The Dwemer Centurion, or 'Forge Master' stomps to the centre of the platform as steam and black smoke billow from it, magma still dripping from its metal body, making it almost unthinkable to engage in melee combat if everything else was not already enough.
"Laguna Blade!" Michael exclaims before anyone else could do anything, blasting the Forge Master in the chest with a huge bolt of lightning... Unfortunately, it just fizzles upon striking it, sparking exploding from the impact sight and dissipating through the automaton's feet... "Ah, well, lightning's apparently out."
*Click, Click, Click-*
Everyone throws themselves to the ground or behind the nearby pillar as they hear the odd sound, most remembering other Dwemer Centurions making the same sound before blasting steam from its mouth.
Only, it isn't steam that the Forge Master unleashes... It's a blast of unrelenting fire that looks as if it were from the maw of a dozen dragons.
*THWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*
"EVERYONE ALRIGHT!?" Michael shouts as he looks everyone over. Ignoring the fact that half of the pillar they were hiding behind had turned to molten slag and dripped to the floor below it.
"We're alright! Just get that thing's attention away so we can do something!" Saya shouts,
"Throw out some of those clones you used earlier." he says after nodding and Blinking out from behind the pillar, ending up with him standing directly atop the Aetherium Forge... Yeah, the Forge Master spins around in response and stomps towards him, apparently not willing to use its flame breath while he was standing on the artifact.
"YOLOS SAHLO!" Illococoo suddenly shouts at the back of the Forge Master, the shout connecting and causing steam to explode off of it. The metal composing it glowing even hotter than it did before.
The edges of its blades being the first to melt as they drip to the floor in a molten mess. More spells strike its back courtesy of the girls, with ten copies of Saya running and surrounding it, allowing Michael to Blink away as it thrashes at the fragile clones.
"Fade Bolt! Dragon Slave! Monolith Ward! Spatial Scatter! Spatial Grip!" Michael shouts, throwing most of the offensive spells he knows at the Forge Master, while the girls do the same.
Shards of molten metal are blown off of the Forge Master as its metal body softens from the heat... Unfortunately, before any real damage could be done, Illococoo's shout ends, resulting in its body solidifying after recovering its heat resistance.
"Shout again!" he orders, and the dragon girl nods while doing just that.
"YOLOS SAHLO-ahk!" she shouts but ends up coughing blood afterwards. The damage to her throat by the shout was only enhanced by the innate power of the Forge Master... She was essentially stripping it of its strongest attribute... Like turning a taking the ice away from a Frost Wraith...
Saya takes Illococoo to the side and begins using Restoration spells to help her recover while the others continue their onslaught.
"Keep it still for ten more seconds!" Tiffania shouts as she continues channelling her spell... Only for the Forge Master to kill the last of Saya's illusions.
"Ten seconds coming up!" Michael shouts back, "Winter's Curse!" he casts, freezing the Forge Master completely solid. While the second aspect of the curse wouldn't work since there were none of its allies around to attack it, it would still be frozen for however long the effect lasts... Which as it turns out, isn't that long in this environment...
*CRACK!*
"Er, five seconds...? Just cast the spell!"
*SMASH!*
The half-melted bubbling ice explodes from the Forge Master, but at this moment Tiffania finally casts her spell.
*Zooowp!*
A Teleportation gate opens up between the Forge Master's hips, splitting it in half as its upper body falls from the other gate that'd opened up nearby.
*Crash!*
Unfortunately, unlike any regular enemy, the automaton wasn't bothered by the loss of its legs, resulting in it continuing to crawl towards the group.
*THWOOOOM!*
Even more fire explodes from its metal face, forcing Tiffania and Saya to throw up a powerful Ward to block it. For a moment it the fire looked to be breaking through it, but Michael intervenes by appearing atop the crippled Forge Master, Derflinger in hand while it crackled with black spatial energy, courtesy of Darth's assistance and Rhasta's teachings.
*SWIPE!*
*CRACK!*
His attack sweeps easily through its metalhead, cutting through it before Derflinger embeds itself into the stone ground, almost cutting through that as well.
The robot still wasn't finished however! Forcing Michael to reach into its severed head and wrench out its dynamo core, its searingly hot body severely burning his entire arm as he does so.
*Clangk!*
With that, it finally goes still, dead from having its power source removed.
Michael lets out a shuddering sigh as he falls onto his ass, grimacing slightly as he catches himself with his scorched black arm.
"Oh my god! Are you alright!?" Saya exclaims as she approaches, looking over his arm with worry, guilt and disgust... Not all in that order...
"Eh, big bro will heal from that in no time." Illococoo dismisses the injury, her voice croaking from the damage she's sustained earlier.
"That doesn't mean it hurts any less." Michael complains, looking like a child seeking sympathy for a scraped knee...
"You just want big sis to kiss it better." the dragon girl retorts while gesturing towards Tiffania.
He shakes his head, "I mean, she can do that later. I just want you guys to acknowledge all the pain I go through for you... I'm such a great hero!" he sarcastically says.
Saya bites her lip, "I don' get how you guys can be so uncaring about this... He might lose full use of his arm!"
...
"Yeah..." Michael trails off.
"Heal yourself already..." Megumin says while prodding him in the side with the bottom of her staff.
"Fine, don't let me have this..." he grouses, walking away from the group and using Dark Pact to remove any imperfections from his body, including his scorched black arm.
...
"You could do that!?" Saya exclaims, feeling stupid for pitying him.
He shrugs, "I could basically always do this... I'm surprised no one else told you about it." he says before turning towards the Aetherium Forge, "Shall we try and get this thing working then?" he asks, ignoring Saya's anger at being tricked to 'baby' him.
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :
ShinAmazake
Kingsprovince
Faruk Ereng
The Aetherium Forge was nothing like a regular forge... There were no traditional anvils, no traditional smelter, no traditional anything... It was more akin to an all-in-one factory with a 3D printer embedded into it that had an AI built into it... At least, that's what the group could tell.
Michael had been tempted to call over Eorlund Gray-Mane to see what he could make of it, but threw away such ideas as it'd mean revealing the location of this place to him... Michael couldn't and wouldn't risk any chance of someone else discovering this place. Not only because it contained the incredibly powerful Forge, but also because it could act as a safe house for him and his friends should it ever be required.
No doubt it was shielded from even the Daedric Princes, so he was sure it could act as a base of operations in the event of another invasion from Oblivion, despite how unlikely such a thing would be.
Anyway, the Aetherium Forge was far too complicated for the group to even begin to estimate how it worked. The only clue they had was the fact that the Aetherium Crest was used somehow, judging by the crest-shaped hole that was present.
...
"Just put it in and see what happens." Illococoo says at the side, getting bored of staring at the Aetherium Forge, similar to how everyone else was feeling... It was fair, they had been studying it for many hours straight now.
...
"Fine... But if this fucks it, I reserve the right to say 'I told you so'." he retorts before shoving the crest into the hole.
Immediately after this, the machine bursts to life, steam shooting from many valves as gears get to work. A slot in the Forge opens up, revealing something that looked remarkably similar to a pin art board, only this one was far more intricate and delicate than the one you'd shove your hand in.
There looked to be three preset options as well, one that looked like a shield, one that looked like a staff, and one that looked like a tiara or some sort. Michael ignored all of that however, instead electing to shove some of the Aetherium crystals that Enthir had given him into the open input slot, afterwards experimenting with the designer-thing.
Now that he'd inserted the Aetherium, he could colour the individual pins in the device blue, which would probably produce Aetherium thing in that shape.
He inserts some ebony and grins as he gets a 'Black' option. With this, he creates two items, one being a Aetherium tipped ebony pickaxe, and the other being an exact replica of the Aetherium Crest he'd just inserted.
The Aetherium Forge churns to life as he pulls down the lever that popped out of the ground, the loud thrumb of metal being pounded, the occasional sound of shattering, and the ever-present groans of gears turning.
The group watched with rapt attention, and an hour later, another slot open up while pushing out a metal platform with both of the objects he designed placed on it. The Aetherium pickaxe along with the Aetherium Crest.
He tries to pick one up but drops it upon finding it still hot from the forging process. After waiting for it to cool down, he takes them and looks them over, grinning to himself at how good they were despite this being his first time using the Forge.
"Why did you produce a Crest as well?" Megumin asks from the side, swinging the pickaxe in the air as if it were a baseball bat.
"Well, the Forge doesn't seem to work without one being deposited so, it's probably like a key that dissolves once put in the lock. Hopefully, that pick can mine Aetherium so we can mass produce crests and not have to micro-manage it." Michael explains.
Saya crooks a brow in thought, "Where does the original crest go though? Does it melt and get integrated with the other Aetherium objects?"
Michael shrugs, "Don't know, don't care to know. Just let things be, for now at least. If something goes wrong in future I give you permission to tear the Forge apart."
"Do you think the pick will work? I mean, this isn't a game. Having a better pick doesn't mean being able to mine the ore... Do you even know where more Aetherium is"
He nods, "Potential weakness of the pick aside, Blackreach has a shit ton of Aetherium just sitting around. The only problem is that it's all in the form of giant crystals, making it all but impossible to transport it as it is, hence the pick..."
Saya shakes her head, "Whatever, let's head home. I'm starting to feel the heat get to me..."
Megumin scoffs, "You're making that up to excuse how sweaty you got during the fight." the explosion girl accuses, pointing at the dark spots ay Saya's armpits and cleavage where the grey robes had gotten moist with sweat.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not long after the successful clearing of the ruins that held the Aetherium Forge, Michael could be seen in a corner of Blackreach swinging his new pickaxe at a large crystal of Aetherium that was sticking from the wall.
*Clink!*
*Clink!*
*Clink!*
He seemed to be doing nothing whatsoever, leaving him grimacing as he looks down at the seemingly ineffective tool. "Come on, just work..." he mutters, swinging it again at the crystal, this time harder than before.
The failures steadily amount, and he was only further aggravated by the Falmer that'd occasionally patrol by, forcing him to kill them before going back to his mining. In a bout of anger, he lost control of his magic while shooting a stream of fire at an annoying flying Chaurus that'd decided to pester him, only for his Aetherium Pickaxe to glow slightly and actually chip part of the crystal.
...
"Huh... I'm dumb... Of course magic would enhance this shit!" he exclaims, inwardly kicking himself for wasting so much time on this.
Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!
If you like my content or want to read ahead please go to : https://www.p.atreon.com/Nagross, I'd appreciate it.
Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :
ShinAmazake
Kingsprovince
Faruk Ereng
bình luận đoạn văn
Tính năng bình luận đoạn văn hiện đã có trên Web! Di chuyển chuột qua bất kỳ đoạn nào và nhấp vào biểu tượng để thêm nhận xét của bạn.
Ngoài ra, bạn luôn có thể tắt / bật nó trong Cài đặt.
ĐÃ NHẬN ĐƯỢC