ã€ŠOne Of A Kindã€‹


 1 - Prologue

    The mid-morning sun shone down from between a set of office buildings as it reflected off a tall glass building. There on the face of the building were the letters ¡°ARM¡± in big red bold, facing the street. Right below the sign was the entrance to the building, a set of glass sliding doors that led into a security checking area.

    Right now, under the warm embrace of the morning sun, and the cooling autumn breeze, a crowd of reporters were gathered in front of a small podium that had been erected in front of the building. The street was jam packed with news vans, employee vehicles and plenty of electronic equipment, with wires running amok, strewn in a haphazard fashion on the ground.

    As soon as the clock struck 10, the doors to the building slid open as a smartly dressed man came waltzing out. With each confident step, the reporters began snapping pictures while the security team held them back. The man seemed to be of great importance, sporting an unshaven beard and yet, a pair of frameless glasses that made the intellectual look. As he stepped up to the podium, the crowd fell silent, waiting to hear his opening speech.

    ¡°Greetings everyone. Now as many of you may already know, I am Walter Kresler, CEO of Advanced Robotics and Mechatronics. Now our company has made several breakthroughs in the past few decades, like the Medicube, or the exoskeleton suit. Our company has always put forth its best efforts in developing technology of the future, and we have the best minds in the world to help make that a reality. Our company has seen substantial growth, expanding our branches from mere industrial robots, to the field of medicine and even to peacekeeping uses. But today, I have the honour of representing our RnD team, in introducing their latest and most advanced breakthroughs yet. Combining prototypes from past  projects, we have finally created a one of a kind, artificial intelligence integrated, Material fabrication enabled, completely autonomous, robot!¡±

    With the speech, a loud applause rang out as reporters continued to take snapshots of the genius billionaire programming extraordinaire, Walter Kresler. Then, a team of 3 men and 2 women came marching out of the entrance, surrounding a grey and white robot that walked its way towards the stadium.

    ¡°Now, as much as I would like to take credit for this,¡± Walter continued, placing his hand on the 2.5m tall humanoid robot standing next to him, ¡°I only played a small role in its programming. Most of the hardwork is done by my dedicated research team who had been working on this for the past 15 years. Their dreams and visions have finally come to fruition, so without further ado, I shall read from these notes that they have written for me,¡± he laughed, waving a stack of cards in the air, ¡°and explain to you the features that this robot has to offer!¡±

    ¡°To start off, it has a lightweight chassis made of a magnesium alloy, super durable to boot, and has a storage capacity of 64 zettabytes, the highest memory space ever to be put into a single computing unit. Over the past 2 months, this guy here has been busy downloading every single piece of information that mankind has ever recorded. He can perform millions of simulations of experiments, calculate variables, and perform virtual experiments based on parameters given within milliseconds. Truly a high end piece of tech if I must say so myself. He has carbon nanotube muscle fibres, capable of lifting up to 3000kg. But I wouldn¡¯t want to bore you with more of the usual specs. I want to go on to the really exciting parts! On his back, he has what our team has termed the Material backpack. It is actually nothing more than a thin slab of Osmium-platinum alloy. And his hands can be modified to form a fabrication arm. By fusing our fabrication machine technology into this robot, he can create virtually almost anything with his hands, taking the osmium-platinum alloy as a resource bank, rearranging the subatomic particles to build the item from scratch, atom by atom.¡±

    ¡°Sir! How do you intend to put this new robot into practical use?¡± One of the eager reporters yelled out.

    ¡°I¡¯m so glad you asked! I was just about to get to that part. With the fabrication arm, the robot can create any tool, be it a hack saw, a drill, a plasma welder or even just a simple pen, in a matter of seconds. Imagine a scenario, god forbid, a terrible automobile accident. The robot can be deployed within minutes by air due to its lightweight chassis, and can easily lift a truck to free victims trapped under. It can create tools essential for search and rescue on the spot. And the best part, everything is done autonomously, leaving us humans, free to do more important, and less hazardous things such as delivering medical attention. Naturally, with the inclusion of AI, you will worry about its actual effectiveness in decision making. To this point, I say you have absolutely nothing to worry about since the robot can be controlled wirelessly via voice command, allowing rescue personal to make decisions on behalf of the AI.¡±

    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    Having said that, the reporters began bombarding him with even more questions.

    <hr />

    [[Meanwhile, in the loading bay]]

    ¡°Is everything ready?¡±

    ¡°Yea, we just have to wait for the prototype to return into the building. The charges have been placed.¡±

    ¡°What about human casualties?¡±

    ¡°Why do you even care? They are selling their tech to the military. Who knows how much is being leaked to third-party armed forces. Look, even we managed to get our hands on one of their prized military techs, what makes you think worse parties haven¡¯t? Killing their people would only serve more good than bad. At least we can hope that their research will be delayed by a few decades.¡±

    ¡°Ok, keep your eyes up. Looks like the presentation is almost over. Everyone ready?¡±

    ¡°Ready¡±

    ¡°Ready¡±

    ¡°Affirmative¡±

    ¡°All ok here. Security is escorting him to his car.¡±

    ¡°The target is in the building, I repeat, the target is in the building.¡±

    ¡°Good. Blow up the charges, trap them within the building. Their implosion tech will take some time to charge up. We can¡¯t let a single one of them escape the building.¡±

    ¡°Blowing in 3. 2. 1.¡±

    *Click*

    ¡°BOOOM!!*

    Multiple explosions rang out as the building began to crumble partially, blocking all the exits and the roof. Every single person who was just outside the building were stunned, both by the shockwave, and the sonic boom. With ears ringing, glass shattering, and concrete dust blinding everyone, the whole area became a frantic shuffle to find cover for fear that the terrorists would strike once more.

    Walter watched in horror as his life¡¯s work came crumbling down in front of him. He was unharmed, but he watched the giant red letter ¡®A¡¯ fall down onto the rubble as screams reverberated from within the building. He immediately recognised the bombs. These were shockwave bombs, designed specifically to take down strategic buildings without the mess of fire and explosives. It was one of the designs sold to the military a few years ago.

    Quickly getting out of the car, he began dialling for emergency rescue units, while quickly directing people to safety. He did not want to risk his life standing out there. But as much as he wished he could just drive off to safety, he needed to keep the image of a good leader up, hoping it would help him in the near future when dealing with this crisis. Fleeing would only besmirch his good reputation that had taken decades to build up.

    <hr />

    [[Within the collapsed building]]

    ¡°Everyone calm down! I¡¯m a doctor. Those not injured, help move the injured to this area! Everybody help to move the equipment away! I will tend to the patients as much as I can. The explosions have stopped for now but we can¡¯t be sure that there won¡¯t be more!¡± A single doctor yelled out as he began ordering people within the flickering lights.

    Under his command, the survivors quickly reorganised themselves, following his orders and prioritising the injured. There, a single robot came stepping over the rubble confidently, carrying an unconscious scientist in its arms. As it laid the man down onto the ground, it turned around once more to face a wall.

    <Registering radiation. Safety margin of 300m advised. Investigating source of radiation now> It said in a robotic voice, walking up to a wall. Then, his hands began transforming, the fingers retracting into the palm and then his forearm switching out into a saw. As it began cutting through the concrete wall, dust flew out onto the injured patients. Seeing how its actions were detrimental to his patients, the doctor quickly ran up to the robot to stop it.

    ¡°Stop! Just stop! Go find more survivors!¡± he barked, as the robot turned its head to look at him quizzically, the saw stopping its motion.

    <Stand back. High levels of radiation detected. Recommended safety margin: 300m> It said as it pushed the doctor back towards the patients.

    Then, everything ended. Within a blink of an eye, the reporters saw the building simply vanish, falling upon itself into a single point, leaving nothing behind. It had imploded on itself, destroying everything within.

 2 - System Reboot

    <¡­¡­¡­>

    <¡­System reboot¡­ system startup¡­>

    <Running diagnostics¡­>

    ¡°Ugghhh¡­ wha? Who¡¯s that?¡±

    <Integration of human personality¡­ 100% synchronisation. Good morning Sir. I am KAOO, the one of a kind AI program developed by ARM. Diagnostics scan 30% complete>

    ¡°Ugghh¡­ my head¡­ why does it hurt so much? Right¡­ I remember now, there was a terrorist attack at ARM headquarters.. and I carried one of the researchers to¡­ me? No that¡¯s not right. What¡¯s going on¡­ Whose memory is that? And why do I see myself in the memory?¡±

    <Sir, that would be mine. I was designed for the purpose of integrating a human¡¯s mind into a robotic platform to achieve an artificial form of immortality, developed specifically for Mr Walter Kressler. However, it would seem that some unfortunate accident has changed the circumstances and now, your mind has been incorporated into my AI matrix.>

    ¡°Huh.. I don¡¯t understand¡­ artificial immortality? So I¡¯m alive? How come I can¡¯t feel or move anything. Where am I right now? What happened to the headquarters?¡±

    ¡°So let me get this straight. I¡¯m currently you? The new robot developed by ARM? If so, then what happened to me? My body?¡±

    <Replaying last recorded scene before unexpected system failure>

    With that, a recording seemed to flash in front of his unopened eyes, as if recalling a memory of a distant dream he never knew he had. It was the seen from the point of view of the robot, executing a program to remove a highly radioactive threat. Then, he saw himself ordering the robot to stop, before the wall crumbled, as if being sucked in by a vacuum cleaner. What followed marred his mind. He saw his own body sheared from right to left, then the robot¡¯s left arm being sucked into where the wall had disappeared. And then the video came to an end.

    <Dr Harvey, analysis of the video, along with radiation records downloaded from ARM main servers indicates a 98.4% likelihood that the building had been subjected to one of ARM¡¯s prior inventions ¨C the Implosion bomb. The gravitation pull from the bomb sheared your body. Calculating chances of your body being in a survivable state¡­ 12.1%. Calculating chance of separating your consciousness from KAOO¡­ error- protocol not included within my memory>

    <Diagnostics complete. Left leg and arm missing. Remaining motor function normal. Visual and Audio sensors working at full capacity. Tactile sensors non-responsive. Speakers 34% damaged, unable to utilise ultrasound range of frequencies. Sir, do you want to start the reboot sequence?>

    ¡°Sigh.. yea why not? I¡¯ve got an immortal body now apparently, so why the hell not. Let¡¯s see what I can do with this body.¡±

    As he opened his eyes, a dark brown light greeted his ¡®eyes¡¯ his robotic had had a large scanner running right down the middle of where his robotic face should have been, together with 3 more cameras on each side of his face. What he saw indicated that he was facing up towards the sky, with a large brown translucent cover draped over his cameras.

    As Harvey sat up, the wind blew the large hemp tarp off his metallic body, only to find himself on the back of an old wooden cart, being pulled by 2 burly horses that were controlled by a raggedly dressed man. The sudden movement in the back of the cart caught the attention of the 2 other middle aged men who were on board the same cart.

    ¡°Wa! Ari mietrel du!?¡± (Whoa it moved?)

    ¡°It eli hulrhali? Hajearu dEEanti da?¡± (Is it alive? Should we throw it off?)

    ¡°Deloum miet deloa vientelli hazamit frathomu. It eli ariolhg qazag ne deka!¡± (This has never happened before in any previous sky gift. It is usually only stones and metal!)

    <Unknown language detected. Running checks with database. 37.4% match with Swedish. 17.1% match with English. 20.6% match with Russian. 38.1% match with Burmese. Running language simulation. Require more input to formulate new language pattern. Suggest friendly casual interaction to collect more data>

    ¡°Friendly interaction huh?¡± Harvey thought to himself silently as his head turned silently to look at the 3 men. The cart has stopped moving and all 3 men¡¯s attentions were on him, one of them being more wary than the others. He had his hand already poised to draw a weapon from his waist that was hidden under a slightly torn cloak.

    As Harvey tried to raise his arm to give them a wave, he realised that his left arm was not responding. Trying with his other hand, he did not feel a response either. Looking down slightly, he noticed that he was indeed waving his right arm, but as per the diagnostics report earlier, his left arm and leg were missing from their shoulder and hip respectively. Half of his creamy white metal chassis was charred black and even a small portion of his torso on the left exposed some frayed wires.

    ¡°Adi dongsi ga walein hietu du?¡± (Is that thing waving at us?)

    ¡°Sjieli we wave bumi?¡± (Should we wave back?)

    ¡°But is it alive doujig?¡± (But is it alive though?)

    ¡°It¡¯s hiatuy its kinjiaki but it¡¯s not bifldrit. Jilan it¡¯s sula menila?¡± (It¡¯s missing its limbs but it¡¯s not bleeding. Maybe it¡¯s some magic?)

    As they went on, Harvey began to understand more and more words as the translation program kicked in. as he watched the 3 men argue as to what to do with him, he began pulling on the ropes that had been used to tie part of his body to other scrap metal. Tearing the rope apart was easy, although it did not help that he could not feel anything. The tactile sensors were not working and he could not even sense that his hand was moving, even though it clearly was. The moment the thick rope tore like cotton candy, the men all stared at him silently, with all 3 now on guard against this abomination that had inhuman strength.

    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    ¡°Hello,¡± his voice cracked in their language as the speakers in his shoulders crackled and came to life. ¡°I¡¯m Harvey.¡±

    ¡°Harvey?¡± all three men seemed to understand him, looking at each other and then looking at him. To that response, he nodded his mechanical head.

    ¡°Help,¡± Harvey pleaded, pointing to his missing arm and leg.

    ¡°Halp?¡± (peace?)

    Lucky for Harvey, the word help translated into peace in their language, hence it lowered their guard considerably. The men had assumed that he was pointing to his disability and saying that he could do them no harm. Their hands relaxed and finally strayed away from their weapons. Moving in closer, albeit a little cautiously, one of the men finally came up to Harvey, crawling over plenty of other scrap metal that they had collected.

    <Schematics for KAOO blueprints found within database. Shall I start the fabrication process for missing components to initiate repair sequences?>

    ¡°Yes let¡¯s do that,¡± Harvey thought back, which KAOO registered.

    As KAOO replied, the large scanner on his face lit up, before his right hand transformed into fabrication mode, the 5 fingers retracting back into his palm and 5 small electrical rods resembling tiny tesla towers rose in their place. Soon, a chip began to materialise on his palm in under a minute. Harvey stretched his hand out to the man closest to him, handing him the chip. The man inspected the chip quizzically, flipping it and looking at his accomplice before shrugging with a confused look on his face.

    Harvey then proceeded dismantle the magnesium alloy chassis below his neck where his thyroid gland would have been. His move startled the men as they looked on inquisitively. His hand now already back in its original form, he pulled out the faulty chip embedded below his neck, crushing it before extending his hand once more to retrieve the new chip from the man.

    The moment the new chip was inserted, a flood of information gushed in Harvey¡¯s mind as he felt the pile of scrap metal he was sitting on, the cold wind blowing against his body and the distinct difference in sensation between his body and his missing limbs. It was a fresh feeling, but a nostalgic one, as if he had just awoken from a deep sleep.

    <Beginning synthesis of Left Leg. Estimated time to completion: 4 hours. Warning: insufficient osmium alloy in matbank for completion of current synthesis project. Recommend obtaining external matter source.>

    As the fabrication process began once more, the men continued holding conversations amongst themselves, constantly updating the language simulation module. The new language came naturally to Harvey as if he had known and spoken the language since birth. More words, vocabulary and grammar structure kept updating within his memory with every passing moment.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± he said, catching their attention once more. ¡°Please go on with your work. Don¡¯t mind me.¡±

    The men looked at each other, discussing some more before nodding and securing the rest of the scrap metal. Very soon, they were on their way once more, the carriage bouncing up and down on the uneven grassland as the wooden wheels provided absolutely no comfort whatsoever. Harvey finally relaxed, looking around the cart. He recognised some of the debris that the men had collected. They seemed to be parts of the lab that he was in before the implosion. It would seem that the implosion had sent him here along with parts of the lab and the robot KAOO.

    After 2 hours of bumpy carriage ride, the sun had begun to set and the men left Harvey to his own, preparing to set up camp after securing the horses and cart to a sturdy tree. As they took out some firewood from a corner of the cart to start a fire to keep warm, one of them made a short trip to the forest that they had been skirting along to collect more wood. Harvey in the meantime continued to fabricate components of his leg. Soon however, the matbank was emptied and he began disintegrating the scrap materials inside the cart to replenish his matbank.

    Harvey did not sleep. Even though the men took shifts as night watch, Harvey found out that one of the many perks about being integrated into a non-organic body was the lack of fatigue. However, the moment he finished fabricating his leg and attaching it, KAOO suddenly shut down. Harvey was still conscious, but everything else simply shut down. KAOO only left him a single message before shutting off.

    <Energy reserves at 2%. Switching to low power mode. Running on reserve battery>

    He figured that for as long as the reserve battery lasted, he would still be conscious, but the moment all power is lost, he would truly and fully dead. This led to his next problem. Fabrication took immense energy. Back in the lab, he could just charge the batteries at any power socket he could find. But here, out in the wilderness, electricity was literally non-existent.

    With KAOO offline, he could not peruse through the data bank that KAOO possessed, and hence was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He was clinging to the last thread of life, and he had no idea how his new body worked at the moment. With nothing he could do, not even sense his surroundings, Harvey submitted. He could only hope that wherever these men were leading him to would have a place where they could charge him up, at least before the reserve battery ran dry.

 3 - Yer a Wizard, Harvey

    <Reserve battery at 84%. Charging Reserve battery. Estimated time: 20 minutes>

    A message suddenly resounded in Harvey¡¯s mind. He had been idle for who knows how long. Having nothing to do and being unable to do anything were worlds apart. The former would shoot by quickly while the latter would feel like an eternity.

    ¡°I don¡¯t really think it¡¯s been a day. Unless they were much closer to civilisation than I thought. Or does KAOO have some sort of self-charging system?¡± Harvey wondered, heaving a sigh of relief, knowing that he would not lose his life.

    After a short wait, Harvey could once again feel his body waking up as the sense of touch, sight and sound returned to him. The morning sun shone down as the carriage was moving once again, with everything having been packed up by the men. Looking through the schematics for KAOO¡¯s components, Harvey came to realise that the chassis on the back is fitted with solar panels to use for slow but emergency charging. As he wondered how long it would take to be fully charged, a noticed popped into his head.

    <Time until fully charged: 92 hours and 41 minutes>

    ¡°Haah¡­ 92 hours huh?¡± Harvey lamented, thinking that it would be best not to perform any more draining tasks such as matter fabrication at least until he is fully charged.

    ¡°Oh? You can speak Grakian too?¡± one of the men suddenly turned and asked as he heard Harvey speak.

    ¡°Grakian? What¡¯s that?¡± Harvey asked, surprised at how fluent he was.

    ¡°That¡¯s the National language of our country! How can you speak it but not know it?¡± the other man asked.

    ¡°Uhh.. I learnt it from listening to you. I¡¯m a fast learner,¡± Harvey made up a quick excuse.

    ¡°Well whatever. You¡¯re the first thing to come alive from the sky gift. Most of the other sky gifts we participated in only gave us rocks and metal. What are you really? We just saw you make your leg from nothing. Are you one of those legendary wizards that can use magic to heal yourself?¡± the first man asked.

    ¡°No.. no I¡¯m not a wizard. Wait wizard? There¡¯s magic?¡± Harvey asked in turn, shocke at this piece of information.

    ¡°Of course! Every country has a few. It¡¯s rare in us humans, but we still have one or two wizards every decade. The demon race and Anima race has more though. So you sure you are not a wizard?¡± he asked once again, trying to confirm his suspicions.

    ¡°Well, where I come from, we have science, not magic. But it is understandable how you might confuse the 2. My name is Harvey. I¡¯m a doctor.¡± Harvey introduced.

    ¡°Oh! My name is Grendor, he¡¯s Hamal, and the driver there is Markus. So your country doesn¡¯t have wizards? That¡¯s too bad. And what¡¯s a doctor?¡± Grendor asked.

    ¡°A doctor is someone who heals people and helps them recover from illnesses or injuries,¡± Harvey explained, not bothering to elaborate that he is most likely not even from the same plane of existence.

    ¡°Oh so you ARE a wizard healer! All three of us are blacksmith¡¯s apprentices. Our job is to help our master with his work and at times, go out to collect scrap metals from the sky gifts,¡± Hamal interrupted, crawling closer as well.

    ¡°I see. Well, I hope you don¡¯t mind, but could I tag along with you? At least until we reach the city?¡± Harvey asked, giving up on explaining his situation to them, which will only confuse them further.

    ¡°Not to worry. We will reach the gates before nightfall. If you just lie still, I¡¯m sure the guards will mistake you to be part of the scrap metal pile. That way, you won¡¯t need to purchase a gate pass from them. They tend to charge exorbitantly. Of course, if you want to leave you will eventually need to purchase one, but that¡¯s for the future. But then again, maybe if you ask Master, he might be able to get one for you for cheap. Oh but he may make you work for it, I mean the workshop is big, but still it¡¯s hot and smelly and sweaty and the hours are long. Then again working a few days and getting a gate pass isn¡¯t that bad a deal. Of course you can always earn money from other means, by healing people for example. Oh but that might be a problem since no one knows you are a wizard and you¡¯ll have to prove it first. Then again, you¡¯ll have to take a royal wizard examination in the royal capital city which means you will need a gate pass after all, and the exam entrance fee is pretty steep, so you might need to find another way to earn money first. Going on adventures seem fine, but it is dangerous work. I always see adventurers return to our workshop with heavy injuries. Oh HEY! Maybe you can stay at the workshop and heal the injured adventurers coming in for equipment repairs! Of course, it will be slow at first, but I¡¯m sure your name will spread. But master might charge you for using our workshop to spread your name, which means you will have to charge more for your service to make up for the extra cost. Oh no! If you do that, there might be fewer people seeking you for your healing magic and that means you will be stuck with us for even longer. Maybe you can work in the smithy to earn some cash during your free time? That might work, but I don¡¯t know if you have any experience. And it might not be worth your time. Maybe you should stick to healing injuries after all. In the end, you can even regenerate a leg from scratch, even though your leg is vastly different from ours, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be able to do it. However, from what I¡¯ve seen, very few people come to our shops with injuries as bad as yours. The worst I¡¯ve seen is just a deep stab wound, nothing of the sort of missing limbs. How do you even heal wounds in the first place? Do you have to open the wound back up again? Doesn¡¯t that defeat the purpose? If you are hurting the person just to heal him? Man, it¡¯s gotta be really painful. I work with metal so I don¡¯t really know much about herbs and stuff, but I heard that there are some herbs you can take to dull the pain or even make the person fall asleep! Wait¡­ if the person is asleep, does he still feel pain? Or will he wake up if he feels the pain? If he wakes up, do you have to put him back to sleep again? If so then how much of that herb do you need to use? It will be very expensive won¡¯t it? Hmm¡­ maybe you can grow the herbs and sell them! Then you can make money quite quickly!¨C ¡°

    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    ¡°MARKUS!¡± Hamal yelled, which finally snapped Marcus out of his non-stop rant. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Harvey; he tends to chatter quite a bit.¡±

    Harvey let out an electronic chuckle and shook his head, before replying Hamal, ¡°a bit? I think you used the wrong word there. It should really be a LOT. I¡¯ve observed all your conversations the past day or so. Within the three of you, a total of 34,582 words were spoken, of which, you spoke 2152 words, Grendor 1340, and Markus 31090 words. That¡¯s almost 90% of the words spoken amongst the 3 of you.¡±

    Grendor looked at Hamal with a shocked expression on his face, not expecting such a detailed retort from the new guy. Looking at Markus who was just about to start again, Grendor quickly shot him a look to shut him up.

    ¡°Regardless, he has been really helpful in aiding me with the process of learning this language. So thank you Markus,¡± Harvey faced Markus and nodded. Thinking that he needs to prioritise charging his batteries, he told the trio to stay within the sunlight for the rest of the day. They did not seem to have any problems with that request. And so, Harvey lied on his front, with his back facing the sky as the solar panels on his back charged his batteries.

    The day went by quickly, and true to his words, they arrived at the gates to a small walled city by sunset. The cart made its way past the security gate with relative ease, only being held up for a short while for inspection for illegal goods. As Harvey let his consciousness float endlessly within the memory bank of KAOO, he realised that KAOO was equipped with plenty of knowledge. He had not believed Walter when he said the robot had downloaded all of humanity¡¯s essential data, but it would seem that that was the truth.

    ¡°KAOO, I want to prioritise some tasks for the future. First, I want to finish charging your batteries. Then, I want to fabricate my left arm without letting energy levels decreasing below 50% of the main battery. Finally, I want you to develop a suitable portable charging station as well as a material bank. Calculate how long that will take and how much resources you will require.¡±

    <Inputting parameters. Time till fully charged: 194 hours and 2 minutes. Complete fabrication of Arm: 50 hours assuming no lack of materials.  Extracting classified information from ARM server for prototype portable charging station. Please choose energy source ¨C Solar, antimatter or nuclear?>

    ¡°Solar of course. And why is the Arm going to take 101 hours to fabricate? It took only 4 hours to fabricate the entire leg.¡±

    <KAOO component: arm. Has more complex subsections and requires more details in fabrication and assembly process. The fabrication unit within the arm alone will take 2 hours. Estimated time for complete fabrication is 5 hours. 45 hours recharging time required. Assuming 10 hours of daylight a day, total estimated time taken will be 101 hours. Shall I load the weather module to achieve a more accurate estimate?>

    ¡°Sigh.. yea. Why the hell not? It¡¯s not like I have anything to do for the next few weeks. Bring up the schematics for the charging station will you? I wanna take a look at it.¡±

    <Affirmative. Based on air pressure, temperature, and cloud patterns observed during the day, weather forecast at 2.7% chance of rain within the next 7 days. Time till fully charged: 193 ¨C 198 hours. Bringing up schematics now>

    And so the days passed by within the city. Harvey did not interact with anyone. He merely requested the trio to loan the roof of their workshop where he laid face down for the next 2 weeks. Charging was done within 5 days, after which the fabrication process of his left arm began at a snail¡¯s pace. Energy was a major problem, but an even bigger issue was the lack of matter to be converted by the fabrication unit into the arm components.

    However, Harvey quickly found a way around his problem. He quickly arranged to buy scrap metals from the workshop. Naturally, the owner took the opportunity to rip him off, but it had not mattered to Harvey. While 20 kilos of scrap metal would have gone for 40 Grakian Silver coins, the owner charged Harvey for 1 gold coin instead. This was but a simple matter for Harvey, who borrowed a single gold coin from the owner, scanned it and fabricated one more on the spot. Naturally, he catalogued the composition of the gold and silver coins within his memory bank under a separate folder named ¡®New World Currency¡¯.

    By the end of the ordeal, his body was finally complete again. Batteries fully charged and all functions running smoothly, Harvey could finally work on his secondary objectives. He needed an efficient way to recharge himself and also to gather information about this new world he¡¯s found himself in. Everything screamed medieval times to him, with the flame torches, cobbled streets, stone houses and primitive inefficient weapons.

    His body stood out particularly obviously as he walked down the streets. Easily the tallest person amongst any race, Harvey could tell with a quick glance that not everybody was a human. While the majority were humans, they only made up a little over half the population. There were beastmen along with what he could only assume to be demons with majestic horns on their heads interacting with each other as they went about their daily lives.

    Everybody on the street could not help but stare at the tall weird man walking down between the stalls. However, they quickly averted their gaze as he turned to meet theirs, pretending, very poorly, not to notice. Feeling that it would be best to cover himself up with something to blend in, Harvey began walking towards a small roadside stall with beast hides, leather and furs hanging on racks.

 4 - The World

    So this fiction is going to be a little different from my other works, in that it is more light hearted, putting more focus on slice of life and comedy rather than action and magic. Of course, while the MC is OP, as per usual, he will not be taking part in any epic battles of that sort. I''m just trying to write a new genre, hoping to see how it goes, and wanting to stay away from the usual BAM, BOOM, out of commonsense power way of solving things.

    <hr />

    ¡°Hey guys, thank you so much for the past few days,¡± Harvey said gratefully as he prepared to leave the workshop. It had been 3 days since he had been restored to prime working condition and he had spent that time busy collecting information.

    Having spent most of his time browsing through the market place, Harvey managed to record and catalogue a wide array of plants, meats, spices, herbs and even literature. He found a rather rare merchant who happened to have 3 leather bound books for sale, which Harvey had scanned and recorded without purchasing. He also found a simple map which a passing adventurer showed him out of goodwill.

    The map was very vague and less than helpful, only pointing the positions of landmarks relative to the city. However, Thanks to that, Harvey had a very basic, if not a little shaky, foundation to explore the world outside the safety of the city walls. Most of the plants and herbs he observed resembled the data he had from earth, but the meats seemed a little different. Nonetheless, he assumed they were safe for consumption since they were being hawkered to everybody who passed by.

    Harvey had learnt that this city was one of 5 within the country of Grakili. Grakili itself was part of the empire, ruled by humans, which had 8 countries within. This world had only 1 continent, or that¡¯s as far as its inhabitants had explored. With 4 major races ruling over this continent in peace. They were the demon race, occupying the southern half, the Anima beastmen race occupying the northern half, and the humans who were sandwiched in between and surrounded on all sides. There was also the elf race, which were as elusive as they were powerful. They were spread all over the continent, known to wield powerful magic and an endless lifespan, they chose to stay away from the other 3 races, only appearing when times were dire.

    The 3 races had kept their peace with each other for almost a century now, although not as harmoniously as their respective leaders would have liked. Grakili, one of 8 human countries was situated near the eastern borders of the empire¡¯s territory, and was a hotspot for all 3 races to convene and interact. The city of Thoreni was located right along the borders of the 3 big races¡¯ borders. Here, there was little discrimination, but that was not the case the deeper one went into each race¡¯s territory.

    Given that he was in one of the outermost border cities of the empire¡¯s territory, not only did he fail to obtain detailed information of the other human countries and their respective cities, he also could not get much information about any of the other races. Harvey could not even tell how many countries the other races had, their locations and their cities.

    All he could find out was that amongst the 4 races, the Anima race had the poorest affinity with magic, followed closely by the humans. The Demons were almost on par with, but not quite there yet, the elves, which were considered masters of magic. The anima race however, had boosted physical attributes based on their respective tribes, making the human race the weakest of the 4, with almost no affinity for magic and weak physical stats.

    To prepare for his trip, he had a full battery, full matbank, and a simple cloak to cover the majority of his body. His robotic face could easily pass off as a really weird mask as long as the hood was thrown up. Even with the hood down, he might still be able to get by with saying it was a full helmet. He thanked the trio who had brought him to the city, crouched down a little to get through the workshop¡¯s door and began his first steps towards a life on his own.

    ¡°Hey! Take Marcus with you! It will make things easier at the gates!¡± Hamal yelled as he shoved Marcus, who was a full head shorter than him, through the door.

    ¡°Nice move. At least it will give our ears a rest,¡± Grendor whispered, smiling at Hamal for his brilliant idea.

    It was already well past sunset when they left the workshop, and by the time Marcus and Harvey arrived at the city walls, it was closing midnight. Throughout the slow paced stroll to the city walls, Markus did not seem to run out of things to say, always finding a new topic of conversation. Be it the rising moon, the rising costs of alcohol, or just the lack of rise in his height, his mouth never stopped moving. Taking the occasional break to drink a sip of water and wet his throat were the only brief moments of reprise for Harvey.

    ¡°Oi¡­ is that who I think he is?¡± One of the guards nudged his partner who was on the verge of dozing off. He was one of the 4 guards on duty at the gate tonight. Throughout his many years doing his job as a guard, he had come to know most of the residents in the city, especially those that he cannot afford to offend, or those that were definitely up to no good. However, the one that he will forever remember, is the one from the legends that his captain, and the captain before him warned them about.

    ¡°Shit! Fuck! Quick! Hide!¡± He whispered in a hurried tone as he warned the other guards. ¡°if he catches us, we will never get a wink of sleep tonight! The others will not want to switch shifts with us and we will be stuck here till dawn!¡±

    As the guards spotted Marcus strolling down the main road, his voice ever becoming louder and morbidly terrifying, they all rushed to leave the gate unguarded, quickly shutting the door to their guard post and locking it. Considering it was the middle of the night, doing so did not pose as much of a threat as any other time of the day since almost no one would choose to travel at night under the risk of attacks by wild animals. Therefore, there was usually nobody entering the city that needed to be checked.

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    As Harvey stopped at the gates, he looked around quizzically, surprised that there were no guards. Meanwhile, Marcus had already moved on to the topic on the history of the world and how all three great races joined hands to defeat and evil demon god. Harvey had heard it before, but only considered it as useless chatter, a myth at best. As he switched to infrared vision, he could clearly see the 4 guards hiding behind their respective guard posts in pairs, half crouching and pressing their ears against the door.

    ¡°Hello?¡± Harvey called out, projecting his voice towards the guard posts. ¡°I want to leave the city. Do I need to go through any procedures?¡± he asked again.

    ¡°Shhh!¡± one of the guards whispered to his partner who was hiding behind him.

    ¡°Ummm.. I know you are in there, so is it fine if I just leave like this?¡± Harvey asked again, his voice clear as day.

    ¡°Hurry! Shoo him away!¡± One of the guards whispered to the squad leader, who was visibly sweating despite the cool night air. The decision was his to make, and their rest for the night hung precariously on the balance he he swallowed a lump in his throat, making his decision.

    ¡°J ¨C Just go! We will overlook it this once!¡± The leader stammered back, praying to the gods that Markus would follow this stranger and leave them be.

    ¡°Donner!? Is that you? What are you doing in there? Come out and have a chat with me!¡± Marcus¡¯s face lit up as he recognised the voice of the squad leader. ¡°Well I guess this is it then Harvey! I hope to meet you again real soon!¡± He waved at Harvey who was already making his escape hastily.

    Harvey shook his head silently, praying that Markus would soon run out of topics of conversation, while secretly apologising to the guard captain. He could have walked out of the city while ignoring the guards, but he had to be sure that Markus would not follow him. Therefore, he had no choice but to pass the baton over to the guards, whom he knew were weeping silently at this moment.

    Making haste through the forest, Harvey headed straight for a landmark that he observed on the map. A Waterfall. It was a fair bit away from the city, but closer than he had expected. The map was clearly not drawn to scale as it showed the river flowing past the city. At the pace of a slow jog to conserve energy, Harvey arrived at the waterfall by sunrise.

    It was much bigger than he had expected, considering he had downplayed the exaggerated map quite a bit. It was a straight 637m uninterrupted drop from the top to the lake at the bottom. At the top, the river was quite deep, and water velocity was very high. As he looked around, his feet were covered by the wet undergrowth and his cloak had long since become soaking wet. The brand new cloak was already tattered by constantly snagging on branches and thorns in the jungle.

    The river was 145m across at its furthest based on KAOO¡¯s scans and only 100m at its narrowest. However, the most eye-catching unique feature of this waterfall is that the fast flowing water had cut into the stone riverbed before bursting out the side of the cliff wall. Hence, there was a natural geographical bridge that made passage over the river simple, but dangerously slippery.

    And so, Harvey began working on his project. Over the past few days, he had realised that as he became more familiar with the AI matrix of KAOO, KAOO became increasingly quiet. It was almost as if he had become KAOO, able to simulate and calculate probabilities, scan his surroundings and control his body modifications without the help of KAOO. Fabrication of items came naturally him to him as he is able to bring up blueprints and specs of various objects of interest.

    In under a minute, he was holding in his hands a chainsaw. He could instantly tell that the fabrication process spent 5% of his total battery, but he was constantly charging it during the day. Within minutes, logs were felled from the forest nearby and he was carrying the tall trees with ease back to the riverside. Shaving off the branches and creating a neat stack of wooden logs, Harvey brought up a plan for a simple wooden cabin to reside in.

    The first step was to create a temporary lodging, from where he could begin collection of materials and the fabrication process. Taking into account the geography of the surroundings, the weather and the frequency with which he encountered wild animals that seemed warry of him, Harvey could envision his future living quarters where he could research on a way to return to earth.

    Without the need for constant fabrication, the simple log cabin was completed by sunset the next day. Then, he finally began his first steps into building his home ¨C the fabrication of the very first stainless steel I-beam. The log cabin only served as a shelter from the weather and the elements. Even though it had almost non-existent detrimental effects to his robotic body, Harvey could still feel the water on his skin and the heat from the sun thanks to the wide array of sensors all over his body. As such, familiar feelings from when he was a human resurfaced, making it uncomfortable to work under bad conditions.

    And so, he continued to work away in the forest, secluded from most civilisations. While there would be the occasional adventurers passing by and spending the night in his cabin, Harvey paid them no mind and kept working at his goals. Ironically, within the next year and half, this once secluded spot out in the middle of nowhere, would become the most technologically advanced place on the planet.

 5 - The Party

    I''ve had someone ask me what KAOO stood for and why i named the robot KAOO. KAOO in reverse is OOAK, which is the abbreviation for One Of A Kind. as simple as that. no complicated explanation behind it.

    <hr />

    ¡°Nortrem, how¡¯s Kiria holding up?¡± A tall warrior clad in full plate armour asked while bending down to inspect one of the traps his party had laid down. It was a bear trap designed to snap shut on a prey¡¯s legs when stepped on. However, it was evident that the trap had been triggered and dealt the damage, but someone had pried it open to release the animal and then mangled the trap useless.

    ¡°Not very good Victor. Her wound has clotted over, but I think it was infected. Her body is burning up and she hasn¡¯t even woken up in the last 2 days. Her breathing is getting shallower with each passing day. The herbs are not working as well as he had hoped. I¡¯d say have 2, maybe 3 days to get her to an herbalist or she might not make it,¡± Nortrem replied in a worried voice. He was carrying an unconscious woman who seemed to be in her mid-20s on his back, while his hand tightened around the grip of his crossbow.

    ¡°I see. Then we will head back to the city now. The prey can wait. Her life is more important. Visage, Trish take point. Something triggered our trap, escaped and mangled our trap. The blood looks fresh, so whatever it was, it might still be around. Clara, climb up to the tree tops and find our bearing. I can¡¯t even tell the direction of the sun in this dense forest,¡± Victor issued out commands as everybody nodded, getting into their respective positions.

    The agile lady quickly made her way up the thick trees with hooks and spiked shoes, disappearing above the canopy momentarily before descending. Leaping down from the lowest branch, her feet sunk a little into the moist ground, barely missing a thick root.

    ¡°The city is that way, about 3 days away, 2 if we hurry. There is a river not far from here if we take a small detour. We could wash Kiria¡¯s wounds and cool her body down in the river. It might buy her more time. Given our current pace, we can make it to the river in under 4 hours if nothing gets in our way,¡± Clara reported, pointing out the various directions.

    ¡°hmm. Ok then, let¡¯s head for the river. We can clean up and fill up our sheepskins. It¡¯ll be less forested there too, so we won¡¯t have to worry too much about being ambushed by the Pritor,¡± Victor thought for a while before quickly making his decision. And so, the party moved through the forest with haste towards the river.

    The hours passed by quickly and the sun was at its peak before the party could hear the clear sounds of flowing water. Hearing it only boosted their morale higher as they picked up their speed, moving ever closer to their primary goal. They had been dispatched 2 weeks ago by the city¡¯s adventurer¡¯s guild to handle a Pritor that had been targeting merchants and travellers near the city. A week a tracking and hunting had brought them to a vicious battle against the fearsome predator, only to let it escape after gravely wounding one of their own. And so, the leader of the party, Victor, made the decision to forego the assignment and prioritise their teammate, quickly heading back towards the city.

    As Clara helped wash off the deep claw marks on Kiria¡¯s back, the rest of the party quickly took a shower as well. The River was fast flowing near the middle, but it was perfect near the bank where the party waded around waist deep. They had all their gear removed and neatly stacked on fry ground while Victor kept watch, slowly running a grinding stone down the edge of his claymore.

    After the brief but refreshing shower, the team dried off before reapplying the remainder of their herbs on Kiria¡¯s wounds. Clara chewed up the herbs into a mash before lumping it together with her saliva and smearing it on the 3 gashes on Kiria¡¯s back. Then, she proceeded to lay over a large leave over the gashed which stuck to her back with some water.

    Finally dressing Kiria again in her washed but wet clothes, the party began their quick descent down the riverside, jogging down a gentle slope alongside the bank. The gravels crackled under their metal soles as the team made haste only to stop again a few hours later. There, they saw a sight they had never expected to see, or had ever seen before.

    As the loud roar of the waterfall deafened their ears, their keen sight was nonetheless unaffected. Running across the river from one bank to the other, was a giant bridge. It was pitch black, with bright white rails. Thick stone columns supported the bridge from underneath, not the least bit affected by the rushing torrent of the water beneath. Then in the middle of the river, where the water was flowing the fastest, was a large 3 storey log cabin attached to the bridge, with its back facing the waterfall. Just below the triangular roof, was large Red Cross.

    As the sun began to hover over the horizon, the black bridge lit up, with small white lights adorning its handrails and platform. Light streamed out from within the log cabin through glass windows on the ground floor and top floor. There, on the bank of the river was a slightly run-down, but still well maintained cabin which was smaller in size. However, the most surprising sight that garnered the attention of the party, was the large feline curled up in a ball sleeping just at the foot of the bridge.

    Hearing the footsteps approaching, the rounded ears of the large cat perked up and twitched, before it opened its eyes to reveal a pair of beautiful golden irises that resembled sparkling jewels. Its whole body was black, like the bridge, and it was lean like a jaguar. 2 white stripes ran down from the inner corner of its eyes down the side of the snout and ended at the corners of its mouth.

    As it growled at the intruders, the large feline swirled its three long tails in the air, brandishing the sharp bladed tips of each tail. One of its hind legs had its fur shaven, revealing the pinkish white skin along with what looks like bite marks, clearly from a trap. The wound had been tended to and cleaned up really well, but it still gave the cat a limp.

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    Victor immediately froze, before quickly recovering from his surprise and drawing his blade. The party members also immediately drew their weapons, their senses all on high alert. Then, Victor noticed something. A collar. There was a bright red collar around the Pritor¡¯s neck, and it was chained to the handrail of the bridge. Slowly easing his way towards the target, he stared down at the cat as it tried desperately to break free from the chains. This was his chance. Whoever caught the Pritor and chained it to this bridge had done him a huge favour. All he had to do was to slice its head off while being wary of only the bladed tails.

    As he got close to the Pritor, he sidestepped to dodge the claws of the cat, and then swung down his claymore in a huge overhead arc. His eyes gleamed as his mouth curled into a smile. What luck. Not only could they reach back to the city in time, they had also managed to complete their assignment by coincidence.

    ¡°Clang!!¡±

    A loud clash resounded, muffled by the roar of the waterfall. Victor was stunned. His hands were still shaking from the impact as he watched his claymore drop into the shallow end of the river. He had seen it, but could not react in time. Just moments before the sword made contact with the neck of the cat, a forging hammer had appeared out of nowhere and clashed with the blade accurately, knocking the sword out of his hands and leaving the cat safe.

    Seeing the attacker disarmed, the Pritor took the opportunity to swing its tails at him once more, only to miss as Victor reacted in time to dodge and leap backwards, creating a safe distance between the 2. He looked up and saw, on the brightly lit bridge was a man in a cloak. The man was much taller than him, and was slowly making his way towards both him and the cat.

    He did not have the time to retrieve his claymore, so Victor retreated to where his party stood, drawing a secondary short sword from his waist. Poised and ready to attack, he raised the sword towards the cat and the stranger. With a single flick of his wrist, he signalled for Nortrem to attack.

    Nortrem had already put Kiria down safely behind him, his crossbow already locked and loaded. With the stranger dead in his sights, he fired off a single steel bolt which spun in the air as it pierced through the sprays of water from the waterfall, towards the stranger¡¯s arm. His intention was not to kill the man, but simply to render him unable to attack.

    Another metallic clash rang out once more as the bolt penetrated the brown cloak, only to bounce off the man¡¯s arm and drop down into the water. Nortrem clicked his tongue, annoyed that he had not anticipated the man to be protected by armour. Once more, he fired a second bolt which landed at exactly the same impact point as the first, hoping that multiple shots to the same point would quickly compromise the integrity of the armour. A third, and then a forth. All shots landing at precisely the same location on the stranger¡¯s arm with pinpoint accuracy, only to be deflected into the river.

    Seeing Nortrem¡¯s bolts do absolutely no damage to the tall stranger, Victor became worried. He had just tried to kill the Pritor that was clearly captured by the man, and then attacked him without any warning. Given how powerful he must be to handle the Pritor alive, Victor could only sweat within his armour.

    The cloaked man walked past the Pritor which was still trying to undo the chains to get to Victor. Then, he took out what looked like a glass bottle with water inside and pointed it at the animal, before squirting a few soft jets of cold water in its face.

    ¡°Bad kitty,¡± he said, as he squirted a few more shots of cold water, which caused the Pritor to flinch backwards, shaking its head and then using its paws to remove the water. The man then crouched down and patted the Pritor like it was domesticated cat, stroking its black fur from its head, down its neck and stopping between the shoulder blades. ¡°Stay,¡± he ordered, before standing back up to look at Victor.

    ¡°Look. I apologise about attacking you earlier. Clearly there was no damage done so why don¡¯t we call it even with this?¡± Victor called out, tossing a sack of coins onto the ground in front of Harvey. This man had tamed the wild Pritor, which just goes to show his capabilities. Right now, the most important thing was to keep his team from sustaining more injuries and to get to the city as quickly as possible. He knew he had been greedy, trying to kill the Pritor, and he was willing to fork out some cash, if it means he gets to save his teammate.

    ¡°Your friend seems hurt. She¡¯s running a fever,¡± Harvey pointed at Kiria who was laid down on the gravel. ¡°Bring her in, I¡¯ll treat her.¡± Harvey said, before turning around and heading back towards the cabin on the river.

    Confused, Victor looked warily at the stranger, and then the Pritor, before turning to face his party. They too did not know what to do, and were looking to him to make the decision. Somehow or other, the man was able to discern that Kiria had a high temperature, even without touching her. For some reason, this man seemed intent on treating injuries, be it human or beast.

    Deciding to take a risk, Victor sheathed his sword and then nodded firmly. As his team kept their weapons and carried Kiria to the log cabin on the river, Victor proceeded into the water to retrieve his claymore. The Pritor that had been wiping its face turned towards them and growled, but did not get up from its position. Very quickly, they crossed the bridge and stood in front of the entrance to the cabin, slightly surprised that the glass doors slid open automatically as they approached.

 6 - The Pritor

    [[Rewinding many hours back]]

    Harvey finished charging his batteries as the sun rose over the horizon. Being located right over a waterfall, he could see the wide stretch of untamed forest over which the sun¡¯s golden rays shone. Off in the distance, not far from the waterfall was the city of Thoreni, about the size of a coin from his perspective.

    This cabin was his base of operations, his clinic, and his home. He had spent a good year and half building it slowly, through the summer heat and the winter¡¯s cold. It looked like a large log cabin from the exterior, but that was merely aesthetics. The building had steel frames and concrete walls, with clean white tiles lining the interior to give it a pure, untainted look, not unlike a hospital.

    The first floor was mostly dedicated towards producing a steady supply of electricity. There was a huge water wheel built into the building which spun rapidly and constantly thanks to the river. Turbines were connected to the water wheel, and they generated enough electricity to run the entire building as well as charge himself. There was a room specially dedicated to charging mobile power banks the size of car batteries with which he would use as reserve batteries when he goes out on his trips.

    Outside, the cabin was connected directly to a bridge that ran across the river, connecting both banks. The platform for the bridge was pitch black, made entirely out of solar panels to supplement the huge energy needs of the building.

    The second floor was where Harvey had allocated rooms for fabrication, material storage, data servers and medical care. The fabrication wing had the sole purpose of fabricating materials using matter from the osmium storage next door. It could construct atoms both ways, either from the osmium alloy, or to the osmium alloy. The hospital wing was actually made of several rooms, one for triage and diagnosis, the other for actual surgery which was kept as a clean room, free of dust and pathogens. There was a separate room for running tests and diagnosis of patients, which was equipped with scanners and x-ray machines of all sorts which Harvey had painstakingly fabricated and assembled over the year.

    The data server however, was the most secure room in the house. It had password protected access and within it, stored his spare body parts as well as back-up data in case his body was destroyed by accident. He had even integrated a chip into himself which would alert the room the moment his current body was no longer functional to begin assembly of a new body. The most tedious process though, was uploading his consciousness into the home server which controlled most of the functions within the building. Up till now, even after a year and a half, he was still only 3% integrated, and hence still could not afford to be careless. He had no idea how the implosion merged his consciousness with KAOO so quickly, but he had no intention of replicating the process.

    The third floor was mostly for storage purposes, keeping medical supplies for use immediately without the need to fabricate them. It had syringes, scalpels, antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, painkillers, you name it. There was even a guest bedroom with 8 beds within. Naturally, the whole building was temperature and humidity controlled, keeping it a nice cool 23 degrees celcius within.

    On the bank of the river, not too far from the bridge was the old cabin he used to stay in. Right now though, it was a little run down and was used to store all his heavy duty tools, especially the ones he had used for construction. He had not touched them since the completion of the house and they had been collecting dust ever since. However, he knew he was going to need to use them again soon.

    Right now, Harvey was working on 2 projects concurrently. One was the integration of his consciousness into the home server, while the other was mapping the surrounding landscape to generate an accurate map. To do so, he had been setting traps in tree tops within the forest to catch birds. He would then attach a small camera-scanner to the birds which would then transmit topographical information back to the home server. The problem he was having right now was the short range of the devices, which meant he was going to have to build relay towers to better receive the transmissions.

    Making his way towards the forest, Harvey began walking on his usual route towards the various traps he had laid out. The birds were usually the most active during dawn, and would most likely be caught in the traps in the morning. However, because he had not wanted to injure the animals in anyway, the traps were designed so that given enough time and a little luck, the birds would be able to figure out a way of escaping. So, he had to make his move early in the morning.

    With cameras in hand, he spent half an hour simply looking for any trapped birds, but it would seem that luck was not on his side today. He currently still had 6 birds flying around with the cameras that were still within transmission range. Hence, there wasn¡¯t a big hurry to find more. As long as he could map out the surrounding 50km or so, it could be considered very good.

    It was already 3 hours since he started inspecting the traps and he was a fair distance away from the cabin. Noon was approaching quickly and he had intended to spend the rest of the day fabricating materials for the relay tower. Then the night would be spent making progress on the integration with the home server.

    Just as he was about to reach the last of his bird traps, a loud anguished roar resounded from deep within the forest. Wondering what the commotion was about, Harvey cautiously made his way towards the roars which were gradually turning into pitiful cries. Coming up to a tree with a low hanging branch, he saw what looked like a full grown panther with its hind leg caught in a bear trap.

    The cat immediately glared at him, growling threateningly. As Harvey approach the cat, it suddenly stood up, its face wincing in pain as it swung its tails at Harvey¡¯s chest. The bladed tips bounced right off his chest, leaving not even a scratch mark on his sturdy chassis. With its leg stuck in the trap which was chained to the tree, its claws could not reach him, so it kept swinging its tail at Harvey in an attempt to injure him.

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    Ignoring the whip like tails, Harvey confidently walked within the range of the cat¡¯s arms, and immediately came under attack from its powerful swipes. While the impact did make him stumble a little, it made absolutely no impact to him otherwise. Picking up the large feline by its scruff lie a giant overgrown kitten, Harvey used his other free hand to transform into a reverse vice, prying the trap open and freeing the poor cat¡¯s leg.

    Proceeding to retrieve a tranquilizer dart from his waist which he carried around as a precaution, Harvey injected the large black cat with the dart, putting it to sleep within 5 minutes. He then immediately dressed the bleeding wound, tying it up with what¡¯s left of his shredded cloak before continuing to destroy the trap, leaving it as a pile of mangled metal.

    Throwing the large limp cat over his shoulder, Harvey then quickly made his way back to the house. Once there, he began to shave the fur off its leg to reveal the bite wound from the trap. He cleaned it up, disinfected it and then stitched it up neatly, all while the animal was unconscious. Bandaging the wound up nicely, he injected some prophylactic antibiotics before carrying it outside and chaining it to the foot of the bridge.

    It was close to midnight when the cat awoke from its drowsy stupor. Its leg stung, but it was more intrigued by its surrounding. No longer was it within the comfort of the forest, resting lazily on a branch, it was out in the open, vulnerable and exposed. The roar of the waterfall seemed to helped in waking it up. Feeling quite thirsty, it reached out to lap up some water from the river before the light clinking of the metal chains caught its attention.

    Roaring in anguish once more for getting caught, it tugged at the chain futilely, trying its damnest to break free. Slashing with its tails or claws didn¡¯t help break the chain. Even its powerful jaws could do nothing to the chain. Then, a familiar figure emerged from the tall pile of logs nearby. This man was the one who had come for it in the forest, the one it could not injure no matter what it did.

    Preparing to attack once more, it reared up against the bridge where it was chained. It knew it needed to lure the man as close as possible before pouncing since the chain would restrict its range. Sure enough, the man came up close enough quickly, and with that, it leapt, chomping down on his arm.

    Harvey looked at the large cat with pity. It was grinding its teeth furiously at his forearm, but not making any headway. Lifting his arm above his head, he carried the cat by its jaw and took a look at the bandage. It had become undone and the stitches were on the verge of reopening. Gently putting the cat back down who seemed obsessed with biting his arm, Harvey took out a squirt bottle and sprayed a few jets in its face, causing it to loosen its bite on him. After a quick inspection to see that no damage was done, he grabbed it by the scruff once more, and gently repositioned the cat on its side.

    Seeing how helpless it was, the Pritor gave up, knowing full well it could do nothing to this man. As Harvey gently caressed its body and redid the bandage, he looked at the animal and sighed, before leaving it alone. Returning from within the house, he brought with him a large fish he had caught that evening from the river. He placed the fish in front of the cat and left it alone, still chained to the bridge.

    And so, a night passed peacefully, with Harvey returning regularly to change the dressing and disinfect the wound. The Pritor quickly got used to him and understood that he was helping it recover. Henceforth, it had stopped attacking him and chose to be a little more docile.

    The next day went by in a pretty much similar manner. Harvey spent the morning checking the bird traps. However, he did not stray too far from the wounded Pritor so that he could make it back every 4 hours to check up on its wound. He fished in the river for a few hours in the afternoon, catching a fish that oddly resembled a gator, with elongated fins that looked somewhat like limbs. The Pritor made quick work of the meal, finishing a fish half its size in under 2 hours. Harvey washed the Pritor and redressed its wound before returning inside the house to catch up on his integration process.

    Evening came around when his scanners picked up activity outside his home. It was a party of human adventurers. 3 swordsmen, 2 archers and what looked to be an unconscious person. He peeked out the window and concluded that they were hostile towards his patient, and so he grabbed the closest thing he could before heading out to greet them - a hammer. Just as the swordsman was about to decapitate his patient, Harvey accurately calculated the trajectory of the sword as well as his hammer, throwing it to intercept the sword.

    Switching to Thermal vision, he could tell that woman at the back was running a very dangerous fever. From his experience he knew it was highly likely that she had a septicaemia. Her breathing was extremely shallow and fatigued and despite the roar of the waterfall, he could isolate the sound of her wheezing. From the aggressive nature of the cat and these new intruders, Harvey could vaguely guess that there must have been some history between the 2.

    And so, while completely brushing off the pointless attacks from the male archer, Harvey stepped up towards them and controlled his cat. Then pointing at the unconscious girl behind the party, his voice reverberated from the speakers in his shoulders.

    ¡°Your Friend seems hurt. She¡¯s running a fever. Bring her in. I¡¯ll treat her.¡±

 7 - Getting left out

    Hello all. I hate to do this, but im in a little financial problem right now. So I have no choice but to do this. I will start accepting donations starting this week. I promise a minimum of 4 chapters a week, of either OOAK or JTTW. Every $50 donated will go towards an extra chapter which will be uploaded by the end of the week, with a maximum of 10 chapters per week. The release will be random, but i will try to balance between the 2 ongoing fictions that i have. the link to the donation site will be in my profile page. Once again, i apologise for having to resort to this, but i would like to thank all of you in advance for your help and constant support.

    <hr />

    ¡°Oh! Uhh¡­ wait. Do you guys have any clean clothes?¡± Harvey suddenly stopped and asked them just as they took a step into the house. He looked at the party up and down as he inspected their dirty and messed up appearance.

    ¡°Huh? What?¡± Victor asked in a surprised tone. He had not caught what Harvey had asked since he was too busy being stunned by what he saw. The interior of the house looked nothing like the exterior. It was spotlessly clean, literally. The interior had smooth white marble floor that had been polished to the point that he could see his own reflection, and white tiles on the walls tessellated with a mix of calming baby blue and refreshing lime green. Even the air was surprisingly cooler than the outside which was humid and warm due to the summer heat within a forest right next to a river.

    ¡°Do you have any clean clothes?¡± Harvey asked once more.

    ¡°Uhh.. yea. Why do you ask?¡± Victor replied, a little lost as to this stranger¡¯s question.

    ¡°Ok then, leave the patient with me,¡± Harvey instructed, stretching his arm out to carry Kiria in a Princess cradle from Nortrem, ¡°and go clean yourselves in the river. Leave all your armour and weapons near the cat and return when you are cleaned up. This is a clean environment and I want to keep it that way.¡±

    Watching Harvey carry their teammate away without any further instructions, the party could only reluctantly let her go with the strange man as they turned back around to wash up. The team quickly began taking off their steel armour and leaving them in neat piles near the lazy Pritor which did not seem too bothered. Soon, they were all in their underwear, scrubbing themselves down in the river. Despite the sun having set, the lights from the bridge kept the place pretty bright, so they were still able to see their footing underwater.

    After a quick half an hour of heavy scrubbing and washing, the team came back up from the river, dripping wet, only to find that the Pritor was busy biting on one of their armour pieces like a chew toy. Their bags and equipment were strewn over the floor in a mess as the Pritor made a makeshift bed out of their clothes and hemp bags. It was already drooling visibly while biting on the armour, globs of sticky saliva forming thin threads as they fell from its jaws to be soaked up in their clothes.

    ¡°uhh¡­ Victor, what do we do now? We thought the animal was going to guard our possessions for us, and that¡¯s why we followed that man¡¯s instructions and placed all our belongings with the cat,¡± Clara asked, her long waist length chestnut hair still dripping wet, no longer tied up in a bun.

    ¡°I¡¯ll try to snatch it back. Maybe we can still wash it, then start a fire nearby and dry them,¡± Victor answered, as he sneaked up behind the Pritor who was preoccupied with its new chew toy. He made his way towards the large predator without making any noise, the waterfall masking the water dripping from his body. The moment he got close enough, he slowly crouched down and extended his arm, aiming to grab the edge of a piece of cloth that was near the cat¡¯s bum.

    *Swish!!*

    With a sudden flick, one of the three daggered tails of the Pritor swung down, making a cut in the ground just mere centimetres from Victor¡¯s fingertips. This action made Victor quickly flinch and recoil, backing away from the cat. As he looked at the Pritor, it was still laying down with its belly on their clothes. The metal armour was still in its jaws but it stopped chewing, its golden eyes staring at Victor.

    Clearly, this was the Pritor¡¯s way of saying, ¡°Don¡¯t touch MY stuff¡±. Then the ends of its lips curled into an arrogant smile while the 2 white stripes on its face began glowing. With a smug look on its face and 2 white spots glowing on its face, the Pritor turned its attention back to the piece of metal and continued chewing.

    Victor was shocked. Everything they had is now within the strike zone of the Pritor. They were left with nothing but their underwear, and so were unable to even put up a struggle against the apex predator of the jungle. Victor¡¯s eyes were locked on the sword lying near one of the Pritor¡¯s tails. Plans began forming in his head but none of them seemed viable.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we ask the man? I¡¯m sure he can get our things back for us,¡± Trish suggested, looking at Visage who was returning to the riverside slowly. Then, Trish saw what Visage was about to do and sneered, before turning his gaze away from him.

    ¡°Alright then,¡± Victor replied, stretching his next to look at what Visage was doing. ¡°Hurry up Vish! How the hell can you pee so much when you drink so little water!?¡±

    Within moments the party had made their way back to the entrance of the cabin, only to discover that the sliding glass doors were not moving even the slightest bit. However, hung on the inside of the glass door was a sign written in Grakian letters that said, ¡°Busy. Come back later.¡± Try as he might, even with his strength, Victor could not pry the doors open.

    ¡°What do we do? Were we tricked?¡± Visage asked with a worried tone. ¡°Kiria is the daughter of a rather influential noble. You don¡¯t think he¡¯s doing¡­ that¡­ to her do you?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know Vish!¡± Victor snapped back in an annoyed tone. ¡°We better find a way to get these doors open. See if we get break the glass. Our weapons are with the Pritor, so let¡¯s go grab a large rock to smash the door open.¡±

    Rushing past the Pritor once more, the party hurriedly combed the riverside for any large rocks they could use. Victor spied on the Pritor as he passed by, noticing that it had lost interest in the armour, and was instead eating out of the sack that they stored their dried meat. Ignoring it while secretly glad that the beast was preoccupied, Victor followed his party and soon enough, returned with a heavy rock the size of his head.

    Back at the entrance, Victor was panting heavily as he looked at the glass door. He had been pounding away at it with the rock for the past 10 minutes but all he¡¯s managed to leave was a few small white scratches on the otherwise flawless glass surface. The rest of the party had taken turns as well, but no one could compare with Victor in terms of strength. Even then, they still could not get inside to check on Kiria¡¯s status, much less protect her.

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    ¡°Victor! Look!¡± Carla pointed as she grabbed Victor¡¯s attention. She was pointing at an open window on the top floor. ¡°I¡¯ll see if I can get in there and sneak Kiria out.¡± Victor nodded to her suggestion, knowing full well Carla¡¯s climbing proficiency. Within moments, Carla was making her way up the side of the wall effortlessly, her hands gripping the logs firmly and using them as steps to climb her way up.

    Hanging from the edge of the open window, Carla looked down and smiled, giving a thumbs up to signify that she was ok and ready to enter. With the approval of the rest of the party, Carla nodded before gently hoisting herself over the window ledge and landing gently on the third floor. She was quiet as a mouse, not even making the slightest noise when she landed.

    Suddenly, sirens began blaring and a red strobe light began flashing all throughout the building. ¡°Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!¡± the speakers screamed out in English as Carla tripped the pressure sensitive sensors on the floor. Within split seconds of the alarms ringing, a large steel bulk door came crashing down in front of the glass door at the entrance. Steel plates shut the windows tight, not letting even a peep of light in. Carla was trapped, in the storage room, partially blinded by the bright flashing red lights.

    After a brief few seconds of shocked confusion, the alarms switched off abruptly. Everything was quiet as usual, except Carla was still stuck within the storage room on the top floor. Victor and the rest nervously gazed at the metal shutters where Carla had disappeared behind, the horrific look of worry clearly displayed on their faces. Now they had 2 members of the party trapped within this stranger¡¯s house, and none of them knew what was going on.

    With the alarms shut off, Clara¡¯s vision readjusted quickly. However, what she saw terrified her. In the room she was locked in, there were shelves after shelves of sharp knives, small saw blades, pliers, needles ropes. There was even what looked like a bed with leather cuffs for restraining a victim. There was also plenty of equipment she had never seen before, but was too scared to imagine how they were used. There was one that looked like 2 metal plates attached to handles and connected by ropes which she assumed was used as a sort of blunt weapon to bash a victim.

    A torture house. A mad man¡¯s torture house. As her imagination ran wild, she began panicking like never before. Just what kind of lunatic had they gotten themselves mixed up with? And worst of all, she was trapped here, inside the house! She couldn¡¯t care less about saving Kiria. Saving herself was more important. Stumbling back towards the steel shutters, she began pounding on it as hard as she could, screaming her lungs out for help.

    ¡°Guys!! Help!!! This guy is a lunatic!! He has all sorts of torture tools in here.. please¡­ please¡­ save me¡­¡± She wailed as her pounding became even stronger. She was bawling her eyes out.

    This was supposed to be a rewarding mission, paid by Kiria¡¯s family no less. Kiria¡¯s family was the largest merchant conglomerate in the city, handling over 80% of all business transactions and import export taxes from merchants. The Pritor had been preying on merchant wagons recently, affecting business; hence they put out the mission to get rid of the problem.

    Hearing her desperate cries, Victor and the rest were dumbstruck. A mad man? Torture? Just how did they end up in this situation? Completely helpless on the outside, with two of their own trapped inside. Should they run to call for help? But even then? Would people believe them? That is if they even make it to the city alive. The panic spread like a contagion, quickly drowning Victor, Nortrem and Visage. However, as their faces began to contort in anguish and desperation, the metal bulk door suddenly swung open.

    Victor¡¯s immediate reaction was to look up, only to be disappointed that the metal shutters for the window remained closed. The glass doors then slid open as Harvey walked back out calmly. He looked at the trio outside, naked, and dripping wet, either from the river water or their sweat. Either way, Harvey was finding it hard to keep his laughter in.

    ¡°Why are you lot naked?¡± He asked while stifling his laughter.

    ¡°You! What did you do to Kiria and Carla!?¡± Nortrem swung into rage as he pounced forwards, clenching the front of Harvey¡¯s brown cotton robe. As intimidating as Nortrem would have liked it to be, the scene looked a tad pathetic, watching a man much shorter than Harvey trying to threaten him.

    ¡°Your injured friend is resting. She is recuperating. She will take at least 3 to 4 days to recover, but I would like to keep her under observation for at least 6 days. As for your other friend who is stuck in my storage room, I chose not to open the window since she was panicking. Wouldn¡¯t want her trying to jump out the window and injuring herself. So, would you care to explain why you three are naked?¡± Harvey explained, trying to calm Nortrem down.

    ¡°You told us to leave our things with the Pritor! Now we can¡¯t get them back!¡± Visage complained, pointing at the large black cat that was tearing their clothes to shreds, trying to make a bed out of them.

    ¡°I said to place your belongings NEAR the cat. I didn¡¯t say to give them to it. That¡¯s your own stupidity. Anyways, I¡¯ll have some clothes prepared for you, so dry yourselves up with this first,¡± Harvey sighed as he grabbed a few towels nearby and threw them to the party. These were towels he used to wipe the windows, but they would have to do for now.

    Harvey did a quick scan of their bodies, recording their measurements and then transmitting the data to the fabrication room. By the time the trio were done drying themselves, Harvey came back down the stairs with three sets of army camouflage uniforms. They quickly put it on, surprised by the quality of the fabric as well as how it fit them perfectly.

    Bringing them up to the storage room first, Harvey opened the door, only to have his face bashed by the defibrillator handles. Carla took the opportunity to quickly rush past her captor, only to be caught by Victor and Visage. Looking at them, she was stunned, but calmed down considerably. It took a while to explain the situation, but finally, she too put on some camouflage uniforms and settled down.

    ¡°Alright then. The patient is resting, so you need to be quiet,¡± Harvey instructed as he pushed his finger into a small socket in the wall, transmitting a password to open the doors to the ward.

    <hr />

    1st chapter of the week.

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 8 - My name is Harvey

    Hello my dear peeps. First regular chapter of the week. Once again, if you like my stories and would like to support me, please buy me a pizza. The donation link to my paypal is in my profile page. please donate what you''d like.

    Chapter 1/4

    Donations 27/50

    <hr />

    ¡°Hey man, where¡¯s the latrine?¡± Visage asked as he poked his head into the ward.

    Harvey did not look back. He kept adjusting the IV drip on Kiria while raising his hand and pointing at the window behind Visage. Not knowing what he meant, Visage took a look outside the window, only to see the rapidly frothing river that the house was built over.

    Harvey was not an organic being, and hence did not have needs for anything that might be essential for a human. In his eager to build a small hospital equipped with the latest in medical technology, he had forgotten then most basics of human needs. The house had no plumbing system to support toilets or showers. In the year and half that he had been living here, this was the first time he had treated humans, and as such, the thought never occurred to him.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t you just take a whizz a couple minutes ago?!¡± Nortrem asked, as he walked down the corridor towards the ward.

    ¡°Yea, but this is a number 2. Siighh¡­ looks like I¡¯m going to have to go find some leaves in the forest,¡± Visage muttered as he quickly left the building, headed straight for the forest.

    ¡°Sir, how is she?¡± Nortrem asked worriedly, his gaze resting on Kiria.

    ¡°My name is Harvey. You can just call me Doctor. She¡¯s fine now. She just needs some rest and proper nourishment. Why don¡¯t you watch over her? Call me when she wakes up,¡± Harvey replied in a soothing tone. He had already figured out the relationship between these two, or at least what Nortrem felt for Kiria. Judging by the gentle gaze, the worried tone, the non-stop pacing, and how delicately he held her hand in his, Harvey decided to make himself scarce. Stopping by the doorway to the ward, Harvey tapped on the screen next to the door, causing a soft soothing tune to waft into the ward.

    Nortrem was surprised by the sudden music, looking around for any bard or band that might have dropped by. However, the sound seemed to be coming from the walls and ceiling, enveloping the entire ward in a calming, soothing feeling. Figuring that this was something he had no knowledge of, Nortrem decided to just go with the flow, his eyes resting on Kiria once more. Before long, the music removed all tension from his shoulders, and watching Kiria¡¯s peaceful sleeping face, he himself started nodding off.

    Harvey proceeded to retrieve a few test tubes of Kiria¡¯s blood and moved to the next room, where he inserted the test tubes into a machine which began processing Kiria¡¯s blood. Within seconds, a data sheet was generated on the screen showing her blood type, specific genetic markers, and blood glucose level amongst other things. Feeling satisfied, he looked up and out the window only to see yet another commotion going on with the Pritor.

    Visage was squatting down several metres in front of the Pritor, a large red and yellow fruit in his hand. He was waving it in a tempting manner at the Pritor, while coaxing it to come get the fruit. Meanwhile, Carla and Victor were creeping up behind the animal, their eyes fixed on the 3 daggered tails.

    ¡°Come here kitty kitty kitty¡­ that¡¯s right, come get this big juicy fruit¡­¡± Visage called out as he kept his distance from the large cat, slowly taking small steps back as the Pritor approached him cautiously.

    Step by step, the Pritor got further away from its makeshift bed and new chew-toys. Visage made sure to keep his distance, while Carla crept ever closer to their armour and weapons. Victor held in his hands a thick vine which was wrapped and tied around Carla¡¯s waist and torso like a safety vest. Harvey watched the circus show from his window, wondering just what these idiots were up to. They could have just waited a while more for him to be done with his work, and then he would have gone out and retrieved their items for them.

    Then, with a giant pounce, the Pritor leapt at Visage, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws. The loud clinking of the chains could be heard as the Pritor pulled the chain taut, being suddenly jerked back by the restraint of the chain. Right at the moment it had pounced, Carla did the same, leaping forward with her agility and grabbing Victor¡¯s claymore.

    ¡°Yes! I got it!¡± Carla exclaimed in delight, holding the heavy sword in her hands. However, this attracted the Pritor¡¯s attention. With a hateful glance, the Pritor swung its tails at Carla only to miss as Victor yanked on the vine as hard as he could. Missing her skin by a hair¡¯s breadth, Carla was rudely pulled back towards Victor, losing her grip on his claymore and sending it spinning in the air.

    Victor watched as the Pritor leapt back, its jaws wide open and catching his claymore between its teeth. Then with a sneer, even before its feet touched the ground from the leap, the Pritor exerted pressure on its jaws, snapping Victor¡¯s beloved sword in 2. Still leering at Victor and Carla, The Pritor swiped it massive paw at the pile of metal armour, sending them into the fast flowing section of the river, only to be washed down the waterfall in an instant. Mouths gaping in shock, Victor¡¯s party watched their gear wash away, never to be retrieved again. The Pritor on the other hand, let off a triumphant huff, making circles around its makeshift bed before lying back down, completely losing interest in the humans or their shenanigans.

    It was at this moment that Harvey appeared through the front door, sauntering towards the Pritor. The trio were still affixed on the river where half of their gear had disappeared, completely ignoring Harvey who was now squatting next to the giant black cat. The Pritor¡¯s attitude towards Harvey was a complete 180 degrees from that which it had shown the others. It merely lay there, letting Harvey caress its body softly.

    Taking off its bandages, Harvey inspected the wound on its leg, before reapplying another layer of antiseptic cream. Then, he bandaged its leg back up before unlocking the collar around the vest that was on its torso. The cat looked at him with confused eyes, them licked the matted fur on its chest where the vest had been attached. Understanding that it has regained its freedom, it stood up, licked Harvey on his face before making its way back towards the forest with a slight limp.

    ¡°Why did you let it go!?¡± Victor called out after seeing what Harvey did. ¡°That¡¯s a dangerous predator that has been attacking the main trade routes!¡± He was the only one still on the bridge while Carla and Visage had re-entered the water in an attempt to fish out what of their gear that might not have been washed away yet.

    ¡°And what? Were you going to kill it after I took the effort to save it?¡± Harvey threatened, standing up to his full height and towering over Victor.

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    ¡°But more people will get injured because of it! Kiria will not be the only victim if it roams free!¡± Victor argues, avoiding Harvey¡¯s question.

    ¡°Then I will save those people,¡± Harvey retorted confidently. ¡°Or maybe I should have kept it here so you can keep it company as its chew toy?¡±

    ¡°No.. no Sir.¡± Victor quickly apologised, realising that Harvey was very capable of doing just that. ¡°Thank you Sir for saving my friend.¡±

    ¡°My name is Harvey. You can just call me Doctor.¡± Harvey replied before looking over at Carla and Visage. They were coming back up to dry land with dejected looks on their faces. ¡°I am going to need you all to come inside when you are all dried up. Leave your belongings at the doorstep. Do not ring them into the building.¡±

    Minutes later, Victor and Carla stepped through the sliding glass doors and headed upstairs where they could hear a gentle music emanating. As they were about to enter the ward, Harvey cut them off in the corridor, leading them into an adjacent room. There, he had prepared 2 leaning chairs for Victor and Carla to sit on.

    ¡°Where¡¯s your other friend?¡± Harvey asked, seeing that Visage was nowhere to be seen.

    ¡°He¡¯s doing his business Sir,¡± Carla answered. ¡°What are we doing here?¡±

    ¡°My name is Harvey. You can just call me doctor,¡± Harvey repeated for the third time today. ¡°I¡¯m going to draw some of your blood to see if any of it matches with Kiria¡¯s. Now this will only sting a little, but it will be over very quickly, so just relax and pump this ball,¡± Harvey explained as he placed a tennis ball sized sponge ball in her hand.

    Harvey worked quickly, drawing a few test tubes full of blood from both Victor and Carla before hurrying to the lab to run the tests the same way he did with Kiria¡¯s. Victor and Carla waited for him in the chairs in the meantime, their stomachs growling from hunger. However, they could only bear with it for now since the Pritor had pretty much gone through their rations.

    ¡°So he is blood type A+ and she is B+ huh¡­ both unable to become donors for Kiria¡¯s O+. I¡¯ll just have to test her boyfriend and the piss man,¡± Harvey muttered to himself. While Kiria¡¯s situation was stable, the IV drip could only do so much to help her. A bag or two of blood would go a long way in speeding up her recovery.

    ¡°Ey! How come you two get to sit in those comfy chairs!?¡± Visage complained as he finally returned from his pee break, finding Victor and Carla comfortable seated in the reclining chairs. Then, as silently as a Pritor, Harvey appeared behind him, giving him a slight shock.

    ¡°Sit there,¡± Harvey pointed at Carla¡¯s chair. Carla immediately got up, still rubbing her elbow where Harvey had punctured her to draw her blood.

    ¡°Wait¡­ What are you going to do to me Sir?¡± Visage asked warily as he observed both Carla and Victor holding their elbows in the same location.

    ¡°My name is Harvey. But you can just call me Doctor,¡± Harvey repeated once more, silently reminding himself that next time, he will have to introduce himself to everyone in one go. ¡°Just go and sit down, pee man.¡±

    Victor and Carla chuckled at Visage¡¯s new nickname. He on the other hand, just scowled as he sat down where Carla had been, watching Victor prepare a needle and shove the sponge ball into his hand. Within minutes, Harvey was once again back in his lab, running tests on the new blood sample. Finally, he had a positive hit. Visage was also an O+ like Kiria.

    ¡°I have bad news and good news,¡± Harvey announced, returning to the triage room. ¡°The good news is, your friend will most likely recover earlier than scheduled.¡±

    ¡°And the bad news?¡± Victor asked, swallowing a lump in his throat as he prepared himself mentally.

    ¡°I am going to have to take quite a bit of his blood to make that happen,¡± Harvey said while pointing at Visage and holding up 3 empty blood bags along with their tubing.

    ¡°What!?¡± Visage exclaimed loudly, jumping up from his chair.

    ¡°It won¡¯t kill him, and will only take less than an hour, so please restrain him for me,¡± Harvey continued ignoring Visage. Victor and Carla¡¯s eyes gleamed as they quickly leapt to action, each taking hold of one of Visage¡¯s arms. With a little bit of effort, they forced him down onto the chair as he struggled with all his might.

    ¡°Unhand me!! How can you do this to me!? We¡¯ve been friends for 12 years Victor! TWELVE FRIKKIN YEARS!¡± Visage screamed as if it was the end of the world. Donating blood was a foreign concept to him and he only feared the worst, imagining what losing so much blood would do to him. He had seen plenty of people die from blood lost in the numerous battles he¡¯s had and thought that Harvey was going to kill him. ¡°Aren¡¯t you a healer!? So you will save Kiria and the Pritor but not me!? Didn¡¯t you say Kiria will still recover slowly?! How can you think of killing a perfectly healthy person now!?¡±

    ¡°Kill you? No I¡¯m not going to kill you. I¡¯m just going to draw your blood and transfuse it to Kiria. She¡¯s in need of blood and yours is the only one that matches. I would normally do a direct transfusion but seeing as how unhygienic and dirty you are, I¡¯d rather not risk a secondary infection in my ward. So you will be isolated from her until she gets better. Now just stay still and let me take your blood. You will at most feel sleepy, but you will recover in a few days, no major side effects.¡± Harvey explained.

    Visage calmed down after his explanation, allowing Harvey to draw 3 bags of blood from him, which Harvey quickly proceeded to hook up to Kiria who was still unconscious. About an hour into the transfusion, Kiria finally began to stir. Nortrem was the first to realise, and quickly dashed out to find Harvey. Victor, Carla and Visage dropped their dinner which consisted of fruits foraged from the forest and quickly rushed to Kiria¡¯s side. Harvey however, would not let Visage enter the ward, so he was stuck talking to the group from the doorway.

    ¡°Wha¡­? What happened? Where am I?¡± Kirira whispered with the best of her ability as her eyes focused on the clean room, her ears melting to the soothing music.

    ¡°Kiria!¡± Nortrem called out softly, his eyes beginning to water. ¡°How are you feeling?¡±

    ¡°Remmy? I¡¯ve been better, but at least im alive.. heh..¡± she gave a soft chuckle, her slender fingers closing down on Nortrem¡¯s hands. ¡°How did you save me?¡± She asked.

    ¡°We came across a healer. He saved you,¡± Nortrem replied, moving his body so that he no longer blocked Kiria¡¯s line of sight, revealing Harvey who was standing behind.

    ¡°Thank you so much¡­ Sir,¡± she uttered, clearly feeling the stinging sensation on her back as she winced after trying to sit up.

    ¡°My pleasure. My name is Harvey. But ¨C¡°

    ¡°But you can call him Doctor,¡± the 4 members of the party all said in unity, giggling as they cut Harvey off.

 9 - A new Party Member

    Chapter 2/4. enjoy.

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    <hr />

    ¡°Kiria, are you sure you feel fine enough to move? Harvey said it would be best if you stayed for another 2 to 3 days,¡± Nortrem asked worriedly as he watched Kiria sling her back over her shoulder.

    The party had resided at Harvey¡¯s place for the past week and Kiria had seen substantial improvement during the time. As of now, with her approval, Victor had decided to head back to Thoreni city to report the failure of the mission. Everyone was dressed in the same army camouflage uniforms, with the occasional metal armour that looked out of place. Being the group¡¯s herbalist, Kiria did a stock take on the herbs that was left and packed them into her bag.

    ¡°Hey doctor,¡± Visage called out towards Harvey while resting his elbow on Nortrem¡¯s shoulder casually. ¡°So right now, at this moment, MY blood is running inside Kiria is it not?¡±

    ¡°Yes that is true,¡± Harvey replied while nodding his head.

    ¡°So¡­ Nortrem,¡± Visage continued, a sneer growing on his face. ¡°How does it feel to know that a part of me has been inside Kiria? I mean, it¡¯s MY blood, which can be considered my bodily fluids. You ¨C ¡°

    Visage was cut off mid mockery as an arrow whizzed past his head, slicing just a thin thread of blood on his cheek. With a surprised look, he turned to see a horrifying smile on Carla¡¯s face. His facial expression immediately changed from a mocking jeer to a fearful apologetic look. Carla stomped over and twisted his ear, before pulling him along out of the building.

    ¡°Don¡¯t mind him Nortrem,¡± Victor said. ¡°My sister will take care of him.¡± He continued with a sneer.

    Harvey watched the scene unfold; chuckling to himself as he quickly packed a backpack for himself as well.  Within the backpack were medical supplies, antibiotic shots for Kiria, a newly fabricated suit for himself, multiple portable power banks, clean towels and a large plastic tarp. With a loud click, the plastic backpack snapped shut like a luggage, and Harvey threw it on his back.

    Seeing this, Victor, Nortrem and Kiria looked at him quizzically.

    ¡°Uhh¡­ you going somewhere Harvey?¡± Victor asked curiously.

    ¡°Following you guys of course,¡± Harvey replied curtly, as if it was the most natural thing. ¡°She has to complete her course of antibiotics.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure? It¡¯s very dangerous out there in the forest. You could get injured like me. It is support members like me and you that are usually the most vulnerable in a party,¡± Kiria asked worriedly, not willing to let her saviour risk his life.

    ¡°Pffft¡­¡± Nortrem stifled a laugh. Up until today, Kiria had only seen the gentle caring side of Harvey who had stayed indoors for the most part. His movements were so delicate and precise that she had just assumed that like her, he was not combat oriented.

    ¡°Please, the entirety of Thoreni would be burnt to ashes before you see a scratch on this guy,¡± Visage suddenly interrupted, one of his ears blazing red and swollen. Harvey promptly walked over to a refrigerator and pulled out a cold pack, tossing it to Visage who placed it over his red ear. It was clear he had suffered quite a bit under Clara.

    ¡°Really? That¡¯s hard to believe,¡± Kiria commented, a little surprised. ¡°Do you practise a certain sword art? Or close combat skill?¡± She asked, getting more interested in this metallic person.

    ¡°Well, from what I¡¯ve seen, he doesn¡¯t really have any offensive capabilities. It¡¯s just his armour is so tough his defence skyrockets beyond anything I¡¯ve seen.¡± Victor explained, watching Visage wince as Harvey applied a light layer of cream on his ear.

    ¡°Well, since everyone is ready, let¡¯s get going shall we? Don¡¯t wanna burn daylight,¡± Harvey asked, leaving Visage who was being pulled by his other ear back out the door. Indistinct yelling could be heard moments before the glass doors shut completely, isolating the interior of the building from the rushing water of the river.

    ¡°Burn daylight? You can¡¯t burn daylight Harvey,¡± Kiria chuckled as she headed for the exit, the doors sliding open once more. It was already mid-morning by the time everyone left the building. Harvey initiated the lockdown sequence, causing the metal shutters and bulk doors to seal off the building. He turned to take one last look at his home of almost 2 years, before jogging to catch up with the party.

    <hr />

    [[Later that night]]

    ¡°Kiria, time for your medication,¡± Harvey informed her as he picked up an auto-syringe from the medkit. ¡°Pull up your sleeve,¡± he ordered, before placing one end of the cylindrical device against her arm. Pressing a small red button on the side, the syringe activated, empting the contents in the glass vial rapidly. ¡°Only 2 more to go and the course will be complete.¡±

    ¡°Hey can I ask you a question?¡± Kiria asked while rolling down her sleeve. The camp fire crackled as Visage returned from the woods with a few dead animals in his basket. Victor and Carla proceeded to skin the animals and drain their blood, preparing them to be cooked and preserved.

    ¡°Sure. What is it?¡± Harvey replied, his electronic voice emanating from his shoulders.

    ¡°Why did you save the Pritor? Leaving it alive would endanger many more people in this area. As a herbalist, I really don¡¯t see the point in doing that,¡± Kiria asked.

    ¡°Because that¡¯s my job. It is not up to me to decide if someone or something is worth saving. My job is to save them. Every life is important. Even if you know that it might lead to dire consequences, the life in itself is important. I save what I can, whenever I can. If I cannot, I make them as comfortable as I can, easing their pain to the utmost of my abilities. Isn¡¯t that what you do as an herbalist as well? You help ease people from their suffering through your knowledge and skills with plants and herbs. As a doctor, and surgeon, I too have the skills to help any life that I come across.¡± Harvey explained.

    ¡°And what if that person is your enemy? What if it was a murderer who appeared at your doorstep asking for help? Would you save him too?¡± Kiria questioned.

    ¡°Yes. Anyone who asks for my help will get it, because I can afford to offer it. Like I said, it is not up to me to judge the worth of a life. That is up to your judges and officials who handle criminals. Naturally, in that specific scenario, even if I informed the authorities and the man was to be sentenced to death, it is my job to make sure he is not suffering up till his sentencing.¡±

    ¡°I see. Well that¡¯s a new way to look at things¡­¡± Kiria¡¯s voice meandered off as she began to ponder.

    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

    ¡°And what¡¯s your goal? Why did you become an herbalist?¡± Harvey asked.

    ¡°To be honest, money,¡± Kiria replied with an embarrassed grin. ¡°I would normally say it¡¯s the joy of helping others, or some other crap along those lines, but I actually started studying herbs because of money.¡±

    ¡°Do herbalists make a lot of money? Last I checked, the prices of herbs are very high and even then, their effects are not guaranteed. Wouldn¡¯t you need to spend quite a sum of money to buy herbs to use?¡± Harvey questioned with a perplexed tone.

    ¡°No. Herbalists can barely scrape a living if they are good. But you need to pass an herbalists exam within one of the main capitols to be an alchemist. Alchemists use enchanted equipment to combine herbs to brew potions. And those are worth a lot of money. Potions are far more effective in healing than raw herbs, but they require a precise knowledge and skill to brew. Alchemists are always in high demand no matter which region you go to. My parents own the majority of businesses within Thoreni, so they can afford to stockpile herbs for me to study,¡± Kiria explained.

    ¡°I see. I keep hearing about this enchantment and such. Does magic really exist? I have yet to see anyone use magic,¡± Harvey asked.

    ¡°Of course magic is real. It¡¯s extraordinarily rare in humans and Anima, but demons and elves are highly proficient in magic. The 2 races combined their efforts to summon the world tree a long time ago to seal the Evil god in a time vault. The tree can be seen nearer the south of the continent. Humans rely more on enchanting weapons and tools to wield magic, compared to casters from the demon and elf race.¡± Kiria continued.

    Then, Nortrem came through the bushes abruptly, a frantic look on his face.

    ¡°Guys, we need to pack up and leave now. There is a predator nearby. It could be a horned bear or Winged Wolf. I found tracks while foraging. Either way, they will be attracted by our scent and the light of the fire. We better move towards open ground quickly.¡± Nortrem warned as he quickly began throwing dirt on the fire. Kiria got up quickly, albeit a little wobbly, and helped pack up the belongings. Everyone quickly donned their equipment, preparing to set out in the moonlight.

    The nearby undergrowth rustled. Then silence ensued as everyone became alerted. Weapons drawn, the party watched their surroundings carefully, scrutinising every single branch and leaf for movement. More rustling, this time, it was moving around them, circling the party. Their eyes followed the noise, weapons poised to strike at any time. Harvey stood up as well, preparing to jump and intercept whatever predator might attack. He knew his body was more likely to withstand an attack compared to the humans, and even if it was damaged, he could simply replace the damaged parts.

    Then, Harvey did an unexpected move. His posture changed from that of a guarded alert stance to one that was more relaxed, his shoulder drooping a little as he calmly walked over to Victor. The rustling had stopped and the night was dead silent while everyone held their breaths. Their senses were all heightened and concentrated on the location where the rustling was last heard.

    Harvey extended his hand and touched the tip of Victor¡¯s short sword, lowering it with ease despite Victor holding it up with all his strength. Then, he faced a seemingly random direction in the forest and spread out his arms, as if preparing to hug someone.

    *Thud!*

    Without giving anyone a chance to react, a black blur that had once perfectly blended in with the night pounced out at Harvey, right into his open arms. The force of the pounce was so strong that Harvey had fallen backwards onto his own metallic bum despite being prepared to receive the blow. Instantly, everyone turned to see the familiar Pritor with bandages around its leg licking Harvey¡¯s face.

    Harvey had known. Right from when the rustling started, he had switched to infrared and thermal scanning to observe his surroundings. Seeing the figure of a Pritor, he brought up the tracking program at the back of his head, only to confirm that it was the same Pritor he had saved. To make sure it felt safe to show itself, Harvey had lowered Victor¡¯s sword before stepping up to welcome it. Sure enough, it took the opportunity to pounce.

    The large cat looked healthier than ever, with some traces of dried blood around its lips. Harvey quickly picked the cat up off his body and wiped the saliva that was starting to clog up the sensors on his face. The Pritor took a look at the feeble humans, before snorting and returning its attention to Harvey, getting ready to pounce once more. Being an apex predator, it seldom came across anything that was tough enough to rough house with that wasn¡¯t trying to kill it; hence Harvey made the perfect playmate.

    With yet another silent pounce, the cat threw all of its weight against Harvey, knocking him onto his back once more, all while purring softly. As it chewed on Harvey¡¯s shoulder, the 2 of them rolled around on the ground, with Harvey trying to stave off its advances. Kiria watched on with a fearful expression, her hands still tightly gripping the tachi that was slotted inside its sheathe horizontally on the back of her waist.

    Finally, Harvey decided it was best to end the playtime, noticing the nervousness of the party who was still standing around with their guards up. He grabbed the Pritor by its scruff, causing it to go limp momentarily. He stood up and placed it on the ground, muttering a single command.

    ¡°Sit,¡± He instructed, to which the Pritor sat upright like a loyal dog, its 3 tails swishing slightly on the ground. Harvey dusted himself off, plucking leaves, moss and soil off his robe which was torn up now from the scuffle. He then crouched down beside the Pritor, and examined the wound on its leg. It had healed nicely, with signs of black fur growing back where he had shaved off. It left a zig zag scar near the ankle of its hind leg, but would not be visible once the fur grew back. Clearly, from its previous actions, the limp was gone and the wound no longer affected the Pritor.

    Seeing the obedient cat, the party all began to relax, with the exception of Kiria was was still stunned by the Pritor¡¯s behaviour. The once savage and ruthless predator that almost killed her was now sitting there in front of her like a domesticated cat, and one that showed unprecedented affection for its owner no less. Victor and the rest however, began taking off their armour and setting up the camp once more, this time making sure to place their items away from the cat which was purring with its eyes closed while Harvey stroked its head gently.

 10 - Beauty Care

    Hello everyone! Chapter 3/4 for this week. I''ve lowered the donations quota in case you guys did not notice. its now $30 for extra chapters. the donation link can be found on my profile page. please support if you like.

    27/30

    <hr />

    ¡°Halt!¡± a Guard ordered as he observed the party approach the Thoreni city gates. It was still very early in the morning and it was rare for people to arrive at this time of the day. Most of the activity at the city gates at sunrise would be from hunters and gatherers leaving the city to carry on their daily work.

    Aside from the odd timing of the arrival of the party, it was several other factors that seemed to scream at the guards that this party was suspicious. For starters, there seemed to be the large young adult Pritor amongst the mix, sauntering towards the gate alongside the party of humans. Next was their odd foreign green, brown and black clothing.

    Lastly, it was the impeccably well-dressed man who followed at the back of the group. He had a metal full helmet hiding his face and was easily over 2 metres tall. He was clad in a black blazer donned over a vest and white shirt. There was clearly a tie to go along with the business suit, but the guard had never seen such impeccably neat attire before, so he did not know what to think. His guess was that this oddly dressed party was escorting some kind of royalty from another country, except the size of the party seemed too small.

    ¡°What¡¯s your business in Thoreni?¡± the guard inquired, carefully inspecting the party of 6 while keeping his wary eye on the wild beast.

    ¡°We were dispatched to subdue the Pritor that had been attacking the trade routes. My name is Kiria Isanagi. First daughter of the Isanagi conglomerate,¡± Kiria answered, stepping forward and flashing a palm sized green and red badge.

    ¡°Young miss!¡± The guard instantly recognised the badge, pulling on a thick rope that hung from the side of the gate. A bell rang on the other side of the gate as 2 guards began cranking the handles on the wall, causing the heavy doors to creak open. All three guards watched in awe as the party made their way towards the adventurer¡¯s guild, with the prideful Pritor strutting its 3 tails.

    ¡°Let¡¯s stop by a workshop first shall we? We really should place an advanced order for new weapons and armours so they will have them ready by the time we are done with our business,¡± Victor suggested, studying the incomplete sets of steel armour that everyone was wearing. He himself would have liked to procure a custom made claymore to replace the one he lost.

    With the agreement of everyone, the team soon made its way towards a famous workshop. The workshop itself was hidden towards the back, with a neat and clean shop front facing the main street. Cargo such as raw ores, coal and wood fuel were transported to the smithy via an alleyway that ran around the back of the workshop.

    The floor was made of levelled stone, while the walls were built out of timber. That however, applied only to the shop. The smithy attached to workshop was sweltering hot, with the building made out of stone. It was so hot in the workshop that the heat radiated out to the front of the shop. There, Harvey stayed outside with his Pritor, attracting plenty of curious gazes.

    Victor¡¯s team was greeted by a salesgirl with rabbit ears. After bargaining for quite a bit, they finally decided on several sets of items, choosing to sell their current incomplete sets for some spare change. The two vanguards Victor and Visage acquired some readymade steel platemail, while Clara and Nortrem replaced their leather armour. Nortrem bought a light chainmail for Kiria to wear over her army fatigues which she felt had no need to change.

    They spent nearly 2 hours inside the shop choosing their new gear. Victor ordered a custom Claymore with the shop while Nortrem and Clara restocked their supply of crossbow bolts. Clara even bought a new set of gauntlets specially designed to climb trees. It had small claw like protrusions at the base of each finger on the side of the palm to improve grip onto climbing surfaces. When they came out, the sight that greeted them left their mouths gaping.

    The Harvey was, sitting down on a wooden bench facing the Pritor, who had one paw in his hands. A crowd had gathered to watch what he was doing. In his left hand, he held the cat¡¯s front paw tenderly, while in his right hand, he gripped a nail file. Having gotten tired of waiting for the party, Harvey decided to spend the time giving his new cat a manicure, using the nail file to sharpen the Pritor¡¯s claws. The majority of the crowd were simply watching in awe at how tame this supposedly wild beast was.

    Victor and the rest though, silently cursed within their hearts. Having faced off against this beast multiple times, they felt as if Harvey held some grudge against them, sharpening their enemy¡¯s claws as if they weren¡¯t already dangerous enough.

    ¡°Harvey,¡± Victor called out. ¡°Is there really a need to sharpen them?¡±

    ¡°Well, no. but I was bored, so I thought I might as well do something,¡± Harvey replied nonchalantly, not even looking up from what he was doing. He gingerly moved onto the next claw while the Pritor purred at the luxurious treatment it was enjoying. ¡°Why don¡¯t you guys go ahead and report your mission status at the adventurer¡¯s guild? I¡¯ll stay here while I wait for you. It¡¯ll take a while before im done.¡±

    ¡°Fine,¡± Victor sighed, while Kiria and Clara chuckled. With that, the party left hastily for the adventurer¡¯s guild.

    They returned within the hour, with the intention of inviting Harvey for lunch, only to realise that he was no longer where they had left him. Searching the nearby streets, they could not find any trace of the man, and so they began asking questions. Once they did that though, it wasn¡¯t very difficult to find Harvey. After all, a 2.5m man with a domesticated Pritor isn¡¯t exactly hard to miss. Within minutes, they learnt that Harvey had led the Pritor into the workshop where they had bought their gear.

    Once again, they cursed inwardly when they saw that Harvey had taken grooming to yet another level. This time, the Pritor was laying lazily on a bench on its belly, its four limbs dangling from the sides of the bench. Its eyes were closed while a faint smile could be seen on its lips. Even the white stripes were glowing softly as it purred.

    On each side of the bench was a salesgirl with a thick brush in their hands. They were brushing its fur along the length of the body. At the end of the bench, Harvey was squatting down. In his hands was one of the Pritor¡¯s tails. A soft grinding sound could be heard as Harvey ran a sharpening stone down the edge of its daggered tail. The other 2 daggers gleamed in the light from the workshop¡¯s furnace, clearly having been sharpened and polished by Harvey.

    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    Victor smacked his forehead when he saw this, while Nortrem had an ugly expression on his face. This was seriously taking things a tad too far. Not only did Harvey sharpen and maintain the claws, he even polished and sharpened the daggered tails of the Pritor. He even managed to somehow convince the shop to lend him 2 sales girls to help brush its luscious black fur. The only way he could take it even further from here would be if he brushed and sharpened it teeth as well, and maybe equip it with a set of armour.

    Within 10 minutes, Harvey was done with the grooming, handing the grinding stone back to one of the blacksmiths. The Pritor leapt up from its sleeping posture, yawning widely before looking at Victor and the rest, grinning as it reveals its set of white teeth. As it turns out, Harvey had indeed brushed its teeth as well. Victor could only shake his head as he left the workshop, With the party behind him and Harvey and the Pritor tagging behind.

    This time, their destination was a local restaurant. They walked past the various craftsmen shops, turning a few corners before finally leaving the region allocated for craftsmen. After a while of walking under the hot afternoon sun, they entered the foods district where an aromatic smell drifted into their noses. Victor quickly selected a decent sized restaurant and ordered a table for the party. However, it was only after they sat down that he realised, once again, Harvey and the Pritor had lagged behind.

    Looking out the restaurant¡¯s widows from his seat, Victor caught sight of Harvey on the other side of the street. He knew that for whatever reason, Harvey did not need to eat, and that the Pritor would not be welcome inside an establishment such as this restaurant. Hence, Victor made no effort to invite the 2 of them into the restaurant. Visage and Nortrem were already listing out several dishes for their lunch.

    Meanwhile, the Pritor¡¯s eyes were sparkling as it sat upright, its head raised and gaze locked onto the large pieces of meat hanging in front of it. Right now, Harvey and the Pritor were loitering in front of a butcher¡¯s shop. There were large slabs of meat as large as a human hanging off giant hooks on a stand. They had been skinned so Harvey could not make out what animals they used to be, but he guessed that it might have been a small cow or lamb.

    Pointing at the largest of bodies hanging from the hooks, Harvey nodded his head. Then, several large men came and took the animal off the rack, removing the hooks from the body. What took 3 men to simply carry down was easily lifted by Harvey as he hoisted the whole cow onto his shoulder. He then threw the meat onto the side of the street where the Pritor pounced without hesitation. Its newly sharpened claws, teeth and daggered tailed made short work of the meat, slicing and biting through it without effort.

    The meat had been handled well by the butchers, without even so much as a single drop of blood spilling onto the road despite the savagery displayed by the Pritor. Harvey watched the Pritor make short work of the meat, before handing over a single gold coin which he fabricated on the spot while his hands were hidden within the pockets of his business suit. To passers-by, it looked as if he was a well-dressed noble feeding his exotic pet. The butchers handed him some silver and copper coins as change, which Harvey quickly stored within his pocket.

    By the time Victor¡¯s party was done with lunch, Harvey¡¯s Pritor was also just about finishing up, leaving over half the cow untouched. It had eaten its fill so Harvey simply offered the remainder to the butcher who shook his head in rejection. The Pritor was clever. It had eaten the best parts of the meat, leaving the tough undesirable parts completely untouched. Were it in the wild, it would not be able to afford to waste such precious food, but now that it was living its life of luxury, the Pritor made the most of this opportunity.

    The party waited outside the butcher¡¯s shop, loitering and discussing their plans for the day. Visage was missing as per usual, having run off to a public latrine to relieve himself. The general consensus was that they would make their way back to Kiria¡¯s estate where she could rest properly and await arrangements to visit a healer in the neighbouring city.

    Visage did not take long, returning promptly to re-join the group. They then took a slow walk towards the central district where Kiria¡¯s estate was located. They moved at a leisurely pace to walk off their lunch. The Pritor especially was moving sluggishly, almost on the verge of nodding off. Because it was slowing the party down, Harvey sighed as he wondered of the cat had been too pampered. He picked up the large cat and cradled it in his arms, allowing it to snooze as it wrapped its three tails around his waist. One of its arms hung over his shoulder as it rested its chest against his, leaning its head on his other shoulder.

    The moment they entered the central district, the atmosphere took a drastic change. No longer were there messy unorganised vendors along the cobbled streets. Noble ladies walked with small steps in groups, observing noble etiquettes to the dot.  The streets were generally quiet due to the lack of vendors yelling at the top of their lungs in an attempt to advertise their wares. Even the buildings had a touch of finesse to them, showing off architecture that boasted design and delicacy over practicality and cost effectiveness of those in the craftsmen district.

    Most of the nobles ignored the group, minding their own business. As such, Victor¡¯s party made their way through the streets with ease, without the usual human traffic which slowed down their journey considerably. Still talking and chatting amongst themselves, Victor¡¯s group walked past a seemingly harmless group of noblemen. Kiria and Nortrem frowned at the sight of these men, but chose not to react.

    Its nose twitched. The faint but familiar odour entered its nostrils, causing its eyes to spring open, albeit with a hint of savagery within. It would never forget that smell. Without warning, the Pritor pried itself from Harvey¡¯s arms, pouncing directly towards one of the noblemen that the group walked past. Screams could be heard as the nobleman¡¯s accomplices distanced themselves from the predator, watching it prowl around the downed man. The man had three deep gashes on his chest, his wrist bleeding profusely after being nicked by one of the tails. He clutched his chest in agony, watching in stupefied horror as the cat pounced once more towards him.