The Fool's Freedom

“What about the parasites?” Alan asked. Were they going to let the things crawl out and flood the valley?

“It’s fine, we need to let some grow so we can farm them for cores. The soldiers won’t let us get much from the frontline. Stingy bastards.” Kalyntha grumbled. Her orbs were still whacking the monsters down but with much less vigor. The number of crawling parasites was much lower too.

Alan sighed. He certainly wouldn’t mind some extra levels, but he was in no position to demand things or ask for things. He was also eager to see this Outpost and learn as much as possible. It was his first contact with the powers that be in the Universe, apart from his visit to the Bazaar. And the latter was something he could not discuss at all.

No one commented on the unconscious lisarni warrior. Two metal orbs wrapped around his torso and legs and lifted him, hovering above the ground.

The woman with the ashen scarred skin, Zirida, simply flew in the air without using any visible items or skills, while the masked Solorim took out a plaque with a rune. The rune jumped off the plaque and stood in the air, growing and growing, and then Solorim stepped into it. It wrapped around him like a blanket. Two smaller runes followed and attached to his feet. Whatever method they were using it certainly took more preparation than Kalyntha’s and Zirida’s.

“Do you have a way to follow? Movement skill? Item?” Kalyntha asked.

Alan shook his head. “Mobility has always been a weakness. Sorry.”

Two of the remaining orbs stopped beating on the thin stream of parasites and flew toward him. They wrapped around his feet and created something like a board beneath. Alan had to keep his body tense to keep his balance as they lifted him, but it was not too difficult once he got used to it.

Without a word, Zirida flew and Kalyntha followed just a meter or so off the ground. The unconscious lisarni and Alan were dragged behind by her skill. It was an impressive feat of magic, being able to transport so many people. Alan also counted eight orbs in total, but he was not quite sure if there had been more or less when he first met her.

Solorim followed with big strange jumps that looked as if they used up very little effort – no more than a flick of the foot. It was an interesting use of magic that Alan hadn’t seen before. He wondered if anyone could use those runes.

He had to figure out his class, and hopefully, the immersion in new cultures and people who had grown up with the System and hadn’t known a different life would help a lot. He wasn’t very keen on the idea of finding a patron though.

They moved quite fast. The valley was larger than Alan had assumed and the group passed by many small hills, rocks of varying sizes, and holes that looked similar to the large chasms he had found Kalyntha guarding. There was no vegetation apart from a few weeds here and there.

He saw some parasites but the group avoided them expertly and didn’t comment on them at all. What scared Alan more was the tree-like worm creature that had fought the parasites. If it could become a rock spider it could become rock too, and flying so close to the mountainside he feared one would just snatch him up. Hopefully, the group knew what they were doing.

Zirida slowed down to even herself with Kalyntha and said something. The latter frowned and their course changed for a nearby gap between the mountains. Alan wanted to ask what was going on but he was not close enough and shouting seemed like something that could bring a fate similar to the one of the lisarni warrior.

They quickly found what they were looking for and entered a cave that did not seem natural at all. Alan had seen a few similar ones on his way, but he wasn’t going to just go venturing into dark tight places that could be home to all types of weird shit.

The group landed and waited. Alan noticed some blood leaking from Zirida’s scars, but it quickly disappeared.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

As if on cue the thunderous sound that had followed the appearance of space tears in the sky from before sounded again. It was much closer than last time and Alan had to put his hands on his ears. [First Pathfinder] tingled with a sense of urgency as the space above them was torn to shreds. He couldn’t see it, but he could feel it.

There was rumbling and from the opening he watched the clouds rush over to fix the damage.

“This one’s low,” Zirida said. She looked calm.

Alan was about to ask what the cause of all this was when the grunt of the unconscious lisarni made him tense up once again. The large warrior was slowly rising. There was no trace of a wound or damage where Kalyntha had clocked him in the head, twice. He grunted and looked around. Strange reptilian eyes on Alan for a moment, then he rose to a sitting position.

He didn’t seem angry, but Alan didn’t find any relief in that. The man hadn’t seemed angry when he tried to break his head with that giant mace.

“Shredder again?” he asked. The voice of the lisarni was deep and grating, but not unpleasant.

“It's flying low,” Zirida answered then looked toward the lisarni man. “Don’t do anything stupid, or I won’t be as gentle as Kaly.”

There was a moment of tension in which the lizardman shuffled uncomfortably under the strange gaze of the scarred woman, then nodded.

“Alan, this is Riasko. Riasko, this is Alan.” Kalyntha giggled and the giant mace of the warrior appeared in her hand. She threw it like it was a simple stick and not a weapon of destruction that no normal human would ever be able to lift in their life. Riasko barely managed to catch it and grunted as it pressed him against the rock, glaring at Kalyntha.

“Riaskoritam Zrivanda is my name, and you remember it, outlander. I would have your hide if you didn’t hide behind the females.”

Oh, here we go.

Alan felt a pang of anger. He had made a resolve just before he was whisked to this place and the way this lizard was acting was rubbing him wrong. All thought of asking for an explanation of the strange sky phenomenon that tore space left his mind.

“What level are you?” Alan asked, making everyone turn toward him. Only the masked Solorim didn’t react, instead opting to look out toward the sky. The clouds were still churning and bubbling.

Riasko stood up and bared his sharp teeth at Alan. “You dare disrespect me, lesser human?”

Alan put up his hands, “I’m just asking so I know how many of those parasites I need to kill to kick your ass sooner.”

Kalyntha laughed out loud at that and clapped her hands. The feeling that came when Riasko used his auras instantly covered Alan and the group.

“No one can blame me for killing you now.”

“Stop,” Zirida said.

“He challenges me! He insults me!” Riasko hissed. Alan was ready this time as felt his stamina drain away and started taking in vital energy from the curse mark. It took only a thin stream to instantly alleviate the effects. He grinned and a dagger repeated in his arm. [Synaptic Failure] was brimming with energy.

“Are you making me repeat myself?” Zirida asked.

“Be reasonable! He is an outlander with unclear motives who doesn’t know his place! Is my honor worth less than his insignificant life?”

“Bleed then.”

Something changed. Alan couldn’t tell what but the fear he felt was much different than anything so far. The mace of the lisarni man fell to the ground with a thud, cracking apart some of the rocks. The man himself was down on one knee, blood dripping from his nostrils and eyes and steam rising from the scaly skin.

“Come on now, Ziri, you know how he is. It will be troublesome if we don’t return Daddy’s boy in one piece,” Kalyntha said from the side but didn’t move. Hadn’t she given him a concussion without batting an eyelid just an hour ago?

These people are scary as fuck. Are they really going to kill him? It was obvious it was not because they cared about Alan. There was some strange internal conflict here that he had no idea about, but at the same time was taking part in.

“He is rude. Needs manners. Insulted humans. I am human.” A raspy voice added from the side. Alan turned with surprise toward the source only to see Solorim staring at the scene with crossed hands. Alan could see now the human face that had been hidden beneath the mask. It looked surprisingly normal, if a bit thin and exhausted.

“I… apologize… Zirida,” Riasko gasped. There was a trace of fear in the alien features of the lizardman. Suddenly, the blood returned to his body as if time was going backward. Alan watched with bated breath and some level of awe. The very image of blood flowing back in was somewhat uncomfortable, but the level of power was something else. From the start to finish the [Red Cleric] hadn’t done anything else apart from speaking a few sentences. This was way beyond anything he had seen so far.

“Don’t ignore my warnings again.”

Riasko gasped and once again leaned on the stone. He didn’t even look at Alan.

“Holy shit, you are strong,” Alan blurted out, then his eyes grew wide as Zirida turned toward him.

“You used blood magic.” It was a statement more than a question, making Alan confused.

“I did?” Did the curse count as blood magic? It had to do with draining life force, which technically blood could be called. Maybe.

She nodded. “You did. I haven’t felt such blood magic before. It reached far. What is it?”

Alan hesitated. On the one hand, he didn’t want to reveal his most precious skill to these scary ass people, on the other, if he didn’t and she got mad no one would save him.

There was another thunderous sound outside and the mountains shook. The feeling of pressure became almost unbearable to Alan and he started breathing heavier. The world became tinted in red even more than it already was as the clouds started glowing and bubbling as if they were boiling. There was a silvery light that briefly appeared like a net around the sky.

“What is that thing?” Alan asked.

“The dragon,” Zirida answered. Her eyes hadn’t left him.

A dragon?! Oh, shit. Oh, fuck.

“Worry not, little [Warlock]. It’s a tiny one and mostly leaves us alone. Of course, even the smallest and youngest are at least at the top of tier two or early tier three, so that’s not much of a relief,” Kalyntha said.

“What tier are you, guys? Is that rude to ask?”

Kalyntha answered with no hesitation. “No. All of us here are tier one, including you. I am close to the limit, and so is Zirida. Solomir is not much behind, while Riasko just chose his specialization a month ago. You are below that.”

Alan half-expected the lisarni to rage that someone was giving his information to Alan, but there was not even a peep.

Tiers and specializations… I’m so fucking lost. He decided to focus on what was most important now.

“If there is a freaking dragon outside shattering space, then why not use someone stronger to slay it?”

There was a gasp from both Kalyntha and Riasko. Zirida only raised one eyebrow while Solomir put on his mask and stepped toward the entrance of the cave, pretending he was not part of the conversation.

“That’s a taboo. The Dragon Throne itself has decreed so,” Zirida quietly said. “You really don’t know anything, do you?”

“Yeah. It’s been like… two, or maybe three months since the System came and scrambled everything. I don’t know.” Alan shrugged, “I lost track of time.”

Kalyntha once again proved immensely helpful. “Nothing stronger than early tier two can enter this place without it breaking apart, and even that’s a stretch. The dragon is an exception as it has hatched in the remains of the Void Tree and is native to the Fractal, so it is essentially the strongest being here. Sometimes it gets mad and flies around shattering the formation that is holding the fractal together. We hide because the tears in space can suck you up in a jiffy, and no one will ever see you again.”

That didn’t sound good. Why would anyone come here? Was there something very valuable that he was missing? Were the cores he had two of worth it?

So many questions. The group had been very tolerant of his inquiries, but their recent show of strength left him feeling unsure if he should push and ask some more questions. Someone grabbed his forearm and brought him out of his thoughts.

“Come,” Zirida said and dragged. He could resist if he wanted to, her strength was not like Kalyntha’s, but Alan hesitated.

“You better go. She is very passionate about blood magic, but she is nice.” Kalyntha winked, earning a glare from Zirida.

Alan followed reluctantly. Riasko didn’t look once in his direction but shuffled back when Zirida passed him.

The demon was oddly silent. Alan wondered if it was giggling in glee. If it hadn’t spoken in his mind then there was probably a very good reason for that.

A wound opened on Zirida’s hand and a drop of blood fell, creating a thin dome around both of them. They were stuck very close together and Alan noticed the details of her face for the first time. Her eyes were the same color as her blood – a bright shade of red. Her features were gentle and quite pretty, although the many scars distracted from that.

“What was the magic you used?”

Fuck. I don’t want to say.

“Ah. I understand,” the woman nodded. “I swear on my class and levels as a [Red Cleric] of the Salvation Order, that I will never divulge the information entrusted to me by Alan the patronless [Warlock] in the next hour.”

Alan barely stopped his mouth from hanging open.

Yep. Everyone is crazy.