?

  I was naked when I left the little cement and steel box that the siblings had set aside for the testing of abilities. I was uncertain how long an hour is, but my A.I. informed me I had spent two of them in the box. It had been time well spent, and I had learned a lot about the world I now found myself in.

  I’m not going to lie and say I listened to everything the artificial being had tried to explain to me, but I understood that it was essentially a spirit created by a greater and far more powerful spirit that ran the city. It was called an A.I., which stood for something that I hadn’t bothered to internalize. The important thing was the spirit existed to serve me, and it did so by displaying information for me and allowing me to activate my techniques without having to channel Qi through my body.

  The numbers and boxes that showed over my vision were something called a HUD, and it was how the A.I. gave me information without having to speak to me directly. It would take some getting used to, though not so much that I couldn’t appreciate the potential benefits.

  Of course, the most interesting thing I came to understand were the so-called ‘abilities’. These were functionally identical to a technique from my homeland, even down to the strain they placed, which is why I had quickly soaked the cloak I had taken in sweat as I pushed myself to see the exact limits of what this new body could do.

  The metal floor of the testing area was already somewhat warped when I had entered the room, and the stone of the walls was already somewhat cracked. Both of these states had quickly become exacerbated after I began.

  Where the abilities differed from the techniques I had grown up learning was in their usage. It seemed I ‘knew’ three of these abilities, and laughably, all I had to do to execute them was to sort of desire it while focusing on a little icon that represented each one displayed in my HUD.

  When I did, I would feel a familiar rush or flow of energy within me before the ability activated. In that regard, it was still identical to using a technique, though I didn’t need to even direct the flow myself. I was almost offended at how ridiculously simple it all was, and I could easily imagine denizens of this world mistakenly thinking they were warriors without having actual skill to back these abilities up.

  This same icon would slowly change from a vibrant blue color to a drab grey as I approached the point of exhaustion where my body would fail to produce the technique. This, too, was almost laughable, as surely anyone would be able to tell that from the way they felt anyway.

  I was more than a little frustrated that I hadn’t gotten to choose the three abilities I had access to, though the Diaochan A.I. assured me that when my ‘level’ increased, I would get further opportunity to select from a wide list that was compatible with my class. Apparently, the title of legendary warlord I had selected upon first arriving in this world shaped the direction that my automated cultivation would grow in.

  Even if I had maybe made a mistake by rushing through that process when I had been given the opportunity, I didn’t regret it. Those strange masked figures had been approaching me with weapons drawn, talking in a gibberish tongue I couldn’t understand. I had needed to be free immediately, and besides, I was and remain Lu Bu. Whatever path I now found myself on, I would be the best at it, force it to serve me well, and then use it to dominate all I surveyed.

  I also had the option to rename the three abilities as I saw fit. An option I made use of immediately upon discovering it. While the names they came with were serviceable enough, I supposed, they lacked a certain theatrical punch that gave a technique character. Besides, I am Lu Bu, and I was hardly going to settle for having skills that with generic titles anyone could have come up with.

  A.I. Diaochan was less than impressed by my choices, though I chose not to blame her too deeply for her lack of understanding. After all, the spirit created to assist me was only a few hours old, and as I understood it, she was still building herself from information in the world around us and her access to my memories.

  “These names make absolutely no sense.” She complained upon seeing the names I made.

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  “Pah,” I grunted at her. “You can see my memories; you should understand them.”

  The A.I. shook her head.

  “ I have only done a cursory scan of your life, a full scan will take a lot longer and I’m already working on it…seriously [Man Within Ogre]? What does that even mean!?”

  I was in the midst of stripping off my sweat-drenched cloak, but I had to pause and look at Diaochan like she was the queen of all idiots.

  “Well, you know what an ogre is correct?”

  “Yes”

  “And you know what a man is?”

  “I do.” The real Diaochan would never have sounded so unimpressed when she spoke to me, but then the real Diaochan wouldn’t be asking me pointless questions.

  “Then the answer should be obvious.”

  She opened and closed her mouth a few times before letting out an exaggerated sigh that was appalling close to a perfect impersonation of my lost love.

  “Well, regardless your abilities have been registered as”

  “Good,” I replied and strode back out into the series of cramped, filled rooms the siblings inexplicably called a workshop and home.

  The workshop itself was the largest of the tiny rooms and the one I had awoken in. It was also where I found the pair of siblings.

  The pair of them were doing something…look, I'm not a scholar or engineer,I mostly just hurt people. They were working together on some sort of blocky machine about half again the size of a man.

  The brother Ji-Ho was leaning inside the bulk of the thing using a rusty tool my HUD marked as a [NeoDao Industrial Forges Multi-Tool: Weld Mode] that was projecting a small but intense flame. I had seen men who specialised in fire or metal control do similar things to repair weapons and armor whilst on campaign. So I gathered they were engaged in some sort of project their ‘workshop’ had been hired to complete.

  That didn't explain what Ha-Rin was doing. There were a pair of metal-looking cables almost as thick as a sword’s pommel running from the girl’s outstretched wrists to the blocky machine.

  In between her raised arms was a large box of the same type that popped up in my own vision. Though this one was much larger, glowing blue, and visible to all rather than just in her head.

  “What is she doing?” I asked Diaochan within my own head. The A.I., which was no longer set on proximity mode, still hovered around me, but was invisible and inaudible to all others.

  “The two of them are repairing a car's engine, no, not repairing, refitting for a different purpose. She is talking to the computer inside the engine and convincing it to behave in a new way.”

  Obviously, that didn’t tell me a whole lot. I was about to demand further clarification from Diaochan when Ha-Rin noticed my return, followed quickly by her quite clearly noticing my state of undress. Her eyebrows shot up, and the blue glowing box flickered and then died away.

  “Okay, wow.”

  “I require a place to bathe and clothes,” I said, repressing a grin at her wide-eyed reaction. It's important for a warrior and especially a warlord to maintain a stoic fa?ade.

  “You are naked and glistening with sweat.” She said after swallowing. “So yes, yes you do.”

  Ha-Rin gave me one last stunned look up and down before almost reluctantly turning her head to call her brother, who still had his head and shoulders inside the [KaiRo Dynamics Gen 3 Flight Engine]

  As the little pop-up box in my vision called it.

  I admit it, I let a self-satisfied smile cross my features when the girl gave me that last appraisal before she called her brother.

  The male sibling popped out with his welding tool still gripped in a gloved hand.

  “What's up?” He asked as he turned to face his sister.

  “Lu here needs a shower and clothes.”

  Ji-Ho glanced my way and let out a single barked laugh, before confirming that he would get me some of his clothes that would hopefully fit me and directing me to their bathing room.

  I was about to clamber through the cramped doorway when I opted to pause and correct the woman.

  “ Lu Bu, Bu,” I said over my shoulder, “Or Fengxian, don't call me Lu, that is my family name.”

  Ha-Rin didn't respond, but I caught the start of her rolling her eyes as I turned away.

  Alright I'm taking guesses now, what do these abilities do? And where did I steal the names from? Hahah

  [Man Within Ogre] was just revealed over on

  So head there if like Lu Bu himself, patience is not one of your virtues.