by Noam Oswin
Metallurgy Master was the name of the special effect my Enchanted Hybrid Door possessed. The ability to use, create and manipulate any metal without the need for a forge or flame, for twenty-four hours. Without it, it would have been considerably more difficult to have completed my little platoon of warriors in the amount of time I did, and it would have been outright impossible to outfit them with the necessary weapons needed for the job.
“Tungsten Golem Infantry, salute.”
The earth shook, the feet of the six-foot-tall, humanoid golems stomping into the earth, right hands going up to their heads in a military salute.
“Tungsten Golem Calvary, salute.”
Another heavy thump resonated within the forest, the earth-shaking with enough force to send birds fleeing from their trees. Riding atop lightweight aluminum horse golems, the Calvary force was considerably smaller than the infantry, but it was a necessary sacrifice I needed to make. For the Cavalry, the quality was far more important than quality.
“Copper Golem Artillery, salute.”
The coup de grace of my golem army were humanoid copper golems, every single one of them appearing innocuous with large, spiraling rings holding on their arms, but that was particularly the reason why they were the most dangerous force. Every single one of my Copper Golems was an artillery cannon unto themselves.
“Tungsten Infantry, raise your weapons.”
A series of smooth, dual-edged half-diamond, half obsidian blades rose in the air, along with shields of hardened diamond and reinforced steel. The idea for obsidian blades came to me after remembering Arol’s macuahuitl and remembering the fabled sharpness of the material of obsidian itself. However, despite being sharp, the rock was often brittle, and the solution to that problem was to encase the obsidian in strengthened diamonds and give the weapons steel grips.
“Tungsten Calvary, your weapons.”
Half-diamond, half-obsidian lances rose into the air, and I made sure there was not a single soldier on horse-back that did not have a lance with him.
“Forces, raise your secondary weapons.”
They were well equipped with secondary items. Each soldier, holding clay flasks and rounded clay bottles. If things progressed as I needed them to, then the secondary weapons would not need to come into use. Though, the likelihood of that occurring was far too low.
“Forces, ready.”
I adjusted my new armor. Magnetite-infused, halite-encrusted Tungsten-Copper Gauntlets and Tungsten-Copper Brogues designed for tungsten’s ability to withstand extreme heat and cold temperatures, magnetite’s famous magnetic properties, copper’s ability to conduct electricity, and halite’s ability to deal with poltergeists. With a formidable suit of lightweight armor made of diamond and stainless steel called Stainless Diamond Armor, accompanying my Mask of Janus, I was ready for war.
Daily Task: Gain at least two new Weapons/Armor/Skills/Minions [Complete!]
“Door – Widen.”
The Enchanted Hybrid Door morphed. It increased in size, enlarging until its height became like that of the trees that marked the Hlahan forest. With the increase in height, the door increased in breadth as well, swinging open until it was such that the two-hundred and twenty-five Tungsten Golem Infantry, one hundred Tungsten Golem Calvary, and fifty Copper Golem Artillery would have little difficulty charging through, albeit, one squad at a time.
With my right hand, I crafted myself a mount of aluminum by blending Metallurgy Master with [Golem Creation]. As much as I would have preferred to create bikes and cars, I did not have an ounce of the engineering knowledge needed to do so. Aluminum horses would suffice, until I had both the time and the patience to reverse-engineer the fine workings of automobiles and recreate the marvel that was the internal combustion engine.
Still, the aluminum horse suited me fine. It did not tire. It did not need food nor fuel. Powered by magic and steered by thought alone, I mounted the creature, adding a pair of reins with some steel wire, and settled myself comfortably atop it.
It’s time.
Steeling my mind for combat, I rose my right hand into the air, squeezing it into a fist. “Golem Army… CHARGE!”
There were no battle cries to support the call. No trumpets blew, no yells of valor. All there was, was the rumbling of the earth, and the charging of man-made monstrosities with the explicit instruction to kill and destroy.
The sun was at the highest point in the sky when I whipped forward my mount, commanding it to charge, commanding the door to open towards my intended destination, and then charging through it, ready for battle.
[You have walked through a door]
[HP and MP Fully Restored]
[All Negative Status Effects have been Cured]
[Attack power has been greatly boosted]
[Defense has been greatly boosted]
[Speed has been greatly boosted]
[All your attacks are now infused with [Silver]]
[All your attacks are now infused with [Electricity]]
[You have attained the temporary effect [Metallurgy Master] from Enchanted Hybrid Door]
The alarms rang the second we appeared within Erzili’s domain.
[You have entered the Domain of Erzili the Slithercreep!]
[You have taken damage equivalent to 90% of your Mana upon entering this domain without its Owner’s permission.]
[Your HP Regen is cut by 75% while in this Domain.]
[Your MP Regen is cut by 75% while in this Domain.]
[Your Attack and Defense have been reduced by 50% while in this Domain.]
[The MP Cost for all Skills are increased by 100% while in this Domain.]
[Your Intelligence and Defense will reduce by (1) for every day spent in this Domain until you are accepted by the Domain’s Owner.]
[Epithet Skill [Gatekeeper] has mitigated harmful effects from entering the Domain without the Owner’s permission]
The first enemies that appeared were the nameless ones. The nightmares of the Fort that had no names above their heads. The ones I disregarded as canon-fodder. The Calvary led the charge, lances of obsidian blurring as they pierced through the skull of the first enemies they approached. Tearing effortlessly through a floating-eye monster, a snake-like human monster, and an odd centipede creature.
[You have slayed an Oculbeast!]
[You have slayed a Snakeman!]
[You have slayed a Centipeon!]
[525,402 Experience Points Gained!]
[You have gained a level]
[You have gained a level]
[You have gained a level]
[You have gained a level]
[You have gained a level]
[You have gained a level]
[You have gained a level]
[You have gained a level]
[You have gained a level]
The title [Genocidal] has come into effect for the Species: [Oculbeast].
The title [Genocidal] has come into effect for the Species: [Snakeman].
The title [Genocidal] has come into effect for the Species: [Centipeon].
[75 Genocide Points Earned]
Daily Task: Gain a minimum of 200,000 EXP [Complete!]
Just killing three members of the so-called cannon-fodder were capable of giving me half a million experience points? Half a million? Just from that? How much would the Lieutenants be worth if the nameless monsters were worth half a million experience points?
My mind was in a daze as the notifications piled up. The Tungsten Golem Calvary were fast and strong, mowing down confused nightmares with their lances faster than each monster could react. I saw it. From how they were uncoordinated and confused – they had never experienced a sudden, unexpected attack of this nature before. None of them had. They did not know how to handle golems on horseback, and those who did have the swiftness of mind to try and attack back would find their strikes doing very little to hurt my troops.
Without warning. the earth began to rumble. Heavy, shaking thuds reminiscent to that of
something large and something monstrous began to approach my way. An ear-splitting roar tore through the Fort, and a giant club struck the heart of my Calvary’s charge. The creature, with thick purple skin, a necklace of bones and skulls, and a club fashioned out of a thick deciduous tree approached. Its singular giant eye locked down on my position.
Cyclops
[Guard Dog of Erzili]
Lv. ?
“Infantry! Forward!” I commanded. “Artillery, aim!”
The cyclops roared again, heavy footsteps shattering and cratering the earth as it charged forward. The Infantry, on foot, with their obsidian swords, rushed to intercept. It swung its club haphazardly, batting away the infantry as if they were nothing but bothersome flies.
“Copper Golem Artillery… ready!”
The spirals on the arms of the copper golems began to charge and crackle, as perfectly spherical chunks of magnetite spun around them at several hundred thousand rotations per minute, the metallic balls in the hands of the golem raising into the air.
The cyclops broke through the infantry and cavalry, charging straight for me with a slobbering mess of a mouth, and its right hand bringing down its club.
“Fire!”
The air thundered with the release of one-hundred ferromagnetic projectiles. Spherical balls tore into and through the Cyclops, littering the giant one-eyed monster with holes from skull to feet. The creature cried out, stumbling, blindly from the projectiles that blinded it, before it succumbed, felling like an ancient tree.
The impact shook the earth, raising dust and particles of sand that obscured the vision of most monsters. Once the dust settled, the Cyclops lay still and unmoving, and the monsters of Fort Zyvar stared in silent disbelief.
[You have slayed a Cyclops!]
[750,796 Experience Points Gained!]
[You have gained a level]
[You have gained a level]
[You have gained a level]
[You have gained a level]
[You have gained a level]
[You have gained a level]
[You have gained a level]
[You have gained a level]
[You have gained a level]
The title [Genocidal] has come into effect for the Species: [Cyclops].
[25 Genocide Points Earned]
“Copper Golem Artillery, reload!”
The mechanism of a coilgun was something anyone with the appropriate physics knowledge could create. Some coils of copper wire, a capacitor bank, a transformer, a DC power source, a method of releasing the energy in the capacitors through the coil, and a projectile. With my ability to effortlessly manipulate the earth, I could shorten the process and let my Copper Golems, generate an obscene amount of electricity with the aid of magnetite, a naturally occurring magnet.
“Infantry, regroup!”
The Copper Golems reloaded their rounds as I ordered the Tungsten Golem Infantry to move back into formation. Felling the cyclops was a major success, and there was no doubt in my mind that the next enemy that would appear would be –
[Sixth Sense – DANGER DETECTED!]
A red beam tore through the air, aimed straight at my forehead. My neck tilted to the side on instinct, the heat of the beam tearing past me and flying off into the horizon. I followed the laser’s trail, confirming indeed that it originated from the creature with the man’s face and the lion’s body. Sniffles, as Arol had once named it. Sniffles fires lasers from his eyes.
No names or titles were floating above the Sphinx’s head. In a sense, it was a non-being, a machine or thing similar to my golems. It was not a monster, which meant killing or destroying it would not net me any experience points, nor would it net me any special abilities.
“You are intruding upon Fort Zyvar,” Sniffles said. “Leave this place at once or be destroyed.”
Its eyes regained their red glow, indicating that another laser was coming. I was curious as to the ability of it to fire lasers. Were they like the holy lasers in the Sacrosanct Arms used by the Alhamis empire? If so, did that mean that, like those lasers, these could be reflected?
“Infantry,” I called to the Tungsten Infantry. “Shields up. Take down the Guardian.”
“Calvary, forward. Finish the stragglers.”
“Artillery, fire on the Guardian.”
Things were proceeding better than expected. Yet, I knew the real challenges lay ahead. The Lieutenants had yet to show up. The true nightmares of the Fort had yet to join in the fray. I was not sure why. Erzili did not strike me as the type of person that would run away when attacked.
So, why had they not yet –
[Mask of Janus: Flanking Immunity Activated]
My body jerked into motion without my consent. Reflex involuntary, just as one made when blinking at an object flying in front of their gaze or moving their hands to catch an object slipping off a table. I spun full three-hundred-and-sixty degrees off my mount, my left-hand firing in a vicious straight that connected with the something. Someone.
She crashed into the earth as if she were solid, the impact sending dust and debris into the air that shook the fort. I remembered that with the [Herculean Strength] I possessed, my punches were more than capable of effortlessly shattering trees and making holes in reinforced steel. Getting hit by them was not something a person would easily shrug off.
The dust settled with heavy tension, and before me, a familiar red-headed, rabbit-eared girl lay, eyes glancing up at me in shock and confusion as she held her bruised cheek. “You… hit me?”
I held up my Tungsten-Copper Gauntlet. She saw it immediately. Encrusted unto the material like glitter, tiny white particles that designed and decorated it. “Halite.”
“Ha…lite?”
“Commonly known as the mineral form of sodium chloride. Rock-salt.”
The halite on my gauntlets had been intentional, but the automatic counter was not. I had all but forgotten about my Mask of Janus having such an effect as immunity to flanking. I assumed it would simply nullify the damage I got when hit from behind, but that would not be accurate as it did not grant immunity to flanking damage, it granted immunity to flanking.
So, I cannot be attacked from behind… no matter what?
“Arol!”
Three black spines tore through the air. They should have been fast. I knew, that they should have been fast. Yet, they were almost moving in slow motion to my vision. I could not tell if it was because I had leveled up considerably, or if it was because of the speed-boost buff that had been applied, but it was child’s play to reach out with my left hand and smack them aside.
Wunder appeared at Arol’s side, and it was our second time meeting. Yet, for them, it was the first time we would cross paths. Now, in this timeline, the circumstances of our meeting were completely reversed. The hunters were now the hunted.
“I – I’m fine –”
“He hit you. How did he hit you?”
“His gauntlets – there’s… salt on his gauntlets.”
I clambered down from my mount, leisurely adjusting said gauntlets as I approached the downed Arol. Wunder, to my surprise, leaped in front of her, snarling at me. Was he protecting her? “Who are you?”
A flitter of amusement entered me. “You’re asking the wrong question.” I rose my right hand into the air. “Artillery,” I called. “Fire on the porcupine.”
“Arol! Move!”
The poltergeist melted into the earth just as the Copper Golem Artillery let loose with their coilguns. Heavy metal balls slammed into Wunder like rounds from an assault rifle, yet, to my utter fascination, despite the projectiles having no difficulty turning a giant cyclops to swiss cheese, the only thing they could do to Wunder was to impact large circular bruises on his him.
“Hah! If you think something like that is enough to hurt me –”
“P=F/A.”
Wunder stopped. “What?”
“The formula for pressure. Force divided by area of surface area on contact.” I pointed
at his chest single finger. “While it’s easy to notice heavy projectiles slamming into your skin and doing no damage, it’s harder to notice when a small, sharp obsidian needle manages to be hidden underneath all those objects, and when this needle successfully breaks through.”
Wunder’s gaze went down. The small hole was difficult to notice. He scoffed. “So what? You managed to pierce my chest with a needle? Am I supposed to be impressed?”
“Considering the needle was poisoned, yes. You should be.” I made a show of looking at my wrist. “And the poison should start working right about…”
Wunder coughed. Blood dribbled from his lips and his eyes went bloodshot.
“Now.”
“You…” he coughed, blood pooling from his mouth as he dropped to one knee. “Who… who are you?”
“It doesn’t matter,” I said, walking over to the kneeling Wunder. “You wouldn’t remember even if I told you.”
Grabbing his head with my hands I took a deep breath, and twisted. The crack echoed throughout the Fort. I let go and Wunder dropped to the floor, his head facing the opposite direction, his bloodshot eyes wide and in shock. Shock. As if he could not believe it, could not believe that he was, in fact, dead.
“I suppose one hundred years went by rather quickly, didn’t it?”
[You have slayed a Lieutenant of Fort Zyvar!]
[You slayed Wunder the Barbeast!]
[1,000,620 Experience Points Gained]
[You have gained a level]
[You have gained a level]
[You have gained a level]
[You have gained a level]
The notifications seemed to have almost no end to them. Dozens upon dozens, of levels gained in an instant. A million experience points, gained in an instant. I remembered, of course, that thanks to my Daily Task system, I was receiving double experience points for each kill, which meant that it was not that Wunder was worth a million experience, but somewhere around 500,000. That was still a ridiculous amount of experience to gain for killing one creature.
The title [Genocidal] has come into effect for the Species: [Barbeast].
