The Fool's Freedom

It didn’t take long to bring down a side of the shabby rock pyramid. Alan used his shadows as supporting nets, to make sure no stone fell upon the corpses and the items still in their possession. It was a strange feeling, robbing the rotting dead, but loot was loot, and in the name of loot all was well.

After a lot of effort, they managed to salvage a bunch of items. It was a surprising amount. Most of them seemed like they were falling apart, and even if there had been magic in them, it was long gone. However, Alan sensed a few that were quite interesting. There was mana in them, and despite the interference of the strange ore, he could tell that they were special.

They consisted of a leather shirt that was sized for a thin woman or a child, a rusty short sword, a rope, a pair of fingerless gloves, a piece of cloth that looked like a handkerchief, and two rings. One of the corpses was also grabbing a dirty pouch with its bony hand. It seemed the most special of it all – for the first time in a while Alan felt a tingling from [First Pathfinder]. Spatial artifacts were bound to be good. He likened the sensation to something similar to the void and briefly wondered if he couldn’t give a whole new meaning to the concept of emptiness. Yet another idea that he had to explore. Space and void seemed like close concepts.

He let his new pals work their knowledge though. To his surprise, Jay identified almost all of the items that still exuded some magic, apart from the dirty pouch, and gathered them carefully into a pile.

“So… that’s about it,” Jay said, then looked at Alan.

Is that all you’re going to say? Perhaps the man couldn’t sense the pouch, or perhaps he was doing the same thing Alan was doing and pretending to not know of it. Would they both return for it at the same time later on?

“Can anyone use [Identify] or something similar?” Alan asked. He was reluctant to use the identifier he had gotten from Mr. Muge. His titles and Insight allowed him to sense that few of the items were special, and revealing that he could technically examine them all, even the ones he sensed nothing from, didn’t seem like the smartest course of action. Dividing loot was not something he had experienced yet in his short life under the System’s ruthless rules. He doubted there would be a conflict arising from it all, but playing his cards close to his chest was only natural.

They were human after all.

Kehlani seemed almost disinterred as she sat to the side and cradled her frozen stump, joined by Thomas who looked gloomy and depressed. It was an understandable reaction after losing one of their own, especially if they had survived through a lot together. The bunch of dirty items piled on the ground were hardly any sort of consolation.

It was only Amir who seemed unaffected. The strange fire mage was grinning ear to ear as he stared at the ‘loot’. Did he know something?

“No.”

“Well then, how do you propose we divide it?” Alan asked. The ball’s in your court. Jay had contributed the most to the boss’ fall, but Alan wasn’t about to put himself on the chopping block so easily.

“We’re more,” Amir blurted out from the side.

“And you didn’t do much apart from buffing and reaping the benefits of the fight,” Alan countered. “You got the most out of all of us so far.”

Amir smiled even wider. “That’s true. I’m ready to ascend just like you two, after dealing with a few small hurdles.”

That sent a jolt down Alan’s spine. Was it so easy? He had met a tier two so soon after returning, and now yet another human was about to step onto tier two? It was true that a lot of his time on the fractal was spent in inaction, and that a lot of his levels had been received under special circumstances, but still…

Was New Earth filled with tier twos walking around? It hurt his pride to an extent, but seeing how quickly he had run into one comparable to his own level, Alan didn’t think he was too far off in his conjecture. I need to improve faster.

The desire to stand on top was new and strange. He had felt it when the pride from who he had become had first appeared. It was like his blood, his soul, and even his titles demanded him to be superior to those around him. It was a need.

Alan realized he had been staring when Amir’s smile slowly melted away and the man took a step back. Alan had half a mind to ask the man about the requirements he had been given for tiering up. Some part of Alan knew that they were much easier than those he had been required to accomplish. Hell, without the [Bestowment] of power from the Dragon, he would probably still struggle to do so.

“Sorry about that, you reminded me of someone for a moment. Someone dear…” Alan lied and sighed. Is reaching tier two really that easy for the regular Joe? No. I have my bloodline, and my heritage to count on. I’ll widen the gap in time. Speed means nothing before quality.

“We’ll split it fairly. Four for us, three for you,” Jay proposed and looked at Alan as if expecting him to explode into a fit of rage.

Alan nodded with a smile, “If you give me first pick.”

Amir frowned, and Thomas looked toward them too. Kehlani was still in her own world. Jay didn’t react but remained silent before slowly nodding. Were they worried he had a skill capable of identifying things?

They could think whatever. Alan was willing to take a step back here, just because of the dirty pouch still waiting in the pile of corpses. The sensation of spatial forces was very faint, but it was certainly there.

“Fine,” Jay finally said.

“Fine?” Kehlani suddenly hissed. So she’s listening after all. “Fine? We lost Vlad because we—”

“Be silent,” Amir interrupted. Alan had expected Jay to admonish her, not the support-focused fire mage.

Does she want to blame me for the death of her companion? How very human, and how very cliché. It was his own weakness that led to his death, along with quite the bad luck. Alan remained silent. Letting her own teammates do the right thing was for the best. Alan wasn’t looking to get into conflict with them. Jay had earned some of his respect, and so had Amir whose skills had shown few ways Alan could improve himself. The latter was invaluable, and thanking the man in some way if they ever met again was probably a good thing for the long term, depending on how close their sanctuaries ended up being.

Distance seemed like it would be losing its meaning more and more with the appearance of insane movement skills, and perhaps other factors such as what the World Temple could offer. He had neglected to ask Rosalyn too many details about it.

Alan crouched next to the pile of items. Some had stronger mana signatures than others, but it was difficult to tell if that meant they were better. Perhaps time had eroded their enchantments. He could always get Mr. Muge to take a look if they proved worthless to him though.

He reached out and felt the group stop breathing in anticipation. Then he paused. They could suffer a bit more. Finally, he picked up the handkerchief. It was more of an embroidered piece of white cloth than a handkerchief now that he saw its full size, but it had kept surprisingly well considering everything. How could cloth last like that among rotting corpses? It was embroidered with flowers and skulls beneath the grime, blood, and whatever else had come from the corpses.

There was a flash of surprise in Amir’s eyes, while Jay remained cold. Without hesitation, Jay reached out and took the sword, and it was Alan’s turn to be surprised. Going for the weapon first and foremost was a pretty obvious move, but it seemed silly.

Alan’s own daggers were now barely adding anything to his attacks. The enchantments weren’t able to keep up with his own growth and with the level of enemies he was fighting, even if they still provided an edge. The flaming dagger was already done, but [True Edge] still provided some good utility. Alan was mostly saving it for when he had to fight anything he couldn’t touch otherwise… such as ghosts.

“Alright,” he said. It was a no-brainer to go for one of the rings next. He had no use for the small shirt. Armor was a smart thing to invest in, but there was none here. The rope was redundant in the wake of [Shadow Creation] unless it did something crazy which Alan doubted. The gloves just didn’t strike him as all that useful. All of the items belonged to people who had fallen against the jadari, which meant that they were weaker than him. The items were bound to not be too impressive.

The ring he picked was the larger of the two. After brushing off some of the dirt Alan felt a clear aura of magic coming from it, and it was somewhat stronger than the [Chameleon Ring] he still wore – the one left over from Florence. That was exciting. It was a silver ring, or at least made of something reminiscent of silver, with a dark flat stone on top. It looked very old, although the dirt and grime made it difficult to tell if it was truly age or just its current condition.

Jay didn’t seem to care about his teammate’s desires as he picked up the gloves and slid them onto his hands without care in the next moment. Nothing happened for a few long moments, so Alan turned toward the items and took the second ring. A steel band without any ornamentation.

“The rest are yours,” he said.

“Thanks,” Jay said. He took them all and after a brief examination gave all of them to Thomas, who reluctantly stowed them away, confirming he had an inventory skill.

“Well,” Alan began. “It was nice meeting you. I’ll be going then.”

“Do you not wish to explore further?” Jay asked with some surprise.

I do, but not together with you. The looks Kehlani was giving him and her unstable mental state were off-putting. Alan wasn’t in the mood to get blamed for her companion’s death, and he certainly didn’t want to spend too long around his new friends. More bosses needed his eventual attention. Jay was useful, but fighting along with him would take too long. If the next boss was too difficult Alan would just rush through the tunnels and see if he found anything useful before going out of the Dungeon and returning to the Sanctuary.

If the Tome recharged before then, then killing another boss on his own was not out of the question. It would provide a decent level boost – larger if he was alone – and improve the quest rewards. While Jay was useful, he didn’t trust the bunch. Especially now that there had been loot.

Loot drove people crazy, even if it was mediocre.

“How do we find you?” Jay asked.

“Why would you need to find me?” Alan smiled.

“Sanctuaries need to work together. We’re what’s left of humanity, and cooperation is paramount for rebuilding society.” It was Amir who had spoken. There was a hint of mockery in his words as if he was repeating another’s ideas and didn’t agree with them.

Yeah, I don’t see that happening mate.

“I don’t have any skills or items capable of communication. I think it's best we leave it up to chance,” Alan said after a minute of thought. There was not much for him to do, even if he wanted. He could technically draw something of a map from memory, but it was pretty certain that Jay’s group had come from a different dungeon entrance.

“I see… Well then. We’re thankful for your help… Alan.” Jay reluctantly agreed.

The man moved slowly, yet suddenly, and Alan felt a tap on his shoulder. It was a strange gesture, one that didn’t seem to be quite natural. There had been no time to dodge either… A skill? He wouldn’t dare, would he? Alan felt nothing different though.

Perhaps a curse? How funny would that be?

“No worries, Jay,” he said. [Curse of Buried Shadows] still remained dormant, and Alan was pretty sure it would be so for at least up to a month. He hoped he wouldn’t have to activate it before then.

Without saying anything else and not giving the group time to speak either, Alan used [Void Step] and soon disappeared into one of the mountain’s entrances. He decided to explore a bit and give Jay’s group some time to leave, before returning for the rest of the loot.

He was growing sick of the place, but it had turned out to be quite a useful venture.