Dungeon Robotics: Valentine's Day Special (Patreon)

 Sorry for being late on the upload. Work was a nightmare Thursday and Friday. As I've mentioned for the last few months, my place of employment was being sold. Well that went through Thursday night so I had to be there all night and most of Friday to make sure everything worked. I got home at almost 6 PM.  

Valentine’s Day Special

Regan grinned at Alara as he pulled her along the street. He found that he quite enjoyed spoiling the little dungeon core. With his more human-looking robotic form, they blended into the crowd without an issue. Another day of the festival was going on. It could run for several days according to Louella.

Alara was having the time of her life. It'd been a century since she had been allowed to just enjoy life. Always being forced to do one thing or another that usually resulted in people dying. She took a deep breath of the night air, enjoying her freedom. A metallic tint made her focus on the person pulling her through the crowd of mortals.

A great cheer went out in the crowd ahead of them and Regan angled towards the noise. They emerged to see a group of people that were performing. One man lit his sword of fire and proceeded to swallow it up to the hilt. With a sudden jerk, he pulled the sword out where it flipped end over end in the air. A woman reached out with a finger and caught the sword point first. The crowd cheered and clapped for the performance.

"Mortals never cease to amaze me," Regan said with a chuckle. Alara frowned as she would rather stay at least ten meters from every mortal. Regan’s friends weren’t so bad, she supposed. He laughed when he was her expression and squeezed her hand. "Now. Now. They're not all bad."

"If you... say so..." Alara mumbled turning away.

"When are you going to smile for me?" Regan asked as he reached down to cup her cheek.

Alara pouted not sure what to do. No one had ever treated her so gently... so warmly... not for a very long time. She wanted to smile but she wasn’t sure if she could even remember how. She’d done it all the time when she was younger. Lena and she would make their way through the forest above the dungeon. Those days were almost grey from how long it’d been. 

“Well. I suppose you’re doing quite well considering what you went through,” Regan said then suddenly reached forward and threw me on his shoulder. His form shifted and he grew nearly a meter. He jumped out of the crowd and landed on a nearby roof. While a few people pointed most ignored it. Alara thought the wind felt good through her hair. 

“Where are… we going?” Alara asked as they moved.

“Just away from the mortals. They tend to get jumpy if people start disappearing in thei midst.”

They soon came to an empty alley where they vanished as soon as they landed on the ground. Regan had moved them to the station. Alara looked out the window to see Lyrale and Krona were full from where the station was above the world. She loved the moons and never expected to be able to see them so close.

“Beautiful.”

“That they are. Though, I believe I’m supposed to say they’re nothing compared to you. Which by the way would be true,” Regan said with a grin. He knew people found it hard to tell if he was being honest or sarcastic and he had no intention of stopping anytime soon. “Come. There is something I’ve wanted to try since I built this place.”

They made their way to a large door that looked like it been built to keep a Lord class monster out. Regan placed his hand on the door and it opened without much sound. A door of similar size in a mortal castle would have been loud enough for the entire castle to hear. Alara walked next to Regan as they walked through.

About a dozen meters there was another door waiting for them. Alara jumped when the door they came through closed. She felt the air that mortals had to breath to stay alive pulled from the room before the second door opened. Regan pulled Alara along. “Be careful. If you get knocked away, you might have to dismiss your avatar.”

Alara nodded and floated along with Regan. Not only were the moons full tonight, but Murgin also appeared to glow. She was stunned by the unhindered or rather unforced beauty. “Thank you.” She said. 

“I’m glad you like it, but we’re not done yet. You see on my old world there was a thing called sky-diving. Being an indoors type of person I never attempted it as I really liked being alive. However, with this body I can literally suffer enough damage to crush a mountain and be perfectly fine.”

“You are… saying… from here?” Alara asked looking at the planet below her. While she wasn’t afraid of heights, this was a bit much.

“It’ll be fun,” Regan said using energy to move them farther from the station. “But, I’m not going to make you do it if you don’t want to.”

Alara looked down and was able to make out Regan’s Steel Spire. Even from space a person could make out the structure. She pointed at it. “There.”

Regan turned to see what she pointed at then nodded. “That will make a perfect target.” He grabbed her again and they moved under the force of energy that Regan was using. Being a dungeon avatar, Alara was able to sense the boundary of the planet atmosphere when they crossed it. The gravity grabbed hold of them and they finally started to fall. 

Regan pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her. They started to gain speed and she started to get buffeted by the increasing air. Regan waved his hand and a bubble of energy formed around her. She was still able to feel the air on her but it was reduced. Alara noted that Regan hadn’t put the bubble around himself.

“I want to feel it all.” He said in her ear. He used magic to make sure the sound reached her ear. Alara felt a warmth in her chest at the closeness of his body. They continued to gain speed and were soon only a few thousand meters from the ground. She wondered if he was really going to have them collide with the ground.

Regan waved his hand again and massive clouds formed between them. As they passed through each cloud, their speed dropped tremendously. After ten clouds they came to a stop on top of it. Alara could feel his mana coursing through it to keep them aloft. 

“I’ve also always wanted to ride a cloud,” Regan said setting her down. She sank a few centimeters but could walk without issue. She was reluctant to leave his arms though. 

“Me too.”

“It is good to have a common interest,” Regan said with a smile. His smile became a full-blown grin as he fell back into the cloud. “This is wonderful.”

Alara looked at Regan as he laid down then jumped down next to him. He was in his human robot form so he was only about half a meter taller than her. Normally, she had to crane her neck to be able to look up at him.

Alara cuddled into his side enjoying the warmth. They weren’t sure how long they laid there. Regan was running his fingers through Alara’s hair almost unconsciously. He found that he quite enjoyed spending time with the dungeon core. Even just watching the night sky was enjoyable. Is this not what everyone should seek out during their lives? He just shook his head with a chuckle.

Alara suddenly pulled herself onto Regan’s chest. “Pay back!” she said with more energy than he’d seen since he’d rescued her. She shot forward and locked her lips with his. Regan of course, did not refuse. He gently placed his hand on the back of her head and pulled her even closer. Being beings that didn’t not breath. The kiss lasted longer than anything a mortal could hope to accomplish. The official time was an hour and five minutes before they broke apart.

“Thank you… for tonight. I enjoyed… all of it.”

“Mm~ any time.” Alara leaned forward and gave Regan a peck on the cheek then stood up with the first smile Regan had ever seen. She jumped backwards off the cloud. Regan stood up and watched as she fell a few hundred meters before turning to dust. “She’s more of a show-off than I expected.” He placed his hands behind back then started whistling an old hum from Earth as his form broke into motes of mana.