《Collector's Guild》 A MAJOR fuck up - A4! Hot steam blew from a giant metallic piece, making it move forwards and setting it up for the bigger engine. - Boss, it¡¯s going to explode soon, is the tower working already? - F7! Another blow of steam rose from the ground, connecting a larger metallic piece and instantly setting the gear working, although not at its full power. - Quick, i¡¯m at my limit here! I rush through the red factory, all of its engines failing and crushing down, causing explosions and mass destruction through the entire area. It¡¯s possibly the worst location to set up my towers, but I don¡¯t have a choice. - Dude, I¡¯m just one piece away, hold on for a bit longer! - I¡¯ll try! My friend there is using his mana pool to absorb the energy caused by the catastrophe. Looking at the screen, I see his pool is dangerously low. Finally, the delay time is over and I¡¯m able to cast my ability again. - A5! Instantly, a black crystal floats to the top of the mechanical tower and starts glowing. - It¡¯s set! Right after, he eases up and stops wasting his mana as we sit on the middle floor of the now complete building. - Did you get the item? - Well I¡­ - No, don¡¯t tell me¡­ Dear Lord, did this fucker really leave behind the Metal Doom¡¯s Reactor? - Just kidding, here we go! He tosses it in the air, sending my petite body flying to catch it like a dog chasing after a disc. - Damn, dude! Don¡¯t scare me like that! - Heheh, got ya worried didn¡¯t i? How the hell would I forget to pick it after all we went through? I don¡¯t even pay attention to him. Man, I¡¯m so happy I finally got my hands into this part. I caress it like a newborn baby, a recently formed diamond, an egg just about to hatch. Its round oval shape is so cute, so full of energy, so¡­ So¡­ Wait, did I just say round? I strand my eyes to the actual piece and my arms fall limp from the shock. - Boss, boss hey, are you okay? No way¡­ We spent two months uncovering the puzzles, studying enemies, avoiding them or beating them, setting traps to the other players and misleading their path, we escaped countless death situations and used up a lot of money in provisions, then we finally got to the Hidden Boss¡¯s location, almost failed at destroying him and barely escaped alive. Only for¡­ This. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. - What is it Oh shit! - Maxwell¡­ - Metalla, I-I¡¯m really - That¡¯s the GODDAMN VALVE, NOT THE REACTOR. My robotic voice doesn¡¯t reflect the anger I¡¯m feeling inside. Hidden Bosses are incredibly difficult to track because there is no set location for them, and that doesn¡¯t apply just to the map. A level 150 Boss could be hidden on the starting area and no one would suspect it. Worse yet, anyone looking for one of them is bound to encounter all kinds of shitty people, going from robbers to PKers and information sellers. However, that¡¯s not what¡¯s making me angry. What makes me angry is: that one Hidden Boss, specifically, was an event monster that only appears once a year. - Two months¡­ Two months¡­ Screws slide down my shiny electric eyes, and soon all my pieces fall apart like a defective product. - Boss¡­ Don¡¯t worry, there are still many unique items waiting for us¡­ Right? - Arghhh¡­ Two months¡­ Man I¡¯m crying so much¡­ Two months¡­ Two months¡­ All the explosions outside cease, the place must be really trashy right now. Maxwell grabs all of my dismantled pieces and slowly put them together, but i just crash down again. He then picks it all up and throws it inside his Machine Golem. - Come, we are leaving the dungeon. It has been a lot of time since we went to the guild¡­ - Two months¡­ Two months¡­ He activates the propellants and drills a path in the ceiling, leaving behind the metal skeleton of the dragon, now blown to pieces¡­ Along with my dreams. I¡¯m Jake, 24 years old. I¡¯m just a high school dropout who managed to make a living off of games and my real life sucks balls. I¡¯m also the alien android damsel Metalla, Leader of Collector¡¯s Guild, a shady low profile guild that focuses on finding the rarest materials and crafting unique items out of them. 10/10 Would do it again - Wow! Where did you get this piece?! - You know, just went on a casual solo run on that Metal something event. This is what I¡¯ve got from it, nothing special. The girl tending to our equipment has her eyes shining at the view of the valve we got earlier. It isn¡¯t any different from any other Metallic Dragon¡¯s valve, really. - Girl, that actually is nothing special. You can buy this valve for twenty coins in the market. It¡¯s complete garbage. She stares at Maxwell with a disdainful look and throws the valve at him, going back to polishing my parts. - Ouch! You didn¡¯t need to do that! - That¡¯s what you get for losing that reactor. Ah! That¡¯s right, that¡¯s the spot! Keep polishing¡­ - Erm¡­ Okay then. The girl finishes the job really soon and starts reassembling my body, but she clearly has no clue as to how my engine functions. - Ranger blue, give her the design. - Right¡­ Maxwell jumps from his mecha with the design on his hands. He wears an uniform exactly that of ranger blue, but with white gloves. The name caught, for his dislike. - Strange¡­ Are you sure this is done right? - Of course it is, I made the design myself. She flips the paper at all directions and looks at it from every angle, but her puzzled look doesn¡¯t seem to disappear. - But¡­ If I arrange it like that, your pieces are bound to detach eventually¡­ - That¡¯s exactly how I want it! She drops the design on the floor with incredulous eyes plastered on her face. - Are you kidding me? - No, I¡¯m not! Let me explain! ¨C I scream, seeing her showing the back and leaving. To be honest, I don¡¯t know why every mechanic is touchy about this design. I¡¯m paying, so what gives? - Pretty much all of my skills revolve around me dropping body parts, so it is a must that they fall apart. - Huh? - For instance, I have one skill called Rewind, which lets me turn back to where one of my pieces fell, returning to that previous state. - Isn¡¯t that cheating? - If you had the details¡­ Man, the details. Anyway, it¡¯s not a joke, so begin reassembling me. - Asap. - Oh, by the way, can you inform me where is located the Arsel Port? - I¡¯ll bring you a map. She points the location of the port and we head there as soon as I¡¯m complete. Now that I think about it, I¡¯ve been inside that dungeon for so long that I wasn¡¯t able to see the sun. Damn, thankfully I don¡¯t need to worry too much about temperature. The port is a really refreshing sight. Since Arsel is a tiny island isolated from the world, they rely a lot on the ocean to make a living, so this part is incredibly developed, although its style is still old school. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. As always, it¡¯s a beehive of activity, with transporters, fishermen, guards, mercenaries, visitors, mages, enchanters, trainers, merchants and all of the shady types you could expect and also the unexpected ones. Our ship should be anchored on the far back¡­ - I can¡¯t see it. - Yeah, me neither. - You sure we left it over there? - One hundred percent sure about it¡­ Oh¡­ - What is it, boss? - Do you remember the last time we came here? - Eh? Not really? - Do you remember Guild Leader Emperato? - The one we traded that flaming sword with? - Yeah¡­ We traded that sword for a black ring called Mischievous Glare, remember now? - I do. What about it? - I didn¡¯t actually want that ring. What I wanted was the Void Stone he used to craft that ring. - And? - I stole the Void Stone. Max stares me down like nothing had happened, but then he sums 1+1 and realizes the weight of these words. - You did WHAT?! Emperato is a strange red armor samurai that will wreck you in a 1v1 and possibly the only dude that can wage a 1v10 in the entire game ¨C he posted a video on that, and no, it was not against low level scrubs, they were pretty skilled and strong stat-wise. When he¡¯s using a sword, he¡¯s the scariest motherfucker that you¡¯ve ever met and will get you instagibbed if you are at a three meter radius. When he¡¯s manipulating flames, he¡¯s that asshat mage that spams Meteor Strike all day every day and completely destroys your entire team while laughing from afar. His only real weakness is his short range for a mage and his lack of mobility. He¡¯s so slow it hurts to see. His defense is stellar, offense is the best defense! Not even a second later, a youthful and impish voice shouted at our backs and an eerie feeling creeped on me. - Me-tal-la¡­ Without turning back, I¡¯m able to hear the sharpening sound of his katana and the crepitating of his flames. Maxwell turns to face me, his mask not hiding that he is pale with fear, and whispers: - Boss¡­ What do we do now? - Buy me time¡­ I¡¯ve gotta set up a tower somewhere ¨C I whisper back. - Boss¡­ I¡¯m crying. - What the fuck Max? Man up and face him¡­ - But¡­ His character is totally geared for combat¡­ I¡¯m just an offtank¡­ - Max¡­ - I grab his mecha¡¯s leg, as if it was his shoulder, and shine him a smile. - I have faith in you¡­! With that line, I turn tail and run. Even at that distance I can hear Maxwell¡¯s prolonged groan. Don¡¯t worry soldier, your death won¡¯t be in vain. Calculated Author: I made a mistake last chapter. The skill name was Rewind and not Wind Up (wind up is the skill presented in this one) Considering the circumstances, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to set a water-oriented tower such as Leviathan or Archimedes, they would be great against Emperato¡¯s fire magic. Problem is, those take a whole lot of time to deploy which we don¡¯t have at our disposition. Some high-tech towers can work out in time, fire and air elemental ones too, but they would be ineffective. I should have considered Emperato would find us, preemptively laying a basic setup for my stronger turrets. Fighting back is out of question, outrunning him in this tiny island is pointless and I doubt we could pull it off; defending ourselves may be possible but won¡¯t get us out of here. I guess even if we set feet at our boat, he would chase us down and kill us. Damn, I messed up really hard on this one. I could build a Portal for us to pass through, but Maxwell would die sooner and seal our fate. The most optimal decision would be for him to play very conservatively against Emperato, while still keeping his attention. That way I could build a Ballistic Tower to urge us forward, then he would activate his mecha¡¯s propellers at full power and bail. - Don¡¯t get your fuel tank too low! - What? You¡¯re really leaving me? - Just don¡¯t! Trust me! - Sigh¡­ Why is it I¡¯m still in this guild¡­ Maxwell drops some parts of his mecha, making it lighter and nimbler to move around. That reinforced armor would be useless against the enemy he would face, anyway. Sadly, these won¡¯t be of much use to me. Why do I say that? You may not be so fond of my method of tower building, so I¡¯ll explain it shortly. I have a skill called Wind Up. It is an area of effect ability that works as a self-applied buff, enhancing my movement speed while also making my parts fall more quickly. It also affects other machines, such as Maxwell¡¯s mecha, although he won¡¯t drop any parts ¨C after all, that¡¯s a particularity of my character¡¯s design. It doesn¡¯t seem like a good tradeoff until I explain the next one. My main skill is Event Horizon, which allows me to erect from a large arsenal of towers from a metal piece ¨C the result, however, doesn¡¯t need to be metal. Now you might be thinking, why the hell do you use your own parts as material for those towers? Well, friend, that¡¯s because the towers are for the most part based on the item you used, and I have a wide variety of items attached to me. I didn¡¯t invest a single point in the strength stat, so I don¡¯t have the option to carry things around. However, the stronger the tower, the bigger the cooldown for the next attached piece, making it really difficult to raise them at higher levels. For that reason, I almost always have someone with me if I want guaranteed success, although I can do well enough on my own. - Wind Up! ¨C I shout, and my body starts feeling ecstatic, ready to burst down and run. I couldn¡¯t cast it near Maxwell to help him, since the plan is for him to lead Emperato away while i get the tower as near as possible to the shore. Even though I¡¯m running against the clock, my job is sure to be done, the only variable being Max and the fire monkey. Thus I watch from a distance while assembling the pieces. Judging from Maxwell¡¯s posture, he¡¯s ready to hit the road whenever Emperato closes in. Bad idea¡­ Now he¡¯s coming after me. - I told you to stall him! At my scream, his mecha starts drifting to the other guy, obliging him to turn around. His sword is already prepared for the one hit kill. Once he reaches the distance, Emperato goes for the finishing blow, but he gets juked pretty hard. Maxwell uses the momentum to do a front flip, but his cab gets hit and was at danger of blowing up, forcing him to detach it immediately and exposing him. The next one would definitely get his HP to zero, I probably shouldn¡¯t expect a repeat maneuver. Emperato ignores him once again, heading for me. I don¡¯t need Ballistic Tower at maximum power, so I reduce it to a four pieces minimum. - I need three more! Try something else! - Oh boy¡­ These missiles were so expensive¡­ Maxwell shoots a barrage of missiles one after another, causing a multitude of explosions near Emperato. He knew it wouldn''t affect him, so he went for the ground in front of him instead. Judging by the distance, it should be enough for me to deploy two more pieces¡­ - I need you to stall him for a bit longer! - But I don¡¯t have anything on me! I used it all back in the dungeon! Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. - What about your mecha? - My what? - Yeah, you still have it! - No¡­ You¡¯re not saying what I think you¡¯re saying¡­ - It¡¯s up to you! - Please¡­ Just¡­ Please¡­ - Like I said, it¡¯s up to you. Either your mecha or us! - Fuck! I hate my job¡­ - Stop ignoring me, you two! And I¡¯m listening to all you¡¯ve been saying! Maxwell is finally set on his signature move. I can see his figure madly smashing buttons all around the mecha¡¯s command panel and unplugging its propellers, attaching them to his bag. - Metalla¡­ Please tell me you can afford the expenses. - With the fiasco of our mission, we probably won¡¯t get enough money for it! - Sigh¡­ I hate my life. His blue mecha tunes to a deep red and smoke comes out at an incredible pace. A second after, he jumps off of it and the machine is free to suicide on Emperato, holding him for a few seconds. - B2! A giant curved bow materializes at the top of the medieval looking tower and prepares itself to launch. Maxwell comes flying with his improvised jetpack and picks me up, taking us high into it. - Okay, we¡¯re good! - I¡¯m not talking to you until I¡¯ve got my cute mecha back¡­ - Come on, man, it¡¯s not so bad. - ¡­ I won¡¯t lie, I¡¯m sad for him. That mecha was like his pet cat that just got ran over by a car. The feels, man, the feels. What the¡­ - Max? My eyes deceive me. There¡¯s a goddamn sword crossing Maxwell¡¯s chest. Yet, Emperato is really far away. The fire monkey¡­ What? I can¡¯t believe it. He just¡­ He just tossed the fucking sword. Bastard is crazy! - Metalla¡­ I try plucking the katana out of his chest, but it¡¯s no use. Poor guy is dead... I don''t have the strenght to grab him and make a run for it, his last checkpoint was in the island. Can¡¯t leave my Vice-Leader here either¡­ Sigh, this last expedition really went to shit. - Man down, man down! I surrender! Emperato¡¯s fingers flicker once and the fireball he has on his hand disappears. - Good. I didn¡¯t have a choice there, Metalla, and you know that. No hard feelings, I¡¯m willing to talk this out. - Okay, can you help me pick his body latter on? I don¡¯t have much strength. - Sure thing. Just don¡¯t try anything funny. I mean it. - Not like I have an option. And that¡¯s it¡­ Guess that¡¯s karma for you¡­ Or maybe not. I pick the katana and arm myself with it, then turn the bow to the angle of Emperato¡¯s. - I digress. - What? - I do have an option. I launch myself into the bow and command it to catapult me like an arrow straight at the red samurai, all I can hear now is the wind blowing on my face as I close my eyes shut . Then finally, a thunderous slashing sound and liquid no doubt to be blood splattering me. - Holy shit¡­ It actually worked.