*For a thousand millennia, they experience artificial bliss, but it felt cold, unnatural, and dark, like they were basking in something that held no value, but now, they shall once again bask in actual light, Laythan stood, looking at the sun, it burned and scorched his eyes as he looked at it, but he felt bliss*
Luma: "ACHOO! uh- AH-"
Laythan: "You should activate the nanobots in your blood stream to calm your immune system"
*Luma quickly pressing her hand against her chest* Luma: "I forget about that, huff huff"
Luma: "Well, I wanted to tell you to stop staring at the star, according to our ancestor's test and our scans on it ,its just a ball of hydrogen and helium with slight amount of other elements, and also if you do keep looking at it you will go blind, it is not a problem due to nanobots being able to cure anything, but still"
Laythan: "Ok fine, but don't you think this is all so beautiful! we are seeing this for the first time in our lives that are hundreds of years long! Does that not bring emotion to your mind?"
Luma: "No, lets just keep looking"
Laythan: "How boring"
*Laythan steps onto the new world, the moss and mud so thick it swallow's the sound of his boots stepping onto the new land replacing it with a loud mush sound, he grazes his hand over a batch of blue flowers, they sparkling with with the weird force particles, then a breeze came over the land making the sub atomic particles move over the land*
Luma: "Well, these particles are strange, these organisms seems to be able to control the particles some way, we can't make sense of it, either way we will start to slowly bring out more of the people inside the bunker to the outer world, so far no person yet has resisted this idea"
Luma: "So hurry, explore if you want, but I at least trust you to be smart enough to tell us if you find something that can actually harm you appears"
Laythan: "Sure, now go away"
*Laythan wonders though the grand forest, the trees not similar to anything he saw in the bunker, and as he does, his scanner detects heat, a lifeform, it jumps at him, he gets in a defensive stance, ready to attack it back*
*It lunges at him, and as it does, he sees what it is it is just a green slime, corrosive, not no were near being able to corrode him high tech clothes*
Laythan: "So I know now the outer world is like an RPG! Even monsters, well little slime, if you dare to attack me, then I'll attack you!"
*He stomps on it repeatedly, it quickly loses it shape and dies*
Laythan(Through his radio): "Hey, I just found a living creature!"
*Luma appears behind him, as she used her quite air boosters to get there faster*
Luma: "What you want?"
Laythan: "I found this slime! like it is usually a creature that attacks by corroding who ever it is attacking, but it couldn't corrode my clothes to I stomped it until loosed its shape!"
Luma: "Cool I guess"
*Luma decides to scan it, there is a very dese concertation of the strange particles in it*Luma: "Well, whatever it is, it has a high concentration of the particles in it, I'll make it so the robots attack them anytime they detect these"
*After some typing on her control panel, the robots start running towards any slime they detect and with a quick movement squish it*
*After more walking, the trees thinned, revealing a cluster of ramshackle huts woven from glowing vines and bone-white branches. Tiny handprints three-fingered, clawed marked the mud walls*
Laythan grinned. "Is it just me, or does this look like a goblin camp?"
*A shrill screech answered him. A creature lunged from the shadows, three feet tall, moss-green skin mottled with bioluminescent tattoos, eyes blazing with fury. It swung a dagger jagged with magic-charged crystals at Laythan, doing nothing, not even a scratch against the clothes not even made for defense*
"OH! It is a goblin camp" Laythan tapped his belt. "Uh, Luma? I just found a goblin"
Luma: "What is that"
Laythan: "Jeez, why do people not read manga or anything like that anymore!"
Luma: "Your computer is probably the only one with those books, anyways just describe it to me"
Laythan: "A small, greed humanoid, about three feet tall, and looks kind of weird"
Luma: "What is it doing right now"
Laythan: "Currently, it is trying to stab me with its dagger but it is unable to actually hurt me"
Luma: "Just go past it, see inside their camp"
Laythan: "Sure"
*The huts reeked of rot and fermented fungus. Laythan wrinkled his nose, stepping over a pile of rusted armor plates, human armor, scavenged, probably stolen from some human blacksmith. The goblins skittered ahead, hissing, but their daggers couldn't pierce his clothes*
Laythan: "They're hoarding junk, not a single useful thing in here"
"Actually, not all junk." Laythan kicked a dented chest. It burst open, spilling gold coins stamped with elven faces, sharp-featured, haughty. "Look at these! Elves minting money with their smug faces, I don't know but they all seem selfish."
*A whimper echoed from a cage woven from thorned vines*
Laythan froze. "Uh. Luma?"
*Luma answered from his radio*
Luma: "Yeah?"
*Behind the treasure piles, makeshift cages held prisoners:
A dwarf, his beard matted with grime, hammering the bars with fists wrapped in chains.
A cat-eared demi-human teenager, one arm missing, curled in a corner.
A human woman in tattered robes, her eyes glowing faintly with unstable magic
And in the largest cage, an elf, pristine silver robes torn, face bruised, but still sneering. "Finally,"* he drawled: "Release me, human. I'll reward you. Maybe."
Laythan crouched by the dwarf's cage. "Why are they imprisoned?"
The dwarf spat: "Goblins think everything belongs to 'em. Caught me mining their 'sacred' crystals. That elf? He called 'em 'vermin.' They made him squeal."
The elf bristled: "I am Lord Iltharion of the Emerald Spire! I don't 'squeal.' And I certainly don't associate with dwarven scum."
Laythan snorted. "Wow. Even in a cage, you're still bad"
Luma over the radio: "Wait, other races?... Actually, it does make sense, probably the humans that couldn't get into the bunker evolved into these subspecies"
Iltharion: "We! Human's subspecies?! What an outrageous thing to say! If anything, humans and every single race evolved form elves, since each race is so inferior than us! Now free me human and I may allow you to live! Wait.. who is that who is talking, there is only you here... OH! I know, you an elf if your able to use communication magic without using your hands!"
Laythan: "No, I am a human, I have an idea on how to prove it"
*He shows his ear, there is no point on them, the elf stood in shock how a human is able to use such great communication magic, not being able to understand how a human is so great at magic*
Laythan, whispering: "Yes! I knew from the manga books that elves have pointy ears, anyways, Luma, do you think I will be able to tell them you are talking through a radio?"
Luma, also whispering: "Yeah, best not to"
Dwarf: "Ignore him, he thinks he so great when he is trapped in a cage like the rest of us"
Luma studied the prisoners through the camera on Laythan's shirt: "The goblins aren't just greedy. They're mimicking the elves. Look." She pointed to crude murals on the walls: goblins wearing stolen elf crowns, riding wolves made of magic particles. "They want power. Status. But they're… bad at it."
The human prisoner talked with a hoarse voice: "The elves hoard magic. The goblins hoard hoarders. They think owning us makes them equal to the Spires."
Lord Iltharion rolled his eyes. "Delusional. Elves craft magic. Goblins… collect."
"And humans?" Laythan asked quietly.
The woman met his gaze: "We survive. Even when the Spires burn our villages for 'stealing' their light."
Laythan: "Well, I guess humans aren't the rulers of this world anymore"
The human woman: "What that you say?"
Laythan: "Nothing"
The cat girl, with her superiors hearing with her cat ear: "Run human, run! I hear goblins are coming, run away before they put you in a cage as well!"
Laythan: "There are cat girls, hehe, anyways yeah I know"
Cat girl: "I have no idea what you are talking about just run!"
*The goblins surged into the camp, shrieking, their rusted daggers and crystal-studded clubs raised. One leapt onto Laythan's back, stabbing wildly at his neck. The blade screeched against his collar, sparking but leaving no mark*
Laythan: "Persistent little guys, huh?" Laythan sighed, shaking the goblin off like a bothersome insect. It tumbled into a pile of stolen elf robes, tangling itself in silken fabric*
The dwarf gaped and said- "What in the molten core are ye wearin', lad? That ain't armor—it's smoother than dragon scales!"
Laythan grinned, tapping his jacket: "Uh… advanced linen? Breathable. Moisture-wicking. Very… fashionable in my village."
The dwarf squinted. "Yer village have a name?"
"Bunk- uh, Boon-shire. Rural place. You wouldn't know it."
Luma's voice crackled through his earpiece: "Stop improvising. You're terrible at it."
The goblins regrouped, hissing. One threw a glowing crystal bomb. It detonated at Laythan's feet, magic shrapnel dissolving harmlessly against his boots.
"Ooo, sparkly!" He fake-yawned. "Got anything bigger?"
*The lead goblin screeched, rallying others to drag a hulking, jury-rigged cannon—a cobbled mess of elf metal and dwarvish pipes. It fired a concentrated beam of raw magic particles. The blast engulfed Laythan…
…and dissipated. His clothes glowed faintly, nanobots humming as they dispersed the energy*
Laythan: "Nice try," Laythan muttered. "But magic's just another wavelength. Our shields adapt."
*The goblins froze, then erupted into panicked chatter. They'd never faced something they couldn't steal, break, or eat*
*The cat-eared girl pressed against her cage and said: "Your magic is strange. Not elf, not human… What are you?"*
Laythan winked. "A protagonist."
The cat girl: "A what?"
Laythan: "Never mind." He turned to the dwarf. "Wanna get out of here?"
The dwarf rattled his chains saying: "Aye, but these bindings are elf-forged. Only a Spire lord's magic-"
"Or a really precise sonic pulse," Luma interrupted: "Laythan, belt setting three."
*He tapped his belt, one, two, three times. A high-frequency whine shattered the locks, leaving the cages intact*
*Lord Iltharion stood, brushing dirt off his robes talking: "Finally. Now, human, escort me to the nearest Spire outpost. My family will grant you land. A title, perhaps."*
The dwarf snorted: "Or ye could leave 'im here. Poetic, ain't it?"
The elf's composure cracked: "You dare-?!"
Human woman: "Enough!" The human woman staggered forward, her glowing eyes locking onto Laythan: "Your 'linen'… it's old tech. We found some under some dirt in some ancient ruins, yours look much stronger but they seem to have the same texture?"
Laythan's smile faltered. "Uh…"
A roar echoed through the trees deeper, angrier than goblin cries. The ground trembled.
Luma's voice sharpened. "New heat signature. Big. Move."
The goblins fled, abandoning their camp. The prisoners froze.
Lord Iltharion paled. "Oh. You've awoken it."
The catgirl hissed, ears flat: "The guardian. The thing the goblins fed us to."
A shadow loomed a hulking creature with obsidian scales, six eyes burning with captured starlight, and a tail crackling with magic lightning. It sniffed the air, zeroing in on Laythan's glowing nanobots.
"Luma?" Laythan whispered.
Luma: "Run, things have limits, and don't think your suit has some to, you will still die if you get hit by that thing, you better get a robot you beat that thing up your your going to be the lunch of that thing, we also detected large amounts of the strange glowing particles in it"
Iltharion: "Glowing particles, are you talking about magic particles? Those as common as blades of grass!"
Laythan: "So, change the name of strange particles to magic particles"
Luma: "Your not my boss, wait, you are, fine now I am currently calling a robot to kill that thing before it kills you"
Laythan: "Actually, send Robot no. 35, and use the fabricator to make some clothes for it, and make sure to also use the fabricator to give the robot some skin, so these people here don't get freaked out by a giant machine, hurry since that thing is getting closer, actually, make the robot not kill it, I don't want to kill it, I just want to study it, and make sure it just uses pure strength, I don't want these people to see a so called human launching lasers from his arms"
*The guardian roared, its six eyes blazing as magic lightning crackled down its tail. The air reeked of ozone and burnt earth*
"Robot incoming," Luma said. "Disguise protocol active."
*A sonic boom split the sky. Robot No. 35 tore through the canopy, its polished white chassis shimmering as nanobots swarmed over its frame. Metal rippled—flesh-toned synthetic skin spread across its body, followed by a tunic and pants materializing from the fabricator. By the time it landed, it looked like a muscular, eerily handsome human… if humans had glowing eyes and moved like stop-motion animation*
The dwarf choked. "What in the nine hells is that?!"
Laythan grinned: "Uh… my cousin? Let's go with that."
*The guardian lunged, lightning arcing from its tail. Robot 35 sidestepped, the blast vaporizing a tree behind it*
"Analysis: Magic-based plasma discharge," the robot intoned, its voice smooth and unsettlingly human. "Shields adapting."
*The guardian swiped its claws, but the robot caught its wrist, fingers sinking into scales. With a metallic whir, it twisted the beast's arm behind its back and slammed it into the ground. Dirt erupted, the impact rattling cages*
Lord Iltharion stumbled. "Impossible! No mortal can overpower a star-fed guardian!"
"Good thing it's not mortal," Luma muttered over the radio.
The guardian thrashed, magic particles surging around it. Vines erupted from the soil, snaking toward the robot—only to disintegrate against its shields.
"Magic destabilization detected," Robot 35 said calmly, pinning the creature's tail with one foot. "Suggest non-lethal pacification."
"Do it!" Laythan yelled.
*The robot's free hand morphed into a syringe-like injector. It plunged the needle into the guardian's neck, administering a cocktail of sedatives and magic-neutralizing nanobots. The beast's glowing eyes dimmed, its growls fading to whimpers*
"Threat neutralized," the robot said, stepping back. Its "clothes" were pristine, not a hair out of place.
The prisoners stared in silence.
The dwarf broke it first. "Yer 'cousin' owes me a drink."
The catgirl pressed her face to the cage. "Is it… alive?"
"Just sleeping!" Laythan said, crouching to scan the guardian. "We're not monsters. Unlike some people." He side-eyed Lord Iltharion.
The elf scowled. "You've angered the Spires. That creature is a sacred guardian. They'll burn your village for this."
"Bold words from a guy who got captured by goblins," Luma said.
The human woman stepped forward, her glowing eyes narrowing. "You seem a little strange, I'll keep my eyes on you, and your 'cousin's' first are already staring to peel, and what just happened does not make it seem like this is your 'cousin's' first time fighting"
Laythan: "You sure"
*Laythan points to the fist of his "cousin", they are completely unharmed,*
Human woman: "I don't trust you, make your cousin talk then."
Before Laythan could answer, Robot 35's head jerked toward the sky. "Alert: Twelve airborne signatures approaching. Elf designations. High magic output."
Lord Iltharion smirked. "Ah. Right on time."