Time remaining: 6 days, 14 hours.

“For the last time, please stop calling me Daddy.” Orion looked to the sky as they strode through the forest outside the western gate of Valbrand.

The forest was as beautiful as the first time he set his eyes on it. The time spent traveling among the trees did little to reduce the awe he felt at the vibrant colors, and the pretty little birds that flew above their heads and sang their songs.

“Hmmm. I am trying my best… Daddy.” The robot paused for a moment, its head twitching. “I am sorry. It is quite impossible to call you anything else.”

Orion ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

“Well, at least that confirms that either the System or the Creator has it out for me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Orion.” Honeypot put his hand on Orion’s shoulder. “It’s probably both of them that dislike you, not just one or the other. You are very unlikeable.”

“I like you,” the robot said.

“Is that because you’re programmed to like me?”

“Very much so, yes.”

“Is there anything you can decide on your own?”

It paused, not needing much time to assess. “Hmm, no. I appear to lack free will.”

Orion turned to take in the odd robot again. Its head came to just above his knee, and it was made entirely out of a patchwork of metal panels. It had two circular panels that served as eyes, displaying green lines that made the robot appear cheerful.

It had explained that its purpose was to be their fifth team member immediately after it woke up. Well, it had called him Daddy and requested to be hit first—but then it explained its purpose.

They’d wasted no more time in deciding they could handle any further explanations on the way—they were on a timed quest, after all.

“So, robot.” Honeypot bent down and looked it in the eye-panels. “Do you have a name?”

“Thank you for asking. My name is Gizmo. Will you hit me?”

“No, Gizmo.” Arika shook her head. “We won’t hit you. You’re a part of our party now. We don’t hit each other.”

“Hmmmmm. Who will hit me, then?”

“Enemies will hit you!” Honeypot smiled and rapped his knuckles on Gizmo’s metal head. “We’re glad to have you, because we’ve had naughty boys attacking us on-sight since we arrived in this world. If you’re happy to take the hits, they’re all yours!”

“That is fantastic news. Where are these naughty boys? How hard will they hit me? Do you think I will get dented?” Gizmo let out a high-pitched buzz.

“Don’t let that worry you.” Arika bent down and petted Gizmo as she spoke to their new companion. “Your metal skin looks really tough. I’m sure they won’t damage you..”

“Ohhhh.” Gizmo let out a low-pitched buzz, and their eye-panels flashed downcast eyes.

Honeypot let out a bark of laughter. “Gizmo wants to be hit and dented, Arika. Read the room.”

Arika pulled her hand away and stepped back, putting some distance between herself and the masochistic automaton.

“Do you, uh, have a gender?” Orion asked.

“Yes, Daddy. I am male.”

Honeypot snorted.

Orion took a deep, stabilizing breath. “Okay, noted. Thank you. Do you have any abilities?”

“Yes, Daddy. Oh… uh, I am sorry…” Gizmo’s head twitched.

“He’s gonna say it!” Honeypot beamed in anticipation.

Gizmo’s head twitched harder, trying to hold it in.

“D—D—D-D-D-Daddy!” The word flew out, the robot no longer able to hold the urge at bay.

Honeypot’s laughter burst through the forest, and Shadow and Arika tried to stifle their own.

Orion closed his eyes and took a long, calming breath. “What are your abilities?”

Something pushed against his will, and a screen he hadn’t seen before popped into his vision.

Familiar: Gizmo

Abilities:

Metal Skin

Cooldown: Passive

Provides 20% damage reduction to physical sources of damage.

Metal Carapace

Cooldown: 30 seconds

Provides 30% damage reduction to all sources of damage for 10 seconds. This skill has an accumulative effect with all other damage mitigation.

Taunt

Cooldown: 25 seconds

Taunt all hostile entities within 15 meters of the user, causing increased aggression.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Woah. You’re a familiar…?”

“A what?” Arika asked.

“Yes.” Gizmo nodded. “I am your familiar, Daddy.”

“Your eyes went spacey there.” Shadow looked between Orion and Gizmo. “What did he do?”

“I got sent a screen that listed all of his abilities. Gizmo, your abilities didn’t show a level like mine do… is that right?”

“Correct.” Gizmo hummed. “As I am your familiar, my abilities improve and grow stronger as you do, Daddy.”

“Wait, what?” Arika picked up Femera and stared into her eyes. “Can you do the same?”

Femera cocked her head, then closed her eyes. Arika’s vision went far off, Femera’s attempt clearly successful.

Orion looked at his familiar. “Can you share your abilities with everyone else, too?”

“No, but I can relay the information through verbal means. I have a passive ability that makes me take less damage, an active ability that makes me take less damage, and an ability that makes things really want to hit me.”

“You have a passive and an on-use ability that makes you take less damage, and another ability that makes things want to hit you?” Shadow asked. “You don’t have any… damaging abilities?”

“Correct.” Gizmo let out a high-pitched buzz. “I like my abilities.”

“What are Femera’s, Arika?” Orion asked.

“She has a single ability called Flying Fox. It turns her into a fire elemental—whatever that means—for seven seconds. She gets four-times faster, inflicts magical and physical damage when hitting things, and becomes one-hundred-percent immune to physical damage.”

“One ability, huh?” Honeypot shot a smug look their way. “I guess that means you’re only a third as effective as my boy, Gizmo. It’s not your fault, Femera. You are Arika’s familiar, after all. The System probably based your power on—”

Honeypot’s mini-monologue broke off as the flaming form of Femera shot toward him. He’d clearly expected the attack, giggling as he activated Stealth and performed a tactical retreat.

Femera’s flames guttered out before she could find purchase on Honeypot’s buns, and he dropped from Stealth.

“Alright, alright, I’m sorry! You know I was just kidding. I couldn’t help myself.”

Arika huffed and picked up Femera, cradling her in her arms and squinting hatred at Honeypot. “She only has one ability because it’s three times as powerful as a regular one. It gives speed, damage, and physical invulnerability.”

Orion smiled as he looked at Femera, then at Gizmo. “The System gave us another damage dealer, and a tank…”

“A tank that really, really enjoys getting hit!” Honeypot walked to Shadow and slapped him on the back. “Guess we don’t have to worry about you being that meat shield, huh? You better get ready for some stealthy shenanigans, my class-confused friend, because your role as off-tank just got revoked.”

Shadow’s eyes went wide as he looked down at the little automaton. He strode over, and without saying a word, picked Gizmo up and squeezed him in a tight hug.

“Thank you, Gizmo. I love you.”

Gizmo unleashed a high-pitched hum. “Harder, please.”

Orion watched it play out as his lips curled up in amusement.

This world was full of trials, both physical and mental, but he certainly wasn’t bored. The idea of having a dedicated tank seemed to lift an enormous weight from his shoulders—a load he’d barely recognized as being there.

Wait, if we advance our abilities by using them, and Gizmo enjoys being hit…

“Gizmo.” Orion’s serious tone drew everyone’s attention, and Gizmo’s head spun towards him from his position in Shadow’s arms. “If you enjoy getting hit, would you be open to us testing abilities on you? It may help all of us grow stronger, you included.”

“I agree. This should be an effective method of training. Your reasoning is sound and your logic flawless. How long until you hit me? When shall we start? Can we start now?”

“No.” Orion shook his head and couldn’t help but smile at Gizmo’s exuberance. “We have to travel while it’s still light. We can hit you tonight when it’s no longer safe to travel—if we have time.”

Satiated by the promise of future violence, Gizmo was more than happy to wait until the evening. He only asked to be hit a few times on the way, which Orion thought showed great restraint considering how intent the small robot was on getting smacked around.

Honeypot regaled Gizmo with everything they’d gotten up to so far in this world, with what Honeypot described as only a little embellishment. Gizmo seemed to be well informed, however, and even corrected Honeypot on a few points. Whoever had programmed or created Gizmo had been extremely thorough, and it almost appeared the events that transpired had been implanted into his memory. For a time, Honeypot and his new conspirator walked apart from the rest of the party, chatting quietly—a situation that made the rest of them suitably fearful.

Orion chose to focus on the fact they were able to walk in silence, rather than the fact that Honeypot was likely setting something up for later.

Later that day, they found a place to camp. There was a clearing among the trees next to a small creek. The water passing by the camp made a soft, bubbling noise as it broke against river stones and continued on, ever downstream. The sound of the stream was interspersed with the twilight calls of countless birds.

Orion was working on condensing more Stim Leaf. He was trying his best to not laugh at the sounds of Shadow and Honeypot beating down Gizmo that broke through the tranquil sounds of the running water and singing birds. The boys were yelling and grunting aggressive noises as they rained down blow-upon-blow, to which the robot was responding with grunts and buzzes of a more… sensual nature.

The small automaton was just as sturdy as he’d seemed, taking blows from both Honeypot and Shadow without complaint. Shadow was hesitant to use his Vicious Blow at first, but after urging and reassurance from Gizmo that he wouldn’t die, and that he wanted to be hit, Shadow relented.

The first Vicious Blow only took one-fifth of Gizmo’s health off—making him tankier than any adventurers they’d met so far.

If a sentient robot specifically created to bolster their numbers could be called an adventurer, that is.

After an hour of training broken up by small breaks for Gizmo to heal passively back to full health, Shadow wanted to get dinner started, and Honeypot wanted to do some fishing at the creek they’d chosen this campsite for.

Gizmo slowly made his way over to Arika, walking with deliberate steps and avoiding eye contact.

“Arika?”

“Yes, Gizmo?”

“Would you please explode me?”

“You want me to explode you?” She narrowed her eyes. “I’m not sure I want to do anything to you based on how you react to getting hit. On top of that, I’m not sure my Explosion wouldn’t kill you instantly. You not being here could hurt our chances of success in this world. You seem quite reliable, despite your obvious character flaws.”

“Hmmm.” He let out an odd buzz. “It would be helpful for the team, though, if you were to rank up your explosion skill by practicing it on me, would it not?”

Arika narrowed her eyes further. “I see what you’re doing, and I’m not into it, you perverted little creep.”

“Perverted?” Gizmo cocked its head in confusion. “I lack the requisite body parts and programming to have perverted ideation.”

“You sure sounded like you were enjoying yourself when Shadow and Honeypot were beating the bolts out of you.”

“I was.” Gizmo moved his head further in the same direction, its head arriving at an impossible angle. “My purpose is to be a front-line tank for Daddy and his party. It is entirely beneficial to be programmed to enjoy taking damage, seeing as though that is what my role entails.” From the cocked position, Gizmo’s head spun all the way around until it was upright again. “You mistake me. I am not human, and I do not feel sexual gratification or urges of that nature. I am simply programmed to enjoy taking damage in the pursuit of protecting you.”

“It’s still weird.” Arika’s posture relaxed a little, despite her words.

“I have an idea.” Orion took a step out into the clearing and looked around. “I’m a little worried about Gizmo dying too, but I agree it could be good for both of your abilities if you train on each other. What if we picked a point for you to use explosion, and Gizmo stood just on the edge of it? He wouldn’t take full damage, but we could get an idea about just how much damage he would take from a direct hit.”

“Yes, please.” Gizmo hummed.

“I guess that could work… but no getting too excited, alright?” She glared at Gizmo. “I still feel uneasy about giving you pleasure by hurting you.”

“That is agreeable. Please tell me where to stand.”

Arika picked a point opposite the stream, and Orion measured out the radius of Arika’s explosion. Pointing at the ground, he told Gizmo where to stand. The small automaton happily obliging and rushing over to stand on the spot.

They had chosen a spot far from the camp. Still, Orion secured anything the force of her ability might blow away.

Honeypot, Shadow, and Orion watched intently, each peeking out from behind their own trees at a safe distance. Arika started casting the ability, and Honeypot counted down from thirty out loud.

“30…”

“20…”

“10…”

“5…”

“4…”

“3…”

“2…”

“1…”

Half a second later, Gizmo kicked off the ground, launching himself to the side with surprising speed—directly into the spot where Orion had told Arika to cast the Explosion.

Orion saw it happen with growing horror. “Wait—”

Arika’s cast finished—it was too late.