The Fool's Freedom

Mr. Muge’s shop had changed yet again, adding a few additional wings and making the whole building stand out even more. Now that he was not far away from the center. Alan had decided it was the first place to stop since it was on the way to the World Temple.

The Enchanter was a great guy, and his attitude was refreshing. Plus, last time Alan had been in a hurry to leave, but he had left some of the void cores he had gathered in the fractal. It was not much, but he hoped they would be useful to the [Enchanter] or at least lead to some knowledge.

Now he had the strange soil from the mushroom valley, a few beast cores, the tail crystals of the creatures, the pieces of the spider, and most of all the jaderin ore. Quite a haul.

Tullis was still in place as a guard, dozing off as usual. Alan wondered how the guy was leveling and exuding all this sense of danger if all he did was sit around and nap. Perhaps not needing sleep allowed him and his companion to go out and hunt at night. It made some sort of sense. He couldn’t sense the one who stayed invisible around, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t there. Alan wasn’t about to trust his strange sense of mana a hundred percent.

I should look into that. He can’t be leveling just by doing nothing, can he?

“Hey, Tullis,” Alan greeted.

“Hey, Arron, how are ya doin’?” the large responded opening one of his eyes.

Not sleeping then.

“Name’s Alan. You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”

“Dunno what you’re talking about. The old guy’s inside,” the man pointed, then closed his eyes again, ignoring Alan.

Alan sighed and entered the Enchanter’s hall. Just like last time it was littered with various unfinished projects, stones, crystals, monster remains, and whatnot.

For the first time the [Enchanter] was not working, but sitting on his chair and drinking from a steaming cup.

“Alan!” he greeted, “Back so soon? Why, is something wrong with my invention?”

Straight to the point.

“Nice to see you, Mr. Muge. Nothing wrong with it, although it struggles to identify some out-of-this-world potions.”

“Is that so? Might be, might be. I used an inscription of a skill to do the job, and it might’ve been too low of a level for what you tried to use it for. I have something else for you. I fashioned it using one of those cores you left last time.”

Alan’s brows raised. That was a welcome surprise. A large sound of metal hitting metal sounded from the side room – where the smithy was – and Mr. Muge frowned. He waved a hand only for a large door of stone encased in steel to slide and close the entrance to the place.

“The energy in them is not very useful as it eats away at all the other enchantments I can make. Items are fueled by the ambient mana in the world, to an extent, but they also store some of their own. One the user has to contribute to. However, that strange thing eats at them. Haven’t seen anything like it before,” Mr. Muge said. The whole thing sounded like one giant question. He had pointedly ignored the situation with the smithy.

Alan smiled. “It’s void mana. I can wield it with moderate success, although I’m quite new at this. I’ve got a lot of things for you too.” He stretched a hand and forced some mana out. It was a ball of bleeding shadows that slowly unraveled, leaving only a hazy nothingness in the center. He had experimented with that before, unsuccessfully. It still looked cool

Mr. Muge leaned forward. “And here I thought I might try and fleece ya for the dagger. Would you like some tea? It’s made with some kobold herbs. The little buggers really know their stuff.”

Alan froze and the mana disappeared. Kobold herbs? That… that brought back memories. He wasn’t sure how he felt about it, and he had even given some to Old Greyheart.

“How’d you get them?”

“There’s a camp nearby that trades with us. Can you believe it? We used to kill the buggers by the dozen, but now some smarter ones managed to communicate with one of our groups. I almost feel bad for all we did to their population, but they were monsters after all. They too fear the rotten construct rising in the distance. Ah, the tragedy of this world. And the wonders! Kobold tea…Ha!”

Rosalyn had mentioned that in passing. I was too distracted about the news of a human city, and people conquering Sanctuaries. And those poor kobolds…

Alan forced a smile on his face. This didn’t feel good. Not at all. Why did he have to grow consciences in the middle of that Dungeon? Why was he so goddamn unstable even after resolving so many issues?

He gingerly accepted a cup of tea and sat down on a chair behind the counter, stepping over for the first time. The drink didn’t cause hallucinations or anything else. It was just weird tea that smelled oddly of thyme. It did make him think more fondly of rats though, which was weird. There were no rats in the Sanctuary. Not to his knowledge.

Some other mana signatures were walking around, but they were hidden from sight. Alan had noticed a proper shop being set up on the other side of the Enchanter’s hall. Mr. Muge was thriving, which was no surprise.

“What are they paying you with?” Alan asked.

“What?”

“Your clients. People who need enchantments? What’s the economy like?”

“Oh. Materials, knowledge of skills and monsters, all that stuff. Being well-read is not possible, so I rely on stories. A creative mind needs fuel to work. All great ideas evolve from lesser ideas, and inspiration doesn’t come out of the blue even if sometimes it feels like it. One needs to consciously better oneself and acquire more experiences, and that becomes the base upon which the mind gives birth to what we call original ideas. My work gives me levels and helps the people. It's rewarding unlike anything I’ve done before, and I’m happy with it. You should tell me more of your adventures sometime…”

Alan nodded. It sounded like a good time and he didn’t particularly loathe his time in the fractal. He had been very passive again, following along with the others, until the opportunity had presented itself. He probably had to omit the ritual involving the dragon whenever he told the story. He wondered if there would be consequences in the future if he survived that far.

There was reason in what Mr. Muge was saying too. Alan himself was recently finding inspiration everywhere, be it in the skills of people like Amir or other places.

“I’d love to, but I want to do the more important things before relaxing. Can you point me to a corner of the floor where I can unload my gifts for you?” Alan asked.

Mr. Muge’s demeanor instantly changed, and he stood up, finishing the kobold tea in one gulp. Alan hesitated but did the same. He half expected it to change him somehow, bring forth a system message or something.

The [Enchanter] surprisingly led him to a back room, containing even more materials. Alan couldn’t really make out different mana signatures, but some of the finished items were looking pretty interesting. The very concentration of mana in the room was overwhelming. A large pile of mana stones drew his attention. Even among all the other mana-infused materials and things, it stood out. His ritual had taught him the value of those things, and perhaps in the future, they would fuel a lot more than people scratching weird things on their skeletons.

There was a pretty open and wide space, and Mr. Muge looked like a kid on Christmas.

Alan didn’t waste any time. Shadows swirled leaving behind material after material. He stopped just before the remains of the boss and the jaderin ore, and looked at Mr. Muge. The [Enchanter] was obviously excited, but he looked confused too.

“That’s not that many things… did you really need—”

The larger parts of the spider boss appeared making the older man jump back in surprise and yelp. A moment later Tullis was behind them, sword drawn and carried in a reverse grip since it was too big to go through the doorway.

“What is this!” Mr. Muge yelled. He instantly started examining the crystalized parts.

“There’s more,” Alan said and winked at the confused Tullis.

Mr. Muge’s wide eyes threatened to pop out of his skull and he reluctantly moved away. A large pile of ore appeared in the next moment. Alan had a lot of it, and he kept about two-thirds just in case. After he learned more of its value, he could trade it for something useful. Altruism only went so far.

It was still a very large amount, taller and wider than the three men in the room.

“This feels wrong somehow,” Tullis said with a frown. Alan cast him a surprised look. No one was simple.

Mr. Muge had forgotten about them already. A pair of glasses with a few sets of lenses covering each eye had appeared on his head and he was handling a smaller piece of ore like it was a baby.

“This, this looks conductive. But it’s wrong! It disrupts? Why? Is it the strata, or the purity? Hm.”

Alan cleared his throat. Then did so again but louder when Mr. Muge ignored him.

“Oh! Yes! Yes! Thank you, Alan. You’re certainly my favorite customer! No, my favorite partner. What do you say? Bring me more of this and I’ll make you whatever you want! I’m on the verge of revolutionizing the enchantments in the Sanctuary! A few more months at most!”

Alan nodded. “Sounds good.”

“And take this,” Mr. Muge said. He waved his hand and a black dagger reeking of void flew toward Alan. He managed to catch it by the handle since the throw had been quite clumsy.

“Oh, since I made it from scratch, I can do this now. It’s just a prototype!”

Dagger of Void Core

A dagger made with the core of a void creature. It cuts easily through immaterial shielding.

Alan examined the blade. It was sleek, black, and crafted with love. Only one side of the blade had an edge, while to other was covered in small teeth-like protrusions. The blade had a slight curve to it.

“Looks good,” Alan said. It’s another offensive boost. I wonder if it will work better when I fuel it with void mana? “I’ll be going then. I look forward to hearing what you find out.”

Mr. Muge didn’t seem to hear him and Alan let himself out, followed by Tullis.

“You’re a strong one,” the large man said.

“I guess I am.”

“Wanna spar sometime?”

Alan stopped and evaluated the large man. Then nodded. “I’d love to.” I’m curious to see what that guy has in store.

The next stop was the World Temple – the most important place in the Sanctuary. Alan walked in unobstructed, gathering the seldom glance from those sitting around the massive temple. He could sense its dominance better now. It felt eternal.

As soon as he stepped further and the mists swallowed him, a whole new world was revealed before him. With just a thought he passed through the many things he could trade for. There were magical items, but nothing better than what Mr. Muge could offer. Simple cleansing charms, scrolls with basic spells, and weapons with weak enchantments. No one seemed willing to trade Quest rewards.

He was sure there were those out there who had them.

He moved on to check his personal points to see what he had in store. The initial message explaining the SP once again appeared, and he went over it just in case.

System Points are earned with each achievement, kill, or otherwise contribution you make toward the cycle of existence itself.

Most trophies such as monster remains, ancient knowledge, enchanted items, etc. can also be traded for System Points in World Temples and Pillars.

SP can in turn be converted to the preferred currency of one’s corner of the Universe.

Converting SP into currency is encouraged as SP cannot be traded between individuals and can be used directly only in services provided by the System.

Personal System Points available: 262 412

The fuck? Last time I only had like 700. Am I rich? How did this happen?

Alan stood still for a few moments. He could have all the mana stones he wanted, but… weren’t there other options? Things for the Sanctuary. A part of him considered that a waste. Didn’t the System offer other services? That could be interesting.

Just as a test he summoned a piece of the spider carapace – he had kept some of it – and willed it away. He could trade everything for points, couldn’t he?

You have received 100 SP.

Oh, goody. Next, he summoned a large piece of jaderin ore, and then some of the one forged by the kobolds.

You have received 1000 SP.

You have received 232 SP.

The forged one was worth significantly less, but then again the kobolds were probably not well equipped to handle it.

All of this was exciting though. He could trade mana stones for the items in the shop, couldn’t he? If he could access what had been offered in the Outpost. He had a lot of things left and with excitement traded a lot of it away just to see what would happen.

The realization of what he had given Mr. Muge played at the back of his mind, but Alan had decided to be a good person, so he ignored it.

Good people always suffer, ah!