The Fool's Freedom

Florence ran through the forest, closely following Davis. The man had been a good choice to get on her good side. It had taken a lot of soft touches here and there, but slowly he had lowered his guard and had agreed to be her shield. Not directly, of course, but that was his function as they ran around the forest and killed whatever came their way. The fact that he had found her attractive helped quite a lot in creating the feelings she fed daily. Not too much though, she didn’t want it to get creepy.

Davis had gone the way of pure physical fighting, ditching the spear as his fists served him much better. If she could have gotten one of the budding magicians, or mages, or whatever they ended up being called, it would have worked out even better. It was too dangerous to try and influence too many people, especially with a monster like Ashlyn Jeong still around.

The small girl was anything but harmless, as in a matter of a few days she had become scarier to Florence than the horrors roaming the forest. Her whole presence was on a different level and Florence suspected the girl had gotten a class. How she had done it in such a short time was a mystery, but she was stronger than anyone else in the camp.

Not that was a big accomplishment considering most of them were too afraid to go out after what had happened. It was a sad thing how they were so reluctant to level, some of their skills were truly amazing. She couldn’t do much about it though. Manipulating all of them would take too much time and energy, and she didn’t have either to spare as the quest would soon end and whatever came next would probably not be too pleasant.

She really only wanted to help Salla. The woman was nothing but kind to everyone and was the only one who didn’t have ulterior motives behind her smile. Florence would know. It didn’t hurt that her skills were purely supportive and the food she cooked acted as the best fuel one could ask for, even aiding in healing at nearly the same efficiency as Tim’s skill.

It would be a shame to waste such a valuable person.

-

Ashlyn roamed about the kobold settlement collecting her arrows from the corpses of its inhabitants. It was only a few huts and a large campfire in the middle, not much different than the other settlements she had found and cleaned. There was also a big cage woven just thin enough to keep the blue fireflies inside.

With her new class and speed, Ashlyn had gone further and further, hunting and looking for traces of other humans, killing everything in her way.

She also searched for traces of Alan. He couldn’t be dead. She had passed by many humanoid corpses, all covered by the maggots that seemed to swarm any corpse in a matter of hours. They didn’t touch the clothes, or the weapons though, and she had yet to find ones similar to Alan’s.

There was a sound coming from the trees, and Ashlyn would have missed it if not for her new senses. Picking [Hunter] had come with a ton of bonuses, not the least of which was a skill that augmented her hearing and another that improved her sight in ways she couldn’t have imagined. Both were passive effects she could turn off if she so desired, although she didn’t think it would be needed.

After she chose a class, she returned to level 1, but kept her attributes and getting even more on top of them. Her only regret was that she had yet to meet one of the horrors that had led to Alan’s fate. Her new kit would allow her to fight, or run if she could not win.

She readied her bow and stood still, slowing her breath.

The beast, another dark wolf, came closer sniffing the air. It eyed the kobold corpses lying all around and Ashlyn could see the hunger in its eyes. The dark wolves had proven to be unsatiable; she had witnessed as they devoured their literal weight in flesh. This one was a particularly big specimen and Ashlyn slowly put away her arrow and bow, opting to draw one of the kobold hatchets on her waist.

She walked out of her hideout with a smile, her heightened senses could hear her blood rush through her veins, and her muscles, stronger than ever, were taut with excitement.

The wolf noticed her and bared its teeth. She felt its confusion, fear, and anger. Why was she not afraid of it, but it of her? Did she smell like death? It was the predator; she was supposed to be the prey.

The dark wolf lunged and Ashlyn easily dodged. It swiped with its overgrown claws, threw itself trying to catch her between jaws that could crush a tree, and even used its body to try and pin her down.

She dodged all of the wolf's attacks easily, her laughter ringing through the forest. [Danger Sense] went off again and again as she weaved and ducked. The strength and confidence the System had given her were unparalleled. The dance continued until the dark wolf was foaming, it got slower, clumsier, until finally it finally exhausted itself too much and laid down.

Ashlyn stared at it with a smirk. She had won against this beast, and it had been easy. So easy. For a second, she regretted not picking [Beast Tamer] when it was offered, but that was not the path she wanted to go down. There would be many strong monsters, much stronger than the wolf, and she wanted to win against them on her own.

She missed her family back home; she loved them despite how they treated her, they were blood. But for the first time, she felt comfortable and proud in her life, here between the trees skirting the line of life and death. Here, she could be who she wanted to be. No society's rules, no expectations, and pressure, and no living according to someone else’s ideas.

Here, she could love whoever she chose and all she needed was to be stronger than whoever had fuck to say about it.

Ashlyn bent down and petted the exhausted wolf on the head. It flinched and let out a whine.

“Rest easy big boy, I won’t kill you.” These little guys didn’t give levels anymore.

She rose and looked up. The sun was going down, and darkness would soon cover the land. Her [Hunter’s eyes], would make darkness her friend. And in the dark, she could finally play with worthy opponents.

-

Emerson prayed. To whom or what he didn’t know. It seemed silly to pray to the God he had known before they came here. The God he had ignored and paid no mind to.

It seemed silly to pray at all, but if all of this was real, then there was some supreme force that ruled over it, be it the System or something else. There had to be. So, he prayed.

Their group was at its end and he knew most of them would die out there. Florence and Davis had their little team, hunting on their own. Ashlyn also went off alone, ignoring all questions, and Emerson had seen her threaten Tim when he tried to stop her. She was taking Alan’s loss hard.

He was too. They had never been friends but Alan was the first one he met when they came here, and the man had given him a feeling of normalcy and safety every time they spoke. Now he was dead. No one could survive the nights.

Emerson raised his head and saw Ivan and Walter arguing, once again. Walter wanted to hunt and level, but he did not want to do it alone. The rest were comfortable just waiting for their death.

Emerson knew that’s what would come if they didn’t level. Yet, maybe it was for the best. This place, this life, it was not for everybody. Certainly not for him. And it would only grow harder, exactly as Alan had predicted.

He sighed and stood up. He cast his evolved skill [Cleanse] and felt his body shed all the dust and grime it had gathered. It was a better version of [Cleanse Water]. His second skill was nothing alike as all it did was make him very strong… a good skill for killing things, not so good for survival.

He didn’t know what to do. Maybe he should have gone with Alan to hunt, he should have been the one to sacrifice himself. Then he would have had a purpose.

There were more monsters visiting their camp now. Most stayed near the trees and just looked at them, while the few that approached were chased away by Walter’s [Ember]. He was sure the man was trying to kill them, but his aim was comically bad.

It was probably Ashlyn that had stopped more from attacking them.

The quest window showed that there were mere hours left on the timer. He looked up towards the sky.

Whoever is listening, please give us salvation. Please.

-

Matt walked. His feet were bare and his clothes were but rags. He had leveled though, oh how much he had leveled. Fires licked at his wounds, leaving burn scars all over his body, but they also burned away the pain. They healed and built him anew.

And they had burned his foes. He had never known how intoxicating it would be to wield such destructive power in his hands. One day they would regret siding with that whore, Florence. Yes, he would teach them how much better he was, how much stronger.

Her tendrils would burn if they ever found their way into his mind again. And she would burn too, like Rob had burned. It was a pity, what had happened to Rob, he was a bit out of it back then.

His only regret was leaving Eldon who had been his only friend in the world for a long, long time. The fires raging inside of him burned the memories they shared, but they still came back. It would pass, eventually. He was more now.

He was a [Fire Seed] and had no need for a group to survive. His class was amazing, he could feel it, and it had made him a force to be reckoned with and no monster in the cursed forest could stop him.

[Sustained by Fire] made sure he needed neither water nor food and his only two skills after choosing his class, [Fire Creation] and [Fire Manipulation] were all he needed. Sleep was a thing of the past. He was not a mere human.

Grass burned beneath his feet as he ran faster than a car, laughing with glee. The beasts he ran into all burned to a crisp. They no longer gave levels, but he burned them anyway. There were a few he had to escape from, but his fire had kept him safe. He cringed remembering meeting one of the horrors with tentacles and human masks. Those… they were scary.

The forest finally ended as he existed and found himself on a wide plain, and in front of him he saw a barrier of barely visible golden light, and a… small settlement filled with humans inside of it.

His heart rejoiced.

Maybe he would make a fine ruler? A king of fire.

-

Xil’Garoth, first of his name and most likely last too, raged in his prison. He couldn’t remember the last time he had felt so frustrated. Maybe it was when they caught him. Summoned by those hooded freaks with zero sense of aesthetics and trapped. How could ugly humans in hoods outsmart him?! HIM?!

He could hear their voices echoing in his head. Or maybe it was his own voice, saying the things they said back then. Not that he could remember what they said very well. Living close to a tiny magical cube did things to one’s mind, even if that one was a powerful demon. Was he powerful?

Whatever. He would make them all pay. Starting with his nemesis, the dumbest, rudest, most arrogant human being he had met. Not that he remembered meeting many humans. He probably had. And he probably wore a necklace made out of their skulls? Yes, that sounded like him! They were the lowest of the lowest of all races! Soft, full of themselves, but so, so many. They adapted to almost any environment and given enough time managed to find ways to destroy anything.

Or so he remembered. Where did the memories come from again? School? Did he go to school? Did demons?

There was a lot of information that swam up only to disappear back into the depths of his memory.

Xil’Garoth, a drinker of rat blood, let out a loud scream only he could hear and suffer. It was so frustrating, not being able to let the world feel his wrath.

If only the freak without a bottom half wasn’t so thick-headed. It was mad at him, the amazing demon. What could he do if the freak’s skull was so thick his [Mind Link] stopped working after only a few days? As if the man’s mind automatically grew a defense against it! It was preposterous!

And stupid Alan was refusing to try and kill the freak for its offense. And to save them of course. Xil was sure the freak was up to no good.

The ritual he was preparing was making him feel pangs of terror that would reach his bones if he had any, and that was not a good thing for a demon. Both feeling terror and not having bones to feel it with, that is.

Xil’Garoth, dweller of the stinky cube, yelled again, but this time cast [Soundless]. He would probably forget to do it next time, as it happened every time his temper got the best of him. He had a bad temper, true. But beings as perfect as himself were allowed bad tempers. It was those beneath who had to be humble and boring.

Sigh.

No matter. One day, with enough blood essence, he would grow strong enough to weaken the bindings of his prison. Similarly, one day, he would be even stronger and break out, unleashing his noble and glorious self upon the wretched world. Hopefully, the freak wouldn’t die too soon, as the essence of the rat corpses he kept bringing was quite tasty and Xil wanted to end him himself. He only wished he could absorb their energy faster.

The human could rot for all he cared. Useless.

For now, Xil’Garoth, lover of naps, decided to rest. There would be time for carnage later. And for longer naps.