My eyes opened, I was looking up at two moons in the night sky.

The planet has two moons? That I did not know.

I moved my head to the right, I saw Ivona drawing something on the ground and was pointing towards it. Vincent was there next to her, looking intently at it. Trying to communicate?

I sat myself up and saw that I had bandages around my waist. Wait, did we win? Where are the villagers?

I looked around, but only saw Vincent and Ivona, and some dead dynami.

Vincent noticed me and walked up to me.

„Hey, you. . ."

„Don't say it again," I cut him off.

Vincent had bandages around his right arm and right leg.

„I see that they got you."

„Yeah, I couldn't dodge all of their attacks."

„What happened? How did we win?"

„Well, Ivona's crossbow is much more powerful than we thought."

„What, did she shoot many arrows at once or something?"

„No, she used some of her special zettra made arrows and somehow made it fly and hit many dynami at once."

I wish I could have seen that.

„Some of them managed to run away from us, probably seeing what that artifact could do made them scared."

Artifacts were powerful, but what was up with mine? It made me go flying when I block an attack.

Ivona walked towards us with a disappointed face.

„What's wrong?" I asked.

„They aren't here," she said with a sad tone.

I didn't need to ask who.

„Did they send them somewhere else?"

„Probably. This is just a small dynami bandit camp, there must be a bigger one somewhere else."

„Bandits?"

They did look like bandits, they didn't have much good stuff on them.

„These dynami are not part of the Dynami Empire. They were just thugs."

The planet has a full Empire? How could Vincent not see that when first coming to the planet? That must mean we really aren't on the same planet. How could the shield bring us to a different star system?

„So what should we do now? Try and find the bandit camp?" I asked in both languages.

„Ivona drew out a map for me and showed the closest human town that we should go to," Vincent said.

Are we not going to try and find the villagers? I glanced at Ivona, she was looking down at the ground with her sad expression.

„I'm sorry."

Ivona looked up.

„I'm sorry we couldn't make it in time."

„It's fine. We might find them later on. They might still be alive," she said strongly, hiding her sadness from me.

I managed to stand up, I still felt pain around me.

„How long was I out?"

„About an hour and a half."

I thought I was out much longer than that.

I then asked if Vincent and Ivona have found anything useful around here. Vincent said that he found nothing of value to us, except for swords that he and I could use. And some supplies for our journey.

I need to practice using my left hand for combat. If not, I wouldn't be as useful.

Wait a minute.

I looked at the shield when we were about finished up at the camp.

I completely forgot! There are nanomachines in me!

I looked at the shield screen which was still active.

I pressed the middle button and a selection menu came up. I scrolled down until I found something that looked promising.

I unchecked the option for 'Fasten Shield On Artifact Wielder'. Then the shield dropped to the ground.

Finally! Screw this thing! I don't want to have it on me anymore!

Vincent and Ivona noticed.

„You got it off?" Vincent said.

„Yup, you can have it, I don't want it anymore."

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

Vincent walked towards it and picked it up with his hands.

„Are you sure?"

Why is Vincent not just immediately giving the shield a price and putting it in his backpack?

„When we found the shield first, you wanted it right? Now you can have it. It's all yours."

Ivona looked intently at us, trying to figure out what we are talking about? And I think she knew.

„You do know you will die when abandoning your artifact, right?"

I looked at her with a shocked expression.

„I'm sorry, what?"

„When an artifact wielder leaves his artifact for some time, the connection in your heart will fail, and you will die."

She must be joking.

„Who on this planet decided that was a great idea!?" I yelled in confusion.

„No one knows, but people think the gods made all the artifacts."

Gods? Really? I am going to be stuck with a nanomachine infested shield for the rest of my life?

„What about you? Did you know that when connecting with your crossbow?"

„Many artifact hunters know this. If they liked the weapon they would connect to it, if not they would likely sell it. I like using a crossbow, and I was lucky enough to find this in some ruins."

Well, I didn't know that at the time! I was in a live or die moment! I didn't have time to think of my actions!

If I will really die when I leave the shield, then I guess I have to take it. And like Vincent said back in the tent, these nanomachines are not the same as we encountered before.

I hated it, but I have to deal with it.

I stepped towards Vincent and took back the shield and strapped it on my left arm.

„So, where are we heading?"

„Wow, just like that you're fine holding it."

„Shut up."

----------

We left the camp and moved towards the town known as Penrith, it might take us a day to get there. It was the first time in a long time that I was going on a long journey on foot.

I was looking at my screen while moving forward. The programs that I saw before had once full of them, but now it had decreased in its options to choose from. And even worse, half of them have the same locked symbol, and their names all glitched out.

I looked up at the night sky, the two moons were still there.

„Hey, Vincent, are those the same moons when you first flew to this planet?"

Vincent looked up.

„I didn't really look at them much before. So I don't know. But I know there were two moons when I landed my ship."

Damn.

„So do you think you will find your ship again?"

„No."

At least say something more than just, "no".

„Why not?"

„I scanned the planet and the other three when I first came here. They had no humans or lizards around. And my computer would have told me that there was an Empire full of lizardmen. This must not be the same planet we were on."

Just as I thought, this was a different place.

I looked back down at my screen. Then when scrolling down once, I found a program that says: 'Distribute Language'.

I thought for a second. Would this be able to give Vincent the ability to talk? If it could, should I do it?

Vincent needed me for communication, and if I would give him it, he might not need me anymore.

He would likely not kill me, but he might leave me. But isn't that a good thing?

I first went to Ivona and asked if she knew something about this.

„Hey, does this program make others know the language?" I asked and showed her the screen.

„I have never heard of an artifact that could give others new languages before, but by reading this it sounds like it could."

„Should I try it with Vincent?"

„First you should hold down the button to see what it does."

Wait, you can do that?

I held the button down. Then came a new text about how it worked.

It read: 'The one the wielder chooses to distribute the language shall move his hand on the artifact, then the distribution begins'. Not much else about it.

„Vincent, come here for a second," I called out.

„What is it?"

„I found a program that might give you the human language here."

„Oh?"

He sounded interested.

„You have to move your hand above the shield, then I begin the program."

„Wait a second, is it going to give me pain like it happened to you back at the ruins?"

„I don't know, just come and be my guinea pig and we'll see."

Now he didn't like the idea of doing this. But I am sure he wanted the language and didn't want me to explain everything to him.

„Alright, fine," he said and moved his hand above the shield and touched it.

I pressed the button.

The shield made a whirring sound and trapped Vincent's hand with a strange magnetic field. Then I heard the familiar sound of a needle emerging from the shield.

Vincent made a slight reaction from it, but it looked like he was prepared for it, maybe he knew what might happen?

Is the shield going to give him some of the Nanos?

Vincent groaned, he was trying to hide the pain.

The shield stopped making a sound and released Vincent's hand.

He got down on his knees and was wavering.

He eventually fell down on the ground holding with both hands at his head and was groaning in pain. It might be too much getting the entire language to his brain.

For some reason, I loved seeing him on the ground in pain, probably because he deserved it. I didn't even think to ask if he was okay.

A few seconds passed, Ivona and I were looking at him, and only Ivona looked worried. He finally stopped groaning and stood up, but it was difficult for him, Ivona helped him out.

„Well? Do you know the language now?" I asked.

„I don't know, try saying something," he said with a sore throat.

I grabbed a water container and gave it to him.

„Here take this, it should help your throat after all that groaning," I said in Ivona's language.

He looked surprised for a moment, then a smile came from him.

He took the container and drank some of it, then looked at me.

„It looks like you don't have to be my translator droid anymore," he said in the new language.

Ivona heard him and knew what he was saying.

„Wow, that's incredible. You took in the entire dialect into your brain at once without collapsing," Ivona said with surprise.

Vincent was stronger than me, so of course, he managed to withstand it.

We decided to rest, to give Vincent his strength back. A campfire was built and we thought about shifts for the rest of the night.

Ivona took the first shift.

The last time I went to sleep was back at the space station, not counting the times I was knocked out.

Huh.

While thinking that, it was actually my shield who made me go unconscious three times.

Screw this thing, honestly.

Before I went to sleep I took a last look at the programs, and I found one called: 'Wind protection'. What's that supposed to be?

I held it down and a text screen came up about it, it was set on passive, and it was the thing that made me go flying when someone attacked me.

I deactivated it and tried to see what would happen when I hold down my finger on the name. A screen came up that asked me if I would want to change the name.

I pressed 'yes' and renamed it to: 'Don't use this piece of crap wind protection thing'.