A Tough Robot

Flinnder sat down in his office, he had dismissed the candidate and was feeling quite satisfied.

He needed a good candidate for a valid reason. An upcoming once-in-a-century event was happening in a few months. The Abyss beings of the Marquees and Marchioness positions were getting together. A competition will be hosted with their champions. The royal who's champion claims victory will become a Duke/Duchess. A position they all strived for.

Why champions? It's to showcase their connections, wealth, and luck. If they could afford to train and raise a talented champion to be greater than the rest. Then it shows how powerful they are in other cases besides physical strength.

Flinnder hadn't expected to come across the wielder of a lower eight sword. It was as if the Abyss wanted him to succeed. However when he first saw the ability of their skill he was quite displeased. At most it could be considered above average, they depended purely on their own strength. If it was just strength he required then it would have been fine.

So he gave a two week trial, an opportunity to test their determination an talent. He was not disappointed, his candidate trained the hardest of all the others within just those two weeks. He truly saw the improvement within his test.

Yet it wasn't enough compared to the others, was it talent? Was it time? Whatever it was the other candidates had more of it. Flinnder thought it was a shame, until the last strike.

The thing that the candidate had awoken, even if slightly. Was something none of the others had shown. Something that less than 5% of the Abyss population had shown.

Flinnder sipped a strange liquid, "To think the kid has a War Sight. . ."

~ ~ ~

Akiol landed on the ground, his body flattened somewhat from the impact before quickly recovering. He looked around, only to see darkness. This time there was no light appearing with his presence.

Akiol dispelled his sword and struck the ground. The sound echoed throughout the place. According to the sounds Akiol assumed that the place was big, but mostly empty. Except for a certain direction. . .

Akiol turned towards the direction he heard less sound from. When the echoes bounded off the walls and headed back he noticed one side provided less sound than the others. He knew that meant something was absorbing the sound.

As he walked he bumped into something. Noticing it was hard he frowned, the less sound meant it was something much more soft than what he hit. Akiol patted the object, it was smooth and metallic. As he patted it he noticed part of the top was covered by a piece of cloth. Gripping it he pulled, surprised by the large amount of resistance. With a tug it was free... and Akiol was covered with it.

Failing to remove the cover Akiol simply absorbed it. It was at that point he noticed why it gave so much resistance. It was because of its size. The cloth was huge, far larger than seemingly necessary. Once Akiol's head was free he saw what the cloth was covering.

It was a large metal robot, with the cloth gone the robot began to glow. It's head was a metal helmet with an upwards yellow arrow for a face. The robot creaked as it moved its old joints, missing sufficient lubricant.

As the robot stood up more of its body began to be apparent. It had metal plates across its body, mimicking a Knight's armor. In its arms was a sword. However that was all Akiol could see, for the light coming from the helmet didn't shine on the rest of the robot.

It was at this point Akiol began to wonder if he was in a fantasy game, he had fought robots earlier, now it was a mech?

The mech whirred and swung its sword at Akiol. He jumped over the swing, the sword was big so it wasn't very fast. He sprinted forward and gave a swift kick to the leg. The mech didn't budge and the metal remained unfazed.

"Oh wow it's actually pretty sturdy." Akiol commented.

The mech kicked towards Akiol, which was a bit of a shock. Considering the size of the Akiol assumed that it would need both legs to remain standing. So the fact that it was able to remain steady with only one threw Akiol off for a moment.

He sidestepped the leg, once it missed it proceeded to stomp the ground. Akiol retreaded back and considered his options. He could try destroying it from the inside like last time, however he couldn't see an opening.

Woosh-

A fireball appeared and smacked into the mech. Akiol saw this and raised an eyebrow.

"You alright over there?" Someone called.

"I'm alright, who are you?" Akiol responded.

"We're the ones who are stuck in here. We have a safe spot so follow me!" A flame appeared in their hand, lighting the room.

Akiol figured he should follow, no reason to fight the mech if it was unnecessary. He followed the individual holding the flame. Within five minutes they stopped, "In here."

A part in the floor opened, and they climbed in. Akiol followed as well. Inside the opening was a ladder leading to a small room. Inside was a bunch of bored people, who brightened up as soon as they saw the two enter.

"Finally someone new!" Someone exclaimed.

Akiol waved, "Might I ask what this is?"

A sorcerer, or what they looked like, spoke up, "We have been trapped here for about six hours."

"Why not just teleport out?"

"Didn't you see? This place restricts teleportation scrolls."

Akiol pulled one out of his own and tried it and was stopped by a notification.

<Teleportation is restricted in this area.>

Akiol put away the scroll, "Okay, then why don't you just die and come back?"

The group looked at each other. Someone nodded and the sorcerer continued speaking, "We have a quest that punishes us greatly for any deaths."

Akiol whistled, "That's a harsh quest."

They nodded in agreement. A warrior spoke up, "So what brings you here?"

"Curiosity, I wanted to see what was in the ruins. Yet I find myself regretting the choice."

The warrior laughed, "You haven't died yet, anyway let us introduce ourselves. I am Troubled Thinking, though you can call me Think. The sorcerer over there is Quill, the Defender is Rough, Priest is Basil, and the other sorcerer who guided you here is Torch."

"I am Akiol, and it looks like we are in a similar situation."

Quill nodded, "We have spent some time and know a way out, but we need a key."

Akiol frowned, "How do you know it's a way out of you need a key?"

"Well we aren't sure it's a way out, it's the only place that leads somewhere. So we assumed it was."

"I assume this key is from the mech outside?"

"Afraid so. . ."

"Then what's stopping you?"

Torch spoke up, "Whatever it is, it's super resistant to magic attacks. It's metal is so strong that Think's strongest attack barely left a scratch on it."

"So that's what the rhyming head meant."

"The one who rhymes with ear?"

Akiol chuckled, "That's the one."

Basil sighed, "We already sent a post asking for help, but without the exact coordinates our post was slowly drowned out."

"I can do something to it, I just need it distracted." Akiol offered.

They perked up, "Are you sure?" Think asked, slightly dubious.

"Well I am not sure if it will work guaranteed, but it's better than waiting right? If it goes wrong you guys are free to escape."

"It's easy to escape, we just need to cover it with that cloth."

Akiol clapped his hands, "Then it's settled, I hope you guys are prepared?"

Rough got up, "It's definitely better than waiting here. I was considering making tic tac toe on the wall."

"Send me a party invite."

. . .

They made it to the mech, it's head glowed as it looked at them. It got up and marched over. Rough stood in the front and stomped their foot. The mech's gaze locked onto them.

It swung downwards to Rough. As they raised their shield to block they shouted, "[Steel Wall]!"

Clang~!

The sword crashed into the shield letting out a metallic ringing sound. Rough remained still, holding up the sword steadily.

They shouted, "Akiol, now is the time for you to do the thing!"

Akiol ran up, he jumped onto the sword and using [Leap] he moved towards the mech's exposed chest. Swinging across the metal chest with [Dimensional Pierce] the metal was cleanly cut. Akiol noticed the cut was long and not wide, he realized it wouldn't be large enough for him to squeeze through.

He bounced off the chest and retreated, "Hold him off for a bit, the skill is on cooldown."

Think grinned, "Haha! Since you actually pierced that armor we can hold him off no problem!"

Torch and Quill fired off two spells, one lightning and one fire. Strangely they connected and crashed into the mech. The mech moved its head and locked on to the two mages. It lifted its sword and began to stomp over.

Rough smacked their shield, "Come on over!" They shouted.

The mech turned and swung at them. Rough braced themselves and welcomed the attack.

Clang~

Rough was sent sliding back, their health dropping. Basil quickly cast a healing spell to recover their HP. As Akiol watched the battle he noticed their teamwork, as he compared it to the battles he had in-game with his party he noticed a critical issue.

They weren't using their classes like intended. Defender was meant to defend, to hold the aggression of the monster as the rest whittle down the HP. Instead Tilia served as a team buffer, hardly doing her class as it was intended. A sorcerer was meant to provided extra damage in the back. Yet Kan'na served as a jack of all cards. She damage or trapped, utilizing all different types of magic.

Pugilist was meant to be a quick class with low cooldown moves. Yet Wrock was a powerhouse with high cooldown moves. A Priest heals, yet Yielya hardly needs to do that. Akiol had no class so he was exempt. The only one really using their class as intended was Jarvis. Who supported with his tamed creatures.

Yet as Akiol noticed this, he couldn't picture his party fighting like any other. Wrock was a powerhouse, one to be depended on. Kan'na was a creative sorcerer who assisted when needed. Yielya kept them alive, which was all that was needed. Tilia guarded the Priest, and supported her party members.

And truthfully, Akiol wouldn't have it any other way.