The Fool's Freedom

“I see. That girl might be another [Warlock] or a related class. It is not unheard of for certain classes to feel kinship, but it is more pronounced in those devoted to a god or sharing a patron. We have a [Warlock] at the outpost, I will introduce you when we make it and he can tell you more. I just need Zirida to okay you.” Kalyntha said after Alan told her how he had gotten into this mess.

He hadn’t spared much detail about the process of getting to the Fractal nor the things he had met. He hadn’t shared much about his skills but Kalyntha didn’t seem to care in the slightest either way. Who knew what was considered taboo or not if even Gods could be outlawed?

“Zirida?” Alan asked. How does she need to okay me?

“A [Red Cleric] of the Order of Salvation.”

Alan looked at her as if she had two heads and the woman giggled like a little girl for some reason.

“Most healers come from the Salvation Order. She can feel if you lie, or if you are sick with something contagious, or if you are infected by some void afflictions and all kinds of other stuff. It’s neat.”

The idea that there are diseases in this place containing the word void sent a shiver down his spine. That did not sound good. He didn’t think it was possible to get sick now that he had semi-superpowers. And meeting followers of Gods didn’t appear to be a very pleasant experience.

Kalyntha at least seemed open though and carefree, like she didn’t care if he was plotting her downfall.

“I touched a yellow flower with black lines. Is it safe?” he asked, suddenly worried.

Kalyntha seemed thoughtful for a second, then shrugged. “Dunno. She will know. I hope she comes first. If it’s Riasko you might not survive long enough for Zirida to examine you. He is a lisarni, you know how they feel about outlanders. The first time we met he tried to pick a fight so I put him in the ground, ha! You should’ve seen him, screaming for my mother. Ah, good times.”

Screaming for your mother?!

“You always meet the crazy ones. Good thing you have me otherwise you might go crazy yourself.” Xil spoke in Alan’s mind. Alan gritted his teeth and promptly ignored him. There was no time to argue with the demon right now. It was clear they were both insane at this point though.

“I have no clue what a lisarni is and how they feel about outlanders. I have no clue about the universe, or your factions, or Gods, or anything!”

Kalyntha looked at him with a raised eyebrow and then giggled like a mad woman. “Sorry, you are so cute.”

The fuck.

Alan gaped at her and strongly considered turning back. A small drop of metal suddenly fell from one of the orbs and twisted until it became something oddly resembling an earring. He watched amazed as the metal flew and seemed to melt into Kalyntha’s skin giving her an eyebrow piercing.

“Is it pretty? I can’t decide.”

“Uh, yeah. It suits you,” he said.

Was that the right answer? Is she going to crack my skull now?

The metal manipulation or whatever it was called looked mighty fearsome though. Alan tried to imagine what would be fighting those flying orbs and couldn’t think of a way to win, apart from cursing Kalyntha with a mark and giving himself magical cancer as he drained her. If that was even possible.

Who knew what else the weird woman could do?

Kalyntha jumped up and down with glee, “I knew it! Mom was lying to me this whole time. Can you believe it?”

Oh, how dare she. He raised his shoulders in disbelief.

“It’s fine. I won’t let him kill you. Worry not, my little [Warlock]. Well, as long as you are not dangerous to us or the Outpost. It is bye-bye then.” Kalyntha dragged her steely nail across her neck and giggled again.

Discussing his own execution like it was nothing to worry about was certainly starting to worry him.

“Do I have to act a certain way when your teammates come? Is there a protocol or something? Are you from an army?”

“Oh no. With Zirida, maybe? They are all nice. We are mercenaries and that’s why we deal with the small outbreaks and gaps. Essentially clean-up, until we are needed on the front lines.”

Alan looked at the chasm that seemed to stretch down into an infinite abyss of darkness. Its length disappeared into the horizon.

This is a small one?!

“Riasko is from some high clan so he considers himself an adventurer, but he is killing to get paid so he is help for hire like the rest of us in my book. Solorim is… strange. He’s a [Rune Mage] which is a—”

The world spun and Alan suddenly realized he could not understand her anymore. Not a word. The language flew like a bubbling river from Kalyntha’s lips, but his ability to make sense of it was completely gone.

“I’m sorry. I don’t understand,” he said but she ignored him and babbled on with a smile. He coughed, then raised his voice. “I’m SORRY!”

That got her attention. He pointed at his mouth and ears then shrugged with his palms open. Kalyntha nodded and took out another charm, then promptly slapped him with it, letting her hand just fall on his forehead.

“My bad. These things have somewhat of a random duration. I didn’t keep track of the time. Once Solorim comes he will be able to create a more long-term solution, and back at camp, you can meet his master who can create and attach a permanent rune. You owe me for those two, though.”

“Sure. And a permanent solution sounds like it could be useful. What’s the price?”

“Oh, anywhere between fifty or hundred void cores from mid-parasites, or about a two hundred system points. It’s a common rune that is easy to create, so it’s not that expensive. Or you can do jobs for him. There are plenty.”

“What are—”

“Someone’s coming! Finally.” Kalyntha jumped from the rock they were sitting on—all the while her orbs kept brutalizing the lessening stream of small parasites.

Alan gulped and prepared to cast [Monochrome Armor] and flee. Kalyntha seemed a bit crazy, but she had treated him well and answered a lot of his questions. But it was still a gamble whether her teammates could be convinced that he was really lost. After all, no one with a class seemed normal so far.

He tensed as he saw a humanoid lizard person walking toward them with a frown and a large two-handed mace over his shoulder. Easily two and a half meters tall the newcomer dwarfed Kalyntha who was excitedly waving at him and pointing at Alan. The lizard-man was wearing dark-brown armor that looked much heavier than Kalyntha’s and strangely colored scales that were almost iridescent, flowing from green to yellow and red.

Alan suddenly felt the flow of the surrounding mana change and took a shaky step back. It was not like previous skills he had experienced, but more of a permanent effect. With a lunge that was way too fast the lizard ignored Kalyntha and went straight for Alan. Despite the distance, he was too fast, while Alan felt like he had suddenly become too slow. His mana was sluggish and his skills suddenly seemed to have a casting time that was not there before.

Oh no. [Mortal Peril] began singing in his head.

The only thing that was not slow was the lizard. Alan could almost envision becoming meat paste under the mace of the newcomer. This was bad. He almost started pulling on vitality as it was the only skill that wasn’t affected, hoping the energy would keep him alive long enough for Kalyntha to intervene.

It seemed that he was worried for nothing.

One of Kalyntha’s orbs appeared with the speed of a bullet and rammed straight into the side of the lizard man, sending him crashing into the mountain with a loud bang.

Alan hadn’t realized she was hovering next to him. She laughed with glee as the stone cleared.

“Sorry. He is dumb like that. Always attacking without thinking. I told him I will kick his ass the next time he acts like that, but nooo. Big, scary lisarni has to go all out.”

Alan felt the sweat drip down his face. He was completely helpless against the charge of the lizard. And Kalyntha had sent that freight train flying with a single attack. What if she had wanted him dead when they met? What if he had met the lizard man first?

There were sounds of grunting and curses and the lizard man walked out of the hole created by his own body. The large mace was carried in a single hand and Alan felt few skills that just remained active wash over him, making him feel insignificant.

“Kal, your mother will mourn the day she let you crawl out from her—”

There was a painful sound of metal hitting a hard skull as one of the orbs knocked the lights out of him mid-sentence. The alien fell backward and didn’t move again. The uncomfortable feelings disappeared and Alan realized with horror that he felt as if he had just finished a marathon. He took a large gulp of vitality from the curse connection and sighed in relief as the energy washed away most of the effects.

“Wops. Say he slipped if Zirida asks,” Kalyntha said.

“What is he? What are those skills?” Alan regretted the question almost immediately. It was certainly rude to ask such a thing, but he couldn’t help himself. Thankfully Kalyntha didn’t mind.

“Oh, that’s Riasko and he is just an [Aura Warrior]. They are big and scary and very useful in large fights, but once you get used to the effects or get some defensive artifacts they fall off. Can’t rely only on big dumb strength, y’know?”

Right. That’s news to me.

“What is his problem with… outlanders?”

Kalyntha shrugged and sat down again. “Who cares? Lisarni are like that. They pick something they don’t like and they don’t like it forever. So, exhausting, ugh.”

She sat down again and hummed a strange tune, uncaring that her supposed teammate was lying among the broken rock and bleeding from his forehead.

“Should I leave? You’ve been very kind, and thank you for stopping him, but I don’t want to die.”

“Nonsense! You wanna get off the Fractal, right? Well, the only way is the Outpost, unless you want to take your chances and jump straight into the spatial tears. Chances are you will end up in a void space where you will slowly lose all your mana and understand what the agony of being slowly torn apart by forces that are the antithesis of existence is. If you are lucky some void monster will eat you first though. But some do lay their eggs in brains; I’ve seen pictures.” She ended her little speech with another giggle.

Alan stared at the carefree girl and sat down. He didn’t care anymore as the bottomless flask appeared in his hand and he took a few large gulps of the alcohol inside.

“Want some?” he offered only to be kind, but Kalyntha excitedly took the flask from him and drank for a whole five seconds.

“Ah, thanks! I forgot mine. This stuff isn’t that bad, especially coming from a newly integrated world. But what is its effect supposed to be?”

“Huh? It’s alcohol, it gets you drunk.”

“Duh, but what else? I sense no mana in it. Does it heal, does it boost strength, does it make you smarter?”

Alan found himself once again staring at the woman. “I guess it provides relief from stress…?”

“Oh. Then it’s wasted on me! I don’t get stressed easily.”

It was not long before Kalyntha turned toward the direction Alan had come from and waved. He turned and barely stopped himself from casting [Monochrome Armor].

Two people were walking toward them. A woman red short hair and very pale skin littered with scars. She looked young despite that, but Alan didn’t trust looks anymore. The System was sure to fuck with that too. Still, he was sure there had to be a way to remove the scars.

She had no armor on, instead wearing a black and red robe and cloak with a simple symbol of a sickle dangling on a thin silver chain from her neck. If she had weapons, they were not currently on her.

The other person was also not wearing any heavy armor, opting for leather instead. They were thin and wrapped in a cloak too and what could be seen of the face was covered by a mask. The most notable thing about the person was the pair of green gloves made from an unknown material. Alan could feel the flow of mana around them.

He supposed that was the [Rune Apprentice].

“Hey, guys! Look what I found! A baby!” Kalyntha called, pointing at Alan.

Can you fucking not? He frowned before he could stop himself but didn’t say anything else. Compared to them he looked like a hobo in his worn-out simple shirt and pants.

The two came near, easily scaling the rocks between them. They threw a glance toward the unconscious lizardman but didn’t seem to care in the slightest.

The scarred woman, Zirida looked at Alan and her eyes became red. Once again he felt as if he was naked. It lasted a whole of thirty seconds during which no one spoke. He noticed that her hands were also scarred and watched in horror as two of the scars opened and blood flew toward him.

He tried to dodge but found himself unable to move as metal had wrapped around his limbs, holding him in place. Kalyntha was too fucking scary. The blood became two needle-like daggers hovering on each side of his head.

“Do you intend to harm us, or the Fractal, outlander?”

“Uh, no?”

The glow disappeared, the blood retracted, and Zirida nodded. “He speaks true. He is not sick with the void.”

Was this it?

“Well then! Glad we don’t have to kill you, little [Warlock].”

“My name is Alan!” he snapped. “And I will appreciate it if you warn me before you prepare to execute me next time!”

There was a moment of silence, and then Kalyntha said something to the person with the mask. He heard the name Solorim but didn’t understand a single word.

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

Solorim stepped up and drew a rune in the air, Alan flinched but didn’t move. He hadn’t felt [Mortal Peril] activate even once, apart from when the lizardman had charged him.

The rune flew slowly toward Alan and entered his forehead.

“Sorry, sorry. The charm ran out again, can you repeat that second part?” Kalyntha smiled.

Alan sighed, “Never mind. Thanks for the… language I guess.”

The masked person nodded once.

Just then the lizardman stirred and everyone turned toward him again. Then, with a hum, a metal orb dropped down on his head.

“Wops,” Kalyntha said. She didn’t seem sorry. “To the Outpost then! We will talk on the way!”

“You are fuuuuuuucked.” The demon sang in Alan’s head.