The only successful expedition to the second continent consisted of eight mages, three warriors, and Idil's late Duke, William van der Weil. This was the first collaboration between Idil and Elway and they took to the skies instead of the seas, resulting in the most advanced airship capable of sustained flight, the Corsair. Consisting of propulsion jets and using dungeon cores as a battery for sustained flight, it was theoretically designed to be able to fly over ten thousand kilometers before needing to be recharged. Protected by the Duke's barrier skill on top of its almost impregnable defense, it withstood any attacks from flying monsters with ease and reportedly tanked a shot from Hercules, one of the terrors in the Eastern seas that reached it despite being a kilometer in the air.

~ An excerpt from the second chapter of Age of Discovery by George 'Sandman' Paul

The robots seemed to recognize them as allies during their battle. Chester and Damien were doing what was called a dick-move, by stealing the kills and taking down the ants while they were distracted by the machines. Although the fact that they were taking the kills of lifeless robots eased any guilt that Damien had for kill-stealing. The experience didn't matter to them anyway.

You have slain Ankheg (Level 9)

You have slain Ankheg (Level 8)

The ankhegs themselves weren't much of a threat. Most were occupied with the machines inhibiting their every move. The scent of blood and guts only served to arouse Damien's bloodlust, but he tried his best to keep it in check.

Chester only needed one to two hits to finish the ants off with his iridescent flail. Damien with the fluidity of a master swordsman cut through their tough legs with ease, dodging mandibles left and right and occasionally checking to see if the robots were taking action against them.

Surprisingly the robots were docile. They didn't attack the two humans, and even during a temporary lull in the battle, the machines did not go into 'Extermination Mode'. Damien sensing a potential opportunity, asked the man fighting beside him for his expertise.

“Chester, do you think you can pretend to be one of the Scrap Bots? Maybe use one of your illusions and order them around?”

The man paused in his steps, before shrugging. He thought it over and saw the potential his proposal held. Giving the vampire a thumbs-up, he responded.

“Sure. I’ll give it a try.”

Chester cast Change Self, going as far as to mimic the voices that he heard from the Scrap Bots. A face comprised of metal along with three orbs for eyes replaced his own, and the automated, metallic voice resonated throughout the cavernous space.

“Soldiers! Obey my command!”

Immediately, every robot in the room paused and turned to the illusionist, ignoring the ankhegs trying to rip them apart as they listened to his every word. Chester hadn't thought that it would work, and his mind temporarily short-circuited when they all listened to him. Seeing their robot allies take on unnecessary damage, he hurried to issue out commands to the compliant machines.

“Uh. Grapple the insects! Do not kill them! Me and…General D, and General C over there,” He pointed at the vampire swordsman and priest. The priest waved his staff uncertainly, seeing the automatons tilt their heads towards them. “-will come and finish them off!”

“Orders received from General.” The machines announced as one, turning to the multi-limbed monsters and resuming the battle.

They dispatched the three dozen ants with ease with them under his command. Of course, some of the robots fell during combat. Whether from repeated damage due to constant mandible bites or being thrown around by the ridiculously strong insects. Christopher watched bemusedly as the machines obeyed the illusionist's commands to the best of their ability.

Taking this chance to get used to wielding the thick plate of orichalcum as a substitute shield, Chester's efficiency had gone down. The two had managed to slay many at once but resulted in no level up due to the massive difference in status. During their week-long trip to Stillwater, they had faced many monsters but took dozens of kills to go over the threshold even once. But they figured that some XP was better than none at all. Christopher barely participated, occasionally fending off an ant that strayed too far from the main battle. He handled himself well.

“Good job team!” His robotic disguise and voice remained, as he hadn’t gotten hit during the battle. Chester tried to give one of the robots a high-five but was saddened by the lack of response. The disguise primarily affected his head, but the rest of his body had a metallic sheen to it.

“Chester, you do realize these things likely aren’t even sentient, right?” Damien said. He saw that his idea worked, but seeing the man attempt to bring up the robot's morale made him think the illusionist was missing a few screws in his head. More than he originally thought, at least.

“That’s what the system wants you to believe. Soldiers! Are there more ants further down?”

Some of them turned to each other, before looking at the man and responding.

“Ankheg burrow. Further ahead. Proceed?”

The illusionist turned to the vampire and the priest. Allying themselves with the robots was an unforeseen development. Christopher looked apprehensively at the mindless golems, seeing that they only listened to Chester’s words as their ‘superior’. He had his staff in a combat-ready position so he could respond if any of them went rogue.

Seeing that his companions had no idea what to do, Chester decided to follow along their intended path. He hoped that this ankheg burrow would lead slightly further up ahead. The illusionist didn't know how these ants fared compared to the ones on Earth but theorized that an anthill led directly up to the surface.

“Onward!”

With a dozen robots under his command, they marched off into the ankheg burrow. Unfortunately, it led even deeper underground. The underground labyrinth was filled with massive ants that could tear a human in half. With his illusion as a light source, they continued through the hostile environment.

On the good side, that meant more XP for the adventuring party.

The robots acted as a buffer from the swarm of insects, giving them the protection and numbers necessary to combat an entire ankheg burrow by themselves. Christopher’s mana had recovered and allowed for greater support, and Damien seemed to adjust better from fighting machines to insects. Their exoskeletons stood no match against the combined might of metal and magic.

Chester decided against using his flail, as he didn’t want to hit his automaton comrades when swinging. The hammer he used had an extremely thin hilt stemming from the adamantine dagger and a large head; an extremely unbalanced weapon that would've been nearly unwieldable by human standards.

For a man that could swing it like a tennis racket, it was the perfect weapon. Chester’s downward swings caved in their exoskeleton with little resistance, making a disgusting splatter of yellowish-green blood. Chester got into a flow, wielding his orichalcum shield and hammer with decent proficiency. He began familiarizing himself with the robots, recognizing ones that tended to orbit him during their siege. One machine, in particular, was heavily damaged having taken several hits to protect their presumed leader. They took the brunt of the ankheg's charge like a fortified wall.

"Good job, Denty! Your efforts are seen, and they are acknowledged!"

The machine didn't respond, likely not recognizing the name it was being repeatedly called by. It tilted its head and saw another crawling towards their 'General', clacking its mandibles together.

“Denty!” Chester cried out, watching as the named automaton fell to the floor after one too many hits. He looked at the ant that had finished his non-sentient comrade off, the veins on his neck throbbing with rage.

A swipe of his hammer sent its head flying, and the massive body fell to the ground, legs twitching pitifully.

You have learned a new skill. Hammer Mastery Level 1

Hammer Mastery Level 1 - Proficiency with hammer-type weapons. Upon equipping a hammer, 5% increase to damage dealt.

“Your death has been avenged.” He muttered quietly, closing his eyes amidst the battle going on around him.

“Is he…alright mentally?” Christopher whispered to the vampire, both of whom witnessed the entire spectacle occur not even two meters away. The two watched the man kneel and pray for the inert scraps on the floor.

Damien shook his head. “He’s a bit special. Forgive him.” The boy hacked off another approaching ant’s leg while responding. He had grown accustomed to the man's theatrics.

Chester immediately noticed a commotion as an extremely large, mutated insect rose from the ranks and began tearing into the robots with mindless ferocity. Substantially larger than the other insectoids, it looked almost like an entirely different species. The illusionist made a face upon seeing its razor-sharp mandibles chewing through tungsten like aluminum.

The group watched as venom spit flew from its mouth, but instead of the sickly green acid, it was a glowing, purple fluid. The robots that came in contact with it turned to stone, and their limbs became brittle enough to break against the smallest of impacts. The lesser ants could break the petrified machine’s limbs with ease, and many fell victim to the evolved ant.

“Isolate the mutant from the rest! I will handle it!”

Chester ordered the robots to clear out the area and to prevent any monsters from interfering. Together with Damien, he fought against the fearsome beast.

It possessed unnatural agility, something that shouldn’t have been possible for a monster its size. The illusionist attacked it head-on as the primary damage dealer, while the young vampire would support his attacks with his own.

The priest watched from behind, keeping an eye on the robots as they did their best to provide ample room for the group to fight. He admired the two’s chemistry, seeing how Damien would flow and react according to the hammer-wielding fighter’s next move. Chester leaped backward to avoid the powerful mandibles, and the boy stepped in, stabbing the monster in its eye while preventing it from pursuing.

It screeched, looking at Damien with rage visible in its singular beady eye. The Ankheg spat out more of the petrifying fluid, and it splashed across his shield with little effect. Seeing the shield was resistant to the magical properties of the liquid, Chester swung his hammer down on its front leg while it was distracted. The limb broke like a twig, and it fell to the floor with reduced mobility.

With almost perfect timing, one of the ankhegs had broken through the defensive formation of robots and lunged for Chester. The illusionist fended off its mandibles with his orichalcum plate. He whipped his hammer to the side and felled it in one hit, but was forced to turn his back on the mutated ant that wanted revenge.

Due to the close distance, the illusionist wasn’t able to dodge the spray of purple liquid and got hit in the arms and torso.

Your body is petrified. Affected limbs are disabled, and have the brittle status effect.

“Shit! Christopher!” His expression was a face of panic. The fluid seeped through his clothes, turning a portion of his back, elbow, and groin into stone. The solidifying substance was nearing his genitalia, and he feared the consequences that came with having a magical venom make contact with his treasured appendage.

'Hehe. Rock hard.' Intrusive thoughts invaded his mind, a coping mechanism for the alarm ringing in his head. Chester sorely wished he wasn't so funny during life-threatening situations.

The man immediately retreated as his limbs seized up and began to turn into stone. Portions of his torso were also turning into rock, but seemed to only work along the surface and didn’t affect his internal organs. Chester hissed in pain, feeling an intense and unpleasant sensation where the petrified and regular skin met. It felt as if his skin was involuntarily contracting, making a pinching sensation in various parts of his body.

Christopher didn’t even hesitate as he watched the olive-skinned man approach. Greater Restore immediately restored his body to normal, but the process had given the man some negative effects on his skin.

“Fuck, it feels really dry.” The places that had been restored were agonizingly itchy, and the illusionist could see that cracks were forming on his skin as an after-effect. "Thanks man, you saved my ass. And cock. And bal-"

“Chester, I don’t have much in my reserves. Do you want to play it safe or for me to use Spiritual Weapon right now?”

He looked at him oddly. Chester answered almost immediately. “The hell type of question is that? Use the damn hammer of course!”

To him, finishing the mutant off as soon as possible would have less resource consumption. He dived back into battle, as he could see Damien struggle against the mutant on his lonesome. Parts of his steel boots were petrified, weighing him down even further. The vampire braced himself as it charged towards him.

“MANA BLAST!” Chester roared, sending a miniature ball of energy careening at his foe. It hit the injured mutant dead-on, giving Damien the breathing room he needed to launch a spell of his own and to avoid being cornered between the wall of robots.

“Darkfire! Shadow Bolt!”

It exploded on the monster’s head, and it screeched in pain. The boy’s spells both damaged and paralyzed the great beast. Christopher chipped in with an attack of his own.

“Spiritual Weapon.”

The hammer materialized right above the stunned ant, smashing down on its exoskeleton and shattering the armor which guarded its insides. It was helpless, unable to combat the sheer impact from above. The mandibles clattered menacingly as the adventurers approached, trying to coat them in its petrifying fluid.

Chester took this chance and swung his hammer in a downward arc while Damien ran his sword through its other eye, finishing the mutated ankheg once and for all.

You have slain Mutated Greater Ankheg (Level 28)

You have leveled up! You are now level 23.

“Let’s go! I leveled up!”

He put all his points into INT once again, wondering if there was a reward for reaching 100 points. It brought his base total to 93, but with the multiplier, items, and perks, it was at 159. Chester could tell his mental faculties had grown exponentially since his time in the forest. Although it didn’t manifest itself as genius-level intellect, he noticed his adaptability and judgment had risen to another level. Not only did it expand his capabilities, but the speed at which he could think. He could weigh several different options during a split-second of battle.

“Same here. I suppose my chance to select a class is coming soon.” Damien sighed, relaxing as he saw the ankhegs retreat after the death of their presumed leader. He split his points between INT and END, wanting a mix between survivability and more mana to keep Mana and Dark Infusion activated.

Put 5 points in END & INT?

Y/N

This brought the vampire's totals in both categories up to 54 and 77, respectively.

The battle calmed down, but it was not without losses. Their numbers had been reduced to single digits, and the machines were picking up the fallen pieces of their comrades. Chester picked up the skull of Denty and sighed sadly. The heavily damaged cranium showed no signs of life.

“Mourn our brethren, and use this as fuel to fight off these damned ankhegs!” He roared, raising Denty’s head above his own. For a brief moment, he felt like a revolutionary. A man fighting for a cause greater than himself, and every fallen comrade (Denty) fueled him even more.

The robots stared at him wordlessly, and he quickly grew embarrassed. Chester joined the rest of his party resting within the Aura of Vitality’s radius. Damien looked at the man how one would when viewing a pile of garbage.

“So…by any chance, are you good at cooking?” The illusionist asked the priest. He wanted the man onboard. His spells had provided them with an insane amount of support; saving Chester and Damien during life-threatening situations. He couldn’t imagine continuing without the presence of a priest in their party.

“No, not in particular. Why?”

“I’ll keep it straight with you. Won’t you consider joining me and Damien? We’d love to have somebody like you keeping us alive. Surely we can employ you for a long-term mission?”

The priest seemed somewhat surprised at the offer but shook his head. “Although it's possible to hire priests for your party, I've retired from active duty. The only reason I'm doing this is to help with the mine. You'll be better off with one of our deacons. Inexperienced, but they'll be better than an old man like me eventually.”

He seemed to have mistaken Chester for younger than he is. Although he wasn’t sure, the illusionist figured he was at most fifteen years younger. It was about the same age difference between him and Damien.

“That’s not true! I mean, look at me and him,” He pointed at the vampire. “We both leveled up so quickly, you’d be able to get stronger if you’re going with us. Besides, we need diversity. Having an old person who talks about, I don't know, the good old days is important for our group dynamic.”

“That’s the problem; I won’t. I haven't leveled up in years, and even this little adventure won't be sufficient unless we come across a dozen of these monsters. ”

Chester’s eyes bugged out. “You mean after beating two super bots and a mutated ant you didn’t get enough to go up?”

“I’m level forty-one. Receiving level-ups when I'm not in active service is near impossible unless I’m fighting off monsters at my level. Even then, I don't get much because of my role as support usually.”

Chester felt like he was undermining his contributions. The man's hammer strikes dealt massive damage and provided opportunities for the two to deal even more. The illusionist didn't know whether it was from experience or if the priest was just being humble.

The vampire was cleaning his sword, stained with the green blood of the ankhegs they fought. “Understandable. Most people don’t even reach level twenty before the end of their lives. Those who hit their second level milestone are cream of the crop. Having a support class reach level forty is exceptional enough as it is.”

Christopher nodded his head. “The only reason I went here was that it was actually on behalf of the villagers. If the bishop didn’t approve I wouldn’t have joined. Please understand.”

The man sighed. He knew that others didn’t have the drifter mentality as he did. Even Damien had a purpose in his travels. Chester didn’t. Although he knew that he could make a decent living with a career, safe in the confines of a village or a city, it didn’t satisfy that itch in his soul. One way or another, he would find his normal lifestyle lacking. The illusionist decided to move on and hope that a talented chef with support skills would be willing to join them in their travels later on.

“Well, I suppose there’s no convincing you. Anyway, should we start heading back and look for a different tunnel now?”

The robots were almost done cleaning up and stored most of the scraps in their chest cavity. They seemed to be leaving, returning to the tunnels. He hoped they wouldn't question the corpse of the Scrap Bot, which upon closer inspection, was likely sent as something to combat the mutated ankheg they had just fought. Judging by their natural strengths and weaknesses, the Scrap Bot surely would've come out on top unless it was overrun by dozens of the insect monsters at once.

“Wait, where are you guys going?”

One of them turned to him, missing an arm. “Repair and recycle. We will return to complete the mission.”

“Which is?”

“Terminate the ankhegs.” It said, before continuing along with the rest of the machines into the tunnels. Chester looked at his party and they all shrugged, seemingly confused about what just happened.

They decided to stay there for a bit longer, just enough to restore themselves to peak condition. It has now been a few hours since they delved into the tunnels.

“Come to think of it, I forgot to apologize for dragging you into this, Priest Engel,” Damien said. He felt some amount of guilt for tipping off this series of events with his desire to help the villagers. In a way, it was much worse than anything Chester had done; his actions had put them in a perilous situation deep underground. All because of his 'savior complex' as Chester aptly put.

“I cannot blame you. It was a misjudgment on my end, perhaps we should have enlisted the help of the Idil soldiers to complete this.”

The vampire made a face upon the Idil army being referenced. Memories of the beaten girl beneath the sadistic soldier had stirred up anger in his usually placid heart.

“I do not like them. Their actions have brought a lot of pain and suffering, intentional or not.”

Christopher shook his head. “I know. Those warmongers only chase profit and power, uncaring of the people that suffer in the process. But they're more suited for large-scale subjugation missions like these.”

“Not just that,” Damien interjected. “One of the miner’s children, I-we had to intervene when we saw a soldier beating one of them. It was horrible. It's one of the reasons why I don't want them here.”

The priest narrowed his eyes. “Is that so? I suppose I’ll have to let my superiors know about Idil’s actions. Our church will not intervene directly, but we could gather some forces to help shield the townspeople from such travesties.”

Chester yawned, uncaring about the plights of others. His mind wandered from their current topic and imagined the armor and equipment that could be forged with the metals he's collected so far.

‘I wonder, should I rock scale armor? Or maybe just plated? I’m pretty sure I can still move pretty damn fast with sixty pounds of armor on me…’

He acknowledged that sacrificing mobility was necessary. There are times when he wouldn’t be able to react to a projectile and needed something that could shield him from any magical attacks like the petrifying liquid from earlier. He wondered if adamantium's properties negated such effects, or if mithril and orichalcum were viable options to combat those as well.

The group got up, deciding to return down the path they came from. It was completely barren aside from the footprints of the robot army that marched through. They quickly encountered another group of machines. Unlike the others, this one was led by a Scrap Bot.

It wasn’t one of the original groups that they had encountered. Unlike the past robots, it wasn’t in prime shape; missing one of its limbs. One of its remaining arms looked like the barrel of a gun.

“Intruders. Attack!”

“Wait!” Chester flipped back to his metallic disguise. His eyes became circular orbs, and his hair disappeared completely. Every part of his skin mimicked the scraps the robots were made of. “We’re allies!”

“Ally? Confirm your identity?” It beeped out, tilting its head. The lesser robots surrounding it had paused, uncertain of their next move.

“Uh…I’m. General. 03-P. A. New. Proto. Type.” He decided to tweak his voice and speak robotically. Chester felt ridiculous.

Damien and Christopher were sweating madly, ready to bolt at a moment’s notice if the man’s ploy didn’t work. The vampire had his hand in the middle of drawing the sword from its sheath, and Christopher gripped his staff so hard his knuckles were turning white. The automaton looked at him unflinchingly. It stepped towards him, brushing past the minions and bending over to meet the man’s gaze. Signs of damage were visible once it got closer. The dim lighting of the tunnel only served to make it more menacing.

“Prototype? You are odd. I cannot trust that information. Behind you are biological organisms. Elric has not informed us. Of any biologically-inclined allies.”

“No. They. Are. Proto. Types. As. Well. Human. Models.” He gestured to the two, making a fake sign appear on his back that told them to act like robots. Chester didn't flinch upon hearing fluent English when they said their creator's name, fighting his best to keep cool. Every inch of experience he gained in his past life and the current one was used, trying to find a way of getting out of this situation without a bloodbath. Although he wasn't as averse to conflict as before, he wasn't foolish enough to think that this was a winnable battle.

Christopher, understanding his intent and reading the sign, played along. “Exterminate. Ankhegs.” The man's expression was carefully blank, but a few drops of sweat was visible on his face.

The vampire looked at them like they were both insane, but decided to play along for their continued survival. “Ankhegs. Bad.” He said tiredly.

The Scrapyard Robot stared at them for a moment longer, before returning to the illusionist. “What is our creator’s birthday?”

“This. Test. Is. A. Farce.” Chester said, maintaining the act as best as he could. “We. Are. Assigned. To. Support. Your. Forces. To. Terminate. The. Ankhegs.”

Fate smiles upon you. +1 LUC

It seemed to do the trick, as the massive machine backed off, despite him avoiding the question of their creator's birthday. The illusionist was thankful but refused to let go of his disguise in the process.

“Our forces will be returning to the base. I have slain the General in this nest, but it needs to be cleared out. Complete it.”

Without another word, the spider-legged robot moved on. Several robots walked past them, not even glancing at them. They all showed signs of damage from battle, carrying portions of scrap metal from fallen comrades. Chester and the group continued forward into another ankheg nest, but this one was almost empty.

The 'General' that it was talking about had its mutilated corpse deeper in the burrow. The surroundings smelled like smoke, and traces of scorched earth meant that Scrapyard Robot likely possessed some fire magic at its disposal. Seeing how the mutated insectoid was charred black, Chester could imagine the barrel appendage was some sort of flamethrower.

“I can’t believe it actually worked.” Damien breathed. He looked at the massive ant carcass, seeing that its head had been burnt to a crisp; a grisly death.

“Wow. You never have any confidence in me. Where’s my thank you?”

The vampire waved him off. “Fine, fine. Your stupid luck is singlehandedly keeping us alive. Happy?”

“Besides that, your ability to think on the fly is exceptional. Good job, Chester.” Christopher was heaping praises on him, making the man puff up his chest slightly.

“All in a day’s work. Honestly, I should’ve thought about it sooner.”

The illusionist realized that every robot they encountered was susceptible to tricks. Whether it was limited intelligence or their inability to differentiate between the mana from illusions and other robots, Chester knew that his illusions worked with great effectiveness.

"But their leader...Elric, was it? What an odd name. Seems like a foreign language." The blonde priest commented. He seemed deep in thought, likely thinking back to see if any noteworthy people had that name. Chester didn't say anything, opting to stay quiet unless the situation needed him to reveal his status as an Earthling. He didn't know why, but it was a force of habit to keep things secret. Chester didn't know the implications that came with such a revelation.

His thoughts focused on his new skill, which seemed to have received enough experience to reach a new stage.

Change Self has evolved into Alter Self

Alter Self (Level 1) - Assume a different form. You can change key features along with size. Illusion cannot be applied if extremely different to base shape. A maximum of two targets can hold Alter Self. -10 MP/min, No cooldown. A damage value of over 100 will dispel the illusion.

“Guys, I think I found a way to keep us off the grid.” A Cheshire's grin appeared on his face as he read the description of his newly evolved spell.