The Fool's Freedom

Alan charged and Ashlyn followed soon after. Their rush was met by the blood imps, while the ember ones stayed behind, casting. There seemed to be a slight delay between casts, which was welcome news to the group.

Florence stood behind and Alan felt the effect of [Battle Focus] take hold of him. It felt weaker than the first time but the sensation was still sublime. He threw a candlestone towards the group of imps and another to the side to assist with the visibility, making them scatter in fear that it was dangerous.

This time he lengthened the blade of his spear in the form of a straight ruler, squeezing as much length as his skill allowed him to. The weapon ended up looking quite strange but it quickly bisected a blood imp that had come too close, so he doubted anyone would complain.

There were many this time. Ashlyn seemed to be making her way toward the casters much faster than he was, but Alan followed suit, swinging widely and killing an imp each time his spear flew. Blades of shadow would leave his spear occasionally catching a distracted imp or two, but Alan mostly conserved his mana. They hadn’t run into anything that dangerous yet, and it was good to be ready.

You have slain: Blood Imp (15)

You have slain: Blood Imp (18)

You have slain: Blood Imp (17)

…

A screech from his side made him turn, as there was an imp he hadn’t noticed there. But it was clutching and clawing at its chest, panting, eyes bulging from its head. With a last gasp, it fell dead.

Alan looked back, and Florence shrugged. Now that, was almost as scary as Ashlyn.

A caster used his distraction to fling an [Ember] at his chest, and the flaming pebble exploded on his armor, singing his newly grown beard and sending him reeling back. His cloak caught on fire with enthusiasm that surprised everyone involved and Alan quickly dropped his spear and drew his steel dagger, cutting the cord fasting and letting it drop from his shoulders.

The cloak burned like it was paid to do so and both humans and monsters watched in amazement the strangely crackling fire. The imp that had thrown the skill was wide-eyed at what its skill had achieved before it gasped and clawed at its chest like the previous one, dropping dead. Florence’s range was longer than anticipated. She still stood back and watched the action.

The casters acted almost worried in a strange show of intellect, panicking after seeing one of their own die. That didn’t save them as Alan tore apart the blood imps, waving two daggers like a madman and sending [Shadow Slashes] left and right. Mana would come back. He had liked his tattered cloak! It was warm and nice.

It didn’t take long for him to finish the casters Ashlyn hadn’t gotten to yet.

You have slain: Ember Imp (17)

You have slain: Ember Imp (19)

Level up!

You have reached level 7 in [Warlock]!

+ 3 Attribute Points

+ 1 Mind, Will, and Magic

A level up. Finally. He decided to save the points for now and sighed as the effect of Florence’s buff went away. The girl herself carefully stepped through the carnage and joined them, avoiding Alan who was kicking the corpse of the imp that had burned his cloak.

“What the fuck was your cloak made out of?” Ashlyn raised her eyebrows.

Alan frowned, “Fuck if I know, diesel silk?”

“Is that a thing?”

“Wouldn’t put it past the System. Damn it!” Alan cursed but then turned and his eyes shone as he looked at the orb, “Whatever, loot time!”

The three of them gathered around the pedestal and stared at the solid-looking orb of blood. It was barely the size of an average egg, and Alan still felt a bit of spatial attribute from it. It was a weak feeling, not even close to the wooden coin token.

“You think it’s safe?” Florence asked.

“Probably not,” Alan replied and his trusted monocle appeared in a swirl of shadows. He pointed the monocle at the orb.

??? Unstable Blood Elemental (31)

Fuck!

“Move back!” Alan yelled and pulled Florence with him.

The pillar cracked down the middle and the rune below the orb lost its shine. The orb itself liquified and dripped down before reforming slowly into a small vaguely humanoid shape of running blood. The elemental suddenly expanded, becoming larger and larger but also more transparent in the process, before blood from all the imp corpses rushed into it, making it more solid and more defined, until finally, it took the form of a human-sized imp. From time to time large globs of blood fell from the creature, before rejoining it.

“Level thirty-one blood elemental. It’s unstable, whatever that means,” Alan said.

“Run?”

“I reckon we can take it. Stay back, Flo.”

Florence didn’t need another reminder and once again took some distance from the action. Alan felt the [Battle Focus] effect again. It was the third time in a short time and it was much weaker now. He still felt sharper, so it was something at least.

He noticed Ashlyn uncorking a vial and smearing some blood on her face. The creature instantly reacted to the new blood, and took a shaky step forward, threading on the dried-out imp remains. It swung its arm and a whip of blood shot at them. It was not too fast, but as Alan ducked and Ashlyn moved out of the way it hit the wall and left a deep groove on the stone.

“Fuck me.”

Ashlyn took out her bow and jumped backward, opting to first test the thing with her arrows instead of going melee. Alan stood his ground. The thing was almost in [Shadow Slash] range.

The first arrow simply passed through the blood, and hit the remains of the pedestal behind it, turning it to pieces. Its passage left a deep hole in the elemental’s body, but it quickly closed.

The second didn’t have a better effect, and the elemental simply stood, adjusting itself to its new body, having decided that there was no danger.

This will be troublesome.

Alan took a step forward and sent a maximum range [Shadow Slash] at the thing, cutting off its newly grown clawed arm. The hand fell and became a puddle on the ground that quickly rose again and reformed at the creature’s limb.

“This looks bad,” Ashlyn said from behind. Her bow was been useless, and her going melee without a chance to hurt the elemental was grounds for disaster. Alan thought of his two daggers, they were their last chance and it would probably be a good idea to let Ash have one of them.

“I have two—,” the creature chose that moment to attack again, and Alan threw himself to the ground, only to be swiped with a second whip that sent him flying into a nearby desk.

“Alan!”

Someone screamed his name but he couldn’t tell who as the world was all splinters and broken lab equipment. It took him a few tries to remove all the garbage and stand up only to see Ashlyn once again locked in a dance with tentacles. Her movements were very different, almost animal. Her weapons cut the blood whips to little effect as they simply regenerated with no issue after a short delay and Alan cursed.

He drew the ritual dagger he was saving and the enchanted one he had bought in exchange for the Echidna crystal. With a thought, shadow elongated the blades giving him two long oversized daggers; the blades remained thin and sleek this time around. He activated his new dagger’s enchantment for the first time and watched as almost invisible flames started licking the blade. It was a far cry from the fiery inferno he had envisioned, but he could feel the heat from the dagger and his personal mana signature coming off it.

By his estimates, he had enough mana left over for one or two [Synaptic Failure] casts and a proper fight. The skill seemed to affect all beings differently. An elemental had blood, but nothing else. Maybe there was a core somewhere in the mass? The skill had fucked up the mana leech back in the tunnels.

It was worth a try.

But first…

Alan moved and attacked, sending out a [Shadow Slash] with his flaming dagger. The blade of shadows shot out, somewhat thinner. He saw the shadows and the flames converging, dancing around one another.

Shadowfire. Sweet!

The burning shadows landed on its arm with a hissing sound and Alan’s senses were almost instantly assaulted by a disgusting smell. The effect of his attack somewhat alleviated the issue, as the blood coagulated and dropped from the elemental’s body with a disgusting plop.

The elemental remained stoic despite the attack but turned toward Alan soundlessly. It seemed to have some trouble moving in its new form as its leg became a puddle when it tried to take a step with it. Its whips fell apart mid-air and returned to its body, reforming the missing limb. It didn’t pay any more attention to Ashlyn as the girl couldn’t hurt it no matter what she tried.

The blood comprising the monster trembled and spikes shot out at Alan forcing him to dodge the surprising attack. The spikes left nicks at the stone floor where they burst apart into a splash of red, only to return to the elemental’s body a moment later.

“Fuck you too!” Alan cursed and sent two more shadowfire blades at it. The elemental was ready this time and two small spikes of blood intercepted the slashes, dropping as the blood coagulated and charred.

The spam was draining more of Alan’s mana than he had anticipated, but it was still bearable. Going into close range to make use of his other dagger was out of the question though.

“Alan!” Ashlyn called out and he understood.

“Catch!” the ritual dagger flew, still sheathed as he didn’t want to stab her, before falling a meter away from the girl and too close to the elemental. Alan held his breath, but the creature seemed to be struggling once again. A barrage of spikes slowly formed and shot toward an empty corner, completely obliterating the darkness.

The fuck?

Alan turned and looked at Florence who nodded. The girl had mentioned having an illusion skill and that was probably it. How was it fooling a being made out of pure blood was a question he didn’t care to answer.

The distraction worked well enough, giving them time to readjust and launch another attack.

Ashlyn was soon back upon the elemental cutting large parts of blood that fell and remained a puddle on the ground. [True Edge] was once again reliable, and in Ashlyn’s hands, it was deadlier than ever.

The elemental raged and shot spikes and whips almost at random. Ashlyn dodged without problem, moving like a raging beast, grinning as if she was having the time of her life.

Alan was not so lucky as he stumbled and his thigh got grazed by one of the blood spikes, cutting through his reinforced pants and leaving a wide but shallow wound. He was about to shrug it off when a few drops of his blood started floating towards the elemental.

This is bad.

He ground his teeth and pressed the flaming dagger to his wound, cauterizing it. The pain was bearable.

Alan being wounded seemed to only make Ashlyn madder and deadlier, as she redoubled her attacks sending blood flying everywhere. It defended as multiple limbs grew and attacked back, forcing her to defend herself and even step back, giving the elemental some breathing room. The dagger was too small of a weapon to do significant damage in a short time.

Some of the blood cut off with it still managed to come back to the elemental and reinforce the shrinking mass, but most stayed on the ground in a useless puddle.

Alan ignored his new wound and rejoined the fight, trying to use his skill to send strategic shadowfire slashes to give Ashlyn more of a chance to do her thing. He was relegated to the support role, but that was just fine as long as they won. [Synaptic Failure] was ready to go at any moment if needed, the uncertain effect it would have was the only reason he hadn’t used it yet. Plus, keeping some distance was probably a good idea, considering his wound that fed the elemental, albeit only a few drops at a time.

“Ash, let me!” Florence suddenly yelled. Apart from one illusion the girl couldn’t do much else, but if [Battle Focus] was applied to the already insanely strong Ashlyn…

“No!”

Alan sent another flaming mana blade, intercepting one of the elemental’s attacks. “Come on, Ash! Trust me!”

Ashlyn madly slashed with the cat pommel dagger, having abandoned all other weapons, and cursed, “Fuck it.” She jumped back out of the elemental’s range giving both of them some much-needed reprieve. The change was subtle. However, Ashlyn’s skill was working, Florence’s buff made an almost palpable difference, as if it was tailor-made for that.

Something strange was happening and the elemental’s attacks died down as it had sensed the change as well.

“Ash?” Alan called out.

The girl’s sheer presence made him shiver; her aura akin to that of a wild beast. She rushed with renewed vigor. There was no trace of humanity in the way she attacked, using the dagger as a natural extension of her body, slashing, jumping, and landing on all fours. Alan watched in awe and horror as more and more blood fell apart from the blood elemental, making it constantly try to reshape and regrow. It even tried to retreat.

Ash didn’t let it. In but a minute she reduced it to the size of an imp, as the elemental struggled to hold even that form, its movements wrong, the blood making it fall apart and rejoin without reason.

With a last attack, the remaining blood fell apart, leaving only a much smaller red core that fell on the stone with a clinking sound.

You have slain: Unstable Blood Elemental (31)

Level up!

You have reached level 8 in [Warlock]!

+ 3 Attribute Points

+ 1 Mind, Will, and Magic

Alan laughed, “You are crazy, Ash!”

The girl stood above the pool of blood panting, and didn’t answer.

“Ash?” Alan frowned, “Flo, what’s going on?”

“Nothing, I swear! I stopped [Battle Focus]”

Was it Ashlyn’s skill? Did it have a weird reaction?

“Ash, are you hurt?” he took a step forward and froze as Ashlyn turned and eyes that were half hers half beast met his, then moved to Florence.

Ashlyn snarled and Alan felt his heart sink as she lunged toward the girl with a raised weapon.

STATS

INFORMATION:

Name:

Alan Morgan

Race:

Human

Class:

Warlock

Level:

8

Titles:

First Pathfinder; Madcap; Slayer; Friend of the Spirit World

ATTRIBUTES:

6 unassigned

Strength

37

Dexterity

34

Vitality

5

Will

66

Mind

57

Magic

65

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 Weapon; Ritual: Enchanted Bones; Mortal Peril

BODY ENHANCEMENTS:

Shadow Space;

TRAITS

Trait: Tongues of the four corners

You understand most widely spoken languages in the merged worlds.

Trait: Survivor’s will (Rare)

You persevere through hardship and pain, dancing between life and death and holding on only due to your strong will.

+10% to your Will attribute.

Mental attacks affect you less the closer you are to death.

It takes more to kill you than it would a regular human.

One Mind, One Body (Epic)

To pursue the perfection of one’s will and mind will also improve the flesh and blood. You have achieved a balance between your inner self and your physical self that few throughout history have come close to.

You cannot assign attribute points to your Strength and Dexterity.

Your Strength and Dexterity have a base cap of 25.

30% of your base Will attribute is applied to your Strength.

30% of your base Mind attribute is applied to your Dexterity.

You can replenish your stamina by consuming mana

Trait: Limited Vitality (Epic)

The effect of raising your Vitality is greatly lessened.

Your Vitality grows weaker with time. Straining your body will speed up this process. If Vitality reaches 0 you will die.

Shadow Mind (Rare)

Your mind is a fortress, giving you protection against mental attacks. The strength of the shield is determined by your Will attribute.

You can sent back a vision inducing fear to anyone who attacks your mind.

SKILLS

Warlock’s Body Mastery (Rare)

A Warlock who had taken a step on the Path of Flesh and Bone knows every muscle fiber and drop of blood in their body, allowing them to slightly aid movement and the natural processes of the body by consuming mana and stamina.

You are now able to slightly strengthen specific muscles with mana for a few seconds. Builds fatigue.

You can aid digestion by redirecting your natural mana regen

You can slightly improve natural healing by consuming mana and stamina

Synaptic Failure (Rare)

Cause temporary synaptic failure to your target, affecting motor skills, casting, and cognitive thought. Cannot be used in quick succession. Casting time depends on the Mind attribute. Effect on non-physical entities varies.

Shadow Weapon (Rare)

By using a weapon as the base, you converge the shadows giving them mass and form, extending the weapon’s base form, and boosting its cutting ability.

Enchantments belonging to the original weapon are transferred over to the shadow version.

You can still cast [Shadow Slash].

Shadow Slash

Slash with your weapon, sending a blade of shadows that travels a short distance before dissipating.

Ritual: Enchanted Bones (Rare)

You change your bones, making them stronger and allowing you to store mana in them.

BODY ENHANCEMENT

Enchantment Augment: Left forearm - Shadow Space

Your enchanted bones have been fused with a spatially attributed treasure. You can access a personal pocket space attuned to your shadow mana’s signature. Its size and properties can be enchanted with more naturally formed spatial treasures.