The Fool's Freedom

Alan walked, hugging the rocks and following the weaving paths before him without much thought. He kept looking toward the sky and the cliffs, careful of any flying super monsters or parasites that seemed to enjoy mountain climbing. He would’ve loved fiddling with [Mana Zap] some more but he also didn’t want to stay in one place for too long.

The scenery didn’t change much. Hills and mountains and twisting little paths were both shrouded in the shadows cast by the tall environment and light enough to traverse. It was a place perfect for ambushes or getting lost. He was suddenly reminded of the ant farms back on earth.

Alan also wondered what anything of what he had seen had to do with the words Fallen Void Tree… there were no goddamn trees anywhere. Not even stumps.

The thing covering the otherwise smooth bodies of the parasite had looked oddly like tree bark so maybe there was an answer there. Alan wasn’t sure he would want to hear it. He had enough to deal with as it was and there were no therapists in sight.

He realized something else too. There was no sun. The sky that occasionally peeked through the blanket of red and brown clouds was… strange. He couldn’t see much of it, but it was certainly not as normal as he had thought. The clouds were everywhere though and hanging lower than ever.

Was it his imagination or were they coming down? The rocks, the mountains, the soil, the clouds, everything shared the same hues of brown and red that made his eyes and brain feel weird. It was no way to color a whole goddamn world.

His walk continued. The path separated into many all the time, and he always picked the widest one. The looming rock walls surrounding him were not making him feel comfortable at all.

I need a flying skill.

The memory of the thing that had passed and shattered space was still fresh in his mind and he quickly abandoned the idea. Even if he had a flying skill, daring to use it in this situation would be suicidal.

Maybe climbing up was the smart choice? He was not much of a climber but he was stronger now. It would be no issue. Then again, that would take him closer to the weird flying thing and the clouds.

Stuck in his thoughts he almost yelled out when he took a corner and saw a parasite crouching down further down the path. It was a bit smaller than the other one but otherwise looked the same. Its root-like tongue was buried in the ground as it sat unmoving.

Alan considered his options. Each step in this unknown world could lead to his death. He could put the curse mark on the parasite while making use of both the ring and Xil’s [Soundless] and flee, giving himself a backup vitality stream. If he kept the drain to a minimum, it would also help with the fatigue.

As much as converting mana to stamina was his bread and butter, it led to a strange type of exhaustion that was hard to describe. It was not a simple tiredness. The vitality he had felt had made that disappear though, so he guessed with both he would never get tired.

The other options were to flee or kill the thing. Killing it would net him a level or get him close to one, while fleeing… was dumb. There were probably many of these things all over the place. It was better to grow stronger.

Killing it with the mark was not an option though, even if it was the surest way. Alan wanted to see what he could do with his skills. [Synaptic Failure] seemed to strip them off the bark-like skin, allowing his attacks to reach.

He was sure the swirling skill that had canceled his ritual dagger’s effect was different, as it had taken a few seconds to charge, like the attack. The shadow blades flying toward the creature had simply disappeared when they got close to the strange coating of barky substance.

He had to fight and learn more.

Alan decided to try something else this time. He was not about to waste mana on seeing how many times the thing could simply snuff the enchantment of his items.

He went close enough for [Synaptic Failure] and pulled back as soon as it went off. The parasite shook and its skin fell like shards of broken glass. It turned and the whirlwind of void in its face instantly started swirling clockwise while its long tongue slithered back into its thin toothless mouth.

Alan didn’t feel anything from [Mortal Peril], and just a tingle from [First Pathfinder]. The hole appeared a few meters away from him, giving him a general idea of the skill’s range.

Shadows twirled and covered the staff, but at the last second, he changed his mind and tried [Mana Zap] instead. The small explosion of mana didn’t even make the monster flinch. The staff made the skill go off fast and far though and if he could improve it, it would be a great asset. It was easy to cast and he showered the creature with small explosions that looked like mana fireworks.

Unfortunately, the black glass flesh didn’t seem affected in the slightest.

The creature started moving, and the swirling in its head changed direction. Alan wondered if it had to take turns with its skill, never being able to cast the same one in a row.

He was not afraid of this one though. The staff’s effects were passive and he had no other active enchantments out at the moment.

Just as he swung his staff and started charging a [Shadow Slash] intending to test a full-force one, the parasite’s skill went off. Alan felt like someone had punched him in the gut from the inside and almost half of his mana pool simply evaporated.

Fucking shit.

Alan quickly boosted his legs and jumped back, sending two casts of [Shadow Slash] at the creature as he wildly waved his staff. It was almost hard to tell if they hit the black flesh or not, but he heard the cracks.

He kept waving the staff and the shadow blades rained upon the parasite. Some of the bark pieces were already returning to the monster’s skin, flying over from where they had fallen off and sticking back. The shadow blades that got close to them dispersed.

A second [Synaptic Failure] went off and the creature wavered as all the bark fell. It tried to defend itself and dodge for the first time, but it was slow and careful in its movements. Its arms rose in front of its head but quickly shattered under the angry hail of shadows Alan sent its way.

The whirlwind changed direction again but its head burst long before it had picked up enough speed. The body followed as it fell to the ground.

Alan was quickly upon the remains. He dug out the onyx stone from the pile of shattered flesh, extinguishing the creature’s remaining life with his mana.

You have slain: Void Risen Parasite (46)

He leaned on the rock wall and staff and put the stone away. Those parasites were harder than some of the similarly leveled monsters he had fought. He couldn’t blindly trust levels. There was much more to it than some numbers after a name.

And those skills…

“That was a weird fight,” Xil said in his mind. The cube was resting in an improvised pouch Alan had fashioned from old clothes and fastened to his waist.

“Tell me about it. That thing just made my mana pool disappear!”

“Strong skill. There is something familiar about it, but I can’t quite place it.”

“I await the day your memory works in our favor again with trepidation.”

Alan stood in the passage resting and gathering mana. The staff sped up the process but he needed to make sure he was in top condition. If he fought more than one of those parasites and made a mistake, things could go very badly.

He had a feeling that, unlike the other one, the skill that drained his mana didn’t even need to be properly aimed. It just fucking happened to the target.

The trek through the twisting paths continued for what felt like hours. The light in the world never changed and it was hard to tell if they would at all. In the end, one of the narrower paths Alan had decided to take led him to a small valley. The sight brought a smile to his face as there was finally change.

More light made it here even though mountains rose on each side, seemingly taller than ever. Since there was no concrete source of light to block, it made little difference. Alan still had a shadow beneath his feet, which was curious.

A few rocks were strewn around and the earth was dug in places. There was a small pool of water near the path he had come from and in it was the first sight of vegetation Alan had seen—weedy flowers with black streaks going through their stems and yellow crowns. They stuck out like a donkey in a haystack.

However, the smile quickly faded from his face as his eyes adjusted. Three of the parasites stood around the pool frozen like statues. They were hard to notice at first; their skin was the color of the rock and earth of this world and these particular trees were blending in even better than the other two Alan had seen.

Two were similar in size to the ones he had fought.

The third towered over them and its proportions were widely different. Its limbs were thick, and the bark-like skin covering it had a strange ethereal glow about it. Alan didn’t want to test if [Synaptic Failure] would be enough to interrupt whatever force was making it stick to its body.

There was no way he wanted that fight. He quickly activated the chameleon ring and was about to ask Xil to cast [Soundless] when he realized the unnatural silence that descended under the demon’s skill was already there.

“You can take them.” Xil’s voice said in his mind.

“I thought you were joking about me dying, dude. Do you want to be left for those things to play with?!”

“Well, no. I mean, yes, I was joking about you dying and no, I think they will offer a bit worse companionship than you have so far. I can admit that much. But I think you can take them.”

“Alright. How?”

“Can’t you suck the big one and then use the vitality to fuck up the rest?”

“That’s one way to sum up my skills… are we not doing phrasing? And I could, but that means I have to bring myself to the verge of dying from multiple tumors in my body, to cast the skill I don’t even know if it will work against that magical bark bullshit. I am not sure if I can fully drain that big parasite either. It was not that easy the first time and I am sure the skill has a limit.” Alan slowly shuffled to a better corner, while tearing apart Xil’s idea. “And all of that assuming I don’t just pop like an overstuffed tick from all the life energy. I cannot imagine what something like that will do to me.”

There was a large pause until Xil’s voice returned. It sounded chipper.

“…You’ve gotten a tad smarter. Must be all those points.”

“Fuck you.”

However, there was a part of the plan Alan liked. Placing the mark on the big one would give him very nice access to almost infinite vitality for his level. And if he ever fell in a shit situation where he had to rely on [Sacrificial Attack] he would be able to test if killing the thing with his curse skill was even possible.

It was a last resort thing, but it was good to have considering how things were going. The problem was how to get there. He had Xil’s [Soundless] and the ring so he was not that worried about being found out, although he was not entirely sure about how the parasites saw or heard things.

Alan took a few steps to the side then stopped and took another deep breath. Now that he could see further in the valley, things became even worse. Beyond the pool and the tree parasites, the valley weaved and disappeared, littered with large fallen rocks that had most likely once belonged to the mountain chain.

Around them were more of the parasites. He couldn’t see any big ones, but there were many of the regular ones with their weird tongues stuck in the dirt doing who knows what.

The sight almost made Alan give up his plan, but he was determined to get some use of the curse mark and the opportunity before him. He had gotten into a hugging distance from the first one without any issues.

What could go wrong?

Probably everything so he decided to be smart at first and observe the parasites for a bit. Did they have habits? Did they move at all? He could keep the ring active for a while and observe if he didn’t move around too much. He was curious about what they were doing with their tongues buried in the earth.

Thirty minutes later he wished he hadn’t wasted his time. The parasites didn’t move a single time.

Just as he decided to go for it instead of stewing in nerves and listening to Xil bitch, something rumbled toward the distant wall of the valley. The parasites instantly reacted and turned toward the noise.

The fuck now?

A shape was crawling down the mountain wall and coming down fast toward the valley. Alan squirmed in discomfort as he carefully counted the legs of the new monster.

It reminded him of a friend from Australia he had gamed with…