------------------
|Name: Gerhard
|Class: The Gamer
|Level: LV32
|Title: The Grinder
------------------
|HP: 920/920 -> 1020/1020
|MP: 651/651 -> 966/966
------------------
STR: 37
VIT: 28 -> 38
DEX: 26
INT: 62 -> 95
WIS: 30 -> 61
LUK: 2
------------------
|Points: 115
|Money: 0
------------------
Gerhard stared at his new status window, grinning like an idiot and salivating on the ground. His MP regeneration was 184.73 per minute. And that rose to 202 if he used his breathing skill. And as soon as the skill [Iron Will] was activated, which happened passively as soon as his MP or HP dropped below 50%, the passive regen was 277 per minute. AND THEN, if he activated his breathing technique on top of that, it was a whopping 303 MP/min.
"You know... I take back all the curse words I said during this gruelling task. It was all worth it. I'm stepping up in the world."
...
"But my physical stats are still atrocious. I could only somewhat keep up with the stronger units because of my danger sense and the Mana shield. This has to change. And I most definitely don't want to spend any Stat Points on my physical stats. That would be a waste. Nah, there's only one solution to this conundrum..."
The answer was, of course, to put it out of his mind for now and have a look at the Iron Automaton he got his hands on.
Gerhard took out the Iron Automaton from his inventory and dropped it onto the disassembly rack, which he had expanded and fortified dozens of times and was now barely big enough to hold the upper body.
[Bind]
[Bind]
[Bind]
This wasn't a standard Imperial Robot; that much was obvious to Gerhard. It stood roughly seven feet tall and had a round head shape. On his remaining arm was the assault rifle. One arm was missing, but an interesting detail was that this 'automaton' had what appeared to be a power claw in its midsection.
[Observe].
Iron Automaton (Damaged)
| Status: Critical Malfunction / Logic Loop
| Integrity: 42%
| Threat Level: High (Unstable)
| Designated as an automaton, but it is not that. In truth, this machine is a sapient robot, a relic of the "Silica Animus"—a forbidden, self-aware intelligence, one of the last remaining of the forbidden "Man of Iron" variants.
| Highly illegal within the Imperium of Man, it went into hiding for millennia, suffering and desperate not to harm humans, going as far as attempting to stop itself.
| Possesses a now degraded, volatile, semi-sentient core logic.
-
"Well, what do you know. This absolute chad tried to kill himself because he was losing control. Respect."
He walked around the robot and looked it over, creating schematics he scratched on the walls and taking notes on his brand-new computer. He was living peak male fantasy right now. Gerhard wanted to find out everything he could about this poor machine and then use it to create a better one.
Oh, the Mechanicum and the wider Imperium will loathe him. He will be branded a heretic of the highest degree. But little did they know, it would only get worse. Because he had managed to grab the Genestealer Primus' Bonesword, and he had some big plans for that.
"Well, let's get to work."
...
Gerhard stood before the Iron Automaton. He had a makeshift helmet to shield his eyes. His plasma cutter was still hissing in his hand, but the blade of white-hot energy was splashing harmlessly against the machine's chest plate like water against a stone. He frowned, stepping back to let the tool cool.
"Observe," he said out loud due to sheer frustration.
|Target: Unknown Chassis Component.
|Result: [ERROR: DATA NOT FOUND]
Gerhard's brow furrowed. He had scanned everything he met whenever he went out. Sure, that wasn't a lot, but to have no idea about it... that was frustrating. He switched to a more clinical approach.
"[Material Analysis]."
|Composition: High-Purity Polymorphic Alloy.
|Properties: Self-Repairing, Kinetic Redirection, Thermal Dissipation.
|Note: Molecular structure seems to be currently shifting to counteract thermal tool.
-
"What a load of bullshit. Even after more than 10,000 years, this thing can do this? I'm no longer surprised about the devastation during the Cybernetic Rebellion... And this is a broken one, too!"
Gerhard watched in grim fascination as the shallow scorch mark he had just made very slowly vanished. The metal flowed invisible to the naked eye, but in its pristine state, it had to be something like mercury, with its dull, matte grey. Gerhard had tried to force a [Dismantle], but the system gave him a sharp rejection.
[Dismantle Failed - Target material density exceeds current Skill Level. Physical bond strength is roughly 400% higher than standard Ceramite.]
How did the system know the bond strength of standard Ceramite? Gerhard had no idea. This was a fucking mystery, and he was not happy right now. When he created his PC, he had some ideas about how to approach it, but this was different. It was like trying to dismantle an immovable object.
"Right," Gerhard muttered, his eyes narrowing. "You're a relic from the Dark Age. You don't follow conventional rules of the 41st Millennium. But I got news for you, dick, neither do I!"
Gerhard had lost his mind. He was shouting at the robot.
He retreated to his workbench, his mind spinning at overclocked speeds, looking for a solution. He spent the next forty-eight hours in a trance of pure chaotic logic, creating ideas and throwing them out again. He cross-referenced the scrap of data he had on Adamantium and Auramite, from his past life, which was almost nothing, realising this alloy might have been a precursor, or a 'Living Metal' that the modern Imperium had forgotten how even to spell its name. [Material Analysis] said polymorphic alloy...
To cut it, he didn't need more heat, as he had tried the hottest he could create; he needed higher frequencies. He needed a blade that existed between the physical and the metaphysical.
Gerhard slapped his forehead. He felt like a fucking bellend.
He took out his Power Sword, activated it and tried cutting the outside of the Iron Automata.
"WHAT?!" Gehard exclaimed.
The disruption field had shorted out. He turned it on again. It flickered for a moment, but was ready again. He tried again, pressing the tip forward. And a similar situation happened. But unlike all his other attempts, there was progress.
"So it does work... hmm... feels like some Auramite type shit."
[Engineering has levelled up]
[WIS has gone up by 1]
[INT has gone up by 1]
Gerhard began the build. He took a medium-output focusing crystal from a Lasgun and bathed it in a chemical solution of his own design, thanks to [Chemistry Mastery], which he had ground down from a small shard of conductive material he had found in the Underhive. This would allow the laser to be somewhat conductive to his Mana. Or so he hoped.
He spent hours using [Mana Control], weaving his energy into the tool's circuitry, which constantly broke down, forcing him to adapt and improve his design. He was no longer building a cutter for the Automaton; he was building the first step towards Mana tools.
[Mana Control has levelled up]
[Material Analysis has levelled up]
[Extreme Focus has levelled up]
[Precision Work has levelled up]
After he got the Mana Control skill to level 3, Gerhard remembered that he had a grossly overpriced Shield skill he had to level up to use it in battle. Now that he had the Grinder title, his skills levelled up faster. It was like the EXP requirements were halved, and it showed—a lot.
Thanks to his skill: [Mana Control], all of his Mana-dependent skills cost less, which was good.
Psionic Mana Shield (Active) Lv. 1
| EXP: 0.00%
| MP: 36
| A sophisticated evolution of defensive arts that fuses psychic energy with Mana. The Psionic Mana Shield creates a translucent, circular dome around the user. While standard mana shields merely block parts of the impacts, this "smart" barrier uses INT to strengthen areas of incoming strikes, making it far more durable than the sum of its parts.
Effects:
| Blocks a massive portion of incoming damage (Scales significantly with INT and WIS).
| +35% Physical Attack Resistance
| +35% Energy Attack Resistance
| +25% Psychic / Warp / Mental Resistance
| If the shield is shattered, the user gains a temporary Mental Clarity buff, reducing the casting time of the next psychic or mana-based skill by 15%.
| Mana: 7.2 MP per second
| Duration: Lasts until cancelled or until MP is depleted.
-
So instead of needing 50 MP to cast the skill, it was now 36 and instead of 10 MP per second, it was now 7.2. Which was still terrible, but it was better than before. So, Gerhard cast the skill.
[Psionic Mana Shield]
MP: -36
MP: -7.2
MP: -7.2
MP: -7.2
MP: -7.2
MP: -7.2
MP: -7.2
...
Gerhard ignored it for now and continued working. He had to spend his time wisely, and this seemed like the best way to do it. It was 1 minute and 43 seconds later that a notification flashed before his eyes.
[Psionic Mana Shield has levelled up]
[Iron Will activated]
MP regen: 277/min
Gerhard continued to work, and once again, after 2 minutes and 19 seconds, he was taken out of his thoughts, as his Mana had hit rock bottom. The [Psionic Mana Shield] skill deactivated, and Gerhard was left panting heavily.
[Psionic Mana Shield has levelled up]
Gerhard realised that, interestingly, the [Iron Will] skill hadn't deactivated and was still going strong. In 2 minutes and 10 seconds, he was back to half of his total Mana amount, and the active aspect of the skill turned off. 3 minutes after that, Gerhard was full again.
It was ridiculous and also perfect.
Gerhard activated [Psionic Mana Shield] again and ignored everything from then on, focusing on his work, only casting the skill again, once his Mana was full again. And needless to say, the skill was levelling up like crazy.
.
The final tool for taking apart the Iron Automata was a sleek, heavy steel housing powered by a dedicated high-capacity cell. Gerhard dubbed it the "Sunderer."
...
The name was still up for debate.
[Monomolecular Mana Laser - AKA: The 'Sunderer']
Classification: Experimental Monomolecular Mana-Cutter (Prototype) Rank: Adept
Type: Industrial/Combat Hybrid Tool
Effects:
|Molecular Fracture: Instead of using thermal energy, the Sunderer uses a form of "Mana-Vibration" to bypass the electromagnetic bonds between atoms. Ignores 100% of Physical Armour with a density lower than High-Purity Adamantium.
|Disruption Harmonics: Specifically designed to counter Polymorphic Alloys and "Living Metal." It disables the self-repair nanites in a 5mm radius around the cut for 120 seconds.
|Psionic Resonance: As the user's [INT] and [Mana Control] increase, the beam becomes thinner and more stable.
|Mana: 5 MP per second
| Requirements: [Engineering - lv. 15], [Mana Control - lv.3], [Tool Making - lv. 15]
-
Gerhard finally returned to the Automaton, took a deep breath, channelled his Mana into the device, and pressed the activation button. Instead of a red beam, a thin, whitish-blue light shot forward—a Monomolecular Mana Laser.
The effects were evident right away.
It didn't melt the polymorphic alloy; instead, it severed the molecular bonds themselves using Mana. The "living" metal tried to shift and adapt slightly, but the laser was too powerful, vibrating at a frequency that shattered the alloy's self-repair ability, as it was simply out of this world.
CRACK.
The chest plate finally buckled. As it separated, a hiss of pressurised gas escaped, smelling awfully of ancient hydraulic fluid, like ozone and the effects of lightning.
[Through the successful application of high-level Engineering and Mana Theory, you have bypassed a Dark Age of Technology lockout.]
[Engineering has levelled up by 5]
[Mana Control has levelled up]
[Psionic Mana Shield has levelled up]
[INT has gone up by 1]
[WIS has gone up by 2]
Gerhard reached into the opening. Beneath the outer "outer shell," he saw a honeycombed structure he had never seen before. Instead of being just gears and wires, there was a strange Lattice. The interior of the machine seemed to be partially made of "malleable material."
"This is a masterpiece of a civilisation that has fallen far."
He gripped his laser tighter. He had broken through the hard shell. Now, it was time to talk to the brain itself and find out what secrets it held.