Chapter 03 – Skill Absorption.

A lone armor stood around two identical beings but it was certainly not the same. The way it moved and articulated was strange, even now it was swinging its arms around wildly while looking at something before it. The two other suits that were there didn’t react to the peculiarities of their brethren nor were they capable off it.

‘It’s there! I became stronger!’

Rusty rejoiced while looking at the skill window with two brand new skills. One of them was the one that he absorbed from the adventurer while the other appeared out of seemingly nowhere. He could only assume that it was the one that he couldn’t previously identify as all the question marks were gone.

‘The question marks have disappeared? I wonder why?’

He was curious as before, but his curiosity was overshadowed by his joy. Two new skills had been gained, which had to mean that he was stronger in some way. The Basic Swordsmanship skill was already at work, as he could feel the movements of his corroded sword becoming better. It was somehow telling him how to guide it and increased his offensive capabilities to some extent.

‘But how did that work?’

Rusty recalled the strange incident with the human adventurer. He had been defeated yet again, but after a part of his body was placed on the human’s head, the skill was activated. Being a sentient suit of armor, he didn’t perceive the head as part of those beings. His helmet could come off if he wanted, and at this moment, he took it off. The slit in the visor acted like his eyes, but he could move his body even when it wasn’t touching it.

‘Hm…’

While pondering, he attempted to rub his metallic chin, but his helmet had been placed down on a large rock. As he contemplated this situation, some audible noises entered his non-existent ears. On the sides, two other living armors were lumbering around, and when he glanced at them, he had an idea. Quickly, he grabbed his own head and appeared before his brethren.

‘What if, I do this?’

Armed with some inspiration he grabbed the helmet of his look-alike. The other living armor monster who was walking by stopped in its tracks but didn’t attack. It had become clear that these beings didn’t see him as an enemy as the voice that commanded them all kept everyone in check. Once the other monster’s helmet was removed he used his body to carry over his own helmet and replaced the old one.

‘Hmm… it didn’t work?’

To Rusty’s surprise, he didn’t hear the voice of the world that had previously presented him with a choice of three skills; it had not appeared. The feeling that was present when he occupied the human’s head was also different; it seemed that he couldn’t use his new skill in this way. However, he did not stop with just this one test and instead moved on to the second piece of corroded armor to try it on them.

‘Not working…’

The feeling was the same, and soon the corroded armor went out to patrol their designated dungeon spot. Rusty was left confused about the issue, but this didn’t stop him from approaching a different type of monster, one of the skeletons that occupied this dungeon. It was the most prevalent type here, and they carried various weapons, not just swords. Thus, he approached one that was holding a sword along with a shield that looked like a washboard. The monster stopped after a metallic helmet was placed on its head, but it surprisingly didn’t look that out of place.

‘Oh?’

The voice of what he only knew as the world echoed inside his metallic head. It provided him with an explanation and also gave him a series of numbers that were constantly changing. If he understood this correctly, then he would need to wait a prolonged amount of time before this skill could be activated again.

‘Hey, wait!’

As he contemplated this newly gained knowledge, the skeleton friend that he had placed his head on started moving away. To his surprise, this monster was rather fast, and he needed to give it his all to keep up with the pace. It took him a good few minutes before he was able to regain his helmet. The timer that had been presented had been lowered during this time and confirmed his previous assumption. With not much else to do but wait, he decided to explore this large dungeon.

“Move!”

The voice resounded inside his head and forced him to patrol like the rest, but without any enemies around, he was able to get a better look at the dungeon he occupied. There were many corridors, some quite tight while others were spacious. Rusty navigated the corridors with the clanking sounds of his corroded armor echoing through the dungeon. The walls were adorned with dimly lit torches, casting flickering shadows that danced along the cold stone surfaces.

As he explored, he stumbled upon a peculiar spacious chamber that was devoid of most of what the others had. The only eye-catching thing inside was a large staircase leading down. This was not the patrol route that the voice wanted him to take, as he was just passing through, but for some reason, this piqued his interest. Once inside, he made his way towards the stairs, and there he experienced something strange; he was not able to move down the stairs, and even approaching them was quite hard.

Rusty tried to analyze the situation. It seemed as if an invisible force was preventing him from descending the stairs. Frustrated but determined, he attempted to take a running start, but just as he was about to approach the opening to the stairs, the voice resounded. It was much louder and seemed angered by the attempt to go down this wide set of stairs.

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‘LEAVE, FORBIDDEN!’

Rusty froze in place, his metal frame trembling with the force of the command echoing in his head. The voice was not one to be ignored, and the sheer power behind the words made it clear that descending those stairs was not an option.

As the echoes of the command subsided, Rusty hesitated for a moment. The desire to explore the forbidden depths of the dungeon clashed with the overwhelming compulsion to obey the voice. It was a peculiar situation that he did not have an answer for but it seemed that he was stuck for now.

With a reluctant sigh – or the metallic equivalent of it – Rusty turned away from the stairs and resumed his designated patrol. The voice seemed appeased, and as he moved through the dungeon corridors, he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to this place than met the eye.

The dungeon was not just a maze of stone walls and dimly lit torches; it held secrets and hidden passages that piqued Rusty’s curiosity. Although his primary purpose was to follow the commands of the voice, the desire to uncover the mysteries of the dungeon grew stronger within him.

As Rusty continued his patrol, he encountered other monsters. Besides the previously encountered skeletons and living armors like himself, there were also strange small creatures called goblins. Other species that he encountered were spiders who liked to crawl up on the ceilings and hide in dark places. Then there were smaller things like rats and insectoids.