The Fool's Freedom

Alan sauntered, enjoying the sense of growing tension with each step. Some part of him scoffed at the ants of excitement running beneath his skin. The anticipation was so enjoyable though. Would they be friends? Would they fight together to fall the giant in the Valley? Or would he have to kill them all? It was fun.

“Halt,” the one with the shield said, stepping forward as if preparing to protect his group. “Identify yourself!”

The mages behind straightened up as well, and despite all the interferences coming from the mountain, Alan could sense their mana shift and flow at this distance. Tier Ones were not an issue though, so he wasn’t worried.

He didn’t even acknowledge the shield guy with a look, opting to return the unwavering gaze of the one with the crossed arms. He took a few more steps, just to prove a childish point, and stopped.

“Where are you guys from?” Alan asked.

“Didn’t you hear—” the shield guy began, but the one with the crossed arms stepped forward, making him fall silent.

“We’re from Sanctuary 471. This is my second time exploring this Dungeon, and these guys’ first. My name is Jay. These are Amir, Vlad, Thomas, and Kehlani.”

Oh, quite polite. Jay had introduced the team without allowing a single emotion to break his frozen face. Almost as if they were of no importance. However, he had also given a lot of information to Alan. Them being from a Sanctuary was no surprise. The number confused him since that meant more than three hundred Sanctuaries between his and theirs. If they were placed and numbered in order… then those guys had traveled quite far.

Random numbering made more sense. It was not possible for them to be able to come from so far away unless there were more entrances to the Dungeon.

“My name is Alan. I come from Sanctuary 142.”

Jay nodded, while the rest tensed.

“We’ve yet to meet anyone from there. Where’s your team?” the woman, Kehlani asked. Jay’s frozen expression only grew colder, but he didn’t react in any significant way. Amir – the fire mage – elbowed the woman and she looked down shamefully. Was speaking out of turn not permitted?

Weird dynamics.

“I’m more of a lone wolf. I’ve no team.”

That drew a reaction from the group. He could feel the gears turning in their heads and once again, only the one who had introduced himself as Jay remained indifferent. Was he trying to act cool, or was he just weird? Alan wasn’t exactly normal himself, no matter how much he tried to pretend at times.

“You came here alone?” One of the other two men said – the polearm user. Judging by the tone, it was less of a question and more of a statement, but Alan nodded.

He wasn’t certain whether he was Vlad or Thomas. There was quite a cultural variety through the small group, which was a surprise. He had been left with the impression that each Sanctuary was compromised of a few groups that knew each other. He himself had been thrown into it along with his office mates. Then again, there were many other unknowns.

“Bullshit,” Amir spat. “You think we’re stupid?”

Fiery. Is he one of those affected by his class? Is Jay?

Alan only smiled. “It’s the truth.”

A ball of fire appeared over the mage’s hand but in the next moment, Jay turned and looked at him. No words were exchanged, but the fiery guy instantly deflated and whatever anger or distrust was written on his face melted away, leaving behind only shame and… fear. Alan knew fear.

Fear was one of his currencies of choice nowadays.

“Would you like to work together?” Jay asked, making the other four’s eyes widen. Yet, no one dared to speak up anymore. A singular small action had turned them into docile sheep, awaiting orders from the dog protecting them from wolves.

“Are you at tier two?” Alan asked instead. There was no point playing games of words. He was not that good at them anymore. It had been easy once, when speaking was his shield, his armor, and his only virtue. Now? He preferred to get straight to the point with some people. What use were smoke and mirrors in this situation? Strength scoffed at petty tricks.

That finally got a reaction out of Jay and he uncrossed his arms, letting them fall to his sides. Alan noted that the man’s knuckles were worn. It was quite possibly a result of harsh martial training from before the System.

Another fighter? Bare-handed? That might be an issue for me. Then again, I don’t think my speed is anything to scoff at.

“Are you?” Jay asked in return. Were his feet always in that position or was the man getting ready to attack? The ball of excitement in Alan’s stomach was churning. Look at me. Looking forward to conflict and death. Fucking System.

“Want to find out? A friendly spar, perhaps?”

“Oy, Jay. He can’t be tier two, can he? No one is leveling faster than you,” the large man with the polearm asked. Thomas? Alan decided it made sense for him to be Thomas.

“Shut up,” Jay said instead. The coldness in his eyes had only grown, but as far as the intimidation factor went, it fell short. Alan found it amusing. He had sparred with Zirida, suffered under the power of patrons and spirits, and narrowly escaped the claws of a dragon as large as a planet. What was one edgy little fighter capable of doing that would worry Alan?

It was quite interesting though. The intimidation was almost seeping out of Jay as if he was using a skill to boost the weight of his presence and gaze. All it did was tickle Alan’s curiosity a bit. Was it the man’s will? What truth had he touched upon and what insights could he share? What was another tier two from Earth capable of? What had he gone through to reach such a level, and could it compare to Alan’s own experiences?

A thin voice in his head urged him to fight. To kill. Upon death, all of the man’s secrets could be his with a simple touch and the simple use of a skill. Why not, after all? Wasn’t that the System’s way?

Alan blinked, and it was as if he was returning from somewhere far away. The dark thoughts retreated but still remained lurking.

His will was churning wildly around him and the walls of the tunnel were slowly suffering from it. It broke apart the surface layer, making pebbles and dust fall. He quickly reigned it in, since it was not something that had happened consciously.

Jay’s expression had shifted to one of astonishment for the first time, but Alan saw something else that was new as well. Replacing the icy attitude was excitement very much similar to his own. Jay wanted to fight, and yet he too, was battling the rational side remaining inside of him.

Alan smiled.

“Just a quick spar as a way to get to know each other?

Jay nodded. He moved fast, almost as if he had used something similar to [Void Step]. It allowed him to zig-zag through the wide tunnel though, but his steps were following a randomized pattern and Alan found himself stuck as far as predicting where the man would end up going. He didn’t need to.

The first punch came from his right and aimed for his chin. The shadows intercepted it quickly, stopping the attack. They burst around from the force of the attack. It was a heavy hit that almost shattered his shield and Alan poured mana into [Shadow Creation] instantly, creating a second layer of shadows just in case. He needed to figure out a way to make his chosen element harder and stronger.

A shadow nova burst out of him, but Jay had already retreated to his previous position as if he hadn’t moved at all, making the shadows dissipate harmlessly. Alan hadn’t charged the skill to its limit since that would’ve caused quite a bit of damage to the walls surrounding them. Still, Jay had proven faster than [Shadow Creation].

The skill he had used was reminiscent of what Top Rabbit had done when he had assisted Alan in the battle against Wuros and the godspawn. Returning to his original positioning perhaps? That was a weakness if it was mandatory, but skills could be bent in all sorts of ways.

The two kept staring for a few more moments, while the rest of Jay’s group stood gaping from behind the barrier. Alan could sense their fear and the darker side of him once again floated to the surface. It was either the bloodline, the legacy, or the influence of the shadows urging it on. Perhaps all three, coupled with all he had experienced.

The thought of crushing their leader and hero before them sounded fun! Very fun! But Alan was not that sort of a person. They had just met, and for all he knew, they could be a bunch of decent people. He chose to believe so, and the dark urges calmed down.

Jay threw himself to the side just in time as the air shimmered as if something invisible had tried to pierce him. Alan had aimed for his thigh with [Void Pierce] since it was a non-lethal zone for someone at tier two. He had enough elixirs on himself to save the man if the need arose.

Then again, Jay could prove stronger than him. He doubted it very much, but it was a possibility. One never knew. Alan was sure he could survive anything, and he doubted that his curses could be shrugged off easily though. Applying them was the hardest part. His experience told him that the stronger the enemy, the more difficult it was to do so.

A rain of punches came for him without a moment’s notice, and the shadow shield around him shook. Jay was changing his positioning with lightning speed, but another shadow nova made him retreat to his original position once again in a repeat of the previous round.

Thankfully Jay hadn’t realized that Alan’s shield crumbled with each of the stronger punches. If he had attacked the same point a few times he would’ve found the weakness. Feeding the passive shadows mana was not the fastest process.

Alan had been ready for the man’s retreat though. He cast [Void Step] and ended up face-to-face with a surprised Jay. The man instantly kicked, even before Alan could attack with his conjured blade.

Alan created a pillar of shadows that was quickly broken and used his speed to dodge the kick, before releasing a shadow slash that Jay dodged with an unnatural lean to the side.

He attacked despite the strange position and broke yet another shield of shadows before almost finding Alan’s stomach with a punch. Alan was ready for the counterattack though.

[Synaptic Failure] disrupted Jay’s movement for just a moment, giving Alan enough time to retreat to his original position and cast another [Void Pierce]. He briefly considered using some of the stored vitality, but that would’ve made the attack much more destructive.

It only caught a corner of Jay’s clothes, tearing them apart.

The two stared at each other again. The testing was fun, but Alan didn’t see a way of winning without utilizing the curse marks or the [Curse of Buried Shadows]. It frustrated him a bit, but there was still something he hadn’t tried.

Jay moved again. He was fast. Alan had to be honest and admit that despite all of his bonuses… Jay seemed to be faster. Was he focusing only on Dexterity, or did he perhaps have similar bonuses? This is fun! Questions one after the other ran through Alan’s mind as he tried to follow the erratic movements of the man.

He forgot about the Dungeon, about the spectators, or the fact that at any moment the jadari could decide to rush the tunnels and flush them out. He didn’t care.

His shadow shield was almost up when Jay struck it again, but his fist went all the way through and it was only by virtue of Alan’s [Void Step] that he managed to move away in time. He was clumsier than both the jadari and now Jay. While the man lacked the grace of the panther people it was obvious he knew how to move and make the most out of each small movement.

Jay didn’t flash back in place this time, but that didn’t matter. Tendrils of darkness shot out from the dark corners, where the shadows were thick enough to obscure the anchors Alan had created from view. He had used a lesser version of [Chains of the Dark Servants], hoping that it would be enough. Revealing all of his tricks would be foolish.

Jay seemed non-pulsed as he dodged the tendrils easily, despite their speed. He reached Alan again but froze in the next instant as another [Synaptic Failure] made him hesitate for a split moment. It was enough for the shadows of [Shadow Creation] to envelop the man fully, creating a solid block of darkness that wrapped around him, leaving only his head poking out.

The chains followed while Alan put some distance between them with a smile. Would this hold the man down? He was excited to find out.