Dreamland: Freedom (Terror Infinity, Ultimate Evolution)

I'm glad to see all the reactions from the last chapters, I'm really excited about the incoming arc!

Also, as I have already warned, today is the last chapter on Patreon. Again, I am not dropping, just stopping Patreon. If you still want to support me there, I would be immensely grateful, but power stones will do just fine too.

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Having spent the last ten days, which had been twenty for him because of the Specialized Training Hall, Eden finally took a break, and headed for the Nightmare Realm.

The moment he entered, many inside turned to look at him, more than a few clearly hostile. It was for an obvious reason too.

The Hall of Perfection had not been too happy with his involvement concerning Stitch's situation, and had ended up placing a bounty on him. Apparently, the few other guilds he had messed up with during POTC had decided that was a good time to chime in as well.

[Wanted- Ozymandias]

[Bounty: 500 000 Dream Points]

[Issuer: Hall of Perfection, Holy Order, Immortals, Hero's Alliance, Freedom Alliance, Reapers.]

The first five Guilds were Tier V Guilds, and Reapers were a Tier IV Guild with the power of a Tier V one. From what Eden learned through messages, each Guild had a team standing behind a Pirate Lord, and the Holy Order were with the Spanish.

Seeing the many unfriendly gazes, Eden was temped to try out his Omen of Death Title, but decided against it as he feared it would be a wasted opportunity.

The Title was said to grow with the numbers of beings he had killed, and so far, although he had caused many deaths, only a few had been direct kills. Displaying it now would likely only intimidate Tier 0, and make Eden look weak more than anything.

So he simply ignored them, and walked up to the bar. Guts sat there.

As Eden joined him, Guts commented without taking his eyes off his drink, "I told you the book would make you crazy."

Eden smiled, sharing a silent look with Maggie who brought over a beer, and replied, "I'm afraid it had nothing to do with the book. Besides, I'm fine, aren't I?"

Guts shook his head, and his gaze turned to the Deadpool, "Stitch… or well, Satoru now, it was nice of you to help him, but you're never making it past your next world."

Eden followed his gaze, and at the very top of it saw his name. The odds on his survival were 16 to 1, meaning anyone who bet on his survival would get sixteen times what they had bet. To serve as a reference, the second name's odds were merely at 5.2, and that was high already.

Suffice to say, many had bet on Eden dying during his next mission.

Grabbing his beer, Eden teased, "I heard you bet against me last time… I know of an easy way to multiply your Dream Points by 16."

Guts, who had bet on Eden's death during his first mission, looked absolutely shameless, reasoning, "The other Players underestimated you before, and you used that to your advantage. You were with a bunch of Tier 0 Players too, surviving is not hard. Next mission will be among Tier I Players though, and they will all be gunning for you, and now, they all know you are dangerous."

"I've got to admit, 500 000 Dream Points is quite enticing, especially for Tier I Players. I wonder how much I'll make killing them all. I should probably get something to stock all their equipment, don't you think?"

Guts smiled despite himself. He found Eden's arrogance quite endearing, in a strange way.

Taking a tablet to brows through the items for sale, Eden decided to change the subject, asking, "Say, it's possible to change your name, isn't it?"

Guts raised an eyebrow, asking, "What makes you say that?"

Eden looked over the corner Shadow always occupied, where Evie was currently staring at him, and explained, "A few assassins from Shadows had numbered names, clearly made in a sequence. They had obviously been changed."

"Why ask if you already know?"

Eden looked back at Guts, studying his face as he revealed his true query, "Why not change your name back? Why keep the name of your body? Same with Stitch."

It was like Stitch had disappeared from the surface of the Nexus ever since they had made their exchange, though Eden knew right away he had succeeded when 'Stitch' had disappeared from his friend list, and 'Gojo Satoru' had mysteriously appeared.

He had been hiding ever since, training to master his new powers.

Guts chose not to answer, but Maggie, who was nearby, revealed, "Names have power, and once you reach a certain level, changing them comes at a much greater cost."

Eden glanced between the two, and although their faces did not betray anything, he could somehow feel something had been left unsaid. It was not his place to pry though, so he waved the tablet and said, "I'm looking for an inter-dimensional storage space. Any recommendations?"

Maggie seemed amused as she asked, "You were serious earlier?"

Eden nodded seriously, "You should probably lower those odds, I'll be making a killing. Say, can I bet on myself?"

Maggie scoffed, "Higher odds lure people in betting. And yeah, usually, you can bet on yourself."

"Usually?"

Maggie said nothing, but gave him a pointed look that said everything needed to be said. She was confident he would survive, probably because she was one of the few to know he had gotten Sukuna's Finger, and accepting his bet would be the same as losing money.

Beside him, seeing their interaction, Guts started looking uncertain, but before he could say anything, Maggie asserted firmly, "No take backs on bets."

Guts shut his mouth, and… pouted?

Ignoring him, Maggie advised Eden, pointing at a table, "There are plenty of items for storage, the best of which are made by Immortals. They make some very nice Spatial Rings."

Eden tilted his head, and looked at the table she pointed at, which he guessed was where the Players from Immortal gathered.

They were glaring at him with killing intent.

"There are also some interesting spells that can help, but they're above your level, so you'd best buy an item."

Eden looked back, and said, "That's what I was looking at. I only have a budget of 10000 Dream Points though."

Maggie took a moment to think, before saying, "One of the mission worlds took place in Harry Potter. I don't think there's any left for sale, but I know someone who might be able to help you."

She pointed him to someone, a girl. She could not be older than 16, wore an oversized witch hat, and was happily drinking from a large mug. Curious, Eden used Analysis.

[Name: Morgana]

[Title: Prodigious Witch]

[Talent: ?]

[HP: ?/?]

[MP: ?/?]

[Strength: ?]

[Agility: ?]

[Physique: ?]

[Intelligence: ?]

[Wisdom: ?]

Analysis was only the most basic form of the skill, and could only give limited information. It did not show Perks, Resistances and Weaknesses, or special attributes like Eden's Sorcery.

Here, unfortunately, Eden had no idea whether he could not see her attributes because they were far enough above his, because she was of a superior Tier, or if it was a special skill or item.

For now, his best guess was that she was Tier II.

Yet, despite knowing that, seeing her kick her legs under the table happily made him pause. She looked like an innocent child in a den of killers.

After glancing back at Maggie, who ignored him, Eden sighed and walked up to her table, only to stand awkwardly as the girl remained in her bubble, seemingly unaware of his presence.

He snapped his fingers in front of her face, causing her to jump, and look up at him, exclaiming, "You're that madman!"

Eden cocked an eyebrow, impressed by her complete lack of tact. It was one thing to speak of him as a madman, and another to say it to his face.

She seemed to realize her blunder too as she fumbled with her drink, adding quickly, "I-I mean, who are you? What do you want?"

Eden gestured toward the counter, saying, "I'm looking for a spatial container, and Maggie directed me to you."

Morgana looked genuinely surprised, "She did?"

Eden nodded, looking at her up and down, his eyes stopping at the wand holstered to her thigh, and said, "I'm going to guess you were sent to Harry Potter for your last mission. Did you get an expanded bag there? Or learn how to make one perhaps?"

"I did! Do you want me to make you one?"

Eden couldn't help but wonder whether this was all a carefully put together act, or if she was really just… like this.

"Yes, I would like that. How much would it be?"

She tilted her head, taking a moment to think, before saying, "It depends on you. I could just place the extension charm on a bag for you, or I could make a more complex enchantment. The charm would give your bag an internal space of a cubic meter, and be capable to hold around 100 kilograms. That would cost you… I don't know, 1000 Dream Points?"

1000 Dream Points was very cheap for a spatial container, as they were all Uncommon at the very least, but considering she only had to use a single spell, and that as far as Eden could tell magic in Harry Potter did not burn any mana, Morgana was making a 1000 Dream Points for a few seconds of her time.

"What about the more complex enchantment?"

Morgana leaned her chin on her fist, pursing her lips as she said, "Depends. A more complex one would allow to create a stronger internal space, but also require more expensive materials. What's your budget?"

Asking someone's budget without revealing the exact price of a performance was usually a trick to raise prices, and maybe that was what Morgana was doing. Eden doubted it, from her behaviour so far, but even if she was, she was his best choice, so he said, "10 000 Dream Points."

This would leave Eden with nothing, but considering he would be sending himself to Baldur's Gate 3, a world brimming with magical artefacts of all kinds, and he would have dozens of Players coming after him, if not more, he dearly needed some additional space.

The Inventory was quite limited, having only a space of 2*2*2, or 8 cubic meters, which was quite small. The advantage with it was that it did not have a weight limit.

Morgana nodded to herself, and said, "That's fine. The exact quality will depend on what materials are available, and how well I do, but it should be around 15 cubic meters, and with a limit of a ton."

Eden nodded, feeling that this was reasonable. He initiated a transaction with Morgana, adding her as a friend.

From there, the rest of Eden's time in the Nexus passed by uneventfully, as he focused on training his Cursed Energy. Morgana gave him his bag about a week after, and it came out better than expected.

[Infinity Bag]

[Rank: Rare]

[Effect: The space inside this bag has been stretched to hold 50 cubic meters, and capable of holding 1200 kilograms.]

It was more than good enough for his use. There might be many magical objects in Baldur's Gate 3, but putting his Inventory together with this Infinity Bag should be more than enough.

There was one weakness about the Infinity Bag though, and that was that just like every objects with an inter-dimensional space, it could not be put in another, or it would be destroyed. Fortunately, the Inventory seemingly did not count as one, or it was advanced enough to have space overlap.

Back to his Cursed Energy, Eden had managed to improve his Cursed Energy Output, which resulted in a direct increase to his Cursed Technique.

[Dismantle (4th Rank): Launch an invisible slash with a range of 20 meters to deal 150 magical slashing damage. Output: 420 CE.]

[Cleave (4th Rank): Inspect the target and use the exact amount of Cursed Energy required to cut them apart. Must be in contact with the target, deals a max of 210 magical slashing damage. Output: 420 CE.]

They officially became Eden's strongest techniques, and by a good margin. They were still in Tier I, as it consisted of Rank/Circle three and four. Each Tier was split in two ranks.

The numbers themselves might not look all that impressive, but in reality, damage was also exponential, in a way.

For a Free Player, damage was calculated by comparing attack and defence, and the wider the gap, the more the damage dealt.

In practical terms, this meant that 200 attack would not deal double the damage of 100 attack. The same went for every attribute and stat, as they all were exponential.

Back to Cursed Energy, Eden's increased output also meant that his body reinforcement had improved. Eden also discovered that using it helped his physical attributes grow stronger.

Eden also worked on his Cursed Energy manipulation, with the express goal of learning to use Reverse Cursed Technique, which would give him the ability to heal from nearly any wound, and even regenerate limbs.

Eden also started looking into barrier techniques. Barriers were useless to him, as they only blocked beings with Cursed Energy, and ignored everything else, and the odds of confronting anyone with Cursed Energy were low, especially at this stage.

However, while the barriers themselves were of little use to Eden, the ultimate expression of Jujutsu Sorcery, the Domain Expansion, required advanced mastery over barriers.

Lastly, Eden had also continued working on his alchemy, although these studies remained mostly theoretical, since he did not have the points to buy the ingredients.

Overall, his status had some changes to it. Fully equipped, it looked like the following:

[Name: Ozymandias]

[Title: Monster Hunter II, Omen of Death]

[Talent: Soul Overlord]

[Perks: Tier I, Spirit Flame I, Will of Steel I, STD Free, Immense Cursed Energy III, Shrine]

[HP: 320/320]

[MP: 684/684]

[CE: 1632/1632]

[Strength: 27 (32)]

[Agility: 28 (37)]

[Physique: 29 (32)]

[Intelligence: 34 (38)]

[Wisdom: 33 (36)]

[Sorcery: 48]

[Skills: Analyze (Support), Demon Claw (1st Circle), Dark Pool (1st Circle), Evil Possession (1st Circle), Strengthened Fireball (2nd Circle), Dark Vision (2nd Circle), Mists of the Underworld (3rd Circle), Undead Servant (3rd Circle), Binding Vow (Support), Dismantle (4th Rank), Cleave (4th Rank)]

[Currency: 0 Dream Points]

Each of his physical attributes had been raised by six, which was quite a lot for a single month of training as the higher they were, the harder attributes were to raise. He had his Cursed Energy to thank for that, although Eden suspected it would become harder to raise them as they approached his Sorcery attribute.

But then again, they would rise faster when used in combat, so maybe that would counter it. Anyway, Eden's physical attributes were now very close to his magical attributes, broadening his skills and erasing any weaknesses he had.

Eden was now only a minute away from his next mission, so he took out his VIP Pass, and used it.

The golden card crumbled down in his hand as a message appeared before him.

[Please choose your next mission world, and space-time coordinates.]

Having already thought the matter through, Eden said, "I want to go to the world of Baldur's Gate 3. I want to appear on the Ravaged Beach next to Shadowheart and the Dark Urge, when they are unconscious."

[Choice confirmed.]

The original idea had been to appear aboard the Nautiloid, within one of the tanks, to allow himself to be infected with the Illithid tadpole. If evolved, the tadpole would gain great powers, the most interesting of which was the ability to fly, in Eden's opinion.

However, for all its powers, the tadpole would lodge itself into his brain, and as far as the game went, there appeared to be no possible way to take it out. The Dungeons and Dragons wider lore did not offer any solutions either.

Well, maybe that Gale could remove his own if he gets the ending where he ascends to become a god, but even that was not confirmed.

It was not the idea of having the tadpole stuck in his brain that bothered him though. As long as it offered him good enough powers, which it did, he did not mind having it.

The problem was that he now had Cursed Energy, and RCT. Cursed Energy was born from somewhere around the navel, and Reverse Cursed Energy would appear in the brain.

Eden fully intended to learn how to create Reverse Cursed Energy, and he did not want to take any risks with the tadpole. Maybe it would not do anything, but Eden was not comfortable to risk it. RCT was far more valuable than the tadpole.

Eden had also made sure to mention it would be the Dark Urge on the Ravaged Beach, and not the regular Tav, as he believed it would be a better fit. Eden was no saint, and he would need to kill a lot of things, so Dark Urge was a better fit.

Their story-line was also more interesting in his opinion, and while the Dark Urge did have murderous tendencies, they came about in the form of episodes, and Eden already knew when they were supposed to erupt, so he would be able to prevent them.

[Time until 2nd Mission: 0:00:00]

[Calculating Challenge Rating… Mission Adjusted.]

[World: Baldur's Gate 3]

[Main Mission (Stop the Absolute): A mysterious cult has appeared on the Sword Coast, and started causing havoc in the name of their unknown God, the Absolute. Put a stop to the Absolute.]