Too Stubborn to Die

Book 4: Chapter 14

As the robot calmly paced toward Aaron, its mechanical arms unfolded and began to spin. Its fingers then flipped backward, creating stumps at the ends of its hands, and a moment later, blades flicked out of the sides of the steps and began to rotate.

“Initiating termination protocol.”

The menacing robot was like something out of a pre-integration nightmare. But this wasn’t pre-integration. And Aaron Dober wasn’t an ordinary man.

However, a second later, his eyes widened as a red force field flickered around the robot.

“Engage!”

Before it had even finished speaking, it was speeding toward him like a bullet train.

The robot moved with surprising elegance, and fluidly threw itself into Its deadly bladed, attack with its spinning arms. Unfortunately for it, the impressive attack harmlessly passed through Aaron as he engaged [Wraith Phase ].

His newly mutated Skill might have cost him a travel Skill, which he hadn’t meant for at the time. But it had already proven its worth, and it continued to do so as he phased through the robot’s attacks one after another.

In fact, he decided to toy with the robot for a little. It was, quite frankly, good to get a little training in with his new Skill. The assistants had provided him with some foundation, but they were so strong he really had to focus on the fight. This robot, however? Well, he could take a few liberties

Timing was the major deciding factor in how well he could employ his new Skill. And while he was somewhat of a master of timing already, a little sparring never hurt.

After all, if he could shorten the duration he kept the Skill activated while still avoiding incoming damage, it would massively improve the Skill. The truth was, when he had the Skill activated for only a split second, it was quite incredible. Allowing him to perfectly pass through enemy attacks for a respectable amount of mana. But if he held it for even a few seconds at a time, it quickly started to drain on him, even with his incredible energy reserves.

As Aaron practiced phasing and dodging, the robot seemed to be getting increasingly frustrated. He wasn’t sure if it actually had feelings or anything. But at the very least, it has some kind of programming that told it to go harder.

Its red eyes flashed brightly, and an additional four curled, spider-like arms unfolded from its back to join the fray.

If its attacks had been fast and relentless before, it had just multiplied its attacks, and the result was nothing short of impressive.

“You know, you’re not a bad sparring partner. For a robot,” Aaron said. “If me and Mo’han ever decide to go at it again, this is gonna be useful data.”

The robot’s eyes flashed brightly again, and it seemed to speed itself up. But it was going to need a serious upgrade if it wanted to hit Aaron. Because it wasn’t just his new Skill that was setting him apart from the machine. It was how he was blending the Skill into everything he already knew.

The more he used [Wraith Phase ], the more seamlessly he wove it into his fate reading and the rest of his timing, speed, and precision.

If Aaron had been hard to hit before, then this addition of his new Skill, [Wraith Phase ],pushed that evasiveness up to a whole new level.

It was almost unfair when he thought about it. To struggle so hard to hit someone, and then they could just heal, or even resurrect? He almost felt bad for future enemies.

Fighting Aaron Dober wasn’t going to be fun.

As he continued to dodge and phase, he decided to activate [ Gorgon’s Soul Vortex ] for purely experimental reasons. With his time dilation activated, it made using [Wraith Phase ]

even easier. The timing of the Skill while time itself had been slowed down was beyond easy. However, [ Gorgon’s Soul Vortex ] was still very energy expensive, and even though the Skill allowed him to save some energy when phasing, thanks to his perfect timing, it wasn’t enough to make up for the use of the Skill itself being activated.Still, the fact that the Skills worked so well together was no minor boon. It likely had little use during one-on-one fights, unless perhaps the enemy he was up against had a staggering speed advantage. However, where this synergy would truly shine was when he was forced to face off against many opponents at once.

That said, as important as training his phasing into his style was, level 110 wasn’t too far away. And that meant he had to think about what Skill unlocks he wanted, even if his experience gain from killing enemies and leveling up had plateaued immensely since reaching D-grade.

And so with that thought, he decided to mix things up a little. What Skill did he want next?

Well, that was a rather easy question to answer. It was obvious he needed a new travel Skill. He had a free active slot anyway, and not being able to fly was going to get annoying sooner or later.

Although his situation had changed. He no longer required a travel Skill that doubled as a defensive Skill, like [ Spectral Rush ] had, now that he had the superior [Wraith Phase ].

In fact, at that moment, he realized that his Skill mutation had likely made his situation turn out for the best. Now he could focus on a pure travel Skill, like [ Gust Step ] had been.

It hadn’t bothered him at the time, as [ Spectral Rush ] allowed him to partially phase through attacks. And that had been worthwhile. But there was no doubt that the Skill was slower than his original travel Skill.

Aaron smiled. It seemed things had worked out perfectly. But how to push himself toward the Skill he wanted?

The robot’s attacks kept coming at him as he considered this thought, and he got just the idea to get himself started.

He mightn’t have been able to fly any longer, but he still had incredible power in his superhuman thighs, and as he dodged and phased through incoming attacks, he started to spring himself around the tunnels.

With his incredible strength and speed, it didn’t take much to turn himself into a human rocket, and Aaron became a blur of action as he started jumping across the ground, walls, and even the ceiling.

He was like a human bouncy ball, flinging himself all around the chamber. But it wasn’t mindless activity. Not even close. Every step was measured, and it was all parsed into his Skills, phasing in and out as he flashed around.

Aaron wasn’t even trying to land an offensive yet. He still had plenty of energy, thanks to his new and improved core, even when he was only using a fraction of its power. And he was going to make the most of it.

And with any luck, the System would be paying attention.

He carefully watched his energy consumption as he moved. His early foundations built up over the course of the Trials were strong, but he had to admit that he was falling off, just a little, and he realized that his new Race and Class upgrades had thrown him off slightly. He was still far more efficient than most, but there was some wasted energy. When he pushed stamina in his legs, not all of it was used appropriately, and when he used small bursts of mana to increase his speed, some of it was wasted pointing in the wrong direction.

As he dodged around, he started making minor adjustments to his technique, reducing his wasted energy and increasing his speed. But while he was doing this, he also noticed something else.

When he connected with the wall or ceiling, he often pushed off with both his hands and feet. This was effective, but the more he did it, the more he realized it was imbalanced. And the reason was obvious: it was his Mana Anchors. He had one in each hand, but none on his feet, so when he used mana to boost himself, he was able to use a lot more from his hands than his feet.

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I bet if I had them in my feet, I’d be able to move much better, he thought. It’d open me up for more movement Skills, too, probably.

He had been limited to two back when he formed the ones in his hands, but would that still hold true now? He was D grade in both Race and Class now, so it would make sense that his body would be able to handle more.

Now that I think about it, the mana anchors actually feel a bit weak compared to how they used to…

Back when he made them, he could expel a huge percentage of his mana pool through them, but now, it was only a fraction. While his attacks were still powerful, when he tried pouring massive amounts of energy in, he lost some efficiency.

He thought about it a bit more, and decided it made sense that his Mana Anchors were falling behind. And since everything else in the multiverse seemed to be upgradable, he didn’t see why he couldn’t do that to his Mana Anchors too.

And if I can upgrade them, I can probably upgrade my Stamina Veins and Vitality Heart too…

As much as he wanted to try to work on that right at that moment, though, the robot wasn’t just standing around, either. It had plans of its own to level the battlefield in its advantage. And the next card up its mechanical sleeve was lasers.

They were fun, Aaron had to admit. The burning red beams that melted the metal trash around them in an instant upon impact made for quite the dodging and phasing experience.

The additional attacks had added massively to the robot’s arsenal, and it could now throw out several dozen attacks every second, with the incredibly hot beams followed by spinning, bladed hands.

“Not bad. A bit slow. But I see what you’re going for,” Aaron said as he bounced around as aluminum turned to seas of molten metal around them, flames caught across the trash.

Jigsaw Tyrant

The royal guard had been the second dungeon crawler to reach the lower city. It was kind of disappointing. He had expected a massive battle, and only found corpses.

However, when the screen flickered to life, and a face appeared that told him to head down into the chambers below, his face had perked to attention. And it only grew more excited when the man who revealed himself as Mr. Fake mentioned that a human with bleached-blonde hair, a bad case of regrowth, and an eyepatch had headed down there.

The description was all he needed. He knew exactly who that was, and he couldn’t wait to tear that arrogant human apart, so he rushed straight down.

Hegemony Blanc had warned him. Told him to be cautious if they got split up. Which was exactly what happened when they entered the mirror room.

But he didn’t care. He was Jigsaw Tyrant, after all. The second rank royal guard to the queen.

The ant’s face crinkled with anger as he was reminded of what happened to his mother.

You just hang back and look after little brother, Hegemony. I’ll deal with this one.

Jigsaw Tyrant was no fool, though. He knew the human was strong. He had to have survived the attacks they leveled upon him. But he also knew that the human had struggled against Thousand Grand, and that was a little pathetic, he thought.

After all, Jigsaw Tyrant had bested Thousand Grand in multiple duels, and so if the human had struggled to overcome him, then he couldn’t be anything too special.

That was at least what he had before descending to ambush the human. Now, however, he stood watching, increasingly unsure of himself.

The royal guard had activated his rather powerful stealth Skill, making it impossible for the human to sense him as he skulked through the lower tunnels. It was perfect for an ambush, but when he had spotted the man in combat, he had hesitated.

It was hard to get a perfect read on how strong he really was because the robot didn’t have a level. Which made sense, it wasn’t alive like they were, and didn’t seem to be able to progress down a path like living things could. However, that didn’t mean that it wasn’t strong.

Even from his hiding spot back, deep within the shadows, he could tell that the robot wasn’t to be taken lightly.

For starters, it was fast. And the damage it was inflicting upon their surroundings as they fought was serious.

But more so than any of that was its appearance. Jigsaw Tyrant was no metallurgist, but he had taken some interest as he had watched the worker ants mining for ore.

He hadn’t gotten the chance to learn what the queen had planned for all the smelted ore. And whatever plans she had, they were no doubt ruined now. But he had seen the metal they crafted, and how strong it could get.

And this robot… Well, it was made of something entirely different, and even from here, he could tell that whatever the metal was, it was strong.

Jigsaw Tyrant gulped as the battle heated up, and rivers of molten metal cascaded down from all around. And to make matters worse, the human didn’t seem to be even taking the fight seriously.

How? How could he have gotten so much stronger? It’s only been a day or two since he killed mother!

Of course, he had already inspected the human, confirming his ascension to D-grade. But as important as D-grade was, and the power it bestowed upon one, this was something else.

He had watched many siblings evolve into D-grade, and never had he seen such an impressive power jump over such a time.

And this was what had stayed his hand. With the human’s abilities on display, and knowing that he had now evolved into D-grade, the ant had altered his calculations. This wasn’t a fight he wanted. Not by himself, at least. He didn’t doubt his ability to land a killing blow, but he had already witnessed that a killing blow wasn’t enough to finish this particular human, and after that, he would lose the element of surprise.

Slowly, he kept back the way he came, and then, flew back up through the shaft that had brought him down there.

This guy was terrifying, and he needed to find his brother. Then, together, they could deal with the murderer as they had before the dungeon.

Aaron

“Seriously? Is that it? Aren’t you gonna upgrade again or something? Sparring with you has been fun and all that. But it’s getting a little stale now. If you’ve got like a stage three, or something, now’s probably the time to give it a go, don’t you think?” Aaron said.

Standing in knee-deep molten metal, the robot’s red eyes flashed with a brighter hue of red, and from its limbs, tiny limbs with circular saws, tubes of puffing flames, and stabby little needles protruded. Alongside several other nasty appendages that looked like tools from Frankenstein's workshop came to life.

“Huh. You are one scary bastard, aren’t you?”

But the robot wasn’t done. Whatever was generating its energy was pushed to its heights, and a red glow emanated from its back as its speed was pushed to the limit, and it attacked more furiously than ever before.

“That’s it! There you go! Not bad! You’re getting the hang of it, aren’t you?”

Aaron cheered as he bounced around, phase and dodged through the dozens of attacks that simultaneously thrown at him every split second.

“Almost! That one was actually pretty close.”

Still, as fun as it was, it was getting about time he finished the fight. The robot had proven useful, and he’d gotten some good practice with his new Skill. But he still had a dungeon to complete, and some thoughts to process.

But before he launched into his own attack, he considered the robot’s warning. He might already be this Anderline Corporation’s enemy, but that didn’t mean he needed them coming after him for a debt. Not that he understood how multiverse corporations settled such things.

Still, there was no harm in taking some precautions.

Let’s see if I can disable this thing without doing too much damage.

First, he had a forcefield to deal with. However, it was rather pointless when he could phase a fist straight through it with [Wraith Phase ].

“Okay, that was easy to get past. Let’s see what else you’ve got.”

Picking his shots carefully, Aaron gradually struck weak points, phasing his fists through the forcefield as he japped at the robot’s joints.

However, he quickly realized he might have actually underestimated the machine a bit.

It had a sleek, metal casing, almost looking like golden plate metal armor. He assumed that machinery was beneath it, but it was so hardy that his normal attacks effortlessly bounced off it.

Phasing an arm through both the forcefield and the armor wasn’t easy to begin with. And besides, it was hard to plant any damage that way without using [ Bombardier Fist ], and he didn’t want to blow the thing to pieces.

He landed a few more strikes and realized that the metal truly was something amazing. Even a highly powered haymaker just bounced right off of it.

A back and forth continued for a few minutes as Aaron frustratedly looked for means to disable the stubborn robot before finally finding one.

Direct attacks were more or less useless. However, there was a weak spot on the back of the robot. This was where its energy was coming from. And a single, but fairly high-powered blow from [ Soul Shattering Strike ] worked as an EMP to shut the thing down.

The robot’s limbs fell lifelessly to its sides, and its head slumped forward. He had to admit that even though it couldn’t land a strike on him, he was impressed by the robot.

It was clearly hard to put down, and if not for his [ Soul Shattering Strike ], he wasn’t sure how he would have gone about it. Maybe [ Bombardier Fist ] would have made short work of it, had he been forced to use it, but again, maybe it wouldn’t have.

Aaron nodded as he inspected the machine. He had landed quite a few hits, alongside multiple haymakers, and yet, the robot had barely taken a scratch.

“Impressive,” he muttered as he eyed the craftsmanship. “Well, if your corpo bosses come looking for you, I had better have you on hand.”

And with that thought, Aaron grabbed the robot and shoved it into his spatial storage.

“Now, time to find the source of this corruption and deal with this Quest.”

And maybe see about adding some foot Mana Anchors before my next Skill selection, too.