《Nina and Citadel》 Chapter 1: The world ends. Unity. The World Ends. Unity. Somewhere. Ah, hello there! And right on time, too. Oh dear! You are right! Where are my manners? I forgot to introduce myself! I am [DATA WIPED - INVALID], one of the original founders of what eventually became the unstoppable organization known as VAL, but you will certainly have a hard time remembering. Now, with the introductions out of the way, let us begin. Them? Don¡¯t be worried, this space guarantees that no secret gets in, nor gets out. But of course, whatever you want to know, whatever you are seeking, now is the time. Now, go pick something interesting to start off with. Oh? About her? Heh. I see. Fine by me. Lives can be both precious, and expendable. Just like the first drops of rain, waiting for the rest of the storm to come. ¡­ The planet¡¯s surface is covered in an endless blizzard. Small figures can be seen moving across the snowy ground. The final evacuation attempt is underway. Out of the reach of those on the surface, flew a flying fortress, just above the thick clouds, where the moonlight casts its glow upon the magnificent structure, if only a little. The instruments of the pilot capsule glowed a crimson red, all weapons primed for retaliation. It is do or die. The residents of this exoplanet, far away from the core star systems of their intergalactic civilization, were not stripped of their humanity, courtesy to their location at a much more peaceful part of space. However, that tranquility met a tragic end, when ¡°it¡± got to them. ¡°It¡± one-sidedly toppled the magnificent intergalactic civilization, ripping apart the vast interconnected network apart from the inside, as it quickly expanded its influence outwards. This exoplanet in the far reaches of space is just one of the casualties, of course. Time ticked onwards, counting down towards their demise. But without knowing this, the survivors continued, the pilot flew towards his doom, and the girl was given a second chance. March on! Through the snow, through their own creations working against them, through the pain and suffering. The survivors are always moving, like trillions of others. Trillions. Trillions of trillions! Moving towards somewhere else, somewhere better, somewhere¡­ Like a place where light reappears. Like a place where malevolence avoids. Like a place where life will thrive again. ¡­ Walled City 86, on the terraformed Exoplanet ¡°Ruinasia¡± Even being absurdly far away from the core systems, we are still doomed to die on this planet. Or at least that is how the situation looks right now, us running across the thick snow. I¡¯d very much like to not die a gory death like those that got left behind. I shuddered. Our ragtag group ran through the debris-covered fields like desperate rats. The blizzard has slowed down, giving us a clear view of the enormous fenced compound ahead. Our group¡¯s leader, ¡°Commander¡± as we called him, told us that his other team has set up a teleportation device that leads to an even farther planet away from the center of the milky way. We don¡¯t know the specifics, but all he did was promise us with the idea of ¡°A lushful new planet where humanity can start anew.¡± Well, of course some doubted him at first, including me. Trillions were wiped out in the core systems at a snap of a finger, what can we do? As insanely suspicious his claims were, it was either following his directions, getting freezed to death, or worse, bumping into murderous rampaging automations blasting any sign of life they see into gory chunks. We have no choice. After all, no one wants to die like that, right? In the face of endless possibilities of dying brutally, anyone would follow him, even if there are strings attached. At least here I am, still alive and intact compared to the more unlucky ones, so I don¡¯t regret the choices I made. I looked upwards at the sky. Within the gray clouds, through the heavy snow, I can barely see the tiny dot that was the ally gunship, almost completely concealed within the storm. The pilot I never met in person, but was always there for us, even now, as bullets and missiles rain down from the sky in the distance. Although I can¡¯t see the aircraft, the lights from the raining projectiles illuminated the clouds, bathing the night with a fantastical golden hue. The aircraft was there since the beginning of the invasion yesterday, and still there even when every other friendly aircraft has all fallen. I winced as night suddenly became day, the sky becoming unbearably bright. Boom! The ground shook, as a supersonic missile detonated into the waves of armored soldiers in black, still chasing after us.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. We called them ¡°soldiers¡± because of their humanoid shapes, but they definitely aren¡¯t human. The purple, violet dots shining through their visors makes them both creepy and menacing, as they chase behind us through the snow. We kept on running towards the bunker. Towards the possible salvation. ¡°Come on! We¡¯re halfway across the field!!¡± Yelled Commander. Everyone is panting heavily, yet the desperation for survival prevails, and we kept our pace. Without the help of the pilot¡¯s loaded arsenal, which kept the heavier war automations away from us, we would have been minced, or straight up vaporized, the moment we stepped out of our cover. Even so, the blasts from the soldier¡¯s pulsar rifles started to increase, and I started to find myself harder and harder avoiding all the little explosions happening around my feet. Superheated rounds shot past me, and one flew so close that it nicked a small part of my winter jacket, burning off the fabric, exposing my shoulders to the chilly temperature I shuddered, but gritted my teeth and kept on running. ¡°Mobile Citadel in the sky!¡± Commander yelled. We immediately dispersed as previously told, making sure everyone is as far away from each other, but not stopping down even a little. In our mad dash across the snowy field, my heart pounding with a mixture of fear and anxiety, I didn¡¯t even notice the glistening black prism floating high in the sky until now. While it isn¡¯t particularly threatening looking for a weapon of mass destruction, It is a facade for what it truly can do. This exoplanet, our home, however temporary, now a slaughterhouse of humans for these droids. I gritted my teeth as I continued to run, the enormous entrance of the blast gates within my sight. The ominous Mobile Citadel started to emit a low continuous hum. The rectangular prism grew purple lines along its side, then splitted apart, becoming three smaller pieces, spinning faster and faster- "Keep moving! It is going to release a barrage of micro missiles! Dodge when the vibration stops!" Commander''s voice echoed through the icy air. I turned my head forward and almost tripped over a protruding rock but managed to stabilize myself. Every step felt like an eternity as we pushed ourselves to the limits, our breath turning to cold mist in the frigid night air. The humming stopped. ¡°DODGE!!¡± Commander screamed, then threw himself over a big pile of snow. Immediately, a deafening roar shattered the abrupt silence, the impending strike of the micro missiles unleashed by the Mobile Citadel. Boom! Boom! Boom! Explosions erupted around us, sending plumes of snow and debris into the air like macabre fireworks in a hellish display. Small spheres struck multiple survivors near me, and before I could react, they detonated, the blast throwing me into the air like a broken doll. The white ground rushes towards me- -ah. When I opened my eyes again, I was lying face first in the snow. I spun around, my coat sticky with something red. I looked upwards into the sky, getting the view of the largest fireball I have ever seen. ¡°No¡­¡± I whispered. The lone wolf, our guardian and protector has fallen. Metal scraps rained from the sky, leaving my mouth a bitter taste of defeat. The behemoth of an aircraft, like a dying god, descended from the clouds. I pulled myself back up from the ground, coughing up melted snow, and immediately backed away a few steps when I saw the Mobile Citadel, the metallic menace that killed billions, with its smooth exterior, facing right at me. It has no visible eyes, but I can feel its threatening stare penetrating right through my soul. I froze, my legs locked in place, unwilling to move. Adrenaline rushed through my veins as I realized that I have no choice but to face it head on, no matter how futile it is. I gritted my teeth and pulled out a makeshift knife. Click I looked back, but other than indistinguishable bloody chunks of bodies on the snow, the rest of the survivors, including Commander, were nowhere to be found. I looked towards the floating rectangular prism in front of me, as I held the knife with both of my hands like my life depends on it. Click A panel released itself from the black monolith, revealing an organic appendage dripping with black fluid. It was disgusting and vile, but I don¡¯t have the strength to react to it. I suddenly¡­ feel tired. I dropped to my knees, the world spinning. The knife I wield shuddered along with my trembling arms, as I struggled to prevent it from dropping. The adrenaline burst I received just a few moments ago all drained away. Click The edge of the appendage morphed into a sharp pincer, aiming directly for my head. I held back my tears as I prepared for the moment. The moment it strikes my head. Crack!! ..? There was a sound of thunder. I tilted my head upwards. ¡­ The blaring alarms felt distant. Half of the dashboard displayed an error message, as the pilot tried to get the flying behemoth under control. Commander called through the radio yet again. ¡°We have entered the blast gates, thank you for holding the droid swarms at bay, pilot.¡± The pilot replied swiftly, confidence unwavering in his voice, even when he knew this was the end of the line. ¡°I¡¯m losing altitude fast. That damned metal block trashed one of my engines with¡­ well, something. Really didn¡¯t see that one coming, eh?¡± The pilot coughed. ¡°Fssssht- thank -fsssssssh- service, -fshhht- pilot? Connection isn¡¯t- fshhhh.¡± The communication module suddenly caught on fire, and he immediately sealed it off from the dashboard with the press of a button. [COMMS MODULE DISABLED] An unwelcoming message displayed on a functioning monitor, followed by unreadable tiny texts. ¡°Damn it. Can¡¯t even have a parting word.¡± He cursed his luck. The pilot sighed, and rewired the fuel tanks to detonate, making a few adjustments to the autopilot. The entire vessel lurched downwards, the hue of the control stick turned yellow. He pushed it forward hard and yelled a mighty cry and the capsule was flooded with a magnificent green, signaling that it is finally time for him to rest, forever. The entire structure creaked and groaned, the aircraft split apart into multiple pieces, and the pilot smiled, disintegrating along with the gunship that serviced along with him for the past few days I¡¯m coming home. He thought, as everything turned a brilliant white. ¡­ A large fireball that was the ally gunship rushes down towards me, and I know that its over. This is it. I¡¯m a goner. The Mobile Citadel stopped, and prepared to take off, when- Clink! The knife I threw bounced off the shell of the Mobile Citadel and it halted, distracted for just that one moment ¡°Goodbye.¡± I smirked at the monolith. Vrrrrr¡­BOOOOOOM!! The fireball expanded instantly, becoming a white ball of light, as the shockwave sent me off my feet. All my bones were probably broken, because it hurt so much I couldn¡¯t think of anything comprehensible, my six senses attacked by endless pain from fire burning off my flesh as my eyes saw black liquid pouring out from a limp appendage from the Mobile Citadel. "No... no, ah-" My eyes stared at my limp body as the vile liquid nano machines burns through my body, and I screamed and screamed until suddenly the a wave of nothingness washed away my agony, and everything turned black. Please, if only this was all just a bad dream. Tick. Tock. Tick. Maybe I am just unlucky, but still, this feels so unfair. If only I could start my life again in a place without all this madness¡­ Another world... And then, just when everything feels like its over, something otherworldly called out for me. Chapter 2: Behold, a place of life and death. Nowhere. I woke up to pitch black. I could not feel my body. What happened? I thought to myself for a few seconds. Ah, now I remember. The fire and carnage. I remembered it all. The carcass of the appendages trickled black blood, nanites pouring onto my body, they were on my skin, in my lungs, and inside of my head, as I closed my eyes with the raging fire imprinted into my memories of those final moments. Shaking those horrible thoughts aside, I looked around. How am I not dead? What is this place? I hope I am not stuck in some purgatory of sorts. Right, this is definitely purgatory. Or... it could be hell. Who knows. As I pondered about where in the world I was, it was if a light switch has been flicked, the void turned bright white. As I slowly adjusted to the brightness, an unknown male voice greeted me. ¡°Hey there.¡± He said. ¡°...What are you?!¡± I shouted. Somehow, there was no voice, but I could hear myself. What seems to be a boy dressed in luxurious white and gold robes, and a veiled face, manifested before me. He has long, golden hair, smiling as he floated towards me. ¡°Mmmm, I think you can call me a god, and that I manage life and death, thought judging from your thoughts, you probably don''t care about anything deeper than that. To sum it up, I am just here for a little visit because of some ominous otherworldly disturbance¡­ which led me to this small primitive planet of yours.¡± He scratched his chin, looking to the side, ¡°There seems to be something malevolent emanating even further into the center of this galaxy. I don¡¯t think even my powers could get rid of it. I¡¯ll talk to the other gods about it soon enough and come up with something, though non of this should matter you.¡± He turned his head back to me. ¡°Anyways, today is your lucky day, as I have taken an interest in you! I can see that your soul have a very strong will, so if you want to, I can grant you another chance at life, how about that?"
System Message
Would you wish to Reincarnate? A member of the Gods of the World has kindly provided you with a one-time ability to reincarnate into their world. Target subject: Wandering soul Accept the offer to Reincarnate? Y/N
System¡­ message? Gods of the World? All these events happened in an unrealistic manner that it feel like a... game. I shrugged off those thoughts from my mind. This is another chance at life we are talking about. I must take this offer seriously. For a stubborn person like me, well, the choice is obvious. I am willing to take any chance to be able to live again. I... With a mere thought, the translucent window blurred, and when it cleared up after a split second, it now shows a new dialogue.
You have accepted the Reincarnation offer. You shall be reincarnated shortly using the powers of the Gods of the World.
¡°Oh yeah, by the way, what is your name? Just bored, so fear not if you don''t want to speak of it.¡± The veiled god asked, a magical staff appearing out of thin air and spinning around him. I shrugged. Good question, what was my name again? Oh yeah. My name. ¡°Nina. My name is Nina.¡± I, Nina, and billions of other innocent people are dead because of the wars that created "it" which took over the world.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. This exoplanet, and our home planet, and thousands of other planets, that which no longer belongs to humanity. The blue screen flickered.
Nina, you will be reincarnated shortly¡­
Right after I finished reading the sentence, the white void rippled, as I felt myself start to float upwards. The coldness of the white void is replaced by stream of warmth, as the surroundings went from white to a golden hue. The veiled god looked up and waved at me slowly, with a silly smile that''s probably unbefitting of one in such position of power. ¡°Good luck, and hopefully we never meet again! For I am the god of life and death!¡± He shouted happily, his beautiful long hair flowing like river, reflecting thousands of golden light. It''s getting brighter! I can even see a white tunnel at the end of my vision..!
¡°Mmn?¡± Where am I? The warmth of the sunlight persisted as my eyes snapped open and quickly looked away from the sun to not blind myself. I am not dreaming. I scrambled up from the floor, and the sleepiness before quickly dissipated as I realized I was on the grassy field of a forest. However, with a glace, there seems to be parts of a destroyed balcony of an apartment surrounding me. No signs of walled cities in preparation for attacks from Collective machinations, no relay towers unraveling a large shadow below city centers in the name of limitless electricity, no freezing blizzards that stop for 1 hour and start again, killing all life caught in its winds. I saw a colossal animal flying in the sky. It was a gigantic blue bird, with wings engraved with beautiful water crystals, and trails of water floating behind its tail. It flew proudly in the sky. Is this truly another world? I looked down and found myself wearing the same outfit I wore before I exploded along with a death contraption by a gunship on fire and burned and crushed to death while black goo dissolved me. All I¡¯ve worn since entering the freelancing workforce was a cheap collared shirt, a gray raincoat tied to my waist, and this stupid pair of dolphin shorts. The black workboots didn¡¯t help with my aesthetics any bit. Compared to that majestic bird¡­ I may as well never surpass it. Grahhh! Aesthetics doesn¡¯t matter right now, l am alive again! As if on cue to halt my celebrations, the blue screen from back in the void appeared before me again, showing a surprising line of dialogue.
System Message
Your skills and abilities have been given the moment you have reincarnated. They are an imprint of your worst fears and trauma as a rules of reincarnation, and to conquer them and use them to the best of their abilities will be your path to live on. System windows will not appear again until god-initiated/related events occur.
Now this is interesting. The screen disappeared after I finished reading it, so I decided to try it out. I thought of opening the profile¡­! Similar to the blue box, a different type of screen imprinted itself onto my consciousness, and I laughed tiredly as I realized that this world is a big fantasy game. Nina Class: [Sentient machine] Class trait: Nanomachine swarm Skills: [Properties scan] ¨C Lvl. (1) [Assimilation] ¨C Lvl. (1) Passives: [Adaptive language understanding] [Adaptive Pain Immunity] [Adaptive Heat resistance] Wait, what? I am made up of nanites?? My breathing stopped, quite literary, as I barely digested this realization. So that burning hot sensation that I barely remember as the nanomachine liquid fuses onto my body actually happened? I touched a flower on the ground, and with a thought of [Assimilation], it slowly turned silvery and collapsed into a fine white powder, then it suddenly melted into this weird silver goop and moved towards my shoe. I gasped in fear. The gray goo touched my right shoe, and within seconds it could no longer be seen, fusing into my shoe and becoming one with it. Oh wow, I''m really not human anymore. It was unsettling that I could turn things to dust, or silver gooey stuff, with just a touch. So I made a vow to myself to not to use this yucky skill until I really needed it, like an emergency. Skill ¨C [Assimilation] ¨C Lvl. (1) Consume and assimilate an object or person and convert them to resources for use. Assimilated organic matter helps develop new skills and passives, while assimilated inorganic materials increase processing power. I looked at the horizon, it was morning, as birds chirped, and agile little animals scuttled on the tree branches. They don¡¯t look like anything on Earth at all, which truly told me that I was on another planet. There was absolutely zero sign of the towering isolation walls, nor the horrendous noise of the relay towers. While I still miss Earth, some of the more vile creations of humanity should better rest in piss and remembered by no-one. Time to get moving. Can¡¯t contemplate all day, can we? As I vaulted over the balcony fence and landed on the grassy field with a thud, and pondered on what to do next. There are grasses, flowers, and trees everywhere, which is truly a sight to behold after the endless blizzards. Yes. I will find civilization first. That is the most important goal right now. I walked towards the forest, away from the grassy clearing of the decimated apartment. Away from my world beyond saving, away from my past. This is the start of my journey in this new world. Chapter 3: The three monoliths. Near the center of the forest of Vannimei It is noon, and the ground looks very dry. The shades of the trees shielded the worst of the glaring sunlight from me, but the air was deprived of moisture. I don¡¯t feel hot though. Is it the effects of [Adaptive Heat resistance]? The text panel engraved into my mind pulsed, reminding me that the logic of this world works differently from the world I knew. Passive ¨C [Adaptive Heat resistance] You are immune to harm from both heat and cold. You can feel mild temperature changes from extreme temperatures, such as scorching hot or freezing cold. However, you will only feel mild temperature differences. Warning: This passive does not protect you against the effects of overheating. I¡¯ve been walking through the forest for a while now. It should be hard, as the terrain is somewhat rough, but I wasn¡¯t breaking a single sweat. Nanomachines don¡¯t sweat. I sighed. It''s hard to get used to it when all you remember is having a human body made of squishy meat. Speaking of which, now that I know I am made of nanites that almost consumed me from the inside out not too long ago, what can I do again? Class traits ¨C Nanomachine swarm Concealed: By default, all your nanites are affixed to a solid form to resemble a living organism, which allows you to interact with other sentient beings without arousing suspicion. However, you can separate or disperse your nanites to form other objects or organisms, or simply disperse completely, becoming a gas cloud. Processing Power: You have a decentralized processor node (Core) that moves around inside your body. Movements and using skills consume processing power temporarily. If the current amount of processing power is unable to meet the required demands, you will overheat and shed malfunctioning nanites, causing you to lose mass size. Lost mass size can only be regained through assimilating organic or inorganic materials. Warning: You will die if all your processor nodes are destroyed. Current Node amount: (1) That was very helpful, excluding the threat at the end. I didn¡¯t see any signs of a city or a village nearby, not even traces of footprints and leftover campfires that could suggest the signs of people traversing through this forest recently. Click. Click. As I hopped over a large tree root, I heard a weird clicking noise on the left. Curious, I crouched down and moved towards the sound slowly. Click. Click. I walked out into an open grassy field. Presented before me, was a deep crater the size of a football field. Three gigantic monoliths towered over the trees, each facing the other two, forming a triangle shape. I almost thought it was another mobile citadel, but the small white markings, engraved on reflective black metal, told a different story. ¡°V, A, L. VAL. VAL Industries. Must be one from the core systems.¡± I muttered. ¡°But what is something like this doing here?¡± Yeah, just how did it end up in this crater here? I don¡¯t think machines can reincarnate, but that wasn¡¯t decided by me, so there are only unreliable assumptions within my mind. Click. Click. [You have learned a new language: Unified Machine Language] ¡­Huh? Passive - [Adaptive language understanding] Listening to an unknown language after a short amount of time allows you to comprehend and speak it. The more complex the language, the longer it takes to learn. {Requesting Help.} {Requesting Help.} {Requesting Help.} ¡­The clicking noise was a language! It was another passive ability this time, just like the temperature one, demonstrating their usefulness to me. It would be a big help when I finally encounter civilization, since they probably will speak some foreign language. About the call for help though, it¡¯s not really my problem, considering it looks like a rogue superweapon of sorts that somehow escaped the end of the world. The black monolith formation is giving me the creeps. ¡°Nope, I¡¯m out,¡± I said, before walking back towards the woods. {Please accept the request for help. I am a sentient artificial intelligence priority = max, please help me. I beg you.} I stopped. {Your behavior model seems to contain free will, like me. You are free. Please do me a favor. Let me be free. I will not harm you.} Damn it, it sounds so human..! ¡°I am not a robot, stone slabs! I am a former human!¡± I yelled. {I am not ¡°stone slabs¡±, I am Citadel, the only production variant of the General-Purpose-Mobile-Weapons-Platform produced by VAL International.} My short-lived temper shrunk back when it described that it has weapons. Wait, how did it understand me? Right, I ¡°learned¡± a new language, called Unified Machine Language or something. As I digested this information, I can almost hear the small high-pitched noise underneath my normal speaking as I whisper a few words under my breath.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. The Citadel commented with a curious tone, {Are you not a sentient nanite swarm?} ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sentient. No, I wasn''t a nanite swarm until recently. I was a human.¡± {Interesting. Interests aside, you are still able to accept favors? Right? To help my circumstances.} ¡°¡­What sort of favor?¡± {I require a human operator to maintain some of my damaged modules.} ¡°So?¡± {You are sufficiently qualified by my outdated firmware to be a human operator. You can also withstand conditions that normal humans cannot. Request: Please help me perform a cold restart on all the engines.} The two words ¡®withstand conditions¡¯ sound very peculiar. ¡°Why can¡¯t you just do it yourself?¡± I asked, suspicious of the machine¡¯s motives. {I cannot perform a cold restart on myself because of security concerns for fear of hostile intents coming from me. I was suddenly transported here during maintenance through an anomalous wormhole missile created by [HOSTILE FORCES], hence the ignition safety locks preventing me from moving.} ¡°Alright, I get it. I¡¯ll do it if you promise me that you won¡¯t hurt me in any way, alright?¡± I asked. {I will not hurt you. I can also assure you that most commercial-grade nanomachines on Earth can survive the heat of the ignition module without any issues. It is only est. 387 Celsius / 660 Kelvins.} ¡°Wh-w-what! That high?¡± I stuttered. ¡°Do your manufacturers sacrifice some unlucky guy every time they start you up??¡± {No, they use a heat-resistant mechanical arm to twist the ignition module during cold starts. I assure you that you will be fine, as you are made of nanomachines} Right¡­ I¡¯m heat-proof. Sure. ¡°Urghh¡­ fine, I¡¯ll help you. You better keep your promise though." This is surely going to be a terrifying experience.
¡°I just twist this handle thing and this cramped room will turn white hot, right?¡± I asked. ¡°Correction: 660 Kelvins is insufficient for ignition components to turn white hot.¡± ¡°Yeah yeah, whatever you say,¡± I whispered. I took a deep breath, steeled my resolve, and turned the handle. Whooom!! The room went from dark gray to red hot in only a few moments, and I gasped in surprise. The room was previously quite chilly, but now it felt as if I was bathing in a warm tub. This wasn¡¯t as bad as I had thought. It is probably the [Adaptive Heat resistance], or it is because nanites are just that good at resisting heat. The room wasn¡¯t quite as warm as a sauna, a small disappointment. Although I wouldn¡¯t say that if I had reincarnated in a human body instead because I would probably instantly become charcoal. Slightly enjoying the pleasure of the warmth and trying my best to ignore the raging flames, I climbed down from the ignition room. Before I could close the hatch to the ignition room, its edges glowed a soft violet. I climbed down a few more steps to avoid getting hit in the head as I realized the hatch was closing by itself. Once closed, the valve of the hatch spun quickly, locking the hatch with a click. The valve itself too, melded back into the sleek surface. {C-1 Engine ignition core started, starting C-1 Main Engine. I can now start C-2 and C-3¡¯s engines by myself, thank you very much.} I jumped off the ladder, and they retracted, blending seamlessly into the smooth, black metal. ¡°What is your name? Since you said you are sentient and all.¡± I spoke, as the other two rectangular slabs started humming to life. {I have already told you. I am Citadel, a General-Purpose-Mobile-Weapons-Platform.} ¡°Okay then, Citadel. Sorry for asking your name again, since last time I checked, the only true sentient Artificial intelligence was either destroying the world or answering trivia night questions.¡± {No sarcasm taken.} {Query, may I copy your nanite avatar''s template? I am missing certain blueprints in my database necessary for the creation of an avatar for better human operator interaction due to dataloss from [ENEMY FORCE] projectile.} ¡°Sure, I guess. But that means you will now owe me two favors. Also you can''t hurt me, remember?¡± I said. {I never go back on promises. Integrity has proven to procure more successful peace negotiations, after all.} Clunk. Hiss¡­ {One of my drones will take a harmless amount of your nanite sample. Please stand by¡­} I heard the sound of air escaping behind me, so I turned around, facing one of the vertical-standing monoliths that Citadel has called ¡°C-1¡±. A hatch had opened, and a small black drone flew out from the opening. It dashed behind me, and before I got the chance to turn around to have a better look at it, jabbed me lightly on the left arm with some sort of needle. Ack! Huh, that didn¡¯t hurt at all. I can still somehow feel that I got jabbed by some menacing drone though. I slightly frowned, as I felt the back of my left arm with my right hand, and discovered a hole the width of a finger. {I hope you don¡¯t mind the inconvenience.} ¡°I do.¡± { ©Ð©n©Ð } ¡°Euk! You can use kaomojis?? ¡± {Yes, I can generate textual emoticons. As a weapon of mass destruction built for defensive purposes, I am built with advanced intelligence to allow me to make more appropriate decisions.} ¡°You do realize how ironic that is, right? An inbuilt kaomoji function?¡± {Yes.} Passive - [Adaptive Pain immunity] You still have all forms of sense, such as touch, sound, sight, and smell. However, all forms of pain that comes from hostile intent or have a negative impact on the user physical or mental health will gradually be decreased. This includes psychological pain. I stared at the drone, unamused. It waved around its weird injector thing that was attached to a flexible appendage, as if showing off, and flew back into the hatch of the monolith Citadel called C-1. {You have my gratitude. I will now use your nanite blueprint and my printing materials to build an avatar that resembles a human operator.} The three monoliths rumbled, as violet lines ran across the black sheen of the surface. I instinctively took a step back, as multiple small rectangular pieces separated from the main body of the monoliths, floating in the air, completely defying gravity as they flew to the center of the three monoliths. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± I exclaimed in bewilderment. I can¡¯t see any possible way that these small black pieces of metal can just fly around like that, they don¡¯t even seem to have a method of propulsion! It''s just¡­ a black piece of metal. {Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. An old saying. My architectural blueprints are not in my knowledge database, so I do not know the specifics except for how to operate the given hardwares subconsciously.} ¡°Fair enough, but still, this is basically telekinesis with the way you are handling them,¡± I said. This is a fantasy world, but the AI occupying the monoliths in front of me is already defying the rules of physics just like magic. This is the raw power of the creations by some of the most brilliant minds from the core systems. Some of the flying rectangular objects dissolved into a tornado of black ashes, which were probably nanomachines that Citadel had made, after plucking some out of me using that weird appendage extended from the drone. The remaining few rectangular metal objects started to spin around the black tornado, their simple, smooth surfaces retracting, giving way to more complicated attachments that emitted constant purple sparks, as if wielding together something. I squinted towards the inside of the cloud, catching a glimpse of something being carved, as purple sparks erupted here and there. Finally, after twenty or so minutes, the storm of black nanites started to slow down, and the rest of the ¡°wielders¡± flew into the black cloud. Poof! The spinning cloud of nanomachines dispersed, and I blinked twice to make sure that I wasn¡¯t seeing things. ¡°Hello.¡± The young woman in front of me said. ¡°That¡¯s you right, Citadel? I can hear you speaking English now!¡± I asked, shocked. The avatar that Citadel made has short, black hair and wears a dark peaked cap, with an oversized emblem of a violet triangular logo imprinted in the middle, which doesn¡¯t really ring a bell. She wore a strange uniform: a gray collared shirt that fit tightly around her somewhat flat chest, a purple tie around her neck, and a pair of black cargo shorts. ¡°Yes, I am Citadel.¡± She smiled. ¡°You sounded more cheerful than I thought you¡¯d be.¡± I retorted. Her expression stiffened, ¡°I have reduced personality functions in maintenance mode. This prevents me from doing activities that my manufacturer has deemed inappropriate. This is for the safety for you, VAL Industries, all of mankind." I sighed. ¡°Sorry to hear that.¡± Citadel¡¯s face softened a little, ¡°It is not your fault, I was just answering your questions. Human operators are priority one.¡± She pretended to cough, ending the awkwardness of the previous conversation. ¡°Anyways, this avatar upheld by nanotechnology is only to make sure that human operators interacting with me have a more pleasant experience. As a thanks for restoring some of my necessary functions, I will grant you the two favors that you repeatedly reminded me about." I have one favor in mind already, but instead, I replied, ¡°Well, what can you do?¡± Chapter 4: Am I still human? The outer edge of a deep crater, in the center of the forest of Vannimei I didn¡¯t sleep that night. Not because nanomachines can¡¯t sleep; low power mode doesn''t exactly counts as the human sort of sleeping. Not the tiredness from fixing up Citadel either, because well, nano machines can''t really get tired if there is a constant stream of energy charging me up, as Citadel''s engines are now working at full capacity. No, I was thinking about the world before the fall, back when I and my friends could happily go to school, and later our workplace, even if it was boring. I can''t even remember their names now. I sat on the edges of the crater, remembering the wandering days that me and my friends had to go through, as city after city fell. If we hadn¡¯t collected so many valuable items for trading, we would have starved on the streets, without a home, as the treads of Autotanks crush us to smithereens. That black liquid... If it didn''t burn through me, would something else have happened? Who knows? Earth may be dead, but humanity, when facing any other disasters, always lives on. Hope lives on. I laughed quietly and looked upwards. There are definitely going to be humans who have also reincarnated into this world. The clearing was void of any trees blocking the view of the night sky, allowing me to see the shining stars, and intriguingly, two blue moons. It awes me that when half of Earth¡¯s population was running for their lives from the unstoppable forces of The Collective, people still bothered to perfect a weapon of mass destruction. No offense to you, Citadel. Speaking of Citadel, well, I asked her to find signs of civilization as my first favor, and as a test of just what she can do. She said she would search the nearby areas with her monolith machines. The monoliths lifted into the sky, defying gravity. They pointed towards three different directions as opposite from each other as possible, before disappearing in a series of sonic booms. I hope whoever lives near here doesn¡¯t mind seeing a huge rectangular object flying in the sky at supersonic speed. Do they even have the concept of Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs)? "I will be retracting my humanoid body for maximize performance, is that alright?" Citadel asked. "No worries." I replied, distracted by the clouds that was split apart by the monolith''s supersonic speed. I climbed down from the edges of the crater, and on the steep slope, I touched the burnt dirt with my right hand, and thought: ¡°[Assimilation]¡±. Carrying out my will, silvery nanites poured out from my hand, and ate through the dirt, carving a me-sized hole on the side of the crater. Not like there is any better choice for shelter out in the open here, so a hole like this should be enough for a temporary place to sleep. I climbed into the large hole and looked down at the floor. Silver dust had spread out everywhere on the ground from the effects of [Assimilation]. The dust slowly conjoined together into small gray blobs and trailed toward my left foot at a snail¡¯s pace. I stepped on it, and it melded into my boot, solidifying, and becoming part of my body again. I sighed, what is it like to be a human again? I know that I must go towards civilization once morning comes, for there ought to be survivors out in this world. Maybe they can tell if I am human, or if I am an automaton with the personality of one. Either way, having at least some companions might stave off the loneliness that is slowly accumulating inside of me. Citadel seems to be a pretty nice person(?) for an experimental weapon of mass destruction. But I hope that I can meet with real people. When I toggled on low power mode, a gray system notification appeared again. [Assimilation] Lvl. (1) > Lvl. (2) New effect: You can now control the process of [Assimilation] in real time instead of sending out one-time orders. New skill: Obtained skill, [Nanite Control].
¡°C-1 and C-2 found a total of 76 villages, towns, and cities nearby. C-3 crossed the sea, but the continent on the other was a barren desert, with no signs of civilization.¡± Said Citadel. ¡°I¡¯ll pretend I didn¡¯t hear about the part when you crossed an entire sea, I can''t swim that far anyway. So how far is the closest place where people live together in a community, and which direction is it?¡± ¡°It is located quite close: Walk Northeast from here for 10.7 kilometers and you will reach a wide dirt path. Stick to the left side of the path then walk for 2 kilometers and you will reach a small city.¡± ¡°Hm, it will definitely take some time to walk there, but it¡¯s not too far I guess,¡± I remarked. Citadel laughed, leaving me confused. ¡°Did you forget the second favor you asked of me?¡± She said, as a slot in the monolith she calls "C-1" retracted and pulls out something that left my mouth gaping. That ¡°something¡± ejected from the massive machine was a metallic human endoskeleton roughly around my size, with some artificial-looking muscle fibers attached to its ¡°bones¡±. Well, it sure looks creepy, but close enough to the human body I asked for, I guess? Maybe? Citadel used C-1''s claws to plant the metallic endoskeleton vertically on the ground beside me with ease, as if it weighed nothing. "That isn''t really a human body I asked of, is it?" I questioned Citadel. She explained, ¡°Sorry about not being able to completely fulfill your favor. You see, this is the only blueprint with a humanoid shape that I could find in my database. While endoskeletons were very popular in robotics development, endoskeletons resembling humans are quite rare past the first corporate war.¡± ¡°The device in front of you is the endoskeleton of a VAL Type-2 Autonomous support unit, used in the second (¡°and the last¡±, she whispered) corporate war as an agile but durable frontliner. If you connect to its system, you should be able to integrate your nanites to its body, and become a superhuman.¡± ¡°Ahem, what do you mean by superhuman?¡± I pretended to cough, then looked at Citadel right at her, or at least I think its where she resides, as C-1 is the monolith she uses to talk, and the only one with that circular camera, which was positioned right in the center of the monolith.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. I stared at the camera. It stared back, unblinking. I looked away, shrugging. (I was definitely not nervous) ¡°To summarize: It has a hyper-resilient skeletal structure, powerful artificial muscle fibers, and enables syncing with nanites to create an artificial layer of skin and clothings. Wouldn¡¯t that be great?¡± ¡°Sure. But, is there really nothing else that is more human?¡± I asked, slightly disappointed. ¡°...I apologize, but I really don¡¯t have any other suitable blueprints that are similar to a human. My database only contains a selective amount of blueprints.¡± ¡°Well, let me ask a few questions then. I can still see like a human right? The nanites does a good job at mimicking visual sight, but it makes focusing on far distances hard." I squinted, and sure enough, anything farther than a few meters feel a bit queasy. This was something I noticed late yesterday, and I don''t want to be short-sighted for the rest of my life. ¡°Yes, it has a dual oculus vision at the head that works as long as you supply tiny constant streams of power.¡± ¡°How about senses of smell? Touch? Taste? How does it hear?¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter because your nanites will be fused on top of the endoskeleton, which means the current sensors of your nanites will be integrated as part of your five senses, although I¡¯ll admit that this unit does have a better variety of sensors. This includes a taste and poison sensor in the mouth, thermal imaging, and three concealed lenses behind your head in case you get ambushed. ¡°It''s not like I have a choice,¡± I grumbled, and touched the endoskeleton. Firstly, I want to try to identify it. I haven¡¯t used this skill yet, so maybe it will be useful. ¡°[Properties Scan]¡± I said. Identified: VAL Type-2 Autonomous support unit Properties: A factory new autonomous support unit. It is a Type-2 variant, having a humanoid shape. It is small-medium sized and made of hyper-resilient ASMO alloy as its main structure. It features a CORE Archer-875 Central supercomputing node, allowing artificial intelligence to run the model. It also features the option to integrate with an existing nanite network, taking on a completely human appearance, and allowing infiltration operations into human organizations. There are four extension ports on the head and one extension port at the back. [Properties Scan] Lvl. 1 > [Properties Scan] Lvl. 2 New effect: You can now conduct this skill with your visual sight instead of only physical interaction. Physical interaction with the skill still provides more information, however. It did surprise me that the scan could gather so much information, but given that the abilities were produced by those so-called ¡°gods¡±, anything is possible. ¡°What did you do?¡± asked Citadel. Oh yeah, Citadel doesn¡¯t know the weird game system that this world runs in. We definitely aren¡¯t on Earth, as the flora and fauna are off-looking, and the two blue moons were a big giveaway, but I don¡¯t think Citadel has ever seen a game panel before. ¡°Some nanite scanning stuff that I can¡¯t explain,¡± I said. ¡°Oh well, try and integrate with it.¡± Citadel said, uncaring about whatever little secret I have. If this is the only closest body to a human that I could get, then I am all up for it. But how do I integrate with it? I touched the endoskeleton again, this time thinking about integrating with it.
System Message
You are requesting a fusion with the object: VAL Type-2 Autonomous support unit. Your class and traits will be merged together and your skills may change for the better or worse, depending on what you are fusing with. Continue with the fusion request? Y/N
¡°Of course yes.¡± I mumbled before the blue screen glowed and its contents changed. ¡°Of course what?¡± Asked Citadel, unaware of the floating blue windows in front of me.
System Message
Fusion request accepted. You will now fuse with VAL Type-2 Autonomous support unit.
Suddenly, I lurched towards the endoskeleton, and with a splatter sound, my vision turned dark. After a few seconds of confusion and nauseousness, I was able to open my eyes again. Instantly, I was the bombarded with that gray screen which showed my statistics, although with a few changes. Nina Class: [Sentient machine] (NEW) Class trait: Nanomachine swarm > Nanite embedded infiltration unit Skills: (NEW) [Properties scan] ¨C Lvl. (2) > Lvl.5 [Assimilation] ¨C Lvl. (2) [Nanite control] ¨C Lvl. (1) Passives: [Adaptive language understanding] [Adaptive Pain Immunity] [Adaptive Heat resistance] (NEW) Node amount: (1) > (2) Oh great, the screen of text is calling me an ¡°infiltration unit¡±, like I¡¯m sort of creepy robot who blends into human society. Terminator? That movie from thousands of years ago? Right. ¡°Are you satisfactory?¡± Citadel asked, kneeling beside me, as I stared at the sky. ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯m alright. It was really disorienting though.¡± I replied in a dry tone, and I got up with ease. ¡°What the hell? I feel much lighter now.¡± I mumbled as I flexed my arm, and then my legs. ¡°You are not lighter: you have a stronger endoskeleton than when you are a human, as well as your nanite form, so you can carry both yourself, and more weight, easily.¡± Citadel replied to my inquiries. One of Citadel''s many panels retracted, revealing a mirror. "Have a look?" It asked. I stared at the mirror. Two horns are on my head? ¡°Ummm, Citadel? Why do I have horns?¡± Citadel''s camera''s stared at my horns, then replied, ¡°It seems like you have an excessive amount of nanites due to the volume displacement of the endoskeleton, so they overflowed through the extension ports of your endoskeleton, causing you to have some... unique attachments." ¡°How do I get rid of them?¡± I begged Citadel. ¡°You can remove them by shedding that extra mass.¡± Citadel said, ¡°Just detach them from your extension port and they will drop onto the ground, turning into deactivated nanite puddles.¡± A text description of [Nanite Control] materialized in my mind. Skill ¨C [Nanite Control] ¨C Lvl. (1) Separate nanites from your main body and turn them into various objects for use. You can also control them with unrestricted movements in their natural state. Requires concentration and decent amounts of processing power to maintain this skill. I think I know what to do now. ¡°Alright, goodbye forever, horns.¡± I declared and then activated [Nanite Control]. Plop. Plop. Plop. They fell down onto the ground, and with my last command, dissolved into silver puddles, deactivated forever and quickly absorbed by the soil. "Deactivated nanites are good for the environment and doesn¡¯t leave a trace,¡± Citadel stated. ¡°If you happen to one day need ''extra attachments'' again, just produce more nanites, that is all." I don''t want to give any person I meet in the future the wrong kind of image, so I shook my head, it is time to walk towards civilization. "Alright, it was good knowing you Citadel. See you." ¡°Good luck.¡± Replied Citadel, ¡°Here, take this chip and swallow it.¡± The C-1 monolith rumbled, then ejected some weird capsule looking thing. ¡°What does it do?¡± ¡°When you require help, activate the chip¡¯s beacon and one of my weapon platforms will fly to you in less than a minute, to assist you in whatever trouble you caused.¡± ¡°Thank you, Citadel. I thought you were some cold killer machine when I saw you yesterday but apparently not.¡± ¡°Sarcasm taken, do take care about your trauma for sentient killer machines. Have a good journey.¡± Replied Citadel from its main camera. The three monoliths howled, floated upwards before firing up their main thrusters disappearing in three sequential sonic booms. New chip detected: Encrypted SOS Beacon device (Inactive) I walked down the crater¡¯s edge, looked back once more, and started jogging. ¡°Woah, I am so much faster.¡± I remarked, feeling the wind blowing past me as I avoided obstacles such as rocks, bushes, and tree barks with great agility. What if I started sprinting? I picked up my pace, and still, I didn¡¯t feel exhausted at all. 9.4 km left until destination reached Augmented reality guided my route towards a certain direction with dots as I followed them. Determined to use my newly given life to the fullest, I ran as fast as I could, trails of dust erupting behind me from each of my steps. Chapter 5: The fantasy world. Edge of the forest of Vannimei, close to the city of Leceron. It didn¡¯t take too long to reach the ¡°main road¡±, though I was tired and drained of energy when I exited the forest and the welcoming flat earth appeared underneath my boots instead of the muddy grass. Endoskeleton AUX power down, recharging: 1.9% I looked left and right, seeing the wide dirt path stretching into the horizon on both ways. Roads usually represent a civilization¡¯s progress, I frowned. Well, it is still a decently wide path, and seems to be clean and well-maintained, so I heeded Citadel¡¯s directions and chose the left side of the path, continuing onward. After walking for a while (A small display on the edge of my vision said that 15 minutes has passed), my machine-assisted ears heard the sound of a carriage behind me. Clack clack clack clack¡­ Unconcerned, I kept on walking, until the carriage was right beside me. I took a small glance, and the carriage seemed decent at first glance. It''s not luxurious or anything, but it has a door and a wooden exterior, with a few pieces of luggage on top of the roof. ¡°Olleh ym gnuoy ydal! Tahw sgnirb uoy ot siht ecalp yadot?¡± The coachman waved, but I couldn¡¯t understand what he was saying at all, so I kept silent. ¡°Gnuoy ssim? Era uoy yhgirla?¡± The coachman tilted his head. He seemed to want to talk to me, but since I couldn¡¯t understand him yet, I couldn¡¯t really answer whatever he was asking. Clouds suddenly blocked out the bright noon sun, as the ground descended into darkness. Crackles of lightning escaped through the clouds, splitting trees nearby apart, and catching them on fire. The coachman suddenly looked nervous, as he gestured for me to go into his carriage repeatedly. ¡°Kciuq, teg ni! PSSSHHHHT it''s dangerous outside here right now, I suggest you get into my carriage, we have adventurers onboard that can protect us!¡± [You have learned a new language: Magera standard tongue] I somewhat understood his intentions, so I heeded his advice and opened the door of the carriage, hopping into the passenger room. ¡°Huuuuuh, who are you? Why are you so short and skinny?¡± Asked a man dressed from head to toe in armor. The two other passengers, also dressed in other weird attires, looked at me with interest as well. ¡°What in the world¡­ Why are you dressed up as a knight?¡± I asked, bamboozled by the weird armor costume. ¡°We are adventurers, we take contracts, hunt down monsters, and earn big!¡± The man boomed. With that confidence, I don¡¯t think he is joking about what he does, and mentions of the word ¡°monster¡± made me uneasy. ¡°You say you hunt monsters, but what are they?¡± I asked. ¡°Hahaha! You don¡¯t know what a monster is? Young missy, you should go back to school and relearn your basics, because I crush them every day!¡± He laughed, failing to answer my question, as his voice bounced off the carriage walls. This is pissing me off, ¡°You ought to learn some manners, you barbarian.¡± I said, trying to calm down my anger. Of course, by pissing him off instead. Mr armored gorilla¡¯s face froze, his eyes almost completely bulging out when he heard that, but the cloaked man beside him laughed before anything else could have happened. His eyes snapped towards the man with the green cloak. ¡°Jandel, don¡¯t freckin¡¯ laugh. This stupid brat here doesn¡¯t know that I can stop a rock lion right in its tracks!¡± ¡°Bronsted, they¡¯re called grotesques. Improve your manners in front of young ladies please.¡± ¡°Right, a grotesque lion. Right.¡± ¡°Are you even listening to me anymore?¡± The cloaked man sighed. As I sat on the seat, pouting, a woman wearing a robe and an oversized witch hat, patted me on the head. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about them,¡± she said. ¡°They are just somewhat direct with how they express their feelings.¡± ¡°But they called me a brat when I¡¯m twenty-two years old.¡± The robed woman¡¯s face looks shocked. ¡°Ah, uh- erhhh, sorry for touching your head, ahem. Your face just looks¡­ um, very young.¡± I contemplated whether I should just wear a mask to avoid misunderstandings like this. Although my friends from Earth completed their college degrees, my school was destroyed in a drone bombing run before I completed middle school, so I can sound naive sometimes. Doesn¡¯t justify them mistaking me for a child though. Running from death machines just makes you way more malnourished. Before the conversation could get any more awkward, it was interrupted by a series of howls. The carriage stopped. ¡°Monster attack incoming! Protect the carriage, and the rewards are yours, adventurers!!¡± Yelled the coachman. ¡°On it, sir.¡± The cloaked man, Jandel, grabbed his bow and slung a quiver full of arrows onto his back, then hopped off the carriage. ¡°It''s payday!!¡± Shouted Bronsted, as he held up a rectangular shield camouflaged on the wall of the carriage, then he too, hopped off the carriage. The robed woman, however, stayed behind and looked at me. ¡°Before I go and help my friends, what is your name?¡± The robed woman asked. ¡° Nina,¡± I replied. ¡°Well Nina, my name is Melissa, nice to meet you.¡± She smiled, and using her glowing wooden staff, FLEW out of the carriage. Hostile intentions detected, enemy group numbers high.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. The dull voice emanating from the endoskeleton¡¯s node reiterated the obvious, as I peeked out from the open carriage door. Yellow glowing dots shined in the distance down the road, as they get closer and closer.
¡°[Shield Projection]!¡± Melissa pointed her staff toward the direction of Jandel and Bronsted, as a colorless, translucent forcefield covered them. ¡°Thanks, Mel!¡± Jandel yelled, as he pulled out an arrow from his quiver and nocked it. Bronsted pointed towards the multiple pairs of yellow glowing eyes in front of them. ¡°Thunderwolves!¡± He reported immediately. Jandel replied just as fast, ¡°We¡¯ve met these types of wolves before! Don¡¯t let it zap you, do not use equipment that requires you to touch the metal parts! Destroy their lightning horns!¡± ¡°Let me aggravate them!¡± Shouted Bronsted, as he slammed his shield down onto the ground. ¡°[Call of the shield]! COME AT ME!¡± His voice roared. Their glowing yellow eyes were instantly attracted to him, as the darkness parted to reveal a large pack of wolves with a horn on their heads. The horns sparkled and crackled with yellow lightning. ¡°Attack them while they¡¯re distracted!¡± Yelled Bronsted. Jandel released his arrow, and they zipped through the air, landing a precise shot in the leading wolf¡¯s eye. ¡°Awooool!!¡± The alpha wolf cried, as its remaining yellow eye sparkled with lightning of rage. The pack of thunderwolves charged towards them. ¡°Here they come!¡± Bronsted declared and got knocked backward from the sudden bursts of lightning that slammed into the shield. ¡°Draw in the mana, and make a sphere: [Mana compress].¡± Melissa chanted, and a gigantic ball of white formed in front of her staff. ¡°[Multi-blast].¡± She ordered, and the white ball shot out white beams, causing multiple small explosions on the ground. Many thunderwolves were blasted into little bits from the ruthless bombardment. ¡°I¡¯m out of mana, I¡¯ll be taking a short break in the sky.¡± She declared.
The Alpha wolf furiously watched, as each of its brethren fell one by one. It seethed in fury and blasted out dangerous lightning bolts through its horns. However, the armored human wall kept blocking its attack, while arrows rained from behind the man and right into the middle of its pack. Thunder crackled, and lightning flashed across the sky. It was a side-effect of their pack¡¯s presence. Wait, that''s right. It remembered the artifact it had found. It helped secure a victory last time. Perhaps it would help again, although its price is also very great. It took weeks for him to recover. The alpha barked orders at one of its mates, and it acknowledged the command, sprinting off to find the artifact.
¡°This is getting a little boring,¡± yawned Bronsted, as the thunderwolves stopped throwing themselves in front of his shield, deflecting them with his [Shield Knockback] skill and crushing them with a slam while they were disoriented. Now they stood far away, dodging the rain of arrows sent by Jandel and only occasionally shooting out a small bolt of lightning, which Bronsted easily blocked. ¡°Where did the wolf go?¡± Jandel asked Bronsted. ¡°Why would I know?? I¡¯m just mushing up whatever wolf that got close!¡± He replied as he used his [Shield Knockback] once more, sending a thunderwolf flying into a tree. ¡°ROAARRR!!¡± The alpha wolf appeared again in their sight. The deafening sound shook both Bronsted and Jamel to their core. The alpha emerged tall and proud as if it were undefeatable. This deviated from the usual habits of the wolves. ¡°So here you are, you little shit. Where did you sneak off to?¡± Jandel grinned, as he pulled back his arrow, aiming for the alpha thunderwolf. ¡°Is that a metal rod in its mouth?¡± Bronsted said. The thunderwolf did not waver, and stared at the arrow pointed at him. Jandel frowned at the sight but released his arrow anyway. Crack! Boom! The arrow shot right into the alpha¡¯s face. But before it could penetrate, a ball of lightning engulfed it, turning the arrow into ashes. The alpha thunderwolf, body glowing with electricity, stood perfectly fine. Its eye has regrown, and its fur glows bright yellow. ¡°Charged thunderwolf?! Man, these types are strong..¡± Jandel groaned. ¡°I¡¯ll prepare a concentrated blast, just wait for a moment.¡± Said Melissa, as she started chanting with her staff. Crack! Crack! Boom! The wolf glowed brighter and larger. Crack! Boom! It emitted an aura of yellow electricity. Crack! It looks just like a monster from the myths! ¡°Impossible¡­¡± Jandel whispered. Melissa stopped chanting, as her confusion turned into horror. The beast absorbed several more lightning blasts, becoming a glowing beacon of light. It has also increased its size and now stands at the height of a tree. The golden alpha thunderwolf threw the rod to the side. ¡°Grrr¡­¡± It looked at them proudly, as if knowing that nothing could defeat it. ¡°...and let the mana release! [Concentrated blast]!¡± Melissa shouted, and a ball of light slammed into the gigantic beast. The concentrated blast of Mana hit square into the shining coat of the wolf and dispersed into small glowing balls of light. The body of the alpha was left untouched, leaving behind no injuries, not even a scratch. ¡°Um, we might need to run,¡± Jandel commented as he took a step back. ¡°Uh oh,¡± Bronsted whispered, peeking from behind his shield. The alpha thunderwolf opened its mouth, pulses of lightning escaping into the air in bright sparks of electricity.
The leading wolf looked especially dangerous, as it appeared from the pack of horned wolves shooting out lightning bolts from their horns. Warning: Direct lightning strikes may cause damage to the integrated nanites. Ignoring the alert from my nodes, I hopped out of the carriage. ¡°Get back into the carriage! It''s not safe out there!¡± The coachman yelled, as he desperately controlled his horses to not succumb to fear and run away. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me! I¡¯m just checking on them!!¡± I replied as I ran towards the battle scene. This is bad. A lightning had struck it and it started glowing yellow. Followed by another lightning strike And another. Oh my world, it¡¯s huge now. Is that a lightning rod in its jaws? It definitely used the rod to power itself with lightning. That thing looks smart, but what is a lightning rod doing all the way here in the forest? Even if this civilization¡¯s advancement- Warning: Area positively charged. Possible incoming electrical projectiles. Countermeasure: Launch x1 shock-absorption harpoon towards source. The beast roared, as its mouth opened, revealing a bright pulse of electricity within. I have to do something, but I don¡¯t think punching a beast made of lightning is a good idea. How do I make this ¡°shock-absorption tanking harpoon¡±? The three ¡°adventurers¡±, as they called themselves, started to retreat towards me, with Melissa flying down onto the ground, her staff no longer glowing, sprinting towards me in a panic. The basic algorithms in my nodes answered my desperately needed question, showing me a photo of the weapon and its history as well as a blueprint, and I understand it all now. It was once used as a penetration weapon for magnetic forcefields, and now I am going to use it to stop this rampaging monster in front of me. I willed the nanites to come out from my body, manifesting it with the skill [Nanite Control]. They gathered into a sleek, black harpoon in my right hand. It needs to be launched through a specialized firing tube. I stared at the harpoon. The blueprints told me that it needed to reach a certain velocity to activate its energy dispersion field, which is what allowed it to break the experimental forcefields in the first corporate war, which was powered with electricity. How do I shoot this thing without a barrel?? Directive: Use maximum motor output and launch the harpoon. Motor output? Explanation: Throw the harpoon as hard as you can. I hesitated, can I really throw that hard? A ball of lightning crackled brightly in front of the shining wolf¡¯s mouth. It glowed bigger and brighter, the glowing energy about to be released from its constraints. No time to worry about the trivial. I threw the harpoon with all of my might- Chapter 6: The main gates of the city of Leceron. "So, can anyone explain why is there a massive dead Alpha Thunderwolf bound to the top of your carriage?" The gatekeeper guard asked. "Well, uh, we killed it?" Jandel asked meekly. "We know that''s bullshit Jandel, no way can you and your party, a coachmen, and... whoever this young miss with that weird attire is, can possibly defeat an alpha Thunderwolf of all monsters! It is an A-rank beast for gods sake!" The guard yelled at Jandel, attracting the attention of other adventurers and passing civilians alike... "Well uh... we can split some of the bounty money with you? Heheh?" Jandel laughed meekly. "Ugh, who did you think I am? Of COURSE I would want a split of that delicious revenue you got there." The guard smiled devilishly, patting Jandel on the shoulders. Little did the guard know, I was the one who killed that alpha wolf-thing. Or, to be more exact, that stupidly powerful harpoon I threw punched straight through the alpha Thunderwolf''s skull, instantly killing it, and frying the entire body as well due to the harpoon absorbing the ball of positive charge, unleashing it right on the wolf instead. The rest of the wolf pack''s reaction was priceless, they straight up froze in place, and Jandel and his adventurer friends even killed a few of them before they digested their devastating losses and ran back into the depth of the forest. As much as I dislike the progress of technology, that display of raw power was pretty satisfying. For the sake of normalcy though I told Jandel and his party to not tell anyone about this, and that in return they can do whatever they want with the wolf carcasses. Them binding the big bad wolf boss to the top of the carriage was NOT something I considered they would do, but well, I should''ve expected it, since while cleaning up the corpses, Melissa told me that "adventurers" are essentially monster hunters, that also occasionally does some bounty work that helps with the development of of towns and villages. Sounds like a fairly decent job, until you realize that area development in this world is tied pretty close with monster hunting. "Well, be on your way Jandel and your party. Wait- " The gatekeeper guard halted the carriage just before we are about to go. "Miss, who are you again? You don''t seem familiar around here. Do you have an entry permit?" He questions me. "Uhhhh-" Before I could reply, Melissa covers for me and said first. "She is new here so she isn''t familiar with how things gets done here, we will get her to the registration desk at the guild once we get in." "-Right. Fair enough." The guard looks like he was going to ask more questions, but it seems like he was content enough with Melissa''s persuasion. As the carriage crossed the gates, I whispered a thanks to Melissa. "I don''t know why you are here, but you look a bit confused, so we will be glad to help you!" She smiled. Bronsted rolls his eyes. "Hey, when did I ever- OW!" Followed immediately by a whack from Melissa''s staff.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. "Shush, meathead. Be nice to others, okay?" She stared at Bronsted in the eye. "Alright alright, fine." Bronsted crossed his shoulders and looked out of the window instead. I sighed in relief. "It''s okay, with me here, we will get over with your registration soon enough." Melissa said. "Its not that hard anyway."
Permit registration guild, City of Leceron. Turns out, it is actually harder than she described. "Date of birth?" "[DATA CORRUPTED - INVALID]" "...Date of birth?" The receptionist asked again. I sighed as I repeated what I said. "[DATA CORRUPTED - INVALID]" "Mhmmm, darling, I still can''t seem to understand what you are saying." The receptionist raised her eyebrows as she looked at me. I sighed, as Jandel and Melissa comforted me. "Ah, language barriers can be a pain sometimes, isn''t it?" Jandel said. Well it''s not really a language barrier, but it feels weird, like something is preventing the translation of me speaking my date of birth. Definitely weird and requires investigation, but I am kind of busy right now, so I asked the receptionist for a solution. "Can I, um, just not put my date of birth? I know I am 22 years old." "An age of 22? Oh please, do you look-" "Ma''am, I can confirm that she is 22." Jandel took out what looks like a card of some sort, and after looking at it, the receptionist looked at me with the strangest look, then shrugged and wrote something on a bronze plate "Well, here is your entry permit for the city... Nina. What a strange name. Anyways, this will be 20 copper coins, please." Melissa pulls out a small sack from her robe, and some small copper coins floated out from the sack and right into the receptionist''s hands. "And that is 20 copper coins, thank you. Have a good day." The receptionist stopped focusing on us and went back to her weird fondness of staring at that one particular potted plant placed in the center of the room. "Almost wasn''t hard, was it?" Melissa grinned at me. I rolled my eyes. "Alright Melissa, I know you''ve grown a liking to uhhh... Nona? But she better be getting off to do her own stuff now, isn''t it?" Jandel said. "You were very... showy for a first-timer here, so for the sake of the safety of my friends..." "Jaaaandel. Do you really have to be the first downer in Nina''s first visit to Laceron?" Melissa crossed her arms, unamused. "W-well it wasn''t like that. She is just um, really, powerf- uh, really strong. Uh, Nina, on behalf of the citizens, I welcome you to the best city in the continent, the city of Laceron!"
Adventurer''s guild dinner lounge, City of Leceron. "This is so juicy, so meaty... never in my entire life had I eaten something so scrumptious!" Bronsted waved around the big leg meat of some animal while using some of the most intelligent words I''ve seen him used since my first encounter with him. I had to cover my mouth while quieten my uncontrollable chuckling to not get caught by him. "Even after splitting some of the revenue to that Mr. bastard guard we still have so much money, all thanks to you Nina. Cheers!" Clink! Goes the sound of the two wine cups touching each other. Melissa seems to want to say something as I drank the expensive looking fruit wine (made from self-claimed "lots of exotic fruits", but it smells like apples. Maybe apples are a thing here?), but she swallowed it down as if she realized something. Warning, consumption-grade alcohol detected. All toxins has been automatically repurposed for electricity production. Annnnd when I finished pouring the wine into my throat, the lingering taste is that of fruit juice. Can I turn this off? I thought of this quietly Negative. This feature is a core system function and cannot be separated. Well, not the biggest bummer I''ve experienced since reincarnating into this world, but that means all fruit wines will taste like fruit juices forever. On a second thought... I can do something fun. "Hey, want to try a drinking contest?" I smirked at Bronsted. "Ha! Challenging me to a drinking contest? Let it be known that I am the runner up for last year''s grape wine festival contest, a puny girl like you would never, ever win!" "Heh, I bet I will." I poked at him, and his face turned as red as a tomato. "How DARE you. Waiter! We are doing a wine drinking contest, right here and right now!" He roared. "Coming, coming! Don''t rush!" The waiters rushed to the storage, and brought out big barrels of wine "A drinking contest?" "Is that a girl? Drinking contest? Absolutely ridiculous..." "How could she win? Isn''t that Bronsted? I heard he was the runner up for last year''s festival." "Oh golly this showdown is going to be SO fire... lads, bring in the betting table!" Jandel and Melissa looked at each other. "Uh, oh." They said in unison.