The Fool's Freedom

The slaughter earned Alan two levels. He was glad because his opponents were mostly weaker jadari who seemed to be present only to fluff up the numbers. Between the six of them, they had killed more than forty of the creatures, with the bulk going to Alan and Jay.

The buff from Amir’s strange fireball had allowed him to unleash his full potential. It countered the weird skill of the [Screamers] and allowed Alan to fight without any worries. He had disliked the strange fire caster at first, but the skill he had utilized had washed all of that away.

Moreover, his own skills flowed like a well-choreographed dance now; his [Shadow Creation] was smooth and potent, allowing him to stretch the limits of what he had previously been capable of, and even the slight delays of [Synaptic Failure] and [Void Pierce] were affected and lessened.

It was a marvelous thing, and it had even allowed him to peek into the flow of things in yet another different way. For all his thinking, Alan had neglected truly following the pathways of his body and inspecting his flesh and blood, as well as how mana affected them now that vitality was out of the equation.

With a sigh, he drove his shadow blade through the last [Screamer] and used [Void Step] to start backing up. The strange creatures were easy to kill once their debuff was countered. No matter how many times it stacked up, Amir’s fireballs took care of the effect and boosted Alan’s mana conductivity.

It was then that the four guardians of the giant four-armed jadari finally started moving. The boss followed shortly after, with wide angry steps. The giant screamed something and the four ore-clad panther men picked up the pacce. They were stiff and slower than their warrior counterparts, but perhaps all the ore was going to make them more dangerous too. Alan was still on the fence about the whole concept.

It seemed strange and impractical, but who was he to judge?

He was thankful for their patience and the fact that they had allowed them to clean up the rest of the bastards first though. Truly a scripted boss encounter if Alan had ever seen one.

It messed with his head big time. He was once again confused whether dungeons housed real creatures that had in some way or another fallen into the clutches of the System, or if they were constructs made to act and behave a certain way by the almighty System. Or maybe it was a bit of both? The Blood Fields were an example of one, and the Jaderin Mines of the other. There were hopefully no timed respawns, but the deeper layers of the Dungeon possibly held way more jadari.

More bosses too.

Alan retreated to the rest of the group, where Jay was already waiting. The man had not used his miasma skill to Alan’s disappointment but had shown his prowess on the battlefield. Each strike had been bone-shattering, and his speed and grace were nothing to scoff at. He had used his speed to directly shatter some of the ore covering the warrior’s limbs, removing from them the ability to absorb and copy skills.

“What do you think they can do?” Thomas asked as they retreated into the cave to take another rest, before the showdown. The group of four had managed to slay three jadari on their own, which was an impressive feat considering the level of disparity. Vlad and Thomas seemed the most worn out from the ordeal, but they were the ones who had been left to deal with the front lines and protect the two casters. Alan suspected that Amir had received a lot more of the contribution due to his frequent use of buffs that had seemed centered upon Alan. A strange choice, but a smart one.

Still, apart from the strange supporting fire mage, the others hardly seemed capable of assisting against the boss, which was a shame. Alan had hoped that whatever tricks they still hid would be enough to allow him and Jay the freedom to kill the giant. The experience alone was possibly more valuable than the potential loot if there were any apart from the quest rewards.

Alan was at level 112 now, and he couldn’t wait for 120. Hopefully, the System would be as gracious as last time and would allow him another skill advancement. It seemed unlikely, but he would be happy with a skill too. Advancements could be considered even more valuable.

After another rest consisting of a couple of hours during which Alan half-listened to the group while concentrating on the constant marching of his blood. It was true flesh and true blood, and his heart was beating just like before, fueling the body with energy and oxygen. He certainly still needed air, despite all. It was a tough realization that he had ignored his lack of ‘vitality’ so far. He had accepted it with open arms, reveling in the freedom from the constant danger his condition represented. He had just accepted that he was not operating like other humans, and didn’t feel very different from before.

Yes, the pain was gone. The looming threat of death was also gone. He looked a bit weird, with his colorless skin and the occasional wisp of shadows coming off it as if the darkness inside his heart was slowly evaporating. He knew it was not, no matter how poetic the image was. If anything, his ruthlessness was growing.

The whispers of the shadows were like a gentle breeze in his mind now, urging him on when he was hesitating to use his skills or cheering oddly when he won hard-won fights. They were like his own personal hype squad. There had been no recent cases of the whispers trying to influence him too much, or of their desires seeping into his own.

Then again, if he was used to it, would he notice? Would the will of the ones whose legacy he had stumbled upon slowly corrode his own? It was a path down a paranoid hole he didn’t want to delve into. If he started overthinking like before, nothing good would come out of it. It weakened him as it had in the Bazaar during his ‘episode’ of worrying. It made him susceptible to what could be hidden beneath the cobblestones of the many paths he was threading onto.

After all, a class changed a person. What did that mean for spiritual inheritances, knowledge coming from higher beings, or the blood of strange dragons?

The closer he tried to gaze into his self the more he saw the mana surging through his still red blood. Was it the bloodline, or was it simply the ‘charge’ that allowed him to function? It was permeating it. He couldn’t see, but he could sense himself on a microscopic level. All of the functions in his body, all of the mana fueling his existence.

And through it all, a thin thread of dark emptiness. It was not the void he had come to appreciate and use in his skills. It was not the void of the dragon’s bestowment that had allowed him to be death incarnate for a time. It was something different. Something truly his.

Why haven’t I done this before? Goddamn it. He didn’t feel like owing anything to someone like Amir, but the buff that made everything so much smoother had truly opened his eyes. If Alan could achieve the same result by taking control of his mana, rather than treating it as if it was just a resource to be used up, then he would improve his overall power by a lot. It was not an attribute boost or a new skill. It was a quality of existence change.

Alan kept prodding until the rest was over.

They could hear the occasional grumbling of the boss, but nothing more. They had retreated deeper into the caves, just in case the four ore-covered warriors decided to ambush them. Thankfully, the rest had remained uninterrupted by monsters.

The plan was simple. Alan and Jay would take turns distracting the giant, while the others, helped by the tier two free from the boss’ attention, would deal with the guardians. It sounded good on paper, so they went for it.

They waited for the boss to approach them, so the four-tier ones could keep the terrain advantage against the four guardians. It took almost no time for them to get noticed. The giant hadn’t even returned to his chair, opting to survey the surroundings like he was looking for them.

When he was in range, Alan went for it. He had volunteered to test the boss first since the jaderin ore scared him. It was better for the guardians to copy some tier-one skills or strong punches, rather than something of his arsenal. If that’s what they did.

He used his staff for some extra range. [Void Pierce] was not considered a projectile by the item, so it didn’t really affect its speed, but that didn’t matter. Strangely, it had affected [Mana Zap].

The giant was as fast as a giant was supposed to be – meaning he took his time in getting closer, each step shaking the ground. Alan jumped off the ridge and used his shadows to grab onto nearby jagged rocks and holes, slowing his descent and moving sideways like some sort of a humanoid shadowy spider. It was difficult to use his mind in such a way while aiming the skill, but he managed nonetheless, albeit very clumsily.

His new ‘limbs’ were difficult to control. He couldn’t sense through the shadows, but [Shadow Creation] gave him knowledge of where his coalesced shadows were, and how they moved. He hadn’t used it that way before, but constant improvement was the name of the game after all.

[Void Pierce] did little to no damage to the four-armed giant. Alan chuckled at the sight of the bald spots appearing in the dark fur covering the body. The flesh beneath was a bit bruised, but other than that the skill was woefully weak against the boss. Just like it had been against the cursed spider.

It still drew the boss’s attention well enough and he turned to march toward Alan’s slowly crawling form on the rock wall.

The guards were soon beset by all sorts of projectiles. Ice, fire, and even weak arrows came from Thomas, who had set his shield before him and pulled out a bow from somewhere. An inventory skill, or something similar to Alan’s own shadow space, perhaps.

Alan focused on the prize behind the boss for just a moment, trying to distinguish anything of importance from his vantage point. There was a voice in his head that warned of betrayal, of not trusting humans, of choosing himself first and foremost. It was a dark thing, but it did not originate from the whispers of the many shadows or from his blood. Alan recognized it for what it was – his own attitude toward his fellow humanity. His distrust, cynicism, and anger, which had taken a short rest, only reappear at opportune times.

If he let the boss wander off and attack Jay and his people, then he could check for loot. That strange construction behind the chair was looking promising… and the pile of jaderin ore seemed attractive too. Alan already had a lot of it, but if it was useful more couldn’t hurt.

What am I thinking? I’m not like that.

He used some of the life force stored from the [Screamer] he had fully drained and boosted [Void Pierce]. It finally gave a result, poking a small shallow hole in the giant’s thick skin.

And it made all the difference.

The valley shook from the enraged roar of the creature as it charged toward the cliff side. Alan’s eyes widened and he barely used [Void Step] by placing his foot on the rocks to disappear from his position, before a fist crashed into the rock.

Alan caught himself, using the tendrils of shadows once again, and started climbing up.

The giant was already closing in on him. Each step and each strike made the valley shake. Rocks crumbled from the tops, forcing Alan to look out for that as well.

It was truly an exciting feeling.

He grinned as he shrouded himself in shadows, and prepared to unleash his strongest attacks upon the creature. It was yet another test of his will and his skills.

And there was no Tome to help him out this time.