The Fool's Freedom

You have entered Sanctuary 142 – Earth

Do you wish to join Sanctuary 142 – Earth?

The messages appeared the moment he reached the faint shimmering golden barrier.

Yes.

Congratulations! You have become a resident of Sanctuary 142 – Earth.

You have completed a quest: Join a Sanctuary!

You have been granted access to the Sanctuary trading system.

Nothing seemed to happen, but it was highly doubtful he could just start trading from anywhere. It probably had to do something with the featureless temple or whatever it was in the middle of the Sanctuary.

Passing the barrier didn’t feel like anything, and Alan simply continued, hoping to meet someone familiar. People looked at him for a second or two as he passed by, few stared, but most ignored him as he walked unimpeded deeper and deeper into the Sanctuary grounds. It felt strange to move between the big concrete ruins, so ancient and hardly reminiscent of their former glory.

How was this all done? It was about two weeks, maybe a bit more considering how many times he had fallen unconscious since the System happened. The remains all around didn’t look two weeks old. Hell, thousands, maybe more?

Alan walked and took in the sights. People entered and exited some of the more preserved buildings, others looked to have been modified.

Many of the adults he saw had various weapons on them, looking both tough and worn down. There were many small groups of adults, gathered around bonfires, cooking and drinking out of wooden cups.

He saw big pots letting out tasty smells that reached his nose and made him grow hungry again. People were magically creating water or cleansing large barrels full of it, while others were crafting arrows, clothes, wooden utensils, and all kinds of different things with skill Alan highly doubted came naturally to them. It was not possible for so many people to have so many valuable hobbies. Skills were amazing.

The one thing that threw him off the most was the sight and sound of children running around and playing. It seemed so out of place compared to his experiences the past few days. There were many elderly people too, walking around, some with renewed vigor, others looking like they were knocking on death’s door. They were most likely sent to Sanctuaries like the children, waiting for help to come.

How had they missed this place? It was huge, and it wasn’t that far. Ashlyn at the very least should have sniffed it out. Maybe it was the golden barrier or some other System shenanigans?

Alan walked aimlessly looking around for a familiar face, randomly going down the dirt streets and weaving through the looming city of ruin. It took a while, but someone finally recognized him.

“Alan? Is that you?” a man’s voice exclaimed.

Alan turned and saw Walter, the chubby man looked very different. He had lost some weight and his clothes were littered with burn marks, but otherwise new and well made.

“Hello, Walter,” Alan said and smiled. That had been easy enough. It was not Ashlyn, but Walter was a good person to run into. Alan approached the man and with some hesitance tapped him on the left shoulder. “Glad to see a familiar face.”

“How have you been man? We thought you were dead! What happened? What’s with the getup?” Walter asked, eyes roaming all over, stopping briefly on Alan’s bag and then his face. “You look very different.”

“A lot happened. A whole lot. Where are the others?”

Walter nodded, “You are probably asking after the girl, Ashlyn. She is out hunting, she goes early and comes back late. She brings food every day so no one really minds. Not that anyone could stop her if they wanted.” Walter replied.

That’s Ash for you. Alan was happy to hear she was fine. And quite strong too.

“The others… well, Florence and Davis left a few days ago and haven’t returned. Make what you will of that,” the man shrugged. Alan frowned, that didn’t sound like Florence at all. There was too much potential for her powers here. “Eldon is not doing too well, and Tim, Salla, Nadia, and Ivan are working for one of the top men now, so I don’t see them often. I got my own thing going you see,” he pointed towards one of the more preserved ruins directly behind. It looked like an apartment that had turned sideways, but still managed to hold its integrity. Below the glassless windows, which were now where the roof should be, was a well-made stone firepit and a cooking boar leg.

“What do you mean working for one of the top men?” Alan asked.

Walter looked around, there seemed to be some fear on his face. That was surprising, Walter wasn’t one to cower. “There are a few stronger groups, classers, that run the place. They make the rest of us take care of the kids and the elders, not that we mind much. Someone has to do it, and it is better than risking your life,” there seemed to be some displeasure on his weathered face, despite his words. “I wish I could grow stronger, but this is fine too… and I do not make the rules.”

Something snapped inside of Alan.

Rules? In this place?! Who the fuck do they think they are.

Alan took a deep breath, “If you want to go out and fight, you can always do that. Listening to small people with big sticks will only get you left behind and lead you to a death filled with regrets. Don’t you want to find your family?”

“Of course, I do!” Walter’s voice rose and he looked around nervously, “But they are quite fair, and rein in the worst of them. You have no idea, man. Some people… some people hide who they are only under fear of punishment and laws. And in this place, they make the laws and decide the punishment.”

Fear of repercussions, huh? On Earth society was built around being able to afford material things, supporting your family, health, and way of living. The laws were there too, for most people. Some did get away with a lot, but that is how it always was.

We will see about that.

There was probably no way to have a functioning society without rules, but Alan didn’t care. He was not going to be building one. He would simply do whatever the fuck he wanted, living his new life to the fullest, until he was the strongest, or he died.

“Say, have you tried that system trading thing?”

“Oh, yeah, I’ve heard about that. It’s only available for people who have a Class. And it is exclusively controlled by the bigger groups. The largest is a bunch of stronger classers calling themselves The Future. They allow access to the other groups, for a price. Tim and the others are working with them. Salla is their exclusive cook, but she is treated like royalty.”

Alan cringed. He was pretty sure the cube in his bag cringed too.

The Future? Fuck me sideways.

“What about Eldon? And you didn’t seem to mention Emerson at all. He is not dead, is he?”

“Eldon is… his skill of shaping water is the only one of its kind. It is rare, very rare. Probably higher. He is bad at it though. They, The Future, took him when he refused to fight and wanted to just help with the kids, and as far as I know are forcing him to improve his skill under threat. For what, I don’t know,” Walter replied, “And yes, Tim and the rest know, and I don’t think they care.”

It had only been a week or two since he fell into the tunnels. A lot seemed to have happened. Alan took a deep breath; he didn’t have any sympathy for Tim’s group but something about the whole situation was making him very, very angry.

“Emerson?”

Walter sighed, “He is a strange case. He has taken residence on the other side of the Sanctuary, preaching about some sort of a God. I heard people are afraid of him since he killed someone. I don’t recommend going there.”

What the fuck had happened while he was gone?

“Thanks, Walter. Here,” Alan took out an apple and gave it to him.

“A pink apple? They are pretty good, I’ve had a few. Thanks.”

“Does Ash have a place around here? I want to wait for her before doing anything else.”

“She does, but I am not quite sure where. She became different after you… disappeared.”

Oh boy, he was in for it.

“Then, can I crash at your place for a bit?”

“Sure, I will get the word out to some friends. Someone will see Ash and tell her.”

“Thanks, man, appreciate it. One last thing… You know where I can get some food and a bucket of fresh beast blood, preferably bled directly from the heart?”

Walter raised an eyebrow, and Alan smiled innocently.

***

An hour later, after having a very interesting conversation with one of the Sanctuary’s [Butchers] - a tall fellow who cared about nothing else but the new species he could cut up and grill in this new world, Alan was sat in a small dark room, adjacent to Walter’s.

A bucket of still steaming wolf’s heart blood sat in front of him and there was a curtain on the door, which did little to assuage his worries, but it was something. Walter had promised that no one would bother him for a while.

After procuring two more buckets of fresh water for washing up and lighting the place with some of his candlestones, Alan took off most of the clothes on his upper body, starting with his leather armor. He used the occasion to clean it off better with a piece of wet cloth, trying to use the activity to calm his nerves.

[Ritual: Enchanted Bones] was something entirely unknown, and considering how the last and only ritual he had participated in had gone, Alan was on the fence. Still, it would provide a much-needed boost to his mana reserves and make his bones harder to break. Considering the low supply of healing potions, he had and the time the mending took last time, that was a huge deal.

He had asked Walter, and there were few healers around. The ‘gangs’ were not bad enough to stop the healers from treating normal people or kids, but that probably had to do with the fact that healing gave levels to healers and made them better.

It was a win-win.

Alan took out the piece of black mana chalk he had gotten from Ig-Thun. It was a strange black thing resembling a metal tool more than chalk, that despite its color created glowing pale blue lines on the concrete floor by drawing mana from the one using it.

Drawing the circle was easy, as the skill came with all the knowledge one would need to perform it. It was a stark difference to how other skills worked, but Alan didn’t complain. Almost in a focused trance, he drew a circle filled with symbols and geometric lines he couldn’t recognize. It was big enough for a person to comfortably sit inside its boundaries without spilling out.

Next, he used some of the blood to draw similar lines on his hand and forearm, stopping at the elbow. Alan had to use a constant flow of mana to shape the blood as the ritual skill taught him, or else it would simply fall away.

He had to try a few times as his concentration wavered and the blood simply ran down his arm, ruining the markings. By the end, his mana reserves were almost halved, but the blood kept its shape and looked almost like a red tattoo.

Finally, he held the mana crystals he had and concentrated, preparing for the pain, which was the least of his worries.

“The world as the source. Blood as the medium. Bone as the vessel.”

The mana raged around him, the blood markings on his left hand shining and heating up.

He started with his pinky, the blood seeped through his skin, burning its way inside until it reached the first of the bones in his finger. The pain was intense and unlike anything he had ever experienced, but it was not too much. It was only the tip of his pinky though.

Alan guided the heated blood, seeing the process in his mind as clearly as if he were looking through a microscope. He dug the grooves, or the so-called channels, letting the blood burn through his bone. It took him about a minute despite how small the bone was, as making a mistake would lead to quite the consequences.

Next, he continued down, to the next segment. The pain got more intense, but it was still bearable.

Alan forgot to count as he continued the ritual slowly going from bone to bone, connecting mystical symbols and grooves deep inside of them. The blood was like a microscopic needle that used mana to cut and burn its path like a raging river through soft earth.

He lost track of time as there was only an intense battle to keep his focus under the unrelenting pain.

At some point, the mana stopped raging and the blood stopped burning. There were no more bones left. Alan slowly opened his eyes, as if waking up from a nightmare. His body was all tense and sweat dripped out of every pore.

He looked at his left arm. It looked like a normal arm, with no trace of the blood that had penetrated his skin and flesh and burned through his bones. It was all a distant dream, instead a cooling, relaxing feeling permeated it.

He flexed his fingers, enjoying the smoothness of movement. There was not much difference from before, but it felt like it had been a lifetime since he had last exercised his arm.

+5 to the Magic attribute.

Due to experiencing and enduring an extreme amount of pain without a word you have gained + 2 Will

Five whole Magic for the arm below the elbow. Wow. What would a whole arm give? How about a leg? If he enchanted his whole body in this way, he would have a ton of mana. He could already feel the bonus, no matter how small it was. It boosted both the amount of mana he could hold and its regeneration.

The Will gain was a great bonus too.

Alan grinned and stood up, groaning at the stiffness of his whole body. How long had he spent here? He used one of the buckets to scrub his body as best as he could. He still smelled of sweat and dirt, but at least he was somewhat cleaner. He put on his shirt and armor, gathered his things, and pulled the curtain, only the find a bunch of barrels and creates blocking the door.

There were voices on the other side, and he could hear Walter talking to someone.

Time to meet people.

INFORMATION:

Name:

Alan Morgan

Race:

Human

Class:

Warlock

Level:

3

Titles:

Pioneer; Madcap; Slayer; Friend of the Spirit World

ATTRIBUTES:

Strength

35

Dexterity

33

Vitality

4

Will

62

Mind

51

Magic

57

TRAITS:

One Mind, One Body; Limited Vitality; Tongues of the four corners; Survivor’s will; Shadow Mind

SKILLS:

Warlock’s Body Mastery; Synaptic Failure; Shadow Slash; Ritual: Enchanted Bones; Mortal Peril