The faster pace that I hoped to maintain didn't last long. The further down I went between all the hills, the thicker the vegetation became. I peered at my map, and it looked like there was a flat river or stream bed that I would have been able to walk along, but I was having trouble finding a path through the thick foliage.

After turning around and backtracking up the hill a few times, I just walked above the thickest section of vegetation. The path consisted of a lot of twisting and turning to make it through. By midafternoon my left leg was cramping, and my right ankle was sore from being constantly at an angle.

Toward the late afternoon, when the sun began to tickle the tops of the mountains and the shadows grew long, I knew I had to find some shelter for the night. I again looked at my map and was dismayed at the pitiful distance I had covered. I had a decent amount of dried rations, but at the pace I was going, I would run out well before I made it to the city.

While walking, I scanned everything I could with my goggles. From what little information my father told me, the robots run off of De and using the robots' abilities causes it to use more. However, using more causes it to draw in more. The more De that's drawn in, the quicker compatibility rises.

I thought that might be one area of my robot where I would have an advantage compared to other robots. Robotic skills were limited in Companion Mode. Most people only have one or two, which aren't suitable for every occasion.

Additionally, robots don't absorb De in Symbiotic Mode; De can be used but not absorbed until the robot returns to Compatibility Mode. I was constantly using the DTA program to analyze everything I could and the map program to know where I was. I wasn't sure if those counted as two different things, but I felt I was on the right track as long as I used my robot consistently.

I wanted to check if my current compatibility rating increased with all the use I was putting it through. I also wanted to take some time to delve further into my robot's capabilities, but I still had more pressing concerns. With only a few more hours of light, I needed to find a good place to hunker down for the night. I felt confident that I wasn't being followed by the guards, but I felt lucky that I hadn't run into any other wildlife since I started.

There were numerous wild animals in the hills and mountains I was traversing, also various De monsters that could be found. I wanted to find a place that didn't look lived in, was defensible and could protect me from the elements. If I couldn't find anything like that, it would be a long, cold night tied to a tree.

I started scouting the areas I could see and saw a few places that would be good to check out. I wished I could add a dot on the map to tell how far away I was from the spot. Then I thought that maybe I could.

"CoreLink," I said. I didn't feel right to just start speaking. I knew that it didn't seem to matter to my robotic goggles, but it mattered to me. Of course, nothing changed in my display, so I just continued, "Place marker on the map."

- Map marker options - Manual or Line of Sight (LOS)?

"Line of sight," I responded excitedly.

It wasn't only that I could put the marker on the map, but the fact that I could look at something and place a marker that had me so excited. If I set it manually, I couldn't be sure I had the right spot. I could put it exactly where I needed it with a line of sight.

The process was complex and slightly jarring. I could tell the marker was moving along the map wherever I looked. However, the marker moved every time I looked at the map to see where it was placed. After that happened a few times, I tried to cross my eyes and make them unfocused. I realized I had to trust that the marker was where I wanted.

Then, I ran into a different problem. With the marker where I wanted, or so I thought, I had to ensure it stayed there. I had no idea how to do it. Even though I was alone, or maybe because of it, it felt weird to always be talking out loud.

"Drop the point," I said after a lot of internal debate about what to say. Ultimately, I felt it was best to be as straightforward as possible with what I wanted. Fortune smiled upon me as the point on the map stayed where I had wanted it.

Then another surprise came.

- Would you like to plot a route to this point? Y/N

"Yes," I said.

I was excited at the prospect of my robot creating a nice and easy path for me to get to my destination. I imagined my route would take me around the tree and thick underbrush and find the way with the least amount of rocks and loose soil. Unfortunately, it didn't do anything like that. A straight red line on my map went from my current position to the point I had placed down.

"Wow, I never would have found that route; thank you, CoreLink map, for your awesome guidance."

I dismissed the plotted route since it was utterly useless, but I placed a few more points of interest. That way, I had options if the first didn't pan out.

The first didn't pan out.

It wasn't horrible; it was flat and had some space where I could make a fire, but that was it. I looked around again, focusing first on the other areas where I placed markers.

I found a place that looked perfect for staying the night, and I still had time before dark to get there. Traveling to the spot I found didn't take long since I could consistently use my map to ensure I stayed on track. As I saw from my first stop, the area was perfect for staying the night.

The place was situated between an immense split in the rocks on the side of the hill. It went back far enough to give me protection but not so far that a creature would make the spot it home. If I made my fire the right way, so it stayed lit all night and placed it in the optimal position, I would be able to sleep without worrying too much.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

I was a little winded once I got there from walking at such a steep incline, mainly due to the vegetation dictating the direction from which I arrived. I took a couple of minutes to catch my breath, and while I did, I admired the view. I knew in the grand scheme of the mountains, I didn't travel that far, but I was deep enough that the vast expanse of the mountains spread out in my vista. I felt a serene sense of awe wash over me, and it helped to calm my thoughts from everything I had been through; after all, it had only been a single day.

Before I could get too far down that trail of thinking, I got to work setting up my campsite. I made a place for my pack and cleared a space for my bedding. Then I went to gather up materials for a fire.

Many materials were lying around, so I didn't have to go far. Once all the material was gathered, I made my fire pit, which was less of a pit and more of a rock-ringed circle. I cleared any flammable brush from the ring and set up the fire.

Once my area was set up and the fire was burning, I got some of the rations from my pack and quickly ate what I thought was prudent. I knew I still had a long way to go, but I was starving from all my walking that day.

I ate quickly, then settled down to take a long look through the functions of my robot. I knew a few things about them from reading my book and occasionally talking about them with my father. Still, I was hoping to learn more from him after I received it. Unfortunately, I was on my own.

"Show me the status," I said.

Instead of the words appearing in the upper left of my vision, the status that appeared took up nearly the entire area. Apparently, to look at the status requires the words to be larger.

-Status of Robotic Companion Initializing…

-Running….

-Condition: Fully functional

-Compatibility: 0.05%

-Passive Functions: Corelink

- Companion Mode

-Active Functions: Symbiotic Mode

- Overdrive

-Installed Programs: Map

- Detect, Target, Analyze (DTA) [Uses Function Slot]

No other information appeared, and I was seriously annoyed. If this was all the information it would give, then I wondered what the heck my father was looking at all the time when he messed around with his robot.

I thought about what I knew about my robot. It seemed like the CoreLink was the critical piece of information. The map and DTA were programs I had to download. While I had more to learn about them, they seemed reasonably straightforward. The active functions were easy to figure out, too; they were the functions I needed to activate.

The Companion Mode of the passive functions was the same. The only thing I needed more info on how to use was CoreLink. Then I remembered the help menu I had searched through before. I thought that would be the best place to start looking for information on what I wanted.

"CoreLink, Help Menu, status."

- Help Menu –

- Status – Robot or Personal?

I then realized the mistake I had made. I did mention that I wanted to see the robot's status. I didn't know that there were two different ones, but I also didn't know if I was unique in that aspect.

I did feel that it would have been mentioned if there were two different ones. I shrugged it off and closed out of the help menu. It was helpful, but I was sure that if I looked it up in the help menu, it would just give me a poor definition.

"Open Personal Status."

- Personal Status -

- Name: Matthew Gearwon

- Class: Regulator

- Robot Compatibility: 0.05%

- Compatibility to next boon: 0.05%

- Attack: Natural Realm – Unknown – More parameters needed

- Defense: Natural Realm – 6

This is the information I was more excited to see, but I was left a little disappointed by the lack of it. Still, there were some things that I needed to look up for more information. I decided to begin at the top and find out what it meant by boon.

"Corelink, search Robot boon."

- Searching CoreLink…

- Search Complete – Approximately 13,000,000 results (0.49 Seconds)

- When a robotic user increases their compatibility to a sufficient degree, a boon is granted to give the user more power. Boons usually consist of extra abilities, advanced capabilities, or additional functions. Each person receives different boons based on different parameters.

That was the type of information that I needed. Suppose I was at 0.05% compatibility from just one day of having my robot, and the rate continued at that pace. In that case, I could expect to get the boon by the following evening or early morning at the latest. I did wonder if my rate increase was fast or slow. I also needed to check how often I could expect to receive the boons.

Currently, my robot, well, I didn't want to say it was useless, but if I got in a fight, I would be seriously in trouble. I needed to get to that boon to hopefully get something that could smite my enemies down in a single blow. Since I had goggles, I hoped I would get a devastating eye blast that could cut through a mountain. Then I wouldn't have to worry about guards, monsters, or anything else for the rest of my life.

I sighed. I knew that was a fantasy, and I no longer had that luxury, so I focused on the next aspect I needed to look up.

"CoreLink, search Natural Realm."

- Searching CoreLink….

- Search complete – Approximately 122,000,000 results (0.40 seconds)

- Natural Realm is the first layer of De cultivation in the Girdiq Alliance Method of Cultivation. This realm indicates the practitioner is in the beginning stages of their cultivation or lacks any semblance of the De cultivation. It is followed by the Mystic Realm, where the body and mind's capabilities are significantly increased.

That was a super-loaded paragraph if I ever read one. I almost didn't even know where to start for my next question. Although, one element did stand out that seemed like it would answer multiple questions.

"What is Girdig Alliance Method of Cultivation?"

Searching CoreLink…

Search Complete – Approximately 318,000,000 results (0.29 seconds)

Girdig Alliance Method of Cultivation: This is the galaxy-wide summation of multiple cultures' collections of techniques to develop the De energies in the body. Increasing the De energies has benefits ranging from increased health to near divine-like abilities. These abilities depend on numerous factors such as species, race…(more.)

I was wrong about it answering multiple questions. It just made more. I spent some more time following the questions that popped up from the answers I received from CoreLink. I had no idea how long I sat there, barely moving and asking question after question. Eventually, I must have passed out. I remember my eyes getting extremely heavy, but I thought I could push through.

I knew I had fallen asleep as soon as my eyes snapped open as I heard a rustling at my campsite.