During his wait for Percival, Roberion trained in the use of [Minor Air Movement]. Moving and using the spell were still too hard for the Null; after hours of training using the spell in short bursts, the maximum he could do was a slow jog with the spell active. It was sluggish progress, but still progress nonetheless.
Looking at Percival, it was hard to see, but he was sure that the capybara knight was smiling. This guy can't hide it; he is an explosive maniac. As long as he focuses on exploding our enemies, I'm fine.
"How did it go? Did you learn how to use the bomb kit?"
"Hello sir. Yes, unfortunately, I couldn't use it, but I have all the instructions of the [Sacret Bomber Kit] gospel in mind. Here.", Percival offered the box with the manual inside, keeping only the backpack.
Roberion put the items in his space bag and asked, "Now what do we need to do?"
"It's simple, according to the manual; the user needs to feed mana to the [Sacret Bomber Kit]. A bond with the item will be given, and you will need to direct this to the connection you have with the bonded being of your choosing. In this case, I will be the one blessed by such a sacred item. After that, the bonded item will vanish and can be activated both by the user and the bonded, but the item will be the property of the bonded being. Only I can have the [Sacred Bomber Kit]; it seems similar to the wondrous die you told me about," Percival finished the long speech with a contemplative face.
"Alright, let's do this. Wait, [Sacret Bomber Kit]??? Ah, forget it. I'm almost dry of mana, but it must have enough for this", saying that Roberion accepted the bomber kit from Percival.
Roberion tried to guide his mana to the bag. After so many times using the enchantment of his equipment, it was easy. The most different thing was the connection; it was like an external existence asking to become material, like a supernatural phenomenon. Roberion directed this connection to his bound Percival; it was difficult to select only Percival and not the whole weapon, like filtering it; the last thing he wanted was Jubilant Choir spawning bombs around him.
After finally feeling his bond with Percival, he directed the connection.
Percival yelled in happiness, "Sir, I bounded with the [Sacred Bomber Kit]!"
Not long after, the bag started to get transparent, losing its color, like it was slowly vanishing from reality until it was no more.
"Nice. Now, I think you can already summon it. It can be a little hard, even using the space ba—", Roberion stopped talking as he soon saw the backpack manifesting on the knight's back.
The rugged green backpack became bigger, and the width of it elongated and became puffier, part of the bag spreading forward as if trying to facilitate the capybara taking out the bombs from the lateral holes. The straps were crossed in front of Percival like some sort of safety belt; it seemed to be really secure; it didn't matter the movement the capybara would make; the backpack would be fixed.
"It's magnificent!" Even though Percival couldn't take a good look at the backpack, he smiled as he patted the lateral of the bag, running his hand along the handles of his bag. The capybara knight seemed to like the backpack more than his own sword.
Roberion wanted to give more time to Percival, but he needed to speed things up. "It's nice indeed; if it were for me, we would already be using the bombs. But first, give me a resume of this [Sacred Bomber Kit] of yours."
Percival kept talking like the bomba was a work of art, and Roberion had to remind the capybara knight of their current situation. In resume, the bombs were an early-VIII tier container; from the Touched incarnation, it seemed to have both a neutral and a space line, but the focus was on the neutral line. The neutral line was responsible for creating the bombs; in this case, it was more like manufacturing the bombs as it transformed the materials. The space line was only used to store said materials.
"Looking good, Percival. Alright, first, let's check that heap of junk; maybe there is something useful there." Roberion said that and started going to the coner with the heap of trash.
Percival said with disgust when near the pile, "This heap smells blasphemously. I doubt we would find anything that would be worth our sacrifice in searching such a desgraceful place."
"I agree, there is only broken equipment; there is even some liquid fluid in some of the parts; these guys don't know anything about hygiene; look there, there is even some spoiled food; is that a wing? That… doesn't look like food. Let's get out of here; I just wish the crates will have better things." After saying that, Roberion and Percival returned to the wall they had come from.
"Percival, help me to take this crate; better to take this one on top", Roberion jumped into the nearby shelf, picking up and dropping to Percival. The box was heavy, but even with his strength drained by the die, he didn't have problems moving it.
"Got it, sir; there is a weird robotic thing on the lateral side of the crate.", Percival took it and put it on the floor, pointing with his right index finger at the contraption.
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"That looks like a digital lock; now how to unlock it I don't know; let's put a random number.", Roberion chose to use the combined number of the project and experiment in the box.
"Dammit denied; another 2 tried left according to the display.", Roberion knelt nearby the box, taking a look, already putting his hands near to take the crate. "Alright, Percival, let's go to a corner, and you will try to do it again two times more; let's see what happens."
"You won't do that," a feminine digital voice said behind Roberion.
Roberion got scared, "Why not? What? Who? Shade?"
"GHOST! ABHERATION, I SHALL SMITE YOU!", Percival screamed in fear, already trying to take a bomb from the device, "Sir, it seems you didn't restore it's man—"
"What are you?", Roberion took a look at the ghost. This being had all its body in a blue color; everything was blue or a bluish tone; the definition of a ghost wasn't far from its appearance. But the being had an energetic form that seemed to flicker for miliseconds—not enough to lose its form, but enough to feel a weird change. The form itself looked like a noble woman, a human.
The being replied with arrogance, "No cortesy? That seems to be inherent in nulls. Ghost? Far from that, the only existence on this planet that will certainly live in the future is me. I will make sure of that. Your ruler? That I'm, in this place, your goddess, your judge, your executioner, and if I find you satisfatory in your tributes, your ally."
"Right, but who and what are you really? Eh, Majesty Ghost?" Roberion was confused; for him, the situation looked like fantasy.
"What you see right now is a hologram; in a way, you are inside me. Please do not be vulgar. I'm the security and administrator of this place, the system that controls everything here. From the tile that you step on to the walls that confine you, everything is mine and in my control. Call me Cerulean Baroness for now", the being said with authority as if that were the truth.
I'm not that smart, but the coincidences of that vent opening up and me getting into this "cage", seem to make some sense. This Cerulean Baroness is the system controlling this place, so is that some sort of artificial life being? Or has someone rigged the system? I can't take everything here at face value. I need to be more authoritative.
"Alright, Cerulean, how do I know you are speaking the truth? You could be someone's spell or—", Before Roberion could finish speaking, a hole opened and closed around his legs. He didn't have a second to think about it, as he felt their legs being compressed. "— BITCH QUEEN!"
"You will respect and obey me—"
"Obey my ass, fuck you. You are not the first to try to kill me, and I am fed up with this bullshit. You think you can just show up for nothing and want to make me obey you? If you were that powerful, you could do that even since I entered."
"Who said I didn't?", the image answered with a smile.
"Sir Roberion, we must maintain decorum when facing a noble, even if it's a cursed sadistic ghost, and she is a baroness, not a queen," Percival said, like he was imparting some wisdom.
"From what I know from you, you answer better with a carrot than a stick, so be it," As the Cerulean Baroness said, the hole on the floor loosened. Roberion didn't wait before withdrawing his wounded legs.
"I can give you a chance to obtain immense power if you agree to do what you are told," the Cerulean Baroness said as a matter of fact.
"So be a slave? No, thank you. Percival, tell her my engram number so she can call me later with a better offer…Alright, that sucked. I will be honest with you because I'm feeling at the end of my sanity right now. First, as you already know, with thousands of nulls inside this place, we are all here to be free, be because of ourselves, like me, or some religious or fanatic ideals. No null will accept it.", Roberion said, exhausted.
Cerulean Baroness answered without any hint of emotion, "Most of the ones I offered already did."
"What? You offered it to them too? Tell me everything."
"Interested, are you? I'm giving you a chance to be free of the system, completely free, and a chance to become something more than a null, something unique. After you follow my orders for the procedure, you will be free to do what you want; you will only follow what I say to you by your choice. The other ones accepted easily, and they were in a better situation than you. According to what I analyzed from your engram, even as damaged as it is, you will die in less than ten hours.", saying that the hologram touched at its nape, at where the engram would be in Roberion, as if making a point.
"Dammit, alright, what will I gain as a reward?"
"I can't tell, or the process would be compromised," the Cerulean Baroness said, leaving no space for doubt.
"I need something material, and right now, can you give me something useful from these crates?", Roberion said amicably, his face the pure mask of greed.
"When you called this place full of junk, I regret to concur. I will give you three crates—the only ones useful to you. One is a weapon called [Hellish Plasma Cannon], it's a failed prototype. I will give you more details after you accept the proposal. The other is one you are certainly in need of; it is the armor called [Behemoth Skin], yes, it has a connection with the undeads you saw before, also a failed prototype. Any questions?"
Roberion was thoughtful, but he wouldn't take the bait. She was trying to get his attention out off of the third item. "You won't tell me details of the items, so just say what the third crate has."
The Cerulean Baroness gave a devilish smile and said, "It's the [Convert Parasite of Pained Chimera #0383]. Let's call it [CPPC #0383] for short. This item is my first demand. Your chance to become a force to be feared and be free of the system will start when you let it be implanted right here," she again pointed at her nape, this time joyfully like it was something to be celebrated.
Roberion, since hearing the word parasite, couldn't focus on his situation; the word, the demand—all of it was alien, like the speaker became a lunatic in the middle of the conversation. "You want me to do what?"
Roberion’s mental list:
Sacred Bomber Kit
“The greatest weapon ever created” by Percival
Type: Weapon
Tier: early-VIII
Incarnation: Touched
Line: Neutral, Space
Enchantment:
[Minor Bomb Creation]: Can create peak-mundane tier bombs with the following effects: explosive, corrosive, and burning.
[Minor Magic Pocket]: Can carry objects up to 300m³. Can’t carry living things. Tier and Incarnation dependent.