The Fool's Freedom

The water definitely tasted as water should, only better. It was pleasantly cold and oddly invigorating. It was the best damn water Alan had ever had. While some of that might’ve been due to his fatigue and stress, he didn’t care. He didn’t know how much of it was due to the skill and how much the water itself. He asked Emerson to cleanse a few handfuls before he splashed the last one on his face.

Both stood there for a moment, gazing into the carpet of stars before them.

“We should decide whether to move or wait for someone to find us,” Alan said. He had sat down on the nearest rock, grateful for the rest. He knew what he preferred.

“You think someone is looking?” Emerson had turned oddly silent, but considering everything Alan couldn’t blame him. The confusion and stress of this fucked up situation must have started getting to him. Not everyone was ready to throw their old life away for a chance of a new beginning. Alan’s heart clenched at the thought of his life before, but he quickly suppressed the rising emotions. I am not everyone.

“No rescuers or help, no. I’d imagine that’s done for. But someone with the proper skill … possibly? You do have the same quest, right? Let me try something.” Alan didn’t wait for an answer as he focused on the quest and imagined himself showing it to Emerson.

Quest: The Pack Survives!

You have defeated your first foe, but you have become separated from your allies. Find them and regroup.

Reward: Supplies

“Yes, I can see it!” Emerson’s eyes lit up for a second giving a glimpse into the person Alan had loathed in the office. Naively happy as if the whole situation had been resolved. It lasted only seconds as he deflated and in a much more subdued tone confirmed. “Mine’s the same.”

“So, we found each other but the Quest is still there. We probably have to meet the rest, or just enough... Damn this vague bullshit,” Alan looked towards the lake, then the forest. “Considering your spell… skill… I’d say staying near the water is good enough. I need the rest. And I think there is something odd about the forest.”

Emerson nodded. “Let’s wait. I trust you.”

Trust me? Alan looked at the man with concern. Emerson was a leader, a social person who thrived being the center of attention. Why would he trust Alan, the grumpy loner? The mood shift had been sudden and it left him feeling anxious. Of all things that’s what put him off. It was stupid. They were both thrown into the same weird situation. It was the most normal thing to freak out at least a little bit when the world just disappeared on you. But people freaked out differently, that much Alan knew. Maybe that was Emerson’s way.

The silence stretched on as they watched the tranquil lake. Alan wondered how to broach the topic of status screens and see what the difference between him and Emerson truly was. It was the smart thing to get a general idea of how all of this bullshit worked, but it just felt so awkward. Like he was asking something embarrassing. Show me yours and I will show you mine. Thankfully, Emerson was the first to speak up.

“Hey, uhm, if it’s not too intrusive to ask… did you get bonus points from the second skill selection since you chose from it?” he asked.

Alan looked up. “Bonus points? What do you mean? Apart from the one from the level up I have received no other attribute points.” What?

“I got a bonus of 5 for picking a starting skill from the first list. I don’t know if there were any for the other option. Guess not.”

That hadn’t been in any of the messages. Depending on how much attributes raised one’s abilities five could be huge. If he got one per level, at level 10, he would have only 10 bonus points to divide. Emerson would have 15.

“Did the System mention the bonus points before you picked the skill?”

“No, I got a… notification… is that the right word? Feels weird. Anyway, I got them after I picked the skill. Maybe it was only for the first choice?

“Maybe.” Was [Efficient Basic Movement] that much better? 5 attribute points better? It honestly depended. It was better for his situation. Would a healthy person that could move just fine need it? And if they didn’t need it, would it get offered? Would it be stronger on them? The unanswerable questions were driving him mad.

He had also gotten the chance to choose a rare skill, but it had looked worthless. Or maybe it hadn’t been and he was a fool. And what if people got offered something more direct and powerful, like actual offensive magic… or flying? The bonus for the basic survival skills would be much more reasonable then. There was also the chance that the starter skills were just that and led to nothing better.

Alan shook his head. He had been too quick to judge and choose, even if he knew little to nothing about the way things could progress.

“There are too many unknowns. As soon as we find more people and hear about their experience in this place, we will be able to create a better picture of the situation. Although it will take us some time until we figure out how everything works.” Alan said. Emerson was listening carefully, making Alan shift uncomfortably. “On that note, could you tell me what your strength stat is at?”

“Sure. It’s at 23.” Emerson said. There was no hesitation at all, making Alan feel another disgusting emotion because of some of the thoughts he had - guilt. The big man continued, “My dexterity is 22, but I put all my points into it. Figured it might help with moving through the forest.”

Expected, but depressing nonetheless. Emerson had almost triple his physical stats, whatever that counted for. It was unlikely that it was as simple as being three times as strong or dexterous. Alan wondered what Emerson would be capable of if he had [Efficient Basic Movement] instead of [Cleanse Water].

“Alan. Alan!”

“Wh-,” before Alan could react, Emerson stood up and threw a rock towards him. The rock flew past and Alan turned to see it bounce harmlessly from the back of a lizard-like creature as long as his leg. It was standing not even a meter away.

The creature looked soft and smooth. It had a strangely round head and parts of its body shone under the moonlight. Alan could see rows and rows of short but sharp-looking teeth in a mouth that was slightly ajar. One could say the lizard was smiling and despite the teeth, it looked quite friendly. It had eight seaweed-like protrusions on the sides of its head.

Alan stifled a curse and held his cane towards the lizard as he crawled back. It was faster than struggling to stand up. Emerson’s arms caught him under the armpits and lifted him to his feet like he weighed nothing.

“Thanks,” Alan said. His pride protested, but he silenced it. There was time for his bruised ego later.

“No worries. Any idea what that is? It looks familiar.”

“Nope. Do we run or fight?” Alan left it to Emerson to decide. The man would have to do most of the fighting anyway, and Alan would try to do what he could. There was no way he would be able to fight alone.

Emerson took a moment to answer and the lizard lost patience. With surprising speed that almost made its short limbs look ridiculous, it moved. Alan swung with his cane like it was a golf stick and hit its body. The creature took the blow and didn’t react. With a hiss it bit into Alan’s leg, making him scream. He could feel the sharp teeth puncture his skin and slowly sink into his surely tasty flesh. It didn’t look like it would chop off his leg with its weird mouth, but it still hurt like a bitch.

Like a wrestler from the nineties, Emerson elbow dropped on the lizard’s back with all of his weight, making it let go of Alan’s leg. Emerson moved to sit on it and in what Alan considered a stroke of genius jammed two of the fingers in the nostril holes of the lizard. His other hand tried to find something to grab on the bottom, but he settled for the protrusions on the left side of its head.

The lizard hissed and thrashed, but Emerson was too heavy, too strong, too damn magnificent, and in too awkward of a position for it to bite. Alan’s cane point landed on top of its head, barely missing a bulging eye. He swung again and again, careful not to hit Emerson’s hand in the process. The soft skin seemed to absorb a lot of the force, but it was working.

Finally, the cane found one of the lizard’s eyes, making it burst. Alan used his weight in a familiar movement to lean on the cane and even bounced on it a bit, cringing from the new source of pain in his leg. The cane sank deeper and deeper, scraping on bone, and the lizard stopped moving.

You have slain: Stunted Jewel Axolotl [3]

Level up!

You have reached level 2!

+ 3 Attribute Points

Alan felt dizzy as he let go of the cane and let himself fall backward on the grass, panting. Emerson still held on to the thing. He looked barely winded. Finally, making sure it was truly dead, he let go and came over to Alan.

“Are you okay, man? Does it hurt a lot? Did you level up? I did! And I got 3 points! What do you think I should do with them? I know you like those types of games, you know better, all I’ve played-”

Give me a minute, damn it. Alan tuned him out. He couldn’t answer as he was busy catching his breath. [Efficient Basic Movement] had been completely useless in the fight as it offered no help while Alan was attacking with his cane. The action had taken a lot out of him. His stamina seemed like it was going to be the biggest issue for his continued survival. It was probably directly tied to his Vitality, though other physical attributes surely affected it as well.

“You are bleeding! Let me see.” A jolt of pain followed as Emerson lifted Alan’s bloodied pant leg to examine the wound. Alan swallowed heavily and looked at the damage. Multiple teeth marks littered his leg a bit above the ankle. Only about a third of them had managed to break his skin and were bleeding though. They did not seem too deep, but they hurt like hell.

While Alan was looking at his leg Emerson ran to the lake, completely oblivious to the fact that there might be more of those things in the water. He came back moments later with water in his cupped hands. He stared at it for a few seconds, then nodded with satisfaction as he slowly let it wash the wound.

Alan let him work. The man had been nothing short of amazingly useful so far, as cold as that sounded. There was also bitterness at his own inability and such feelings were very dangerous when left unchecked. They festered like wounds.

Emerson brought a few more handfuls of water until he was sure the wound was as clean as it could get. Alan then watched in amazement, completely deaf to what the man was saying while tearing a piece of his own shirt and wrapping it around Alan’s leg like a makeshift bandage.

“Thanks, I appreciate it.” Alan almost choked saying it. The fuck is happening.

Emerson gave him a wide smile and sat down next to him. “So, any advice?” he asked.

Alan looked at him in confusion until his mind tracked back. They had both leveled up from the fight and they had both gotten three attribute points. Fine.

“Well, I have played some RPGs, yes, but apart from being used to the looks of the whole System thing and character sheets all I can manage are educated guesses. Frankly, I am as lost as you. I don’t know how much the attribute points affect us, or how they affect one another; I don’t know if we should strive for balance, or go all in whatever calls to us,” Alan paused, they were being very careless. “Can you watch the forest? I will watch the lake.”

He shuffled around making himself more comfortable on the grass, and turned towards the lake. They wouldn’t be getting ambushed again. Hopefully. Emerson did the same in the opposite direction and started scanning the tree line. Alan continued, “What I am saying is… I don’t know. I do think you should take advantage of your physical state. If we both went all in on strength you would crush me at the same level, considering the starting advantage you have… and my condition. Then again, we know next to nothing about skills and if attributes affect them. We don’t know what is possible. I will probably wait until we know more. “

This was uncharted ground. However, saying it out loud was making him anxious and it seemed to have the same effect on Emerson, who had come down from the excitement of the fight and was just sullenly keeping watch.

“So, these are gonna be our new lives, huh? Fighting and killing weird monsters,” Emerson said. There was a hint of resignation in those words, but no fear or sadness, “and maybe people too.”

“Seems so,” Alan said. The man kept surprising him, and not only by constantly changing the topic. A bit dark, but realistic. Power gets the worst out of people. He is way smarter than I thought.

The finality with which both had accepted the situation did seem a bit odd, but maybe it was because their former lives seemed so far away; as if nothing but a dream.

“I hope everyone else is okay. Do you think everyone got thrown here? Children and pets too? You think there are safe places for them?”

What do you want me to say, man? I don’t know! Fuck. Alan took his time to think over the answer. “Probably. If the System is powerful enough to do… all of this,” he gestured towards the surroundings and sky. “It could have just slaughtered us and we would’ve been none the wiser. There is probably an objective to this madness.” Or not.

“You are right, you are right. Man, I know you don’t like me but I sure am glad I ran into you. I'm not too smart in new situations. I need time to adapt.” Emerson said, visibly cheered up. The man wore his emotions on his forehead.

Alan laughed before he could stop himself. “Of all the people, you are glad you ran into the mean cripple? Nice one.”

“Don’t talk about yourself like that. You might be sick, but you are smart. And you are stubborn as all hell.”

This is getting fucking awkward. Nothing better to do than have a heart-to-heart, I guess. What better time?! Come, baby, let’s bare our souls.

“Look Em, I don’t hate you. I-“

The sound of voices made them both turn in surprise. Emerson stood up and helped Alan stand too, then held on to his elbow for support.

A group of people was coming out of the forest, heading their way. As they got closer Alan managed to count more than ten of them. He didn’t know how many there were at the start, but having a big group would certainly make some things much easier.

And maybe much more dangerous.