Alan looked up. A loud roar followed by tens of smaller ones washed over him and echoed through the cave system.

What’s going on? He used [Void Step] to get to the nearest exit and peeked just as something akin to a fireball burst into the chest of the four-armed jadari. The giant shrugged the spell off, but it was followed by another and another. A bombardment of sorts.

The rest of the panther people were rushing like mad, and the screamers were casting their buffs, adding to the cacophony.

Is someone else in here? The thought sent a shiver of excitement through him. Fighting the semi-intelligent creatures was one thing, but if living beings were exploring the Dungeon… were they elves? They had to be from a nearby Sanctuary at the very least. He didn’t like the idea of elves, but it was probably not them.

Then who?

A white cloud appeared and raged for a brief moment, freezing a few of the weaker jadari.

It was definitely not elves unless they had hidden their casters from him in some pathetic attempt to… do what? No.

It was someone else, and they had a diverse and interesting kit. Why have I not tried to do a shadow void ball or something? [Void Pierce] took a few moments to go off, but it did decent damage. However, it was hard to aim at a fast target. Sure, he had workarounds like binding them in shadows but using the strongest version of the [Chains of the Dark Servants] was troublesome.

Alan shook his head. He had almost done something before being interrupted in the previous fight. How had he forgotten about that little experiment with his will and magic? He couldn’t really recall the process. The memory was hazy as if not belonging to him. Almost as if his actions had been guided by something else. Foreign thoughts?

The shadows' whispers intensified as if they were confirming his suspicion. Were the fragmented memories trying to guide him to create skills? Or was he developing some sort of a disorder? It was not implausible. No one had said that the attributes made one more resilient to trauma, and Alan had seen more weird things than he could name at this point.

Alan retreated into the caves and rushed down a tunnel to get closer to the action. He needed to see up close. The fight was too far from his current position - on the opposite end of the valley, very close to the improvised throne and the boss himself.

It took him some time to traverse the distance. He was careful not to meet any returning patrols or even something new. Drawing attention upon himself right now would be a disaster. Making contact was an attractive option, but so was a repeat performance of what had happened with the dragon in the fractal battlefield. He was not above stealing when it benefitted him. If they can even harm that thing.

Thankfully, whatever dangers may have lurked in the tunnels were gone for now and he reached a high ledge that overlooked most of the valley. It was quite remote and hidden by jagged rocks. There was no path down, but that didn’t worry him.

What he saw made him smile in astonishment. They were humans. Actual humans. One of the women – the one slinging icicles and occasionally casting a field of white freezing steam was wearing jeans!

It was not possible for them to be from his Sanctuary… which meant they were from a different human one. Their skills reeked of destructive power, but by the speed of the projectiles and the damage they were doing to the jadari, he decided that no one was tier two. At least of those who were taking action.

A man and a woman were alternating between fire and ice, while two men were holding the front. A large barrier of blue energy stopped the jadari that came too close. It flashed as they hit it, trying to break through and reach their attackers, but the large man behind it was holding his own. His feet were digging into the hard soil.

The other one was wielding a spear and fighting expertly with a jadari warrior who had somehow passed the barrier. Perhaps he had been allowed?

The group was holding one of the high-up caves which was very similar to the one Alan was standing on. The only path to reach them was a narrow and steep line of soil and rocks that the jadari were desperately climbing, urged by the roars of the giant. They were obviously out of the range of the screamers, otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to cast spells as they did considering the debuffs.

It was a good place they had chosen, utilizing the same strategy he had.

The question was if they had seen him, and were they reaping the benefits of what he had done? The one that worried him was the last member of the group. Another young man stood silently behind the two casters. His expression was cold and calm and his hands were crossed before his chest as if what was happening was below his stature.

Alan couldn’t really sense the flow of the mana, since the jaderin ore strewn everywhere was interfering with his senses, but he doubted it would be enough to tell the man’s level. He looked dangerous. His equipment was straight out of fantasy novels. At least from what Alan could see from his position. There was no weapon in sight though.

Maybe a healer?

The four active members of the group struggled for a whole twenty minutes until the casters slowed down. It was frustrating that the giant was content with tanking the hits and yelling, while the four jaderin-covered guardians remained motionless on the side. At the very least, Alan wanted them to reveal what tricks they had.

The group started their retreat soon after the casters were exhausted. They had spent most of their strength attacking the boss, which seemed futile. Alan couldn’t see if they had done damage, but considering the boss was not even giving chase it was pretty obvious if there was a result, it was nothing serious.

The guardians were still set up like a rectangle around him. Was there a strategy there? It was fun to think of such things, however, the idea of living beings being relegated to actual NPCs was frightening. What couldn’t the System do?

Just as the four retreated into their cave of choice, the fifth member – the one who hadn’t acted at all – turned toward Alan’s position and met his eyes. It was as if they were standing face to face, rather than hundreds of meters apart. A dangerous one, eh?

Alan remained calm and returned the gaze with a slight smile. He waved before shrouding himself in shadows and disappearing into the tunnels.

He had decided that it was time to pay the new Dungeon visitors a visit. What could go wrong? At worst, he would have to kill a few fellow humans. Perhaps a curse or two would make them cooperative.

No. That line of thinking was dangerous. If they were from old Earth, they were bound to at least be cordial before becoming aggressive.

Then again, his experiences had changed him a lot. Murder was a trivial thing, and as much as he tried to feel bad for the level of acceptance he gave to the thoughts, he couldn’t.

If they were the same as him, if they had tasted the cruelties of the System and human nature, then they were bound to be dangerous.

No elves, no aliens, and no spirits could compare to the sheer depravity and leaps of logic humans were capable of. Alan was certain of that.

And yet, his excitement only grew as he saw the five waiting for him, led by the one with the crossed arms.