Prometheus was feeling amazing! He had made the right decision to use a Warhammer as his weapon. Just the memory of hitting the Electric bears sent shivers down his genetically enhanced spine! Getting back to reality, he noticed the farmer kneeling in front of him.
He realized he had just made a mistake. Prometheus obviously understood that the man was showing gratitude, but the language he used was the same one that the Bandit leader used-one he didn't understand. Furthermore, he wouldn't be able to talk to him even if the Golden Warrior knew the local language: Who knows what medieval farmers would think at hearing a robotic voice? It wasn't worth the reward.
So, Prometheus came up with a different plan. He searched for something flat and easy to draw on. Glancing behind the farmer, he could see an old wooden hut.
This will do. Hopefully, showing him the faces of my owners will give me any sort of information.
He went to one wall of the hut and started carving the faces of Mr. Fluffernutter, Orion, Atlas, and Freya with extreme detail. Prometheus pointed at them with a questioning head movement.
The farmer seemed confused, and he asked, "Excuse me, Your Majesty, are those people someone you are looking for?"
Prometheus had no idea what the farmer had just asked. Was he commenting on the drawings' low quality? It was possible since it was a rush job. But it felt like the man was saying something else.
I should take a risk and assume he understood I was looking for these people. I'll take the drawings with me as well, in case they're useful. Oh, right. I have that new Inventory skill, I should have used from the beginning.
With that, the carvings disappeared, and Prometheus nodded toward the man. The latter rested his chin on his hand while wearing a thoughtful expression and added, "I would recommend asking the local city Guard; they deal with cases about disappearances of people. They should be just thirty minutes of walking North of here, following the path near here. If I can help with anything else, Your Majesty, Don't hesitate to ask." He along those last words.
Prometheus was in an even more terrible situation. He had no idea if his gamble had paid off, and worse of all, the farmer was clearly waiting for an answer of some kind. His translation algorithms were working overtime to translate what the man was saying, but they needed more data. The Golden Warrior clenched his right fist in anger at his inability to be useful toward finding his owners.
---
The farmer looked at the sight of the shaking warrior and started sweating profusely. Had he made a mistake in being polite?
What did I do?? I must have implied something that might have made him review my usefulness... What was it?? Think Eadric, Think!
Just then, the farmer's eyes widened in realization. He had just told royalty to find their own way in a forest like an animal. How didn't he notice it earlier?
Eadric immediately added, "Your Majesty, I apologize for my previous foolishness. I would never dare to insult a magnificent being such as yourself. Please follow me."
---
Prometheus calmed down at hearing the man talk. Bouts of rage would only obstruct him from achieving his goal. The farmer got up and started walking in the opposite direction of the hut, stopping once to glance at Prometheus, almost like he was asking him to follow.
Not knowing what else to do, he started following the farmer. He gave the old wooden hut a last glance and noticed something peculiar. He hadn't obtained any reward from killing the bear monsters, even though it was a pretty entertaining fight, in his opinion.
Maybe the Hacker thought Prometheus had been in an unfair fight? The bears were much weaker than him but not weak enough to not warrant any skill or even item!
Ok, let's calm down. Crying about missed rewards like a child won't do me any good. Still, I wanted some cool skills.
The farmer looked confident in where he was going, so Prometheus trusted him. Or at least as much as a random stranger could be trusted.
Logically, he knew this man would have no reason to betray him, but internally, some small part of him hoped he would get ambushed to alleviate some of this boredom.
Other than the trees in the surroundings, there wasn't much to look at. Some small critters would occasionally come out of their burrows to look at the two men walking on the dirt road, immediately after returning underground.
Then, Prometheus noticed something peculiar. A bat-sized wasp seemed to fly around the tree tops, hovering above each one for a couple of seconds before passing to the next. A realization struck him. If monsters could use the System, then they also must be able to get stronger. Additionally, if they could evolve like Zilch, the concept of 'natural limits' would lose all meaning.
Prometheus immediately started stalking the wasp, hoping to trace back its nest. He had just had an incredible idea! Meanwhile, the farmer looked back in confusion. After trying to catch Prometheus' attention without success, he sighed heavily and started following him. In the man's head, defying royalty, or strong people, was akin to death. So, he complied with the warrior's every decision.
Prometheus noticed that the wasp was flying much faster than he had expected, requiring him to engage in a slow jog, which amounted to 40km/h. Surprisingly, the farmer seemed to be able to keep up without too much effort. He would even swing his hoe at some weaker monsters coming for him, completely obliterating them. Was the man more interesting than what he let on?
Prometheus decided he would think about it another time. Currently, the golden warrior was following the wasp, evading trees and random ground obstacles, be they rocks or surface roots. He could feel the wind hitting his Chitin-plated body, giving him a sense of freedom he deeply enjoyed.
The various shades of green were flying in his vision, creating a constantly moving painting of nature's beauty. Meanwhile, the wasp seemed to get slower.
I must be near the hive.
The insect lowered its altitude and flew into a huge, hollow trunk. It must have had a diameter of at least 10 meters, with a height of 30, but that was only the base, as the tree looked like it fell at some point in its life.
Intense buzzing noises could be heard from outside the hive, despite its distance from Prometheus.
Prometheus saw the animal fly inside a hole in the side of the trunk. Being the polite gentleman he was, he slowly got nearby and knocked three times on the dead wood. The whole body of wood trembled slightly with each knock, which resulted in the complete silence of the hive until a massive surge of insects flew out at Prometheus, clearly unhappy about his presence.
Well, I even knocked on their door, so I can't be considered the one at fault here. Anyway, I'm going in.
Prometheus found a small entrance in the side of the trunk, near one of the biggest roots. He put his hands on the edge of the entrance and, with a loud snap, cracked it open enough for him to pass through.
His new farmer friend seemed frantic and was shouting at Prometheus. He could now understand some words, such as 'danger' and 'death,' but he couldn't care less about it.
The inside of the trunk was just as disgusting as the outside, with a crunchy, wet material making up most of the internal walls of this hive.
Obviously, the wasps weren't just ignoring him, as could be noticed by the incessant sound of metal hitting metal, those being the wasps' stingers hitting his exoskeleton.
Prometheus could easily ignore the damage from the wasps, so he focused on finding the source of the buzzing, or in other words, the Queen.
Following a really tight maze-like structure, he came across four massive Wasps, obviously defending whatever was behind them. They were almost as big as Zilch and heavily armored. Prometheus completely disregarded their presence as he walked behind them, the insects biting and pushing with every fiber of their being. With little effort, the Golden Warrior could see a Wasp hidden behind a semi-transparent membrane. Easily tearing it apart, Prometheus could witness to the hive's Queen. She looked like a bigger version of the drone, with more vibrant colors and a bigger abdomen. She was slightly smaller than the four guards, which intrigued him.
He grabbed her with the carelessness only he could have in such a situation and slowly walked outside, completely ignoring the rampaging wasps that were much more enraged than before.
Seeing the farmer recoil and tremble made Prometheus evaluate his circumstances. From the point of view of the worker, he had just entered a giant wasp colony and enraged the hive by capturing the Queen.
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I guess I can understand why he would be so scared. Any normal person would probably get shredded in seconds inside that hive.
Not knowing how else to respond, Prometheus gave the planter a thumbs up. The latter didn't seem much relieved by the gesture, instead slowly backing away from him and the wasps.
The Golden Warrior was growing tired of the annoying insects biting and clawing at him, so after a deep sigh, he carefully studied the wasps' pheromones and replicated a calming one, being able to slowly reduce the wasps' attacks.
One by one, the insects slowly stopped attacking him and went back to their hive, probably to protect their backup Queens. The Queen in his hands started squirming and shaking, hoping to get off his arms. When he returned home, he would ask Zilch to create a mental bridge between him and the Queen, to hopefully make her understand that he could offer safety to her in exchange for servitude.
---
Meanwhile, the farmer was regretting his decision to follow Prometheus and thought to himself, I should have just told him to be on his way so I could have resumed looking for my daughter. Ahh, how much of a fool I am. That mountain would pale in comparison to my foolishness; He said internally while glancing at a faraway peak.
It's too late now to go back on my word, as that will surely end my life. He gritted his teeth, and his grip on his hoe strengthened. Father always told me that strength was everything, and that being strong was a requirement to living in this world. Just now, I realized exactly how right he had been all this time.
His Influence resonated with Eadric's feelings, mimicking his internal struggles, being made of his general hatred of nobility, his fear of not having found his daughter, and the anxiety coming from being near such a dangerous warrior. He glanced at the golden warrior's back and noticed that both his arms were busy holding the Queen Wasp. His Warhammer was slung on his back, waiting to be equipped and used to release God's wrath.
Desperate thoughts began swirling inside Eadric's mind, such as trying to hit the warrior from the back with all his strength. He stopped himself from acting upon his thoughts almost too late.
W-What? What am I thinking?? Trying to hit a noble warrior that could exit a Giant wasp hive unscathed would just kill me, so why?
He shook his head and breathed heavily, trying to clear his mind of these disturbing thoughts. He would just bring the mysterious warrior to the city gates and then be on his way, hopefully.
---
Prometheus was confused. He had heard the farmer's heart rate suddenly spike up, making him think there was a dangerous threat somewhere near them, but that wasn't the case. Maybe it was the Queen? Letting those distracting thoughts behind, he glanced ahead, noticing the dirt road was slowly becoming cleaner and smoother, and he could spot the road becoming asphalt in the distance.
We are finally getting near a city; hopefully, I'll find what I'm looking for.
The farmer seemed to say something to him, but he only understood a few words like "guard" and "inspection". In a few moments, they could glance at a massive wall in the distance, looking to be made the same way the bandit base was, with the ground looking like it was pulled straight from the ground and lifted over 20 meters in the sky to create this imposing barrier.
Prometheus narrowed his eyes. At the massive gate, made of sturdy-looking wood and metal, a single guard was stationed, leaning his body on the wall behind him, holding a spear in his hands. From a distance of about 500 meters from the gate, Prometheus noticed the Guard slightly open one of his eyes, and he was sure he was looking at them, evaluating them.
They were probably seen as a lesser threat, given the sentry's lack of care. He was wearing simple leather armor, and his spear looked completely unassuming.
Prometheus and the farmer got closer to the gate, which was empty of travelers, until the Guard suddenly spoke without moving an inch, "Stop right there." Prometheus only understood the word 'Stop,' but that was enough. He complied.
The man in leather armor finally opened his eyes and stood straight, and asked a question, "Name, Origin, and purpose?"
"Eadric from Grainhaven, accompanying this fine gentleman." Said the farmer named Eadric. Prometheus was glad he finally knew his name. He could probably speak the local language with a decent level of proficiency, and so replied in his robotic voice, "Prometheus from Earth, looking for Mr. Fluffernutter and his children." The Guard seemed slightly interested in his voice while Eadric started shaking behind him.
"What happened to your voice?" The man asked with suspicion.
"This is the only way I can talk."
The man grunted and fell into thought, Mmm, my Lie detector skill isn't activating, meaning what he said until now was true. Is it a Heavenly condition? A Soul condition? No, he seems tier 0, which is suspicious enough for an adult in full plate armor. And that's not even taking into consideration the tier 1 insect in his arms.
"Do you intend to bring harm, directly or indirectly, in this town, by way of your hands, that insect, or your actions?"
"No, I'm only here to find my owner and leave. I don't have the intention of bringing any harm into this city".
That settles it. With such a direct and dry question, I doubt he found a way to hide his bad intentions.
"Enjoy your visit, and good luck on your search." The man said, slumped over the wall, and started snoring shortly after. Prometheus shrugged and went ahead.
What awaited him beyond the gate was...wholly unimpressive. Other than the generally large houses lining every side of the streets, the only interesting details were how massive everything felt. The walls and gate were huge, the road was wide enough to accommodate several vehicles at once, side by side, and every building was the size of a small mansion at least. Every once in a while he could see carriages moved by various beasts, and sometimes fancier looking ones moving on their own, almost like modern cars.
Given that this was probably the result of skills and magic, how was it possible that technology hadn't progressed further in other areas like weaponry? Was it the lack of need?
He turned around to face Eadric, noticing he looked like he had many questions. Since he had already revealed his voice back at the guard outpost, he didn't need to hide it from the farmer anymore.
"Eadric, where is the closest Guard?"
"Your Majesty, didn't we just pass by one at the entrance?"
Ah, that's embarrassing. I was too focused on other stuff to realize I had in front of me what I was looking for.
Without another word, he returned to the gate, facing the same Guard, sleeping like earlier. Prometheus neared the sleepy man, and before he was two meters away, he opened one eye and said in a tired and sarcastic tone, "How can I help you, dear traveler?"
Prometheus pulled out the carvings of his owners and asked, "Have you seen these people?"
"Mmm, I don't think I have, I'm sorry. You should put a request at the Adventurer's Guild or Mercenary Guild if it's urgent enough, you can find them at the center of the city."
"I see, thank you."
He went back into the city, looking for the Guilds mentioned earlier. Prometheus took the main road in front of him and went that way.
The sight of regular citizens lifting huge tools, building materials, or weapons was enough to scratch his itch for excitement.
Finding the Guilds was easy enough: they were huge buildings situated near the center of the circle-structured city. They looked to be made of various shiny metals, including gold, platinum, and the weird green metal that made up Prometheus' sword.
Show offs. If I get strong enough, I'll take those whole buildings for myself. He entered the one on the left, and before crossing the wide doorway, he turned to Eadric and said, "Get over there and take a bounty, something quick, but that pays well. We'll need the money to put up a request to find these people here."
"Of course, your Majesty."
Prometheus saw the farmer quickly rush inside and scan his surroundings before heading in one direction. Five minutes later, he came back with a handful of paper sheets. They looked rough and yellowed out, probably by having been used many times.
"Your Majesty, I have found several bounties that might interest you; First, an ogre hunting mission is requesting that a bunch of tier 3 ogres get killed near a farming village on the outskirts of the city, outside the walls. No further information is provided other than its location."
Prometheus liked this one already. "How much does this pay?"
"It pays 3 Soladites, your Majesty."
"Mm, I see. What about the other ones?"
"There's one that pays about 50 Moonarite, and it is an escort mission from this city to the next. Another one requests for a mass murderer to be brought in, dead or alive. 5 Soladites for the body and 10 for bringing him alive, and he should be tier 5. Seems like the Guards can't bother helping the masses, fucking assholes. The last one requests for a healer to cure an unknown disease from a noble's daughter. This one rewards 1... Holy Snickerfritz!" The farmer glanced at Prometheus. "A whole Stellaurite! That's 100 Soladites! I could live in luxury for the rest of my life with that! But It shows that the disease is quite hard to cure if the noble is willing and desperate enough to pay that much and request help through the Adventurer guild."
"It's settled then; we'll visit that noble and complete that quest. Give me that. Also, hold Buzzelina."
Prometheus gave the Queen Wasp to Eadric, took the bounty, and headed to the reception.
"Good evening, sir. How can I help you?" Greeted a male receptionist with a wide smile. Prometheus pointed to the bounty in his hand.
"Um, do you wanna complete that quest?"
The warrior nodded.
"Sure, please give the bounty to me, sir. Oh, I see. I should contact the noble in question and announce your presence. I don't think I've seen you here before. Are you a member?"
He shook his head.
"While you can complete bounties as a non-member, it is not recommended as the Guild will take a bigger cut for non-members than members. Would you wish to join the Guild?"
Prometheus shook his head. The less he revealed of himself, the better. Joining a guild would surely need him to expose himself.
"I see. What name should I sign this bounty with?"
Prometheus thought about it and wrote "Chimera" on the paper. He had learned the language's writing with the various bounties.
"I see. Please wait here a moment until I call for the noble." The smiling man went into the back and seemed to talk to someone in the distance.
Such a nice man! He was smiling at me, probably because he saw me as friendly! Oh, who am I kidding? Who WOULDN'T find me likable?
The man returned with a determined gaze and spoke, "The noble in question should arrive shortly. Thank you for your patience thus far, sir, and good luck on your quest." He finished with a slight bow. Prometheus was incredibly impressed by the man's mannerisms. He should try to be that elegant as well!
He decided to sit down on a nearby bench and waited near Eadric, noticing the man had been getting nervous over the day. He had talked about finding his daughter, didn't he?
"Eadric, how is your Daughter called?"
"Oh, Wha...Oh, she's named Anne, Your Majesty. She's nine and is quite like her mom." He said while smiling and looking at an empty spot.
"Noted."
They waited patiently until an agitated man with disorganized hair, bloodshot eyes, dark circles, and elegant clothes ran inside the hall. He looked to be in his fifties and in good shape. He then shouted, "Where is Chimera, the healer for my daughter??"
Prometheus raised his hand, and the man almost lunged at him, grabbing his hand and forcefully shaking it. The old man's grip was terrifying, and Prometheus had trouble getting his hand out of it.
"Please, follow me, kind gentlemen; we are in a rush."
The man started sprinting outside, steadily accelerating until he reached a normal horse's galloping speed. He noticed the old noble stayed on the right side of the road, which had a different color than the center of the road. Prometheus easily kept up, and Eadric seemed to struggle a bit but could still keep up.
After about fifteen minutes of them running around the city, they came up to a massive mansion the size of a soccer field! It looked intricately adorned, with impressively decorated windows and doors.
The noble turned around to look at Prometheus and Eadric and gestured for them to follow him. They obliged and entered to get welcomed by wide and beautiful hallways. Eadric made an audible gasp, but the old man clearly didn't care enough to stop. Prometheus followed him into a big room, holding a group of more than ten people, half of them looking like maids, the other half like the woman that had launched a fireball at him the other day. Actually, how many days had passed? He knew exactly how many hours had passed since he woke up on this planet, but it seemed to be tidally locked to the black hole as it never became night or day, just a weird in-between of the two.
The group of people seemed to stand around something, and upon closer inspection, it was a royal bed with a pale young woman on it. She looked unconscious and at death's door.
"She has been getting worse over the last two weeks, and now she possesses multiple black spots on her skin. She coughs blood, and her hands and feet are becoming more black every day. Please, I beg you, save her!" The man pleaded to Prometheus, getting on his knees while sobbing uncontrollably.
He neared the woman and took various measurements such as temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. All of these weren't giving him any hope: Her heart was about to give up.
He immediately extracted a small sample of blood from her, resulting in the whole room gasping and some aiming their weapons at him. The noble held up his hand, watched Prometheus with a suspicious gaze, and added, "Harm her in any capacity, and the only thing that will remain of you is your head that I'll keep on my wall as an example."
Prometheus ignored him and studied the blood: The problem was clear; a bacteria similar to the bubonic plague was rapidly multiplying in her body at supernatural speeds. It seemed that even bacteria could tier up in some capacity. Another problem came up: he couldn't just send his cells inside the woman and kill the bacteria, as she was in a precarious situation, and he might kill her accidentally.
He wasn't sure what he could do. The ideal solution was to assist the woman's immune system in fighting the bacteria, but it was easier said than done.
Can I..? No, I've never tried it, and it's too risky. Modifying another being's DNA is too risky. But what if... I just targeted white blood cells? Could that work? He glanced at the woman and noticed her depressing state.
I might as well try. First of all, I'll try to understand the bacteria. Oh, it seems to absorb some type of energy that I can't see inside the woman's cell and use that to both weaken her and strengthen itself. Clever. Unfortunately, it went up against me.
Prometheus designed a DNA change that would let the woman's white blood cells target high sources of that mysterious energy that weren't in her cells, as well as making them generally tougher and faster. He was hopeful it would work. He sent the cells with the modified DNA, modified a good chunk of the existing ones, and stepped back.
Here we go, let's hope for the best.