Of course it's killer robots…!

Jade leaped backwards with a curse, dodging to the side as the bronze robot slammed a fist into the ground where she'd been standing. Dust and splinters of concrete sprayed into the air at the impact, pelting her. Heart pounding, Jade frantically looked for a place to hide. It was no good, the room was barren other than the mountain of junk and a few other smaller piles of scrap lying around it. Could she run back to the factory room? What good would that do her? Was she going to sit and hide in the Sanctuary forever? No, she wasn't going to cower and wait for someone else to come and save her. That left only one alternative.

Jade drew one of her daggers, holding it point first towards the construct as it turned to face her. It was about 6 feet tall and made of bronze, comprised of a smooth outer armored shell that encompassed a body made of interlocking gears and other clockwork parts. The robot looked like it had stepped right out of a steampunk novel, complete with pressure gauges and valves built into its chest. She focused on it, bringing up her system interface.

* Scrapyard Automaton

* Level: 2

* Creature Type: Construct

* Origin: Labyrinth-born (Monster)

* Description: This clockwork contraption may be slow and clunky, but it makes up for that with sheer toughness and a great work ethic.

She blinked away the menu, dissatisfied with the lack of actionable information. She'd have to figure this out for herself. Jade doubted that her dagger would be very effective against its armored body, taking it on in a head on fight would be a bad idea. It was time to use her first power. Slowly backing away from the monster as it clanked towards her, she mentally traced the new pathways that had been carved into her mind when she'd accepted her class. The power was there, waiting to be used, a font of potential hidden in a part of her mind that she'd never felt before today. She drew upon it on instinct, guiding it along one of those channels, and felt a burst of awareness and energy as she activated one of her powers for the first time.

* Talent: Vital Sight

* Rating: D Rank Talent

* Cost: Very Low Mana

* Duration: 1 minute

* Cooldown: 20 seconds.

* Effect: Weak points and vulnerabilities on a single creature you focus on within close range will glow, becoming visible to your eyes. Attacks that hit these points will deal moderate bonus damage. You may only see vulnerabilities on one creature at a time. Using this talent again ends the effect on the first creature.

Jade focused the power on the creature before her. The magic responded to her will with surprising ease, enhancing her perception of her foe. A dull red glow began to emanate from the gaps between the automaton's armor at its shoulder joints, as well as in the center of its telescopic eye. Now she had targets, that was progress.

Now I just need to actually hit them without being crushed…

The robot swung again, a slow but powerful punch that wasn't especially difficult for Jade to dodge. Once more its strike slammed into the ground with tremendous force, sending more shards of concrete spraying into the air. It paused in place briefly, taking a moment to recover before returning to an upright position and rotating towards her. Could that be an opening? The monster was clearly powerful, but it was also bulky and slow. If she could land strikes on it between its attacks, maybe she could fight it safely.

To test her theory, Jade stepped a little closer to the robot and baited out another of its attacks. After she dodged that one as well, she darted in and jabbed her dagger straight into the unarmored gap at its shoulder joint. The creature let out an unnerving, metallic screech as her blade dug home, gouging its intricate gears and severing some of the thin wires that comprised its internal mechanisms. Jade jumped back before it could respond, getting out of its reach. She had never been in a real fight before, let alone fought with a dagger, but the basic knowledge her class had imprinted in her mind upon selecting it allowed her to make effective strikes. She was far from an expert, the blow feeling clumsy and imprecise even to her, but it was much better than she could have managed before.

The automaton staggered, its damaged joint grinding and sparking. It resumed its chase, its movements halting and more lurching than before. Jade didn't let her guard down, a single swing of the construct's metal arm could easily crush her if she wasn't careful. She was still afraid, but a little less so now that she'd gotten a clean hit in. This thing was slow and clumsy, as long as she was careful, it wouldn't catch her. She continued her dance around the scrap heap, keeping her distance from the pool of bubbling magma. Periodically Jade would step forward, presenting herself as a target. The monster would swing and she would dodge, following up with another quick strike to one of its joints. First one arm was disabled, then one of its legs. A few minutes passed, Jade reactivating Vital Sight each time it expired, continuing to slice away at the pursuing monster.

Several well placed strikes later and the creature was well and truly disabled, sparks crackling from every joint, barely able to move. Seizing her chance Jade charged forward, slamming the dagger clean through the lens in the center of its telescopic head. The whole construct jerked once, then collapsed into a heap of metallic pieces that joined the loose metal scrap on the floor.

* You have defeated: Scrapyard Automaton

* You have gained 50xp.

The notice popped up in her vision, followed by another.

* Quest Update: The Hunt Begins

* 1/5 Monsters Slain

She dismissed the notifications with a thought, looking around warily for any other signs of danger. There was nothing, only the distant sounds of working machinery from the assembly line and the oppressive heat from the magma pool. Slowly, Jade's heart rate calmed. That had been a fight. A real battle with her life on the line. If she didn't count her desperate escape from the Venomhound as a fight, which she wasn't inclined to, this was the first time she'd actually been in combat. She looked down at the knife in her hand, which was nicked and scratched in a few places now. She'd stabbed and slashed that monster with this dagger? A day ago she wouldn't have believed herself capable of fighting like that. Now, compared to everything else that was going on, it hardly seemed remarkable.

Jade knelt down to inspect the remains of her bested foe. As she touched one of the twisted metal components that had been its body, another window popped up.

* Loot 'Scrapyard Automaton?' (Y/N)

Loot…? Is this another game parallel?

She didn't quite know what to make of that, Jade could see all of the components of the monster scattered around her. Couldn't she just pick them up and take them herself? With a mental shrug she clicked 'yes'. The monster's body dissolved in a puff of smoke, a pile of unfamiliar coins clattering to the ground in its place. In addition, there was also a collection of what looked like small crystal shards colored the same bronze as the constructs. Jade blinked in surprise, then picked one of the coins up to inspect. The coin was in the shape of a crescent and was also made out of bronze, just like the robot had been. It had a maze-like pattern on one side, and was smooth on the other. There were 9 coins, all of them identical. When she tried to examine one with her interface, it merely listed the item as a 'Crescent Coin. Currency.'

So not only are monsters real, but you can punch money out of them like a piñata. She thought, amused.

The system was just as unhelpful with the crystals. These weren't actually made out of bronze, or at least they didn't feel that way when Jade picked up the small handful that had appeared. The system simply named the collection 'Construct Effusion. Crafting Material.'

Jade reflected that, if this were a game, she would've had an inventory to put things in. As it was, after scooping up the coins and stowing them away, her pack was starting to feel more than a little heavy. It was difficult to move in combat while weighed down by her belongings, and she resolved to drop her pack before fighting again, if she came across any other hostile monsters. In the meantime, she was gaining a newfound appreciation for the 'bag of holding' that was omnipresent in every RPG she'd ever played with friends.

Would there be somewhere to spend these coins? Or did they have properties that made them directly useful to her? At least for now, Jade had no way of knowing. She added the question to the growing list of things she wanted to ask Damos, and got back to exploring.

As Jade cautiously walked back towards the door she'd opened before she'd been attacked, she pulled up her character sheet. It turned out that 50xp was quite a lot, as the bar indicating her progress to level 2 was half way full already. Glancing over her stat points, she remembered that she still had two unassigned. At first she'd wanted to conserve them, in case the decision was important and couldn't be undone later. Now, knowing that she'd probably be facing monsters again soon, she decided is was better to be as prepared as possible. She added 1 point to 'agility' and 1 to 'fortitude'. The statistics window now read:

* Strength: 6

* Agility: 9

* Fortitude: 8

* Intelligence: 5

* Willpower: 6

Immediately, Jade felt lighter on her feet. It was a small change, but she could feel the difference. It was a simultaneously wonderful and bizarre feeling, as well as a little unnerving. If a person could just magically make themselves stronger, faster, or smarter, then did the improvements even have meaning anymore? As an athlete who had spent years honing her body to peak fitness, Jade wasn't sure how she felt about that. But for now, all she could do was accept it. If taking a shortcut towards gaining strength meant she'd be better at surviving this place, then she'd happily partake in whatever enhancements she could get her hands on.

Reaching the doorway, she pressed herself up against the wall and slowly peeked around the corner, remaining as quiet as possible. The door opened into a junkyard. It was outdoors, the sandy ground stacked high with aisles of scrap metal and broken machines. The sky was a dusty red, a bloated sun hanging low near the horizon. Jade couldn't see far due to the tall piles of junk, but she was able to see another of the scrapyard automatons methodically collecting debris into its arms. If it behaved the same way as the previous one did, it would probably be heading her way as soon as it was fully loaded.

She waited, watching it carefully from the shadows. Sure enough, after a couple of minutes the construct turned and began marching towards the door, seemingly unaware of her presence. She had already decided that she should continue to battle these monsters, so long as it was possible to engage them one at a time. They gave a good amount of experience, and levelling up was a high priority. Jade considered whether to try a new power or to stick with a method she was confident in. She'd read through their effects in detail earlier and was especially interested in her racial charm spell, 'Allure', but it could only be used on living creatures. 'Kiss of Night', her other racial spell, had a similar restriction and more besides.

That left 'Clinging Darkness', her blindness spell. She wasn't entirely sure that it would work on construct monsters like these automatons, but felt that there was a better than even chance. The way they moved suggested that they 'saw' out of the lens at the front of their telescopic head, but there was no way to know if they had different ways of perceiving the world around them. No, she'd already found a reliable enough method of dispatching these creatures, it would be better to stick with what she knew worked. Her tactics decided, she anxiously waited for the monster to approach.

The second battle went just as well as the first. Once again, Jade managed to escape injury as she dispatched her foe. The robot's slow, lumbering movements made avoiding its heavy strikes an easy proposition, and its protracted recovery period after each one provided ample opportunity for counterattacks. A short while later, it too was reduced to a pile of scrap. Jade looted the remains for a few more coins and blinked away the resulting notification, then gave a slight grin at the one that followed.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

* Level Up!

* You have reached Level 2.

* Reward: New racial ability.

* Reward: +2 stat points.

"Now we're talking." Jade murmured, clicking through the next level up options. She'd been expecting another class related ability, but that wasn't what came up.

* Level 2: Succubus 2nd level feature

* You may choose one of the following succubus features. Any options you do not select at this time will remain available to be picked at future level ups that grant racial enhancements. So don't worry, if you want to have some fun, you can certainly acquire both!

* Ability: Bondage Queen

* You deal additional damage to restrained targets. The more restrained they are, the more additional damage you deal. Maximum bonus damage: 100%.

* Your spells have increased rank and are more difficult to resist while you are restrained. The more restrained you are, the more your spell power is boosted. Maximum rank bonus: 1 full spell level.

* Ability: Climactic Casting

* Having an orgasm increases your spell damage by 50% and makes your spells 30% more difficult to resist for the next 15 minutes.

Apparently her racial choice impacted what features were available to her as well as her selected class. Jade stared in disbelief at the options presented to her, then covered her face with a hand, red with embarrassment.

"You've got to be kidding me." She groaned.

These were the kind of abilities she was being offered?! She wanted a word with whoever or whatever was in charge of this place. Maybe Damos had a manager she could complain to. How was she supposed to make her way through a monster infested dungeon with sex powers? Putting aside how utterly ridiculous and embarrassing these powers were, they seemed wildly impractical to use in combat. Jade sighed, shaking her head. She was a succubus now, and some of the abilities this transformation came with seemed very nice to have. She supposed she'd just have to deal with the less useful, exotic capabilities of the race. The choice between the two options was pretty easy, either way. Jade selected 'Bondage Queen'. She could at least envision a scenario where she was fighting restrained enemies. Maybe caught in a trap, or affected by some sort of ensnaring spell, if such a thing existed. It was better than nothing. Barely.

The stat points were more useful, and she decided to allocate them immediately. Jade increased her agility again, and put the second point into Intelligence this time. Even the very low mana cost of her Vital Strike talent had made a decent dent in her mana indicator during these past two fights. It refilled slowly, and having an increased capacity would come in handy once she started casting her other spells.

I can increase most of my stats further by staying in my succubus form. She remembered. That would penalize her willpower score, which didn't sound great, but having an increase to everything else would probably make up for that in a fight. She decided to give it a try and transformed, shifting back into her winged form. She checked her stats again, looking at the new 'adjusted' values that took into her account her demon form's bonuses.

* Adjusted Stat Scores (Demon Form)

* Strength: 7

* Agility: 12

* Fortitude: 10

* Intelligence: 7

* Willpower: 3

She winced at seeing the '3' in Willpower, but everything else was well improved. Now that Jade had experienced stat changes a few times and knew what to look for, she could feel the increased speed and power in her body. It was a mildly intoxicating sensation. It was difficult to gauge the effect of her reduced willpower, and she resolved to look into that when she could. In the meantime, it was time to keep exploring. The nearby scrapyard was free of additional robots, and the path was clear. Jade stepped outside into the warm and dusty air and, after looking around for a few moments, chose one of the aisles in the junkyard at random and continued exploring. She moved cautiously, staying alert for any other monsters. She'd only been walking for a few minutes when she heard something from around a bend in the path up ahead. It wasn't the clanking steps of another robot, however, but voices. Jade stopped, then edged her way up to the next intersection and listened.

"I don't get why we have to come out here every day…" A gruff voice complained.

"Cause we have to eat, idjit. If you don't do the work, you don't get a share." Another voice retorted, this one more feminine, higher in pitch.

"If we only got food when we worked, Gurp woulda starved by now." The first voice complained.

"Yeah, well, Gurp isn' here, is he? You are. And I'm tellin' the boss if'n ya don't pull your weight."

"We got two new humans." A third voice, another that sounded male, chimed in. "Why can't we just make ‘em do it?"

"You heard the boss, they for workin’ in the camp!" The female replied. "Don't you two ever listen ta anythin'?"

There was something off about the voices. Jade's heartbeat quickened and she swallowed nervously. Steeling herself, she peeked around the corner into the next aisle of junk.

Three short, green skinned humanoid figures were stooped beside a pile of scrap metal, rummaging around inside what looked like the burned-out remnants of a car. They were squat, with pudgy features and thick, bristly hair. Jade's breath caught in her throat. Goblins. These were goblins. It was the only word she could use to describe them. They looked like they'd been taken right out of a fantasy game, right down to the simple loincloths and crude wooden clubs slung over their backs.

How were goblins here? How were they real? How was any of this happening? For what felt like the hundredth time in the past day, Jade wondered if she'd lost her mind.

While she was frozen in shock staring at the creatures, the largest of them lunged into the ruined car and grabbed at something. He withdrew a moment later holding a squeaking rat aloft. It struggled in his gnarled hands, twisting in his grip.

"I got one!" He crowed, turning to show the others. "I told ya-!" He froze, staring right at Jade with mouth agape. She tried to duck back and hide around the corner, but it was too late. Her surprise had stunned her into inaction for a critical moment.

"Ahhhh!" The goblin yelled, dropping the rat and pointing at her. "Monster! Monsterrrrrr!"

The other two whirled around, scrambling for their clubs and turning to face her. Jade backed away as they approached, hands raised in a gesture of peace.

"I'm not a monster." She protested. Her words had little effect on the suspicious, frightened creatures before her. She hadn't seen her reflection yet, but it suddenly struck Jade that between her horns, wings, and tail, she probably looked rather malevolent.

"Ya look like a monster." The female goblin growled, shaking her club. "We don’t like takin’ chances ‘round here."

Jade narrowed her eyes at the speaker. Her hand twitched, but she kept it from the hilt of her dagger. Destroying a robot was one thing, but these creatures were alive, intelligent. She had a strong aversion to fighting them, on many levels. Then again, they'd said something about having 'new' humans… Did that mean there were others nearby? Had these goblins done something to them? Before doing anything else, she pulled up the status window for the creature.

* Name: Mau

* Level: 3 Goblin

* Race: Goblin

* Class: None (Apprentice mark)

* Origin: Labyrinth-immigrant.

That didn't give her a lot of information, although she did note the distinction between the goblin's origin being listed as 'Labyrinth-immigrant' and that of Damos. His had read 'Labyrinth-born'. She turned her attention back on the three goblins, all of whom were glaring at her with various mixtures of hostility and fear.

"We don't need to fight." She said, standing her ground. "You said you had humans? Where are they?"

"We ain't telling outsiders nothin'." Spat one of the male goblins, the one who'd dropped the rat. It had used the distraction to scamper off, disappearing back into the junkyard scrap heap. "What do we do Mau?"

"We can take her." The female goblin said, edging her way forward, club raised.

This was not going well. It was time for plan B. Concentrating, she began drawing upon her magic, letting it flow through her. Jade tapped into another one of her new mental pathways, feeling the magic coalesce in her throat and mouth as she laced her next words with subtle, enticing power. Though she had never used this spell before it was effortless, as natural as walking or breathing. She felt a rush of endorphins, like she'd just placed first in a competition. It was like her body wanted to use this power.

"We have nothing to fight over." She said, focusing on the one called Mau, her voice smooth as silk. "Take me to the other humans, there's no reason we can't work together."

Maybe if she could talk her way into seeing them, she could find a way to help them without it coming to a fight. It was worth a try, especially since Jade wasn’t confident in her martial prowess.

* Allure:

* Rating: D level spell

* Cost: Medium mana

* Duration: Varies

* Cooldown: 5 minutes

* Effect: Attempt to charm a nearby creature that can see and hear you. If you are successful, the creature will view you as a trusted friend for the next (intelligence score) minutes. You may only have one creature charmed this way at a time. Harming the creature or any of its allies ends the effect early. This spell is more likely to succeed if the target finds you attractive.

A small notification popped up, followed by an updated spell description.

* Effect 'Demon Form' has increased the rank of spell 'Allure'. 'Allure' has been boosted one rank from 'D' to 'C'.

* Allure:

* Rating: C level spell

* Cost: Medium mana

* Duration: Varies

* Cooldown: 5 minutes

* Effect: Attempt to charm a nearby creature that can see and hear you. If you are successful, the creature will be predisposed to obey your commands for the next (intelligence score) minutes. Charmed creatures will not obey commands that will cause direct harm to themselves. Commands that go against their core nature, such as to harm their allies, have a high chance of breaking the effect early. You may only have one creature charmed this way at a time. This spell is more likely to succeed if the target finds you attractive.

Jade dismissed the prompts after a brief skim, unwilling to take her eyes off the three goblins. She'd read through her spell descriptions in advance, but her interface hadn't included the 'C' rank version of the spell when she'd been in her human form. The magic was more powerful now, that much she could feel without having to be told. The ability to cast her spells came with an innate understanding of how they worked, though, which made the change less of a surprise. The description helped to clarify exactly what her spell was doing, but it wasn't completely necessary to use her powers effectively.

In front of her, Mau stood still. The goblin's eyes were unfocused, club now held loosely at her side. She shook her head, then looked at her two companions. Jade felt the magic take hold, settling in her target's mind like an obscuring mist. A chill ran down her spine at the odd sensation, and she shivered.

"We don't need ta fight. Let's go back to camp. Maybe we can help each other out." Mau said to her companions.

The other two goblins stopped and stared at her, clearly confused by their leader’s sudden change in demeanor.

"Wha? Why would we do that?" The larger of the two males asked, his gruff voice incredulous.

"'Cause I said so!" Mau snapped back.

"Just do what she says, Rek." The other male goblin said. "At least dat means we get to go back now. I'm tired of crawlin’ through this crap!"

"I just want to meet the other humans at your camp." Jade said, thinking fast. "I know where food is, I could get some and we could trade."

Maybe if she brought the goblins some of the food from the sanctuary supplies, she could trade that for whatever people they were holding at the camp. If not, maybe she could help them escape somehow. This was the first sign she'd found of any other people in here with her. Well, humans in here with her. Jade wasn't sure what to make of the goblins, but she had a bad feeling about them. She wasn't going to leave them in the hands of creatures like this. Besides, the more she learned about the Labyrinth, the more Jade realized that exploring it alone would be far too dangerous.

"But-" Rek protested, gesturing at Jade emphatically.

"Shaddup!" Mau snapped, smacking Rek on the head. "Come on, miss! Camp's dis way." She said, pointing with her club down the lane of junk. She and the other goblin turned and started walking off while Rek leaned against the wall of scrap and grumbled, rubbing his head and glaring at Mau.

Jade followed, keeping a wary eye on all of them and focusing on maintaining the spell’s mana flow. She could feel its duration slowly ticking away but had a good sense of how long it would last.

Magic… She thought. I just cast a spell on someone… A real spell…

Jade shook her head, clearing her thoughts. She had to stop marveling at the supernatural and come up with a plan. Jade's charm spell only worked on one creature at a time. She'd chosen to use it on Mau since she looked like the leader of this group. Jade expected that the other goblins would follow her direction, which should keep her safe for the moment.

Once they got to the camp, perhaps she could recast it on whoever was in charge there and have them keep the other goblins in line while she figured out what to do with the people they had. Unfortunately, the other goblins weren’t so accommodating.

“Nah.” Rek grunted, turning to face Jade and raising his club. “I don’t like listenin’ to ya Mau. I do things my way.”

He lunged at her, sweeping his club in an overhand swing aimed at her chest. Jade cursed, dancing back and drawing a dagger from her belt. She managed to avoid most of the blow, but the club caught the edge of her blade and tore it from her hand, sending it clattering to the ground. Hand stinging in pain, Jade kicked the goblin in the chest. Rek stumbled back, wheezing.

Jade turned to run, but the other two goblins were moving to cut off her escape. Belatedly, she realized that the mental flow of magic between her and Mau had been severed. Unpracticed with her new magic, she’d lost focus on the spell when reacting to the sudden attack.

“She’s usin’ magic!” The female goblin growled angrily, rubbing her temple with a clawed hand. “Get ‘er!”

The three goblins rushed her from all sides, so quickly that Jade didn’t even have time to draw her second dagger. She dodged one swing, and then another, heart thundering in her chest as fear and adrenaline flooded her body. Jade punched and kicked at her foes with inexpert strikes, trying to find an opening to escape, or at least cast one of her spells.

She was stronger than any one of the small creatures, but her inexperience in fighting and their superior numbers proved to be the deciding factor. Just as Jade managed to wrestle one of the clubs away from her assailants, something hard cracked against the back of her head. Pain burst through her like an exploding bomb, and the whole world turned white.

When her vision resolved she found herself lying on the ground, dazed and disoriented, with no memory of having fallen. Jade tried to push herself to her feet, but her shaking limbs wouldn’t listen to her.

"Yea…" Rek grunted through bleeding lips, rubbing at a blackened eye. "My way is more fun."

“Let’s get ‘er back to camp.” Mau growled. “Da boss’ll wanna see ‘er.”

Jade never felt the blow that sent her spiraling into unconciousness.