Night fell. They still hadn’t returned.
It was fine. Maybe the operation was a success, and they all went out to celebrate for the night. I could've used the silence to rest my mind anyway. With the extra time, I recalled all my wildest adventures and experiences, searching for good stories to tell them. I somehow longed to see their eyes light up again.
I was wrong about them before. They were good kids. I figured that if I had kids one day, maybe they could be like Jenna and Thomas. If I could somehow undo this spell. That was a faraway thought.
Morning came, the day passed, then night fell again.
They didn't return.
Maybe they failed somehow, maybe they needed to change their base of operations. A narrow escape, surely.
Another day passed.
Maybe they abandoned me. Maybe they were killed or captured.
Inwardly, I sighed. A shame, it was, but they were still commoners, just ordinary ants or pawns or insects on the great chessboard of life. They were beneath me still, and even in my trash can form, I was like a king to them.
Right?
I gave them another day to return, just in case.
They didn't.
Since they had obviously abandoned this place, I figured I could take the leftovers. Using my arm, I took everything within reach, tossing weapons and potions and even breaking the crates down into chunks of wood. I needed everything I could get to make it to the next level.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
+ 2 Swords
+ 7 Daggers
+ 3 Regeneration Potions (Uncommon), Level 10
+ 9.7kg Wood
+ 3kg Scrap Metal
+ 1.6kg Cloth
Hummmm.
+ 3892 Earth Element
+ 224 Water Element
+ 276 Fire Element
+ 274 Air Element
+ 300 Blood Element
+ 23,510 XP
+ 3 Levels [Level 12]
+ 3 Skill Points
Man, that felt good. A nice little burst of XP and resources that really hit the spot. I should've done it sooner instead of wasting time with those street rats.
Now, I just needed to figure out what to spend these points in. Movement was obviously my top priority, but what about the other three?
There were some vending options available, along with some utility things, but I knew that since I was alone again, I would need to min-max everything just to survive.
I dropped two into the Efficiency skill tree.
“Unlock: Efficiency 1.”
“Efficiency 1 unlocked.
Unlock: Efficiency 2.”
“Efficiency 2 unlocked.”
There. Now the amount of resources I would get had now been increased from 20% of the item’s value to 40%. Twice as much shit for just as much effort. Soon, I’d be swimming in a wealth of recycled trash.
It was time for the real deal.
"Unlock: Movement."
"Movement unlocked."
I was hit by stomach aches, right in my gut. Something inside me was changing, reforming, wrapping into a ball, an orb, a metal contraption that spun and tilted and moved.
It was a gyroscope that ran off mana.
In the same way a newborn kitten knew how to walk, I instinctively knew how to use this newfound power. By spinning my onboard gyros, I could tilt my body over the edge and slam onto the ground (which I did), and I could use it right myself back up (which I did). With enough talent, I soon found that I could essentially "walk" myself by shifting my weight left and right while pushing forward.
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang. If it were possible to have a negative stealth skill, I would’ve had it. The sound of a trashcan walking is exactly as anybody would expect. Noisy, obnoxious, and really unnecessary.
I eased out my machine arm, gripped the door handle, and clicked it open.
Daylight flooded into me, and I found the world again.