The Fool's Freedom

The group had decided almost unanimously to head back to the lake. The quest was still not completed so there were certainly others out there, but everyone needed some time to rest and regroup. They had also decided to throw away the lizard's corpse and instead carry the boar, which was something that required quite a few people.

Tim once again led them after asking to borrow the cleaver from Salla. It had taken some convincing but she had relented under a promise she would have it back soon. Alan didn’t blame her for the reluctance as the weapon had literally saved his life.

There had been another issue. A much more intense demand for a proper funeral came from the grieving woman whose name had turned out to be Nadia. The dead woman had been her close friend. Tim had managed to convince her that it was not possible and even had to promise they would return once things were safer and the group was more prepared. As empty of a promise as that sounded to Alan, it had worked.

Nadia was still throwing him mean glances though, and he was pretty sure it was not only in his head.

The plan was to camp out and wait for the sunrise, if one would ever come, before searching for anyone else who was out there. Ashlyn's skill was taxing and most of the people were on the verge of emotional collapse with all that was happening. Twice people had broken down on the walk back.

Alan understood somewhat. It sucked out here. Still, his thoughts went back to the feeling of triumph when he had killed that boar. It had been exhilarating. Hunting had never been a passion of his, as he saw killing animals for sport simply cruel. Maybe it was having survived a near-death experience that made him feel this way, maybe he needed the animals to shoot back.

Ashlyn also seemed to be doing fine. They walked in silence and Alan hoped they would finally have time to catch up a bit. Tim was great and all but he needed his one on one with Ashlyn. And who knew, she could have some ideas about his skill. He also wanted to ask her about [Basic Tracking].

There was also the issue of how she had found a person in the forest during the night, but she hadn’t noticed signs of the monster boar. No one had really said anything about it. Skills were new territory and there were probably many limitations.

After a silent walk back, the group settled near the lake. Emerson had warned everyone about the lizards so they took turns taking watch, distributing the groups in a way that would allow each to have a person with [Light Orb]. There were four, as it was a really popular skill.

Alan and Ashlyn sat facing the lake after Alan had asked Emerson for some cleansed water to wash off as much of the blood as he could. The water was cold and he was thankful the night was not particularly chilly or windy or he might’ve had another issue come dawn.

“Finally, some time to talk. Things have been crazy,” Ashlyn said with a long exhale. She leaned on Alan but not enough to really put any weight on him.

Always so careful.

“Yes. So, what’s up with your skill?”

“Straight to the point, huh.” She looked around and leaned even closer. “Look, I haven’t told the others, although Tim might suspect it, but I don’t have [Basic Tracking]. I did, but not anymore.”

Now that was curious. Alan also shuffled closer. The knowledge on how to change a skill, or to exchange it would be huge in the long run. Ashlyn seemed to think over her next words before continuing.

“I picked [Basic Tracking] because I felt it might help me avoid danger or find other people. Obviously didn’t work for avoiding danger… Anyway, the skill worked by making me more aware of unnatural traces, be it broken branches, stepped on grass or even smells. You know, the normal things anyone could look out for and find. It was a simple boost to the senses, along with some sort of innate knowledge of what could have left the traces. At first, I used it to track more imps… and then I killed them.”

“You killed them?” She had taken down more than one imp. That was interesting. “I met a second one and it ran away from me, leading me towards Emerson.”

“Yes, they ran. The first one I found got away from me. I jumped the second and third ones and managed to kill them with my knife. It’s actually quite easy.” Damn. Ashlyn didn’t play around. Alan knew she had always been an active person, playing sports, going to the gym, and always ready to try something new. He had envied her a lot. “When I killed my third one, I got offered an upgrade. One of the two options was to be able to track a species better if you were familiar with them. The skill is called [Specialized Tracking], and it has a few advantages when I am looking for humanoids. In time I might add other creatures to the list. But since I am a human…”

“You are better at finding humans… and human-like things. I see. Well, fuck, Ash. Good job!” Alan exclaimed. It really was. She had adapted, she had hunted freaking monsters, and she had won. He was both happy and a bit jealous. “What level are you, then?”

“Only level 3. The extra imps didn’t give me a level. I got two from the boar.”

“I got from 2 to 4 after the boar. So, I guess the reward for the imps was an upgrade? Or… was it because of the way you used your skill?”

“It might be. I didn’t really think about it.” Ashlyn shrugged. “I’ve shown you mine…”

“Oh, mine is a bit boring but it’s quite helpful to get around. It’s called [Efficient Basic Movement] as I mentioned earlier, and it does exactly what the name implies. Basically, I can walk better. Less strain, less energy… less pain in my fucked-up muscles.”

Ashlyn frowned and fell silent. Did I say something wrong?

“The basic movements of the body are way more than just walking,” she finally said.

“Like what?”

“Flexing, extending, rotating… all kinds of movements. Essentially, I don’t see why the skill wouldn’t help you with ALL aspects of using your body. We could argue that if you are performing more than one of the ‘basic’ actions then it is no longer basic and the skill wouldn’t help. I assume the description is not very helpful, is it?”

Nope. It was not.

Skill: Efficient Basic Movement

You know your body and how to move it efficiently, minimizing the strain and energy needed to perform simple physical actions.

“Nope. But what you said certainly is. What would I do without you?” he hugged her tight for a second, trying to use the skill. He couldn’t tell if it had worked. There would be lots of testing involved, especially once he got a few more points in his physical stats.

“Did you just try to use your skill while hugging me?”

Alan grinned. “A man’s got no time to waste. It’s the apocalypse after all.”

Ashlyn’s smile dropped off her face. “It is, isn’t it?”

Fuck.

“Relax man, I won’t ask you if we are going to be all right or if this is all a dream. I feel like we all are taking this quite well, to be honest. I am surprised at myself. Don’t know if it’s all the movies or books, but apart from seeing the body… Joey…” Her face fell and Alan thought she was about to puke and he would certainly join her if she did. It took her a few seconds to gather herself, “… apart from that I’ve been doing okay. I might be fucked up, but I am guessing you are also not about to break down?”

“I feel great Ash,” Alan replied. It was true. He was tired and dirty and his mouth smelled like vomit, but that was all. “I’ve never felt so alive. My routine for the past couple of years had been working and going to the doctor or staring at screens… resting. I’ve only had a few days a month in which I could do actual living. And most of those days were wasted. This place took all of that away. I will either succeed and fix myself, or die trying. It is so simple.”

“Look at you! And it’s only been a few hours.”

Alan smiled. “Who knows? It might be the System fucking with my head for all we know.”

Ain’t that right you silly little shit?

Ashlyn turned before Alan heard anything. Tim approached and stopped near them. He had taken off his suit jacket and somehow still managed to look professional with his white shirt, loosened tie, and rolled-up sleeves. And a bloody cleaver in his hand.

“Am I interrupting?”

“Not at all Mr. Bishop,” Ashlyn replied.

“We’re just chatting,” Alan added.

“Please, it’s just Tim. We are not at work and it doesn’t seem like we’re getting back,” the man said. “We’re just about done with cutting up the boar, Salla has been guiding me as the hide is a bit tough for her. I asked Emerson and the guys to gather some wood for a fire. Figured we should eat, what do you say?”

“Oh, some barbeque does sound lovely,” Alan said and started getting up. He did it slowly and refused Ashlyn’s help. He activated the skill, focusing on each movement, trying to feel the muscles and how they worked. It seemed to give some results. Maybe the upgraded attributes had helped too as he managed it almost painlessly. It would take a while to get used to this. His physical therapist had spoken far and wide about the mind-muscle connection and Alan was finally almost convinced he was on to something.

They joined the bigger group. Nadia threw Alan a glance and looked away. Fuck you too, lady.

Emerson was finishing arranging the wood, while Rob stood above him with a [Light Orb]. The young intern was pale and swaying.

A bit further Salla held the now cleaned hind leg of the boar, using water from what appeared to be a jacket held by Matt and Eldon to wash it while talking with the older man with [Light Orb] who had been in the front with Tim when they found the body.

The general idea seemed to be to find a flat rock from near the lake and use that over the fire to cook strips of the boar. The older man, Ivan, had apparently seen it done on social media. The wonders of technology.

The rest of the animal, if one could call it that, was left a bit further from them. Alan caught a whiff of it and wondered if it might attract more monsters. They certainly needed the levels. They would almost certainly die.

“Hey Tim,” he called. “You remember the lizard? I was wondering… I don’t know if you’ve played any games, so excuse me for dumbing it down like that, but we could farm them? Like, kill them for levels. They are pretty weak and I only got hurt because of my body. Two people in a group could easily take one down with a sharpened stick. We need levels.”

The conversations have died down and Alan realized most people were staring at him. It was a bit uncomfortable. Tim didn’t respond immediately.

“That’s a good idea.” Ashlyn chimed in. Thanks, Ash.

“Indeed. We will talk.” Tim said and walked away.

That had gone well.

-

It took them another twenty minutes until everything was set up properly. Alan felt a bit useless as no one had asked him to help with anything and he himself didn’t even know where to start. He opted to just sit near the newly lit fire. Apparently [Spark] was another popular pick. It was just what the name implied and it had been quite efficient at starting a fire. Salla, Matt, and the other man whom Alan didn’t know, Walter, all had it. So far there were 4 [Light Orb], 3 [Spark], 2 [Cleanse Water], 1 [Basic Tracking] that was actually [Specialized Tracking], 1 [Heal Minor Wounds], and two other skills.

Florence was sitting by herself, staring into the fire and not talking with anyone. She had been silent the whole time, replying with a word or two to the people who had tried to speak with her.

The smell of the cooking boar was delicious and distracting enough that Alan found himself salivating. There were no plates or utensils so when the strips of meat were done Salla just threw them on another clean rock to cool down. Matt and Eldon had happily made rounds carrying purified water, courtesy of Eldon, in the waterproof jacket one of them had for everyone to drink and even wash up.

Ashlyn and Emerson sat next to Alan while they ate. The boar was gone fast and Tim even cut off a bit more to cook. The meat had been amazing. Fatty and not overly gamey. Alan didn’t know if it was because of the whole experience or due to some other reason, but he couldn’t stop eating until he was almost ready to puke. Salla had been kind enough to cook another batch.

Only Nadia had refused to eat at first, but it was not like there were other options.

Someone suggested cooking the whole boar so it would last longer and they had agreed that would be done the next day. No one approached Alan about being on watch which was just fine and he had decided to be selfish and sharpen the staff Emerson had gotten for him using Ashlyn’s knife.

People were mostly silent after the meal, excluding Eldon and Matt who had been arguing about which game world they were in. Alan enjoyed the thought as he lay on the grass but found it highly unlikely.

Soon, darkness took him.