The Fool's Freedom

The giant had to use most of his hands to find balance and hold on to rock outcroppings and ridges that were within reach. It was a difficult thing to do and he leaned over, screaming as more unbalanced weight fell on his hurt ankle. A strong pull from the dark servants only added to the torment, and he fell on his knees with a large crash. His attacks had practically ceased at that point, allowing Alan to go crazy without much worry.

He wasn’t shy when aiming for the face or the neck area. While the shadow slashes and [Void Pierces] were not enough after one or two attacks, he was sure the add-up from his will would eventually give a result. The giant would break, eventually.

Jay on the other hand had retreated and stood panting, leaning on a formation of rocks as tall as a man. The miasma covering him was all but gone. The skill was terrifying and Alan saw no way of countering it, other than preemptively disabling the man. It was something to keep in mind. Despite them fighting together, there was no trust to be had yet. Perhaps there would never be

Alan bombarded the roaring giant until the creature couldn’t take anymore. It let go with two of its hands – the right pair that had little to grab onto and started swinging. It was not difficult to stay out of range and now that its feet were out of commission the attacks seemed weaker. Even the scary shockwaves were nothing more than a breeze at this point.

We have you now. Alan was glad there was an end in sight. The rewards of the quest alone would be more something to look forward to even if he didn’t go deeper into the dungeon. Considering his skillset gear was not that important… at least offensive gear. The effect of [True Edge] was overshadowed by the presence of his Will, although it could technically be useful against skills like those of Jay. Alan wasn’t sure if Will alone would allow him to attack someone… ghostly.

The staff was still useful since it gave percentage bonuses, but he was sure it was not that great in the grand scheme. A defensive artifact or armor was something to look forward to, especially considering how frail he was, having to rely only on quick reacting with [Shadow Creation] or a passive shield that was struggling to keep up with the stronger enemies he was meeting.

[Shepherd Shroud] was once again shining through. Increasing the effects of his will slowly started giving results and the shadow slashes raining upon the giant soon broke through its thick skin and made it bleed.

The fight turned boring after that. The giant was hellbent on using his other two hands to keep himself as upright as possible, while Alan had no issue making use of his range, even if he sacrificed some power to do that.

Jay finally took action after a long rest, and Amir joined in, sending bolts of fire to both Alan and Jay. Alan was hit by two, and this time both the flow of his mana fueling his skills and the regeneration of his mana pool that was already quite fast became smoother, many times faster, and overall of a higher quality.

It felt truly great and once again Alan wondered if there was anyone capable of such buffs in his Sanctuary. It was amazing.

The giant bashed the ground and threw rocks, but Jay was fast and opted to go for the thighs with his attacks. He seemed limited to short range. The illusory fists he had used against Alan weren’t nearly strong enough to do anything against the thick skin of the jadari creature, but his empowered punches seemed to hurt.

Alan kept his distance. Patience was the key. It was not an exciting fight to have, but it was the safe way to win and reap the benefits it offered. If there were any.

The strange situation kept going for another half an hour or so, at which point Alan started worrying that the giant’s stamina would outlast his own mana reserves. The four-armed jadari’s wounds would crystalize and close now – something the boss had neglected to do for quite a while – but Alan’s attacks would break them open again and again, in a never-ending dance.

Hopefully, that was its last trick.

The boss’s face looked like it had gone through a meat grinder, and its neck was a mess of blood and broken jaderin iron. Finally, one of Alan’s attacks struck something important and a large amount of blood shot out, showering the surroundings almost as if it was meant to be a cinematic moment. Jay retreated instantly but he still came out looking like he had taken a bath in a pool of blood.

Alan redoubled his efforts. It was a few moments later that his Dark Servants who had struggled untiringly all this time finally achieved something too. The bone connecting the giant’s foot to the rest of his leg broke at the ankle under the constant grinding of the Will-infused dark chains. It was another gruesome scene, but the giant was almost numb to it. The jaderin ore slowly covered the bleeding stump and stopped the bleeding, but Jay focused on it, breaking it open in a quick succession of some sort of empowered strikes.

Minutes later, the boss let go of the mountain’s wall he was holding and fell face-first into the ground. Alan rushed backward, utilizing [Void Step] to its fullest extent if only to dodge any flying debris and save himself some mana. He was running almost dangerously low, and reaching the bottom was not something he wanted to do considering how important mana was to him.

The message came with a delay as if the giant was still clinging to life after falling. It had been an easy fight, despite the initial screw-ups.

You have slain: Four-armed Jadari Chieftain (257)

Level up!

You have reached level 114 in Tier Two [Shepherd of the Broken]

+5 Attribute Points

+5 to Mind, Will, Magic

Level up!

You have reached level 115 in Tier Two [Shepherd of the Broken]

+5 Attribute Points

+5 to Mind, Will, Magic

Lower level than the Weaver, but still quite a bit higher than the rest. I wonder if monsters transform at the hundred marks like us. Gaining two levels was good. Not the best, but good.

“That was… a strange fight,” Jay said as he neared slowly. He looked like he had been through hell, although there were no wounds covering his body. He was sullen, but it was obvious he was trying to mask it by putting on the usual cold façade.

Must be hurting because of the death of his friend… Vlad, was it? Poor bastard. Then again…

“Yeah… sorry for your loss,” Alan replied.

Jay shrugged, “It happens. He’s not the first, won’t be the last.”

That’s a practical and cold way to look at things. Very on character. Xil would like this guy… no, probably not.

“I’d suggest not saying anything like that in front of the rest of them. They seem pretty shaken… your ice mage lost an arm too.”

“She’ll be fine. I appreciate your… thoughtfulness,” Jay said. “But they’re not friends. I’m doing them a favor and they know the risks they are taking by coming here with me. I’m pretty happy we killed the boss. It gave me a lot of levels…”

The last sentence was almost said as a question, but Alan remained silent. It had given him a lot of levels too, and he was happy about it. If two could be counted as a lot… perhaps in tier two it was. However, loot was more important. He wasn’t fond of the idea of dissecting the giant jadari for whatever its body had, although it was probably valuable. The giant was too humanoid… It was easier done when it had been a spider, oddly.

Alan was worried about another thing too. The fight had seemed… oddly boring. Mechanical. His fight with the group of jadari warriors in the tunnels had been more intense. More satisfying. It had brought out dark urges and whispers from the shadows that strongly overshadowed anything he had felt now, apart from the initial brushes with death.

And yet… this was the stronger opponent. This was the challenge.

Is it because I prefer working alone? Or is it something else… can I not let go and give myself to my new nature when there are others around? No. I’m just still a confused bastard is what it is.

Alan shook his head. “Let’s go loot the place.”

The pyramid that rested behind the throne was very attractive. Alan didn’t wait for Jay’s response and he rushed past the corpse and towards the construction. He paid closer attention to what remained of the ruins now. It was difficult to put anything into a complete picture. The giant had broken a lot of what had remained as a symbol of a civilization long past.

Jay followed closely behind. Alan thought it rude not to inform the rest of their team, but apart from Amir they had hardly contributed to the fight. Sure, they deserved something for the trouble, but it was up to Jay to appease them.

Alan could care less about hurt feelings. He briefly wondered if perhaps giving them one of the potent healing potions he still carried from his time in the fractal and the dragon ritual would be a good idea. Perhaps it could get him some nice points and allow him to get closer to their Sanctuary.

For what though? Another base of operations? Another home and a bunch of new drama? If there were people, there would be issues.

Alan shook his head. There was no entrance to the pyramid so he climbed it steadily. It was made of rock steps, rather than the smooth stone so it was not a difficult thing with his current physique and some mana boosts.

There was no entrance on the top either, but it almost looked like it was made to be removed. Like a giant bottle stopper.

“Help me with this,” Alan said. He coated his arms in shadows just in case and tried pushing. The slab of stone didn’t move until Jay put his weight on it and helped.

Out of the corner of his eye, Alan saw Thomas, Amir, and the still-crying Kehlani come toward them. They were distraught, but not enough to ignore potential loot. As it should be.

The top of the pyramid slid open and they let it fall to the side with a loud crash.

“Fuck,” Jay exclaimed. The genuine surprise on the man’s face was nothing to scoff at and Alan echoed his sentiment.

The inside was hollow, made almost like a well that widened from top to bottom. Alan took out a candlestone and threw it down, just to give them some more light. Corpses of various creatures – mostly humanoid – rested on the bottom in different states of decay. Some looked almost human, although it was very difficult to tell. If they were… then that meant others had come to the Dungeon and attacked the boss.

And lost horrifically.

Or perhaps they had been taken by the patrols and brought here to serve as sacrifices.

What was important was that among all the corpses there were a few other things – items. Alan could feel some of the mana circling around although the pile of jaderin ore the boss had used as a snack was interfering a lot. He needed to get over that. Perhaps building himself a room with jaderin ore and trying to push through its interference would make for well-spent training. He had neglected to focus on his Insights and something told him they were as important as levels, if not more.

“Well then… here’s our loot. How shall we go about it?” Alan asked.

Jay frowned. He turned toward the three that were almost next to them and disappeared from his position. He said something to them, but Alan didn’t care. He was ready to disable Jay with the curse still germinating inside of him, and the rest were of no issue.

Soon Jay was back with the others following them. They were sullen, but whatever he had told them had made them steel their expressions. Even Kehlani was done sobbing. Her stump was frozen in a very similar manner to what the boss had done to his own stumped leg.

“We’ll freeze the corpses, then go down there and take it all out.”

That’ll take care of the smell. Good plan.

“Sure… but why go down there? I can fish it all up with my shadows,” Alan said. “Or, we can just break this pyramid apart”

I hope there’s something good. I’m tired of this place.