Dreamland: Freedom (Terror Infinity, Ultimate Evolution)

As always, Eden's arrival into his mission world was sudden, and although he was supposed to have been placed into a stasis for a week to set himself with the Tier I waves, he felt nothing as one moment he was in Nexus, and the next on a beach.

He could tell that it was a beautiful sandy beach initially, with deep blue, clean water, surrounded by cliffs that made one feel like they were away from the rest of the world.

The place had been ravaged by the violent crash of a giant ship. A large part of the beach had been burned, the cliffs shattered, and the abomination of a ship still left in the middle of it all.

Although it served as a ship, the Nautiloid was strangely organic, with several large tentacles arching over Eden's head. They were tens of meters long, and about a meter thick. They were only slightly smaller than the Kraken's back in Pirates of the Caribbean. They were pulsating, pointing at there remaining a semblance of life in the ship, if there ever was one.

Eden was not alone on the ravaged beach though, as it was littered with corpses. Maybe there were some survivors, but there were too many bodies to inspect them all. Besides, Eden's attention was immediately drawn to one of them. She had a lithe body, though it was obscured by her intricate armor, and had objectively attractive features. Her coal black hair was fastened into a long ponytail, along with a short fringe in front.

Her most alien feature, however, were her ears, long and pointy. She was an elf, or of Elven descent, which Eden knew was the second.

[Name: Shadowheart]

[Title: Cleric of Shar]

[Talent: ?]

[HP: 140/140]

[MP: 100/100]

[Strength: 13]

[Agility: 13]

[Physique: 14]

[Intelligence: 10]

[Wisdom: 17]

Eden observed her features, before his gaze was drawn to the artefact she was holding tightly, even in her unconsciousness. It was a multi-sided prism made of darkened iron, engraved with pulsating runes.

[Mysterious Artefact: Strange prism that leads to a pocket plane of the Astral Plane.]

It only looked like a harmless artefact, but Eden knew that it held the Emperor, a rogue Illithid who once was the founder of Baldur's Gate, as well as the Prince of the Comet, a githyanki prince hose power was used to protect the companions in the game from the Absolute.

It was of a paramount important to the Dark Urge and the rest of the Companions as, being infected by the tadpoles, it is the only thing protecting them from being turned into slaves or Illithids.

To Eden though, it held little uses. The only value he saw in it was the protection it offered to the 'party' infected with Illithid tadpoles, and the presences inside, the Emperor and the Prince of the Comet, who were needed to defeat the Absolute.

So he only gave it a glance, before turning to Oona, who had appeared alongside him. The dark skinned demon did not exactly look the friendliest, so he ordered it mentally to take to the skies, and observe from afar. He would call on it when needed.

The Oona, in spite of its savage visage, nodded with surprising intelligence, and flapped its bat wings, flying up and out of sight.

Once he could no longer easily spot the demon, Eden lowered himself, and lightly shook Shadowheart's shoulders.

The Half-Elf cleric woke up with a start, and stared at Eden with wide eyes as she muttered, "How could I be alive?"

Eden offered her a hand, asking, "Does it really matter?"

Shadowheart looked at his hand for a moment, before taking it, lifting herself up with his help as she admitted, "True, I suppose I should be thankful I was one of the lucky few," she eyed the numerous corpses, then the Nautiloid, and asked, "Were you…"

Eden shook his head, having already prepared a backstory for himself, "No, I was sent here on a mission."

This caused her to raise an eyebrow, her hand holding the artefact twitching as she said, "Really?"

Eden nodded this time, giving a pointed look at the artefact as he explained, "It has to do with you, and that."

She took a step back, now vigilant as she interrogated, "Were you sent by Lady Shar? I certainly feel a darkness in you…"

Eden smiled at the comment, and decided to be truthful, "I was not. But you do not need to worry about me, I am here to help. I have no interest in acquiring the prism."

His honesty seemed to have hardly earned her trust though as she remained cautious, "Why should I trust you not to steal it?"

Eden moved his hand towards one of the tentacles, and used Dismantle.

The blade was completely invisible to the naked eye, but the giant tentacle was suddenly severed, falling to the ground with a loud crash, crushing some of the dead bodies beneath it.

"If I really wanted it, there would be nothing you could do to stop me."

Shadowheart looked at Eden cautiously, slowly pocketing the prism as she said, "Fine, let's say I believe you. What now?"

Eden looked at the rest of the bodies, explaining, "As I said, I am here on a mission. That mission is to stop something called the Absolute, which threatens not only the Sword Coast, but the whole material plane. But I cannot do it alone, which is why I need allies."

"And I'm one of these allies?"

Hearing the doubt in her voice, Eden hinted, "You are far more important than you think, Shadowheart. Yes, I need your help, as well as someone else on this beach. Please help me search for survivors."

Shadowheart silently followed his request, though after a moment, she said, "You know my name, yet I ignore yours."

"Ozymandias."

Eden looked for a white scaled Dragonborn, who were a sort humanoid dragon, because that was the basic character model for the Dark Urge in the game. That could be modified, but Eden figured Dreamland would use the template.

However, he did not find a single dragonborn among the bodies, and odds of missing one would be extremely low considering how different they looked from other races.

Instead, it was Shadowheart who shouted, "Here!"

Eden looked over, and saw her hunched over a body. It was not a dragonborn, but what looked to be a female elf, or a half-elf. Eden struggled to see the difference. Unlike Shadowheart, she did not wear any armor, but a tight, warrior robe instead.

Although she looked much more human than the expected dragonborn, she had purple hair with orange streaks, her pointy ears poking through her wavy hair. She was also waking up from Shadowheart's shouting, revealing a pair of deep, blood red gems.

[Name: Sylfine]

[Title: Monk]

[Talent: ?]

[HP: 160/160]

[MP: 80/80]

[Strength: 8]

[Agility: 17]

[Physique: 16]

[Intelligence: 8]

[Wisdom: 14]

Shadowheart looked at Eden and said, "I don't know if this is the person you were looking for, but she helped me in that ship, and should be able to help."

This woman, Sylfine, was obviously the Dark Urge, so Eden said, "She is."

Sylfine rubbed her head, obviously feeling confused as she said, "I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"You don't, but I do. I require your help."

Sylfine shared a look with Shadowheart, and looked back at him, saying, "I'm sorry, but I have my own problems to deal with already."

Shadowheart shot her a warning look, but Eden nodded matter-of-factly, "Yes, your missing memories, and the Illithid tadpole in both of your heads. I can help you with that."

Although both women seemed rattled at his uncanny knowledge of their circumstances, there was a hint of hope in Shadowheart's voice as she asked, "Can you remove them?"

Unfortunately for them, Eden did not, "Not directly, no. I do not require the skills to safely take out an Illithid parasite without killing the host. However, I do know of a place which may be able to help you. It is a nearby grove. They ought to have someone capable of helping you."

Shadowheart frowned, visibly disappointed. So far, Eden had appeared all-knowing, which unintentionally created the expectation he would have a direct solution.

Sylfine, on the other hand, deftly got back to her feet, slapping her hands together as she asked, "So, what is this mission of yours? And what happened to that tentacle?"

Shadowheart made a strange expression at the second question, while Eden approached the tentacle, leaping on top of it with ease as he answered patiently, "I am forming a party to slay the Absolute, which is the entity behind your current plight."

Sylfine also easily climbed the tentacle, questioning, "But you don't have a tadpole?"

Shadowheart was not as agile as either of them, and seeing her troubled look, Eden reached down, and as she took his arm and he pulled her up, he said, "No. But I still want to deal with your tadpoles. You might not remember because of your missing memories, but they are tempering with your abilities."

This was the explanation in the game as to why every Companion started at Level 1, despite having some figures like Gale or Wyll, one being an Archmage and the other a famous hero known through the whole region of the Sword Coast.

Landing on the other side of the tentacle, Shadowheart looked around at the corpses, and remarked, "Are there others?"

"Yes. A Rogue, a Wizard, a Barbarian, a Fighter, a Warlock and possibly a Paladin."

Sylfine asked curiously, "Why possibly?"

Eden scratched his face thinking of the Drow Paladin, unsure what to make of her, "According to my information, she is currently working for the Absolute, but she could be turned into a valuable ally. Doing so would be quite perilous, however. Actually, several of ours companions may have been compromised by the time we reach them, so I suggest we pick up the pace."

Eden led the way, moving around the Nautiloid, and the two followed. As they did, Sylfine asked, "Compromised?"

"I was not the only one sent, and they are definitely not allies."

Most of the beach was surrounded by the tall cliffs. There was also a large stone construct in the distance, a large crypt, but Eden knew it was locked.

Aside from that, there were only two ways to leave the beach: climb the cliff, or go through the crashed Nautiloid. Fortunately, there was a giant, gaping hole in its side.

Right at the entrance of said hole were a few creatures waiting for them however. They were aberrations of nature, dog-sized brains standing on four legs. There were three of them, two in the front, and one standing further back.

Sylfine reacted with lightning quick reflexes, reaching one of the two in front as she sliced down her palm. Eden felt time slow down ever so slightly as the other aberration, the Intellect Devourer, tried to… well, devour his intellect.

The curious thing though was that despite it being a psychic attack, Eden actually saw a purplish ray being fired from the brain on legs, aimed at his head. Was that his Cursed Energy acting?

Titling his head to the side, thus dodging the attack, Eden noted the strange attack from Sylfine. She was a monk, so she was supposed to know how to use her fists in a fight. But she had used her hand as a blade, and it hardly did any damage as it slammed on top of the Intellect Devourer.

Though confused, Eden moved up to the one that had attacked him, his hand lightly brushing against the surprisingly crusty brain, and used his second Cursed Technique.

Cursed Energy moved by itself as Cleave was activated, and the Intellect Devourer was sliced in half, cleanly. As it was, Eden felt its spirit leave its body and attach to his, corrupted to become an Evil Spirit.

Meanwhile, Shadowheart, who took a moment longer to react, noticed one of the explosive purple tanks next to the furthest back Intellect Devourer, weaved her free hand, chanting, "Ignis!"

The mote of flame flew through the air, and although the Intellect Devourer tried to move, whether because it had felt the danger or was simply in a hurry to devour brains, but it was not fast enough to dodge as the firebolt hit the tank, exploding into flames.

All three humanoids frowned as they heard a scream echo in their minds as the Intellect Devourer writhed in agony. Shadowheart thought she had killed it, and turned her attention to the one it deemed the weakest, Sylfine.

Another purple ray was fired, this one thinner than the one before.

The Half-Elven monk did not see the attack coming, but years of combat experience had been engraved into her body, and whether she remembered them or not, her body moved by itself as she barely dodged the psychic attack.

However, that left her vulnerable to the one she had attacked, who swiped a claw at her, slashing her across the thigh.

Eden did not immediately move to finish off the last two aberrations, instead watching as Shadowheart used another spell, "Incende!"

A white flame materialized above the already burnt Intellect Devourer, but as it descended onto it, it dodged to the side, the spell missing completely.

Sylfine also attacked, this time with a closed fist that slammed into the creature with a low thud. It did not look very much affected.

Knowing that the small aberrations were dangerous creatures, Eden did not allow the two Intellect Devourers to make another attack, aiming a Dismantle at each.

As the two walking brains were slashed apart by Eden's invisible attack, Sylfine hissed in pain as she rubbed her injury, while Shadowheart mumbled with a heave, "That was intense."

… they made it hard to picture them fighting the apostles of gods.

Author's Note: Baldur's Gate 3, so Dungeons and Dragons, has a pretty similar way of displaying stats to Dreamland, but they have a few key differences, and I believe I should explain how I will treat DnD attributes right away. DnD has its own Power Systems, each class basically being one, meaning that not everything can be accurately displayed by Eden's basic Analysis (read here that this will be resolved sooner or later, wink wink).

I won't go into a full breakdown of how I will calculate the attributes of every creature, although I can assure you they will all be carefully calculated. Actually, I never randomly throw in attributes, and even when there are question marks, I have everything noted down, it's just that Eden can't see them, and neither can you.

Anyway, all I can tell you for now will be that all attributes, whether you see them or not, and no matter how high, will be calculated based on their in-game stats. For low level characters, it will just be their in-game stats. But since Dreamland does not have a Charisma stat, and that Wisdom is vastly different between the two, do not blindly trust every number you see either. They are meant to show you the approximate power level of beings, but since they answer to a different Power System, their power vary.

For Spell-casters, I will consider Wisdom to be for Wizards, and Intelligence for the rest, as Wisdom is for control and Intelligence for raw magical power.