[Stealth has levelled up]
[Detect Presence has levelled up]
Gerhard kept going. And the deeper he went, the worse it got. At first, it had been isolated encounters. A few scavvies here, a pair of zombies there. Several Scalies, abhumans with reptilian-like skin. Maybe some of them together, and maybe some mutated rats or an equivalent.
Now, every few minutes, he came across something. An Underhive mutant, that roared in anger, hitting the walls in anger, or several of them, attacking one another, biting into them and then vomiting out disgusting green sludge, that smelled horrendous and affected the surroundings.
The metal and stone walls began to sprout biological 'things' that released strange pollen and grew along the ground, the walls, and the ceiling. A small group of Plague Zombies moved through the tunnels, almost looking as if they had a purpose.
Zombies no longer wandered randomly, but followed paths. They had a goal and didn't listen to the next fresh meal.
"They're being herded," Gerhard thought to himself.
After another turn, he entered another chamber.
[Detect Presence]
[Danger Sense]
This time, it was a strong feeling, coming from above. Gerhard's head snapped up, and he moved back right away. Something dropped from above, crashing into the position he had just been in.
The impact echoed through the metal floor.
[Plague Zombie Mutant]
A mutant, larger than the others and he was affected by the plague, which had mutated him even further. Unlike the one arm that was swollen, like the one Gerhard had first met in the Underhive, this one was bloated all over. Bloated and twisted, with two heads, dripping green corrosive fluids and looking like two deformed gummies, who were gripping a crude blade.
"MAAAHHH—!" it roared, as if in pain.
It lunged at Gerhard, whose lasgun was already up. But he waited for a second longer.
The zombie mutant snapped into the Mana Shield, but nothing happened. It even tried to use the blade to cut the shields apart, but without success. The impact has absolutely no effect on Gerhard, who nodded, happy with his little experiment.
He didn't wait any longer and pulled the trigger three times, firing his weapon at the zombie mutant and tearing through its body point-blank.
HP: 0
[Plague Zombie Mutant defeated]
[+600 EXP]
It dropped to the ground instantly. Gerhard kept the shields active and looked around again. The corpse of the zombie mutant reeked badly, and he felt his senses being affected by it, ever so slightly.
What Gerhard didn't notice was that his [Gamer's Mind] skill was shielding him against the voices and the sounds, as welll as the effect of the energies in the air.
[Toxin and Disease Resistance has levelled up]
The decay and rot in the surroundings were growing stronger.
[Detect Presence]
The presences were faint and distant, but there were more, a lot more. Gerhard stood there for a second longer than necessary, trying to piece things together.
It seemed as if the zombies weren't just randomly increasing. The fact that there were so many of them was bad tidings for this world. He remembered that before the Genestealer Cult attacked him, he had heard fighting and a battle. So there had to be someone else down here.
Gerhard desperately wished that it wasn't who he thought it was. Because if it were, no one would be coming. Who cared about a world like this, that had no resource value and was taken over by Ork anyway? If anything, the Imperium would be happy to see them fight each other.
And should it get so bad that Grey Knights arrived... well then Gerhard was fucked anyway.
But it didn't matter; whatever was going on, it was further down. Gerhard's grip tightened slightly. He was going to go further, because if he didn't, then this world was ruined either way.
A slow smile pulled at the corner of his mouth as he tried to motivate himself.
"The grind, Gerhard, the grind," he said quietly. "More enemies mean more danger. More danger means more EXP. And more EXP means greater power."
He moved deeper again, disappearing into the dark, knowing that he had passed some invisible barrier now. He moved like a novice assassin, with his [Stealth] skill levelling up slowly.
.
The corridor had once been part of a waste line, though it barely resembled it anymore. The large pipes sagged where support beams had collapsed, and the air carried that same rot and decay smell that Gerhard was now so familiar with. Thick green and red sludge-like substance pressed against the inside of the pipes and dropped to the ground, starting new ecosystems.
Gerhard moved carefully, his boots scraping lightly over the scattered debris. Every step echoed farther than he would have liked, but less than it did initially, thanks to the stealth skill.
He paused. There it was again, that sound. Not like a battle, but something else. Metal seemed to be scratching against metal. Not the slow collapse of a large structure that was falling apart, and also not the shifting of two plates.
Gerhard tilted his head slightly, listening. His hand moved his weapon higher, but he didn't get into firing position yet. The noise came again, closer this time, accompanied by something else.
He moved forward a bit, and after clearing a few metal mountains, it was clearer.
"—PURGE—HUMANITY—ERROR—PURGE—"
The voice was mechanical, stripped of any human-like tone. While it said 'error', the object or individual who had spoken wasn't damaged enough to stutter and distort. Then there was that metal screeching again.
Gerhard exhaled slowly.
"Great," he muttered under his breath. "Another thing that wants to kill me."
[Stealth has levelled up]
Gerhard moved forward very slowly, making sure to use the darkness and the walls ahead as hiding spots. Then, slowly, he noticed something through the darkness.
At first, it was just a silhouette. Then this 'silhouette' stepped into the dim light filtering through a cracked overhead panel. Gerhard used [Observe] right away.
Iron Automaton – Lv.28 (damaged)
|HP: 3800/3800
|MP: 0
|A rogue humanoid machine of unknown origin, often found in the underhive or ash wastes. Built for combat but poorly maintained, these automata are powerful yet dangerously unstable.
|Weapons:
Power Claw (Damage: 180–300, armour crushing)
Assault Cannon (Damage: 60–100)
|Traits:
Machine Body
Damage Resistance: +25% vs ballistic
Immunity: Poison / Disease / Fear
Limited Self-Repair
Regenerates small HP over time when not critically damaged
Unstable Logic Core
The logic core has a glitch, causing erratic behaviour.
It is highly likely to shut down or attack.
-
[Assault Cannon (Damaged) – Rank: Novice]
Durability: 0/180
Damage: 45 (per round)
Critical Chance: 5%
Fire Rate: 900 rpm
-
"Oh boy. An Iron Automaton"
Its plating was scorched and partially torn away, exposing wiring that sparked intermittently. One of its arms hung at an unnatural angle, twitching up and down randomly. And it was also the only arm it had left. The other one was missing, as if it had been ripped off.
Its head suddenly jerked toward Gerhard's position. He had been hiding carefully, but the automaton must have had some form of heat sensor. Because after freezing for a moment, it started moving.
Its motions came in sharp, broken bursts, like frames missing from a recording. One instant, it stood still; the next, it had closed a quarter of the distance between them. Its weapon arm snapped upward and discharged with a loud crack.
Gerhard had already reacted the moment the automaton started moving. He was out of the way of the shot. The blast grazed past him and struck the wall behind with a spray of molten fragments. The automaton fired again, but this time there was nothing after the loud crack, only the wild rotation of the assault cannon.
He could destroy it, that much was obvious. It was heavily damaged, and with the weapons he now possessed, Gerhard could turn it into scrap rather easily. It was rather big and naturally powerful, but Gerhard didn't see it as a danger to him.
On the contrary, this might be his greatest opportunity yet.
Gerhard narrowed his eyes, watching the machine's movement patterns. The jerks, the pauses, the short bursts of speed, all those things might have appeared random, but they weren't entirely. The damage had introduced instability, but the core routines were still there, just unable to work because the damage prevented them.
There was no more ammunition for the Iron Automaton to use, so it had to get close and personal.
"Alright," Gerhard said quietly, more to himself than anything else. "Plan B."
He shifted his stance and lifted his hand. The automaton lunged again, lifting its last remaining mechanical arm to strike Gerhard. But, instead of dodging away, Gerhard used another of his skills. Mana gathered in his palm and moved outwards. Three thin strands were created and slowly moved outward, intertwining as they went.
[Bind]
The rope, made of Mana, moved through the air faster than the automaton could react. It wrapped around its limbs, its torso, its weapon arm, tightening and causing it to fall to the ground.
The automaton fought and managed to break through the rope with brute force, attempting to stand back up again.
[Bind]
But Gerhard simply cast the spell again, binding the machine and making it thump to the ground.
[Bind]
[Bind]
For good measure, Gerhard cast the spell two additional times and watched as the servos whined under the strain of trying to free itself. Its weapon clicked again, as if the automaton hadn't realised that it was out of ammo. But it created heat.
The Mana ropes tightened, and after some desperate attempts to break them, the automaton's motions slowed... stuttered... and then finally stopped.
For a moment, it lay on the ground there, locked in place. Its systems were still issuing commands that could no longer be translated into action.
"—PUR…GE…—"
Gerhard moved forward and opened the few remaining metal plates, reaching the power core. With a tap, he knocked the machine out and ended the fight.
[Iron Automaton defeated]
[+68,029 EXP]
[Level up]
Gerhard lowered his hand slightly but didn't release the bind. He watched the machine for a few seconds longer, making sure it wasn't about to surge back to life in another erratic moment.
When it didn't, he let out a slow breath.
"Yeah…" he said, stepping closer. "I'm keeping you."
Gerhard moved forward and touched the fully broken machine. It was broken, but not destroyed, and that was all that mattered. Because of this thing, it held potential for the Gamer. It held what the Mechanicus might call a 'machine spirit' or what might be artificial intelligence... or the remnants of intelligence. Its hatred for humanity might indicate that.
But whatever the case, there was one particular skill that Gerhard would have liked to get, and this Iron Automaton would help him get it.
With a thought, the entire machine was transported into Gehard's inventory, to be studied, understood and then mastered later.
The corridor fell quiet again, as if the encounter had never happened. It was one of the strange and almost eerie things about the Underhive, in Gerhard's opinion, that you could commit the most disgusting atrocities and no one would ever know, and no one would ever care about it.
Gerhard rolled his shoulders once, easing the tension that had settled there. Facing that automaton was harder for him than facing the Genestealers. He knew what a rogue AI could unleash, and the only reason he managed with such ease was that the Iron Automaton had been operating at barely 7% of its maximum capacity.
Bind (Active) Lv.3
| EXP: 74.29%
| A skill to tie an enemy with a rope made of mana. It has physical durability and disappears after some time as mana scatters.
Since it is made of mana, it can even affect objects or creatures of indeterminable form. It can only be used by those who have a talent for manipulating mana.
Effect:
Duration: 20 minutes
MP: 5
-
"I knew it would be useful," he murmured.
After looking at his stats one more time, he turned and continued further in the Underhive. His footsteps were once again the only sound in the darkness.