The heavyset Automatron was surprisingly fast when it built up momentum, and by the time it closed the distance, it charged at her like a wrecking ball.
Fortunately, having learned from my previous clash with the Automatron, I allocated my available stat points to dexterity.
Ayna unholstered her firearm and began firing towards it. At this point, her aim was very accurate, and she landed many shots on the Automatron.
It did little to deter it, though, as the bullets lacked the penetrating power against the Automatron, bouncing off harmlessly.
What is this thing made of?
Ayna had already begun moving, yet it was there that she discovered the type of weapon that the cannon on the Automatron's left arm was.
The cannon abruptly lit up, and before Ayna knew it, she suddenly felt her feet leaving the ground as she was flung with violent force towards the metal wall heavily.
A kinetic blast cannon?
Ayna hastily got to her feet, with a raging headache from the violent velocity she had moved from the kinetic blast.
She barely registered when a large hammer slammed down where her body had been a moment ago.
Damnit, Dr Xavier!
Cursing, she sent a blast of fire at the large, heavily armoured Automatron, who shrugged it off as it marched forward. Without the environmental advantage, she felt the drain of using her energy to create fire instead of manipulating it, and cautioned herself to be cautious in overextending her powers.
Ayna was already on the move as the large machine moved with surprising dexterity, and the colossal hammer was already swung upwards at her new destination.
I can’t let that thing hit me!
Narrowly escaping, Ayna was sent scrambling as the cannon on the Automatron arm lit up, sending her skidding across the ground painfully once more.
Seriously, this is getting tiresome.
Fortunately, the cannon seemed to require charging before it could launch a kinetic blast; the longer the Automatron primes the cannon, the stronger the velocity of the kinetic blast, thus cautioning Ayna to maintain distance as the weapon was more lethal the closer it was.
Reloading her firearm, she found a convenient source of ammunition as a tile in the arena opened, revealing energy cells for the Mark IV Hornet.
It was fast and straightforward to reload, yet even then, she barely did it in time before the Automatron picked up momentum in its charge towards her.
Ayna began firing once again towards the armoured Automatron, yet this time she launched some blasts of fire with her free hand, conjoining her attacks.
The Automatron armour began to blacken slightly from concentrated attacks of bullets and blasts of fire. Yet, it was designed to be durable and even stronger than the previous Automatron, likely significantly outlevelling her, allowing it to tank her attacks as it came dangerously close.
Once its cannon began to light up, Ayna knew it was charging for a big blast, though she was forced to keep dodging to the side as it swung its heavy hammer towards her, Ayna continuously adjusted her position to avoid its heavy attacks and find cover.
As planned, she gradually made her way near the pillar.
Ayna ducked behind one of the four prominent pillars that served as the only cover left in the arena once she realised the Automatron was prepared to blast her with the cannon.
Quickly, though, she realised that Dr Xavier's warning about not relying on it too much contained no falsehoods, since the Automatron's fully charged Kinetic Blast was absurdly powerful, with it being strong enough to send cracks through the thick and solid pillar as it began to almost collapse on top of her, leaping out of the way in alarm the pillar fell loudly on the ground.
Ayna observed as the arena seemed to come to life, the destroyed pillar was quickly absorbed into the smooth, metallic floor, leaving the space clear as if it had never been there.
Nanobots?
Ayna began to question the technology, yet that moment of distraction cost her as the Automatron closed in on her quickly, narrowly missing her as she ducked under the extended swing of its hammer.
I need to focus.
Finding herself on the back foot yet again, the hulking machine came upon her fast, and the large arena suddenly felt small as she evaded the forceful swings and sweeps of the Automatron's giant hammer.
Ayna continuously peppered it with shots and blasts of fire, finding her energy slowly being depleted as one by one the remaining pillars fell, until only one remained.
She felt suffocated under the constant bombardment of the Automatron. She knew she had to deal with it swiftly, as the final pillar was her only remaining protection from the kinetic blast cannon, as it was almost impossible to keep the relentless Automatron away for long, putting her in the firing range of its cannon.
She knew she needed to go all in. Ayna had not been expending her energy haphazardly; she had been targeting a specific point on its chest. Though heavily armoured, she knew it was the location of its power core, which was a weak point of Automatrons.
Once again, she ducked and moved, constantly firing shots from her firearm, and at times adding concentrated blasts of fire, slowly whittling the armoured chest plate, getting closer to exposing its power core.
The Automatron, however, was not a simple machine with set programming, manipulated by the artificial intelligence Lamia; it constantly adjusted its strategy, making it more challenging to target its weak point.
Yet, the machine was so large that, even with Lamia's presence, it was unable to stop her strategy from progressing, despite its best efforts to hinder her.
Though Ayna knew similarly that the machine was dangerously close to completing its own objective of beating her.
Soon enough, a familiar glow appeared on its left arm, and Ayna already knew this indicated that it was priming its cannon once again.
Moving behind the last pillar, she left it shuddering and shaking as the kinetic blast promptly dealt with the remaining pillar.
The Automatron once again moved to intercept her, yet found Ayna was done running, using the time behind the pillar she charged an attack of her own, utisling her remaining reserves she formed the most powerful concentrated blast of flames yet and soon as the pillar collapsed Ayna leapt from it sending every ounce of power she generated to the chest of the Automatron that for the first time stumbled and tilted backwards from the force of the blow.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
At that time, the Automatron's chest cavity was almost torn open, revealing the gleaming power core underneath. Yet, the durable machine still functioned, and its singular eye remained fixed on her coldly.
With an opening, Ayna moved to utilise her firearm, which she had already ensured was full of ammunition, as she directed it towards its chest. Yet, the Automatron's quick movements caught her by surprise.
With sudden, abrupt force, it threw its hammer towards her, directly hitting her and sending her firearm flying.
Ayna found herself on the ground, deeply hurt and without a weapon. She began to panic as the Machine stood over her, an intelligent gleam in its eyes.
Lamia’s distant mechanical voice sounded from the machine, “You are a failed experiment. Test Subject, One, I will be doing a service removing you.”
Seeing my plan come to fruition, I was overeager. Why did I underestimate it?
Ayna felt a mix of reluctance and regret, yet at the same time, she sensed a change within her.
Desperation and being on the brink of death forced her to move her energy like never before, as she desperately tried to do something to save her life.
The Automatron was slow and deliberate, despite Ayna being there for the taking, as if mocking her; yet, that gave her the time she needed.
To achieve the perfect foundation for an Esper at F grade, she was required to maximise her Basic Energy Absorption to its capped level at 10. This was the most challenging level to achieve, and she struggled due to her lack of conflict, as it required her to absorb energy in battle.
Yet at that moment, she felt the circulation of her energy stir, coinciding with the manipulation of her energy.
She felt reinvigorated, and her body stirred as she rapidly recuperated her depleted energy reserves, swiftly restoring power to her body.
The Automatron slowly stood above her, charging its familiar cannon and directing it towards her head.
Ayna knew Lamia intended to make her death violent, yet this gave her enough time to recover enough energy to target the machine's weakness.
Knowing the cannon was close to charging, Ayna hurriedly gathered the trickles of restored power and sent one final violent blast of fire, hitting the Automatron power core.
The machine violently shuddered as it short-circuited, its vulnerable components receiving a blast of intense flames as it shook violently. The cannon changed direction as it waved its arms chaotically, the discharge blasting harmlessly in the air, as Ayna found herself barely spared as the machine collapsed in one loud, brutal heap.
Ayna felt herself panting as new waves of agony filled her body. The hammer throw broke something; even if her body was more durable than a regular human, she was not quite at the level to tank a blow from a colossal steel hammer with the force that the heavy Automatron could throw with. It was a testament to how strong she had already become that she felt she could still move without issue.
Her interface lit up, and the notifications were even more rewarding than the first Automatron.
You have dealt a fatal blow!
You have killed a Helixas Corporation Heavy Automatron MK II {Lvl 19}.
You have gained experience towards [Esper (Novice)] and [Soldier (Novice)]
[Esper (Novice)] has levelled up.
Lvl 8 > 10
Energy +10
Intelligence +4, Willpower +2, Charm +2.
You have received 4 attribute points.
[Soldier (Novice)] has levelled up.
Lvl 6 > 8
STR + 2 END +2
You have received 2 attribute points.
Your main class skill [Basic Energy Manipulation] has advanced to level 10 [MAX].
Your main class skill [Basic Energy Absorption] has advanced to level 10 [MAX].
Your subclass skill [Weapons Proficiency] has advanced to level 9.
Your general skill [Basic Shooting] has advanced to level 10 [MAX].
Ayna must have been close to level 9 already if she advanced two levels in one go from the Automatron. Additionally, it was not only a level higher but clearly a higher calibre of Automatron than the previous one, which provides more experience.
Furthermore, she achieved the perfect foundation for an F rank Esper, something relatively rare, as not all Espers do this before ranking up.
Now, those skills would be capped until she ranked up, which, given her current levelling rate, might be in the near future.
Basic Shooting was also capped, as a general skill, though she can rank up the skill either forcibly with a skill point or by finding a weapons trainer with the subsequent advanced skill.
Either way, it was useful to have and is once again relatively rare to possess as an F rank.
If only this could have happened in better circumstances.
Ayna felt battered from this confrontation with the Automatron, yet, with the lack of notification from the interface informing her that she had completed the quest, it seemed that it was not the last Automatron she would face.
The intercom blared again as Dr Xavier's cheerful face appeared on a screen that appeared in the wall, “Well done, One! I was about to deem you another failure until you seemed to make a breakthrough that most Espers take far longer on, truly impressive to gain a level of proficiency most seen in E ranks. Yet, this is not over; you are missing an essential aspect if I want you to prevail over your final challenge. Though, how can I let my favourite test subject fight in this state?”
Final challenge? Ayna had a feeling it was not an Automatron he was talking about. It was something more. And what did he mean by helping her?
Though Ayna could still fight, she was not in her best condition, yet once again, the floor miraculously opened up to reveal something that could aid her.
A Regen Stim Pack? A pretty good one, too.
A Regen Stim Pack is an autoinjector filled with a mixture of powerful coagulants and healing agents that are highly restorative based on the grade.
Brushing her hand against it, she promoted her interface to show its information.
Regen Stim Pack
Grade: F
Rarity: Rare
A rare F-grade Stim Pack was more than enough to heal her injuries, and more so, it would be effective even if she were an E-rank powered, since being classed as Rare made it powerful and effective for its grade.
They were also fairly valuable, as usually only a competent crafter could make F-rank Stim Packs this potent.
Without hesitation, she injected herself; the interface was reliable, and she could not delay her recovery with the threat of another Automatron coming.
Dr Xavier's voice continued, “You will have sixty minutes to recover. I won’t delay any further. The next Automatron will be the most dangerous, yet it will differ significantly from the previous two. Stormflash here is already growing nervous just at the thought of you facing one.”
Stormflash? He did grow less reserved recently, yet did he actually care?
Ayna couldn't let herself be distracted either way; sixty minutes went by swiftly, yet by that time she had recuperated her energy with her newly maxed-out skill.
Ayna had already decided to split four of her attribute points between constitution and endurance to enhance her durability and recovery after that close call; the remaining two she allocated to charm and willpower.
At that time, she felt the arena grow colder until it began to freeze slowly.
Dr Xavier's voice spoke with excitement, “Time is up. You already had your turn when the environment was advantageous to you; what about the opposite? Though not quite as bad as being submerged in water, a Pyrokinesis user always suffers in a frozen wasteland, especially against an opponent that excels with it.”
Ayna felt the cold air blowing everywhere. A blizzard began to form in the arena as the metallic surface changed dramatically to create the frozen wasteland Dr Xavier described.
Suddenly, the doors opened, and an Automatron stepped out.
This one was smaller than the previous, standing at a modest six feet in comparison to the last two metal giants. It is made of blue-tinted stainless steel and was the most humanoid-looking of the Automatrons. It had two glowing, ocean-blue eyes that shone with power as it strode forward.
Ayna felt pressure as the blizzard seemed to make way for the machine, which began to float. Wavy, bright blue lines lit up in its arms and legs.
An Elemental Automatron? For sure, a mixture of advanced technology and magic, that thing has some form of ice manipulation.
Ayna smiled, though she was confident. The Automatron was dangerous, but lightly armoured, and she felt she could overpower it even with a disadvantage in the environment.
At that time, the Automaton fixed its gaze on her. Ayna once again marched forward to meet it.
Time to face the final Automatron and end this.
