The Fool's Freedom

You have received a new Dungeon Quest: Defeat Doctor Pharom in the Lower Buried Blood Fields.

The Doctor is a menace that has committed many crimes against natural life. He has offended a God with his existence. Punish him for his offenses.

Reward: Class Guide or Item

A class guide? Greyheart had mentioned something like that.

It was more of a cave than a hall. Parts of it looked as if they had been taken straight from a hospital – white-lined walls, beds, rafts with tinctures and bottles. The rest was bare stone. Every visible corner was littered with tools and storage spaces though. There were few exits shrouded in shadow or covered by curtains.

And in the middle of the mess, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, sat a young-ish man. Dressed in white and red and wearing glasses that only made him look more innocent was the furthest thing from what Alan or any of them had expected.

But he had expected them, it seemed. There was a pristine desk in front of the man, with a few open books and binders of notes laid around. It was a bizarre sight.

“So? Did you kill him?” the so-called Doctor Pharom asked.

The group looked around in confusion until Alan once again decided to take the lead.

“If you are talking about the other boss – the blood corpse – yes, we did.”

The man slapped the desk and stood up. “Good! Great, even! That fool was getting on my nerves, sending his piece of shit corpses here…”

The Doctor took a book and quickly checked what it was, before throwing it on a pile behind the desk without even looking.

“This is a Dungeon now, I told him. Just struggle a bit, give them whatever, and admit defeat. But no! His brains are so scrambled by the magic he practices he can’t even realize that much.”

“You know this is a Dungeon?” Alan asked. He was at a loss for words, and so were the rest. This was not the boss encounter he had expected.

“I am NOT stupid. Do not presume me stupid! Yes, of course, I do know this is a goddamn Dungeon. It was our choice to enter this place or perish.”

“A choice?”

The Doctor sighed and sat on top of his desk, pushing away another book.

“Look, I know you are all new here. First visitors and all… presumably from a newly integrated world, yes? And judging by the variety, not a simple one. Haven’t seen cursed elves in a while. That’s all fine and great, but you know very little about how the world works. Dungeons are… smart use of resources. In the simplest terms we were given a choice – get closed in a Dungeon for all eternity, and serve as grinding stones for the System’s favorites, or have our souls extinguished. The choice was easy if you ask me. At least I have a small modicum of freedom here.”

It might be presumptuous of me, but you know that there are different kinds of Dungeons out there? Yes? No?”

“This is our first one,” Alan said weakly. The Doctor was… just spitting information without a care.

“Oh, for fuck’s – khm, lucky me. Well, then…” he seemed to fall into deep thought.

Alan decided to be a bit bolder. The Doctor didn’t seem opposed to interaction and he looked less dangerous than they had assumed. No werewolves in sight yet.

“Did… Did the System do this to you?” he asked after some hesitation. All free information was good information.

“What? No. The System is the System. It doesn’t care if one slaughters millions or experiments on their children. It is nice like that. It was that pesky God… Ugh. The System simply made use of this place that was thrown out, giving us a way out of an empty eternity.”

The Doctor suddenly grabbed a nearby device Alan didn’t know the purpose of and threw it hard against the rock wall.

“It gets me so angry. So, so angry.” In the next instant, he looked sheepishly toward the group and grinned, “Sorry about that. It’s been a while since I had intelligent— well, normal— I mean, people to interact with.”

“You’ve seen our kind before?” Jaerdra asked from the back.

“Of course. I’ve studied your curse as well. It is quite a conundrum. It is fascinating how you have to consume your own kind to stay alive. Ingenious.”

What?!

Alan threw a shocked look towards the elves, who looked angry and uncomfortable at having their secret revealed. Ashlyn and Florence also seemed disgusted and shocked.

This was… too much. A curse forcing cannibalism for an entire race was the evilest shit Alan had ever heard of. He wondered who would be capable of something like that and what the story was.

“Oh? Did I reveal your secret? Sorry, sorry. Me and my big mouth. It’s fine though, human memory is unreliable and I am sure your friends will overlook this in lieu of your contributions.”

Davis doesn’t seem surprised.

The Doctor reminded Alan of Xil’Garoth. The demon’s attitude was similar in its certain acceptance that human intellect was inferior to his own.

“Anyways. Here’s the deal. This is a Dungeon so we have to fight. And we will.” The group tensed at that and Reyvalur drew his sword.

“But!” the Doctor continued, “It doesn’t mean I have to try very hard. I mean, killing me is all fine. What do I get if I kill you, apart from some new toys for a time? Integrating you into the Dungeon will be more effort than it’s worth so that’s out of the question too. Sure, the Dungeon gets some mana to grow stronger from your deaths too, but who needs that? I certainly don’t.”

It will be awesome if we can come to an understanding, don’t you think?”

“Uh, sure? Are you proposing we just… kill you?” This is not going as expected at all.

“No, no. I have to struggle a bit or I might get punished. That doesn’t mean I will give it my all, and I don’t have all day to entertain you kids. Well, I do have an eternity of days, but… you get my drift.”

His nose suddenly scrunched up and he got closer to Alan while inhaling rapidly.

The fuck?

“You’ve met a Pale Werewolf?”

“Uhm, we saw one suspended in that one hall with constructs. The ceiling had caved in, so we assumed it had fallen from the floor above.”

“Mhm. Mhm. And did you, or did you not use its blood to perform some esoteric ritual that enhances your body and mana?”

“I… might have?”

The Doctor clapped his hands so hard he made Davis curse and Florence gasp. He didn’t seem to have noticed as he spun on his heel and walked away. “Yes! My new nose is a success. They told me it was stupid. Smelling magic is silly, boohoo! Ha! Take that you bastards.”

“That dude’s insane,” Davis whispered from behind Alan.

The Doctor turned and glared, making them all tense again. For his short stature and youthful appearance, he certainly held an aura of danger that sent one’s hair standing.

“I am not insane! The very notion of insanity couldn’t be further away from what I do! A puny little thing like you who hasn’t even touched upon the boundaries of possibility shouldn’t be fast to judge.” He smiled a smile that made Alan remember all those managers and bosses he had dealt with. A smile that just said ‘I am better than you, but you are too stupid to understand how much’. Now that was annoying.

“And what do you do?” Ashlyn suddenly joined the conversation and the young Doctor’s eyes shot toward her. His nose twitched once again. Creepy.

“I make everything better! I create life from life! I give birth to the future!” His expression was like that of a manic person, and his hands were spread wide. Suddenly, he dropped both the expression and the hands and chuckled.

“Is that what you expect me to say, beast lady? I am a scientist. I was employed to harness the curse of the Lycans, removing the ill effects and distilling only the Vitality in it. Alas, it is harder to do than it looks. All I’ve managed so far is to make some shittier werewolves, a bunch of artificial hearts you have undoubtedly seen thrown around. That and fuck my life up.”

And before you ask, I smell the blood of beasts on you. I assume you have a skill that makes use of it. Not my problem, but do be careful with that Pale blood. It is something grades above what you are capable of right now. Don’t want to accidentally give yourself to the beast, do you?”

Ashlyn threw an uncertain glance toward Alan, who shrugged.

“Thank you for the advice.”

“No worries. Now! Let’s get this over with.”

The young Doctor jumped on the desk and cleaned his throat.

“My name is Pharum, but you may call me Doctor, for… well I am more of a scientist but my employees used that monicker to hide my true purpose… no matter! You have trespassed into my domain, and for that, you shall die!” After his speech, he leaned forward and loudly whispered. “You can kill the ones that come out, they’re Dungeon spawn, not mine. I know folk like you love levels. I will give you a few stronger ones too after. It pains me but we got to follow the rules!”

Is he fucking with us or does he really not intend to put up a fight?

The Doctor snapped his fingers. There was a loud bang and a bunch of quickly approaching howls.

Alan activated [Monochrome Armor] and saw the Doctor throw him a weird look.

“Aren’t you a caster?” he asked.

There was no time to answer as something more disfigured monkey than a werewolf barreled into the hall from one of the sides, followed by a dozen more. They were strange creatures that lacked the power and grace of the werewolf they had seen chained. Still, they looked dangerous.

Alan opted to use his [Imbue Fire] dagger and the regular one. [Shadow Weapon] was already coating the blades in darkness, making them deadlier.

The first of the monsters was almost near them when an arrow took half of its head off, making the body that remained slide to a stop.

Goddamn, Ash.

Davis and the Elven warrior were eager for a fight and ignored the fallen body as they met the monsters with their charge. The creatures were fast and strong, but not nearly as the skinned corpses had been.

Alan opted to go from the side and pick off the stragglers. The first one to notice him leaped, malformed jaw wide open and filled with disgusting saliva.

He met it with a shadowflame slash that made the thing whimper and took almost all of its lower jaw and neck. A merciless slash with his regular dagger ended the creature’s misery.

Failed Werespawn (34)

So level 34s were no longer an issue unless it was someone with a class. That was nice to know.

Alan circled with the side, using the advantage of his speed, and with two quick slashes ended another one of the creatures, earning himself a level. Murdering the hordes of imps and the few hurt corpses had added up.

Level up!

You have reached level 19 in [Warlock]!

+ 3 Attribute Points

+ 1 Mind, Will, and Magic

He seriously doubted level 20 would bring anything new, considering level 10 did. The System was not as nice as it had been lately.

“Ooh, nice! We should talk about your class choice sometimes though, a [Warlock] that fights like a [Assassin] versed in shadows.” The Doctor’s voice reached him and he turned to see the young man wink at him.

That startled Alan. How did the boss know his class?!

“Don’t look so surprised boy, I’ve lived for centuries, and I mean outside of this piece of shit prison Dungeon. Research is my middle name.”

Fuck. You could at least not announce it to everyone around?!

The fight was over quite fast and the group looked around the carnage with frowns. Florence’s skills seemed to affect the monsters quite well, making them freeze in fear or lash out at their own due to an illusion or something else.

“What, do you think that was all? Boss fights need to be suspenseful! I’ve put quite a lot of thought into it. I will try not to kill any of you though, it would ruin our relationship, I reckon.”

There was another howl and two black creatures that looked like proper werewolves walked out.

“Two of my best sucks that I have to sacrifice them, but it is what it is.”

“Ash, with me?” Alan asked and the girl quickly came to his side. “Cover me? Or do you wanna get close and personal?”

“I will cover you and join if things look bad.”

Alan rushed toward the werewolf, sending two shadow flame slashes at the thing. They did little more than leave shallow wounds that closed before he even managed to close the distance. The singed fur remained, giving off a pungent smell.

The werewolf gave a deafening roar and Alan tried to change his direction. Before he could even boost his muscles with mana and push off, the swipe caught him.

Oh shit.

Shadows swirled as the armor broke but didn’t quite absorb all the damage, and Alan was sent flying into a stack of heavy books that did little to cushion his landing.

“Whoa, my boys are eager. Careful!” The Doctor called from his desk. Was all of it a theatre before that?

Alan was sick and tired of being sent flying into various objects at this point. He stood up with a grunt and poured mana into his [Monochrome Armor]. The skill was really what he had needed apparently. He couldn’t imagine having survived without it.

Ashlyn’s arrows were doing more than his [Shadow Slash]. Their penetrating power managing to tear through the werewolf’s tough hide. The wounds still healed at a rapid pace though, and the monster was getting ready to charge.

Davis and Reyvalur were struggling as well. Davis was sporting new spiked gloves, and the elf’s armor was also new.

Just as the werewolf was ready to jump, a ball of fire exploded around it, eliciting a roar of pain.