The Fool's Freedom

Alan slowly opened his eyes to the sound of voices.

“-miss sushi the most, definitely,” one whispered.

“Oh, I’d kill for a cold can of coke after all this fighting. It just hits the spot like nothing else.”

He moved and stretched, slowly blinking to chase away the haziness covering his sight. There was some discomfort from the stone chair in parts of his body, especially in the butt. The pain has been his constant companion for so long that this much was nothing and he even felt kind of weird waking up and being able to move so soon after, without wanting to scream.

“Done with your beauty sleep, darling?” Ashlyn joked. She was sat cross-legged on the table, leaning on her hands. She looked just like a normal girl in this position, not a person facing life and death multiple times a day.

“I don’t know, how’s my skin?” Alan asked and stood up, stretching his stiff legs and back.

“Positively glowing. Wanna share some food and water now? You got all of it.”

Alan blanked then with a thought took out a wrapped piece of meat, some fruit, and a jug of water from his shadow space, “Shit, why didn’t you wake me up?”

I only wanted to mediate, damn it.

“It’s fine. It’s only been a couple of hours, and I don’t need much sleep,” Ashlyn replied and cut a piece of meat with her knife.

Alan nodded and brushed his hands down his pants. It still didn’t sit right with him that he had fallen asleep so easily when he had been trying to feel the flow of mana.

He took a piece of fruit, “How are you feeling, Flo?”

“Much better. [Manipulate Adrenaline] is a double-edged sword and I overdid it by casting it so many times in succession. It took a lot of mana and… it is just difficult to use it in this way. The imps were much easier targets.”

“Yeah, you just gave the imps heart attacks, I think,” Ashlyn added, “You burst those things’ hearts. I don’t think that should be possible.”

Alan sighed and jumped on the table, feeling left out, “It’s fake hearts powering strange constructs, what is possible flew out of the window a long time ago.”

“Fair.”

Alan put away the leftovers soon after and they continued exploring. He briefly considered getting some of the corpse liquid from the pitchers, but he quickly gave up.

They passed through one of the open doors on the left side first and entered a side room that had little going on. All the doors on this side seemed to be connected, leading to the same place. A simple table filled with empty pitchers and a vat of the red chunky liquid was everything they found, apart from a massive number of rocks blocking the rest of whatever had been there. A few copper tubes were peeking out from among the rocks.

After sharing a quick look, they went to the other side. It was a similar space, but an open passage at the end of the room made it different. The design of the place made absolutely no sense, but then again it was a Dungeon.

The huge door on the opposite end of the hall had remained closed so they ignored it.

Alan wondered for a brief moment what was the purpose of Dungeons if this was not a game. Why did they form, and why did they exist at all apart from offering challenges to those like them? Who made them? They were yet to find anything useful apart from the elemental core.

The pass was wide enough for the constructs to pass shoulder to shoulder and led to a cavern covered in tubes. The three of them paled when they saw rows and rows of bronze constructs, but it quickly became apparent that they were just empty shells with no hearts to power them.

They walked slowly, carefully observing their surroundings. Ashlyn’s danger sense would probably warn them in time, while Alan hoped that [Mortal Peril] would remain inactive. He didn’t want TOO much of a challenge, considering there was no respawn button.

Some of the constructs were unfinished, with parts lying around seemingly dropped in a hurry as whoever was responsible for putting them had to leave.

The lights here were different and Alan recognized their source as large crystals similar to his candlestones hanging from the ceiling. They did not flicker, instead giving off a soft white light that reached every corner of the cave. Whoever had lived here appreciated good lighting more than the red aesthetics of the rest of the place.

They walked for what felt like eternity, passing large arcs made for something much larger, slowly appreciating the sheer scale of the place, until they turned a corner and were forced to stop by a horrifying sight.

The ceiling seemed to have fallen at some point, and the contents of the space above had fallen with it. It had somehow remained almost whole. Upon it was a large form suspended from multiple steel wires and nailed to a pillar above a stone pool of pale liquid.

Alan recognized it as something from nightmares and media, only much more real and much scarier. The head of a horrendous beast, neither human nor fully wolf, covered in pale fur and frozen in a twisted expression. The creature had a body similar to that of a man in shape but was both sleeker and longer, yet bulging with impossible strength. The limbs hung limply and ended in nails long as daggers.

Spikes of silvery metal pinned the monster to a large stone pillar engraved with runes and symbols, while chains wrapped around the feet and arms, offering additional support.

Its torso was cut open and hooks pulled the flesh apart revealing the chest cavity and the intestines.

A black stake was stuck right into the werewolf’s heart, and blood constantly dripped down from the end of it and into the pool below. The heart was as large as a human head, and strangely pale silver, reminiscent of the constructs’ hearts.

The stone pool looked out of place as if it had been added after the creature and the pillar had fallen from the floor above.

“Is that… a fucking werewolf?” Ashlyn asked. Her eyes were almost reverently staring at the monstrous form.

“Yeah,” Alan looked around nervously, almost expecting the boss music to start playing and the eyes to open. The thing was very secured though, and he doubted it would wake up anytime soon unless they did something about it.

No way in hell.

“Fascinating,” Florence said and went closer, surprising Alan. He followed her with his eyes as she passed, and caught himself staring at her body.

What the fuck is wrong with me? It’s been a while… but here? Now?

Was she influencing him? No, [Shadow Mind] would not allow that. Ashlyn’s [Danger Sense] also warned her if someone tried to harm her in any way, and apparently, that included manipulative skills. And she would certainly notice him acting weird.

Fuck, trust would soon become a luxury with all the insane abilities popping up out there.

There was one reasonable explanation though. He is a man who finally has a decently functioning body, and Florence is a very attractive woman.

But realizing it here? Now? In front of the mutilated corpse of a real werewolf? Man, I have issues. I wonder if there are [Therapists] around.

Alan chased away the strange string of thoughts and moved to stand next to Florence. The werewolf was even scarier up close, but the blood coming from its heart… would it give him a bigger bonus if he used it in [Ritual: Enchanted Bones]? That was an attractive thought, although he didn’t feel like becoming a werewolf. He was on Team Vampire all the way.

With a thought, the demon cube appeared in his hand.

“Hey Xil, wake up,” he called out, “Xil, Ashlyn wants to talk to you, come on.”

“Fuck you,” Ashlyn whispered.

“Hey, if it works it works.”

There was no response at all, even as the minutes stretched and the silence started getting to the group.

Alan frowned. This was a first. Was it the Dungeon interfering? Was there something else going on…? He put away the cube, deciding to try again later.

“He isn’t responding. Let me get some before we go.”

Alan took out one of the empty water bags from his shadow pocket and carefully dipped it into the silvery blood. It worked quite well and he shook the excess off and even used some rags he had on hand to wipe the waterbag down, before closing it and putting it into his shadow space.

He turned and saw the girls looking at him strangely.

“What? It’s for a skill,” he said a bit too defensively, then grinned. “Come to think of it, want me to get you a bagful too, Ash? It will probably work insanely well with [Imitate Predator].”

Ashlyn thought for a bit, staring at the suspended and bleeding werewolf.

“I don’t know if I can handle it. I lost myself to the blood of the bear after a push from Florence’s buff, and this seems like a completely different league. But yeah, get some. I will be strong enough one day… hope it doesn’t go bad.”

Alan grinned and took out another waterbag, drinking whatever was left in before dunking it into the silvery pool. He carefully poured some into an empty vial Ashlyn handed to him.

“For emergencies,” she said.

“You think they used his blood to power the constructs?” Florence asked. Her eyes hadn’t left the heart of the beast in a while.

“Probably that’s the case, yeah,” Alan replied.

“Then, that thing in its heart… it’s probably a very strong artifact.”

Alan considered for a bit. It was a metal enchanted stake draining blood from a very powerful-looking monster. He sighed and took out the monocle with some worry. Sometimes ignorance was bliss, but the ignorant often suffered too.

Pale Werewolf (??)

“Shit. It’s not even showing me its level.”

The only thing the monocle had not been able to identify the level of so far had been Ig-Thun. Alan didn’t know if the artifact went by the level of the user, or if the enchantment was simply too weak for some information.

He pointed the monocle at the iron stake next.

???-?

There was a cracking sound as the monocle’s glass shattered in Alan’s hands.

“Fuck!” he cursed. He had been warned that there were limited uses, but he couldn’t help but feel responsible for the untimely end of the artifact.

“That sucks, sorry,” Ashlyn said from the side.

Alan grimaced and took a deep breath, “No worries, I knew it would happen eventually. Most enchantments don’t last that long.”

Alan cursed some more and the monocle away. Hopefully, Mr. Muge would be able to use it to reverse-engineer the enchantment or something. Identifying the names of things was surprisingly useful.

You have received a new Dungeon Quest: Release the Pale Werewolf (Optional)

How tragic a fate it is to be bound for eternity and harvested for depraved experiments? Show pity and release the Pale Werewolf, fulfilling your moral duty. No being shall suffer under your watch, consequences be damned.

Reward: ???

“Did you guys just receive an optional quest?” Alan asked flabbergasted.

“Yes.”

“We are NOT doing that,” Ashlyn’s tone left no room for arguing.

Was this a trap set by the System? Who would be dumb enough to release this monster? Alan suddenly had an idea and got close to the werewolf, climbing on the wall of the pool, careful to not fall.

“The fuck are you doing Alan?” Ashlyn demanded.

“I am trying something, I am not that stupid, relax.”

Being close to the creature made his blood rush through his veins. It was even more massive up close. Alan struggled and carefully grabbed some of the steel wires holding it for support while reaching for the iron stake piercing its heart with his hand.

As soon as his hand got close [Mortal Peril] sent a screaming alarm through his mind, and he lost his balance. He barely managed to push himself backward and he fell on his butt.

“Dude,” Ashlyn came up to him, her eyes wide open. Florence followed her closely behind, hugging herself, “My [Danger Sense] went crazy when you reached for the stake.”

“Yeah, my [Mortal Peril] did as well. We are not doing that quest.”

Ashlyn helped him stand up and patted his shoulder and with a last look toward the suspended werewolf started moving around it and into the darkness.

“Let’s go,” she said. Alan and Florence followed in silence.

Behind the werewolf was pure darkness and they had to take out some candlestones. It was a small door that led to a circular room that was partially caved in – the walls and floors were filled with parts of constructs, pipes leading to nowhere, and most importantly doors, some blocked by cave-ins, others open and dark.

This time Ashlyn picked one at random, which once again led them to a maze of what looked like laboratories, storage units, and hallways. The stone walls often gave way to simple earth and Alan started having the feeling that they were going deeper and deeper underground. He had thought that they would come out in the flower fields, but apparently, he had been wrong.

It was hard to keep a sense of direction but it felt like they circled to the other side of the hall with the table as they finally reached another larger room, a laboratory with a lot of broken cylindrical glass containers. Fresh hearts lay among the broken glass and the ground, beating from time to time despite their condition. Few of the containers were whole, and the hearts inside looked a bit larger and stronger, floating in a clear liquid.

“Are we walking around some alternate Dr. Frankenstein castle?” Ashlyn asked.

“It is very possible. Using a werewolf to create artificial hearts and power ugly and badly designed servants…” It was stuff straight from a second-rate Hollywood adaptation.

The hoarder in Alan almost made him take a heart for the road, but he decided not to risk it. He had the source of the hearts, and he was not about to craft any weird robots anytime soon.

Ashlyn carefully stabbed one of those on the floor with a piece of broken pipe, and Alan watched as it let out pale blood and stopped its beating.

“No system messages.”

“It would have been too easy,” Florence said.

You have received a new Dungeon Quest: Unravel the Mystery of the Lower Buried Blood Fields

You have only scratched the surface of everything going on, but you have a vague idea now of some of the events transpiring here. Who or what is behind all of this? What exactly is this place? These and many more questions await you to answer them. Unravel the mysteries and live through the process.

Reward: performance-based and received upon exit

That’s more like it. The three quickly made sure everyone had the quest. Alan played with the pommel of his dagger as they passed the creepy room and continued exploring. This was not the dungeon experience he had envisioned. Dark and gritty was his thing, but sometimes things got too much. Two types of blood with unknown effects and a blood elemental core were all that they had to show for their effort so far, not counting the levels. Where was the loot? The items?

They walked seemingly at random, and Alan had the feeling they were going deeper and deeper underground until Ashlyn stopped them.

“I have a trail,” she said, a small smile playing on the corner of her lips.

The thrill of the hunt.