Ollie ducked beneath a vicious swipe of the construct’s claw, narrowly avoiding having his head ripped off as he rolled on the road, grunting in pain.

  

  >> DODGE PROFICIENCY +1

  He got up and ran as the construct swiped with its second claw, scything through the air at mid-torso level and forcing Ollie to move back even further until he was up on the sidewalk. The Debt Engine roared, but with its strange, high-pitched, mechanical voice, the words it spat were far less fearsome than they were intended to be.

  “Designation MEAT! Commence deconstruction immediately!”

  Ollie ran around to the side of the construct, trying to get behind it so that he could take a swing with his crowbar. But as he darted around, the construct swiveled, holding its claws menacingly.

  “Commence deconstruction!”

  Ollie was forced to back away once more. He found that the reach of the construct's claws was simply too far for him to get in close, and despite the fact that it walked slowly, it reacted quickly to any attempted attack and was able to spin around and face him much faster. Staying clear of the claws, he waited for the thirty-second cooldown on his primary attack ability to end and then triggered Balance of Judgement once more.

  Again, the large holographic coin appeared above the construct, spinning and eventually landing on a side with an image of a hand pressed against someone’s chest. A burst of light shot down from the coin, driving into the construct’s flesh but noticeably with less force than the previous attack.

  At the same time as the shard of light cut into the Debt Engine’s shoulder, a swell of golden light and warmth surrounded Ollie. He felt an immediate thrill of energy as though he’d just been given a shot of adrenaline.

  “Damn!” he said, jumping up and down as the Debt Engine recoiled, green liquid oozing from the damage point on its shoulder. “Is this what happens whenever I get healed?”

  [Nero] Only when you are already at full health. If you were in need of healing, the spell’s ability would heal your wounds. Given that you are currently unhurt, however, it provides a small temporary buff to vitality and your energy levels. It will only be short-lived, however, and the buff does not increase your baseline stats in any noticeable way.

  Ollie was about to reply when the construct attacked. In contrast to its earlier attempts to slice him in half, the brute spread its arms wide and showed dozens of small metallic vents that opened up along its fleshy torso. A deadly cocktail of black steam and hissing oil poured from the Debt Engine’s body, filling the air with an acrid stench as Ollie tried to dodge the attack.

  He managed to avoid the worst of it, diving onto the nearby grass of someone’s front yard and rolling as boiling oil and steam licked at his bare feet. The pain was instant and excruciating, ripping through his senses as he got to his feet and ran back toward the shielded house behind him. A quick look down confirmed the damage he’d sustained. His feet were red, raw, and blistered in places, and it felt like he was standing in hot lava.

  “FUCK!” he shouted, biting down against the pain as the construct lumbered up onto the sidewalk, its clawed limbs sweeping back and forth, blades slicing against one another like Edward Scissorhands.

  The pain was so shocking that it stole Ollie’s breath. He wanted to get off his feet, to ease the pain somehow, but the construct was coming, and he was pinned against the green shield that covered the house at his back. He triggered his Vaulted Reserves ability a moment before using Gold Standard to bring a shimmering shield around his body.

  The cumulative effect of both spells was to heal the worst of the damage he’d taken on his feet and produce a bulwark that mitigated 80% of the damage delivered by the construct. That fact saved his life as Ollie swung his crowbar and deflected the swipe of one of the Debt Engine’s huge claws. With his increased strength, he was able to successfully fend off the blow, but before he could strike the construct, its second claw came at Ollie from behind, slicing into the meat of his torso and sending a gush of blood pouring out of his side.

  Ollie wasn’t exactly sure how the Gold Standard shield actually mitigated damage because it felt like he’d been run through by a dozen swords. Caught within the construct’s area of attack, Ollie had no choice but to push forward, swinging the crowbar with all the force he could manage and bringing the weapon down against one of the brute’s thick arms.

  Flesh squelched and mechanized components crumbled as he swung the crowbar again and again, his arm shuddering with each impact. The blows were badly damaging the limb, but Ollie quickly realized that he would need a bladed weapon if he was going to cut through the arm altogether. That thought was quickly dispersed as another swipe from one of the construct’s claws ripped through his shoulder and arm, sending him flying through the air to slap against the shielded house and slump to the ground.

  

  >> PAIN TOLERANCE PROFICIENCY +1

  >> BLUNT WEAPONRY PROFICIENCY +1

  >> HEALING PROFICIENCY +1

  It felt like he’d been stomped on by an elephant and, with no other option but his cooldown just ending on Balance of Judgement, he triggered the ability, hoping for healing rather than damage as blood continued to pour from his wounds.

  The coin appeared above the construct’s head, spinning rapidly while Ollie struggled to his feet. He was still holding the crowbar, but his arm had been badly wounded and the only reason he still clutched the weapon was that his fingers were locked tightly around the handle and he lacked the strength to unclench them.

  He saw the coin stop on the hand pressed against a chest and breathed a sigh of relief as he started running to the side, keen to get clear of the construct’s deadly claws and reassess his attack strategy. Light flared as a holographic hammer smashed down on top of the construct, hitting so hard that it pulped the creature’s head, squashing it like a melon and sending gore squirting out all over the construct’s body.

  The construct stumbled, but despite having no head, it still held together and recovered from the attack quite quickly, swinging its claws around in an attempt to cut Ollie apart. At the same moment the hammer struck, however, a wave of healing washed over Ollie’s body, not quite bringing him back to full health, but near enough that he could go on fighting.

  As he ran back onto the road, his feet slapping against the asphalt, Ollie realized that the construct could no longer see him. It was swiping its huge claws left and right, groping blindly for its enemy but unable to pinpoint him. It was not only blind, he realized, but it couldn’t hear either. It had no way of knowing where he was.

  A burst of laughter spilled from his lips as he understood the implications of that fact. He could take his time now, choose his point of attack carefully, dart in, do some damage, and then back out again.

  He pulled the cleaver he’d taken from the hobgoblins out of his inventory and hefted the weapon experimentally, watching as the cooldown on his Balance of Judgement ticked over. He could wait, of course; play it safe and just use his ranged attack to slowly kill the enemy. But that wasn’t Ollie’s way, and there would be opportunities to ramp up his proficiencies now, so why not throw in a few different types of attack?

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  With that in mind, he came up behind the construct, aiming for one of its arms and trying to time his attack so that he’d get maximum damage for each strike. Ollie stepped in, bringing the cleaver down hard against the meat of the limb. The heavy blade gave off a satisfying sound as it sliced through the meat of the construct’s arm and clanged against the metal inside.

  Ollie immediately pulled out of the attack, ducking low and rolling as the construct spun around with its other claw. He watched the claw pass over his head, then drove himself up with his legs and cut a chunk of flesh out of the construct’s arm before ducking down and rolling again.

  The Debt Engine swiped back and forth, each new attack slightly less effective as the meat of its limbs was cut away and the metallic framework beneath was exposed. Moving back out of range while the construct spun back and forth, swiping blindly, Ollie swapped the cleaver for the crowbar and triggered Balance of Judgement once more.

  Additional damage was selected, and the hammer fell down against the construct’s body. Ollie found that, because he was looking directly at the right arm of the Debt Engine, it was possible to direct the damage from Balance of Judgement directly to that area of the creature. That being the case, the hammer blow hit so hard that it tore the construct’s right arm entirely off, slamming it down onto the ground and leaving a stump that squirted oil and blood and hissed steam as the construct tried and failed to skewer its attacker with its other claw.

  Ollie watched as the severed limb slapped about, claws scraping against the road before it began to lose cohesion altogether and started to fall apart. Whatever magic or mechanism kept the construct together clearly didn’t continue once a part of the larger body was separated from the main section.

  With one arm missing and no head, the Debt Engine was badly balanced and only able to swing its remaining claw about half as fast and half as often as previously. This gave Ollie plenty of time to move in for the attack, slicing through the meat of the remaining limb and then switching to his crowbar to batter the mechanical components holding it together.

  Again and again, he moved in and attacked in this way, tearing off chunks of rotten flesh and then smashing the metal struts and wheels and curious mechanisms inside the construct until they ceased to work. Steam hissed, and hot oil was now pouring from the Debt Engine involuntarily as Ollie continued his relentless attack.

  He could finish the beast off with a few well-placed spells, of course, but Ollie knew an opportunity when it presented itself, and this was a golden opportunity to gain some invaluable experience and rack up Proficiencies. He knew that these would be easier to gain at novice level and would likely come much less often as the game progressed, so making the most of the opportunity now was a smart move.

  

  >> BLADED WEAPONRY PROFICIENCY +1

  >> BLUNT WEAPONRY PROFICIENCY +1

  >> DODGE PROFICIENCY +1

  >> STAMINA PROFICIENCY +1

  The System confirmed his approach, recognizing increases in Proficiencies even though the threat of actually being injured or killed had now dropped considerably. Because the construct’s arm was still technically functioning—albeit hanging by a thread of metal cable—the System also acknowledged Ollie’s dodge ability as he ducked and dived out of the way of the clawed hand, treating it more like an exercise dummy than a legitimate enemy.

  He would have continued in this way for as long as possible if it weren’t for the fact that other enemies were beginning to show up on his mini-map. As Ollie stepped back out of reach of the construct’s now battered and bent claws, he saw that there were dozens of red dots moving steadily toward his location. The map didn’t indicate what type of enemy they were, but his position in the middle of a suburban street hemmed in by shielded houses on either side wasn’t an ideal location in which to fight, particularly because the new enemies were approaching from both directions.

  Ollie looked over to the other side of the street and spotted a walkway that passed through the street and elsewhere into the suburb. He made up his mind to sprint in that direction as soon as he’d finished off the construct and looted whatever it had to offer. With no time to waste, he triggered Balance of Judgement and aimed the damage directly at the joint that held the construct’s remaining arm in place. While the added damage aspect of the spell didn’t trigger, its standard damage was enough to do the job, and Ollie got an added bonus of having the few remaining injuries he’d sustained immediately healed.

  He moved up close as the construct slumped to the ground, now little more than a heap of steaming flesh and broken machinery. Here and there he could see the constituent goblin zombies beginning to reemerge as the Debt Engine lost cohesion.

  Ollie triggered his Vaulted Reserves ability, channeling the stored damage he’d amassed during the fight into a brutal area of effect attack. Golden light spread out onto the ground in a ten-foot area surrounding Ollie, cracks of vivid light appearing and pulsing every second. With each pulse, a wave of power erupted from the ground, cascading through the construct and battering its body while filling Ollie with a strange kind of euphoria.

  He added to the damage by swinging his crowbar again and again, all the while checking his mini-map to see how much time he’d have before the steadily approaching enemy boxed him in. Fortunately, the damage from his area-of-effect spell combined with repeated blows from the crowbar reached a tipping point of damage, and the construct finally fell apart, splitting into its constituent parts and sloughing to the ground as Ollie backed away so as to avoid getting his feet covered in oil and innards.

  The heap of deformed goblin zombies began to liquefy while the various mechanical contraptions that had been used to bind them together slumped in a heap. Runes etched into the surface of the metal struts and wheels and cogs all flared with purple light and then vanished, leaving behind mundane objects as the animating magic of the Fleshsmith departed.

  

  >> MINI BOSS DEFEATED: Debt Engine

  Congratulations! You have successfully defeated the Debt Engine! Through a combination of Paladin spells, blunt and bladed attacks, and the willingness to slosh around in goblin innards with your bare feet, you have taken down a moderately difficult enemy and earned yourself the knowledge of a job well done. Also, here’s some cash.

  KILL REWARD: 450 Belch bucks

  BOSS LOOT BOX: Green Level [Loot Lure Required]

  >> ADDITIONAL REWARD: The Eye of Ignius

  Your actions have caught the attention of Ignius Hollowgrave, Master Fleshsmith and a legendarily vindictive enemy. Your name has been written in his ledger, and your victory today will not soon be forgotten. As long as Ignius Hollowgrave exists, he will search for an opportunity for vengeance.

  “Damn!” Ollie said. “That’s some creepy-ass messaging right there.”

  [Nero] Indeed. It seems that, by killing the Fleshsmith’s construct, you have made an enemy of this Ignius Hollowgrave.

  “Well, he can eat a bag of dicks for all I care. Dead shit sends a construct after me and then gets all pissy when I kill it. What a prick!”

  [Nero] I would not concern yourself, Ollie. The contest is vast, and there are a great many enemies to face. It could be that you never encounter this Fleshsmith again. It is also likely that he has sworn vengeance against dozens of players already, perhaps hundreds. It is unlikely that you will come across him again… although, having said that, it seems that your Stink of Death debuff has increased slightly after this exchange.

  “So, there are gonna be a bunch more zombies coming at me?”

  [Nero] For some time, it seems, yes. This being the case, it is more likely that you will encounter another of the Fleshsmith’s constructs and perhaps even Hollowgrave himself. Still, an enemy is an enemy. It matters not how they approach you nor what words they employ. What matters is the result of the fight.

  Ollie nodded, focusing for a few moments on the holographic box hovering over the corpse of the dead construct. It shimmered with green light, but there was a red cross on the front of it along with a message about needing a Loot Lure to pick up the item.

  “A Loot Lure, huh? You couldn’t have told me back at the kiosk that I need one of these things?”

  [Nero] I’m afraid that there are simply too many things to mention, and I find it best to advise on matters such as this as they occur in the natural course of your progression. You did waive your rights to listen to the entirety of the—

  Ollie shook his head. “Yeah, I get it. I didn’t want to read the fine print, so shit like this is gonna happen. Fine. Just remind me to pick up one of these Loot Lures the next time I find a kiosk. Can you do that?

  [Nero] Of course. In fact, there is a Vend-o-matic machine just a few miles north of your current location.

  “Good. Maybe I’ll head there next once I’ve dealt with whoever is coming for me. Need to find somewhere with some obstacles I can use to break up their attacks.”

  He set off at a run toward the gap between the houses on the other side of the street.

  [Nero] There is an underground parking lot up ahead, Ollie. Such structures typically have large concrete pillars and multiple levels, as well as a host of parked cars. That might provide you with the type of cover you are seeking.

  A dotted green line appeared on Ollie’s mini-map, leading to a large rectangular structure that backed onto a nearby shopping mall.

  “Here’s hoping there’s a food truck or a café I can get inside. I’m so hungry I could eat the arse out of a low-flying duck!”