Spotting the robo-thing called Unit 69, I saw it was tearing through the walls of the mansion Probably searching for us.

Prepared for what I was about to do, I took in a deep breath before letting out a shout.

“Hey you metal monster! Come and get me!”

Hearing my voice, the robot turned toward me and held out its arm. Creating some kind of laser cannon, Unit 69 fired at me over and over again only for me to weave my way past the lasers and stop at its chest.

Not wasting an opening, I struck my pitchfork into Unit 69’s waist only for it to bounce off.

“Crap,” I muttered before flying back. Dodging its hand right as it was about to smack me away.

“Eliminate…Intruder…Destroy…Intruder…!” shouted Unit 69.

“Well, this thing’s sturdy. I’ll give it that.”

I had put a lot of force into that pitchfork thrust, so that fact it didn’t pierce anything really showed what that cube thing meant when it said this thing was tough.

Trying to think up another strategy, I started casting a spell.

“Bring forth a line of fire to scar my enemies. Flame Blast!”

Pointing my pitchfork at Unit 69, a flame similar to the enemy's laser was sent forward. Digging a bit into the robo-things metal exterior.

I thought that maybe I might’ve found something I could against it. However, moments later, it let out a loud hissing sound, and the flames dispersed from its body.

“So this thing is fireproof, huh? Guess I’ll need to try something else.”

Well, I said that, but I had a feeling that simply thrusting magic attacks at it would be a bad idea.

Because of that, I decided the best thing for now was to draw it away from Axel so I flew past it as fast as I could.

It followed close behind me as I shot thorugh the halls and stairs until I finally landed at the front door and opened it wide before getting into the air again.

Once outside, I had a lot more room to work with so I flew through the sky and I looked down below at Unit 69 who was staring up at me.

Since it wasn’t following, I figured it didn’t have the ability to fly which worked to my advantage.

So with that in mind, I finally found a way to escape its attacks in case a strategy I came up with didn’t wor…

“...Wait. What’s it doing?”

Looking down, I watched Unit 69 move over to the nearby pile of robot parts that we had been piling up into a nearby pit.

Then, without hesitation, it dug its hands into the pile. Causing me to tilt my head in confusion.

“What’s it trying to do right now?” I asked myself.

I got my answer soon enough when, after twenty seconds of digging through the pile, Unit 69 pulled out some weird device.

“Applying…Morphosis…”

Clenching the weird device tightly, Unit 69 suddenly slammed it onto its rear, and out of nowhere, a metal ooze formed on its back. Attaching the new part to its body.

“What the-!? Why didn’t that cube thing tell me it could do that!?” I shouted. Completely dumbfounded at this turn of events.

Once it was positive the item was on, Unit 69 turned toward me and after a few moments, the item on its back sparked a bit before letting out flames. Shooting it up in my direction.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me!?” I shouted while trying to fly away.

I had thought I’d gained an advantage, but it seems it took no time at all for Unit 69 to adapt to my abilities. That wasn’t ideal.

And now, having lost my advantage, all I could do was try to block its moves and come up with a solution to beat it.

“Come on! What would Axel do in a situation like this!?”

I mean, he’d normally beat things like this to a pulp with magic. But seeing as he can just send a barrage of spells without needing to cast a single incantation, I wasn’t exactly in the same ballpark.

With no strategy coming to mind, I simply turned around and ducked under Unit 69 as it flew over me. Then, putting force into my pitchfork, I tried digging it into the unit's body.

Unlike last time, I managed to actually get a bit deeper and I was able to force it back by tossing its body with my pitchfork.

“Haaah!”

Gripping the pitchfork tightly, I did exactly that, and Unit 69 went flying through the air.

“Error…Enemy is…Competent…”

“Wah-!?”

What was that supposed to mean!?

“Readjusting calculations…Increase max…power…”

“Wait…what was that?”

Just as I had processed what the enemy said, I suddenly felt an arm slam into my stomach and I was sent flying.

“Ack!”

Trying to keep myself from focusing on my pain, I saw Unit 69 rushing toward me at rapid speed and I ducked as its body barely grazed the hair on my head

It seems this thing wasn’t taking me seriously before, meaning this was probably its actual abilities.

That kinda impressed me, but it also made me wonder something. Why would something so incredibly powerful be scrapped without removing all these things!? It seems kinda dangerous!

Trying to pick up my speed, I dodged another blow from Unit 69 and attempted to stab it with my pitchfork once more.

This time, however, it was prepared and avoided the attack before grabbing the tip of the pitchfork and yanking it out of my hands.

Then, without a moment's hesitation, it sent the pitchfork flying.

“Okay now that’s just rude,” I muttered before casting a spell that made my pitchfork reappear in my hand.

Annoyed by this, I think, Unit 69 held its hand together.

“Activate…Transformation: Version 2.”

“Version 2?”

I was confused what it meant by that. But after a few moments, I got my answer as its hands morphed into shark claws and its feet changed to resemble the gadget on its back.

“High-Speed Aerial Form…Now Active.”

“Aerial form?”

I wanted to be give Unit 69 a confused look. However, I didn’t have time for that as its legs started letting out a small fire that sent it flying forward at rapid speed.

“It’s even faster now!?” I screamed. Feeling one of the sharp claws on Unit 69's arms scratch my cheek.

“How is Axel supposed to beat something of this speed? Was that cube thing lying to me!? Is this her attempt to try and kill me or something!?”

As these thoughts crossed my mind, I gripped my pitchfork tightly and tried to watch for Unit 69’s next move.

Sensing it on my right, I sent my pitchfork flying in hopes of hitting my opponent. However, I was only met with air as it appeared on my left side.

“A fake out!?”

This robot was intelligent enough to trick a human!? Just how smart was this thing!?

Well, it didn’t matter. I needed to keep this thing busy for as long as I could!

Dodging its attack, I brought back my pitchfork and slammed it into Unit 69’s face. Hitting it directly in the giant red eyes.

The eyes shattered and fell to the ground. Causing Unit 69 to hesitate.

Taking this chance, I gripped my pitchfork and sunk it deep into Unit 69’s chest.

“Raaaah!”

Pushing the pitchfork further, I smashed Unit 69 into the ground causing sparks to come flying out of its body.

“Error. Speed increased…durablity…decreased. Must…calculate countermeasures…”

“Oh no you don’t!”

I didn’t understand what some of those words meant, but if it was trying to pull off some new skill or move, there was no way I was gonna let it!

Lifting up my pitchfork with the enemy still attached, I landed on the ground and dug my feet into the dirt.

“Haaaah!”

With a shout, I thrust my pitchfork into some nearby tree and it crashed into them one after another. As I did so, trees fell left and right. Creating a line of destruction in its wake. I hope Axel won’t be mad about that.

But leaving that be for now, I spread my wings and flew toward where the trail ended only to find my pitchfork lying on the ground.

“Where did it-!?”

Before I could finish that sentence, I felt something stab into my shoulder.

“Danger…perceptors disabled…unable to…get clear visual…”

From behind me, it seemed like this thing was trying to go for the killing blow as it dug into me with its claws. But since I took out its eyes, it couldn’t see clearly.

I’d say that was a lucky break on my part, but considering I was still in massive pain, the fact it didn’t hit any vitals hadn’t changed much.

Yanking out its claws to try again, I flew back in order to gain some distance between us and rested my hand on the stab wound.

“Bring forth a healing light to cure this pain. Small Heal!”

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

I didn’t have the skill in healing magic to patch myself up, so the best I could do was seal up the wound until it either was healed or got proper treatment.

Once I was confident I was healed up enough, I charged at the enemy who was lost on where I went.

“Warning…Heart beat detected…enemy found…”

Crap. Looks like it could still hear me

Turning toward my direction, I dodged one of its claws and tried to strike its chest with all my might.

However, it seemed prepared for this and grabbed my pitchfork before tossing it away and gripping its fist tightly.

Then, moving at a speed I couldn’t possibly keep up with, Unit 69 smashed its fist into my chest.

Feeling my ribs crack, I was sent flying into some nearby trees.

Trying to push myself to my feet after I landed, I suddenly felt something rise in my throat and a bit of blood escaped my lips.

“Crap. This doesn’t look good,” I muttered as I tried bringing my pitchfork back to me.

Perhaps sensing my intentions, Unit 69 jumped forward and slammed its fist into my side. Sending me flying once more. This time, high into the sky.

Then, without wasting a second to attack, it lifted its leg up high and slammed it into my back. Causing me to crash into the ground below.

“Ack!”

With my head throbbing, I shakily got onto my feet.

“No matter what…I’ll keep stalling until Axel’s recovered,” I muttered as blood dripped from my body. My vision was a bit hazy and I couldn’t keep myself standing straight. Even so, I was planning to stand my ground to the end. No matter what.

Landing in front of me, Unit 69 transformed one of its hands into a drill and started walking forward.

“Final blow mode…activated.”

Hearing that, I tried to summon my pitchfork to defend myself, but all my energy was completely gone.

It seemed at this point, I didn’t have much left I could do. Even so, I wasn’t about to give up.

Curling my fists, I prepared myself to throw a punch. To which Unit 69 didn’t react at all.

“Good…Bye…”

Those were its last words to me as it readied its final attack.

And then...

“Get the hell away from her!”

Suddenly, a strong wind blew Unit 69 away, and then, someone's silhouette appeared in front of me.

“A-Axel?”

That had sounded like him. Was I mistaken?

Turning their head toward me, the silhouette nodded its head.

“You fought hard out there Xara. Now leave the rest to me.”

Hearing that, I gave the silhouette a smile.

“Yeah…got…it…”

Moments later, I collapsed onto the ground.

Watching Xara fall to the ground, I let out a sigh of relief.

I was worried I wouldn’t get here in time, but I managed to make it by the smallest of margins. Though I wish I hadn’t cut it that close.

Sadly, the medicine took some time to take effect so I wasn’t able to get up till now.

But now that I was back in the game, I was ready to put this thing in the ground.

“New opponent. Activating new measures…”

Directing its attacks at me, this robot I think Sirin called Unit 69 started transforming its body.

Its claws were replaced with what seemed like lasers and its legs had turned into jet boots.

“Alright. Let’s see what this piece of shit is made of,” I muttered as I prepared to attack.

Before I could, Unit 69 jumped forward. Trying to close the distance as it shot lasers at random.

From the looks of things, Xara took out its eyes. So it had to rely entirely on what it had registered from its surroundings. That would make it easier to dodge, but still fairly dangerous.

“I should finish this quick. Let’s do this Nia!”

“Right!”

Holding out my hand, I dodged Unit 69’s barrage of lasers and formed a fireball in my hand before slamming it into the robot's chest.

After that, I backed up to see what would happen.

Sirin had mentioned this thing was designed to grow and adapt in order to protect the island, so she’d already made sure to give it mechanisms to resist against almost all forms of magic. Well, all of them except one, and sure enough, the fireball vanished as the unit let out a loud hissing sound. As if it was cooling itself off.

“Talk about dangerous,” I muttered.

A part of me thought it was actually pretty cool since a constantly growing robot would be a massive win against intruders.

However, the fact this thing hurt Xara as much as it did meant it didn’t deserve to walk on this earth. So I was gonna put it down. Here and now.

Trying to discern my location with my heartbeat, Unit 69 turned toward me and transformed its hands back into claws before rushing toward me with incredible speed.

“Right. Like I’m gonna let you so much as scratch me,” I said aloud.

Dodging its claws, I formed a ball of air around my fist and used the spell that turned my hand metal that I learned was called Iron Strike and slammed my fist into the robot's body.

This time, it was sent flying upward as its body started falling apart bit by bit.

“Error. Unknown element. Unable…to adapt…”

Just as Sirin had said.

Since this thing was designed to adapt to most things, Sirin wasn’t sure how to put it down if it got out of control. That was why she had designed something in the code that made one particular element unadaptable. And that was none other than my favorite element. That being wind.

Now I’m sure you’re wondering how exactly we’d fight against wind spell fighters if they came at us while we used this robot in the field. And well, I was wondering the same thing.

But if I were to hazard a guess, Sirin had probably coded in ways to fight against opponents of that type but hadn’t implemented it before this thing was scrapped.

Meaning this thing wouldn’t be any trouble at all for someone like me.

Jumping into the air, I created a blade of wind and used it to slash off one of Unit 69’s arms before using some wind magic to add force to my foot and slam it into the robot's back. Sending it crashing toward the ground.

“Error…dangerous opponent…unable to adjust… recalcu-”

Before Unit 69 had a chance to find a way out of this, I brought up its body using wind magic before forming my hand into a fist.

“Recalculate this, you bastard!”

And then, activating Iron Strike right before making contact, I sent Unit 69 crashing into some nearby trees. Causing its body parts to fall off one after another until it slammed halfway into a tree with only its torso and head remaining.

“Re-re-recalcu-cu-cu-cu la-la-aaa….”

Seeing it was basically dead, I sliced off its head with one final blade of wind. And moments later, the small light in its eyes vanished.

Once I was confident it was dead, I burned Unit 69’s body along with the rest of the scrapped metal. As I was doing that, Sirin appeared next to me.

“I’ve tried my best to heal Miss Femashito and from the looks of things, she should make a full recovery as soon as tomorrow.”

“I see. That’s good to hear.”

Letting out a sigh of relief, I looked up at the sky as the burning fire sent its weird-smelling smoke into the air

“I’m gonna be honest, this isn’t exactly the best start to you’re guy’s time together,” said Nia from within the grimoire.

“You’re not wrong. Things couldn’t have gone any more wrong. This day was a mess.”

We were supposed to just enjoy each other's company. But now, Xara’s stuck lying in bed after dealing with a mess I’m pretty sure I started after falling on that pile of scraped parts.

Scratching the back of my head, I let out another sigh. This time, one out of frustration at my own stupidity.

“Well, what’s done is done. As of right now, I’m gonna try and make this summer the best I can for both me and Xara!”

“You say that, but can you make it actually happen?”

“You bet I can!”

I was lying. I had no idea what to do here. Even so, I didn’t want Xara to think days with me were gonna be this dangerous. So no matter what, I would try my absolute hardest to make this a summer vacation we’d both remember fondly.

Clenching my fist in resolution, I walked back to the mansion to check on Xara. All while preparing myself for what awaited me.

The next day, I woke up to find myself lying on the bed Xara was still resting on.

I hadn’t left her side since I came to check on her.

From the outside, she seemed okay, but I was worried about how she felt emotionally right now.

I mean, she looked pretty close to death's door when I found her. So I was hoping this wouldn’t leave an emotional scar of sorts.

Maybe I’m just overthinking things, but even so, I wanna make sure she’s okay.

Thus, I stuck by her side. Waiting for her to wake up. And about an hour later, she finally opened her eyes.

“Hrrmm…Axel?”

“Good morning. How are you feeling?”

“Hm? Oh. Good morning. I’m feeling fine. Why do you…ah!”

Perhaps suddenly remembering yesterday, Xara’s brain woke up and looked at my eyes.

“What happened!? Did you beat that thing!?”

“Calm down a little. You don’t have to worry. I took it down without any problems.”

“Oh…I see. That’s good to hear.”

She said that, but the look in her eye made it clear there was something else going on in her head.

“What’s wrong?”

Gently holding her hand, I looked into Xara’s eyes which caused her to look away and blush slightly.

“Well…it’s just I was thinking about what happened yesterday. Despite throwing everything I had at that thing, I still couldn’t beat it. Then, I wake up to hear you beat it without issue and it makes me feel a bit inferior. Like all the training I did at school was for nothing.”

Hm. Seems my concerns were warranted after all. Well, it makes sense to feel inferior to someone with such a strong arsenal. I mean, without Nia’s help, I probably would’ve stood zero chance against that thing. And if someone else had that power instead, I’d probably feel inferior too. But thanks to Nia, it’s me who has these powers. And as long as they’re with me, I’ll take down anything that stands in my way. But I guess that’s not important right now. What matters most is supporting my girlfriend and cheering her up.

“Listen, even if you say that, it’s kinda hard to say you’re inferior.”

“But I am. You have all those crazy magic spells and you can even cast without chanting. Compared to that, I’m just simpleton.”

Okay. Now that was a bit much.

Frowning, I lightly gave her a chop to the head.

“Huh? Did you drop a feather on my head?

Apparently, I’m so weak a light chop feels like a feather falling. Thanks for lowering my self-esteem.

In response, I gave her a harder chop to the head which seemed to do the trick. Then I spoke up.

“As I said before, it’s hard to call you inferior. I mean, that thing was supposed to protect an entire island. Despite that, you held your own until I was able to get out there. Hell, you actually damaged it pretty badly. Who knows how much harder the fight would’ve been had you not lowered its abilities as much as you did.”

Saying that seemed to lift her spirits a little since she turned back my face and smiled at me.

“Thanks. However, I find that kind of hard to believe.”

Geez what did I have to do to convince this girl?

Letting out a sigh, I scratched the back of my head.

“Alright. What do you need me to do in order to make you believe me?”

“Give me a hug.”

Xara didn’t hesitate with her answer. In fact, she was so quick about it that a part of me wondered if that was what she was going for from the start.

“Why would I need to do that?”

“I want it as a reward for my hard work. That’ll prove I did a good job out there.”

She looked like she was serious about this.

Well, I wanted to prove that she did help, so if a hug was all it took to convince her, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt.

Sitting down on the bed, I opened my arms and started moving in for a hug.

However, as I did so, Xara acted first. Leaning forward and embracing me while pressing her lips against my own. Going in for a surprise kiss.

Not expecting this at all, I tried to back away only for Xara to hug me tighter. Releasing me from the kiss only to go in for seconds.

After a few minutes, I realized resisting this was pointless and just let it happen. And then, finally, she let me go. Leaving my face burning red as a sensation of embarrassment washed over me.

“I-ahem. That was surprising.”

Red herself, Xara grinned.

“That was payback for what you did at lunch. I hope you liked it.”

Liked it was an understatement. Although it might’ve been a bit much.

Trying to calm myself down, I got onto my feet and looked out the nearby window.

“Say, if you’re interested in getting stronger, wanna join me for some adventures in the near future?”

“Hm?”

Not expecting me to say that, Xara gave me a curious expression.

“What do you mean by that? Are you meeting with other people? I thought this was just gonna be a summer for the two of us.”

“Er…Well actually, I was planning on tackling a dungeon with some friends in the near future. I had planned to leave you out of it so I didn’t put you in danger, but if you’re interested in tagging along, you’re more than welcome to.”

At least, I figured she might want that. If she wanted to get stronger that is.

I still remember my old adventuring days diving through dungeons and taking on quests. Each one helped me grow and improve in terms of both strategy and skill. Though still not perfect, I’m positive I can handle myself in plenty of situations.

But that’s not important right now. What was important was whether Xara wanted to get stronger or not.

“So what do you think? Are you up to it?”

I waited for her response. Curious about what she'd say.

“Sounds fun! I’m in!”

“Glad to hear that. However, that’s still some time before that happens, so we can spend as much time as we want together. There’s no rush.”

“I see. That’s good to hear.”

Xara smiled and got out of bed.

“Well then, let’s get started! What do you think we should do today?”

“Wait you mean right now? But you just got up and your injuries still need to heal.”

“I’ll just walk it off! Come on! Let’s get moving!”

“But…haaah.”

Letting out a sigh, I gave her a smile and followed behind her. This girl just had too much energy sometimes.