The Fool's Freedom

Nothingness was all there was to it. Not blackness or infinite void, no white light. Just… non-existence.

And Alan was in the middle of it, unable to perceive his body or feel his mana. Try as he could, there was nothing to latch on but the thoughts of his mind which still somehow worked.

He felt oddly empty, yet free. Many System messages had flashed in his mind before he was whisked away by whatever that fucking rope had been.

The single message remaining in the back of his mind was not helpful at all.

Please wait.

I will wait for your… ah, fuck.

And wait he did. What else was there? How rude do you have to be to ask someone to ‘please wait’ before forcing them to wait? Like he had an option.

Many things had gone wrong in that last fight against the religious weirdo who seemed obsessed with being all white of all things. Wait was that it? A racist god that hates all else but those who embraced the boring and colorless scheme of her religion.

Screw this. Alan aimed his mind at something more productive like analyzing his fights during the defense. About five minutes later he wished he hadn’t. All it had been down to was running around and hoping his shadows would slice things apart. Where was the grace, the technique?

He hoped hitting level 30 would bring him another skill. He had gotten one at 10, and nothing at 20. If he could currently feel his fingers, he would’ve crossed them.

Surely the reward for stopping the invasion would be enough to push him to level 30. Surely.

He spent the time recounting his fights some more and thinking what could’ve been done better. He had made many mistakes and he still hadn’t learned how to properly fight. He felt like there was some improvement though. Nothing taught as fast as having your life threatened on the daily.

Not that he needed a particular fighting style or skills against monsters. Humans though… something told him that he would have to fight a lot of humans or humanoid creatures in the future.

He also thought about the one girl with the ropes and chains. He didn’t know what he had done to offend the warlock or witch girl from the Elven Trunk. Was she one of Cole’s or simply didn’t like Alan? Was she out for revenge because of something he had done or was she just crazy?

She would die, that’s for sure. He doubted Ashlyn would be able to direct her confusion and anger at the girl as only he had been able to perceive the strange rope. Alan would do it himself once he got out of whatever mess he was headed toward.

It seemed that the girl tried to send him along with Wuros first, but thankfully the System had not allowed interference in the creation of its Dungeon.

So, he had been sent away with Emerson to… what did he call them again… the Fractal Fields? No. The Fractal Battlefields.

Sounds fucking charming. Can’t wait.

What interested him most was the skill she had used. Was it some long-forgotten artifact she had burned, or a skill that required setup like his ritual? The scroll was an interesting detail he hadn’t seen before.

She would die, certainly.

Alan wondered if there was a way to take skills away from those he killed like Old Greyheart did with traits. It was quite a dark thought direction, but it was a bit of a waste otherwise.

Also, was he going to be together with Emerson during his sentence? Or were things not going to be so simple? He doubted the System or whatever had set the rules Emerson had broken would fail to notice his presence.

That was probably why he was stuck in System customs and not going anywhere.

Finally, the ‘please wait’ message disappeared and a slew of new ones took its place.

No designation detected.

No permission to enter Fractal Battlefield – Fallen Void Tree F672.

Returning to original position.

Oh my, yes, please! For once things would turn out to be simple. Praise the System!

Error! Effect of Ancient tier skill [Tied Paths] detected. Fulfilling set conditions.

Or not.

Fuck. [Tied Paths], huh? Another fucked up skill to fuck up his day. And a ton of new questions.

The emptiness disappeared and Alan found himself falling through a tunnel that made his sense of spatial forces tingle like never before. He was suddenly reminded of the only time he had gone to a carnival as a kid, and how much he had puked after a single ride. All the hotdogs he had eaten beforehand hadn’t helped in the slightest. He was suddenly very thankful there were no hotdogs in the Sanctuary.

His skin felt like it would be stripped of his body, and some of his already torn and bloody clothes did fall apart.

However, there was also a pleasant side to the experience as [First Pathfinder] allowed him to experience dimensional forces and spatial energy like never before. Paths, twists, and turns all gave the sense of distance and vastness unperceivable by relying on any other sense.

Alan lost track of time as he tried to observe the chaotic flow of energy all around. It was like staring at a tornado of sand and each speck was a universe in itself. There were similarities to the energy imbued in his left forearm, that helped create his shadow inventory, but it was like comparing a spark to the sun.

At least he could access his mana now. Alan briefly wondered what would happen if he simply jumped into one of the dimensional holes that appeared and disappeared around him. Probably nothing good and the System was at least trustworthy to some extent.

Was that desire the same as when a person drove their car and suddenly thought of jumping off the bridge? The call of the void, was it?

Nah.

Everything twisted again and Alan was in the air, barely having time to flail his limbs properly before two seconds later the ground met him with no mercy. A cloud of dust rose around him and he groaned.

There was a spam attack of System messages at the back of his mind, but he took a minute to gather himself and look around. Dying while focusing on rewards and System bullshit would be too stupid even for him.

The soil was reddish and smelled of iron. Alan looked around. He seemed to be on a small path weaving in both directions through looming cliffs and rocks with the same color as the soil. The sky at least looked pretty normal, if a bit moody and filled with icky brownish clouds.

Alan stood up and started walking toward the closest wall of rocks. Some of the many cracks and holes littering the mountainous wall could fit a grown man. He hesitated for a second before he started climbing. He chose the easiest route until he found a flat surface that seemed to be well hidden on both sides, allowing him an unobscured view of the road.

In a flash of shadows, the demon cube appeared in his arm.

“Oy, Xil. Wake up. I need you.”

A loud yawn sounded in Alan’s mind, as the demon spoke.

“What’s—, fuck’s sake. What have you done now?”

“Got pulled into what’s known as a Fractal Battlefield. Got any idea?”

“Doesn’t ring a bell. There is weak divine energy here though. It’s twisted and… frankly not as threatening as the one last time. What happened with that?”

“Long story. I need you to be a watch while I deal with some System stuff, can you do that?”

“Oh, sure, because I got nothing better to do…” there was a pause, “I actually don’t, apart from sleeping. So yeah, that was not sarcasm.”

“Thanks.”

Alan took a breath and activated the chameleon ring for good measure. Hopefully whatever roamed this world or fractal had eyes that could be deceived. He focused on the messages buzzing in his mind. Some of his questions were instantly answered.

No access to Outpost granted. Choosing a safe random destination.

You have arrived at the Fractal Battlefield of the Fallen Void Tree, F672.

The twisted minions of long-dead gods still plague the universe, sustained by the remnant corrupted divine energy left over long after the divine spark was extinguished. As a soldier, mercenary, or just a citizen of the Myriad Worlds, it is your duty to remove the remnant atrocities from existence.

Dispose of them in the name of the Realm.

Sure. Let’s fight goddamn Gods too, why not? I should’ve taken up knitting or something.

You have completed the Sanctuary Quest – Purge the invaders. Protect the future.

Your contribution to slay the spawn and obstruct the invading priest has earned you the following rewards:

- A choice of a Skill Stone of rare or lesser tier from a random selection.

- A choice of a Skill Stone of rare or lesser tier from a random selection.

- Seven (7) levels.

Level up!

You have reached level 25 in [Warlock]!

+ 3 Attribute Points

+ 1 Mind, Will, and Magic

…

Level up!

You have reached level 31 in [Warlock]!

+ 3 Attribute Points

+ 1 Mind, Will, and Magic

You can learn a new skill. Please choose.

The System was once again throwing the carrots at him and Alan hoped it was not a prelude to a hail of sticks. Or maybe him being here was the stick.

Seven levels brought along a lot of attribute points and pushed him over thirty, which thankfully meant a new skill. He could barely wait.

However, the Skill Stones from the quest sounded even more interesting. Would that mean he could learn three skills right here, right now? What was the catch? It was too good to be true. He didn’t know if there was a limit to the skills he could have and it would suck if he got stuck with some that didn’t work for him.

He could also choose skill stones based on their value and trade them away when he got the opportunity. That was certain to be a lucrative business in the civilized corners of the Universe.

With a thought, he focused on that. He was given five options, making him grin.

Solid Stance

Prepare to receive a hit with your whole body, letting the force pass harmlessly through you.

Eye of Goruk

Boost one of your eyes with mana, and see further than you ever had.

Finger of Steel

A finger attack that makes your finger as strong and as sharp as a blade.

Water Pellet

Shoot a pellet of water at your target, damaging them.

Last Glimpse (Rare)

See the last five seconds of the dead body you touch.

Only one rare… And the rare skill was weird as fuck. It could be useful; he was sure there would be plenty of corpses on his path. Information was important after all, especially if one found themselves surrounded by dead bodies. The rest of the skills did not seem that attractive.

Maybe [Eye of Goruk] and [Water Pellet] could be useful too. He instantly wrote off [Solid Stance] as it seemed the worst of the bunch, and [Finger of Steel] was simply not something he was interested in.

There were also the potential advancements to consider and he certainly needed a long-range skill. So far only the [Water Pellet] fit the bill, although it did sound very weak. Maybe imbuing it with some shadowy mana would produce a cool effect? Or maybe it wouldn’t work at all and he would have wasted an opportunity.

Alan sighed and tried to focus on the second reward which was still the same. Thankfully it worked. Comparing what he had available to choose from first seemed like a logical strategy.

Another list of five appeared in his mind.

Bark Skin

Coat parts of your body with resilient bark, adding a layer of protection.

Bewildering Step (Rare)

Become versed in a movement pattern that will confuse your foes, giving you the advantage in a fight.

Sticky Feet

The bottom of your feet becomes sticky, allowing you to stick to surfaces.

Beast Speech (Rare)

Beasts become more responsive and understanding of your commands.

Mana Zap

An almost instant shock of pure mana with a long range.

Lucky. Two rares.

He didn’t need [Bark Skin]. It was a skill for people who were going to get hit, and [Monochrome Armor] covered that. Plus, he didn’t want to get hit. While an extra layer of protection seemed interesting the other choices were better.

[Sticky Feet] was intriguing. That is if it worked over his boots and didn’t require him to take them off so he could use the skill. Furthermore, sticking to surfaces was a very broad choice of words.

Would it allow him to walk on walls, or would it help him keep better balance on a rocky ship? It sucked that learning the skill was a prerequisite for getting the broader explanation.

[Bewildering Step] was another strange one, and it was rare to boot. But what made it powerful? Think as he may Alan failed to reach a certain conclusion. Would he walk like one of those drunk kung fu masters, making his opponents stumble and fall as they tried to hit him or see through his moves? Or would he simply move like an idiot?

[Beast Speech] looked like the fun option. Especially if he could advance it enough so the skill allowed actual conversations with the many beasts around the universe. Still, this was not a game and he was not looking to adopt pets.

[Mana Zap] was the one that instantly caught his attention and looked like the saving grace of the selection, despite the lower rarity. Alan was sure he could work with it.

Shouldn’t there be classifications such as common and uncommon too?

Some of the skills below seemed much weaker than others. What did [Solid Stance] over have most of the other skills? It was the worst out of the bunch.

Before making his final decision, he decided to look into what level 30 offered.

This was turning out to be a great day. Excluding the whole being thrown into another dimension part.