Dreamland: Freedom (Terror Infinity, Ultimate Evolution)

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Turning around to see who was speaking to him, he saw a tall woman. She was slightly shorter than him, and was dressed flamboyantly. She looked quite astonishing.

She had long fiery red hair, and had a tight dress that was yellow and red. The alternating colours and tight fit accentuated her curves in all the right places. She also had a shiny tiara embedded with scarlet gems, as well as other accessories such as earrings and rings, each adorned with their own gems.

It all gave her a dignified and almost regal air, which only served to exacerbate her beauty. She was definitely the most beautiful woman Eden had ever seen, almost to the point of absurdity. As if there was something more behind this beauty.

[Intelligence Check…]

[Intelligence Check overruled by Soul Overlord!]

[Wisdom Check…]

[Wisdom Check overruled by Soul Overlord!]

A small smile appeared on the woman's face, while Eden frowned. No more notifications appeared after that, but Eden could still feel something trying to affect him, and Soul Overlord resisting it. It was almost like the contamination of the Necronomicon, except that it was not as dark. And it felt less antagonistic.

Still frowning, Eden asked, "Do I know you?"

The woman kept smiling as she replied, "I don't mean you any harm. You're a newbie, aren't you? I just want to talk."

Eden generally preferred to make himself well-liked, especially with people above him, but this woman clearly had ulterior motives, so he said, "Again, I don't know you, and you don't know me, so what would be the point of talking?"

This made the woman scoff, although Eden could tell she was not really offended, "How about making a new friend?"

"No thank you."

As he spoke to the lady, Eden noticed that the Players around had slowed down, throwing furtive glances, but most did not bother hiding it as they stared directly. They spoke to one another, loud enough for Eden to hear some of them.

"Why is Lady Phoenix with a random? He looks like a rookie too."

"How would I know? And who cares, I'm happy as long as I get to see Lady Phoenix."

That guy was slapped by his friend, who warned, "Stop falling for her charm you idiot! If you don't work on your willpower, you'll end up bewitched by some warlock."

They all were speaking of more or less the same thing, and allowed Eden to learn a few things. One, her name was Lady Phoenix. Two, that feeling he had been having and that had triggered the Intelligence and Wisdom checks was her charm, whatever that was supposed to be. It was probably magical in nature, though.

Lady Phoenix ignored the whispers around them as she spoke calmly, "While commendable, your prudence is unnecessary. I do not wish you any harm."

"Didn't you already try something?"

This caused Lady Phoenix to chuckle as her tone turned slightly apologetic, "I did not mean anything by it. It is a passive feature, I can hardly control it. And if you come with me, I promise I will make it worth your while."

Eden originally wanted to refuse, because he wanted nothing to do with strangers, but seeing the attention they had garnered, he did not doubt that he would be harassed with questions if he left, so he ended up saying, "Fine, lead the way."

Operator 666 had mentioned rules, so he should be fine.

Lady Phoenix clapped her hands happily, and flames suddenly surged from her. They moved so fast that they covered Eden before he could even react to them. But as he was about to panic from being set on fire, he realized that the flames somehow did not burn him.

For a second, all Eden could see were flames, before they disappeared, and Eden found himself in a completely new place. He had appeared, along with Lady Phoenix, in front of what looked like a fancy restaurant called Skyfall.

Eden side eyed Lady Phoenix, partly apprehensive because of the power she had shown, but he still made his unhappiness known by saying, "A warning would have been appreciated."

This only caused Lady Phoenix to laugh as she pushed open the door. Grumbling internally, Eden followed after her.

The interior of Skyfall was mostly made of white marble, with touches of gold. There were also a few statues of impressive craftsmanship.

Lady Phoenix had them sit at a table, and as they sat down a cute waitress walked up to them. "What can I get you?"

While Eden marvelled at the fact someone would bother opening up a restaurant in a place like Dreamland, Lady Phoenix said, "Same as usual for me, as for…"

She looked at him expectantly, obviously asking for his name.

"Ozymandias. I'm not hungry."

Lady Phoenix did not comment on the name, and continued her order, "As for my friend Ozymandias, get him a Spirit Panacea."

The waitress nodded and flashed them a smile before walking away, while Eden looked at the woman unhappily. She flashed him a grin, reassuring him, "I'm paying for it, don't worry."

Eden's frown did not go away. Lady Phoenix ignored it though as she sat straight in her chair, saying, "So, Ozymandias, you must be wondering why I invited you to this refined establishment."

Eden said nothing, making Lady Phoenix narrow her eyes, "Did you take up some of Jason's traits along with the mask? You look quite scary, staring at me silently like you are."

Eden grumbled, "I simply don't want to play your games. Why did you call me a newbie?"

"Is that what's bothering you?"

Eden did not answer, so she revealed, "First off, your demeanour. Only first timers waste time looking around the Training Grounds. Also, Friday the 13th is a pretty common tutorial, and Jason's Hockey Mask only becomes an equipment of Uncommon quality on Very Difficult. It's worthless as a Common Rank, so only newbies continue wearing it. As for those who cleared Nightmare and Very Difficult… well, it doesn't take long for them to make a name for themselves."

Eden hummed, taking in the information, before asking, "Then, why call a newbie all the way here? Judging by the other Players' reactions, you must be someone important. Strong. You must have better things to do."

Lady Phoenix giggled softly, "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Lady Phoenix, Vice Guild Leader of the Divine Beast Palace."

"Fancy."

Lady Phoenix did not look offended by his remark, and even acknowledged it, "You'll get used to it with time. Now, as to why I invited you here, it was because I believe you are an interesting seedling. I want you to join the Divine Beast Palace. We are-"

Eden did not hesitate as he cut her off, his voice firm, "Not interested."

Lady Phoenix clutched her chest, feigning hurt, "Refusing without even listening to my offer? You wound me, dear."

Eden replied dryly, "It doesn't matter, I still won't be interested. No offence."

Lady Phoenix looked at him intently, before dropping the act, softly clicking her tongue, chiding, "Nightmares, all the same."

Eden rose an eyebrow at that, but she ignored it she added, "Fine, I can handle rejection. But before you go, may I know why the categorical refusal? Did you hear something about our guild?"

He detected a trace of something in her question, a certain worry. Did the Divine Beast Palace not have a good reputation?

After thinking about it, Eden said, "Only if you tell me why I interested you."

Lady Phoenix's smile returned as she explained, "Analysis is one of the most widespread skills in Dreamland. It allows you to analyse the status of pretty much anything. It is like when you hold a piece of equipment, but it can be done from a distance."

Eden nodded along, and she continued, "When used on another player, it shows their status. Usually, the difference in stats will determine how much information can be seen."

Eden narrowed his eyes at that, as that may mean his stats were even better for a newbie than he expected, if someone like Lady Phoenix bothered to take the time to talk to him. That, or his Talent was the thing that caused her to approach him.

Curious, he asked, "What about my status intrigued you? Was it my stats?"

Lady Phoenix's smile widened as she remained silent, making something in Eden click. He looked at her happy smile and asked another question, "Were you asking my name out of curiosity or politeness?"

Lady Phoenix chuckled lightly, understanding her little probing had been discovered as she replied, "Bit of both, to be honest. And no, it was not your stats that intrigued me. It was the fact that I was not able to see anything from your status that intrigued me. Not even your name."

Eden blamed himself for that one, he should have seen her coming.

"You probably don't quite grasp what this means. I'm quite confident my stats are well above yours, so you have something else blocking my Analysis. I doubt it would be a piece of equipment, so you must have one hell of a Talent. If that were to be spread out, all the major guilds would approach you."

Eden laid back in his seat, the mask sticking close to his visage as he asked, "What makes you so certain it does not come from one of my equipments?"

Lady Phoenix snorted as if he had said something funny and replied, "The best possible equipment one can get out of a Tutorial is Rare rank, and actually taking them out of the Tutorial is made pretty much impossible most of the time. But even then, even the best Rare equipment would do nothing to hide your status from me. It would have to be several ranks higher. So you must have a Talent instead. A good one too."

Eden frowned, and asked, "Then what will you do with this information?"

Lady Phoenix was about to reply, when the waitress from earlier came back. She placed a plate in front of Lady Phoenix, and a drink for Eden. That did not stop Lady Phoenix from answering, "No one will know about it. If we can't become teammates, surely we can at least become friends, right?"

Without waiting for his response, Lady Phoenix started eating gracefully. Grabbing his drink, but not drinking from it straight away, Eden spoke tentatively, "Maybe."

Although neither of them said anything, Eden had already realized that he did not have to worry about the other big guilds approaching him now. Even if some of their members crossed him and noticed his strange status, seeing the ruckus Lady Phoenix had made when she brought him away, it would not take long for the word to spread.

Then, if people did not see his status, the natural assumption would not be that he had a strong Talent. It would be that the Divine Beast Palace had brought him with some equipment, one of which could hide his status.

Eden did not know how rare it was for this to happen, but he was sure it was more likely than him having a Talent capable of shielding from all forms of inspections.

It was left unsaid as Eden turned his eyes to his drink, and after a moment, he chose to slightly lift his mask and take a sip.

The cool light blue beverage slid down Eden's throat, and a wave of cold energy spread through his body. It was not unpleasant, on the contrary, he felt like he had been stranded in the desert for several days and finally got to drink a glass of cold water.

The energy then moved up to his head, and he surprisingly received a notification from the system.

[Spirit Panacea consumed! Recovered 100 HP, Minor Debuffs cleared, Thought Process improved.]

Eden looked up from his drink in surprise, not having expected the notifications, and asked, "A player made this?"

Lady Phoenix smiled softly and replied, "You will come to realize with time that the possibilities offered by Dreamland are endless. So, now, how about you tell me why you refused?"

Taking another sip of Spirit Panacea, Eden replied frankly, "I'll admit that I know next to nothing of Dreamland, its guilds and their mechanics. However, what I do know is that people are the same everywhere. While I'm sure that joining your guild would come with benefits, it would also come with limits, especially to my freedom. And I would rather be poor and free than rich and chained."

Lady Phoenix observed him thoughtfully, musing, "A free spirit, huh. To be honest, I disagree with your reasoning, but I will respect it. You have only experienced a single mission world where you were the only Player, so you don't understand the importance of joining a guild yet. When you do, don't forget about us, alright?"

A small smile appeared under his mask as he replied, "Maybe I will. If that was everything, I should go."

He got up, but Lady Phoenix raised a hand.

[Lady Phoenix has sent you a friend request!]

"If you ever need any help, call me."

Eden accepted the friend request, making Lady Phoenix smile as a scroll appeared in her hands. She slid it over to Eden, saying, "This is a taste of the benefits of a guild. No strings attached."

Eden grabbed the scroll, and a description naturally appeared.

[Scroll of Strengthened Fireball (2nd Circle, Skill Book): Condense a ball of fire and send it flying, making it explode at will. Explodes on impact, deals 60 fire damage to every target within a two meter radius. Cost: 180 MP.]

It was good. He threw a look at Lady Phoenix, who dismissed him with her hand, "It may look valuable to you, but it's nothing to me. As I said, no strings attached."

Eden stopped being stubborn and put it in his Inventory. It would be a good spell to learn. He did not know what its worth was in Dream Points, but since it was a free gift, he figured he might as well use it. Stubborn as he was, Eden was now in a strange game of life and death, and denying these kinds of free gifts might get him killed one day.

Of course, Eden did not truly believe it came with no strings attached. Although officially Eden would not owe Lady Phoenix anything for her, in reality accepting it meant he did owe her one. If she ever called on it, he could refuse to help, but that would be shameless.

Whether he would choose to abide by it when the time came was another question, though.

Besides, the skill was obviously strong. It dealt damage in a zone, and although the price was a little steep, it could have its uses. It was worth making Lady Phoenix a friend.

Eden turned around to leave, when he heard Lady Phoenix add in a teasing voice, "The mask is useless before any competent player. You're a handsome fellow, Ozymandias."

Eden chose not to reply as he left the establishment.