15

The two walked in silence, approaching the towering structure without uttering a word. The sound of the boiling mud reverberated from behind them, as the pits rhythmically erupted in a shower of blistering heat.

The gravel under Charles’ feet was soft and the wet dirt gave way under his weight, making his every step slightly more difficult than usual as his soles sunk a few millimeters into the soil. The crunch of the little stones was like a beat, the ticking of a clock that seemed to count down to something. Opposite to the confident and heavy steps of the man, Eereen made absolutely no sound as she walked with incredible grace. Her feet caressed the ground, her weight seemingly absent, and she mirrored the gait of the man ahead of her seamlessly while at the same time being much different.

As the tower got closer, more and more details could be seen on its surface. There were structures that looked like radiator fins jutting out from the metal at regular intervals, beginning from half the height and continuing on all the way to the top. They too, like the rest, were unblemished and shiny under the setting sun, an impossibility after all this time exposed to the elements.

Charles felt a sense of awe, of wonder as he looked at the first structure ever in this world that was reminiscent of home. The wonder did not last long though, because just one look around was enough to remind him of a danger that was very real and probably very imminent. He knew very well what the holes and craters on the ground meant, and he didn’t want to end up like the piles of bones outside. He had to be careful, for now, because he could not do much if he didn’t have anything to shoot at.

Whatever was defending the entrance to the tower looked a lot like some automated defenses from his old world. Bullet based weaponry, something a man out of the middle ages should not be able to even think up. Had he underestimated the technological level of this universe? Perhaps it was only this plane, or even only Unica that was so underdeveloped while other places thrived and advanced. Or perhaps it was the Metalmancer, whoever he was, who was leagues ahead of everybody else.

He approached the single entrance of the tower with great care, keeping his gun ready to shoot at the first thing that moved, knowing that he was in range of the defense mechanisms. He had the LAI ready to take over as well, as the artificial intelligence was able to react to danger much faster than he could, even if he was a level 145 human with all the bonuses that such a level granted him.

He wondered for a moment if the LAI even received the bonuses as well, but the answer came to him immediately when he was reminded of the fact that the artificial companion acted as a multiplier to normal brain capabilities. This meant that it was gaining power as well as him, making it a really invaluable tool.

The tower was completely silent and still, giving no hint of what might happen in just a moment, with its polished metal door wide open right in front of him. But the silence was not peaceful, because there was an ominous feeling in the air, one that even Charles could not ignore.

He stopped for a moment but everything was eerily quiet, and there was no use in standing there immobile. There was darkness beyond the door that made it impossible to see what lied inside, and without power in his suit Charles could not use the advanced analysis tools it usually provided, like the sonar or radar. Whatever was defending this place, assuming that it was still active, was not reacting to their presence for some reason.

There could be a couple explanations as to why nothing was happening. Perhaps the defenses failed after all the centuries passed, but Charles thought it unlikely. The exterior of the tower looked completely undamaged by the passage of time, perhaps by magic or by design, but it hinted at the fact that everything inside should be working as well. The other possible explanation was that perhaps the defenses had to be triggered by some sort of hostile action, which made them all the more deadly.

This last thought terrified him, as for the first time since coming to this world he was being faced with a real challenge where his life was at stake. He wouldn't want to find out that the defense mechanisms were actually only dormant and waiting to come alive while he was already inside.

He eyed the two loopholes, now quite visible, that were at the two sides of the door. Inside, only darkness.

“There may be something defending the tower.” He said to the girl. “See the holes in the ground next to the piles of bones?”

The girl looked worried, but did not ask about the nature of the holes. She was not very observant, Charles mused, or she was just worried about something else. She was also looking at the dark hole that was the entrance with wide eyes, suspicious of the two slits just as much as him.

“What do we do, then?”

“We try to trigger the defenses, of course.”

“Why?” She looked at him like one looked at a crazy person.

He shrugged. “Either we fight them here or we try our luck and get inside. If you want to go ahead without knowing what is defending this place then do it, I’ll wait here.”

“Sorry.” She looked at her feet.

“Now that you got the point, it’s time you showed me your archery skills.” Charles said, and then pointed at the bow and quiver strapped to the back of the elf girl.

She gingerly grabbed her weapons, under Charles’ constant gaze. She went for the bow, but her eyes never left the two dark holes next to the door in the distance. The LAI was watching with extreme interest from inside Charles’ head, or at least with the closest thing resembling interest that the machine was able to express. Charles asked the AI how long it would take for it to react to an incoming threat, while he watched the elf next to him prepare an arrow as if in slow motion.

0.014 seconds. The LAI replied to his mental query. Like how long you lasted that time but in this case, less is actually better.

“What the hell?!” He shouted surprised, but as he was reacting to the strange new development the elf let loose the arrow. He had to observe carefully now.

The arrow left the bow, and flew through the air with unbelievable speed. Yet, it looked as if it was frozen in time as the action itself stretched on forever, moving very fast compared to the outside world but at the same time slow enough that he was sure he would be able to catch it with his bare hands.

There was no time to linger on this thought though, as the arrow finally entered the dark cavity of the missing door, disappearing inside. For an instant that looked like an eternity, neither the girl nor the armed man dared to make a move. They were holding their breath, their bodies ready to react on instinct at the first sign of movement from inside.

But nothing happened. The tower stood before them, massive, monolithic and menacing; challenging them to enter, to step through the door encased in its polished metal walls and ornaments.

And it was this that made Charles suspicious. The Metalmancer was obviously someone who possessed some sort of magic related to the manipulation of metals, that much was clear judging by the name of his class. And looking at the walls of the tower he knew that there had to be something magical about them, even if he could not feel any mana coming from inside them.

They were beautiful, perfect, precise in their shape and making and most of all uncorrupted by the passing of time. Their secrets called to him, the possibilities of what the knowledge of their making could unlock hinted at great creations. He wanted to step inside, he wanted to study whatever had managed to make this beautiful work made of metal and nothing else.

Yes, because now he could clearly see that the tower was made entirely of metal, resting on the hard stone of the ground and merging with it as if made from the very same rock that was deep in the earth. Another impossible thing, yet very real before his eyes.

Eereen looked at him expectantly. He rolled his eyes and tightened the grip on his gun before stepping forward towards the dark opening. He knew that he’d have to do all the work himself, and he knew that he could not wait outside here forever. The fact that the tower was perfectly preserved while the defenses were, apparently, not working anymore bugged him but there was nothing he could do about that.

Perhaps some of the people who attacked this tower managed to get over the defenses in the end, and by seeing the sheer amount of bones outside he knew that this place was attacked either frequently or had been attacked by a large army of men. Even barbarians with swords and arrows could eventually overcome the power of the gunpowder.

“Wait!” A shout came from behind him, making him stop dead in his tracks.

He had one foot still raised and was holding his gun ready to fire, aiming down its sights while he walked. To his senses, nothing had changed inside the tower.

“What?” He asked the girl in a complacent tone. “Are you having second thoughts?”

“No, it’s not that. I can hear sounds coming from inside.” She said frantically.

“Is that your elven magical hearing?”

She pouted. “It’s not magical, but yes.”

“Alright, tell me what you heard.”

“It’s like someone’s breathing, just… strange? Hissing, at times, and the grinding of metal.”

“Alright, then. Let’s go.” Charles said, and took another step.

A loud hiss pierced the air, and the sound preceded the creation of a tiny round hole in the ground by a few milliseconds. Charles was warned about it in time by his LAI and managed to sidestep to the right, moving nimbly and with a grace and speed impossible without his magically enhanced body.

“Shit. There are defenses after all!” He grunted and prepared to fire.

There was a straight line, light blue and slightly glowing, suspended in the air. It was the trajectory of the bullet, calculated with precision by the companion AI. There was a target too, just behind one of the loopholes, where the turret was presumed to be. By symmetry, he knew that there had to be another behind the other loophole.

He squeezed the trigger, and the horrible and loud noise of metal grinding and warping told him that his rod of iron hit its mark. There was no way to know if the shot disabled the turret, though, other than testing it himself. He reloaded the gun, refilling the magazine with the all-purpose iron rods. He had no more tungsten ones available, and he could not make more yet. He stopped for a moment and decided to switch to high velocity, high penetration bullets rather than iron all-purpose ones.

He didn’t shoot at the second turret, instead choosing the hardest way. He took a step forward again, with confidence and a hard look on his face. His eyes were trained on the small hole at the side of the door. When the loud sound of compressed air reached his ears, he was already out of the path of the bullet and immediately fired back and disabled the second turret.

“Compressed air, and probably a heat seeking targeting mechanism. How the fuck does one make this stuff without real technology?” He muttered to himself.

There was a sense of admiration in his voice. And dread. This was not how it was supposed to go, and he knew it.

“Did you get the notification?” Eereen asked.

She studied his face while he turned to look at her.

“What notification?” He asked.

“The bonus experience.” The girl said, and kept looking at him.

“No system, remember?” He said in a condescending voice. “So, what did you get?”

“Five times the experience for destroying a Metalmancer creation, it says.”

“Huh.” Charles muttered, deep in thought.

If he was interested in going in before, now he was so impatient he couldn’t wait.

“Are we safe now?” The elf asked, changing the subject.

“How would I know?” He replied, spreading his arms wide.

He stopped this train of thoughts by concentrating on the mystery of the Metalmancer. He had to be an otherworlder, there was no other explanation. The things shooting at him were guns, and they were using compressed air or gas to fire bullets at high speed with unbelievable accuracy. A primitive person from this world would never be able to even think up such things, especially considering the fact that they used magic rather than technology.

Why bother with guns when you had fireballs or could shoot lightning from your fingertips?

He resumed walking with renewed purpose. There were no more bullets coming at him now, leading him to think that he had disabled all of the defenses that were behind the loopholes. He was sure that he’d find more inside, but at least now he knew what to look out for.

Stepping in, he was surrounded by darkness. There were no lights on the walls of the tower, and all he could see thanks to the light coming from outside was a complex assortment of pipes and brass tubes, with a giant cylinder at the center.

The two broken turrets were placed on the ceiling behind the loopholes, and were now only a mass of mangled and misshapen metal. Their design was interesting, with thick plating to protect them from incoming projectiles and long barrels powered by a set of pipes coming from the ceiling. The magazines were somewhere inside, and he could not see a reloading mechanism, but that was probably because of the damage he inflicted.

There were ramps on the side of the cylinder, next to the thick metal walls, and they went all the way around the central pipe and downwards. He could see them descending at least four meters into the ground. The tower was only the exterior of a much bigger complex, he realized, a complex built inside the very hill that was next to the tower.

He looked up for a moment, staring at the amazing view that was before him. Pipes that were more than a meter thick surrounded the central one like serpents, and smaller brass tubes wormed their way outwards and towards the walls. They got smaller and smaller until they divided into countless tiny tubes right after a valve. The end tubes then disappeared inside the walls in the same positions as the fins outside, before returning to view and coalescing into a big straight pipe going down into the floor.

This was not a simple tower at all. This was a cooling tower and a chimney, used to radiate and dissipate as much heat as possible into the atmosphere. And the heat was still coming from below, as he could feel that some of the pipes were very hot while others were cool and even had droplets of water forming on their surface.

The top of the tower was visible from where he stood, half hidden behind a web of pipes that looked thin and intersecting from this far down but he was sure were quite thick seen from up close. Behind the maze of brass and steel, there was a catwalk and a platform at the top, right where the steam came out of the central pipe. Like a lighthouse, there were glass panels at the sides that allowed a 360-degree view of the surroundings.

It made sense that the people mistook this construction for a mage tower. They had no notion of technology and of the need to dissipate heat in the most efficient way possible, so that a gradient could be used to power machinery. This otherworlder, Charles thought with a chuckle, fooled them all.

“Alright, let’s head inside.” He said chipperly. His mood had improved vastly ever since seeing what laid here.

“What about the tower? Didn’t the wizard live at the top?” Eereen asked.

“Look, I know that you barbarians must think of this man as a wizard or grand mage or whatever, but trust me when I say that this is not magic in the slightest. This, my dear, is the beginning of a technological revolution. This is industry. This is a factory!”

She looked at him without saying anything, but then she smiled warmly. She clearly didn’t understand a word he said, but for some reason she looked quite happy now.

She stepped into the darkness and uttered some words.

“[Aether Wisp]!” She said, and then a small ball of light blue, or rather cyan light appeared floating next to her head.

Charles looked at her, his face contorted in a mix of puzzlement and annoyance.

“A skill, uh? But why did you say the name out loud? It’s not as cool as you may think to do that, you know?”

“I didn’t do it to look cool!” The elf immediately replied.

“Come on, don’t throw a tantrum now.”

“I’m not! Saying it improves efficiency and lowers the mana cost.”

“Ah! So, you copied the ancient, arcane, obscure, ineffable, unknowable, forbidden, dark, dangerous and actually original magic and stole its ways and chants? I see, I see. And the almighty system with its skills and classes lets you do that unpunished?”

She stuck out her tongue.

Charles copied, thanks to the LAI, the skill into a spell of his own and casted it without chanting or doing anything particularly flashy. He just told the LAI to do it and the AI complied. The spell cost him 47MU to produce a ball of light that emitted as much light as a small torch. He then redid the same process but also said the skill’s name out loud and tried to actively weave the mana.

He was surprised to see the cost go down to 43MU just like that. Doing it again brought it to 42.8, and then again it reached 42.5 before he decided to stop. He now had four balls of light he could somewhat mentally feel floating next to him, each a little bit brighter than the previous. The brightness was another aspect he tried to ramp up with each subsequent casting, and it contributed to the mass of data about magic the LAI was digesting as they walked.

Eereen looked at him for a while, and he felt her gaze drill literal holes in the back of his skull but since she didn’t ask, he didn’t say anything.

The ramps led them down and into the ground, revealing a much bigger space. The party emerged from the right-hand ramp, and found themselves before a corridor that ran perpendicularly to the ramps. The first thing that Charles noticed was the floor. It was made entirely out of metal and was dark, spotless and extremely cold. There was no heat coming off of it, and it looked like one single enormous plate put there by forces unknown. Solid, unbreakable.

There were two fortified rooms that looked upon the two ends of the corridor, with small slits and loopholes but otherwise completely closed off to the outside as far as they could see. One was right in front of where they were, at one end of the corridor right in front of the end of the ramp, while the other was in front of the leftmost ramp, with only a corridor leading into the darkness between the two guardrooms.

Charles sighed. Whatever was inside those two rooms was inactive, because he was sure that he would have been in quite the situation otherwise. This Metalmancer was not someone to take lightly, and that was perfectly fine by him.