ALL NOVEL 67: Tabula Rasa
It was a little after midnight when Tom finally slipped out of the hideout, a newly obtained coin pouch fastened to his belt. Behind him, the characteristic crinkling sound made by Aleph’s materialized crystals sounded out, as the trapdoor he’d made his way through was sealed shut.
That didn’t mean that Aleph couldn’t— or for that matter wouldn’t— try to shadow his footsteps. Tom wasn’t naive enough to believe that what Aleph had revealed so far was the full extent of her abilities— she had only ever relied upon a single card in his presence. While he doubted that her other cards would be as potent as her current one, it’s uncertainty was what made them a variable he couldn’t guard against.
Regardless, Tom was certain that she wouldn’t be able to track him easily— a Proprioception Stat of 31 was enough to atleast give him that much confidence. Zenakris’ [The Umbra] card had been enough to leave Tom shaken when he had thought back upon its potency, but now… he was fairly certain that even the Noble scion would have a hard time tailing him completely undetected, let alone successfully ambush him.
The tenebrous spread that stretched out before him stood in stark contrast to the bustling, if squalid district he’d come to get used to. In the distance, his enhanced physical stat allowed him to make out raucous banter and drunken squabbles running across the district’s main drag.
He would be eventually heading there, though for now Tom’s gaze shifted to the inky darkness shrouding the poorly lit part of the district. The shadows were a perfect aide to those who wished to engage in trade of illicit goods, settle feuds, which, were hardly an uncommon occurrence among dungeoneers and generally deal with unflattering matters one would rather not handle in broad daylight.
Of course, it was not all cynicism and gloom. Most dungeoneers were probably interested in nothing more than their alcoholic beverage of choice as they either leaned in towards a heavily embellished tale of great exploits in the Dungeon or regaled their own. This wasn’t the first time Tom had gone wandering off into the night, though those trips had been reserved and generally cautious ones.
Now though? Tom wouldn’t underestimate the Nameless District, but he no longer had any reason to fear them.
Rounding the bend of an alleyway, Tom leapt onto the roof of a wooden hut without letting anything but a muted tap leak out. A few details still remained blurry in his sight, but even in the darkness, Tom could see all he needed to for effortless movement.
Striding from one rooftop to the next in an unbroken pace, all Tom left behind was muted tapping sounds that were unlikely to raise the residents from their slumber. While enhanced stats allowed one to detect threats in the vicinity, that instinctive safeguard only kicked in when the threat was truly directed at their person.
If Tom was painstakingly made aware of every single aspect of his surroundings even as he tried to lull himself asleep without the ability to tune it out, his stats would have been more of a curse than a blessing.
Finally, he came to a stop. Dropping into a crouch, he pressed his right ear against the roof, letting a few seconds pass before he retracted himself, nodded and then gracefully descended down the side of the wooden hut.
Tom winced a little when the wooden door he’d pushed inwards let out a creak, punctuating the silence he had been working so hard to cultivate.
Then he just shook his head and kept going.
He had heard no breathing coming from this particular hut and the rickety door was in a clear state of disrepair, so Tom wasn’t entirely surprised to find that the accommodation currently housed no residents, well, unless the wooden splinters of a half shattered barstool spewed across the floor counted.
It was perfect for Tom’s purposes.
Shutting the door didn’t give him any illusions of long-term privacy, it was only a contingency in case his decision was accompanied by loud flares of light or something equally ostentatious.
[Soul Card: The Fool.
Rank: Ephemeral [Legendary Unique]
Level: 9 (984,224/2,750,000)
Skill Upgrade Points: 6
Ability:
Shroud, Level 2
Passive Shroud:
Makes the wielder invulnerable to all detection/scrying/location cards. Displays a False [Player Statistics] screen to anyone with an [Identification] type card. Allows the wielder to change any one statistic in the [Player Statistics] screen.
Active Shroud, Maya:
Maya, the Infinite Web of Illusions, gives the wielder an ability to peer into the targets memories, giving the wielder the impression that they have truly become their target in shape, recollection and emotion—thereby achieving the state of deceiving oneself to deceive the world. Successfully experiencing Maya and finding one’s true self allows access to the realm of Yul, the subconscious mind given physical form. Currently, Maya can only be cast on targets within twenty one levels of [The Fool’s] current level.
The wielder can copy one memory from Yul upon success. Failure, however, condemns the wielder to a state of Zhan- when the target’s psyche overwhelms the wielder, they lose themselves and begin to believe that they are the target themselves. Zhan may last for years or decades, without the wielder’s awareness.
Sub-skill 1: Home-bound
Imbue a thought-concept with your will, allowing it to guide you to Yul whilst experiencing Maya in the target’s mind.
Presently only one thought-concept can be created.]
Fool’s Gold, Level 1
To the [Grand Illusionist], the greatest illusion is one that is indecipherable from reality. One’s grandest desires amplified to the point where they lose themselves in the depths of their mind. One’s greatest fear made so visceral that the battle is won before the swords are drawn.
To [The Fool], the greatest illusion in the world is to deceive the very laws that govern this land. To make the impossible, reality.
To give shape, form and weight to an illusion.
Mimic:
Record any [5] non-living, non-consumable weapon, equipment or item within [20] levels of the Soul Card’s current level and upto a maximum of [Rare] rarity. Recreate an illusion that can mimic upto 10% of the object’s ability and copy [1] skill.]
There was a reason why Tom had been putting off the decision to invest his [Skill Upgrade Points] for so long. Even when there was a possibility that, even with [The Fool’s] non-combat nature, it could increase his chances at survival.
Tom was no longer afraid of delving into a dungeon sector responsible for the elimination of multiple dungeoneering groups every year. Vicious monsters and even phantasmal beasts were no longer enough to send him fleeing in fear.
[The Fool] however…. that was a different matter.
Part of him had been hoping that he would unlock a different skill— a [Legendary] combat skill—- that would allow him the firepower to rain down fury on his foes. And Tom would have, without a moment’s hesitation, invested all his points if such a skill had been unlocked.
But no.
Tom’s gut told him that it wasn’t going to be that easy.
So he had circled onto a different question.
Why had [The Fool] chosen him?
It had been a question that had been plaguing him since the moment he stepped into Artezia.
Who was he, really?
The old him?
Back on Earth, Thomas Lowe had not been the duplicitous sort of person. He didn’t enjoy misleading or tricking people. He was not a habitual liar, not one driven to cheat or swindle others.
If he was that sort of person, he wouldn’t have simply accepted his lot in life and lived on for the sake of living on.
He wasn’t scheming. He wasn’t devious. He gained no sadistic satisfaction from treachery.
But then again…
Thomas Lowe wasn’t the sort of person to challenge a Dungeon Sector head on, either. He wasn’t the sort of person to dare to even think about stealing from under the nose of a heavily guarded storefront, let alone actually executing his scheme and getting away with it.
No… he had become those people.
He had become the brave dungeoneer, unfazed by the poisoned arms of the bladeswalker or intimidated by the rugged defense of the Abyss Demons.
He had become the bold thief, the swindler who took what he wanted when he wanted— but only from those who had plenty and then so more.
He had become someone who had learned to stand up for himself,a man willing to put people in their place when they got unruly with him, tried to take what rightfully belonged to him.
He had become that and so much more.
And then he had realized why [The Fool] had chosen him.
Thomas Lowe was a blank slate.
However, that also meant that he could become….
Anyone.
The gleam that twinkled in his eye could only have been described as infectious, as his lips slowly curled up in amusement.
A part of him was staunchly against the decision he was about to make, but that only served to convince him that he was on the right path.
[Fool’s Gold] was an incredibly powerful ability, yes. Even more so after he’d mimicked Aleph’s newly acquired rings. And part of him wanted to see how powerful he could become if that skill was driven to the extreme.
But at the end of the day, all Fool’s Gold gave him was…. Weapons.
[The Fool] hadn’t chosen him because he was a master swordsman.
But he could become one.
Holding on to that thought, Tom confirmed his decision.
[Congratulations, Legendary Ability {Shroud} has leveled up from Level 2 to Level 8!]