“Third time is the charm, I hope,” Mister Ruiz said, wiping the sweat from his brow.
The first two shrines hadn’t revealed anything new to them, no matter how much Kevin poked and prodded at the structures. If there was a way to enter them, he hadn’t found it even after hours at each location. Now, it was mid-afternoon and it was clear that Mister Ruiz was growing frustrated with the lack of results.
Kevin didn’t mind, but he knew that the man would only tolerate so much failure before the mask started slipping again. He’d caught a glimpse of the man underneath, and knew full well how dangerous he could be.
“We might need something from the other side first,” Kevin offered. “That room in the dungeon did have three indentations for objects after all.”
“So you say,” Mister Ruiz muttered. “I suppose I might have gotten too enthusiastic in light of actual progress. Still, we’re here now, so may as well check the last of the shrines.”
Giving the man a nod, Kevin moved forward to what appeared to be a doorway blocked off by stone. Just like the room beneath Neth-amii’s shrine, he placed a hand upon the surface and waited.
And just like the previous two shrines, nothing happened. In a way, it was disappointing, but at the same time, a relief. Mister Ruiz couldn’t be trusted; even Kevin could realize that. Yet, there wasn’t much he could do at the moment but play along. At least his family seemed aware of the dangers.
“Should we head back, or should I go to the other side and inquire about currency?”
Any chance to talk to Neth-amii would be welcome, and her insight into Mister Ruiz would be appreciated. She struck him as knowing too much about betrayal, even if she hadn’t outright said it. The hostility shown during those first few minutes together was enough to make it clear.
“The other side,” Mister Ruiz said, slicking back his sweat-soaked hair. “I plan to return to the mainland while you’re away, you see. We need to—”
His voice cut off at the grinding of stone. Kevin turned, looking on in horror as the stone door slid into the ground just as the one in the dungeon had. Even after the night passed, his mana still hadn’t recovered from that single heal, which meant that whatever might be inside would have to be faced with nothing more than the resources at hand.
Thankfully he had worn his equipment, little though it was. Drawing the knife his mother had given him, he squared his shoulders and prepared for what might be coming. To his surprise, Boris and Nikolai both came to stand beside him with guns drawn, aiming towards the now open door.
“Now there’s a spot of luck,” Mister Ruiz said excitedly. “Do you have an idea why this one opened but not the others?”
“No clue,” Kevin said, the tension growing thick. His instincts were screaming danger, but he couldn’t place the exact source. “There’s something in there. I don’t know what, but it’s deadly.”
“I feel it too,” Boris said. “Like when in Afghanistan back in the eighties.”
Well, if he needed any confirmation that they were former Soviet soldiers, that was as good as a confession. Still, Kevin wasn’t sure how useful guns might be against magical beasts, assuming they had survived all this time without mana.
They stood there for a solid minute with nothing happening, and finally Kevin took a step forward into the unknown. Some muttered cursing came from behind him in Russian as the bodyguards followed. Despite the open door, the darkness practically clung to the interior of the shrine, and Kevin couldn’t help but spot the stairwell leading down. It would be just his luck that a full dungeon would be on the island, especially if he truly wouldn’t gain experience from it.
“Down there? Really?” Nikolai asked.
“Looks that way,” Kevin answered. “Hope you aren’t scared of the dark.”
“More so what likes to hide in it,” Nikolai said. “Were there really monsters on this other side?”
“Slimes, bees, and a really freaky shadow demon,” Kevin confirmed. “I have no idea what we might find down here.”
“We should ask for hazard pay,” Boris said.
Kevin snorted, choking off a laugh. He shouldn’t feel any solidarity with the hired muscle that were as much protection as they were keeping an eye on him, but he couldn’t help it. Too many years knowing the men had led to a sort of camaraderie despite their employer threatening him. Mister Ruiz wouldn’t put himself in danger if he could help it. No doubt he would follow close, but still avoid any trouble they might find.
Flashlights lit up the dark, cutting through the void, though not quite as well as Neth-amii’s light magic had. Kevin made a mental note to add a flashlight and batteries to the list of supplies he would be taking with, just in case he never gained that particular magic. When they reached the bottom, cobwebs greeted them, choking off the space. Already Kevin was getting flashbacks to a certain spider boss and how all the enemies in the dungeon were giant arachnids.
“Anyone afraid of spiders?” Kevin muttered.
“Boris is,” Nikolai said, completely unrepentant.
“Traitor.”
The big guy shoved his coworker, but Kevin kept his eyes on the darkness beyond the beams of light. That feeling of something dangerous lurking had only grown as they descended, and now it was an almost physical thing. He had no doubts that a dangerous monster awaited them. The only question was, just what were they about to face?
Something in the webs shifted, like an errant breeze despite the lack of wind. Kevin raised his knife, unsure how useful it might be. He had his healing, as well as other spells, but would it all be enough?
Before he could dwell further, a heavy crash rang out. A second followed a beat later, and then again, and again. The cadence picked up, echoing loud enough that he wanted to cover his ears. He didn’t have time as a mass cut through the shadows and barreled into their group. Kevin dove away, but Boris and Nikolai weren’t so lucky. Both were knocked aside, though one of them managed to get some shots off.
One of the flashlights clattered, and Kevin finally got a look at their enemy. A figure of sculpted metal stood seven feet tall as it shifted and whirled. Steel limbs creaked as they shifted, dry and unoiled. Icy fear shot through his chest at the sight and already he was wishing for some form of offensive magic.
Boris groaned as he sat up with some help from his friend. “Is that machine?”
“Like Terminate thing,” Nikolai agreed.
“Close enough,” Kevin muttered, staring down the decrepit old machine.
[Magitech Soldier Lv. 8]
Not quite the monster that the Shadow Demon ended up being, but still something dangerous. He approached at a steady pace as the machine reoriented itself. With his knife clutched tight, he took a swing at the monster. Steel bit deeper into metal than it had any right to, but still failed to do more than chip away at the monster.
The torso rotated and Kevin ducked just in time for a rusted limb to pass overhead. He rose, ready to strike again when the monster kept rotating and the opposite limb crashed into him. Ten hit points disappeared with the impact, and another two as he hit the wall and fell to the floor where a final and singular mote of damage ticked away at his health.
With a single swing he was reduced to the same health he possessed at level one. Blood dripped from his lips as he forced himself upright, casting [Heal] just to be safe. He wasn’t sure if that had been a lucky hit or not and taking risks wasn’t in the cards when his actual life was on the line.
“Still alive over there?” Mister Ruiz called out. “I dare say my men aren’t quite up to the task so we’ll be relying on you.”
Of course they would. After all, Kevin and his family were quite expendable in comparison to trained soldiers. Hopefully whatever this monster guarded was worth it, because that had hurt. Thankfully [Heal] wasn’t mana intensive. There were still twelve castings left in his reservoir.
With that knowledge in mind, Kevin once again closed the distance. Both men were keeping their flashlights on the monster as they kept their distance. Thankfully they weren’t shooting at it, which gave Kevin the chance to start probing for a hopeful weak point in the machine’s stone exterior.
Sparks flew as his blade chipped away at the surface, and this time he knew to keep low until the robot stopped spinning. He stabbed at a leg joint, then rolled aside as both arms attempted to crush him. All the while his eyes were watching the shadow-cast machine for anything that stuck out as different.
Another probe failed to find anything and this time the automaton switched things up by kicking him square in the ribs. Something gave with a white hot crunch in his chest as sixteen health vanished into the ether. Another [Heal] went out and once again his mana ticked down towards empty. Eleven casts left and he was really hoping that it wouldn’t come down to a battle of attrition.
The machine was fully focused on him now, which was a good thing. He wasn’t sure that any of the others could survive a hit from the monster. Each probing strike was met by wild flailing, and no matter how much his stats had improved, he was still only human. He took hits and healed them up before rushing back at the monster.
Another hit sent him tumbling, and it was only the wall that stopped him cold. Breaths came heavy despite his health remaining topped off by yet another [Heal], but he couldn’t back down. This was a monster that could come to the surface and hurt the people of his home. There was no way Kevin was going to back down.
“You alright, kid?” Boris asked.
“Peachy,” he spat, trying to not panic over how much blood had come up. “This thing has to have a weak spot somewhere. We just need to find it.”
“And if it doesn’t?” Nikolai asked as the machine began lumbering towards them.
Not wanting to answer that, Kevin stood and ran. The machine didn’t follow perfectly; its own momentum carried it into the wall with a deafening crash. Kevin sucked in a breath as the robot started to pick itself up, because he had just seen something glinting within the assembled metal that made up the monster’s body.
“Near the left shoulder!” Kevin shouted. “It looks like a sparkling gem!”
Both lights narrowed in on the arm in question, and sure enough, he saw that same glint reflecting as the machine’s armor settled back. Finally, he had something to aim for when attacking, but first, he would need to make another opening. Backing against the wall, Kevin cast [Mend] on his person; the damage to his clothes and blade repaired themselves immediately. It also served to draw the monster’s ire.
Another charge followed, and this time Kevin didn’t keep running after his dodge. Thankfully, Boris and Nikolai were quick on the uptake like one would expect from professionals. They were moving almost as quickly, flashlights up and ready. Their lights homed in on the extended limbs, and the glint of red was unmistakable.
Kevin didn’t hesitate; his blade slammed into the gem, and split it in two. He’d expected some surge of power, or an explosion, but all that happened was the machine falling limp. There hadn’t even been a ding in his mind to signal the monster’s defeat.
“Is it dead?” Mister Ruiz shouted from his safe position in the hall.
“Looks so, boss,” Boris answered. “Give it minute though, better safe than dead.”
“Quite right,” Mister Ruiz said, not moving from his place.
The momentary lapse gave Kevin an opportunity to look around while the rich asshole found his spine. Another door laid across the room from where they entered, so he walked up to it and pressed his hand against the surface. Again nothing happened, but he knew there was a mechanism now, and so, he channeled his mana but kept from casting a proper spell. The door responded with a jerk, then slid away just as all the others had.
He wasn’t sure what he’d expected to see inside, but a collection of shelves and scrolls certainly wasn’t it. There had to be dozens of shelves lining the room, all of which were packed with collected scrolls and sheets.
“It’s a library,” he said, marveling at the sight.