“I know this is forward, but would you mind taking off your clothes?”
Azim was unsure what to do. Had he been human, he probably would have doubted if he had heard right. But being a robot, there was no way his auditory processors were mistaken. “I a-apologize for the confusion, Reavius, but why must I remove my garments?” He asked curiously, trying his best not to glitch.
“Oh, I’m sorry, too, son,” the terram blacksmith replied. “I realize that would be a bit startling of a question. But you seem to have an unusual body, and I was hoping to take a closer look. Similar to the way a doctor might give you a check-up.”
“I would never go to the doctor,” Azim returned. “I do not have bones or blood to take care of through traditional or modern medical practices.”
The old man murmured. He looked again at the stranger’s hands, feet, and face. He had no reason to ask, as he was already aware of how preposterous it sounded, and yet still he questioned, “Is your entire body made of metal?”
“Among other things, yes,” the robot replied honestly. “I am made up of multiple metal alloys, most of which result in my exterior. I also have various wires, cables, motherboards, and processing chips. I believe there are some components of my own that I am neglecting to mention, but that is due to a lack of memory at the moment. I have been slowly regaining pieces of my code, which remind me of parts within me as well, but there are most likely several others that I am currently unaware of.”
Reavius stood for a moment, unsure what to say. He had not expected such an answer. He wasn’t even sure what to make of most of it, as a majority of the things Azim had mentioned the man had never heard of. “Motherboards”? “Code”? He quickly realized how foreign this stranger really was to him. “I-I’m sorry, son,” he began. “What… What are you?”
“I am a robot. An artificial mind of intelligence within an android body, developed by… developed by…” the metal man started to stutter. “I apologize. I am unable to recall my creator at the moment. However, what can be said is that I was developed by a man of great mind. One who does not come from Irvana, as nor do I.”
“Well, doesn’t this just keep getting interesting?” Reavius asked rhetorically. “I’ve never heard of someone from outside the realm before. Why, I didn’t even think it was possible. Why would I? Boy, you are more special here than you realize. I don’t know what your companions have told you, but I can guarantee that you will find no one like yourself here. Ha, ha! You are truly one of a kind, son, and you must make the most of it.”
Something clicked. Azim was not sure what, and for some reason, could not access what had even what had changed, but something had. He was hugging the old blacksmith. “Woah, ho, son! You alright?’ the man asked in his raspy voice.
The robot quickly released Reavius, unaware of why he had done that and unable to figure out why within his processors. Now that he was getting a better sense of the strange traveler, Reavius decided it would be best if he closed up shop for a short while, not only so that he could focus on the metal man in front of him, but also so that no other passersby noticed the robot he was with and made news out of it. He reached up to a handle that was touching the ceiling of the shop and pulled it, bringing down a large front door that blocked the blacksmith off from the rest of the city. Once sure nobody could intrude or mess with their work, the old terram turned back to Azim. He asked again for the robot to remove his clothes so he could better understand the subject in front of him. He had no idea what to expect, but a man made of metal and other parts was sure to be an exciting project.
With the borrowed clothes gone, Reavius took a long, hardened look at the robot. He did his best not to let anything surprise or overwhelm him, but it was difficult. The android in front of him had a head proportionate to that of a human-like species, with no facial features except for glowing eyes, a glowing emblem on the forehead, and a seam-like slit up each side of the jawline that connected across the lower part of the “face”. This, the terram had already seen. The rest was new. Moving down from the head, the robot had a slim neck made from a metal cylinder, with ribbings etched in all the way around every few inches. The robot’s chest area looked as if a chest plate of armor had been molded on top of another. It was plain, but rigid and edged. It had openings at the top, bottom, and sides, which were for the neck, stomach area, and arms, respectively. There were dark spheres at the shoulders that rested in the chest piece, which resembled ball-socket bones. From the metal spheres protruded cylindrical, metal upper arms connected to a spherical elbow joint. These elbow joints were then connected to a cylindrical, metal forearm, which grew slightly in diameter in a conic fashion. At the end of the metal forearms, the robot had thick, disc-shaped cuffs, which acted as wrists. From the disc-shaped cuffs extended five metallic fingers on each hand, with the same joints and dexterity as humans and similar species.
As for the rest of the robot’s body, a lower stomach area extended down from the chest piece, similar to the neck design but sizably thicker in diameter. A pelvic piece that resembled the chest sat at the bottom of the stomach area, which nested two more ball-socket joints for the base of the legs. From these dark, metallic orbs came thin, cylindrical upper legs that matched the upper arms. However, from the knees down, things took a turn. At the knee joint and downward, the rest of the leg bulked into a boot-like design. The metal boots had thick, triangular “feet” that sloped into the rest of the leg, before cutting off at the knee.
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Finally, there was the part that stuck out. The wound on the left side of the chest piece which stretched into the left shoulder. There was some odd metal plating that had been roughly covered over the open display of metal and machine parts, but the damage underneath was still clearly visible. The old man wondered what could have happened to leave a being like this so disfigured. More curiously, how was this being, having taken an attack that was clearly aimed at where most humanoid species have their hearts, still up and running?
“Well, first things first, boy, we need to patch you up,” Reavius finally said. “I have… somewhere here… I know I… Oh, here it is. I don’t have many, but this here is a Remedy Elixir. It removes all wounds and ailments, as well as status conditions that might be affecting you over a longer period, putting the usual spring back in someone’s step!” The man chuckled.
He handed the shiny liquid-filled bottle to Azim, who was at a loss for what to do with it. The robot had no mouth and therefore no way to consume it. “Ha, ha, boy!” the terram blacksmith laughed. “If drinking it is a problem, you can just splash yourself.”
Reavius took the bottle back from Azim for a moment so he could demonstrate. He walked over to his smithing station and grabbed one of his molding rods. He stuck it in the furnace for a few moments, pulling out the rod to reveal a bright, red and orange tip. He closed his eyes and briefly laid the rod on the bicep go his other arm, burning his skin. The android perked up in astonishment, unsure of what the old man was demonstrating. For a moment, Azim thought he might be experiencing mental decline. After 3 seconds, Reavius pulled the molding rod away to reveal a 2nd degree burn on his upper arm. Setting the tool down, he walked back over to Azim.
The old blacksmith popped the cork off with one stone-skinned hand, before pouring a splash of the elixir onto his burned bicep. A moment later, the elixir had disappeared, and so had the man’s burn. He had been healed! “The elixir will take effect as soon as it touches you, evaporating and doing all it needs to,” the terram explained. “The best part, the stuff won’t leave you sticky, ha ha!”
Reluctantly, the robot accepted the glass bottle back from the old man and threw the liquid onto his chest, focusing on his upper left area. Despite the old man’s demonstration of what would happen, Azim was met with much less impressive results. Rather than splashing onto him and disappearing in a sparkling glow, the liquid remained, and simply dripped down from his chest. As the elixir fell off of him, the damage to his chest and shoulder remained visibly unchanged. The old blacksmith was puzzled. “Interesting… I have never seen that before,” the man stated. “Even some poor chap with level 1 magic should be able to use elixirs. They’re not a skill level type of thing. Hm… son, this question may sound rather stupid, but… do you not have any magic whatsoever?”
“I do, as of recently,” the metal man replied.
Azim’s answer only confused the terram blacksmith more. One could obviously practice magicraft over time, strengthening their soul’s connection and building their level so that they could be stronger “as of recently”. Or if going a different route, one could use a Potion Bottle or other method to boost their magic ability even more “recently”. But the way that the robot answered suggested he previously had no magic connection... none... and yet somehow had recently armored some. If one had no connection to magic at all, they would not have been able to grow from that, hence why even a basic elixir wouldn’t do anything to them. There would be no connection in the first place to grow and develop. Then again, no living creature in the history of Irvana had ever been known to have 0 connection to the realm’s magic. It was utterly unheard of. As far as Reavius figured, it was possible that the rules of Irvana might not have even applied to Azim.
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Riva and Leone rode the streets of Appilus in awkward silence. Without Azim present to serve as a bridge of relation, the two did not really know what to talk about. There was also the fact that the very reason they were here was to repair the android from damage that Leone had caused.
Leone was the first to speak up, asking, “So… what do you wanna’ do while we wait for the guy?”
As politely as she could, she responded, “I’m not sure. I don’t have much need to be here besides helping Azim with his damages,” still a little annoyed at the robot’s first real encounter with Leone.
Leone was still trying to mend their relationship so she could be comfortable around him, and was confident he would. Changing the subject for the time being, he asked her if she wanted to check out one of the fight clubs. She was not enthusiastic about the idea but accepted that there wasn’t much else she could think of to do at the moment. Maybe after, she figured, they could do something of her pick. The two parked the cart outside the first club they found, tying the reigns of the horses to a nearby pole. Riva was justifiably nervous about leaving her cart and horses behind, but Leone stepped in to help. Placing a hand on the side of the carriage, he chanted, “Barrepel”, which caused a purple glow to envelop the entire carriage and both horses, before disappearing again. “This is just a simple barrier, but it will repel anyone who tries to touch the cart or the horses,” Leone explained. “The spell applies to magic, too, so any kind of intrusion should be knocked away.”
Riva gave the young man a soft but unsmiling “thank you”, which made him grin. Leone knew it would take more than that, but she was starting to warm up to him. The two travelers turned to face the extravagant club’s bright, yellow exterior. Leone led the way, eager to see what waited for them inside.