The Fool's Freedom

Ashlyn was as usual the first to react as she unshouldered her longbow and shot. She did not hurry, taking her time to put enough strength behind the arrow. The thing ducked the first arrow without breaking stride, which elicited a gasp from both Alan and Florence. Ashlyn had never missed before, even if her victims tried to react.

She didn’t seem bothered by that and loaded a second arrow. A second later it flew with a whooshing sound and caught one of the limbs of the creature, as it leaned to one side in another disgustingly strange movement. A bit of flesh and blood flew from the force of the shot, but it didn’t seem affected at all.

“Stay back and try to help,” Alan said to Florence. He suddenly realized that he didn’t know or understand the full extent of her abilities. How would they apply to combat? What other skills did she have?

Fuck. I should have thought of that, I just accepted that she can fuck with our heads. She mentioned something about adrenaline…

Florence hesitated and seemed to read his mind as she loudly spoke, “I can distract it with illusions once it is close enough, and I can get you… in the zone, so to say. Some subtle manipulations that will help you fight better.”

“Don’t you dare,” Ashlyn barked and let another arrow fly, taking a piece of the tattered red cloak covering the monster as it ducked, “Damn!”

“All right. Hit me, Flo,” there was no time to shy away from potential boosts to his physical abilities.

The creature was still some distance away but it was moving fast, somewhat slowed by having to block or dodge Ashlyn’s arrows.

Alan immediately felt some prodding and willed [Shadow Mind] to not interfere. The excitement that seemed to take hold of him before every fight withdrew, but didn’t fully disappear. There was something there, something new and strange. The world slowed down for a second before everything became clearer. His heart pumped slower, seemingly in rhythm with the flowers below, but each pump felt as if it made his blood rush to his muscles. Ashlyn’s arrows had been but a blur, too fast to see, yet now he followed the latest one with no issue and watched as it left a bloody trail on the creature’s disfigured back.

There was nothing but the upcoming fight left in Alan’s mind and he grinned and walked forward, under the cover fire of Ashlyn’s twanging bow. He vaguely remembered saying something to her, but a second later it was distant and unimportant. Shadows coalesced and covered his spear, slowly crawling, growing, and taking the desired shape, making the weapon deadlier.

Making him deadlier.

With grace as foreign as the world he was in, he dodged the first swing of the creature’s gnarly arm and struck back with a swing of his spear. The black blade tore through flesh with little resistance, but it was not long enough to completely cut through the limb.

With a thought, he felt some more mana leave him and the blade of his shadow polearm elongated. He threw himself forward to dodge another two swings and followed by stabbing the torso hidden by the red cloak. His blade harmlessly cut through the cloth and hit something hard that even the [Shadow Weapon] boosted system spear couldn’t cut. That was a new one.

He pulled the spear back and at the same moment, the creature jumped up. Alan looked up ready to dodge the falling monstrosity and watched as a powerful arrow found it mid-air, sending it flying a few meters backward.

Alan smiled, and rushed at the fumbling thing, putting some mana into his legs to increase the speed. The eight limbs of the monstrosity worked with somewhat fascinating precision and righted the body before he could reach it. The cloak was little more than a rag now, and it fell revealing the true appearance of the thing.

Its body was all dark bone – a complicated rib cage with red veins all over from the back of which grew the eight thin and pale arms. The black oily hair was attached to an expressionless mummified face without a lower jaw.

Alan didn’t care as he happily closed in under the influence of whatever Florence was doing. He felt as if he was taking a stroll in the park. The creepy creature moved to intercept his charge, dodging a few more arrows or letting them meet its hard bone.

Alan once again rushed to get in the middle of the creature, where its arms could only blindly swing making them easier to dodge. He swung at one of the three arms that were holding it up, jumping over the one swiping at him. The shadow polearm cut clean through, but that little to stop the thing from finally landing a hit, sending Alan rolling backward. The strength was not that great though, and Alan quickly went back in for seconds.

He felt great. The dance continued for a while and Ashlyn’s arrows only made it worse for the creature. Alan swung his polearm, blocked, ducked, and spun on his heels. The superhuman focus from whatever skill Florence was using was making him feel like he was on kobold drugs again, only this time he was more present than he had ever been.

Slowly he cut off enough of the creature's limbs, and it fell to one side. It looked quite pathetic on the ground, but its swipes still carried some weight. Alan stabbed his polearm into the opening between the strange solid ribcage and the neck. There was spurting of blood and the light in the creature’s eyes extinguished.

You have slain: Fallen Blood Petal Gatherer (30)

Alan felt the feeling of hyperfocus leave him. There was some sluggishness as his thoughts took a few moments to return to normal, and he blinked a few times, trying to refocus the now duller world.

The two girls soon joined him, and Ashlyn got to cutting out and gathering the arrows she could reach.

“That wasn’t so bad,” Alan said. “What did you do to me, Florence? It felt great like I was born to fight.”

“It’s a state of hyper-focus created with just the right cocktail of emotions and adrenaline. I tried a few times and it became a skill, called [Battle Focus].”

“Well, great job. In hindsight, we should have asked you about your kit a bit more, eh?”

“Yeah, I guess. I have some minor illusions too, but no direct attack skills.”

“Can’t you just pump so much adrenaline in your target to make their heart stop?” Ashlyn asked while cleaning some of the retrieved arrows and checking them for damage.

Florence seemed taken aback, “It sounds… possible? I haven’t thought about applying it in this way.”

“Ash is great when it comes to violent innovations,” Alan winked.

Ashlyn grimaced without replying and they continued on their way, avoiding the remains of the Blood Petal Gatherer.

Nothing else came out as they crossed the bridge but looking down, they saw a few similar creatures roam the other bridges aimlessly. None seemed to be doing what their name suggested.

Alan considered fighting the next one without the buff from Florence to see how he would do. A Burst of sudden movements from [Warlock’s Body Mastery] allowed him quite a range of surprise attacks, and combined with Florence’s buff… things were looking good.

As they finally reached the end of the bridge and entered the next hall, they ran into another of the things. It was standing motionlessly turned towards the large doorway that seemed to bleed darkness; not unlike every shadowy corner in the dungeon.

“This one’s mine. Give me one of the vials,” Ashlyn said with a tone that left no room for discussion. Was she feeling competitive?

Alan was only too happy to oblige, even if he wanted to fight more. He was also curious about Ashlyn’s new skill and what she wanted to try. A few swirling shadows later the vial was in his hand and he handed it to the girl, who uncorked it and splashed some on her fingers.

Her actions vaguely reminded Alan of his [Ritual: Enchanted Bones], but it was nothing alike. With two fingers she smeared some blood on her cheeks and forehead, then whispered a sentence.

“As the beast in life, so the hunter.”

The blood disappeared and her eyes lit up with strange light. It was quite pretty and made her look savage and dangerous. Her two arms seemed to swell a bit as her muscles became more defined.

“Damn Ash, what does your skill do?” Alan asked.

In return, he got only a snarl. Ashlyn unshouldered her bow, quiver, and bag and left them on the ground without a care. Her hatchet and knife quickly found their way into her hands and she charged at the creature like a tigress after an antelope.

The Fallen Gatherer was more surprised than Alan and Florence at this development but it reacted quickly, bony hands skittering on the stone floor. It dodged her first wide swing but the next was too fast and at an angle as strange as the creature. It caught one limb at the joint and crushed it into a bloody shower rather than cut it off.

Ashlyn seemed like a woman possessed, with none of the precision and grace Alan had seen in her fight against the Echidna. This was a wild Ash, her swings carried fury and destructiveness, and for a second Alan imagined that the strange bear that had rushed them would have fought similarly, only less.

Does she take on beast characteristics by using their blood?

The fight didn’t last long at all now that they knew the thing’s capabilities. Ashlyn decimated it and even cracked the ribcage his shadow polearm had failed to cut. The Fallen Gatherer stood no chance.

Ashlyn stood above the decimated monster for a minute, breathing heavily. Alan tentatively approached, “Are you okay, Ash?”

“Yeah, just… need a minute. This was intense.”

“Sure thing.”

What a skill.

It was soon after that she rejoined them.

“That was… something,” Florence said.

“Yeah, [Imitate Predator] is not flashy, but it is my strongest skill.”

“Let me guess, the blood acts as a medium and makes you able to fight as the beast it came from?”

Ashlyn frowned and seemed to think a little, “Something like that. It is more of a massive attribute boost for a few minutes and a feeling that just makes me feel less myself. Closer to an animal than a human. It is freeing as I can let instincts take over. I can still think as myself, it’s just… harder.”

“Well, I am glad you are on our side,” Florence joked, making the atmosphere a bit more awkward. There was still tension between the two girls who didn’t seem to leave after the conversation in the Sanctuary.

“Well, let’s go kill some more strange creatures.”

Ashlyn was the first to step through the dark door and Alan followed. The darkness slipped away once they were through, seemingly there only to obscure the vision of those who had yet to brave the passage.

It was another wide corridor that slowly curved downward. The path up was blocked by a cave in. Alan noticed some doors that made him nervous because of how normal they looked. They had no marks or decorations on them – just normal wooden doors along the length of the descending stone.

“Should we check some of the side rooms?” Alan asked.

“For what?”

“Treasure?”

“You think there’s a treasure in here?” Florence asked.

Alan shrugged, “It’s a dungeon. Plus, the path seems to be leading us towards the red fields below all the bridges, and I would assume that all of them do. We will eventually run into the elves and Davis.”

“If he is alive.” Ashlyn helpfully added.

“Yes…”

Florence nodded, “I am fine with whatever you say, it’s just that this place creeps me out. I don’t think I can do anything to those gatherers with my skills. They are as empty from emotions as a rock.”

“We got you, Flo,” Alan said and she smiled.

She doesn’t mind being called Flo anymore.

The descent was easy enough, despite the smooth stone. Alan wondered how he would do if he had to use a cane. One wrong choice of where to put it and he would topple over like a granny from a mechanical bull. The System was treating him well. And Thorn.

The first door they reached was a dud. Try as they did it didn’t budge and even Ashlyn failed. [Shadow Slash] did little to cut the wood too, surprising Alan. Not even a mark was left.

With some disappointment on his part, they continued down the hall, and until they reached another door. This one was slightly ajar, but it took both Alan and Ashlyn doing their best to pull it open enough. Not that it was big, but it was thick and exceedingly heavy and the wood it was made from was some new magical bullshit.

They entered carefully, using candlestones for light as there didn’t seem to be any in the room they found themselves in. There were broken tables, torn-apart books, and instruments of all kinds littering the floor. Nothing looked particularly valuable, but one never knew.

The room was large and long, and the oily darkness was stifling the candlestone light enough that they couldn’t see the end. Slowly, they advanced, the silence broken by the occasional wrong step that rattled the broken glass or broken tools thrown everywhere on the floor. There was strangely almost no dust, despite the destruction around.

The light revealed more and more as they moved, and there were even a few tables with different gatherer hands on top. Some did not end in the three fingers they had seen, but had sickles and knives made of the same bone and veins that compromised the creatures’ torsos.

A laboratory for monsters?

There was a sound akin to the one a lighter without gas would make and Ashlyn barely ducked out of the way of a ball of fire that had flown from the other side of the massive room. There had been a glimpse of something red as the light of the fire had passed, but Alan didn’t manage to see what it was. The projectile had looked oddly like [Ember].

A few more lit up the room but didn’t fly out immediately. There were a bunch of blood imps huddled together, slowly standing up as if they had been sleeping. There were also a few thinner, smaller, and lighter in color ones that were so different they might’ve been a different breed. The most notable part was the two small horns on their heads that glowed and formed [Embers] in between.

Behind the small horde was a pedestal with a glowing rune on which rested a ball made of blood.

[First Pathfinder] tingled and Alan pinpointed the ball as the source.

Some spatial shenanigans were going on here, weak as they were. He hoped it was loot and not another enemy.

But first – slaughter.