Nothing about that place made any sense to me. At one point, I decided to try and break the walls, but using my full power to try and hit one was the worst mistake I had made in a while. My entire body felt the tremor; its very core rocked like a boat thrown in a sea storm.
If only you could have seen my face, its reflection caught my attention right after I hit the wall. My eyes were bulging out—which I even felt—and a look of pure betrayal accompanied them.
"Just who the fuck builds entire fucking towns out of steel?!"
My shout came out louder than expected, tearing apart the silence, only for it to settle again. What if someone heard me? Nah, there’s no way someone lives in this place.
I stared again at the wall, then picked up the pace, since there was still a lot to discover around that place. I was quietly going about my business, switching from one elevator to another, listening for any strange sounds that might appear. All was silent, except for my steps and breathing. That place was as boring as it could get, and the lighting was bad as well. If it hadn’t been for my accessories, I would have been shortsighted in there.
You know, in a fantasy world, you’d expect things to be less futuristic, but coming face to face with something I could only call mechanical death is, under no circumstances, funny. Picture this: you’re all alone in a poorly illuminated underground town that looks like it was taken straight out of a horror movie, the whole place is made out of steel with no places to hide. You walk around the place, thinking it’s empty, then the sound of iron scratching iron booms in your ears, and the next thing you know, a metal sphere with four legs pops out of nowhere and lunges at you with its razor sharp sword-for-legs. Needless to say, I screamed, ran away, and then I noticed the magic sword in my hand.
I turned around, and wham, a beam of light made sure it would never get up again. Split in half, the same dimly glowing red liquid found in the walls was oozing out of its torn body, giving the slight impression that it was a living creature. Being the idiot I was, I checked the remains, to see if anything useful was there, something that might give me a hint as to how I could get outside. All I found were some weird wires, components that made no sense, and some numbers written on the steel shell. If they meant what I thought they meant, then I had to face a lot more of those, and perhaps something different, like an upgraded version of sorts. Well, it didn't matter, mechanical death was too much of an exaggeration.
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On we go, I guess. Being bored out of my wits gave me funny thoughts, such as the need to fight something to feel sane. One little robot was not enough, so the best choice at the moment was a maniacal slaughter, iron on iron, but more like magic on iron. See who wins the battle of science versus magic. I had my money on magic. I was slowly starting to enjoy fighting, but it might have been boredom twisting my mind.
Running around like a maniac was not enough to attract any more robots.
"Are there no other robots in here? Hey, I’m here, killing your kind, come get me!"
My voice echoed on and on, bringing the whole place to life, if only for a breath’s worth of time. Well, after death became the norm again, it switched back to life. I’ve been trying to find the perfect words to describe what came next, but the best way to describe it all is to just call it a sea of living steel. A wave, reaching beyond even the tallest buildings, is coming in my direction. Well, no more running for them. It's time to regain my sanity.
No more playing around, time to blast it. My hand started spinning the blade, launching its own wave of magic attack –two waves crushing into one another.
"As I expected, not enough to stop it, but it did take out a good chunk of 'em."
The pile might have gotten smaller, but I failed to notice how it became thicker at the base. Feeling the danger, I did what any not-so-normal person would do, I ran in their direction. The place they came from must have been guarded for a reason, meaning I have to reach it. Running felt less than enough, and having to duck through buildings wasn’t helping either. I had some cover, which was good. Storming me all at once wouldn’t work.
As I was exiting one building, I came face to face with some more blades-for-legs robots. Cutting them without mana worked as well, but I had to make sure to either dodge or block with my gauntlet. Easier said than done. Swing in one’s direction, cut a leg in half, dodge the other one as it flies at you, duck and cut at the same time, no easy job, but the thrill got me going. One down, another one left to go, then one more, and so on. Those silly little toys had no chance of harming me in any meaningful way, but slowing me down was more than enough for them.
"Sheer power in numbers, ey? Then come here!"
I swung with more power, quickening each and every one of my movements. There was no time to waste; my second priority was to get out before things got worse.
As I came closer to my destination, the buildings began to change, the red light was glowing in an abnormal way, almost blinding me, and the buildings were rarer, spread out farther. I could catch a glimpse of a wall, perhaps as big as half a building, but it went around one point. Climbing that would be difficult, as would trying to find a way inside. Behind me, chaos wrecked everything in its path. Well, it sure was a race against destruction.