PAL.ADIN

3

I shouldn't be awake right now.

I should be dead.

Yet here I am, still next to the dead wolf.

I touch my eye- specifically the left one, the one that had bursted during the fight. I pull my fingers back finding that nothing's there- just a blue liquid. Golem blood- or liquid mana, in this case. I look at the corpse- it's perfectly preserved after all this time. No flies to infest it, and this environment is somewhat sterile. I try to stand up, yet I find my legs wobbling and struggling.

I crawl to my sword, using it as a cane. I see something glinting- is this the 'treasure' that the wolf was guarding? I limp over there, holding onto the wall for support. It takes me several minutes- almost collasping out of exhaustion. I collaspe at the pile- it holding treasures I'm sure I can't even wield at my current state. "Exam..ine." I struggle to speak- perhaps he speared through my throat. I focus the words on the most pecuilar object in the pile, a cross necklace, or more specifically, the cross.

The Unyielding's Pendant Effects Unknown It has seen better days, yet never falters in it's purpose.

Igorning that for now, I grab a mana potion scattered among the pile of gold and various equipment. I rip it open, chugging it down in one shot. Health potions surely wouldn't work on an inorganic, after all. I can feel my 'flesh' reforming and reshaping, my veins becoming flushed with mana. I feel envigorated, yet I know that I shouldn't get ahead of myself. Searching among the pile, there's a ring. Small, but almost unnoticable to the human eye. Except, of course, I'm not human.

"Examine."

Dimensional Ring Holds an entire dimension's worth of items. Appears empty.

Who just piles up shit like this and never uses it? They must be mad. I slip it on my finger, finding that it adjusts to it very quickly. I absorb the entire pile of loot, seeing as there's not anything more of interest- only common items you would find in a fantasy world such as this- only gold and potions. As it sucks up everything, I grip the necklace tightly in my hands, before deciding to slide it on.

I feel no different, really. Perhaps it activates based on condition. I stand up, sheathing my sword. I'm suprised that a regular rusted sword does the job so well- maybe it's just the manipulation of 'fate' that helps it slash and find its mark. I look at the body- the crystal. I don't evern know where it is, but.. the fur of that should do nicely. I'll have to 'store' it, since I don't have a skinning knife.

I sigh to myself, because this isn't a very paladin-like appearence. Not that I cared for it, but I'm sure Fransica would. I can use this money to buy a good set of armor, though. I should get this sword cared for too, before it breaks. The body disappears in front of me as it's sucked into the ring- how jarring. This can't be too common of an item, right?

I should study myself to correct my mistakes.

I replay.

I watch.

I learn.

I think I've already headed down the path of madness. Being alone must have done things to me. I've deluded myself to believing fate exists so much I created a concept of manipulating it.

In the name of all that is holy, I'm fucking insane.

Might as well go with it.

I flick off as much blood as I can, leaving only minor parts of myself slightly covered in blood. I look like a murderer, but not too much like one. I look around, to see if I missed anything in this massive room. I wander around, at a faster rate no longer shackled down by injuries. I hear something crumbling- the dungeon, without its boss, is collasping? That doesn't make sense. Most dungeons have 'cores' but this one doesn't.. ah, wait. I forgot. This isn't even a dungeon.

I see a portal of white light open nearby. I sprint at it, dashing at mad speeds I had never reached before, because a robot can't run without a body. The crumbling of the dungeon sends debris down everywhere, and I pray to the almighty Storyteller- or at least, almighty here, I would make it out alive and mostly unharmed.

Skill Unlocked Self-Bless Bless yourself with power.

At this time, at this moment, now is when they want to give me a notification?

I close it, and barrel through the portal.

My senses are jarred by entering a open space, for I had been trapped in that reality for days- or what appeared to be days. The sky seems no different from when I entered. I look around myself- I've been doing a lot of looking, lately. It's a dense forest, akin to where I originally spawned at.

I need to find the nearest town- theres only so much I can handle. Madness had already taken ahold of me for a while in that empty place similar to a 'dungeon.' I walk around, admiring the nature of the world. It had been so long since I saw true 'nature' and not something simulated. The birds whistle and chirp as if everything is fine with the world, something I haven't thought of in ages.

I walk by the grand trees, towering yet elegant in their presence. The elves' work, perhaps. I hear the river flowing gently, as I come closer to it. I can wash everything here, I suppose.

"All those stories about AIs cherishing nature.. well, I suppose the stereotype does come from somewhere." I sigh as I sit down, noticing that the water had a slight glint to it. Mana-infused water? No wonder why the forest was so plentiful. I unsheath my sword, putting the tip in the water for just a slight second. The rust on that part dissolves and washes away into the stream. I end up tossing the whole sword in the water, just to cover the whole thing better. I pull out the empty mana flask- or, really, just a flask now, and bottle some of it. It could be useful later on.

After several minutes of washing and maintaing, my sword looks like it had taken on a similar glow to the water. "Examine."

Dull Bastard Sword 30-40 Attack A sword that has been washed in mana-water. It has taken on some of the properties of it, but only briefly and thus is just able to be handled better. The rust has been cleaned off, but it is still dull.

Well, I didn't expect anything special. Looks like it's just a regular sword- but I still don't know what the 'attack' stat is. If I soaked it for longer, maybe it would become stronger. But I don't have the time for that, nor am I going to absorb the whole river just to make my strength grow just by a tiny bit. I decide to take a sip of the mana-water, to see if it would give me a stamina boost. It does, but not enough to matter. How saddening- but it makes for quite the refreshing drink.

I grab my sword, sheathing it. I brush off any leaves and debris, and decide to follow the river downstream. This is technically still medieval, and I would be surprised if this river doesn't lead to a town. The flowing river is quite relaxing, welcome respite after losing my eye, fighting through things I was heavily unequipped for.. has my eye even grown back?

I touch the socket where my left eye should be. It's there, but I can't see out of it. I continue downstream, wondering what I'd do when I finally talked to someone that wasn't myself.. why do I not see the inherent problem within talking to myself?

I finally see something, but I am in no rush to get there. It looks to be a big city, and the gates are definitely not this way. As I approach the town, I think of who would be there. Fransica? No, she must be somewhere else. I take a turn to the left as the stone-like wall becomes ever so closer. If I go on the main path, I wouldn't be seen as too suspicious.. or, I assumed so. The dirt path converts into something more.. solid, as I approach the main gates. I need to study the local metallurgy here- all these unknown substances has me too intrigued.

I continue walking down, creating an ever-expanding mental checklist of what I need to do. Maybe I should just focus on the present, but that's what a normal person would say. I'm neither a person nor normal at this point.. and that should worry me a whole lot more than it does right now.

In fact, I feel as if I've lost my 'goals' since coming here. I was supposed to meet up with Fransica, yet haven't even thought of logging out and just contacting her. I haven't even pulled up my character sheet, for fuck's sake. I'm a player, after all. I might as well see my stats now.

"Stats."

Race: Imperfect Golem Class: Blessed Paladin Faith: Supreme God STR: 104 MAG: 326 Blessed: Condition met. END: 203 WIS: Unable to calculate. Champion: Condition not met. AGI: 56 WILL: 0-Infinite Avatar: Condition not met.

I get the feeling that I shouldn't have opened this.

Some of this feels wrong- I don't even know what half of these stats mean.

WIS.. Wisdom? Unable to calculate? Perhaps it's simply because i'm an AI.

My infinite will? Chalked up to Will of Steel, which doesn't even work half of the time.

My magic stats is way off the charts, maybe to extensive fate manipulation.

Endurance is probably just gained by me getting hit a shit ton.

Yeah.. no, I can't even explain to myself why my stats are so jacked. I close the window, approaching the gates. I see several guardsmen, well-armed and ready for battle. There seems to be no standard, or perhaps the standard is whatever you're skilled with- at least in terms of weaponry. They seem to be wearing chainmail and a helmet covering their faces, those with shields bearing the coat of arms of a nation unknown to me. There are several more lining the walls- surely this must be quite a developed town.

I see one of them approaching me, perhaps to wonder what a golem was doing all the way here.. is this even Elven territory anymore? It can't be.

"A roc- golem, all the way out here? State your buisness or begone from the great walls of Caldria." It was clearly a male, his voice was deep and masculine. His armor was well maintained- so was his halberd. Fine details about the guard usually point out the status about the city. Bad guard, bad city. My logic is one hundred percent not flawed.

"Paladin. I come here to pray to my god." Surely not the most unrealistic answer, but it should work well enough for me to get through.

"The gods, choosing one that doesn't even have a soul? Don't think me a fool, rock-man. You are built from the earth that mankind shaped!" He laughed a laugh of a madman, laughing so hard he lets go of his halberd. I hear the rest either crack up- or seem uncomfortable themselves.

Right.. I'll do an overdramatic chant to prove to him I am a paladin.

"O' supreme one who gives me strength.."

"May you purge the fools that challenge you."

I cast Bless under my breath, to fool them even more. The holy aura, white as snow yet warm to the body as the fire of the hearth, seems to panic the guards. They look at each other before looking at the fool who had challenged me.

"W-wait, I have made a mistake! Please, forgive me for my sins! I go to temple every Sunday to worship the Light God! My lord, do not summon the wrath of the gods on us! I beg of you!" I see him tremble, dropping to his knees in an instant. I cancel Bless on myself, the holy aura surrounding me dissipates as I stare him in his eyes. His will not even strong enough to stare back, as I walk past him into the open gates.

Light God? Who the hell is that? Eh, must be one of the Storyteller's minions.

I look at the city square- there are shops, food stands- something you would find normally. What's here doesn't interest me, however. I need to find a blacksmith- but picking up some potions wouldn't hurt either.. but I need to get out of here. I look at the nearest inn- The Sterling Dragon. I wonder if I'll ever meet any dragons, it wouldn't hurt to become a dragonslayer.

I walk up to the counter, avoiding stares as much as I could. It seems to be fairly populated- for being in the middle of the damn city, I wouldn't expect anything else. I catch the attention of a young girl, seemingly the innkeeper's daughter or how the trope goes. "How much for a night?" She stares at me- I guess golems truly aren't common anywhere. "Ten gold a night." I yank out a coin that had a 100 on it from the loot pile I found. "I'll stay here ten nights, then."

She nods, and motions for me to follow her. She shows me one of the several rooms, and has me prick my thumb on it. How interesting of a locking mechanism. I look back at her- and she's gone. Thinking of it, why can't I remember her appearence? It's as if everyone here has magical abilities..

I sigh, looking at my room. It's quite decent, but this is of course me not knowing the standard prices of anything. I lay down on the bed, covering myself and turning off the convenient magic lamp.

"Log out."

I feel something jarring- like swapping between two locations all at once. I look at the time- it's already four in the morning. Fransica should be sleeping, and she is- soundly in her room.

I need to talk to her anyway, we were supposed to meet up. But I need to do some research too- and find a way to make sure I don't get too immersed. Something is definitely wrong with me, and I can't figure out how..

I research.

I learn.

I adapt.

And the morning sun rises.