The Fool's Freedom

Alan turned and saw Florence standing wide-eyed with a smoking wand in front of her. She looked like she had just shot someone in a western movie.

The fires cleared up and revealed an angry werewolf covered in burns, with most of its fur singed off. The dark wrinkled flesh reminded Alan of the shaved cats he would see often popping up on his social media. The fur was doing most of the heavy lifting when it came to charm.

The monster roared and lunged at the new offender. Florence didn’t seem to react in time and Alan cursed as he started charging a massive [Shadow Slash] while rushing to intercept the fast monster. [Warlock’s Body Mastery] boost worked overtime and he felt the strain in his muscles as the world blurred and he was almost next to the surprised monster.

He barely managed to twist the dagger so that the skill would shoot in the right direction and let go. A massive black blade with licking flames shot out and crashed into the werewolf, sending it reeling back and making it yelp.

“Thanks, Alan.”

“Anytime.”

Ashlyn didn’t wait for an invitation to join the fight. Her eyes were blackened and her hair seemed wilder than before as her hatchet and knife started digging into the flesh of the already hurt monster.

There was laughter coming from the direction of the Doctor who seemed to be enjoying the show quite a bit.

“Marvelous!”

Alan checked the situation on the other front in the brief moments he allowed himself to catch some breath. Jaerdra was focused on keeping Reyvalur and Davis alive, as their skills seemed to leave little room for proper damage.

Davis was struggling as he weaved in and out like a professional boxer. His punches seemed to leave surface wounds that healed in seconds, no matter how much he tried and screamed.

Reyvalur’s sword was doing a lot more work, but the elf was careful not to get caught by the claws of the rampaging monster in front of him.

“They will need help.”

Florence nodded. “Do you want [Battle Focus]?”

“Hell yeah.”

The world slowed down and Alan gripped his daggers tighter, joining Ashlyn in her assault against the hurt beast. It seemed to be healing, but much slower. The burns were quite extensive and Alan doubted the fireball was any weaker than the red spheres the Blood Corpse had sent their way in the previous fight.

Flo had two more charges left.

The assault quickly overpowered the werewolves' healing ability. It tried to strike back but it was weaker. Ashlyn easily blocked its swipes and countered with her own blades, while Alan dodged with ease.

The Dungeon was proving to have another benefit as he was much more used to his new rising physical capabilities and fighting in general. There was probably a lot left to be desired, but it was an improvement.

It didn’t take long for the werewolf they were fighting to become a whimpering mess. The healing stopped and with it, the body seemed to lose its durability. Finally, a [Shadow Slash] managed to take the monster’s head.

Alan briefly wondered if it was the Pale Werewolf… would it die from that, considering it was still alive while gutted and chained and harvested for its heart’s blood? Probably not.

You have slain: Artificial Werewolf (40)

He frowned. No level-up was disappointing.

“Good job! One to go!” The Doctor cheered from the side.

The other werewolf quickly succumbed to the four of them. Florence simply went closer and stood by Jaerdra, who was focused on casting barriers and healing whoever screwed up.

You have slain: Artificial Werewolf (40)

“You guys are quite strong for fresh saplings, huh?” The Doctor jumped from his desk and carelessly walked up to one of the dead werewolves, examining the damage. “This is great! I’ve only tested them against some of the walking corpses of that bloody bastard you killed, and while they did fine it is a completely different matter fighting a group of adventurers like you. And your team is so well composed! I might trim one of the melee fighters though, especially with a [Hunter] that prefers to fight up close like a raging animal.”

He winked at Ashlyn and twirled on his toe.

“One more! My second-best creation. Behold, the double-headed bastard!”

There was a dramatic pause in which nothing seemed to happen. The Doctor sighed, “The name’s work in progress… Fine. Behold! The White Champion!”

It dropped from the dark ceiling as if it had waited for this particular moment. White fur with red streaks like shooting stars and two snarling jaws protruding from two heads. Four arms, two seemingly normal, and two that oddly resembled the long and strange limbs of the gatherers. The werewolf before the group was anything but ordinary. It was not very large. Its body was even a bit smaller than those of the previous werewolves.

What struck Alan was the intelligence in its darting eyes. Fuck.

“What a beauty, isn’t she? A product of countless hours of work and headaches. When the System flooded this place with Imps I was a bit disgusted. Imps? The lowest and most expendable of demons? In our glorious home? Ha!” the Doctor threw another book into a nearby wall.

“But I understood with time. It was trying to create a theme. Padding the disjointed mess of tunnels and halls was all good. But what of the rest of the monsters? My constructs that cannot catch a dead fly? They were waiters!

Or the Skinned Servants, thrown away garbage left over from the Lord of Flesh and his Lady? Or, and forgive me for the crude language, the fucking gatherers? Please.”

My experiments and werewolves are a great addition and will serve the Dungeon for centuries to come, but they are expendable too. But she isn’t.” He affectionately tapped the arm of the white werewolf and it snarled, making the Doctor pull back.

“Now, be gentle with my girl. Fetch!”

The werewolf snarled and hit the Doctor with one of its artificial arms, sending him flying into his desk. He seemed fine as he giggled and stood up to watch the show.

Alan prepared himself and the rest did the same. Ashlyn had picked her bow and her arrow soon flew. It took the werewolf nothing more than a step to the side to dodge the [True Shot]. It seemed almost like an instantaneous movement.

Next, the werewolf moved a single step forward. One of its mouths opened wide and Alan recognized the [Ember] skill almost instantly, only it was more similar to Florence’s fireball than anything else.

“Disperse!” Someone called. It was not him.

The skill wasn’t too fast but it was targeting Jaerdra and Florence and they had somewhat of a closer brush with the skill. The explosion radius was quite wide, spanning a few meters and charring the stone floor.

The world shimmered and Alan blinked in confusion. Something did not feel right.

“Is this going easy on us?!” Davis called out.

The Doctor stood grinning on his desk once again, “Yep!”

The white werewolf disappeared from its place with such speed it looked as if it was teleporting, and appeared in front of Reyvalur, surprising the elven warrior. One of its artificial arms swiped left, while the other swiped right, giving the elf no option but to try and dodge backward.

He was not fast enough. His sword blocked one of the strikes, but the force sent him straight into the other. There was a glow as his new armor seemed to resist for a second before both the werewolf and Reyvalur reeled back from the impact. The elf was out of breath, but otherwise well.

Healing light quickly enveloped him, and the werewolf’s eyes turned toward Jaerdra.

Oh, fuck.

They needed the healer. Alan rushed to help and so did Ashlyn. He quickly noticed that Florence was gone, but after taking a careful look he saw her hiding a bit further from the fight. Wand at the ready for an opportunity. She was probably utilizing her chameleon ring.

Good girl.

The two-headed monster sensed their approach and only one of the heads turned back, charging another fireball, while the beast started moving toward Jaerdra. Alan and Ashlyn dispersed, but that slowed them down enough. The fiery explosion could be felt from meters away.

With a flicker of movement, the werewolf was in front of the elf. A green barrier quickly descended, enveloping her and blocking the first hit of the werewolf.

In the next instant, Alan almost crashed into the monster, stopping mere centimeters away and releasing a charged [Shadow Slash].

Shadows exploded and the werewolf took a few steps back, only to barely defend against the onslaught of an enraged Ashlyn. It blocked a few times, allowing her weapons to pierce fur and flesh. Then with another almost instantaneous movement, it retreated.

It’s the same skill Walter has! Alan quickly realized. The werewolf was moving with something akin to an omnidirectional [Backstep].

Unfortunately for the monster, Davis and Reyvalur were waiting for it and jumped with renewed vigor as soon as it was in range.

The werewolf became a mess of limbs as it blocked with its artificial arms while attacking with the real ones.

A roar signified that it’d had enough and suddenly the blood markings on its body exploded with light.

Davis’s charged punch was blocked, and Alan heard hissing as the man’s glove suddenly heated until it was red with impossible speed. Davis screamed like a madman and pulled back, only to be hit by a punch in the head that sent him into the cave wall.

The elven woman struck her staff into the ground sending a wave of energy, then started running toward the fight. Alan felt his fatigue go down and mana regeneration pick up and he charged too.

He narrowly dodged a fireball that flew and landed somewhere behind him.

Jaerdra!

He turned to see the healer coated with a green light. Some of her clothes and skin were burned, signifying that she had suffered some damage. Apart from that she seemed fine.

Alan sighed in relief.

Reyvalur went mad, but as soon as his sword touched one of the red markings it became red with heat. The elf powered through and his blade went aglow again, probably due to some skill. The werewolf shrugged off the attacks. Soon the sword was almost melting from the heat and with a scream, the elf dropped it.

There was a flash of movement as the elf was sent flying back. In the next moment, a fireball followed his body and Jaerdra screamed as it bathed him in a fiery explosion.

A second too late Alan’s [Shadow Slashes] reached the monster, distracting it by leaving deep cuts into its back. He had pulled his [True Edge] ritual dagger, and the cat’s eyes were glowing on its pommel. This was not the easy fight the lying Doctor had promised.

He started charging a [Shadow Slash] and simultaneously with that cast [Synaptic Failure]. He felt the skill connect and saw the beast sway under its strength. He let the charged blade of darkness go.

Gotcha.

His eyes widened as the werewolf flickered out of the way of another charged [Shadow Slash] and appeared before him. Alan couldn’t stop in time and his [Monochrome Armor] exploded when a punch landed on it, a second followed and there were no more shadows to block it.

Alan barely managed to cross his arms and felt even his enchanted bones shake as he flew backward, with no air left in his lungs. He landed heavy on the floor, daggers clattering around him. There was a metallic taste in his mouth and his chest hurt. His arms were torn from the impact and he struggled to make use of them.

Healing light quickly descended and there was some relief, but it would take some time until he was healed.

“This ends now.”

He turned toward the source of the voice and saw Ashlyn set something on the ground. A vial of pale blood.

No.

“Stop me,” she said looking at him.

Her eyes became pale yellow as the blood sank into her skin, and she roared. Her teeth grew, and her hair followed. She was still human, but… more.

The white werewolf’s attention was completely focused on her and Alan heard the Doctor sigh.

“Oh, you foolish girl.”

The clash between the two was almost too fast to follow. Alan struggled to get up and was almost knocked backward by a shockwave that shook the cave. He only saw a white-red blur as the pale werewolf crashed with whimpers into the ground, cracking.

The healing light disappeared from him a moment later.

Another stomp followed, breaking the arm of the monster.

With a snarl, another was pulled out of a socket and sent to the side.

It was a slaughter as the thing whined and gurgled on its own blood. The Doctor seemed amused.

Alan stood watching transfixed. Was this really Ashlyn?

She was about to finish off the monster, and Alan wondered if Florence would be able to stop her this time. Or his [Synaptic Failure]. It hadn’t even managed to stop the white werewolf.

With a roar, Ashlyn lifted the beast and grabbed its head. It was already half dead and Alan imagined that in the next moment, it would fully reach that state. A strange distant wave of whispers distracted him. He turned in confusion.

His eyes widened.

The Doctor was gone from his desk. The empty space he had occupied was hazy.

No!

Ashlyn dropped the half-dead werewolf on the floor and stood above it, ready to finish the job.

Alan screamed as a clawed human hand pierced through Ashlyn’s stomach from the back, appearing on the other side.

The world swam. Rage unlike any he had know took his body and he felt the mana flow into every muscle fiber he had. He shot in a blur of shadows toward the offending Doctor.

Florence screamed something, but he didn’t care.

His daggers quickly found flesh as he pushed the man away from Ashlyn and stabbed with his daggers, aiming for the heart and neck.

A fireball lit up the surroundings and crashed straight into the dying werewolf, destroying its last vestiges of life.

You have slain: Artificial Two-headed White Werewolf (51)

Level up!

You have reached level 21 in [Warlock]!

+ 3 Attribute Points

+ 1 Mind, Will, and Magic

Level up!

You have reached level 22 in [Warlock]!

+ 3 Attribute Points

+ 1 Mind, Will, and Magic

No! Ashlyn had been too close to the explosion! Fuck, Flo!

His daggers left a trail of blood as they exited the dying Doctor’s flesh. Alan had the presence of mind to know something was wrong. He wouldn’t die that easy, not if he could hurt Ashlyn.

The System message washed everything away like a bucket of ice water.

You have slain: Human [Brawler] (16)

He looked down and saw the lightless eyes of Davis staring at him.