About fifteen minutes before the sun went down, we made camp in a small clearing. After we had a fire going and our bedrolls set up, I decided to press Jonas again about where we were going and what we were doing.

"To get you a robot," was all he would say about it. He instructed me to get some rest since the next day would be long. Knowing how stubborn he was, I didn't see the point of pressing him further, so I turned away and went to sleep in anger.

Jonas woke me up as the sun was still rising over the hills. After we ate some dried rations and I relieved myself, we packed up and set off. We walked along the trail for about two more hours. At times it was impossible to even say that we walked along a trail, but Jonas seemed to know where we were going.

The last hour was almost exclusively along an excruciatingly steep incline. I, therefore, knew that we were traveling up the side of a mountain. However, it was hard to see how high the mountain was due to the dense canopy of trees.

Finally, the ground evened out just moments before we came upon an extensive cut in the side of the mountain. The gash looked to be the beginning of a deep cave system. Crammed inside the large incision in the hill was a robot-producing sphere.

"An orb?" I asked, awestruck. I wasn't expecting a response.

Even though the Orb was wedged firmly into the side of a mountain, its shiny black exterior was without blemish. I couldn't see the entire sphere since it was nearly covered by a plethora of foliage. In front of the sphere was a downed and decaying tree. Numerous bushes were growing around the area, and an unknown species of vines were growing out of control around the whole thing.

"How is this here?" I asked in incredulity.

"Don't know."

"Well, how long has it been here?"

"I don't know that either," Jonas said, folding his arms. "As far as I know, it has always been here."

"Always been here? Then how are you the only one to know about it."

"That's a long story. I'll tell you about it later. Right now, we have to work to do."

I walked closer to it and searched for a visible open area. I reached out and touched the smooth surface of the Orb. Nothing happened.

"Is it broke?" I asked.

"Don't be so impatient. You can't touch it anywhere you want. We'll have to clear all the foliage to get to the area."

Jonas pointed to the area I needed to touch; unfortunately, it had the most debris. We set our bags to the side and started working. It took us an hour or two of hard work to clear out all the various plants and fallen trees from around the Orb. In that time, Jonas donned his robot in Lesser Symbiotic Mode so we could move a fallen tree into a more advantageous position.

He dragged the large rotting hunk of wood closer to the sphere so I could stand up on top of it and reach the required spot to trigger the process. When he dropped the log, a deep rumbling sound echoed up from the cavern. I looked toward the sound and could see pieces of the cavern's edge fall into inky blackness.

"I don't think this is safe."

"Let's hurry and get this done then."

"Don't move," a voice instructed.

Both Jonas and I turned to where the voice originated. Two Kingdom Guards were stepping out of the woods in Symbiotic Mode. The guard in the lead had a sword drawn, and another on his heels carried a standard issue halberd.

Even though they were ready for battle, they hardly looked at us; their eyes were glued to the recently uncovered robot orb. Jonas took a step toward them, also still in his armor. His movement tore their eyes from the Orb and back to us.

"Jonas Gearwon, Martial Class. Brawler sub-class. You are wanted in connection to the current leader of the Black Hole Rebellion, Gili Roon Gearwon, also known as Silver Hawk. Non-compliance will be seen as hostile and met with force," the sword-wielding guard stated.

"Well, this went to shit," Jonas said. I just stared dumbly at him for a moment. The sentences uttered by the guard caused my vision to narrow and my heart to thud in my chest like an exploding volcano.

"You are both ordered to exit Symbiotic Mode and shut down your robot companions."

"I don't even have a robot," I said, still delirious. It was at that time I realized I should have shut up. Both the guards were focused on Jonas until I opened my mouth. After I spoke, the guard who hadn't said anything turned his attention to me.

"He has nothing to do with this. Leave him be," Jonas growled.

The guard ignored Jonas' warning and continued to move forward with his halberd pointed in my direction.

"Greater Symbiotic Mode," Jonas stated quietly. He couldn't transform as quietly, though.

Since he was already in Lesser Symbiotic Mode, the exoskeleton enhancement was already running down his spine and limbs. His helmet started to grow plates that ran down his head and created a mask that covered the top portion of his face. After completing the helm, it moved down to cover his shoulder in angular pauldrons.

Overlapping plates grew from the exoskeleton to cover the rest of his back and chest. The same process continued over his legs with the addition of cuisses. He even had a part covering the tops of his boots.

The two large spike canisters on his forearms started to morph. As the canisters changed, Jonas' lightly armored hands became more prominent. The spikes he always used for planting disappeared from his left arm to be replaced with sleek armor that completely surrounded his appendage to the pauldron.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

The canister on his right arm appeared to deflate as the armor worked its way up his arm, but it didn't completely disappear. As the armor grew, he lifted his arm to the sky from his elbow. Jonas clenched his fist, and a gleaming sword shot out of the recess instead of a spike. When he released his fist, it shot back in.

Even though he was a Labor Class in Greater Symbiotic Mode, he looked like a knight going into battle. I offhandedly thought about how weird it was that a Labor Class looked like that, but then I realized what the guard said about him. I immediately dismissed the thought as I watched him take a step toward the guards.

Before I even noticed or the guard could make a move, Jonas was at his side. He gripped the man's weapon and swung it around while the guard held on. Jonas released it, and the halberd flew toward the edge of the clearing with the guard still attached.

"Go get a robot," Jonas said to me. "I'll take care of these two." I moved to obey his order.

"No, you don't," hollered the still standing guard. My back was turned to him so I couldn't see, but I heard him yell, "Force slash!"

I jumped to the side on instinct, and an arc of blue energy flew past me. The slash was at a lower angle and began digging into the dirt until it struck the Orb. The attack didn't damage the Orb, but the sound of it hitting the metallic sphere echoed up from the cavern like an enormous prayer bell.

I picked myself off the ground, moved to the side, and ran to pick up my spear. Jonas told me to get a robot, but I thought it was too dangerous. The guard thrown by Jonas was getting to his feet, and I watched him to see what he would do. He didn't even give me a second look since he was focused on his partner as he clashed with Jonas.

"Watch out," I yelled as the guard with the halberd looked to insert himself into the fight.

Jonas looked over to the other guard quickly, then his sword arm retracted, and he slammed his fist into the ground. "Earth shock!" he yelled, and the ground started rippling away. The two guards stumbled from the rolling earth. The guard with the halberd must have been too off balance because he fell over.

Jonas moved toward the sword-wielding guard, but the guard launched a force slash at him. Jonas jumped out of the way, but another force slash was sent at him. The guard kept sending the slashes, one after another, forcing Jonas to continue dodging. While he was forced to dodge, the halberd-wielding guard got up off the ground.

Probably thinking that his partner had his fight under control, he focused on me again and started moving. He didn't go slowly that time. His advance was determined, and when he was in range to strike me, he stopped and swung the halberd, trying to cleave me in two.

I stepped forward inside his reach and blocked his pole with mine. I wouldn't have been able to go backward due to the spike on the tip of the halberd. It was a lose-lose situation for me.

My block did little to slow the guard's attack. His pole slammed into my side and arm. I flew from my spot, tumbling on the ground for at least ten feet.

I groaned in pain from the tumble and tried to get up, but I was unable. I did manage to turn my body in the direction of the guard. He was moving toward me again with slow, cautious steps.

I had to figure out how to deal with him. I clearly couldn't fight against him one on one. The guard's compatibility percentage with his robot was just too high. There was no way that I would be able to defeat him without a robot of my own. Unfortunately, there was no way I would be able to get a robot of my own without taking care of this problem. Quite the conundrum.

In the blink of an eye, Jonas was between my attacker and me. He was actually a lot closer to my attacker, and he moved with lightning speed. First, Jonas was in front of the guard. Then, he was within the guard's reach. After, he grabbed the guard and lifted him into the air.

"I said, get away from him," Jonas bellowed. He pivoted as he yelled and threw the guard over his shoulder.

The hapless guard pinwheeled through the air toward the crevice and Orb. He struck the ground with a loud crunch of bending metal and bones. After hitting the ground and tumbling for a few feet, he stopped in a lump a meter from the cavern's drop-off.

I waited for the guard to get up, but he didn't move. I then remembered the first guard Jonas was dealing with, and I looked around wildly to find the possible threat. I spotted him not too far from where the two had been fighting. Unlike the guard attacking me, he was hunched over on the ground and clutching his stomach. He was also slowly starting to get up.

"I'll take care of these two. Just go get to the Orb and get you a robot," Jonas said without looking at me. I didn't bother to answer verbally, I just nodded even though he couldn't see it, and then I got up off the ground and moved toward the Orb.

From the corner of my eye, I could see the guard's head snap up as I started moving toward the Orb.

"Overdrive," the guard yelled, and Jonas cursed.

I had no idea why the guard yelled what he did, but I was astonished as he leaped into the air higher than I thought possible. He sailed over our heads, his knees tucked into his chest. Then he slammed into the ground between my position and the Orb. His sword pierced the ground, and he yelled again.

"Force wave!"

The ground rumbled and then rolled, throwing me off balance. Jonas ran toward the guard, seemingly nonplussed by the moving earth. Cracks started to form on the ground at the edge of the cavern. I could see them moving to the unconscious guard. The cracks surrounded him and then crumbled and gave way with the fallen guard sliding into the abyss.

The fissures continued spreading across the ground, but they didn't make their way to the Orb. As the second guard fell, a look of doubt and sadness flitted across the face of the first. But, just as it appeared, it was replaced with a hard mask of purpose. When the cracks didn't reach the Orb, his visage changed to disgust.

Then the guard saw Jonas sprinting toward him. He pulled his sword from the ground; it was all he could do to meet his charging opponent. However, it was too little too late.

Instead of Jonas colliding with the guard or stopping to meet him weapon to weapon, Jonas jumped into the air with his legs leading. The bottom of his feet slammed into the guard just as he finished pulling his sword from the ground. He hadn't been able to adopt a proper fighting stance.

I heard a crack of bones as the guard's chest caved in from the power of the attack. The guard was sent rocketing back. He flew through the air, his head flipping back until it was lower than the rest of his body, and he fell cleanly into the dark cavern to join his fellow guard.

Jonas hit the guard with such force that his own momentum wasn't stopped when the two collided. Even though his trajectory brought him swiftly toward the ground, he continued to move toward the edge of the cavern's drop-off. He dug his hand into the ground to grab anything that could slow his slide, but there wasn't anything for him to hold.

I jumped up to rush to him. There was no way that I would reach him in time, but if he could find something to stop him from falling into the cavern, I wanted to be there to help him out. Unfortunately, he couldn't find purchase on anything, and he was moving too fast.

Just as his feet reached the edge, Jonas managed to push himself up and deploy his robot forearm blade. He yelled as he slammed his fist into the ground, and just before he would have broken his hand, the sword protruded from its holster and dug into the ground, arresting his slide.

He screamed in pain at the sudden stop, and the force of it caused the blade to tilt in the dirt. His other arm searched for additional purchases, but he couldn't find any. I could see as his sword started to slowly pull out of the hole, and he subsequently dipped further off the edge of the cavern.

"Dad!" I yelled as I ran.

His body was hanging over the edge more than halfway, but I was almost to his position already. He was scrambling for anything to pull himself up by, and just as I reached him, his sword lost its purchase in the ground. I leaped forward to grab his arm as he started to slide. My hand clasped the metal of his forearm, and I scrambled around to plant my feet on the ground.

I stopped mere feet away from the edge.

Working together, we managed to get him off the edge, and we moved a safe distance away.