TtOW! - Chapter 177 - The Growth of the Wise-Mighty-Gracious Boss-Queen's Servants (Patreon)

01R boosted through the air, forming Light Beams over his paws. He lashed out to either side of him, cutting through two bat monsters at once.

[You have slain two Nightwing Screechers!]

[Gained 52 XP!]

[Level up! You are now level 20!]

[Evolution Available!]

01R’s organic eye widened as he read the last words from the sacred records. So much so that he didn’t respond to the bats diving towards his back.

Or rather, he didn’t need to.

A defensive drone formed a barrier behind him, and the bats bounced off of it. Then a whirlwind of metal and fur fell upon them, the cat striking them down with cybernetically enhanced claw strikes.

She turned around and meowed at him. A message came in over the comms from Snuan.

“I agree with the evil-vicious cat-thing! Pay-Give attention, you dumb fanatic-zealot!”

01R grinned at the cat, speaking both aloud and through the comms.

“You have it wrong-mistaken. I know I can act-fight boldly because I know you are watching, yes yes. Your command-control of the golem-things is most impressive, yes yes.”

He just heard Snuan sigh, while the cat scoffed and meowed, then turned to pounce on another bat.

After the battle, 01R brought up the sacred records once more.

[Available Evolutions:]

• [Cyber-Ratkin: A rat monster that has begun to gain a more humanoid form, and has been upgraded with cybernetic components. Increases size, strength, durability, and intelligence. Unlocked by default for rat-type monsters upgraded with cybernetic components.]
• [Large Cyber-Rat: A basic cyber-rat monster...but slightly larger! Might be able to carry a pistol now! Increases size, strength, and durability. Unlocked by default for rat-type monsters.]
• [Cyber-Rat Fighter: A cyber-rat…but it’s good at fighting. Increased strength, speed, and durability. Unlocked because you fight a lot.]
• [Cyber-Rat Captain: A cyber…I mean, that’s in the name. You lead stuff.]
• [...]

01R perused through the options of increasingly vague descriptions, rubbing his paws.

An evolution! A reward for his meritorious deeds, that would greatly increase his power! A method by which he could continue to serve the Wise-Mighty-Gracious Boss-Queen, in ever increasing ways!

The question was…what should he pick?

He immediately turned the decision over to the Wise-Mighty-Gracious Boss-Queen.

“Affirmative Response: NSLICE-01R may evolve as per personal analysis. This unit may attempt to offer recommendations based on combat analysis, but be advised this unit is in the process of rewriting upgrade protocols and so cannot guarantee full efficacy at this time.”

01R was moved to tears. The Wise-Mighty-Gracious Boss-Queen was entrusting such an important decision to him! She even acted humbly to encourage him!

He would not let her down!

And so he looked through the decision. Cyber-Ratkin was tempting. A more humanoid form would make him more like the Wise-Mighty-Gracious Boss-Queen. But at the same time, this was the form she had gifted him with, so was it right to abandon it? It was a basic evolution as well, so it was like surrendering his deeds. Was that truly the way to honor the Wise-Mighty-Gracious Boss-Queen? Or perhaps she had given him this form for a reason, and it was better to remain content in it, maximizing its potential rather than abandoning it all together?

But as he scrolled through the list, he came to the final entry.

• [Cyber-Rat Paladin: Something about faith, honor, and might. Sure, take Holy mana as a monster evolution, I don’t care anymore! If they want to make me come up with countless new evolutions based on an entirely new form of existence and expect thorough quality then they should get someone else to do this stupid job!]

An evolution…based on faith and honor? That would grant might in his current form?

His heart began to pound.

An evolution that would maintain the form granted to him by the Wise-Mighty-Gracious Boss-Queen…and that would specifically reward his faith in her.

He knew then what to choose.

He was surrounded by light.

[Evolution to Cyber-Rat Paladin chosen. Awaiting approval by Dungeon Master.]

[Evolution approved.]

[Evolution to Cyber-Rat Paladin successful!]

01R opened his eyes as the light died down. His heart continued to pound. He could feel the Wise-Mighty-Gracious Boss-Queen’s power stir within him. He could feel her sight upon him.

“Wise-Mighty-Gracious Boss-Queen, this 01R swears-vows to be your strong-deadly blade, and your tough-resilient shield, yes yes.”

The blessed voice reached his ears (over the comms).

“Affirmative.”

His mana and cybernetic components both began to glow with golden and silver light as he rose to his feet, a wide smile on his face.

And so the first Cyber-Rat Paladin was born.

***

NSLICE-00P stood in her world, which she had designated as ‘Primary Home Base.’ She was holding a metal ingot, and utilizing Metal Magic to form a magic circle directly in the metal. She then channeled her mana through the ingot…

She detected her mana halting, and gathering up to critical levels. She fired the Equalizer to drain the circle of mana, just before it exploded. Her robotic eye flickered as she logged the data.

It turned out fixing an incomplete, unsuccessful Spatial magic enchantment via rapid iteration was quite difficult. Spatial Magic was apparently significantly different from most other magic types, so she could not leverage her knowledge of other magic circles to repair this one. She could log leakages and blockages in her magic circle attempts, but she couldn’t predict what would actually make the circle work, so it was a step by step process of getting the mana to flow just a little bit further before it ran into another wave of issues.

She signaled a nearby drone, and placed the ingot into its arm. The drone carried the ingot across the Primary Home Base. It flew over a river that cut through the stone, with metallic flowers growing along its banks, separating the industrial sector from the portal network. On the other side was an open pit, excavated into the ground. Veins of various metals and materials could be seen. Large excavator golems, now equipped with bucket wheels and power drills, dug at the ground, depositing ores directly onto conveyor belts. These belts led not to a smelter nor storage facility, but directly to Melion’s new factory. Inside the building, a large quantity of cyborg metal slimes waited by the conveyer belt, grabbing the ores as they arrived.

It turned out upgrading Melion to a CELIU model had stored their records in her dungeon core, and she already had a Metal affinity. As such, cyborg metal slimes were available for summoning. And it turned out the metal slimes’ affinity for metal magic and natural ability to process metal ores made them superior to normal smelters. With cybernetic implants, they could absorb a number of raw inputs and output not only the exact alloy desired, but a fully completed component.

Well, they had to learn not to simply consume the metal first, but the NSLICE network and Melion’s guidance resolved that issue fairly quickly.

And so the mass production of drones had begun.

***

Estrith pulled back her arm, preparing to throw her harpoon. Red targeting circle appeared in her vision, highlighting exactly where her harpoon would land. A recommended magic circle appeared and she confirmed it. Her cybernetic half formed the magic circle in the air and then magic water coated her spear, forming a second blade around it. Then she moved to attack. As she moved her arm forward, the armor wrapped around it moved as well, adding additional force to her throw.

The spear shot through the air and stabbed right into the Flame Drake she was fighting, forming a mana chain to hold it down.

Drones hovering around her moved without her command, responding automatically to her actions. They activated their built in Arcane Chain spells, latching onto the drake from all directions. The creature roared and tugged at the chains, breaking a few of them. Yet, still some remained, holding the monster down.

It instead turned its face to her and let out a mighty wave of fire from its jaws.

Estrith didn’t even move.

Defense drones automatically began forming Mana Barriers in front of her the moment she identified the threat. She stared blankly as the fire crashed into the barrier ahead of her. She then leapt into the air, her repulsors automatically boosting her higher, and pulled her harpoon back into her hand with a mana chain. She spun around to face head down, and then her thrusters activated, sending her hurtling towards the drake’s head.

Her robotic eye indicated a weak point between the drake’s scales. She struck at the precise moment.

The drake crashed to the ground.

[You have slain Fire Drake (Level 70!)]

[Gained 38 XP!]

[Level up! You are now level 65!]

Estrith pursed her lips.

She…did not know how she felt about all this.

Or rather…she did. Beforehand, a fight with a Fire Drake would have been a desperate battle for her life. It would have taken all of her skill and focus just to escape unscathed. If she had been alone, winning the fight would not have been on her mind at all. Had she managed it anyways, it would have been a mighty victory praised by her people for years to come.

Now she had pulled it off in a matter of minutes, with hardly a struggle at all. The cybernetic components indicated when the drake was going to attack, predicted how it was going to attack, and showed her precisely where she could hurt it. They automatically cast magic she wasn’t particularly good at to support her attacks. They let her move in ways she never could before, and hit harder than she ever did. And her ‘loyal wingman’ drones automatically moved to support her in both offense and defense.

It…was kind of boring, if Estrith was honest.

But she shook her head, and reclaimed her weapon as she turned to face the rest of the battle.

Taog ducked to the side as a second drake launched a fire breath at him, his cloak of Dark mana and drone barriers protecting him. He boosted to the side with his repulsors, then swung a Dark-coated blade at the monster’s side. A Dark Blast spell erupted from his sword, breaking through the drake’s HP barrier. Drones around him shot Dark Beam spells into the wound, dealing further damage.

Ateia confronted a third Drake. She drew her bow, a dozen magic circles forming on top of her arrow as she pulled it back.

When she released, the arrow turned into a beam of Holy mana that pierced through the Drake. The drones around her automatically lent Light Beams to the attack.

This manner of fighting may not be enjoyable to Estrith…but she could not help but admit it was certainly effective. The young imperials had nearly caught her in level…and were already approaching her in terms of strength. That was intentional by Her Queen, as she was trying to bring all her weaker subordinates up to par. But Estrith wasn’t just going to let them catch her that easily, now that they were facing opponents she could grow from!

So she turned forward, and continued on through the dungeon.

Author's Note:

The army's coming along! And oh hey, I never got around to anyone's second evolution, did I? But it's ok because neither did Shialnor!

Um, quick, let's throw together some options, Shialnor! I mean, um, YOU should throw together some options, Shialnor! It's solely your job and therefore no one else is responsible for not taking care of it until now.

Anyways!

Will Shialnor flesh out the cyber evolutions for all the different species NSLICE-00P has upgraded? Can NSLICE-00P fix the broken magic circle? Will Estrith learn to love the grind? Tune in next time, to find out!