Chapter 2: Man of Iron

There was darkness and silence. Suddenly, color, sound, and feeling returned. A crisp, clear view of a sunny and shaded forest line greeted him, accompanied by the sounds of birds and other critters of nature. He stared in surprise at the vibrant scene, contrasting sharply with his bleak and cold room. Wait, his room? He finally looked around.

"HELLO!!!" He shouted, the sound so loud that nearby creatures fled in fear.

Birds scattered, bunnies hopped away, and bushes shook with movement. Whose voice was that? It sounded nothing like his own. It dawned on him that he had been turning his head and body all this time.

He looked down for the first time and saw a sleek and robust metal body. His arms were covered in metal plating, resembling armor. He tried to take off his shoes but realized they were part of the metal casing. Looking at his reflection on his forearm, he noticed his robotic eyes with a purple glow. Although he spoke, the metal slit representing his mouth didn't move. He attempted to remove what he thought was a strange helmet or mask but couldn't, no matter how hard he tried.

Reluctantly giving up, he realized one thing: he had died in his room. His last wish must have been granted, or he was in some form of afterlife. Pushing those thoughts aside, he ventured further into the forest, hoping to find someone to explain his situation or determine if this was another world.

During his isolation, he had become fascinated by the idea of reincarnation and becoming a new being. He noticed everything around him seemed smaller than usual, whether due to his new body's height or the size of objects.

Approaching a pond, he gazed at his reflection again, realizing his intimidating and massive appearance. Suddenly, he heard rustling nearby. A group of deer-like creatures with single horns dashed past him, followed by a tall, bipedal green humanoid wielding an iron axe and wearing fur pelts. It stopped in its hunting when it noticed his presence.

"Hi sorry to bother you? Do you speak English, umm, sir?" he asked awkwardly, but the creature just stared with a dumb expression.

After a long silence, the green humanoid shrieked and charged at him with its axe raised.

"Yo yo yo! Relax, buff Shrek!" he said, his martial arts training instinctively kicking in as he raised his arms for defense.

Bracing for impact, he hoped his metal armor would protect him.

Clank. The impact came, but he remained unfazed, not even budging from the blow. He looked up to see the green man's weapon deflected by his armor, which remained unscathed. Even the green man seemed surprised.

"Ha ha! My turn now, asshole!" he declared, planting his armored foot and delivering a powerful left punch.

Crack. Blood gushed from the stump where the green man's head once was, and his head? It had collided with a tree stump 20 meters away.

[Automaton Monarch System] has been initiated.

[Forest Hobgoblin lvl 15 defeated, 500 energy points collected]

Name: [Insert]

Level:6

Race: Automaton

Body material: Rank 1/Reinforced Iron

Energy points: 500

[Congratulations you have reached lvl 6 and have unlocked 2 beginner facilities]

[Facilities]

-Spacial storage unlocked

-Automaton production factory unlocked

He finished reading everything or so he thought, when another notification popped up.

[System starter pack delivered]

He opened the prompt and he went wide eyed at all the goodies he received.

1x small Automaton production factory

1x set of plasma blade weapons

5x Nano healing stims

10,000x Energy points

He just kept getting more surprises. Hovering over the blank part where his name was supposed to be, he thought about putting his old name, Henry, but hesitated and then typed in 'Vulcan'. No need for a last name, Vulcan would be enough. Drawing inspiration from the Roman God of fire and metals, and considering fire as a symbol of rebirth, especially since he was now made of metal.

Finally realizing he was in another world, as there were no real hobgoblins back on Earth, and the unknown animals and creatures he'd encountered only added to that conclusion. He scrolled down to where his system starter package provided some goodies to ease his transition into this world.

Clicking on the Automaton production factory, it informed him that he could place it upon an iron vein to unlock its abilities and for better effeciency. Moving on to his second reward, a rack of bladed weapons materialized in front of him. Ten in total, five swords and five spears, all looking powerful and advanced.

He picked up a spear and felt its tip glow blue when he held it. Testing it on a nearby tree, he swung and the weapon made a blue arc in the air. Barely feeling the spear cut through the tree trunk, it sliced like a hot knife through butter. A loud groan came from the tree as it fell over, leaving a clean cut on the stump.

"This is insanely powerful," Vulcan thought.

Testing the swords, he found the same impressive results. Satisfied, he stored the weapons in his spatial storage, but kept a spear with him for its versatile use.

He finished inspecting the goodies with the final one being something called nano healing stims. Materializing one in his hand, it resembled an epi-pen for allergic reactions, but much larger, with swirling grey liquid visible through a clear slit window. His enhanced vision allowed him to see that the swirling grey liquid consisted of tiny microscopic nanobots, hence the name nano healing stim. He stared at the tiny bots moving around, feeling a nostalgic memory of his past life wash over him. Eventually tearing his gaze away, he put the stim away.

Giving himself a minute to collect his thoughts, he found it surprisingly easier than usual. He wasn't sure if it was because of his new body or his newfound mental strength. However, he also noticed he didn't feel anything when he decapitated the hobgoblin earlier. Usually, when someone kills something, they feel some sort of empathy or remorse, but he didn't find any of that in himself.

Shifting his focus to what lay ahead, he knew this was a dangerous world, as the first thing he encountered had tried to kill him. His next objective was to find a source of iron to place the factory on top. With a mission, a weapon, and a strong, cold iron body, he walked towards a random direction. He vowed to stay true to his wish, to become the one to decide his own fate this time. Nobody, not even humanity, would stop him now.