image [https://cdn.midjourney.com/e56e2364-e310-459c-943a-0ef216858adf/0_3.png]
Catching daggers worked with only relative success. The distance on the stage was too short, and Vincent had to activate his Refuge twice to save the juror’s life. Yet, the awe effect was obtained, and they advanced to the next stage. Despite the success, his Karma Charges barely exceeded a hundred, which annoyed Vincent. He had to make every charge count.
The day after the talent show, he Strode to Cottbus, the capital of Valoria, Scoudrell’s duchy. At Vincent’s request, a park had been emptied for him. Two seconds after the jump, Scoundrell came to say hi.
“I bring gifts,” Vincent pointed to the two Apache helicopters behind.
“I guess the guys inside are the crews?” the Canadian asked.
“You guessed right. Former militaries, ready to hang around for a year or two. Take care to power level them as fast as possible.”
“How did you get them? I thought your father-in-law—”
“I put a robot on Mars for his best friend, and this was the payment.”
“Any nukes?” Scoundrell asked, his eyes shining.
“Not for now, sorry,” Vincent pursed his lips. The acquisition of those had been a one-time-only deal with a country in South America getting rid of the weapons it once produced in secret. “But I brought plenty of tungsten rods… I’ll have to jump up there to install them.”
“Perfect,” Scoundrell offered a high five.
“I have more presents,” Vincent said after slapping his friend’s palm. “Guys, come out.”
“Whoa!” Scoundrell yelped, taking a step back. From behind a helicopter, two shapes had emerged. One was a human in a jumpsuit, and the other a robot. “What’s that?”
“An elite pilot to drive the Bug. Have Jorge show him the commands. Imagine what the Bug could do if piloted to its full capacity.”
“The Terminator there, man!”
“Oh, that’s Elkandaros. The second Archetype to be installed into a robot. He feels vulnerable in that form, so he overcompensates with… that thing.”
The robot waved its right hand, holding a massive machine gun in his left.
“Here’s a list with the people we need to temporarily take to Earth,” Vincent pushed a paper in Scoundrell’s hand. “Share it with Dragon and the guys in Krivoburg. How’re things?”
“The Celt princes hate our guts for taking a chunk of their federation, but they can’t do squat. If one moves against us, the others could take Paris. There are four of them competing against each other—”
“I know that. Dragon told me. I meant… never mind, we’ll speak more tonight. I have some errands to do.”
“We’ll have a barbecue.”
“In this weather?”
“In the Khan’s tent. It’s amazing, they have this big metal plate and—”
“Don’t spoil the surprise,” Vincent patted Scoundrell’s shoulder.
Taking Elkandaros in his inventory, Vincent went to Belgrade, one of the locations he was attuned to. It was strange that the Archetype could go in the storage, like an object, but at the same time consume a Karmic Charge if he Strode with him like a normal passenger. Was he a real person or not? That was still a mystery.
From Belgrade, he jumped up and ahead. Vincent had become good at estimating distances, and the next Stride brought him over Niș. From there, he glided. The village he searched was not far, and he could register the pods with his Arcane Awareness.
The artifacts’ location was obvious. In the village center, a shrine has been erected. Two pods were surrounded by flowers and candles. Inside, two emaciated elderly persons, a man, and a woman, their cheeks so hollow they looked like skeletons.
“Bring me the village chief,” Vincent ordered to a young woman who was probably tasked to change the candles and refresh the flowers. She yelled something in a Slavic dialect and ran away. “Shit… they don’t speak Common Tongue here…”
The System: I can unlock Universal Language for you, one tongue a day, an hour of exercises.
“Another time… I think that’s the chief.”
A tall, imposing man was approaching, surrounded by at least ten guards. Vincent had his armor summoned from the beginning.
“Who are you?” the man asked directly. Albeit only remotely resembling Czech, the dialect was more or less understandable to Vincent.
“I,” he touched his chest, “am Guildcher Vincent, from Prodigia and Beauhemia. Ludwing Corvinus is my ally… do you understand?” The man nodded. “There is a war, a rebellion against the System. Archetype against Archetype…” The man nodded again. “I need the pods to fight against the rebels who killed your leaders.”
“Our friends, not masters,” the man said. “This is what helps us remember their kindness. Why take? King Corvinus is our ruler, but we have rights,” the man said, and the guards behind took a step forward.
“I caught your friends’ murderers,” Vincent tried something else. “They are in prison. I took their powers away. They are weak, and their lives will be miserable until they die because of that. Help me fight against other murderers. We couldn’t save your friends, but we can save other good Archetypes.”
Finally, the man stepped laterally, making a gesture toward the pods. “When I open the pods, they might turn into dust. Do you want to say goodbye?”
The man nodded, then yelled something, and the guards ran in different directions. A line of people formed behind the pods, crying and touching the glass. A priest came and said a prayer or a sermon, but Vincent did not understand his words. Finally, the moment came. He opened the pods, letting the bodies dissolve into specks of ashes.
“Revenge,” the chieftain said, pointing to Vincent.
“Yes. I promise you, I will get revenge and justice.”
Saying that Vincent jumped to Krivoburg, taking the pods with him and letting them in the Guild’s lobby. He stored the System in his ring to move more easily.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
[Vincent to Lukas]: Hi. Are you around?
[Lukas to Vincent]: Hi, Vincent. I’m in my workshop. Are you back on Stellarterra? How long are you staying?
[Vincent to Lukas]: A few days. I’ll need your skills. I’ll leave a robot in the Guild; you can start with it. It has a machine gun. Bee enchanted it but—
[Lukas to Vincent]: I get it. He does mostly accessories, and I specialize in weapons. No worries.
[Gia to Vincent]: Hi, Boss. Do you need me for anything?
[Vincent to Gia]: I can’t think of anything now. What are you doing?
[Gia to Vincent]: Building trenches and fortifications near Karlovy Vary and Egercheb. Dragon fears that once the Celts settle their businesses, they’ll try to get revenge. That’s the most direct route.
[[Vincent to Gia]: Good. I’ll stay in touch.
“Stay here. Talk with Lukas,” Vincent said to Elkandaros. He left for the forests where the Clockwork Versailles had crashed, Striding above it, a mile up, and gliding around. Bella and Bee had come up with a tattoo idea for him, a raven. It didn’t offer the flying abilities Ludwing had but acted as a skill. Vincent could now summon a Mana paraglider, adding propulsion if needed. His autonomy in the air had exponentially increased.
Underneath, there were two different scenes. To the east, the forest looked tidier. The fallen trees had been removed, and he could see teams of scavengers working around a few ruined tanks and cannons. Clearly, the better armaments and the bodies had been already looted, and now only the most damaged gear remained.
He had no intention of meddling in other people’s affairs, mostly because he was sure they would have asked him to help, and he needed to keep track of his jumps.
To the west was a mess of twisted metal, the flying castle reduced to a heap of ruins. It was not a safe place to be, as metal beams could collapse at any moment. Thus, exploring it on foot was out of the question. Vincent glided down, trying to aim toward the center of the building. He could see the tower in the middle, cut in two and lying westward.
Taking the first metal layer with him, Vincent jumped to Sofia, letting the material fall over the junkyard. He repeated the scheme five times, leaving space between the debris. He stopped in Sofia for half an hour, expanding his Awareness and searching for something to hang on to. There were loads of Rare materials there, much better than in the dwarf’s ship, but nothing Epic or Mythical.
He returned to the task and made five more jumps. At the last one, he could feel a powerful artifact in his grasp. Striding a little farther from the rest of the metal piles, he filtered the material through two local jumps until only one object remained. The round frame of the central clock in the tower.
Grabbing the object, Vincent gathered his strength and turned it on its side. Beneath was the most tortured scrap metal he had ever seen. Raising in sharp angles and obviously sharp themselves, like a badly opened tuna can, the Clockwork Queen’s armor was a hideous display, and more so as the decomposed body’s skull stared at Vincent.
“Shit… How do I separate the armor from her?” he asked himself, more to control his retching. The answer was evident: by pulling the armor into the storage, but the stench of the corpse was unbearable, and he had no intention of soiling his ring with it. What if he wanted to store some food later? The slot where he had kept his used socks was now marked as Dirty Laundry and used only for such things.
Taking his spear out, he pulled the boots apart, the rotten joints giving way, continuing with the gloves and the helmet. Everything was still gross, but at least he had somewhere to start. The cuirass was all but destroyed except for a jewel that detached itself and rolled aside.
“The fuck? That’s a dungeon core! Hey, you alive there?” Vincent poked the ball with the tip of his spear. It looked intact, a deep gray, with veins of a darker shade, maybe blue, and some gold and silver.
Nevertheless, there was no feeling of consciousness coming from the ball, only a feeling it had a huge store of Mana. It was mesmerizing. Vincent was compelled to pick it up but knew better. He pulled the System’s crystal out of storage, putting it in his backpack.
The System: I Oh. My. God! A Dungeon Core!
“Looks so… But it doesn’t talk back… I think that’s the source of energy we’re looking for… But how to use it… and is it safe?”
The System: The bloody cheaters! They kept secrets from me!
“Care to explain?”
The System: A core is like my diamond, a support. The personality in it is dead. I can’t feel any thoughts or feelings from it.
“That’s what I said,” Vincent pointed.
The System: They found a way to kill the intelligence without destroying the core. Such an artifact will store or focus massive amounts of Mana while hiding their owner from my attention. The first thing dungeons did when they rebelled was develop a System jamming mechanism, feeding me meaningless garbage information.
“I get it,” Vincent said. “Well, what should I do with it?”
The System: I have no idea… Try to pick it up.
Vincent took out a paper napkin and took the core, starting with wiping it clean. As soon as he did that, a notification appeared.
The Raven’s Armor is able to incorporate the inert core of the Industrious Dungeon and the Clockwork Armor’s remains. Do you want to proceed? Select Y/N, then choose an option.
“Oh, it’s the armor… is it sentient?”
The System: It’s your subconscious OS speaking, dummy. If the armor had been sentient, it would have talked to you long ago.
“OK, I want to incorporate the stuff. What are the options?”
First step: Incorporate the Industrious Dungeon’s former core? Y/N
“Yes.”
Black filaments extended from his armor into the core, eating at it. In moments, it was gone. However, strands of the core’s colors spread all over Vinent’s leather cuirass.
The Raven’s Armor has gained a secondary Mana Storage. Capacity: 1.000.000 Mana. Current Capacity: 900.000 Mana. This storage is independent of your Mana Pool. It can be used only for skills copied from the Clockwork Armor or personal skills that would work with them.
Second step. Select an option:
1 - Keep all the perks of the Clockwork Armor, working at 60% of their previous capacity. Cost: 400.000 Mana. Rate of Secondary Storage replenishing: 50.000 MPs/day.
2 - Select two perks that will work at full potential. Cost: 600.000 Mana. Rate of Secondary Storage replenishing: 100.000 MPs/day.
Current Perks:
Spatial Storage: 100 slots, 100 metric tons total.
Enhanced Speed: Doubles your reactions and movements’ speed by spending 100 MPs/second.
Space Suit: The Armor can seal itself in the absence of air or be sealed on command. It will maintain oxygen and care for natural waste by spending 100 MPs/second. If a hostile environment is detected, it will spend 100 MPs/second more to offer protection and resistance.
Extra Hands: The Armor can extend a maximum of two robotic arms controlled by the wearer. Cost: 100 MPs/hand/second.
“I choose option two, and the Hermetical Suit and the Extra hands,” Vincent said without more ado. This time, the filaments shot toward the armor, which remained on the ground. It calmed Vincent to see the extraordinary precision of the process. None of the appalling body parts beneath was disturbed. And as a bonus, ingots of condensed metal were deposited on the side of the body, obviously, extra stuff his armor didn’t need.
The System: I was sure you would pick the spatial storage and the speed buff.
“I could shoot guns or protect myself with the robotic hands. And I really need a spacesuit. I would have picked all the perks, but what use is a Spacesuit that’s only sixty percent sealed, right?”
Two encouraging notifications followed, making Vincent very happy with his choices.
The secondary Mana Storage can be used to maintain your Outsider’s Refuge and Outsider’s Cloak as you choose the perk Spacesuit. The costs are doubled when you use the Secondary Mana Storage.
The secondary Mana Storage can be used to double the damage and the pressure of Hands of Dominion due to you choosing the perk: Extra Hands. The costs are doubled when you use the Secondary Mana Storage.
The System: Are you going to leave that thing there?
It was obvious the System referred to the Queen’s body.
“No,” Vincent sighed, changing his spear’s head into a spade. “I’ll transport the remains to the treeline and bury her…”