?

  While the heavily armored soldiers before me obeyed the demands of the spirit and sheathed their hand bows. I did not feel like trusting my safety and continued freedom to the discipline of a pack of killers when I had just embarrassed and injured one of their number only moments ago.

  So, still following the red line marked [Maintenance Drone Access], I continued my flight. I didn’t know what a ‘drone’ was, but ‘maintenance’ and ‘access’ suggested I was headed to one of the discrete paths castles often held for their servants.

  Not long later I reached a mesh gateway of some sort, it was large enough that I could make use of it, though I would need to crouch. There was no obvious way to open the door, but I was confident my strength would be enough to force the gate open or destroy it. It would likely cost me some flesh and blood, but I had plenty to spare.

  “Master Lu Bu I have your stat sheet ready for inspection, and in less than an hour, your [Legendary Warlord Module] will have completed its installation, and we can learn about your class abilities. I highly recommend we pause to look at your stats.”

  “Later,” I told the spirit. “I will take time to speak with you when I am safely away from this place.”

  For now, I was busy seeking the best way I could get leverage on this mesh door. It was a fruitless endeavour as the mesh was identically wrought from in all points with a perfection a human craftsman could never have achieved. I was about to begin simply beating the metal out of shape with my fists when the door slid upwards into the wall, and what could only be a Yaoguai scuttled out.

  The creature was about the size of a large dog but resembling a blocky insect with shining green eyes and four scuttling legs. Atop the creature’s back were what appeared to be a smaller set of grasping limbs. Rather than an insectoid chitin, the beast’s skin was a bright silver metal, with strange characters painted or tattooed onto its side and head. The little boxes that clouded my vision informed me the characters said [Number 11] and this particular Yaoguai was the so-called [Drone] the other box had mentioned.

  It made a series of screeching and beeping sounds as I stomped it to death. The door attempted to close once more, but the oddly sparking demon corpse was wedged in the way. So I slipped my hands under the door and heaved upwards. I was genuinely surprised at how difficult it was. After my efforts forcing the other door open and knocking aside the armored soldier, my arms were…tired?

  Now that was a novel sensation. I can't remember the last time I was even made to sweat by such meager exertions. Still, the door rose slowly upwards, the shriek of abused metal an echoing chorus in my ears. Upon forcing it back into the piece of wall it had slid out of, I slipped into the small hallway.

  Behind me, the door slammed back down onto the metal creature’s body. I could only just make out the path ahead of me, but the red line remained clear as a glacial spring. So I trotted along in the dark, following the line and feeling my way. It was mostly fine, though every now and then something protruded from the ceiling low enough to smack painfully against my forehead.

  The flows of air around me told a tale of twisting corridors and unknown depths. I could hear the skittering movements of what must be other ‘drone’ Yaoguai carried from far off along the cramped metal labyrinth. The first one hadn't even tried to fight back, so I felt even here in this artificial burrow, and without the use of my eyes, I should be able to defeat more without too much difficulty.

  While it was always possible I was being led into a trap by the spirit’s illusions, I was beginning to believe that the thing was being truthful when it said it was here to serve me. While a disembodied voice, the spirit I had been hearing had the air of a mid-ranked bureaucrat about it. All wringing hands, worried glances, and complaints about how I was trampling over my supposed obligations and constraints. Such men rarely have the fortitude to turn against their assigned masters, and as the spirit was bound by celestial laws, not just mortal ones, it likely was even more constrained in its ability to defy me.

  At least that was how I justified continuing to follow the red line; it was certainly not because I was hopelessly lost in a pitch black maze with no other option. Regardless, I voiced my irritation when the line reached a dead end.

  “This is not a way out.” I hissed as my hands felt nothing but cool metal before me.

  “Please, master Lu Bu be patient. If you will, for once, just stay in one place for a few seconds, the way forward will be revealed.”

  Behind me, I heard a door slide shut, boxing me into this tiny corner of the dark hallway. I was about to declare the spirit a traitor when the ground beneath me began to move. I could feel that the section of hallway I was in was descending. The sensation told me neither I nor the now enclosed section were in freefall. It was a controlled descent reminiscent of the feeling one got when floating downwards via a Qi technique or Celestial item.

  This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

  While I had never been inside something like this I had some idea what must be taking place outside the box I found myself in. Either some grand crane mechanism or a team of cultivators must be lowering the metal box, just as I had seen done when castles were constructed or improved.

  “I have anticipated that you would like to be let out as close to the ground floor as possible; as such, this elevator will take us to the drone depot, which is located there.”

  “Alright,” I replied, still suspicious.

  “This will take several minutes, as such, this is the perfect time to go over your stats and explain how they interact with the world. It would mean a lot to me if you actually pay attention this time.”

  “I will consider it.”

  The spirit paused for a moment, and when it continued, the clipped tone of frustration had returned to its voice.

  “To the top right of your vision is an Icon that looks like two crossed Halberds. I am making it flash right now, please direct your attention at it.”

  Without replying I did so; it wasn’t as simple as looking at the icon, as I could see it at all times, but once I began to focus on it and consider it, what I can only describe as an ethereal parchment appeared before my vision. This description falls well short of what I was actually seeing, as there is no parchment made of curved glowing purple light, but it truly felt as though a scroll had been unfurled before me.

  I could read the words and numbers appearing upon it easily enough, but it was all just nonsense. Honestly, I was confused as to why the spirit had been so desperate for me to see it.

  ?Alacrity: 60/170

  ?Durability: 55/170

  ?Cunning:30/170

  ?Acumen: 15/170

  ?Quintessence: 10/170 ]

  ?

  “I am sure you have questions about what you are seeing, so allow me to preempt several of them.”

  “Go on,” I replied slowly.

  “What you are looking at is your physical, mental, and spiritual attributes as they stand right this moment, but expressed as numbers, so it is less nebulous and easier to understand.”

  It did not feel easier to understand for me. To me, I was a man trapped in a dark box as it descended through the bowels of some impossible fortress, while a spirit in my head tried to tell me it could quantify who and what I am with numbers.

  “Nonsense.” I snapped. “A man is so much greater than what can be represented by a mere list of numbers.”

  “Of course, this merely tracks what you can do and how much your body can improve through cybernetics, training, and remnant absorption at your current level and physical age.” I opened my mouth to speak again, but the spirit successfully preempted my question and answered it before I had uttered a single word.

  “I will explain what each of these categories is, and how your attribute scores translate to real-world situations.”I simply remained silent, and the spirit took it as ascent to continue.

  “[Might] is a rough assessment of your physical strength. This number is determined by your maximum ability to lift, pull, push, or otherwise generate explosive force with your body. It does not take into account things like your muscles’ ability to sustain that force for long periods.”

  I truly wished there was something, anything other than the darkness of a cave to look at. At least then I could have distracted myself from the spirit and its words that I could barely follow.

  Bored and confused, I let out a yawn, covering my mouth by instinct even though there wasn’t a single person anywhere near me to see the action.

  “This is a demonstration of what a person with your [Might] stat can reasonably expect to achieve. You will find that for your body’s age of eighteen and your level of 1 that this is a disproportionately high degree of [Might].”

  Before me, the ghostly parchment vanished and was replaced with one of the little magic windows that had previously shown me people demonstrating techniques. This time, the window displayed a young man with dark hair. He proceeded to lift a strange metal bar with numerous black discs on either end. It took me a few moments, but I eventually realised he was hefting a weight bar. I had owned several such implements throughout my life, and had once been called to judge a contest of lifting such things. Our weights had generally been made of carved stone; this training tool was instead crafted entirely of a seamless black metal.

  The young man grimaced as the bar reached his chest, but with a heave, he managed to get it above his head entirely. In the air next to him, a number appeared that flashed several times. [1101 Lbs APROX]

  “This means nothing to me,” I grunted. “ Show me something with context.”

  Numbers that can go up!

  Speaking of which, you know what I'm going to say about follows and Ratings.