by Han Yang
I moved on from classifications to learning that a basic creation had the ability to upgrade and level. To upgrade, spend more hydrox to add enhanced parts. To level spend hydrox to have the creation perform tasks by burning hydrox. A basic part hit a ceiling quicker than an advanced part and the writing of a grind was clearly on the wall.
The higher the level, the better the proficiency, and the lower the ingest hydrox was. I mulled the concept over for what I’d want to do. There were big benefits to investing in your Gearnix steam creations if you intended to use them for a long time.
A rustling from the underbrush on the opposite end of the clearing had me closing the book. I swiped my eye out to focus on the area. Oh…
A twenty foot croc lumbered from the bush with determination. The whipping waddle of its gate was intimidating because of its massive size. I didn’t see it sniffing even though the beast headed directly for a bunny carcass.
I leveled the long rifle, adjusting the zoom on my right eye, and waited for the large reptile to get closer.
There was a stirring from Joana waking at an inopportune time. I pried my face off the buttstock to give her a finger to my mouth.
She covered her waking yawn, nodding that she understood. Finishing her stretch, she carefully grabbed her long rifle.
The croc was nearing the first bunny corpse without a care. Those eyes were laser focused on the delicious morsel in front of its face. The last couple of feet were a lunge to secure its meal.
I lined up the sight for the top of the head that was directly below me. I lightly squeezed on the trigger until -
ZAP!
The small ball of energy zoomed down, digging into a shoulder and not the head I aimed for.
ZAP!
Joana fired. A puff of dirt erupted near the croc’s head.
My heart was racing. The animal swiveled to face the beach, limping for the distant water. I lined up my aim, letting my finger gently pull the trigger for just a touch longer.
ZAP!
The shot hissed out a plume of steam. Bluish white energy cracked out of the long rifle. My aim was better, catching the big beast just in front of the hind quarters. The larger magical steam bullet had enough force to spin the croc so it faced us again.
ZAP!
A shot zoomed from the long rifle Joana held, embedding itself right between the eyes of the big croc.
I was stunned.
So was Joana because when I glanced over her jaw was open and her eyes wide.
A silence settled over us.
I fiddled with a purse I’d stuck around my neck. A moment later I had the weapon buzzing with whirling energy. The recharge was longer than on the blunderbuss and the steam hissed. The vapid air left the weapon so hot that I could feel it from a foot away.
Joana climbed to my tree, handing me her long rifle. “Please,” she said.
“Nice shot. Can’t believe he’s still sleeping.” I gestured to her Dad.
“Pfft. Who cares if he’s knocked out? I hit something! Oh, I’m so going to rub this in to everyone who was ever a doubter,” she said with a mischievous smile. “Since I got the kill does that mean you’re doing the cleaning?”
I chuckled, handing back her reloaded long rifle. “Yeah, I guess it does. I’m proud of you.”
I held up a hand for a high five. She went to smack palms with me but a few things happened at once.
She lost her balance. I caught her by the belt across her bust, reaching for the closest thing.
The strap snapped, causing one of the buttons holding her chest tight to pop from the rapid movement.
That button shot off her vest smacked my human eye so rapidly I didn’t even get to blink in time.
I felt literal blinding pain, and covered my eye instinctively. Joana rushed to me and all I could see was her exposed chest in my face from my mechanical eye.
“I’m so sorry. I… I’m so. So. Sorry.”
“Uh, Joana,” I mumbled. “You’re ladies are out…”
“Grrrr… What’s wrong with you? Sorry that was harsh. Let me figure out how ta close this top.” Clearly she was flustered.
Honestly something was wrong with me. I blushed around Joana a lot and now I was feeling anxious about her exposed chest. I used to tell girls at the bar “Nice tits.” Maybe the new me was flustered around pretty girls. Maybe I wanted to do things right and be a gentleman. Or maybe she was prettier than those bar hoppers and I didn’t want to spoil a good thing I had going. I decided to ease our growing tension.
“Does this mean I get out of gutting the croc?” I said with a snicker and she giggled.
“Aye, it does. It's going to look like you opened my bust and I slugged ya,” Joana said and I burst into laughter.
“No, your dad would never believe that,” more snickering from us both, “you probably have a melee of 2 and a reflex of 4. I doubt Leon would think you could hit me.”
Her smirk was mischievous. She bounced her eyebrows at me with a deep crimson blush. “He’d believe you wanted to see these boobs. I caught ya staring.”
I changed my view of her supple bosoms to focus on her face. “Yeah, they’re mighty nice.”
My worry as to how she would react was unwarranted. If anything she grinned bigger and became more relaxed. A simple compliment could do wonders apparently.
She left the tree humming a tune, leaving me to handle my eye pain. With her sword belt closing her top she went to work on the corpse. There may have been a few teasing butt wiggles for me.
An hour later my eye was only a slight blur and improving quickly. Joana returned to the tree and we talked for hours. There was never a dull moment and we had each other giggling often.
Maybe four or five hours after Leon went to sleep we got another visitor.
It was a turtle with a fox head and Joana was delighted by the sight. She told me a basic way to kill them as she’d defeated one once before.
Joana distracted the hybrid monster while I stabbed it a bunch. Like death by a thousand cuts under the shell. The process was slow, methodical, and eventually the beast succumbed to blood loss.
She tightly hugged me after the hybrid gave its last breath. I blushed when Leon cleared his throat from nearby.
“I awoke to a dead saltie and now a ferben. Starting to wonder if daytime is better now than night was all those years ago. Then again, everything is so random. What is not in question, is how well you two did together. Good job,” he said, heading to the big croc.
“We only cut the heart out,” Jonna told him as he inspected the body.
“Good. We’ll drag it behind the rowboat. If something eats it before the wall so be it. The ferben will go in whole. This is a great haul. Probably twelve bronze or so. Enough to placate your mother and for you to buy your own gear.”
“I like the rifle. I was -”
Leon interjected. “Trust me, that is an eighty silver rifle. It will be your primary killing tool when you get to set ambushes like this. Training on an expensive rifle is cheaper. I’d avoid the venture bot and properly equip yerself. Then go and buy a creaky bot.”
“Okay. I guess I’ll buy a nicer one from you.”
Joana patted my shoulder. “Um, no. We don’t cater to the high end combat gear besides sidearms. Mostly items for the ships and the homes in the area. That would be the guild market. I can go with you to help but it’d be better if I didn’t.”
“I’ll go with you. Need to sell the meat at the market nearby anyway,” Leon said.
I shook my head in amazement. “Twelve bronze. I can’t believe this trip is worth more than my gorilla.”
“The meat, that shell,” he pointed at the hybrid turtle, “and the golden ducderbots will create a whole lotta silver. The gold coins are actually mostly tin with gold coating. Anyway, it adds up and as proud as I am, we got some heavy lifting to do.”
“Hopefully the rowing will be easy,” I said with a chuckle that resulted in us having a joyful giggle at the quote that
we knew would be false.
I wasn’t laughing a few hours later when we finally arrived at the docks. My arms were drained, I was exhausted, and even Joana had started to frown at the lengthy endeavor. Feeling like a beaten man, I sure hoped dragging the two carcasses was worth it.
My joy at arriving faded when I saw there were a dozen armed thugs smoking cigars, anticipating our arrival.
I figured Leon had stirred some trouble borrowing the boat or taking the water to go hunting. No, that wasn’t the case at all, and he assured me he had nothing to do with this.
These men had come for me and based on their outfits, I was being apprehended by the Mistress of Langshire, Patrica. To the delight of the minions, I rowed right up to them.
A bag was tossed over my head, my arms bound behind my back, and I could hear wheels rolling from inside a steam machine.
After trying to talk, I was given a sock in my mouth that tasted like… a dirty sock. One thing was certain, I was pissed off, tired, and not looking forward to what came next.
CHAPTER 9
A zap of electricity washed through my body. I wanted to scream but my tense muscles and gagged mouth prohibited it.
Yeah… Langshire sucked. More specifically this interrogation did.
After the trip from the docks, I was tossed into a chair, recounted my tale word for word as I had earlier, and they weren’t buying that I’d lost memories. So… there was light torture involved.
As one might imagine, being shocked over and over was less than an ideal situation. This latest round they went even gentler on me when I refused to say anything other than the backstory I’d been given.
Honestly. I remembered talking to a god. The name was gone, and I realized why. Moments like this.
I also understood my backstory was utter shit. I remembered a lot, but forgot a lot. I came from somewhere halfway across the world and magically appeared when everyone else died.
I arrived with basic items. If I had those I should have arrived with wreckage loot. Did I bury it in the wilds?
That was a recurring question. After an hour or two they realized I was never going to change my answers. Even had a seductress offer pleasure, playing the good cop. I didn’t refuse, but when I had no new information she left me wanting.
The bag over my head suddenly grew dimmer when the switch clacked to on.
“Carlin, I told ya, ensure the wiring is set to the steam generator for the town, not tha buildin,” Espin said to his sidekick.
“It is boss,” Carlin replied.
These two had been doing a number on me. I was ready to murder them both a thousand times. For the next hour they troubleshot some issues while I groaned in pain, slowly healing from their damage.
The sound of loud boots clomping against the wooden floor changed the scenario.
An assertive voice said, “The whole fookin city lost power, you two better have a damn good explanation.”
“The power stopped working. I hooked up another machine, and that one is failing. I even brought in a private generator. It… doesn’t work on him. He… something is off, Mistress.”
“It's Gearnix, he is being protected… Yes that has to be it. This planet is mysterious in its ways. Unhook him, clean him up, and then set him in a room with a book alongside a whiskey. And sorry Bradley, I had to be certain.”
I figured that was likely Mistress Patrica herself. The goons stopped ruffing me up at this point. My bindings were removed and I was dragged into a room. When the bag came off I was tossed into a flower scented water. There was a tiny cube of hydrox and a bar of soap. I was told to use both or face the consequences.
Rebelling, while warranted, was irrelevant here. I added power to my steamparts and scrubbed myself clean. A new outfit was given to me in a bundle that I dressed in. I was guided to a private room with nothing in it besides a lounger, an end table, and a book.
I snatched the pillow off the lounger, downed a good fifth of the whiskey, and laid down for a nap.
∞∞∞
I awoke to a soft boot nudging my side. I stared up at two young women in corsets standing ahead of a grandmotherly type. The younger ladies with knee high stockings had daggers strapped to their thighs.
The message was clear from their stern glares - try us and die.
“Hello,” the old lady said. Her legs creaked, and whirled in the barren room. She swigged the whiskey much like I had earlier. “Sorry about ensuring the legitimacy of your tale. It stank of falsehoods.”
I scooted to rest my back against the wall. My lips stayed locked mainly because I had nothing good to say and was powerless in this situation.
“We tend to have open arms for Ocarna visitors. Your clothes,” she paused, waving in a little girl no older than ten. She brought my clothes and the room tensed. This was my opportunity to do damage. However, the girl delivered my clothes and received a smile. “Are fresh and clean.”
“Thank you,” I said to the girl and she did a curtsy.
“So the rumors are true, you’re daft in yer Ocarna ways,” Patrica said with disdain.
I stripped the other garment off, not caring if the ladies saw. This elicited a laugh from the older lady and the younger ones stepped back to give me space. The blasted outfit had a bazillion buckles and snaps.
“May I?” the prettier of the two asked. I nodded. A minute later she said, “Men, always taking so long to get dressed.”
I was going to quibble that fact but let the thought go. “What do you want?” I asked.
“The blimp of course, and the fortune it held. I figured you crashed it, killed the crew, was going to cycle in the goods over time. Instead, you went on a measly night adventure that was risky. Then my interrogators had machines that worked for generations suddenly quit, telling me I needed to stop before Gearnix became angry.”
“Smart,” I said with a grumble and her eyes squinted with deadly intent. “I survived by the grace of the gods and goddesses and you literally flipping tortured me.”
“Yes, well, that is over. Welcome to Langshire, Bradley of Ocarna with an aim of five.” There was a scoff and a giggle from the ladies.
I however cheered. “It was a four! Yes…”
“Quite the optimist, I’m Ginli,” the cute one said. She turned to Patrica. “My mother has an offer for you.”
“Indeed I do,” the old woman said, stealing the seat. “I’m at a crossroads now. Either I trust ya going forward or I remove ya from my city. That little adventure would leave you a few coins shy of a trip to Dresn, the nearest train ride over.”
“Uh, I’ll be honest. I wanted to go shopping, amass some wealth, and head somewhere I can either retire or build up. I… haven’t decided, but I do want to leave,” I admitted and she nodded.
“What do you think of Ginli?” the mother asked of her daughter.
I shrugged. “Deadly, sexy, and trouble. Most women I’ve seen in Langshire are incredibly pretty to me. Ginli is among them but she intimidates me.”
“Good, she should. She has a twenty seven rating.” The room of ladies showed no signs of hiding a lie.
“Impressive.” I mumbled loud enough for them to hear.
“I… Close the door.” The door was closed, worrying me. “You never heard this from me and I’ll deny it to my last breath. I was wrong and made a mistake. Sorry. There. Done. Got other things to do if Ginli wants to drool over your handsome features. Never a son!” Patrica said, shaking her cane at the heavens.
“You've lost me,” I told her.
So far the old bat had been on topic. “Oh, right. My offer is this. You stay. To even my slight, my daughter will take you shopping, help you level a few times, and even open doors the city might have closed to a new man like yourself. In exchange. This meeting is the only conversation we had, the one earlier never happened.”
“Ah…” I huffed, squinting my eyes at her. “I hated the process. Offering honey instead of salt in a wound is a nice way to apologize, or so I’ve been t
old. I’ll take your offer of help from your lovely daughter.”
“Careful, you keep complimenting her and you’ll leave Langshire with a plus two,” the old woman said with a cackle. She kept her laugh going even after the door shut. When they left the room it was just Ginli and I.
I snatched the whiskey bottle off the table, knowing a drink was what I wanted. A few swigs had my stomach roaring at me in anger.
“Joana cooks a mean meat kabob. Got anything to eat like that?” I asked.
“Yes, the failed adventurer who earned the first crack at the handsome foreigner with the kind heart, dashing looks, and is a proven earner.” Ginli swiped a finger over the dust on the end table with her reddish metal hand. Her fingers rubbed together, giving me a good view of her upgrade. “And she cooked for you. Impressive, gotta give it to the little trallop.”
“Easy now, I consider her a friend,” I said, studying my newest adventuring partner for the short term.
Ginli sauntered out of the room. I heard the creak of her leather from being so tight on her hourglass figure. Her skirt swirled when she twirled at the door. Fire red hair went past her shoulder, brown eyes were highlighted by freckles, and her lips were plump. The woman herself was fit with toned abs on display at the bottom of her busty corset.
She reminded me of a wild west courtesan, except she had metallic arms to the shoulders. Her knees down were metal, and both eyes were upgraded along with one ear. She was not some rookie playacting as a warrior. This woman was deadly, and yet, very alluring. Ginli knew she was sexy too, smirking as I ingested her sight completely.
“You wanna get a room or a tour?” she asked.
I shook my head. “Not nice to tease a man after he’s been through an ordeal.”
“Who’s ta say I’m teasin?” She spun to lead the way.
I followed her, stopping when she crooked an elbow. “Women are forward here. Let me ask something before I accept. How old are you? Your mannerisms say wise, and your image says young.”