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Chapter Text

There are several things I wish I could've done better. Examples are learning to better my Japanese as a foreign exchange student or learning how exactly to socialize with other human beings, mostly I wish I could have done better was learn to speak up for others. When faced with situations where I saw one of my classmates bullying another student in the class, I didn't do a thing. I may have mentally thought about what I could say, but I never made a move. That or it was because I didn't know the best way to roast the bully in question, and with my terrible skills in Japanese I might accidentally compliment them or something.

Now though, I was beginning to regret not doing a thing as I had found myself underneath a pile of rubble after... whatever happened today. All I knew was that there was a blinding light, and I had the misfortune of being covered in the debris. At least, I think I'm underneath the debris of the class. I think there's more rock than there was wood.

And there was nobody to rescue me as I lay there for what seemed two hours before my patience began running low.

'Uh, hello? Is anyone out there? I require assistance!' I thought as I began to move the debris with my arms. It was then I realized something. My arms refused to move. Almost as if they were... not there. 'Ok, this must be some kind of joke, a huge elaborate prank done on the American exchange student, haha, NOW LET ME OUT OF HERE!' I yelled as I began to struggle around with my surroundings.

Feeling rubble fall off, rocks no longer clouding my vision, I saw that my newfound environment was completely different from that of a Japanese structure of a school. And in its place was an elaborate cave tunnel network. Taking the sight in, I could only imagine what I was supposed to do now.

'Ok... think Roger, let's try and figure this out! First off, do I spot any wild animals nearby? Because I do not want a predator to come by and eat me for my flesh!' I thought before squinting my eyes, attempting to get a clear vision of any surrounding inhabitants of the cave. Surprisingly, I could see that my vision reached up to the cave wall, which was right in front of me. Looking around, scanning for any lifeforms that weren't me, I then took a moment to mentally sigh in relief.

'Ok, no scary animals for now... so, next step... see if you broke your limbs... so why can't I feel my arms?' I thought before attempting to move my arms. As that failed, however, I began fearing the worst. 'Ok, maybe they got removed in the worst possible way, don't think about it. Try and feel other parts of your body.' I tried to calm myself down before focusing on moving any necessary body parts.

As I tried to focus, I heard a loud hiss, breaking me out of my concentration. Looking around frantically, I saw a massive white spider move past my vision. I stayed still in an attempt to not get noticed by the beast. As it passed me, going extremely fast while they were at it, I could only think of one tiny thing. 'Ok, who shrunk me down to the size of a spider. I need to have a few words with you!' I thought angrily.

After a few moments passed by, and believing that the spider was gone after it sped off for some inexplicable reason, I then struggled some more and tried to get a feel of my limbs. A few hours later, I finally got all the rocks off me. At this, I took a massive sigh of relief in the real world, only to find it is... different. In, it sounds the same, but it sounds as though my voice was being projected from a text-to-speech device.

"Hey, wait for a second. This doesn't feel right?" I spoke aloud, moving my legs... only to realize I had four legs and felt a pair of somethings weighing me down on my back. Taking the opportunity to look at these newfound forelegs, I saw metal, rusty appendages connected to a rusting chassis of a body. It was then I noticed the decent lack of a neck. I had no neck now... WHY DO I NOT HAVE A NECK?

Shaking my entire body, as my head was now one with my body, I tried to ignore the depression. Instead, I paid attention to the thoughts that screamed about how we were just reincarnated and that spider was not a normal spider. I then decided if I was just reincarnated into one of those similar things with a game-like system, I should test it out. Time to see if a random voice pops out of nowhere to tell me a skill point increased.

"How much does Intimidation cost?" I asked out loud before closing my eyes to wait for a response.

The Skill "Intimidation" costs 100 skill points. You currently have 100 skill points. Would you like to purchase this Skill?
[Y/N]

"Holy shit, it actually worked..." I paused at that before realizing this was like those RPG games. I only played games that didn't involve these mechanics, as I played strategy games than I did play RPGs. "Wait, shit, I don't know how that'll help me out... wait... I can do this the old Theodore Roosevelt, utilize the special tactic of 'speak softly and carry a big stick'!" I proudly talked to myself out in the open. With that in mind, I selected the yes option and got my intimidation skill.

Now, if only I had a target to use it on... turning around to be met face to face with five human knights. And they don't look friendly.

'Maybe if I just introduce myself and say that a heretical witch placed a curse on me, they'll bring me back to their cit-.' Before I could even finish that track of thought, one of them raised a bow and arrow and pointed it at me, then shot at me. Luckily the arrow struck the ground right in front of my face. Yeah, I wasn't going to be able to fool them if they think I'm a cool new monster to kill.

So, instead of using my newfound intimidation skill, I decided to book it in the other direction. Leaping into the air, I began to feel a whirling coming from the weights that I felt on my backside. I then discovered happened that they were none other than the propellers. Propellers that you'd find on drones.

Now that I thought about it, it made some sense... what didn't make any lick of sense or logic was the fact that I was a fucking drone in what seemed to be a fantasy setting.

My initial immersion into a fantasy world that I now found myself in was completely and utterly shattered.

Chapter Text

As I ran from potential harm to my newfound metallic body from the hostile knights, I kept frantically panicking within my newfound thought processors. My stubby legs kept me going, and sometimes the rotors on the propellers would work and send me flying. It only provided a short distance of travel to get away from the superstitious knights of the round table, mainly because they were rusty as all can be!

Traveling through this tunnel that made up this damned cave wasn't helpful. My train of thought eventually came back to that spider from earlier. 'Was that spider running away from said knights? You know that might explain why they were hurrying past me.' I thought before coming across two-way divided pathways. Down one entrance was a few giant lizards, down the other, there were no visible monsters that I could see down. I think the choice is obvious.

Running down the tunnel that didn't have three extra opponents, I could hear the knights get closer. Picking up the pace, I tried to focus on where I was going, and the first thing that came out of the darkness ahead of me was a giant snake.

'Fucking hell no!' I thought before attempting that new skill, intimidation. "Intimidation bitch!" I yelled in panic, unaware if that worked, before building up more speed. The snake saw me approach rapidly towards their general direction and moved out of the way so I could continue.

Running past the snake, I could see an opening ahead of me... only that something was standing there in the way.

That something happened to be the spider from earlier, who looked like it didn't know if it should jump. If I had to be honest if I could read the facial expressions or any of the movements that the spider was making toward my general direction. I think they might be panicking at the sight of me. It was when I realized that I was going way too fast and not wanting to crash into the spider, so I decided that I needed to stop.

Problem: I was rapidly approaching, and as I tried to dig into the stone floor to try and have friction slow me down, it wasn't enough to slow me down into the spider. Then my front right foreleg did something that I didn't want it to. It broke and fell off me, causing me to launch into the spider, where we both ended up colliding with one another, I discovered the reason the spider happened to be waving two of their arms frantically in my general direction.

The tunnel exited into a fucking pit. Go figure. We then proceeded to fall into the deep hole together. The spider screamed in what I could only assume was spider-ese, and me screaming in English as we fell into the dark and inky abyss.

The first thing the spider did as we continued to fall was to stop screaming, before looking around to search for a way to make us stop falling or break the fall. What did I do? Well, you see, I continued to scream while cursing the multiple deities I could think of in gibberish English.

"-Fuck Zeus! Fuck Hera! Fuck Wukong! And more importantly fuck Odin, now onto the native American gods!" was the only clear bit of English that one could hear if you weren't the spider.

Then at that moment, the spider I ran into was flung off me and flew in a different direction, using me as a launch pad. At first, I was confused until I fell into a rage at the thought that the spider didn't grab onto me before realizing that I might have been too heavy. Reorienting myself in the direction that the spider flew into, I saw that the spider was attached to the wall by way of a web.

'Shit, the spider has a way to stop falling? I don't know how to use these things on my back! Ok, let's figure that out before finding out if you take fall damage!' I hurriedly thought before focusing on the drone propellers on my back and trying to manipulate them into making me slow down. As I tried to figure it out, I felt a metal scraping on metal, and as it proceeded to make more and more sound, I found myself slowing down.

'YES, IT'S WORKING! TAKE THAT SPIDER! I DIDN'T NEED YOUR HELP TO SURVIVE!' I aggressively thought. I privately cheered myself for a small achievement.

Sadly this was short-lived as I began to hear buzzing noises. Trying to think back on what species made buzzing sounds, the buzzing progressively got louder... and louder. Then the air behind me made a noise that sounded as if there was an object was making its way through the air. That was when the same spider landed on top of me and put me off my center of balance. Then the buzzing started to get closer.

"QUICK! BEFORE THEY GET US!" spoke aloud a new voice, shouting in Japanese. As I tried to handle the additional weight, I realized that was Japanese instead of general spider noises. 'The fucketh? Was that Japanese? WHEN DO SPIDERS SPEAK JAPANESE!' I thought.

Then the source of the noises got into my peripheral sight, and I started to panic as a swarm of angry-looking giant wasps entered my vision. I then tried to tell my body to go further down faster than I was before. This only resulted in one thing. The rotors stopped and sent the both of us down farther down at a frightening pace. The spider did not help as they began to flail around, resulting in instability and making a flight uncontrollable.

Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Hovering LV1] has become [Hovering LV2].

Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Concentration LV1] has been acquired.

Not the fucking moment, Miss talkative! I am currently falling from a great height!

It was at that moment that I caught sight of the floor. Turned out, it was at that moment the spider sprung off of me in another direction, and before I could react, I felt web land onto one of the weights that I think are the equivalent of a drone's wing and jerk me to the direction the spider jumped.

The spider landed perfectly on the wall as I smashed into it. I felt my metallic wing crunch, and I could feel one thing confirming the thought, the same one that I had in the back of my head. Pain, oh annoying and stinging pain!

I proceeded to slide down the wall as if I was a tomato, leaving behind what looked like a smushed wasp. Well, at least I got my first kill?

"NO! The first obvious reincarnate that I meet, and I nearly killed him?! Please forgive m- Oh no their comi- ISTHATAGIANTSNAKE!" Japanese words came out of nowhere until a giant shadow rose over me. From what I could see, a cyan light illuminated the object that rose over me. Before me was the biggest... Cobra, I think, that I had ever seen. If I hadn't broken my right foreleg and other parts of my body, I would be running right now, but this... I didn't want to fucking die to a stupid-looking snake.

'Maybe I can stealthily make my getaway... oh who am I kidding, the chances of that working are slim to none.' I sluggishly thought before attempting to get up. As I got up, the snake began to hiss at me even more so than before. 'Hmm... are you about to attack me for hissing at your little sister from earlier, or...?' I trailed off before something caught my eye. What was tha-

IS THAT A GIANT REPTILE DOG!

Said reptile dog proceeded to behead the giant snake before me. Then the reptile dog, after slaying the snake, the reptile dog looked down at me with what I could only think was disgust in my general direction. The big lad then left through a tunnel entrance, and I fell over onto the side where the wing was no more. I didn't want to fight anything larger than me right now, so I was fine with not moving.

"Psst!" a noise shouted out as I proceeded to fall into unconsciousness. Before my eyes closed, I heard some grumbling. I then felt a web land on me. I felt myself be pulled off to the side, and the last thing I heard was that stupid higher being's voice.

Proficiency has reached the required level. skill [Pain Resistance LV1] has been acquired.

'Stupid voice, am... drone, I shouldn't feel pain in the first place!' was the last thing I thought before falling into darkness. I had only hoped that the Japanese spiders here didn't eat metal, otherwise, I didn't like my chances.

Chapter Text

As I awoke, I found myself underneath a rock and right next to the spider from before. Looking at it, I waited for it to murk me and end my life, but it didn't do anything. So I took this as a sign of non-aggression and got up. I still felt the weight of only one drone wing, meaning I would have to find a way to replace the missing wing that had gotten smushed.

"Great, you're awake! Now I have someone to talk to..." The spider spoke aloud in Japanese, a language I didn't have much experience with. Then the spider's body deflated, probably at the realization that I wasn't fluent in Japanese and they weren't fluent in English. "Oh, right... you're an American exchange student... and you're Japanese is terrible." Whatever they said, I would more than likely agree with them.

Then my thought process shifted a bit. 'Wait... don't female spiders have bigger behinds?' I thought, to which I decided it would explain the female Japanese voice coming out of the spider.

"Ok, we might not be able to understand one another, but I still believe we can work together!" I responded with a drop of disappointment for my terrible Japanese. 'Though I don't understand why they knew I might or might not be a fellow reincarnate... I mean, there must be some way to identify someone through the game system...' my track of thought paused a second later as realization struck me like a wrecking ball. 'Wait, is that an actual skill?' I thought before speaking aloud. "Yo, mysterious female voice that somehow knows English, is there a skill that helps identifies other creatures?" I shouted into the air, earning a look from the spider, who could've been one of my classmates.

Skill [Appraisal]
(Skill Points Required: 100)
You currently have zero skill points.

'Oh, ok... shit, why did I spend my points on intimidation? Shouldn't this skill be unlocked by default?' I thought before sighing. Now I have to figure out to get more skill points... wait I have to do an EXP farm. Because isn't that how these sorts of systems work? If that skill exists, that might explain why the spider recognized me as a fellow reincarnate.

It could be because the name Roger is a very English name instead of a Japanese name.

Ok, now that is out of the way, how about we figure out how to communicate with one another? Can't plan without being able to understand one another. So how do I go about trying to communicate with her? 'Gestures? No, I can't raise my arms from under my belly while she has eight arms. Hieroglyphics? That would be very hard to do, plus she might not understand them. Memes? Wait, why would memes be helpful?' At the mere thought of memes, I decided to try it out with something simple.

Here's a thing, if she recognizes this meme, then that would mean that I can progress further in communication. Drawing four panels, I drew one line in the top left corner. I then drew two lines in the top right corner, one shorter than the other. After that, I drew two lines in equal height in the bottom left corner, then one line vertically while the other line was on its side horizontally. I then stood back and waited for the spider's reaction. If the spider doesn't understand, that could mean they weren't as adept in internet culture as I was, but if they did, I could further communicate through these means.

The spider took a few seconds to process it before they slowly turned their head toward my general direction. 'Please work, please work, please wo-' before I could continue my thoughts on the chances of it working, the spider proceeded to whack the top of my frame in rage.

"YOU THINK THIS IS THE TIME FOR RESURGENT MEMES! OH, THE NUMBER OF TIMES I'VE SEEN THIS WHILE SURFING THE WEB IS BEYOND ME!" The spider screeched at me in Japanese, confirming that she understood what I drew. I might not understand what she's saying, but deep down inside, I have found a fellow internet dweller.

That only spelled doom for this world because the two could specialize in different tactics. She could be the offensive and defensive, while I could be the one who builds a robot army! Hmm... a robot army doesn't sound too bad. Perhaps if I find a way to get arms and opposable thumbs, I could start constructing a factory that produces more of my kind.

And if Elves do exist here, I could lie and place blame on them for creating an artificial intelligence on accident that went crazy and wanted to rule the world and stuff. Why would I put the blame on the elves? Well, for the most part, fiction I've binged included elves fucking up the world in various ways. They're also pompous assholes, thinking their way superior to everyone else, in like nearly all the media I've come across.

Anyways, back in the present, the spider had stopped whacking me for my crude attempt at meme communication. My companion looked at the meme further before whispering to herself. I think she's beginning to realize that this was the only way we could communicate.

"You know... this could help us communicate until we both can understand each other's language." Miss spider spoke aloud, probably realizing it was our best chance of communication. "Ok, let's just try and communicate the situation to him. Maybe, he'll understand." As she said that in Japanese, she began to draw a tiny map. The tiny map so far was a circle where the two of us were hidden by a rock. Halfway there, I heard a grumbling noise, which was probably her stomach. It was then I realized one thing in particular.

'If I'm a machine, doesn't that mean I require a fuel source?' I thought before taking one look from beneath the boulder. Typically a fuel source would be something like the sun, the wind, or nonrenewable resources. But since ending up here, I need to figure this out. Unless I ran on blood like in Ultrakill, and if not, I was not in a good situation. The spider also took the queue to look outside with me. Across from us was a wasp on the ground. I'm guessing she took damage from the wasp while also incapacitating the wasp.

That might explain why she was wearing the improvised bandage over her abdomen.

The spider shot a web at the wasp before dragging it over to where we were, probably so she could eat it. Meanwhile, I wanted to see just how I could power myself. I wanted to see if there was a way to convert organic matter into fuel. Once the wasp was in front of us, I shoved the broken-off foreleg to shank the wasp in its side while my companion bit into it. As I stabbed the wasp, I felt something that felt akin to hunger, and the next moment tiny knives on limbs came from my body and proceeded to stab into chunks of meat before retreating within my body with the chunks of meat. After that, I felt more energized.

'Ignoring that, I should probably seek out more enemies to kill so I can level up!' I thought to myself before I looked at my companion. She was giving me the stink eye, and all I could do was try and shrug in her direction.

Ok, with all that out of the way, finding out that I can use organic matter as fuel like any other organic was good. Meant that I didn't need to go mining for coal or desperately search for the exit to this cave. But that just left us back at square one. If that reptile dog from earlier had one shot the snake, then it meant that it was a very high-level opponent. Meaning that the enemies further down into the cave were all super strong. Meaning one thing: we needed to go through high-leveled opponents to get to the lower leveled areas.

Meaning my companion had to carry me through any conflict we get into, or at least until I could stand on my own against high leveled opponents. And I really hoped I wasn't going to be a burden on her and hoped that I could prove to be of some help.

'Darn it self depreciation! We just met the first person from Earth, and already thinking we're useless!' I thought before trying to calm myself down. During this time I tried to calm down, and I began counting and doing math equations.

Turns out you can get a skill through counting and doing math problems.

Proficiency has reached the required level. Acquired skill [Arithmetic Processing LV1]

'Just because I start doing equations and counting and all that when I need to calm down, meaning that it's alright to make fun of me for it, mysterious voice!' I complained to the voice. After that thought, I returned my attention to another issue.

The broken and crushed wing that I didn't know how to repair. 'Maybe, just maybe, my companion knows the best way to get full HP or whatever.' I thought before looking over at my companion, who looked like she was planning something that could get the attention of the giant reptile dog. I hope it wasn't a plan that had the flaw of angering the giant reptile dog.

Chapter Text

Walking over to my arachnid companion, I looked at the drawing. The basic gist I got from it was that she planned to make what was best described as a bridge system that could help make traveling back up where we started easier. But that had the flaw of getting attacked by the wasps. While we were lucky that the giant reptile dog didn't see us as a threat to be neutralized, it didn't mean that if we got his attention, it wouldn't annoy him. What better way to annoy a powerful reptile dog than to build a bridge made of webs up a hole that wasps make their home in? The wasps could get stuck and make themselves a problem with their buzzing that annoys big reptile dog. That was the worst-case scenario.

There was another flaw. I might get stuck on the web. You know, because I wasn't a spider and all that. I might be too heavy, and my width could also be a problem. Sure, we were the same height, but with my wings, I was the wider one.

But how about getting rid of the source of noise that might slightly aggravate the giant reptile dog? I mean, if I need to get that stupid appraisal skill and maybe a telepathy skill. Wait, just how much does that cost? It might make communication through our minds better than getting through a language barrier... unless that is circumvented because I'm thinking in English. She'd be thinking in Japanese, meaning we still have to get a better communication method than meme formats. Anyways, wasps could be my best bet for gaining EXP and leveling up so I can catch up.

But if we completely wipe out the wasps, we won't have to fear them causing noise that could slightly inconvenience the big dog. That might work, right?

Well, I would have to address the issue of the wasps causing too much noise to my companion and figure out better solutions that way. Walking over to the side, I tried to draw a good representation of speakers. The giant reptile dog. The wasps were next to the model she drew to explain her plan to me. Looking at it, she tilted her head sideways before looking at me.

I hope she understands that, but this was the best I could do to address the issues in her plan. Since venturing into one of the cave entrances was one option -Given how hovering was at level two, hitting the maximum level could be akin to flight for me. That meant that this was the only option that didn't involve me breaking my companion's web bridge- we could take that path. But I don't know how she feels about such a plan given how low-leveled the two of us were.

After she took a moment to look at the drawing, my companion facepalmed. "That makes sense. If the wasps get stuck, the ones I don't get to could make noise. Said noise could make Araba mad, and he might do something." She spoke to herself. If I heard her correctly, I think she called the giant reptile dog Araba, whatever it translates over to English. But I'm gonna call the giant reptile dog Araba.

"So the giant reptile dog is called Araba?" I asked her, trying my best doing Japanese. Despite not knowing Japanese, the fact that the giant reptile dog was addressed with a name made it far easier for me. The word 'Araba' is easy to pronounce in English, but I don't know what it translates into. My companion blinked in response at my attempt at speaking Japanese.

"Good job so far, Roger! We'll be planning without using meme formats in no time!" She said in a proud tone. I think she congratulated me on my attempt.

'I think that was the most positive thing I have heard so far in this new world... even though I understood nothing of what she just said!' I thought, feeling the front of my body heat up. 'Also said positive thing was from another person...' I stopped there and shook my chassis to shake off those thoughts. Now was not the time. We needed to get rid of those wasps.

But before I could turn around, my companion looked at my body and realized that I required repairs. Then I think she realized that her fellow classmate was a drone. "Wait, why did you reincarnate as a drone in a fantasy setting?" she asked before realizing that she needed to ask in drawing instead of speaking.

She then drew on the ground what she meant to say, and I replied with ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, which caused her to sigh. After that was settled, we poked our heads out from beneath the boulder. Looked at the wasps passing by. Now, if only I knew how much EXP I need to level up?

Experience points required for level up 27/400 EXP.

'Hey, something helpful for once.' I responded before walking out into the open. But before I left, I realized something. How was I exactly going to kill these wasps? I mean... I can't kill the wasps by using rust and giving them syphilis because that'd be too slow. So what else do I have besides weaponizing a disease commonly transmitted through stepping on a nail. 'Yo, mysterious voice in the sky, do I have any skills I can use to kill the wasps?' I tried to get the voice to respond.

...

...

...

Only to be met with silence. 'Well then, guess I'll figure it out by myself.' I thought before resuming my way to attract the wasps. Standing out in the open, I pretended to breathe in and out before I shouted to get the wasp's attention.

"NEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP, NEVER GONNA LET YA DOWN!" I yelled, earning the attention of the passing troop of wasps. As I continued to sing-yell, my companion watched on in horror. Once the wasps were close enough, I began running around because I believed they would mindlessly chase me in circles.

Turned out, that the new world wasn't like a video game because the wasps were not as stupid as game AI. Reason? Well, they used tactics and swarmed me.

Screaming, I ran in a straight direction. As I did that, I decided to go random and then drifted across the floor, sending the dust into the air. "FLOOR SAND!" I shouted as I drifted along the stone floor. The dust flew directly into the wasp's eyes, more than likely blinding them. 'Ok, let's try and use my remaining propeller to send dust into their eyes, and maybe that'll get me EXP.' I thought before turning around, standing on my back legs, activating my remaining propeller, and making it go extremely fast.

My teammate decided to help me by shooting webs to catch the blinded wasps and take them out. If I had to be honest on who did the more damage at first, I would say myself because dust particles in the eyes is a good tactic. Once they were all wrapped up in webs, both of us went about executing each one so that she gets to have food and I get to have some fuel to power myself, also EXP for both of us.

From killing the troop of wasps, I surprisingly got a lot of EXP from sharing the kill with each other.

Experience points required for level up: 211/400 EXP.

That was good. But now is the time to ask the big question to my fellow companion. Drawing on the ground, I tried to explain the best way to address the issue to my companion, who was now working on some webbing to start that whole bridge thing. She looked busy, but it was going to be a while before the next troop of wasps came down to attack us. As she finished one bit of the beginning bridge, she looked in my direction and noticed that I was drawing.

The basic gist was this: what is the best way to get my other wing back? Her only response was that I should level up to get it back. That was reasonable, I suppose. The best way to repair me was to make sure I level up and get back to being fully operational. After leveling up, I'll focus on getting appraisal. Maybe then I can get things like identifying the enemies' appropriate level... also figure out which one of my classmates my spider companion is.

After figuring that out, I heard a distant buzzing. 'I wonder if I have a built-in music track? Like maybe music from my world that I used to listen to?' I paused on that last thought before thinking up a battle scene. "Behold my robot army of devastation!" I announced to the heroes all the while the song from the TF2 MANN VS MACHINE trailer, 'ROBOTS!' played from a speaker. The fool of a hero thought they were going to win, claiming having the aid of their friends gives them power. Said fool is punched to the brink of death by a far more advanced model of myself.

I ended up chuckling at that last bit. As I returned to reality, however, the next troop of wasps was getting closer and closer. Well then... let us do some pest control. I wonder how my companion saw me?

Probably a cute bean drone.

Chapter Text

Walking over to the final wasp from the last patrol, I knew that now was the moment that I was about to level up. My fellow companion was over to my right, eating her own wasp, letting me get the EXP from the last remaining alive one. Now, I didn't know the offensive abilities that come with being a drone. My companion had skills like poison attacks, and webbing, just by her being a spider. Now, if one was wondering what exactly I've been using to kill my prey? I've been stabbing the wasps with my broken foreleg.

I was really looking forward to having my leg and my wing back. The ability to fly or hover above the ground should help lure the wasps down here, so they get caught in a trap could prove helpful. Anyways onto the situation at hand, I faced the wasp head-on, and I felt as if the thing was scared for its own life. But since these creatures were a pain to live with them being aggressive to everything that breathes back home, I had no trace of mercy for this bugger.

Thrusting my broken leg into the head of the wasp, I made sure to repeatedly stab to kill the thing.

Experience has reached the required level, Drone has increased from LV 1 to LV 2. Skill proficiency level-up bonus acquired. Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Fire Manipulation LV 1] has become [Fire Manipulation LV 2]. Skill [Hovering LV 2] has become [Hovering LV 3]. Skill points acquired.

As miss talkative said that, I felt my body shake, and then pieces of my metallic body started to flake off as if they were paper that got cut into tiny pieces. That wasn't the only thing to happen, the rust also came flying off me, and suddenly my wing was back, including my missing foreleg. This was good news, now was it?

But apparently, all it says, for now, is that I'm a drone, though I wasn't sure what kind. I also have fire manipulation, meaning I have something involving magic. 'Huh, a robot with magic... that's different, I suppose?' I thought before looking at the hovering skill. It leveled up to level three, which was good. But now wasn't the time to test out these skills that leveled up.

'Alright, my wing and my leg are now back! Now let's get that skill appraisal!' I thought, giving my attention to the system.

Skill [Appraisal]
(Skill points required: 100)
You currently have 100 skill points.
Would you like to purchase this skill? [Y/N]

'Yes, please!' I told the voice from above. Now that I have the skill, I should be able to learn which one of my classmates my fellow companion is. But, wanting to test this on myself, I wanted to see where it would show. So, using one of the knife arms, I directed it to point at myself and then appraised myself. 'I'm expecting answers to what kind of being I reincarnated as!' I thought to no one in particular.

Drone, Roger

'Wut.' I thought. All it showed me was my name and that I was a drone. 'Surely, you must be kidding! I want to know what my stats are!' I thought before doing the appraisal skill on myself again.

Drone, Roger

'...' My thoughts were empty. I couldn't think of anything to explain why this stupid fucking skill wasn't working. Was it because it was at a low level, or was it because the darn thing was stupid? I wasn't sure which was which, so I just blamed the system of the world that I found myself in. If I was reincarnated as a robot in a fantasy setting, then it was just proof of the flaws in the world.

'Maybe it'll tell me something actually important. For example, the name of my compatriot.' I thought before turning my attention to my companion. She was now working on her spider web bridge contraption. Now was the time to learn my companion's name. Hopefully, the system won't fail me now.

Spider, Nameless

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY NAMELESS? SHE CLEARLY HAS A NAME!" I shouted, sharing my thoughts with the world. As I said that, my companion jumped into the air, startled by my shout. "Oops, sorry!" I apologized, not meaning to startle her. I wasn't angry with her. It was just that I was just enraged at the incompetence that was showing in this appraisal skill.

At this point, if this stupid skill was given form, it'd be given the form of a coyote.

My companion briefly looked in my direction before returning her attention to her web. "Wonder what that was about?" I heard her whisper, though I didn't know what she said in Japanese.

'Ok, clearly getting mad at the stupid system isn't helping me. Let's try and figure out that Fire Manipulation skill!' I thought before attempting to feel out how to use this skill. Maybe some magic would help calm me down.

Turned out though it wasn't magic-related as it was a skill. How did I find this out? Well, there just happened to be a blow torch. So that is... interesting. Actually, this was pretty good because I have actual means of defense besides having to rely upon other than multiple tiny knives. I could also cook, that was more important... for my companion. Actually, does cooking meat give me a skill?

Let's test it out on this wasp first! Turning to the wasp, I pulled out the blow torch and one of my knives to hold the body. I lit the blow torch and held it close to the flesh. I made sure to not burn the meat badly so that it wouldn't be burnt. As I did this, my companion noticed me up to something and wanted to figure out what exactly I was doing. She walked over right next to me and watched as I attempted to get the skill I wanted.

I mean, back in my previous life, I had an experience with cooking. Pancakes and Waffles were the meals in the mornings that I typically cooked for myself before school started.

Proficiency has reached the required level. Acquired skill [Cooking LV 1].

'Yes! I got a new skill!' I thought as I turned the body over to cook the other side of the wasp. Out from the corner of my eyes- or was it optics? - I saw my companion's mouth-watering. She must've been eating nothing but raw food since reincarnating here if I am correct.

But cooking this meat wasn't going to automatically make it better. I needed spices, which meant I needed to get to the surface and interact with human settlements to gather spices, and resources if I wanted to be a world-class chef. Now thinking about it, it was funny to think about the mysterious world-class chef turning out to be a robot. Who couldn't even taste their cooking?

Cutting a large chunk out of the cooked wasp, I presented it to my spider companion for her to taste. She grabbed the chunk of meat from my arm and then took a nibble out of the cooked wasp. I couldn't exactly tell how she reacted, given how unemotive a spider's face was. I just hoped she liked it.

Then the next thing I heard was a squeal from her, and then the moment after that, she put the whole thing in her mouth. After eating the chunk whole, she proceeded to approach the cooked wasp to devour it whole. She must've been starving for cooked food, but it couldn't be that good, right? The skill was just at level one. It can't be that good... right?

'My skill at cooking isn't that good, right?' I asked, briefly turning my optics to the sky, looking out for any wasps passing by.

Condition satisfied.
Acquired title [Doubter].
Acquired skills [Mind Control Resistance LV 1] [Mental Warfare LV 1] as a result of title [Doubter].

'Ha ha, very funny system!' I thought, returning my attention to my companion, only to be met with the body of the wasp entirely gone. My companion just so happened to be in front of my face, looking as if she was begging for more cooked food.

"If that was a cooking skill that you just unlocked, we are leveling that baby up!" She said in Japanese. Normally, I wouldn't understand what she said, but I felt deep down that I perfectly understand what she said.

I hope this doesn't complicate things further down the line. Otherwise, I don't know what to think.

Chapter Text

After attacking the passing-by wasps, my companion's web construction had been turning out well. With us expanding the web higher and higher, we come across more and more wasps. Safe to say, there were two options for the wasps: leave their territory or perish. Unfortunately, the majority didn't get the message to leave or face the gates of the afterlife and kept trying to attack us.

Thankfully my companion accommodated the web structure with me in mind. The inside wasn't sticky for my little peds, and it was just wide enough for me to fit in with her occupying the same space. When Wasps dared to get stuck in the web, it was either my companion finishing them off with her abilities or me using my blow torch arm to reach out from the web and take the hit. So, either way, it was either venom or fire the wasps had the chance of dying from.

Despite everything, however, my companion strictly told me to be careful with my blow torch when using it around her webs. I understood why we didn't want to start all the way from rock bottom.

It was just the fact these stupid buggers just loved to struggle and get to us.

"No, bad! Bad wasp!" I said before shoving my blow torch down the throat and burning his insides, killing the bug monster.

Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Fire Manipulation LV 3] has become [Fire Manipulation LV 4].

Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Intimidation LV 2] has become [Intimidation LV 3].

'Glad to see fire manipulation level up. Though, why is intimidation leveling up?' I thought before returning my attention to another wasp stuck next to me. But before doing that, maybe I could level up appraisal by repeatedly doing it on the wasps. Which I proceeded to do as I moved in for the kill.

Wasp

Wasp

Wasp

Wasp

Wasp

'Gah! That's starting to become annoying to do!' I thought, after killing the wasp. Sure, this was more like ramming my neckless head against the wall, but it was only one way to level it up. Which seemed to be pretty reasonable, seeing as how to get better at something, you have to repeatedly do it. Maybe that was the same way for resistance skills... Wait, wouldn't that mean you have to suffer if you want to not die of something like fire?

Thinking about it now, I only had two resistances available. Mind control resistance, and the other one was poison resistance. By the mere fact that I was a machine instead of an organism, I think it's pretty reasonable to assume that I was 100% immune to poison attacks. What really was not a good thing was that my companion, if you couldn't purchase them with skill points, would have to go to great lengths in order to get several resistances. Though I don't know if you can gain resistance merely by eating stuff, you mainly have to go through dealing with the attack using the attribute, right?

Things to bring up with my companion later.

Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Appraisal LV 1] has become [Appraisal LV 2].

'Sweet! It's at level two!' I thought before looking over and appraising more wasps that had gotten stuck. Unfortunately, the only thing that improved was that it involved an expanded addition to the name of the species instead of the name of what it obviously was, which was a wasp.

Finjicote

'Well then, maybe it'll tell me what me and my companion were. First, let us continue appraising these buggers as we ki-' Before finishing that thought, one of the wasps stuck used its stinger to stab me from behind. "Oh, you little bugger! I'm going to show you the gates of the underworld!" I yelled. I utilized one of my knife arms to stab and removed the wasp from my behind, to which I then used my blow torch to incinerate the head of the little bugger.

Experience has reached the required level, Drone has increased from LV 2 to LV 3. Skill proficiency level-up bonus acquired. Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Fire Manipulation LV 4] has become [Fire Manipulation LV 5]. Skill [Hovering LV 3] has become [Hovering LV 4]. Skill [Appraisal LV 2] has become [Appraisal LV 3]. Skill [Intimidation LV 3] has become [Intimidation LV 4]. Skill points acquired.

'Fucking hell, about time!' I thought before appraising another of the buggers.

Finjicote, LV 5.

'Ok, that might explain the massive chunks of EXP the first batch of wasps gave us.' I thought. After that thought process, I quickly removed the offending wasp from the premise.

While we were making good work of the wasps, I had an itchy feeling it wasn't doing us any good. But I began that their numbers were fading out as we began wiping them out, left, right, and center. Some were either cautious when attacking or left us alone. Maybe we could, in fact, get this thing built all the way to where we started.

I mean, what could possibly...

Thud

Stop u-

Thud

-s now?

THUD

'What in Teddy Roosevelt's mustache is causing that ruckus!' I thought before looking down, catching the big reptile dog, Araba, from earlier looking up at us. That look... he looked... annoyed. Almost as if he wanted to file a complaint against the manager of a construction site or something. 'Eh, let's appraise him to feel him out, see if we can tag team him.' I thought before appraising the cretin.

Earth Dragon Araba, LV 31.

'We're fucked.' was all I could think before I saw the beast power up a massive breath attack, and after that, everything was all white. I stared down the face of pure terror, and I had the balls to stand up to the beast without realizing just how powerful he was. And I faced the consequences.

Rock

Rock

Rock

Stone

Boulder

Stone

Rock

Rock

Rock

Somehow I am not dead at the moment. I am covered by more debris than the ones I had initially woken up in. Sigh, guess while I'll stay here, for any sign of my companion digging me out of here, I appraised myself to figure things out.

Scouting Drone, Roger, LV 3.

Well then, that may explain, to some degree, why I didn't wake up in some factory... I guess I'm honestly not sure what to think. I was a drone specifically to do scouting missions. 'Wow, I'm terrible at being a scouting drone, but, hey. How would I know? It wasn't as if the darn thing could've told me the first time!' I angrily thought.

Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Appraisal LV 3] has become [Appraisal LV 4].

HP: 20/40
SP: 60/90
MP: 0/0

'Wow, just how long have I been appraising these rocks? Oooh, I finally get to see my health bar- and it's half empty, now isn't that just great, just hugging great.' I asked myself before seeing my health and stamina, and magic points. That wasn't even the worst part since my magic was non-existent, meaning I couldn't use magic. As I realized that, I heard stones moving about, almost as if someone was pushing them. Then I heard panicking Japanese voice accompanying the noise of rocks moving.

"COME ON! DON'T GIVE UP ON ME! DON'T WORRY, ROGER! I'LL GET YOU OUT OF THERE!" I heard the shouts of my Japanese companion. Oh, thank goodness, someone came to rescue me.

When my companion finally got some of the rubble off me, she looked at me for a brief moment. Before I could say anything, she then hugged me abruptly.

She must've been scared to death after that experience. I don't even know how we both survived. All I knew was that in order to get in that dragon's way, by going somewhere else.

As I looked back and thought about my skills, however, I couldn't help but notice something. When I checked the skill, there was... an off-and-on switch? Wait... what?

Then... why... how? TURN THAT OFF!

Skill [Intimidation LV 4] has been turned off.

As that happened, my companion then looked at me weirdly. "Huh, would you look at that? I don't feel scared around you anymore... not as much when I first got fear resistance when we first met." She said, in Japanese words, that I recognized.

'Wait... what? Do you mean to tell me? That you can get a fear resistance skill?' I thought before realizing one thing. She must've gotten it when we first met now. It must be at a higher level, right?

Then, my mind went blank. 'Wait... was that the reason Araba looked at me with disgust in the first place?' I thought before pausing again. 'Was that why he attacked because he thought I was challenging him? Oh by the great plains, I am so fucking dumb!' I thought, wishing a spider wasn't hugging my face right now, so I could slap myself for such idiocy.

Araba must have thought I was like: "Come at me, bro! You won't attack us! I bet you can't even destroy us from down there!" Allowing my intimidation skill to speak for me instead of me for me.

"Well, What now? Because honestly, I'd like to go the long way around to the surface." I said, asking my companion in Japanese for that first part. She ended up squealing at my development. Maybe we could become good friends.

Unless she somehow sees me closer than a friend because of my cooking, I can't see it even happening in the first place not gonna lie. And if she sees me closer than a classmate, she probably only sees me as a friend.

After that day, I didn't realize it, but I believed we were only making steps to become closer to each other, but I couldn't tell at the time. Her side of the story? Well she already loved that I had the cooking skill, so maybe- Oh, I've got to go, got something busy to attend to. Something big is going on, and the boss wants me to bring in the cherry cake for the meeting of the generals.
-Note from Future Roger.

Chapter Text

Once I was freed from the rubble, my friend and I investigated where Karen, I mean Araba, went. Once that was figured out, we went the other way. We sure as heck did not want to come across him again. At least, I think he was a he. As far as I can tell, the sexual dimorphism for giant reptiles and dragons with no wings, that blue reptile dragon that looks more like a wolf than a dragon of any kind, could be a boy.

But who was I to say that I was a robot after all? Because I was pretty sure that I didn't have the stuff to be placed anywhere close to reproducing... unless this crazy world decides to do that to mess with the remaining bits of sense I have. Though it could break me through other means before I get to that point, no worries in that department... yet.

So, continuing on after that tidbit of blathering, we went in a different direction from where the dragon had gone. We passed by natural rock formations that resembled pillars you'd find in ancient greek architecture... just without all the infrastructure and the fact that it was naturally formed unlike anything else. I kept an eye out for any pesky enemy that could harm us.

Elroe Greshigard
LV 7
<Status Appraisal Failed>

Then we came across a giant fuck off mantis fighting more of those wasps from earlier. Of course, there were giant mantes as big as a human here. What next, a giant spider?

Greater Taratect
LV 18
<Status Appraisal failed>

'I was being rhetorical!' I thought as a giant spider came out of nowhere and killed the mantis. Didn't even let it put up much of a fight, just outright killed the poor bugger. The spider was a bigger one than my friend, so it might mean that this spider was one of her older siblings. Didn't matter because this spider didn't look friendly, and if my gut-or whatever in my body could pass as a gut -was correct... then I didn't want to meet the mother, who could be gigantic in comparison.

So, we stayed in the shadows until the spider moved on. While it moved on, I noted that the spider didn't have the Elroe part like the giant mantis. Were the big spiders not native to this cave system? Well, wouldn't that also mean the dragons here aren't native? Well, that's a question for a later date right now. I need something to power myself.

HP: 20/40
SP: 30/90
MP: 0/0

'Ignoring the glaring zero out of zero that is my MP, I need to get something to push up my SP... which stands for stamina if I'm correct.' I thought before my optics panned to tiny black slug-like creatures crawling on the walls. Now, what were these guys?

Elroe Gastruch
LV 3
<Status Appraisal Failed>

Huh, ok... but why aren't any of the other lifeforms eating you now? This creature seemed like easy prey, so why aren't they being eaten up? Unless they're like Coelacanths and taste absolutely horrible. While that didn't seem appetizing, I didn't have taste buds, so I wasn't concerned. Utilizing my tiny knife arms, I picked up the small creature by stabbing it in the shell while using my other knife arms to tear it up and then brought the pieces of meat into my body. The good news, my SP went up, and there was no bad news.

Maybe this can be a good food source for my companion as it was an energy source for me. Turning to face my companion, I presented another of the tiny creatures, only slightly cooked due to me not knowing if I would've burnt it if I kept it to the flame or not, to her. But from the looks of it, she looked like she was thinking. And while she did have trouble sleeping in the past few days, with no web and all, I could understand why she didn't notice the creature I presented to her.

Once she broke from her thoughts, she looked at the creature I presented, took it from my servos, and took a bite out of it. The next thing that happened was her projectile vomiting on me. '... What?' I thought before my friend wiped her vomit off my robotic face and pointed me to some letters in English, showing her HP and SP. Here's what I learned from this experience was that it increased her SP while decreasing her HP. I then turned to face her and drew my best attempt at explaining my side of the story.

Turned out that being a robot with no taste buds requires a taste tester if a said robot wants to cook for their companion. She also learned that I was lucky to not experience horrid food through my lack of tastebuds.

Apparently, she also leveled up her rot resistance with that little slug guy. That was pretty cool, if I had to be honest... if only for the fact that with my newfound nature as a machine, I was going to have to go through physical pain if I wanted to build resistance to any attacks using an effect like for example, Rot attacks, fire attacks, ice attacks, etc.

Though I was surprised that my companion continued eating the meal... guess she was one to not waste food.

Several hours later, after my companion figured out something to do with poison magic and after me appraising every little snail bug creature I passed by so I could level up appraisal, we found ourselves in a much wider room. The good news was that I finally leveled upped my appraisal skill. The bad news, however...

Bagragratch
LV 14
<Status Appraisal Failed>

Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Appraisal LV 4] has become [Appraisal LV 5]

It appears that there are monkeys in a cave system. Big scary monkeys that could tear me apart if I wasn't careful. These monkeys might attack me at first sight. It was also not the only monkey, as there were around... five, I think?

It would probably be a terrible idea to engage said monkey. I would probably die trying to engage. But, if I wanted to go back to full HP, I needed to go on the full offensive. Which means... I had to choose violence.

Wanna know a neat thing about having a blow torch built into me? Turned out I have more than one blow torch arm, and with these arms, I was going to cook some monkey for dinner.

Was this a bad idea to go in charging with ten servos armed with blow torches, guns blazing? Probably not. Were the big monkeys ready to be assaulted by a little robot armed with what were basically flame throwers? Not a chance. Did I stand a chance against these beasts?

More than likely not.

Was my companion following me? No.

'Wait, what?' I thought as I saw her zip past me, attached to a thread she shot at a rock pillar. Guess she wasn't confident in going against these beasts. But for me? Well, I wasn't going to be a coward. Instead, I'm going to spread fear.

Speaking of which.

Skill [Intimidation LV 4] has been turned on.

The monkeys looked puzzled before their sights landed on me, rapidly approaching in their general direction. That was the moment I shouted my work-in-progress war cry.

"RRRRROOOOGGGEEERR RRRRROOOOGGGEEEERRR!" I yelled, startling the monkeys. One monkey charged at me, probably thinking it was a good idea to thrust itself at something wielding the equivalent of a flame thrower. It was then surprised by being hit by ten converging flames from different directions.

Here's a net negative that probably comes with being a mammal: fur and fire do not mix well. The monkey paused its charge as it struggled to stand the fire before it began to scream in pain while the other monkeys stared on in horror. The monkey fell on its back, and although it was stronger than me, it looked like it couldn't handle the heat. It then died in a fiery death. This was my first ever war crime.

Experience has reached the required level. Scouting Drone, Roger, has increased from LV 3 to LV4. Skill proficiency level-up bonus acquired. Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Intimidation LV 4] has become [Intimidation LV 5]. Skill [Fire Manipulation LV 5] has become [Fire Manipulation LV 6]. Skill [Appraisal LV 5] has become [Appraisal LV 6]. Skill Points Acquired.

Experience has reached the required level. Scouting Drone, Roger, has increased from LV 4 to LV5. Skill proficiency level-up bonus acquired. Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Intimidation LV 5] has become [Intimidation LV6]. Skill [Fire Manipulation LV 6] has become [Fire Manipulation LV 7]. Skill [Hovering LV 4] has become [Hovering LV 5]. Skill Points Acquired.

Turning my vision towards the other monkeys, I saw one shaking, probably scared at how I killed their brother in arms. Considering how monkeys and humans were related in the fact both live in groups of their own kind, if that thing was a human, it would only be enraged at how I killed one of its own. Another monkey roared in rage before charging me. Unfortunately for them, my fire manipulation leveled up. Twice.

"Behold the power of flamethrowers! Burn in the flames of science! I am not afraid of monkeys! I am DEATH, DESTROYER OF MONKEYS!" I shouted in English, charging the monkey that thought it was a bright idea to approach a walking war crime.

In the morning after this battle, I found that attacking these monkeys would attract an army of lesser-evolved monkeys. Was it a good idea? No. But was it avoidable? No. Did I level up? Well, I leveled up three more times after killing the rest of the brutes, leaving me at a level... eight, I think.

The reason for that... it turned out I found that my companion killed one of these lesser evolved monkeys after leaving me to take on these brutish monkeys on my own. Did I feel betrayed that she left me behind? Not really. I just felt like that was a better idea than what I had. I didn't have health recovery like she did.

But that part of the monkey army is for next time.

Chapter Text

Experience has reached the required level. Scouting Drone, Roger, has increased from LV 5 to LV 6. Skill proficiency level-up bonus acquired. Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Intimidation LV 6] has become [Intimidation LV 7]. Skill [Fire Manipulation LV 7] has become [Fire Manipulation LV 8]. Skill [Hovering LV 5] has become [Hovering LV 6]. Skill Points Acquired.

Experience has reached the required level. Scouting Drone, Roger, has increased from LV 6 to LV 7. Skill proficiency level-up bonus acquired. Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Mind Control Resistance LV 1] has become [Mind Control Resistance LV 2]. Skill [Pain Resistance LV 1] has become [Pain Resistance LV 2]. Skill [Arithmetic Processing LV 1] has become [Arithemetic Processing LV 2]. Skill Points Acquired.

Experience has reached the required level. Scouting Drone, Roger, has increased from LV 7 to LV 8. Skill proficiency level-up bonus acquired. Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Mind Control Resistance LV 2] has become [Mind Control Resistance LV 3]. Skill [Pain Resistance LV 2] has become [Pain Resistance LV 3]. Skill [Flame Manipulation LV 8] has become [Flame Manipulation LV 9]. Skill Points Acquired.

"Ah, the sight of burning monkeys, what a beautiful sight... if only I could still smell their roasting bodies, oh well!" I spoke aloud before looking for my companion, who fled from the scene. I had reached level eight. I was looking forward to spending some skill points on new stuff I could get. I can't exactly buy magic-related abilities, mainly because of the nonexistence that was my MP. How exactly does a robot utilize magic if it couldn't use them?

As I looked for the spider that was my friend, I heard a blood-curdling scream, almost sounding like that of a person in distress or something. It almost sounded like the brutish monkeys screaming, only in a different vocal range. 'Wonder what that was?' I thought before moving to the source of the noise. For all I knew, more EXP was available to be at hand.

Turned out that it was my friend who had killed a monkey. She greeted me as I approached her and the freshly made kill, and I laid down to look at the appraisal skills progress.

Scouting Drone
LV 8 Roger
HP: 40/40
MP: 0/0
SP: 76/90

Attack: 30 (+15)
Magic: 0 (-9000)
Speed: 90
Defense: 40
Resistance: 60

That's definitely new and all. Looking over all my stats, they're pretty good, besides magic. Need to up my defense if I want to confront more enemies head-on. My attack's pretty good, but not good enough to see where we are. Plus, look at my resistance! It's at a perfect sixty, and at a level of eight, that's pretty good. Speed looks like it needs some work. The only thing right now that's really bad here is my magic... and it's being lessened to zero because of a debuff by, oh, a negative nine thousand. That can't be good, right? I mean, by what it says, this only meant that I couldn't use magic, period, whatsoever.

Should I tell my only friend in this hellhole that? I mean... This was a huge debuff, and it's a permanent issue. Never mind that if my companion has MP at all, that subtracts me from the dynamic of using magic... or she could be the spell caster. I could be the tank... eh, I'll figure it out later.

Meanwhile, my only friend here yawned, before looking to the ceiling, probably with an idea in mind. 'I wonder what she has in mind? Hopefully, it doesn't involve heights.' I wondered, after the whole Araba thing back there. If I didn't want to go through a situation involving great heights again. I'd be better off.

Turns out it did involve heights again. Anyway, my spider friend had crafted a barely big enough platform that the both of us could fit on together. Now, you might be wondering how I got up here. Well, you see... she used her web to pull me up here so I could be on the same platform as her. It also gives me a unique opportunity to level up my hovering ability. Let me tell you, it can be helpful.

Just how would the hovering plus a great height equal helpful? Well, all I can say is that morning I woke up, I was met with an unwelcoming gathering below.

Monkeys, angry ones at that, were grouping up from below. They didn't seem accepting, probably mad that I massacred, like four or so of their own... wait, fuck, that's why they're here. Is it? They want revenge. If they're seeking revenge, it was too bad I didn't care. If those stupid monkeys try anything, it will be their last moments living on this planet.

Turning on intimidation, I shouted at the stupid monkeys to go away. That only made them angrier... why is this skill, at a level seven, causing me so much trouble!

Then out of nowhere, a small pebble was thrown at my face, and I decided enough was enough. My friend, who was now awake, probably because of me shouting at the monkeys to go away, looked over the edge of the platform and saw what I saw.

"If you fucking dare throw another rock at me, I'm going to make your life past tense, make you see the gates of heaven, and make your free trial at life end abruptly!" I shouted at the group of monkeys, not caring about the fact that the monkeys didn't understand me. For a moment, everything was quiet, peaceful even. 'Ok, maybe now they'll sto-' my thoughts were immediately interrupted as six pebbles made contact with my face. It was at this moment that I snapped.

As I brought out all of my blowtorches, several monkeys began to climb up the stone wall to try and reach us. My spider friend provided a defense by shooting some web that would stop the monkeys in their tracks. She started using magical poison attacks. Me, however? Well, let's say I also started up my propellers.

Before I could get into the air, monkeys with more rocks began to throw even more rocks into the sky. Well, then... guess I'll attack from here instead. Now, let's see if I can use fire manipulation to make a fireball to throw at those dumb monkeys.

Charging up one blow torch, I then pointed the blow torch over the edge of the platform and shot out a single ball of fire at a monkey throwing a rock in our direction. The ball of fire landed on the monkey, resulting in said monkey catching on fire. Then I readied the other blow torches to rain hell fire over these brainless apes. But as I got ready to do so, I saw more monkeys now than there initially were. Almost as if they were forming an... army. Well then, looks like we're about to have a bloody blood bath!

Balls of liquid poison and fireballs were slowly killing off the monkeys, but they were not going to be enough if more monkeys kept showing up. My friend tried to take out the monkeys climbing up the wall while I sniped any monkeys that kept throwing rocks at us. The only bad thing was that by using the blow torches I had built into me, I was also using up my SP. The same thing I need to live.

Yeah, if anything, I was not purposely built to fight an entire army, whether they were monkeys or men. At any rate, I could handle a handful of these guys, and maybe I could wipe the floor with them. I only needed to get rid of the rock throwers to use the unique technique using flame thrower + helicopter = war crimes and success.

So that's what I did! There were fewer monkeys throwing rocks down there than before, so that meant carrying out simple removals of ranged-based enemies, and then I was clear for takeoff. As I started up my propellers once again, A monkey had managed to reach the platform and looked at the two of us, only to be wrapped up in webbing and then met the furious flames of death, catching on fire... only for it to launch itself off the platform and far away from the wall itself.

That stupid monkey... just killed themself so that he couldn't be in a car accident, causing a three-mile-long traffic jam. 'What? I'm American and an American from the industrialized midwest, so what do you expect?' I thought to absolutely no one. Why aren't there people like that darn monkey? Anyways, this only caused me to have one thought to fly through what took place for a skull:

'These monkeys really want to fight, then I will give them an unfair one.' I thought before taking off from the platform. Then, I turned my body around, prepped the blow torches, and directed them at the monkeys climbing the wall. The next thing I saw was a wall of fire. Monkey after monkey, blistering and burning heat... and then a random thought popped up in my brain(Processor?), and the thought made me pause. 'I sure am using a lot of fire... does this make me a pyromaniac?' I thought until a roar caught my attention. Turning around, I saw a familiar sight.

They were the same monkeys from before. The same kind of monkeys that I killed earlier. And they looked extra pissed off at me... given how there were seven of them.

Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Flame Manipulation LV 9] has become [Flame Manipulation LV 10].

Condition satisfied. Skill [Flame Control LV 1] has been derived from skill [Fire Manipulation LV 10].

Condition satisfied. Acquired Title [Pyromaniac]. Acquired skills [Taboo LV 1] and [Lesser Fire Magic LV 1], and [Heretic Magic LV 1] as a result of title [Pyromaniac]. Error: As a result of the title [Mana-less Machine], you gain a +100 to magic.

Well, well, well. Turns out I can get more skills by maxing out other skills. Well then, looks like I'm about to have fun killing some donkey kongs!

But before I could do anything, I had barely dodged a giant boulder thrown at me. Looks like these silly Dk's want to brawl, huh? Unfortunately for them, they were all going down in flames.

If you were to ask me if there was anyone I could trust, but only with wiping out my enemies and cooking me food, I would have to say, Roger. Sure, he had the title [Pyromaniac], causing him to mentally be akin to fire. With his cooking and with his innate ability to wipe out armies in our way, he could be trusted to take out anyone in our way. He certainly did come a long way from being a tiny drone compared to what he was now.

Though he wasn't entrusted with leading an entire army. Sure, he was good with fighting armies, but taking charge of an army? That wasn't his kind of thing.

And if I have to tell a secret, his chocolate cake is the best, thanks to his cooking skill.

Chapter Text

Staring down at the apes, I readied myself for their next move as I oriented myself to a perfect position to let loose hellfire on my opponents. As I scanned them from here, it appeared as though, they were eyeing me and my friend. Observing what we were doing. They looked to be critically thinking this through, but I wasn't sure.

Then another monkey threw more rocks at me, gaining my attention. But before I could react, I heard a rush of wind originating from where the donkey kongs were standing, and then there was added weight to the side of my body, as a donkey kong had managed to jump all the way up to where I was floating in mid-air and was now hanging onto me for dear life. The monkey was holding onto my wing/propeller extension, struggling to not get their stupid grubby fingers into the rotors.

This had caught me off guard, with me thinking, 'What the fuck!' before reacting in the only way I could: flying into a stalactite horizontally. Colliding my body against a stalactite, crushing the monkey's ribs, and likely damaging my wings in the process. I proceeded to utilize my blow torches to burn the monkey. The monkey resisted my attempts to roast it, but it only ended with its face completely incinerated. The monkey screamed as the fire showered over its face, causing the monkey to flail its arms all over the place.

In the end, the monkey became one with the environment and became limp. I didn't want to leave it to fall to the ground because I needed to fill up my Stamina by taking their biomatter so I could still properly function in a battle. Pulling out four knife arms, I cut more meat than I was used to inserting into my body to power myself before said arms receded into my body.

SP: 30/90 -> SP: 89/90
'Wow, that's a lot more than what I'm used to... Like for a small chunk of meat, I'm used to taking in, this seems beneficial.' I thought before hovering slightly away from the stalactite, dropping the surgically eaten monkey to the cave floor. At that moment, I saw that the other donkey kongs that had been eyeing down my friend were now making their moves.

Albeit, being met with each their own fate of doom. One had apparently thrown a large boulder at her, destroying the platform that we had nested upon. Thankfully, she had managed to get out of the way in time to dodge the incoming projectile. She now based herself on a web platform she built between two stalactites, using more webbing to halt monkeys from reaching her and then using poison magic to eliminate any that get too close to comfort. Then another Donkey Kong made a similar jump that the monkey that had done the same to me at her.

The monkey barely got close to her before being webbed up, and then it was force-fed poison. I made my way to remove any more monkeys from this plane of existence.

Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Hovering LV 6] has become [Hovering LV 7].

'Not right now, the mysterious voice from the heavens!' I thought about the system's voice, fully aware I wouldn't get a response. Pulling out more blow torches, I aimed for the big buff monkeys that were yet to make a move. They proceeded to respond by throwing rocks, which were met with fire, fire, and even more fire.

Then out of nowhere, a large boulder was thrown at me, and before I could react, my right wing was crushed, and I was sent spiraling toward the cave floor. This only resulted in a firey tornado forming. My body wildly spun around with my blow torches spewing out even more fire because if I was going down, these monkeys were coming down with me.

Experience has reached the required level. Scouting Drone, Roger, has increased from LV 8 to LV 9. Skill proficiency level-up bonus acquired. Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Cutting LV 1] has become [Cutting LV 2]. Skill [Metallic Skin LV 1] has become [Metallic Skin LV 2]. Skill [Artificial Life LV 1] has become [Artificial Life LV 2]. Skill Points Acquired.

Oh, a level-up? I'm glad I don't have to die because of monkeys. Now, why haven't I seen any of these skills before? I mean... I can understand the cutting skill, but the artificial life and metallic skin skills? I feel as though that's pretty important information that I should know! WAIT! Now is not the time to complain. The time right now calls for monkey stakes!

Pulling out my knives to accompany my blow torches, I wanted to fight back that any monkeys that got too close got a mighty stabbing. If I was in the united kingdom right now, the British authorities would be knocking down my door for having multiple knives that I didn't have Loisences for. So right now, I was pretty well-armed for the moment.

One donkey kong stomped toward me, to which I responded with fire. 'I'm starting to feel I'm developing a liking to fire...' I thought as the ape was bathed in fire. Surprisingly, it didn't kill it outright, only resulting in said monkey's fur being on fire as the monkey continued to approach me. 'Well, time for me to use my knives!' I thought before using my knives to stab areas of the monkey's body, for example, the veins, organs, and finally... the knee. Why the knee? Well, if the monkey did survive and fled the battle, they would never be able to become an adventurer.

Even though there was no chance in hell that I was letting this guy live to tell the tale. I then removed one knife arm, I proceeded to insert a blow torch into one of the monkey's wounds and let loose a lot of fire, cauterizing the wound but killing said monkey. Dropping the monkey, I then looked around, observing my surroundings. Fire, rubble, and bodies. Some monkeys were still alive but stuck in the webbing that was produced by my companion. Only one donkey kong was left available to make a move. I then stared the ape down, intimidation blaring into the remaining monkey. It was up to said ape to decide whether or not it wanted to die.

Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Intimidation LV 7] has become [Intimidation LV 8].

The ape decided to run off, though reinforcements could be seen in the distance. That was for future me to worry about right now. However, it was time to end these monkeys' subscription to life early. Needed me some EXP!

Turned out my friend had the same idea. She used her fangs to kill the monkeys as I began to hover close to any that were close enough for me to fly near. I then proceeded to use my knives and a little amount of fire to put an end to these apes. This ended up with me leveling up and gaining a new title.

Condition satisfied. Acquired Title [Merciless Machine]. Acquired skills [Heresy Resistance LV 1] and [Heretic Magic LV 1] as a result of the title [Merciless Machine]. Skill [Heretic Magic LV 1] has been integrated into [Heretic Magic LV 2]. Error: As the result of the title [Mana-less Machine], you gain a +200 to magic.

'Hmm, that's interesting. Though that title? Not the Merciless Machine, the Mana-less Machine? Is that why I have such a debuff?' I thought before putting an end to another monkey. Sure, they sounded scared, but they made the decision that sealed their fate, so why should I care what they have to say?

Experience has reached the required level. Scouting Drone, Roger, has increased from LV 9 to LV 10. All Basic Attributes have increased. Skill proficiency level-up bonus acquired. Proficiency has reached the required level. Skill [Cutting LV 2] has become [Cutting LV 3]. Skill [Metallic Skin LV 2] has become [Metallic Skin LV 3]. Skill [Hovering LV 7] has become [Hovering LV 8]. Skill Points Acquired.

Condition Satisfied. Scouting Drone can now evolve.

'Excuse me, what?' I thought as I stared at the words in front of me. "Scouting Drone can now evolve." I reread that part aloud, trying to process it all, and tried to logically think how a robot, a literal machine equipped with an AI, a non-organic lifeform, could somehow evolve. This... defies all logic that I am trying to compute. How exactly can I do that in the first place?

'Alright, let's just see what it shows me!' I thought before continuing on. I was met with three separate variants of robots/drones.

Small Support Drone.

Scouting Rover.

Small Attack Drone.

Ok, yeah, three options I can evolve into either of three things. A support robot. Evolve into a flightless robot or an attack drone. I... don't actually know what to choose. Maybe I can bring it up with my friend and all that? Maybe there we could figure something out.

But now was not the time. We needed to leave before any reinforcements show up. Luckily, there was a tunnel sloping up, which meant we had gotten a step closer to the surface! So, we made our way and entered the tunnel.

While my immersion was broken again, that only meant that I had to keep on track and base the world realistically. I mean, what are the chances that we come across a lava environment in a cave that isn't prone to earthquakes?

Reaching the end of the tunnel and walking into the new environment, I wished I hadn't jinxed myself. Why do you ask? Well, it just so happened that there was a lava environment right in front of me!

"ARE YOU FU-" I yelled, with my shout echoing throughout the cave, expressing my rage with my surroundings. First, I was reincarnated as a drone in a fantasy setting. Next, I came across a spider, bigger than one should be. Then, I was given the option to evolve. And now there was the sight in front of me, breaking all logic.

If I get to meet a god, I will not be afraid of complaining to their face, even if it ends with me being smited.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

That was the day that both of us became rulers of something. My friend became the ruler of pride, and I became the ruler of technology. Although I was the designated chef of the Demon lord, I also worked in logistics instead of becoming a general. After all, there was the saying that strategy won battles, but logistics wins wars.