CHAPTER ONE

Poseidon’s Wrath

Marcus

The dark night sky had a light blue hue, partially obstructed by large clouds. The night air was cool, carrying a refreshing breeze that whispered through the leaves of the plants near the lake. Sounds of water and rustling leaves in the background almost gave it a tranquil tone were it not for the constant disruption of a creature’s agonized howls and hisses.

The creature had long limbs, covered in sickly grey fur and brown scales. It flung its limbs around, clawing at its torso and the sharpened piece of rebar protruding from it, keeping it impaled on the shoreline near the lake. Fresh red blood coated its form, contrasting with the yellowish blood that kept pouring out from the wound in its stomach.

Approaching their wounded kin, five monstrous figures crawled through the bushes, navigating the terrain with a mix of stealth and caution. Communicating in clicks and growls, they closed in on the impaled creature. After a brief pause, their aggression erupted as they fiercely attacked, targeting the areas covered in red blood, driven by an instinctive rage.

The impaled creature’s agonized screams echoed through the air as it was torn apart by its brethren. It went on for several grueling seconds before another suddenly creature joined in its death cries, creating a chorus of pain that lasted a split second before it dropped dead. The rest of the monsters halted their feast upon their impaled kin when they noticed their fallen brethren with a metal piece embedded in its back, a wooden handle attached to it. At seeing it, a monster clicked its teeth together, moments before a second axe suddenly struck its neck. Yellowish blood sprayed in all directions as it tried to scream and thrash around, ultimately collapsing lifeless to the ground.

The remaining three monsters frantically scanned their surroundings before spotting a human partially submerged in the lake, axe in hand. Their howls and hisses echoed as they dashed towards the human, eyes ablaze with rage and an instinctual desire to feast. They were on the verge of reaching him, splashing through the water, when another figure suddenly rose from the depths at the last second. Water poured out of its steel frame, a haunting display as if the very essence of the lake had given birth to it, leaving rivulets and droplets in its wake.

The hulking figure of steel wielded an axe and a thick shield as it towered over the monsters, its gleaming form reflecting the blue tinted moonlight in an imposing silhouette. With a swift swing, the axe split one creature’s head, and a forceful shield bash sent another tumbling into the water before getting pinned down by the shield. Unable to break free, the monster struggled as water started to fill its lungs, drowning within seconds.

The last creature’s eyes grew wide, having just witnessed two of its kind get killed in mere seconds while the steel figure’s head shifted upwards, locking onto the monster with a cold intensity. The moment their gaze met, the monster hissed in panic as it backed off before it turned around to escape. When it did so, it spotted another figure, clad in tattered black clothes and armed with a sharpened shovel. The monster barely had time to comprehend the situation before the sharp metal slammed into its torso, cutting deep, followed by an axe blow to its back as the hulking figure caught up with the monster, seconds later caving the monster’s skull in with its fist, killing it.

“You two did well,” Marcus said, wading through the lake to join the others. Dressed in a soaked black hoodie and jeans, the wet fabric clung to his tall frame. He walked through the lake a bit further, ignoring the floating dead monsters around him, before he stepped onto the shoreline, followed by Specter. Marcus approached the torn-apart monster, still tethered to a piece of rebar embedded in the ground. He pressed his feet against the corpse, making it slide down the metal rod as he began to pull it out. The process was grim, and the monster came free in a nauseating manner, yet Marcus barely reacted to it. Meanwhile, Specter retrieved the thrown axes, afterwards handing them to him.

“Our teamwork’s improving. Having the big one around really makes a difference, despite the Mana drain,” Specter remarked, slamming the shovel into the sand and getting to work.

“Yes, it has," Marcus said, looking past Specter to see the other robot nonchalantly haul some of the monster corpses closer. One by one, it dumped the corpses onto a pile before calmly extracting the Glass from the back of their heads in an efficient, if not bloody manner. “The new robot is quite a bit stronger than your frame.”

“Arguable point. But I’m faster, that’s for sure,” Specter replied as he kept on digging. “More importantly, we’re both stronger than you.”

“For now,” Marcus remarked, observing the other robot move closer. It dropped a few Glass pieces covered in gore on the ground before gathering the rest from the fallen monsters and ripping out their Glass as well. “Considering how fast we’re bagging Glass at the moment, it won’t be too long before I catch up.”

Specter shot a glance at Marcus, its single camera lens fixated on the young man tucked away in his hoodie. “The retrieval rate’s rising, for sure. But the upgrades are expensive. It started off with 20 Glass for the first upgrade, then 40 for the next. If we’re lucky, the next jump might be 60, then 80, 100, etc. Because, if it goes from 40 to 80, and doubles each time... that will become unmanageable real fast,” Specter said, scooping up a bit more sand before climbing out of the hole and slamming its shovel into the ground. “Speaking of Glass, where are we on the count now?”

Marcus said nothing for a while. He just stared at the massive blue Sphere around him, his eyes narrowing. Finally, he spoke, “132.”

Hearing the number, Specter let out a soft whistle. A second later, it took a step back when the other robot approached and began tossing the dead monsters into the hole, two at a time. “So, at least five upgrade charges. Any thoughts on how you’re going to spend it? I know I’ve already asked you a few days—”

“I’m not going to. Not yet,” Marcus suddenly said, kicking some sand into the hole, and watching how it covered bits of the corpses. “Tomorrow’s my first official job as a Breacher. Sis will be watching me like a hawk inside that Sphere. If I suddenly get stronger or faster, she’ll notice for sure.”

Specter dumped the rest of the sand onto the bodies using the shovel, burying them. “That makes sense,” the robot commented, stamping on the sand to make it compact. “You could always spend a single charge on boosting Perception? That’s not an immediate giveaway, and it could be useful inside the Sphere.” Specter then laid the shovel across its shoulders, steel hands gripping the edges. “Don’t tell me you’re not a bit curious about what it might do?”

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“How much time do you have left in the tank?” Marcus asked, brushing off his companion’s question as he just focused on the spot where they’d buried the monsters.

“70 minutes left, give or take. The big one might have a bit more left.”

Marcus hesitated for a moment. ‘De we press on for a bit longer? See if we can get a few more Glass pieces?’ he pondered. He was well aware that he’d been pushing himself hard the past two weeks and needed to be somewhat rested for tomorrow. His sister insisted on dragging him to her guild’s gym whenever she had free time, subjecting him to weapon training and combat drills. When not getting his butt kicked by his ridiculously strong sister, he had tagged along with Felix on jobs, hit the gym with his physical trainer Erwin, or go out with his robots to collect more Glass.

“And the two of you are positive that you had around two and a half hours of Mana, like the previous times?” Marcus asked, observing both robots nod.

“Alright, let’s head back for now. Take the win and get some rest.”

The robots nodded again, each grabbing their gear before heading toward the lake. Marcus reflected on the tests he and Specter had conducted the last few days. When either robot had both Orbs within its frame, Mana wasn’t an issue as it constantly recharged the robot. With that tactic, Specter had been able to venture out most nights to farm this specific Sphere, returning each time with three to four Glass pieces without sustaining significant damage.

Marcus moved forwards, slowly moving deeper into the water until he had to swim, observing his robotic companions slipping beneath the surface, their heavy steel frames unable to float like he could. Reaching the edge of the Sphere, he looked at the strange barrier that seemed to distort the light.

‘I’ve got 25 Mana in total. If I channel it all into a single robot when it’s got a single Orb, it’ll give it around five hours of activity, or two and a half hours when I split it evenly between the two of them.’

Marcus swam closer to the edge of the Sphere and pressing his hand against the barrier. He felt his hand slip through, the sensation akin to passing through a gel-like substance. As he tried to move his arm faster, the gel suddenly felt like something solid, holding his arm in place. Using this makeshift anchor, he pulled himself toward the barrier, slowly slipping through it. He observed billions of crystalline fragments floating around him until he reached the other side and was able to breathe again.

Swimming toward the shoreline, he shivered a bit after having spent the last hour in the water or wearing wet clothes. ‘It’s safer when there are two of them, and the amount of Glass we gain is much higher, but it forces me to also be present and micromanage the process a lot more.’

Marcus turned around, noticing the water distorting as two robots emerged slowly, one after the other. Water poured out of their metal frames as they joined him. The liquid cascaded down, creating a shimmering effect around their mechanical bodies. In that moment he imaged the horrors his robots had inflicted upon the monsters in this Sphere over the last two weeks. His soldiers didn’t sleep, didn’t eat, drink or even breathe. They just appeared in the middle of the night, rising from the water like Poseidon’s wrath, born from metal and strong enough to crush skulls with their bare hands.

He stared at the Sphere one final time, taking in the massive concrete walls that encircled most of it. Barbwire adorned the structure generously, but it all thinned out near the water’s edge. In the distance, Marcus spotted the gatehouse illuminated by powerful lights and a dirt road leading up to it.

Turning on his heels, Marcus led the three of them away from the lake and into the nearby forest. After a brief walk, they discovered a cargo bike concealed under a black canvas, decorated with scattered leaves and twigs. Specter uncovered the bike, and Marcus retrieved a backpack with dry clothes from inside the cargo section. After that, the three of them stored their weapons in the cargo bike before the largest robot climbed in and got down.

Marcus slipped his hand into the larger robot’s torso, fumbling around inside until he found a black garbage bag containing the glowing light blue Orb, intertwined with blue veins. The bag had signs of wear and tear from all the combat and because of the veins that had burrowed through it. It was a crude makeshift solution to prevent the Orb’s glow from compromising the robot’s stealth.

Closing his eyes and gripping the Orb tightly, Marcus focused on the large robot.

‘Echo’

Digging deep, he forced himself to activate his Ability, linking their minds and reintegrating the fragmented part of himself that had been inside the robot, suddenly becoming more whole again. He released a sigh, a wave of relief washing over him, feeling a return to normalcy.

In a swift motion, he yanked the Orb out, tearing apart the connected glowing veins. Light blue liquid splashed over his hand as it poured from the black bag. In a matter of seconds, the severed veins and blue liquid evaporated, leaving only the wrapped up glowing Orb in his hand. He opened up the bag and peered inside, seeing the Orb slowly glow less bright before it started pulsating, resembling a regular Orb.

“Here you go,” Marcus said, handing Specter the bagged Orb. Specter nonchalantly shoved it inside the hole in its torso, lodging it in place after wiggling it a bit.

“No name yet for our big new friend?” Specter asked, a faint shiver passing through its frame as it accepted the second Orb, glowing tendrils snaking towards it and forming a connection. “It’s been over two weeks.”

“Not yet. Its left arm needs repairs. It lags behind the right one in terms of speed and range of motion. The whole frame could use some more work. We’ll name it when the inspiration hits us and we figure out its proper role,” Marcus said, watching Specter nod a second later. His steel companion then hopped into the box, lying down next to the other robot.

“Let’s head back for now. We’ll figure out the rest when I get some sleep.” Marcus then covered the bike’s cargo section with the canvas, concealing the two robots. He then undressed and put on his dry clothes, hoping it would make him look less inconspicuous, or at the very least offer some warmth. He then opened his HUD again and brought up the Breacher rating system he had memorized.

┏ ┓

Rank

Power rating

Sphere suitability

1

Alpha

1-9

None

2

Beta

10-19

Light Blue Sphere

3

Beta+

20-39

Blue Sphere

4

Beta++

40-99

Dark Blue Sphere

5

Gamma

100-199

Light Red Sphere

6

Gamma+

200-399

Red Sphere

7

Gamma++

400-999

Dark Red Sphere

┗ ┛

‘I’m already at a Power rating of six. It won’t be long until I rank up to Beta,' he thought, a faint smile creeping across his face. Even with a Power rating of 10, he knew he’d still be no match for his sister. But the fact he’d grown this much in just two months spoke volumes about his potential.

‘Let’s hope tomorrow goes well,’ Marcus thought as he turned around to stare at the distant blue Sphere still visible through the forest one last time.