[You have leveled up! You are now Level 16!]
"Again? How the hell is that fair? The Soldiers are over ten levels stronger than me!"
In a fit of anger, Elian struck the dead Soldier Ant in front of him. Part of its exoskeleton deformed from his punch. Beside him was a woman who covered her face, exasperated.
"Elian, you are the last person that should complain about fairness. The fact that you—a person who hasn't picked a job yet—can kill Soldier Ants would cause hundreds of Breakers to roll in their graves."
"Tch. How is that my fault? The EXP system makes no sense! How does it even compute when a person levels up?!"
[Talent: Adamant – deactivated.]
[Talent: Driven – deactivated.]
"Sigh. I guess you won't stop whining until I explain. Fine! Each time you kill a being with mana, a part of their essence transfers to you. The nanomachines in your body actually serve as limiters. Taking in more than your body can endure will cause you to explode."
"Do I even need a limiter? I'm a golem. Which reminds me—do I have a core like normal golems do?"
Bianca, who heard the question, bit her lip and didn't answer.
As no one responded, Elian stopped disassembling the monster core of the Soldier Ant and paused.
"Master?"
"You do, Elian. That core contains your soul. Much like me, your core is a soulgem placed in your heart."
The boy failed to notice, but Bianca clenched her hand behind her back. It was trembling.
"Oh? That's amazing! So if we plant your soulgem into a body, you can become something like I am, Master?"
"What? That's what you focus on?"
Bewildered by what she heard, Bianca glared at her weapon, trying to sniff out his true emotions.
"Why are you so surprised? I am a golem, so having a core makes sense. I'm actually relieved. We match!"
"We match?"
At Elian's absurd claim, her lips curled unconsciously. She hadn't thought about it that way. When Bianca first transferred her soul, it took her some time to accept what she had become. Yet the young boy in front of her didn't even need a fortnight.
"How ridiculous,"Bianca couldn't help but whisper.
Seeing as Bianca didn't want to talk, Elian didn't push and focused on his task.
Maybe it's because I leveled up—I can sense where their cores are now.
"Although for such a gigantic size, having a core as big as a bowling ball makes me feel like I got cheated."
After he retrieved the cores of the two Soldiers that tried to run away, he immediately walked back to the others. As they made their way, Bianca seemed a bit restless. Then she began to offer her wisdom out of the blue.
"Elian, I'm sure you might have reservations, but I can assure you that given enough time, you can reintegrate into society. This… isn't all you're meant to be. It's extremely shortsighted to be satisfied with just this."
As the boy hadn't asked, he found it awkward.
Why is she saying these things? Is she worried that I'll go back and leave her?
Feeling that he was onto something, Elian decided to tease her a bit.
"Yeah, but I can just pretend I wore cursed armor or something. I'm sure that with what I just did, many guilds will welcome me. They might even give me money, a house—maybe even a girlfriend."
"WHAT?! You can't! I forbid it! I have money! I—I also have a house! Why would you need a girlfriend?! You're a golem! They'll just use you and—and milk you dry!"
Hearing his master's icy mask break, Elian couldn't help but chuckle wildly. Bianca, realizing what had just happened, flushed red and pouted. The boy then moved to face his beautiful master and gazed into her eyes.
"Haha, I'm sorry, Master. I couldn't resist. Don't worry. I will never leave. And even if I did go somewhere, I would always bring you with me. We'll be together forever—until the day I die," he vowed.
"…"
Taken aback, Bianca's eyes grew wide as she turned bright red like a tomato. Then her visage flickered and suddenly vanished, leaving Elian hanging without an answer.
Guess I deserved that. Still, Bianca is really adorable.
He shook his head and picked up the pace. Ignoring the quakes that came with each of his steps, he quickly moved toward the initial battleground.
That reminds me, I came here to save them—but forgot about them the moment the battle started.
As Elian ran, he wondered if that was a good thing. Although he had made peace with the fact that he died and now had a body made of metal, the boy still considered himself human.
However, when he arrived, the sight he saw made his blood boil. Students and teachers were crowding around one of the dead Soldier Ants—and one of them was lugging the monster core.
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY MASTER'S CORES!!"
Rage flooded the weapon's mind, blotting out all other thoughts.
All he could think at that moment was that these people were denying the precious minutes Bianca so desperately needed.
[Talent: Adamant – activated. Elian Reed is now immune to fear and psychological effects so long as the Talent remains active.]
[Talent: Driven – activated. Elian Reed will never lose consciousness in the face of an enemy.]
And his body moved. Like rolling thunder, his armor-clad figure charged forth.
The students screamed, but Elian no longer heard any of them. His eyes only focused on the core that rightfully belonged to Bianca.
"It's the Black Knight!" "He looks angry!" "Get out of the way!"
"NED! Drop it and run!" someone screamed, but the boy stood frozen—paralyzed by the incoming juggernaut.
"ALL TEACHERS! STOP HIM!"
Multiple people tried to get in between Elian and his target. Abilities and mana saturated the area, yet they failed to even slow the living weapon.
"LAVENDER LIGHTNING!"
A pretty woman suddenly appeared in front of Elian, and with her came a large curtain of lightning. The bolts struck him like razor-sharp swords. Pain flowed with each strike—yet the boy shrugged them all off with single-minded focus.
"BREAKER, CEASE AT ONCE! WE ARE NOT YOUR ENEMY!" the woman screamed.
He raised his right hand and cocked it back.
As the sonic barrier was broken, the very air trembled. Those teachers who felt the atmosphere earlier felt death's scythe on their necks. Who could forget the explosions that preceded the insane attack that saved them? Only now, they were on the receiving side.
We're going to die! That's the one that killed the Soldiers!
But then, when all hope seemed lost, a melodic voice echoed in Elian's ears.
"Stupid boy, this is why you need me."
In an instant, the air turned cold—as if all the heat had suddenly vanished. The air began to freeze and then solidified. The frozen pieces flowed together and formed a sudden palace of ice and snow. It encased Tessa Potts like a fortress and hid her from what was to come.
Air Shotgun – Triple Shot.
The wind screamed—and then the impact arrived. In a cataclysmic surge of air pressure and ice, a makeshift blizzard erupted. Powerful gales flung snow and ice upward like a hurricane in the middle of winter.
As the snow fell back down, silence reclaimed the battlefield.
In the stillness, Bianca appeared before Elian.
Only then did his sanity return.
"Bianca?"
"Yes, Elian. It is I."