04

Charles was pissed. What happened to him left a bad aftertaste in his mouth, especially after he got played so easily. He should have expected some sort of foul play, and expect it he did, but that didn’t prevent the worst from almost happening. It was his LAI that saved him, and without it he would definitely be dead by now.

He decided to direct this anger and frustration towards the dungeon, rather than towards himself, so that it could be of use and not just a hindrance. In order to find the stairs, he followed the same reasoning as before, and found a fake wall and then descended the stairs. It didn’t even take him that long now that his LAI knew what it was doing, and what to look for in the composition and appearance of the rocks.

The routine and tedious actions, all orchestrated by the artificial intelligence with him only watching from the back seat, gave him some time to calm down and think. Actually, he reasoned, this dungeon was not only a place of danger but also a place of opportunities for him. He had gained a shitload of levels without any real effort so far, and while it was only thanks to his gun, he could still exploit this leveling mechanic. Now that he only had one bullet left, he only needed to be extra careful, but he could still farm some easy levels before going outside. The monsters would also get weaker as he went down, allowing him to farm them with ease even if he had to use the sword to kill them.

The stairway led him to a small flat space made of red rock, covered in orange and yellow sand and seemingly suspended in the sky. Actually, looking around he saw that the flat space was really an outcropping that jutted out from a tall pillar. The pillar reached all the way up to the ceiling, and touched the fake blue sky in order to connect with the higher floors of the dungeon. The place he was now was easily several hundred meters above the ground, and looking down he saw a desert below him that extended as far as his eyes could see. He wasn’t quite sure how space worked inside the dungeon, but this floor was easily several times bigger than the others.

Even the forested area a few floors above was definitely smaller than this place. Here, there was even a fake sun in the sky, and this time the light came from just there and not from the whole ceiling. A ceiling that he was sure was present, but that was only visible next to where the red pillar joined with it.

He also noticed that there was no path that led down the pillar, but fortunately there were enough holdings to easily climb down its height. Looking down he saw several light blue holographic spots that appeared in the rock face, the places where he had to put his hands and feet, that reached all the way down to the ground several hundred meters below. He was no expert in rock climbing, having lived all his life in space, but he was not one to be discouraged by this. He knew that a fall would easily kill him, enhanced body due to level ups notwithstanding, but he was confident in his ability to follow the steps highlighted in his field of vision.

Or, in case he failed, his death would at least be painless.

He arrived at the base of the mountain, drenched in sweat and once again very hungry. The climb had been easy on his muscles thanks to the servo mechanisms of his suit, but it was the sun that was proving to be a real issue here. He looked around, and saw just more of the same that he saw from higher up. There were no other pillars or interesting features, and no oases in the desert.

There was nothing that indicated the presence of a stairway, meaning that it could actually be anywhere on the ground level of this floor. He started to walk in a random direction, towards the area that seemed to have the most shade.

His head felt heavy, and his vision was blurry. The fake sunlight was very punishing, with the temperatures easily reaching dangerous levels in some places. It was more than his suit could handle, and the dizziness that he was feeling was only the beginning of a potentially fatal series of events. There was a faint breeze but, almost mockingly, it carried blazing hot air that made the place even more oppressing.

Suddenly, he heard a stomping sound.

“Who goes there!” He yelled, but the only sound that he heard was the echo of his own voice.

Another sound then, rhythmical and ever louder. Something was approaching him from behind a large boulder, and it probably was not friendly.

“Come on, monster! Come out!” Charles yelled.

His vision was swimming, and his body felt feverish and stiff. His head was light, as if amidst a sea of clouds. It was not a good sign, but the monster that was about to come out from behind the boulder had the priority for now. By his reasoning, since he had gone down the floors towards weaker monsters, it should be manageable even without the need to use the gun. At least, it would be to his LAI, because he had no intention to fight it himself.

A flaming figure emerged from behind the rock outcropping. Its shape was that of a wolf, large and imposing, standing proudly on its four muscular legs. Its eyes were smoldering red-hot embers encased in a dark muzzle while the rest of the animal was completely engulfed in flames, making its appearance ethereal and morphing. It was a creature of fleeting beauty, and the fire that enshrouded it danced and moved as if alive. The heat radiating from the animal could be felt even from tens of meters away, and served to Charles as a reminder that what he was seeing was not a figment of his own mind.

His LAI was already in battle mode since the first instant, back when he realized that there was something stalking him.

The problem that emerged here was, he thought, that there was no way to get close to this thing without being basically burned alive. He had already planned to let the LAI take care of fighting, but he knew that the AI was not supernatural. If there was no safe way to fight, then it would choose then next best thing. And this meant that he was going to feel quite the amount of pain as soon as he returned to his body.

Charles cursed inwardly, as he realized a fault in his previous thinking. Killing the other monsters had been quite easy because he had summarily executed them all with his railgun. This time around, however, he had to be quite parsimonious with his ammunition, as he only had one bullet left.

The alternative was fighting with the sword, and that meant getting close to it. Not only that, but he also had no idea how to fight with swords. He had never even touched one prior to coming here, as there was no reason why someone living in a civilized land had to learn to fight with one. He had his gun, and that was it.

The wolf growled, sending a wave of burning air in his direction. As soon as he felt the heat, he jumped to the side to avoid it. But the wolf was already charging at him, his action only putting him in a disadvantageous situation. He pondered what to do.

His concern was, briefly, that letting the LAI fight every single time would make him completely dependent on it. The previous thought of letting it fight every time was, for a moment, faltering. It would be awesome to actually be like a hero of a story, to fight and kill monsters himself.

He quickly killed that thought, however. He was already depended on the LAI for a lot of things after all. And it wasn’t like it was going anywhere without him. The LAI was basically a part of his own brain, an intelligence created to support the operation of his implants, implants which could not be removed or deactivated without killing him instantly.

His real concern was that the LAI would either choose to use the last bullet, meaning that it decided to play it too safe, or that it would fight too recklessly and put him in harm’s way.

He made his choice. He was an engineer, he liked to build stuff. He was not a fighter. It would be cool to be one, but the risks that the choice carried with it were just not worth it. And he didn’t need to avoid fighting either, he didn’t need to be a coward. He just had to let the LAI take care of it. He willed the LAI to take control of his body, and mentally sat back to enjoy the show. There was one difference compared to last time, however, because this time he sent precise instructions to the AI.

“Let’s roll.”

LAI hyperfocus, assuming direct control. User input accepted; analyzing situation. Enemy type: wolf entity. Modifiers: fire, high heat. Planned course of action: avoid prolonged close quarters combat; avoid use of gun unless necessary. Enacting.

Enemy is charging, dodge to the right. Prepare for counter attack. Enemy closer than five meters, lift sword upwards. Apply force, slide edge of sword across enemy’s body. Attack successful, minor damage. Hide is tougher than predicted, adjusting. Jump up and backwards to avoid heat.

Heat damage is moderate, heat higher than predicted. Data inconsistent with physical model, residual energy signature detected, queueing analysis. Recalculating attack vector, preparing suit enhancements. Wolf is charging again, send power to left leg servo mechanism. Compensate with right leg, jump. Land behind rock cover. Incoming bullet detected. Nature of threat: compressed air, high heat. Duck behind cover.

Three potential ranged attack vectors. Pick up rock, size is acceptable, shape is sub-optimal. Power up right arm suit servo, power up core and back servos. Aim. Launch. Watch trajectory. Enemy has dodged, adjusting next shot.

Shot hit, target is stunned. Charging, full power to leg servos. Distance to target is five, three, two, jump. Rotate body midway, extend sword arm, lock in place. Swing, counter-rotate. Target is hit, sword encountered resistance. Leave weapon behind, ready dagger. Probability of fatal damage inflicted: 35%

Two attack vectors, ask user. Confirmed, aiming throwing dagger. Probability to hit: 98%. Acceptable, firing weapon. Path is optimal, confirmed hit. Dagger is lodged in wolf’s head; target is collapsing on the ground. Target is not dead, evaluating.

Large rock, estimated mass 231kg. Can lift by expending 12% suit energy, confirm? User denied request, evaluating other course of action. User input: wait until beast bleeds out. Planned action is acceptable, risk is low. Deactivating LAI hyperfocus.

Charles came back to his own body, and wished that he didn’t. He was hurting in several places and at least half of his face was singed from the heat. If even the LAI could not do any better, then he’d have probably died if he had decided to fight the beast without assistance.

This was just madness to him. The party of adventurers was treating the whole dungeon delving as if it was a walk in the park, but it evidently was not. Just how strong were they, to be able to ignore the threats as they did? He had, at least, learned his lesson right now.

Never fight by himself, and never ever fight melee again. It was not the pain that scared him, but rather the fact that it was just too easy to die here. A wrong move, and he’d be dead. The pain on his face and body will be a reminder of that fact.

He looked at the still flaming carcass of the wolf. The fire was dying out, slowly, and the LAI was performing scans on the body of the beast. Meanwhile, he was pondering what to do next. He had an urgent need to eat and drink, his body was not just complaining but rather threatening to shut down completely. This last fight had been the last straw, the last of the fuel leaving the tank. He had so little strength that the LAI even had to use the suit servo mechanisms to help him move.

His chance at a decent meal was right here before his eyes. It was the drinking part that he was not looking forward to. But he knew that he had to do it, and so he prepared himself mentally for the task. He would not do it himself, though. That would be stupid and masochistic. Especially considering that he had an easy way out of the ordeal, or at least a way to avoid having to grit his teeth and keep going.

He promised to himself that it would be the last time that he activated the LAI for trivial things, and then his eyes glazed over.

LAI hyperfocus active, assuming direct control. Approaching carcass, scanning database for references. Similarity to Earth wolf is enough. Skin the non burning parts using dagger, remove pelt. Cut meat and position it over still burning mane, use the sword as stick. Dig into internal organs, look for heart. Heart found; copious amounts of blood are available. Preparing body to accept the blood. Drinking.

And it was done. His hunger was now fully sated and his thirst fully quenched. The memory of the action was still fresh in his mind, the iron taste of the warm blood as he drank it right out of the wolf’s heart still on his lips. In truth, he feared it would be worse. Perhaps it was due to the warped perception that he had whenever the LAI was in charge, but he was not feeling repulsed at the thought of drinking the blood.

Whatever.

If he had to do it again, he would.

A virtual ‘ding’ interrupted his musings, the signal that the LAI had a report ready for him. It had finished the analysis of the anomaly it had seen while fighting the beast, and the results were quite astounding. Energy. A new kind of energy, never seen before, one that was at the base of the strange properties of the fire of the wolf. One that he was quite sure was at the base of all things magic.

His delirious mind was sure of it, he was sure of it. He had discovered the presence, shape and taste of mana. The first step towards becoming a mage, just like in the games. He read the report thoroughly, for a moment heedless of the fact that he was inside a dungeon. For a moment unaware of even the heat.

He had discovered something new, something to advance the field of physics to heights unknown. And then, of course, he would not stop there. He would harness this energy and use it together with his ample knowledge of technology to forever revolutionize science. And weaponry. Mostly weaponry.

There was another report waiting. It turned out that not only did the monster possess traces of mana in its flames, but even Charles’ own body did. By extrapolating from past data, it appeared that the presence of mana in his body increased with each level up. This meant that indeed he was right, and it was the levels that had made him stronger and faster and smarter. Eating the meat from the wolf increased such presence a bit as well, and he suspected that there was a way to absorb the energy in the air too. And it all became levels, or rather levels were a way to quantify the amount of energy in his body.

Their progression was not linear, but that was probably because the energy saturation needed to reach certain thresholds for whatever strange phenomena that occurred to actually occur.

He looked at the ring on his finger, the only other magical thing the LAI found on him. It was almost unassuming for how bland it looked. A thin band of steel, worthless and plain. And yet so chock full of mana that it was almost unbelievable to see once the LAI learned how to see it. Perhaps that was why he took it off the dead body of Lea, almost on a whim.

Was it an artifact? Was it a storage device like in the stories? Or perhaps it increased some attributes when worn. He decided to test the last hypothesis right away, by removing it and putting it on again. Unfortunately, there were no changes recorded by the LAI.

Perhaps he needed to input mana into it. This made perfect sense, as mana was supposed to be the basis of magic. But, how does one manipulate it and send it to an item? This was a hard question, and harder still would it be to learn to do it without a teacher or even someone who could show by example.

The LAI was going to be of no help either, he feared. It was a machine, and had already tried to have it manipulate the energy to no avail. In truth, the idea of manipulating energy with just the mind was something that he found quite hard to accept. It went against everything he believed was possible in the real world, and yet mana was supposed to work exactly like this in the stories.

He tried concentrating. He looked at the ring intently. He meditated. He looked at the sky and cursed the dungeon and the gods of this wicked damned world. He tried some more. The heat was just a far away memory now, something that barely registered.

Nothing.

Not even the faintest of ideas of something even changing.

He resumed walking, idly fiddling with the thing while he mapped the rest of the floor and avoided the wolves with all his might. Another fight would not do him good; his sword was half broken and while the dagger was intact, fighting with it was even worse than fighting with the broken sword.

He walked for a few hours until he felt the light dim and the temperature slowly decrease. The sun had not moved, its position still at the peak of the fake sky, but its light and the heat coming from it were diminishing. Perhaps there was a fake night as well, here on this level.