The air inside the hidden passage felt heavy and tasted like old metal and damp stone.
It was much darker here, the faint blue light from the main hallway barely reaching in.
Daniel took a breath, the metallic tang sharp in his nose.
Nyx stirred in his pouch, letting out a low, unhappy growl.She didn't like this place one bit.
"Easy, girl," Daniel whispered, patting the pouch gently. "Just gotta see what's making all the noise."
He activated [Ghoststeps+] again, the passive camouflage making him a slightly darker shadow in the already deep gloom.
He moved slowly, carefully placing his feet. The floor here wasn't smooth stone; it was uneven, littered with loose rocks and sharp pieces of twisted metal, the same kind he'd found near the entrance.
His new mini-map showed the passage sloping downwards, deeper under the main level of the labyrinth.
His [Aura Sense+] reached ahead, feeling those heavy vibrations getting closer.
It wasn't the quick clicking of a Crawler; this felt like something huge and heavy was dragging itself along.
The passage opened into a larger cavern. This place looked less like part of the labyrinth and more like a giant underground junkyard.
Piles of broken machinery, twisted metal beams, and sparking wires lay everywhere. Pools of oily, dark liquid reflected the scarce light.
The air smelled strongly of rust, oil, and ozone. The vibrations were much stronger here, shaking the loose debris on the floor.
And in the center of the cavern, Daniel saw the source.
It was massive, easily four meters tall, shaped roughly like a hulking gorilla but made entirely of junk.
Its body was a jumbled mess of rusted plates, broken gears, thick cables, and jagged shards of metal, all seemingly held together by crackling blue energy arcs, the same energy that pulsed in the labyrinth walls.
One arm ended in a huge, crushing clamp made from a bent girder, the other wielded a spinning drill bit the size of Daniel's torso.
Its head was a blocky furnace casing with two glowing red optics staring blankly ahead.
It dragged one leg, which seemed badly damaged, explaining the heavy, scraping sound.
Huge claw marks, matching the ones outside, scarred the floor around it.
Daniel scanned the monstrosity.
[Scrap Golem - Labyrinth Guardian Prototype Mk. II (Damaged)]
Level: 4
Stats: Extremely High Strength, Extremely High Vitality (Construct Resilience), Very Low Agility, Abysmal Spirit.
Abilities: [Junk Armor (Passive)], [Crushing Clamp], [Tunnel Drill], [Energy Arc Discharge], [Seismic Stomp]
Threat Assessment: Slow but Devastating Physical Powerhouse. Highly resistant to physical damage and toxins.
Extremely vulnerable to potent Spirit/Energy attacks. Seems focused on guarding this area.
Warning: Unstable energy core detected.
Level 4. Okay, a step up from the Crawlers. Extremely High Strength and Vitality, plus Junk Armor?
This thing was built like a walking dump truck with anger issues. His daggers would probably just scratch its rusty hide.
The Very Low Agility was its main weakness, but that Abysmal Spirit score? That was practically an invitation for his [Mana Bolt+].
The unstable energy core warning was noted, maybe hitting it would cause a big boom?
The Scrap Golem hadn't noticed him yet. It seemed preoccupied, dragging its damaged leg towards a pile of fresh junk, maybe looking for parts to repair itself.
Daniel decided to strike while it was distracted. Stealth was key here.
He circled around the cavern silently, using piles of debris for cover. He needed a good angle, preferably hitting it from behind or targeting that unstable core, wherever it was.
He spotted a likely spot, a cracked casing on its back, sparking intermittently with blue energy. That had to be it.
He crept closer, getting within 30 meters. He raised his D-grade bow, nocking an arrow.
This time, he didn't bother with poison. He channeled pure magic energy into the shard-tip. "[Mana Bolt+] – Arrow!"
Twang-FZZZZT!
The arrow zipped across the junkyard cavern and slammed directly into the sparking, cracked casing on the Golem's back.
The impact wasn't huge physically, but the magical energy surged into the Golem's core.
FWOOSH-CRACKLE-BANG!
Blue energy erupted from the Golem's back in a shower of sparks! The creature froze, its red optics flashing wildly.
It let out a screeching sound like a train crashing, loud enough to make the metal debris rattle.
It spun around clumsily, its heavy body shaking the ground. Its red eyes fixed on Daniel's position. Uh oh. Maybe hitting the core first wasn't the subtlest approach.
The Golem roared its metallic screech again and charged!
Even with a damaged leg, its sheer size meant it covered ground surprisingly fast. The floor trembled with each heavy step.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
It raised its massive girder clamp, ready to smash Daniel into paste.
"Nope!"
Daniel activated [Ghoststeps+], becoming a blur. The wind shrieked as he easily dodged the Golem's slow, predictable charge.
The clamp slammed down where he'd been standing, pulverizing the junk on the floor with a deafening CRUNCH!
Daniel circled around behind it again while it recovered from its missed swing. He fired another [Mana Bolt+] arrow, hitting the damaged core casing again.
More sparks, another pained screech! The Golem flailed, swinging its drill arm wildly. Daniel easily danced out of range.
This felt like fighting the Stonehide Crusher, but bigger, uglier, and with more potential to explode.
Kiting seemed like the best strategy. He used his speed to stay out of reach, constantly moving, firing [Mana Bolt+] bolts from his hands whenever he had a clear shot at the damaged core or other sparking joints.
FZZZT! CLANG! FZZZT!
Each magic bolt chipped away at the Golem, causing small bursts of energy and making it angrier.
It tried using its [Energy Arc Discharge], sending bolts of blue lightning jumping between its limbs, but Daniel was too fast, dodging the slow-moving arcs easily.
It even tried a [Seismic Stomp], slamming its good foot down.
BOOM!
The whole cavern shook violently! Loose debris rained from the ceiling. Daniel stumbled slightly but kept his balance thanks to his [Steadfast Guard] skill.
The stomp was powerful, but too slow to catch him.
The Golem was clearly getting frustrated. Its movements became more erratic. Its energy core sparked more violently, threatening to overload.
Daniel saw his chance. He needed one big hit to finish it.
He dashed in close again, dodging a swipe from the drill arm. He planted his feet directly in front of the hulking junk pile, gathered his energy, and focused it all into his fist. "[Kinetic Hammer]!"
He didn't punch the Golem directly. He punched the ground right under its damaged leg, releasing the kinetic force as a focused shockwave.
WHUMP-CRACK!
The shockwave blasted upwards, hitting the already weakened leg joint. With a horrible tearing sound of stressed metal, the Golem's damaged leg ripped completely off!
The massive construct crashed to the ground with a deafening CLANG, sending sparks and junk flying everywhere. It lay there, thrashing uselessly, its red optics flickering wildly.
Daniel didn't give it a chance to try anything else. He ran up to its prone form, aimed his hand directly at the wildly sparking energy core on its back, and unleashed one final, point-blank [Mana Bolt+].
FZZZZZZZZZZZZT-KABOOOM!
The core overloaded spectacularly. A contained explosion of blue energy ripped through the Golem's torso, sending pieces of junk flying.
Its red optics dimmed and went out. The metallic giant lay still, truly just a pile of scrap now.
[You have slain: Scrap Golem - Labyrinth Guardian Prototype Mk. II (Level 4)]
[EXP Gained: 150]
[Level 2: 531/500 EXP]
[Congratulations! You have reached Level 3!]
[All Attributes +1]
[Free Attribute Points Gained: 5]
[Soul Assimilation Charges Fully Restored and Limit Increased!]
Level 3! Right on time. The familiar wave of power washed over him, stronger this time. Fatigue vanished, mana partially restored.
He felt his base stats jump up again. Strength over 100 now easily. Agility pushing 120. Vitality nearing 110.
His charges refilled, and the limit increased again, probably to 20 now? He'd check later. This felt good.
He approached the smoking wreckage of the Scrap Golem. Could he assimilate junk? His Talent description said "assimilate the fundamental essence."
Maybe even constructs had an essence? He placed his hand on the warped metal.
The energy flow felt bizarre. Not warm like creatures, not cold like undead or data shards.
It felt… jagged. Like static electricity mixed with corrupted code and raw, artificial power.
[Soul Assimilation successful on Construct: Scrap Golem (Level 4).]
[Warning: Assimilating corrupted artificial essence. Adaptability check (29) passed. Minimal system interference detected.]
[Gain: Strength +10]
[Gain: Vitality +15 (Construct Resilience Fragment)]
[Gain: Adaptability +5]
[New Skill Acquired: Scrap Armor Patch (F-Grade)!]
[Assimilation Charge Consumed (19/20 Remaining).]
Yes, 20 charges now! And look at those gains! Huge boost to Vitality from that construct toughness.
The skill, though… [Scrap Armor Patch]? He checked it.
[Skill: Scrap Armor Patch (F-Grade):] Active Skill. Use ambient scrap metal or broken gear fragments to temporarily patch minor damage on worn armor or constructs.
Patch provides minimal defense (+5) and lasts briefly. Requires nearby scrap. Mana Cost: 10. Note: May look incredibly tacky.
Daniel stared. Another F-grade joke skill?
First Pocket Sand, then Slippery Hands, now this? Could he patch his D+ vest with rusty bolts? The mental image was hilarious.
"Maybe I can fuse it with something later to make 'Slightly Less Tacky Armor Patch'?" he chuckled. Still, the stat gains were worth it.
He looked around the junkyard cavern. What was this place? Why was a giant junk robot guarding it?
He spotted more of the dull grey pyramid-shaped crystals embedded in the walls here, pulsing faintly.
And near where the Golem had fallen, nestled amongst the wreckage, was something else, another piece of torn metal plating, but this one had a symbol etched onto it.
Not Vanguard. Not any Earth faction he knew. It was a stylized gear surrounding a single, unblinking eye. Looked ominous.
Someone, or something, had built these guardians. And they weren't friendly. This labyrinth was more than just a random maze.
It had purpose. It had secrets. And probably, more giant, angry robots made of garbage waiting deeper inside.
Great. Just great!