The Fool's Freedom

You have entered the Lower Buried Blood Fields

Congratulations! You have entered your first Dungeon. Throughout the myriad worlds and realms exist many spaces that have been partially separated from their places of origin. They are enclosed self-sustained spaces filled with danger and opportunities. Dungeons come in all varieties and forms, and while most advanced civilizations have developed a system to rate their danger level, each new Dungeon needs to be explored and assessed. The resources and encounters vary, and so do the rewards.

Most Dungeons that are not naturally formed can only be visited once.

A Dungeon has a limit on how many delvers can enter it at a time.

A Dungeon can be level-locked if it is deemed too dangerous.

Destroying a Dungeon is frowned upon.

Proceed with caution, for the unprepared will meet gruesome death and their remains will become one with the Dungeon.

Wow, this is more information than the System usually gives.

“You got the message too, Ash?”

“Yeah.”

“I got it the first time me and Davis entered. We were assaulted by the red imps a bit down from here, and fled afterwards.”

“I wonder if the Dungeons create different instances for those who enter. Probably not, considering there is a limit.”

“You mean, a different version for different groups?” Ashlyn asked.

“Yes. It is unlikely. Let’s go, can’t wait to get rich.”

What will the boss fight be like?

With a sigh, Ashlyn proceeded to lead them further, longbow at the ready. The entrance hall was made of dark stone blocks carrying the marks of time. There were few decorations in the hall apart from the blood-red chandelier hanging above them, giving off light that tinted the world red.

There was a single passage directly against the entrance and they slowly moved towards it. Ashlyn put her index fingers to her lips, signaling them to remain silent. There was more red light deeper into the tunnel in front of them, but the arc itself was shrouded in unnatural shadows. The far dots of red did little to disperse the stifling darkness.

Alan was excited, but also worried. He had grown somewhat comfortable in the forest, but this was a whole new experience. There was no telling what the depths of a place like this held, but it was certainly not a place from Earth.

Wait, could there be Dungeons out there based on Earth? That was an interesting idea. Would they be cubicles filled with well-dressed zombies, bereft of personality and hope?

A howl tore through the red and black world and made them stop. It was very distant and from far below them, echoing through the space and bouncing off the stone walls.

Alan took out a few candlestones and gave one to each girl, somewhat brightening the surroundings. The light seemed stifled though, as if the darkness was not a simple absence of light, but more.

The trio stopped as they came upon mangled bodies of creatures very similar to the tutorial imps. They were larger and redder, but still as hideous as Alan remembered.

Ashlyn hesitated as she bent down and touched the red blood on the ground with a single finger, before pulling back quickly and wiping it on a piece of cloth hanging from her belt.

“It is scorching,” she said, “I can’t tell if they were recently killed or that’s simply a quality their blood possesses.”

Alan was about to answer when he noticed a movement in the darkness ahead of them, as a red imp silently rushed from a gap between the stones. Before anyone could react, Ashlyn’s arrow found its left eye, and it fell without time to understand what had happened.

Goddamn.

“Blood Imps as you said Florence,” she said.

“Yeah, I know. They are not very original.”

“Cool as fuck, I reckon.”

Alan liked this. He would like it more from the comfort of his chair and a hot coffee next to him, but this was the second-best way to experience this place. It only came in second because of the actual possibility they would all die here.

No more blood imps came after the first one and they continued. The tunnel became a broken mess, large gaping holes left by missing stones littered the walls, allowing for anything small or mobile enough to jump and surprise them.

The tension was palpable.

“I much prefer the forest,” Ashlyn said.

They passed more and more corpses, and a few imps tried to get the jump on them, only to be felled by Ashlyn’s quick reactions. [Danger Sense] was working overtime. Alan didn’t mind not getting any experience, as it would be quite foolish to wait so everyone could contribute. He was sure they would get their chance.

The tunnel ended soon after, revealing another large hall, with a similar chandelier hanging from a ceiling they could not see. There were multiple paths leading in different directions, and a single broken statue in the middle, depicting a three-headed robed woman. Blood slowly dripped from each of the three sets of eyes and down her hands, before falling into a small basin that circled her.

Ashlyn frowned, Florence looked downright terrified, and Alan smiled like a kid in a candy store.

“Do you think it's a healing fountain?”

“I don’t know, why don’t you take a sip?” Ashlyn shot back.

“You can’t seriously be considering this?” Florence was pale now, and Alan caught himself staring with a dumb smile. The red light did wonders for her already beautiful features.

What am I thinking?

He shook his head and took a step forward, summoning his monocle.

Tears of ???

Well, now that’s curious.

“Got any more of those vials Ashlyn?”

“A few,” she handed three to him and waited with a raised eyebrow, “What is it?”

“Some sort of living blood. It isn’t showing everything.”

Alan got close to the basin of blood and frowned. There was no way to fill them without dunking his hand in the blood. He didn’t want to turn into a monster by accident. To the horror of everyone, he didn't have to, as a tendril of blood slowly rose from the basin and entered into the open vial of its own accord, stopping as it was filled.

“Holy shit,” Florence gasped.

Alan slowly took a step back and carefully closed it. It looked like ordinary dark red liquid as he carefully sloshed the vial. With a smile that was more nervous than anything, he opened the other two and got near the blood again. The blood once again slowly rose and filled the vials of its own accord.

“More!” he said.

“How many do you think I carry, dude?”

She still handed him two more, but no matter how close he got no more blood rose to fill the empty vials.

“Maybe it’s one per person?” Alan wondered.

“Why do you even need it?” Florence asked with disgust on her face. She had shown more real emotions in the last few days than he had ever seen from her before.

“It’s magical blood that can move, Flo! It has to do something cool!” Alan smiled and handed each of the girls one of the vials. He was not that selfish.

“You keep it then; I don’t want it.”

“Same,” Ashlyn turned away.

“Your loss,” Alan happily tucked away the vials of blood into his shadow inventory. It was quickly becoming his favourite ability. “Which way now?”

“My tracking doesn’t do much in here. Even if someone passed, the stones are suspiciously bereft of dust or anything to leave a mark on.”

Alan looked around. All four paths were the same gaping holes of darkness, so there was not much to choose from.

“Let’s go this way then!” he said. The girls didn’t say anything as he led them towards the one, he had picked randomly. Soon the tunnel became wider, with blood-red stones embedded in some of the stones of the walls.

“Stop!” Ashlyn yelled.

A second later a group of blood imps appeared in front of them. It took them only a second to notice the trio and rush at them, silent sans for the sound of their clawed feet on the bare stone floor.

Alan wasted no time as he swiped with his spear a few times, sending blades of shadow at the group. The shadows cut through them, killing many but only maiming some. It was enough as Ashlyn picked off the survivors easily with her longbow.

Few made it near the group, but as they did they froze in fear, eyes turned towards Florence who stood at the back. It gave Alan time to finish them off with well-placed spear thrusts. He missed their vulnerable spots a few times and the spear scraped at a skull or another bone, making him curse, but there was enough time to adjust.

It was another reminder that practice made perfect. Or more attributes.

You have slain: Blood Imp (16)

You have slain: Blood Imp (16)

You have slain: Blood Imp (17)

…

The imps were pretty weak, but they were only the welcoming party. The trio carefully continued onward. There were a few more waves of blood imps that were dealt with similarly. Alan loathed to waste mana on them, as little as they required, and Ashlyn seemed to sense it.

As the next wave came, she held out a hand and gave Alan her bow. He looked at her confused as he took it.

Does she want me to shoot?! It hadn’t gone well last time.

The answer came swiftly as Ashlyn ran forward, jumping amid the group of imps, her hatchet and knife were a blur as she cut heads and limbs, punched, and even kicked some into the wall with enough strength that they seemed to die upon impact.

Somehow through all of that, no blood seemed to reach and dirty her.

“Well, fuck.” Florence swore from behind Alan’s shoulder.

“Yeah, it’s why I don’t piss her off too much.”

“Does she have some sort of training? From before?”

“A bit. Ash is not a person who gives up, no matter what circumstances are in the way of her ambition. Relentless is the word. Yes.”

“I see.”

It took no time for Ashlyn to completely decimate the latest wave, even if it was a bit larger.

“Figured you might save some mana,” she said as she gracefully took a few steps toward them and then motioned forward.

“Should we go back?” Florence suddenly asked.

“Why?”

“If we are getting attacked, doesn’t that mean the ones that might have Davis taken a different route?”

“Probably,” Ashlyn replied before Alan could, “But that does not mean that we won’t eventually find them. If this is a proper Dungeon, then there should be an end to it, a boss if you will.”

“Right on. Who’s to say that by the time we pick the right path they wouldn’t be out with the rewards?” Alan added.

“I guess I see your point.”

It wasn’t long until this tunnel ended too, but instead of another hall, they found themselves on the precipice of a large cliff. The world was bathed in red everywhere they looked. A sea of pink mist swirled far below, currents moving it slowly in strange patterns that were almost hypnotic if one stared long enough.

The mist was thin and did little to hide from vision the larger source of red hues painting the world – rolling hills of strange flowers, slowly opening and closing as one to the tune of an invisible heartbeat. The shades of red were soft and harsh, some lighter, some darker. Alan stared mouth agape. It was an eerie beauty the likes of which he hadn’t seen before. It did hurt his eyes a bit though.

It was about a minute later when Ashlyn moved, having broken the trance, which in turn took Alan out of it. There had been something oddly calming about the fields of flowers, rhythmically moving as one.

Before them was a wide stone bridge with no guard rails – just a single piece of stone that stretched ahead and led into a large tower, half buried in a mountain stretching to infinity. Its top disappeared in the darkness above, promising a steady climb. Many similar bridges hung below and above them, leading to unknown entrances and foes.

“It’s a proper adventure now, don’t you think?” Alan said. He saw Ashlyn’s mouth curl in a smile. Florence was still staring, enchanted by the beauty of the scene before her eyes.

“Let’s go, Flo.” Alan gently took her by the elbow and she didn’t resist as the three of them stepped on the bridge. There were no extra supports below the bridge apart from the two connection points, and while it was wide enough for anyone to walk comfortably Alan still felt a bit of nervousness creep in.

“You can let go now, Alan,” Florence suddenly said and Alan turned to realize he was still holding her arm. For a second, he thought that she was blushing, but it was probably all the red light everywhere around. He quickly removed his hand and took a step to the side.

“Right, sorry.”

“Alan is afraid of heights,” Ashlyn blurted out and helpfully tapped his shoulder, “Cute, isn’t it?”

“I am not!”

“Please, you almost pissed yourself when we got stuck at the Ferris wheel at the—”

“I was eleven!”

“So what?”

“Uh, guys,” Florence stopped both of them and they turned. There was a red-tinted form awkwardly moving out of the door ahead of them and onto the bridge.

It was large and moved vertically to the ground, supported by eight pale limbs that were stretching one by one to grab each side of the bridge. There was no sign of legs, but the robe covered the rest of the body. Its skin was pale and sickly, with large red patches where it was missing, leaving exposed only bloody flesh.

It moved a few paces then stopped. The head rose slowly toward the three, dark oily hair slipping from the hood covering its features like worms. All they could see were two circular glowing red eyes.

There was a sudden sound of heavy breathing that bounced all around and entered Alan’s ears as if someone was panting right next to him. Alan wasn’t sure it came from the being before them.

The monster’s head turned back down, and it shot forward.