laulau20

Chapter 70: Heavy Utility Mobile Automaton

Added 2025-04-10 03:40:00 +0000 UTC

“This robot was surprisingly empty,” James muttered. “It seemed like those two or three dozen raiders were all that this robot had.”

He had been venturing through this mecha for almost two hours now. The path was narrow and winding. At the end of the tunnel, James met two more of those elite Nirvok and a steel door that was a bit more decorated than the other doors he had seen (it had those gold paint patterns decorating it). They screeched while brandishing their spears. James had his lightning longsword and axe at the ready.

The longsword clanged against the corridor wall, and James realized that the wall was protected by the system as purple light enveloped it. He frowned. The corridor was narrow—it was more than enough for James to walk about, but not enough to swing a sword. He could only do vertical, and maybe diagonal slashes at this rate.

Their tongues slithered. Their snarls seemed to mock James, as they knew they had the upper hand in this tight corridor. But they were wrong. Weapon skills were not the only ones James had. The purple monsters soon felt immense pain in their legs that made them drop down. The pain spread to their arms, heads, and bodies. White light flickered before their very eyes, incapacitating them.

“Haven’t used this for a while,” James muttered as a purple mana ball floated on his fingertips. He had used his mind magic against these new monsters. While they were incapacitated, James beheaded them with his axe and stabbed the other with his sword.

The door… didn’t open. James was so sure that this door would lead to the boss room that he hadn’t even considered it wouldn’t open. After all, the previous doors always opened for him.

“Hm? Does this door also need a keycard?” James molested the door, trying to find a way in.

[This door needs a passcode, or you can break it if your STR is above 100.]

The kind system notified him. James sighed at the absurdity of these dungeons. He thought he had seen it all, but no. There was so much more mystery about this game-like world.

“Thank you. That’s very helpful of you,” James sarcastically said as he prepared his axe skill. When James swung his axe, it let out a resounding boom. The door buckled and flew away, revealing various monitors and a Nirvok sitting on a gilded throne. James wondered whether he was a king or a captain, because there was a steering wheel before the Nirvok.

The captain rose up from his throne. He then turned around, eyeing James with surprise. A ring came out from the console in front of the throne.

[Quest has failed: The Bulion village has been destroyed.]

James frowned. He knew this could happen. He wanted to kill the king and somehow call off the raid, but he was too late. The labyrinth of corridors held him back.

“Shit, that’s 300 points lost.”

The captain held out his golden trident. Like a devil, this Nirvok also had a tail in addition to his long tongue. James had a tail too, and it was holding his crossbow.

James started with ice spears. He half expected the battle would be over when the ice spears skewered him. Weapon skills were great, but they lacked range and flexibility. Nevertheless, he didn't expect the Nirvok to simply blow the ice spell away with some telekinesis ability. Three spears flew from the throne and floated above him, ready to spear James into a kebab.

James parried those spears with his longsword and axe. He regretted giving his gun and knife to the guild now. His tail could surely have used them to help him parry these spears. James missed one spear and it hit him in the back. It bounced harmlessly against his dustmail.

James leaped as his longsword glowed a lightning gold. The skill Vorpal Lunge was activated. The Nirvok captain blocked with his spear, diverting James’ strike from his head diagonally to his left. A swift counter from the spear launched at James' flank. Since the spear was golden from the beginning, James was having a hard time distinguishing it from a weapon skill in the heat of battle.

James blocked it with his axe. The golden trident met with his lightning axe, sending sparks that sent him flying across the room. The purple monster gave chase to the fallen James.

“Argh!!” James used his fire breath, trying to buy himself time to stand. The fire breath did nothing as a wall of wind covered his body. James held out his shield that was attached to his left wrist. Alas, the small buckler only covered his forearm, and James had to extend his reach to protect his head. A golden meteor pierced through his armor, all the way to the back of his shoulder. Pain assaulted James and he screamed in pain.

“Got you…” James resolved himself as he held the spear with his golem hand. He then launched his tail and strangled the demon. He lit his body aflame, including his tail. The demon tried to use everything he had. Using his tail and tongue, he stabbed James multiple times, but it was futile.

[Life leeching poison, nullified]

[Paralysis poison, nullified]

The Nirvok king tried to lodge his spear loose, but to no avail. He finally let go of his spear, but James's tail didn't let go of its prey since the tail now lifted the demon's body afloat. James stepped closer; he had lost feeling in his left hand due to blood loss.

The Nirvok flailed helplessly in the air before it finally kicked the bucket.

“Health potion!” James ordered before the system announced the Nirvok’s death.

[Congratulations, you have leveled up to level 47. You have earned 200 coins. You have obtained a Huma keycard. Your Attacker class has leveled up to level 24.]

[Would you like to modify your body? Y/N]

[Available Body Parts:]

King Nirvok’s Tongue (Two-Meter Appendage, Medium Paralysis Poison) (Tongue Slot)
King Nirvok’s Tail (Two-Meter Appendage, Medium Life-Leeching Poison) (Tail Slot)
Mana Core (Wind Spells: Wind Gust, Wind Wall, Magic +20, Mana +300) (Extra Slot)

“Yes! A mana core,” James muttered.

[Will you control the Huma?]

“I can?” James blinked at the system notification.

[You can if you have the keycard. To destroy the Huma, simply activate the self-destruct button or destroy the reactor in the reactor chamber. The Huma layout is available on the control screen.]

“It has a self-destruct button?” James smirked.

[It does not. But by overloading the reactor, you can achieve the same effect from the control panel. We have simplified the command for you.]

“Well, thank you. But health potion first.”

[Understood.]

A black box with a health potion teleported before him. James grunted as he dislodged the spear from his shoulder. Blood poured out from his upper arm to the floor as the smell of iron and the slick blood drenched his hand. Then, he poured the potion on the wound.

James breathed a sigh of relief as the bleeding had stopped and sat on the throne after he remembered that he could control this robot. Then, on the control panel in front of the throne, several glyphs appeared, and the system translated the language.

“Alright, close the hangar and activate the weapon system. Make this robot stand,” James muttered. The last thing he wanted was to have some random enemies sneaking on his back.

Then, a camera feed rolled in on one of the monitors, displaying the empty field outside. The raiders who had left had returned on the back of their raptor robots with the loot they got from ransacking the village. Confusion painted their faces as they watched the robot stand up. Then, two machine guns and a missile launcher were deployed on Huma's shoulder and back.

A reticle appeared on the monitor. James smirked as he pointed the reticle toward the raiders. He then pressed the big red button and the guns began firing.

A torrent of lead barraged the raiders as heat-seeking missiles spewed golden flame from their butts. They roared as they flew high into the sky and reoriented themselves toward the raiders.

The raiders scattered as lead from machine guns rained upon them. Explosions soon followed as missiles homed in on them. Rain of fire blew and soon died in the windless grey land. There was nothing to burn except the lifeless corpses of the purple demons.

[Congratulations, you have leveled up to level 48. Your Attacker class has leveled up to level 25. You have received 150 coins.]

“Oh hohoho!” James couldn’t hold his laughter when the system also counted the kills from Huma into his level-up and kill count. It was getting harder to level up, but today, he had leveled up twice from this floor alone. In a single day.

After he finished playing with the robot, he then scanned his surroundings. There were no more of those filthy slithering demons. And so, it was time for his Chimera skill. James really wanted that mana core. But his extra slots were full.

Current Extra Slots:

Mana Core (Water Spells: Ice Spear, Water Manipulation, Magic +60, Mana +1000) (Extra Slot)
Jumping Spider’s Spinneret (Thread Creation) (Extra Slot 2)
Kraken’s Arm Tentacle (Reach: 5 meters, Negative Trait: STR -10%) (Extra Slot 3)
Rock Crab Shell (Physical Resistance +90%) (Extra Slot 4)

James wondered what he should delete. All of them were useful. He could technically delete the tentacle because he got the tongue. But it felt different picking things up with his tail and tongue. He also wondered whether he should swap his buckler. This time, the buckler had betrayed him. The spinneret and water magic were a big no. Ropemaking was essential.

“Well, you gotta be brave, buddy,” James sighed. “Alright. Change my shield into the wind mana core.”

[Do you want to change your rock crab shell into wind mana core?]

“Yes.” James then felt his shield torn from him as motes of dark light took it from him. Then, dark motes of light reached out and consumed the captain’s body. As the motes of light returned to James’ body, he felt stronger. He felt new power inside.

“Shit! I should have sold the body!” James cursed. Nevertheless, with a new keycard in hand, he ventured into the Huma once again, intending to grab that treasure chest that he had skipped earlier.

Again, James was not the sharpest tool in the shed. He had traded something valuable for something worthless.

After he rummaged through the entire robot, he found three treasure chests. They contained a golden shield, a black bow, and a black sword. James then sorted the loot at the cockpit.

“These are not normal equipment, are they?” James muttered. This was not video games—or not a very good one, at the very least. There was no item box. He could certainly carry all of these right now, but it was getting cumbersome.

[Nirvok’s Golden Shield]
A shield imbued with the earth magic of Nirvok’s elder shaman and high blacksmith. This shield was useless for Nirvok, for it was cumbersome and heavy. Nevertheless, it held great power that could even resist one strike from a weapon skill every hour.

[Cursed Bow of Yalaituh]
A bow that was enchanted with curse magic that will drain the enemy’s life force, similar to medium life-leeching poison. However, the arrow will not be able to be reused. A normal arrow has been registered with the shop. It costs 50 gold a dozen.

[Black Sword of Yalaituh]
A sword that was enchanted with curse magic that will drain the enemy’s life force, similar to medium life-leeching poison. The poison cannot be stacked and will be reapplied for every slash that hits the enemy.

“Can my sword be upgraded to this?”

[No. This was not in the weapon’s upgrade. Your sword and axe are at their current optimal upgrade. However, you may change the elemental enchantment.]

“So, these are unique weapons?”

[That is correct. They can also be upgraded to increase your stats or even special abilities.]

“Huh? Special ability?”

[Information classified.]

“Damn it… Should have known.” James cursed as he packed the weapons into his leather bag. He then walked to the control panel, preparing to blow the huge robot.

[Name: James]
Age: 35
Sex: Male
Level: 48 (↑2)
Coins: 600
Merit: 1

Stats:

STR: 152 (↑5)
DEX: 150 (↑5)
MAGIC: 107 (↑6)
MANA: 1020 (↑40)

Skills:

Novice Axe Mastery Level 5 (Powerstrike, V-slash, Boomerang)
Novice Sword Mastery Level 1 (Hurricane, Vorpal Lunge)
Beginner Bow Mastery Level 8 (Quickshot) (↑1)
Beginner Dagger Mastery Level 1

Magic:

Mind Flay
Sense Alteration
Mana Sonar

Class:

Attacker (Level 25) (↑2) (10% bonus when attacking, STR & DEX +1 per level)

Shop (Level 2):

Health Potion (100 Coins)
Hematonic Potion (50 Coins)
High Potion (300 Coins)
Antidote (50 Coins)
Sell Function Available

Unique Skill - Chimera Level 2:

Goblin Stomach (Iron Guts) (Stomach Slot)
Minotaur Leader’s Left Arm (STR +25%) (Left Arm Slot)
Eyes of Mana (Mana Sense) (Right Eye Slot)
Golem Arm of Valhalla (STR +30%, Physical Resistance +30%, Negative Trait: Repairable, Mana -200) (Right Arm Slot)
Ratking's Legs (STR +25%) (Leg Slot)
Flaming Tiger’s Fire Lung (Fire Breathing Skill, Negative Trait: Mana -100, Magic -10) (Lung Slot)
Golem Core (Poison Resistance, Negative Trait: Mana -250, Magic -10, Repairable) (Heart Slot)
Orc’s Torso (Torso Slot)
Orc’s Head (Head Slot)
Shadow Snake Fang (Intermediate Life Leeching) (Mouth Slot)
Flaming Tiger Lord’s Firefur (Fire Cloak Skill, Fire Resistance, Physical Resistance +15%, Negative Trait: Mana -100, Magic -10) (Skin Slot)
Elite Nirvok’s Tongue (Two-Meter Appendage, Medium Paralysis Poison) (Tongue Slot)
Land Shark's Ear (Echolocation: 10 meters) (Ear Slot)
Mana Core (Water Spells: Ice Spear, Water Manipulation, Magic +60, Mana +1000) (Extra Slot)
Jumping Spider’s Spinneret (Thread Creation) (Extra Slot 2)
Kraken’s Arm Tentacle (Reach: 5 meters, Negative Trait: STR -10%) (Extra Slot 3)
Mana Core (Wind Spells: Wind Gust, Wind Wall, Magic +20, Mana +300) (Extra Slot 4)