It had been one week since Zenos left Adheim Village. Cold afternoons joined cold mornings with the turn of the season. The sky was always a pea-soup gray of thick clouds and what sunlight shined hardly brightened the day. At night, howling wind storms lashed the tents and threatened to rip their stakes from the ground.

Presently, Mad sat with Zenos on the frostbitten hill overlooking automaton valley.

“What do you think they’re doing?” Zenos asked Mad.

He hummed and tucked his arms against his chest. A wisp of his breath passed through the air. “I don’t know for sure, but….” He frowned at Zenos and continued. “Sometimes I encounter spirits that don’t know they’re dead. Maybe the Automatons realized what they were. If you discovered that you were a machine, would you stay in the dungeon? Would you not look outside? And, if you compared the beauty of life to yourself, you might understand what it was that you lost. Those automatons that stand slumped beside the trees; perhaps, they’re too depressed to move. Those that carry the leaves are just…

“Burying their friends.”

“If you discovered you were a machine, huh?”

A gust of wind rattled the branches and scattered their fallen leaves. It disturbed the leaf piles and revealed the bronze automatons entombed within. Those few that walked began repairs on the largest piles, one handful of leaves at a time.

“Are you going to try fighting again?” Mad asked.

Zenos nodded. “Do you mind heading back to camp?”

Mad made a thin smile. “Don’t want to embarrass yourself?”

“I’ve practiced a bit,” Zenos said. “But I’d feel better without that smile of yours watching over my shoulder.”

Mad patted him on the shoulder and stood up. “Very well,” he said. The seasoned adventurer leaned into his walking stick and brushed the leaves off his pants. “Just don’t die.”

“I’ll be back soon.”

“I’ll give you until nightfall before I start looking for you,” Mad said as he turned up the hill.

This could get bloody, Zenos thought. I would prefer he not know that I’m a player. He slid down the hill only after Mad was safely out of sight.

He already knows my bruises heal quickly, but I can make excuses for that. Zenos removed and folded his coat. It would be harder to explain away a crushed arm healing in minutes. He set the coat down among the leaves. It’s easier to hide a bloody shirt beneath my coat than it is to return to camp soaked in my own blood.

“Now then,” he said and opened his player menu. “Let’s get started.”

Zenos had a total HP of 80, due to his 100 constitution. That could only be changed with a level up or via buffs, such as from constitution enhancing food. He had latched a canteen of freshly-made beef broth to his belt and stuffed a bite of survival bar in his pocket. They would increase his strength and constitution by 500 respectively, but only one well-fed buff could be active at a time. To increase his base statistics, he would have to level up.

The process involved gathering Experience from killing creatures, be they NPC or Monster. Once a set exp value had been reached, the character would be provided with a level up. Each level up awarded 100 total stat points, but only a maximum of 50 could be placed in any one stat category per level up.

Strength, Constitution, Intelligence, Agility, Charisma, and Spirit; six stats determine my absolute limits with regard to power, durability, speed, and wit. I was reluctant to use the level ups before, but now that I know just how low 100 constitution is, I see I have no choice.

Zenos opened the character menu and pressed the small + icon near his paper doll avatar. When he was done adding stats, he had become level 8 and they appeared as follows:

[Strength: 450]

[Constitution: 450]

[Intelligence: 100]

[Agility: 100]

[Charisma: 100]

[Spirit: 100]

There’s the matter of my hidden quest reward, he thought and switched to the rewards window. From what I’ve read, quest rewards are pre-determined and known before accepting a quest. In this case, not only did I not know there would be a reward, but the description window is filled with bizarre symbols. The picture is blurred with a question mark. Someone is making fun of me.

“I’ll worry about that later,” Zenos said and cracked his knuckles against his palm. He stretched his legs and his arms, and shook the arms out as he took deep breathes. He bounced in place and jabbed the air.

Even with those level ups, I have only 360 HP.

He pulled the bite of survival bar from his pocket and scarfed it down.

And now, I have 680 HP. It’s not enough to make the difference, but it’ll do. One attack will deal 700 non-lethal damage. When that damage exceeds my current HP, I lose consciousness, but it’s always counting down. More HP means I wake up minutes later instead of hours.

“My objective is to destroy an automaton and retrieve Mad’s knife,” Zenos said, hyped himself. “Failing at destroying an automaton, I’ll retrieve the knife and fall back.”

I have five things I can count on. The Dodge System, the Block System, the Parry System, and the Critical System. Zenos opened wide his reptilian eyes. And the Eyes of the Emperor, which I can use three times a day.

Now!

[At-Will Ability: True Eyes of the Emperor Activated.]

Zenos’ orange eyes shined. The landscape of pale-yellow leaves and tall white trunks speckled in black was became vibrant in colors of blue and red. The blue and black regions, mostly in the air, had a low to negative mana presence while the bright red lines inside the automatons corresponded to a high concentration.

Though my eyes have changed since my previous incarnation, they can still reveal the presence of mana. And while these automatons have no eyes to manipulate, they cannot hide what circulates through their cogwheels.

In humans, dwarfs, elves, and most animals, mana circulated through the blood veins. Animated creatures had different mana structures, depending on the magics and methods employed. The automatons in the valley appeared to have a circulatory system similar to humans, but the nexus of that system—what would be the heart in a human—appeared much larger in Zenos’ mana-sensing eyes.

“Strange,” Zenos thought aloud. “I wouldn’t have expected mana to be distributed in such a way, but that makes it all the easier. I’ll fight them like I would an NPC. If I aim for the bright spots in their mana circulation, I can deal critical damage.”

Or so the manual says.

Zenos noticed a new icon in the top right corner of his HUD. Beside the Well-Fed buff was a second buff. [Eyes of the Emperor: Mana Sensing. 7 Minutes remaining.]

I can’t waste time.

He balled his hands in fists and ran through the upper valley. He searched the automatons until he found one with a black stick stuck in the stomach of its orange-red outline. It was the knife Zenos had left lodged in the torso. The automaton, preoccupied with its leaves, didn’t react to his presence. Zenos dashed in and jabbed its side with a right hook.

[You have dealt 10 damage to the lower left torso] reported the system in his head. It still used the voice of the demon emperor.

I did it!

The automaton dropped its leaves and spun, arms-wide, in immediate retaliation. Zenos ducked below the swing. [You have dodged] the system reported. [You have gained 5% additional agility.]

Dodging! Zenos thought as he weaved around the automaton’s swings and punches. The Dodge System increases the player’s agility by 5%, up to 50% for each successful dodge. That means I’ll only get a bonus of 50 after ten of these attacks, but every bit helps.

[You have dodged. You have gained a total of 50% additional agility.]

Zenos dropped back, away from a swing, but when he thought he was safe, the automaton stepped forward and twirled again. This time its bronze sleeves cracked open and released a rope of mithril muscles that doubled the length of its arms. It swung its hands like flails.

Zenos’ eyes rounded and he braced his raised arm. The mithril rope collided with his forearm and crunched his bone.

[Your forearm was hit for 200 (400) non-lethal damage. 50% was mitigated by blocking. Dodge bonus lost.]

Zenos stumbled backward. Non-lethal? he wondered and looked at his left arm, which dangled at his side. It broke my forearm and dislocated the shoulder. Is the system really so damn technical? It’s going to say that’s not lethal?!

An improved constitution helped Zenos stay focused despite the agony of the damage, but as the fight dragged on and the automaton pressed him toward the hill, the pain wore heavily on his mind. His boat was taking on water, he was about to sink.

I can’t block like that again. I can dodge all I want, but I can only make attacks with the one arm. Zenos’ eyes flit to the automaton’s health bar, it had barely moved. My only path to victory is in that knife!

The Friend’s Trusted Knife, which had been buried so effectively in the automaton’s gut, had a base damage of 10. This was significantly higher than the base damage of Zenos’ fists: 1. In their first encounter, Zenos didn’t have the strength to damage the automaton’s armor, but he had leveled up since then.

The automaton lashed Zenos with its arms. He ducked beneath them and slid inside its guard. With his working hand, Zenos took hold of the knife and pried, again, at the plate that sealed its chest. The plate creaked, it buckled, and the lock snapped. Its door swung open!

Zenos’ sight was still dominated by the red and blue highlights of his mana sense. He couldn’t differentiate between the many mana-infused gears and cogs he saw. The bright light in the upper left torso, a radiant red gem strung with mithril wires, was the objective he sought. It was also, clearly, the power source; its most critical point.

The automaton thrashed at Zenos and he retreated. Meanwhile it swung like a windmill and tore the forest floor with every rotation of its flailing arms. Zenos flipped the knife into a reverse grip.

This is my limit, he thought and charged between the whirling arms. If I can’t cut out its heart, I can’t call myself an adventurer!

The automaton changed patterns as soon as he was in range. It turned on its gimbal and swung the arms counter clockwise. They flew toward Zenos at two different angles. If he didn’t block the first arm, it would hit his head, and if he did block, the second arm would crush his leg. In that moment, Zenos estimated his odds of success; blocking meant failure, dodging meant failure, and retreat meant failure. He had one option: Parry!

Zenos swung his knife to protect his head. The automaton’s arm intercepted the blade and sheared itself on the steel. The mithril came unbound in an effervescent spaghetti and the automaton’s fist was severed. Its arm had been cut in half.

[You received 0 (400) non-lethal damage to the right hand. Successful parry negated all damage. Automaton collided with the knife and received collision damage. 300 critical damage dealt.]

Zenos’ eyes brightened and he looked up. A third of the automaton’s HP had been removed. For a moment, he felt elated. Then the second arm smashed his left leg.

[You received 400 non-lethal damage to the left leg. You are crippled.]

He didn’t need an icon in the corner of his screen to know that his movement speed was reduced by 75%. Zenos was on the ground, gasping for air. He rolled onto his stomach and stuck the knife in the ground. He pulled himself as best he could, tried to crawl from the automaton’s reach.

[You received 400 non-lethal damage to the back. You are unconscious.]