Dreamland: Freedom (Terror Infinity, Ultimate Evolution)

You guys are awesome! If we get to 500 power stones before tomorrow, you get a bonus chapter!

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After leaving Skyfall, Eden headed for the Market Place. Luckily, Skyfall was quite close to it as it was located in a place called the Upper Zone, which was right next to the Market Place.

Going by its name, Eden guessed the Upper Zone was for higher-level Players, and thus should sell better equipment. Eden was tempted to take a look; he certainly would not be able to afford them, but that could give him a first idea of what advanced players were like.

He eventually decided not to, however, when he noticed the threatening glares from the Players. Although his status was hidden, his status as a newbie was apparently quite obvious. Being not so keen on attracting enmity for simple curiosity, he headed straight for the normal Market Place.

Where the Upper Zone was very urban, with everyone being inside buildings, the Market Place was littered with outdoor stalls, all putting their items on display. All kinds of items were sold, including weapons, armors, potions, skills, and more.

Looking around also helped Eden in getting an idea of how much value his 10000 Dream Points had, as well as what [Strengthened Fireball] was worth.

He did not manage to find any identical [Strengthened Fireball] Skill Books, but he did find some for the [Fireball] spell. It was a 1st Circle Spell that dealt 15 Fire Damage and that cost 100 MP. Its price hovered around 1500 Dream Points.

Comparing it to the few other skill books for other 2nd Circle Spells, Eden estimated that the [Strengthened Fireball] was worth around 4000 Dream Points, making it a nice gift, worth nearly the entire Dream Point pool of an average Nightmare tutorial reward.

He also got a sense of what 1st Circle and 2nd Circle meant. They were the ranks for spells, just like Common, Uncommon, and Rare were for equipment.

Eden also found a few interesting items as he looked around the Market Place, and discovered that after Rare came Super Rare. There were few of these items, though, as even Rare quality items were… well, rare.

Some of the items were tempting, especially since he could barely afford to buy some less expensive Rare items, but he decided not to buy anything, but instead to set up his own shop. It cost him 100 Dream Points per hour, which was a rather hefty price. Eden was confident he would make it worth it, though, as he had quite a few good items to sell.

Eden decided to sell his SW1911, along with the four mags and the 21 remaining .45 ACP ammunition he had left. He also added Jason's Hockey Mask. He decided to keep Jason's Machete, as well as the Necronomicon, of course.

For the mask, although the bonus it granted to Strength was nice, it still held little value to Eden. He could hardly mask his identity using it, according to Lady Phoenix, and the boost in Strength was not big enough for it to matter. He felt he was better off selling it and using the Dream Points to buy something more appropriate for himself.

As for the SW1911, Eden hesitated for a while before putting it up for sale. It was a strong piece of equipment, without which Eden would not have been able to do so well in his tutorial. It had even saved his life on multiple occasions. Were it not for the Necronomicon, it would be the most valuable equipment he had.

Still, the weapon had clear limitations. It had a fixed attack value, and seeing how Jason had basically been able to ignore most of the damage from the bullets, it would probably fall off quickly. After all, if he searched well enough, there ought to be enemies stronger than Jason even in his first official mission.

Stopping Power, the gun's strongest feature, was also shown to be limited by attributes. Maybe it would stagger a weak enemy for two seconds, but Jason would only be stunned for half a second. And Eden did not think his enemies would grow weaker with time.

But the main reason as to why he decided to sell it was Dream Points. He needed them, and not only should the gun sell for a good amount, but keeping it would cost him.

He still had some ammo, but once those were used, he would have to buy more ammo, which would cost him Dream Points.

So, he decided to sell it. Besides, he was trying to turn into a mage, so maybe he would be able to buy something more suitable with the Dream Points he would get from selling it. And if he did not, he could always spend it on the Training Grounds.

He did not know how effective they were yet, but he had a hunch they were used to increase certain attributes through training.

Just as expected, Eden had only placed down his stall for a couple of minutes before his first potential customer stopped by his stall. He gave the mask a quick glance before turning to the gun, and commenting, "8000 is way too much for that gun."

Eden replied calmly, "There is ammo that comes with it. Its ability to stagger enemies from a distance is very strong as well, it can allow you to gain the upper hand in a fight, or flee easily. So the price is fixed, no bargaining."

The man frowned before taking out a book, asking, "What if I exchange it for this?"

He handed it over to Eden, not scared it would be stolen in the slightest. When Eden bought his stall, he received a warning from the system that within the Market Place and the Training Grounds, all Players and their items would be protected, making it impossible to harm others or steal their possessions.

Eden would have never brazenly put up his items otherwise.

Eden grabbed the book, and a description appeared.

[Kidney Stab Skill Book: Allow the user to learn the skill 'Kidney Stab'.]

[Kidney Stab: Stab your target in the kidney to deal 120% damage, and cause a light bleeding.]

Eden could not believe what he was seeing. Was this guy retarded or something?

Throwing the book back, Eden frowned, feeling like this guy was messing with him as he said, "Are you fucking with me? This is trash. If I want to stab someone in the kidneys, I can just… stab his kidneys? Why would I need a skill for that? Fuck with me again and I swear I'll find you in a mission world."

The skill was weird. Attack values were all theoretical because no matter the stats, grazing someone with an attack would not have the same effect as hitting them in a vital spot like the head or the heart.

The attack value of items was more like an average of the damage one would do if they hit, but a weapon with an attack value of 30 could deal 1 point of damage, like it could certainly deal 200 if aimed at the right place.

Although Eden had not tried personally, he was sure that if he used Jason's Machete, he would deal more than 120% damage if he used it to stab someone in their kidney.

Even more strangely, the man gasped and asked, "You are a Nightmare?!"

Recognizing the term, which Lady Phoenix had used on him before, Eden feigned anger as he narrowed his eyes, questioning in a low tone, "What?"

It had an even better effect than expected as the man looked frightened, taking a step back. He waved his hands in an effort to diffuse the situation, apparently taking Eden's earlier threat to his life seriously, "I didn't mean nothing by it, I swear!"

Now this was just confusing.

"Explain."

The man gulped and complied, "Nightmares is the name given to newbies who passed their tutorial on Nightmare difficulty. I swear it is nothing offensive."

"How did you know I was a Nightmare then?" He could understand how Lady Phoenix had guessed, but what about this guy? He did not look that strong, especially considering his reaction.

"B-Because of what you said."

Eden tilted his head, genuinely confused, before an absurd theory emerged. Feeling stupid for even asking, Eden said, "Are you telling me you can't stab someone in their kidneys without a skill if you haven't passed your tutorial on Nightmare?"

Just hearing himself speak made him feel dumb.

Yet, the man nodded like he had said the most natural thing in the world, and said, "When you started your tutorial, the system must have told you that you would have 'No System Restrictions', right?"

Thinking about it, Eden did remember reading that. He had assumed it simply meant he would not be receiving any boost to his stats.

The man resumed his explication, "Lower difficulties make the tutorial much easier by giving easier missions in safer worlds, and also boost our attributes. However, the loot also becomes weaker, and we become… restricted, so to speak, by the system. We are gamified, in a way."

"Gamified?" Now that was an interesting term.

The man sighed, obviously not having expected to get into this situation. All he wanted was to buy a cool gun, not go into an explanation of the system's workings. Still, remembering the incidents with Nightmares he had heard about, he swallowed his frustration back in and carried on with his explanation.

"We tend to call them Play Styles around here. Assisted and Free. If a Player chooses anything below Very Difficult, then they won't have a choice and automatically get the Assisted Play Style. For Nightmares, they are automatically given the Free Play Style. As for those who chose Very Difficult, they get to choose between the two."

"That sounds dumb. Who would choose a Play Style that locks you out of certain actions?"

The man smiled wryly, not oblivious to the disdain Eden was showing to more than 99% of the new players, including himself, "The Assisted Play Style comes with its own advantages. Actually, on paper, the two are supposed to be equal, both with their own benefits and disadvantages."

"Only on paper, though, right?"

"Yes. Players quickly figured out that Free Style offers much better options than Assisted."

"What are the differences between the two, then?" Eden asked.

The man enumerated, "First, the way our attacks are calculated. For the Assisted, damage is generalized throughout the body, like in a video game. It does not matter whether we put all our strength

into a strike or even where we hit our target; we will always deal the same damage. For melee weapons, it is our Strength plus the attack value of the weapon, and for ranged weapons, it takes Agility instead."

Eden tilted his head and asked, "So if you hit someone in the head with all your strength, you will deal the same damage as if you grazed them?"

The man nodded, making Eden agree with the man's earlier statement. It did sound strong.

"Does that mean an Assisted Player can spam light attacks to deal a lot of damage?"

"No, for it to register as an attack, we have to put power behind it. About 60% of our strength, at least I think."

Then it was not as strong as he thought. That was a severe limitation.

Meanwhile, the man continued, "For Free Players, the calculation of their attacks is much more complex, as it takes many factors in. That's why a Free Player can do more damage with a Common weapon than with a Super Rare one, in the right conditions."

Eden remarked, "Still, Assisted doesn't sound that bad. Especially if you can circumvent the inability to deal critical damage through skills like Kidney Strike."

The man shook his head, "The problem is that it's not just the damage that is generalized, we can't deal crippling effects. A Free Player can cut off limbs, blind their opponents, deafen them, cause paralysis by hitting the right places… There are too many to enumerate. An Assisted Player would only be dealing damage, though. Then, there are skills too."

"What about them?"

The guy pointed at the skill book and said, "Assisted Players can learn skill books by consuming them, which allows us to instantly learn them. Moreover, we get assistance from the system in casting the skills, automating the process."

Eden rose an eyebrow, "That sounds strong. But let me guess, there's a caveat again."

"There is. We can only learn skills this way, and once they are learned, we cannot improve them."

"Improve them?"

The man nodded, "Yes. Free Players have to learn the basic version of a spell by themselves, and won't be helped by the system in casting, but through mastering it, they can increase its effects while reducing its cost. In some cases, it is even possible to upgrade them to the next tier, although that is pretty rare."

Eden immediately thought of the Necronomicon. To an Assisted Player, it would probably just be a Rare artefact with okay skills, but to a Free Player, it was a veritable gold mine with the spells inscribed within.

If they could resist the curse, that is.