Steamforged Sorcery - Chapter 1 (Patreon)

Deep within the bowels of the earth, Angel stood in a large room across from a massive pair of double doors. His mechanical right arm shimmered faintly in the light as the cogs within it turned. A small puff of steam escaped from his shoulder as a tiny canister ejected itself from the back of his bronze hand. It hit the floor with a clink and rolled to the side, stopping against the smoldering remains of a monster.

A hunchbacked creature covered in gray rags stood between him and the doors, its red eyes burning with malice. It let out a rattling hiss and took a step towards Angel. Its massive metal claws raked across the ground with an ear rending screech.

Gears whirred in Angel’s arm. A ring of cannisters near his shoulder spun like the chamber of a revolver. One of them popped out and a plate slid open beside it. Angel grabbed the cannister and stuffed it into the hole, which snapped shut behind it.

He tilted his head to the side and a small glass piece rimmed in bronze slipped down from where it had rested above his ear. It stopped in front of his eye. The monster lit up with dull orange light as magic prickled the skin on Angel’s face. A moment later, the light faded and text appeared on the glass.

Race: Ripper [Old World]

Status: Disrepair

Information accuracy: 92%

Strength: 22

Intelligence: 4

Nimbleness: 12

Toughness: 15

Rating: Dangerous

Weak point(s): Not Enough Information (0/100)

Element(s): Earth

Error: Unable to analyze further. Information incomplete

The words faded as soon as they appeared. They were a system that Angel had programmed into the artifact himself. It wasn't perfect, but it was a good way to get a relative understanding of what he could fight and what he couldn’t.

The Ripper let out a screech and charged towards him. It limped slightly with every step, but that didn’t make the monster any less intimidating. Angel raised his mechanical arm, his heavy duster rippling behind him, and pointed his palm at the Ripper.

The air before him crackled and a bolt of lightning ripped out of his hand. It screamed through the air and slammed into the Ripper’s flickering eye. Shards of metal flew through the sky and the monster spun from the force of the strike.

Angel dashed to the side, putting more space between himself and the creature as he grabbed a second canister from the top of his arm and put it into the slot. The old canister ejected itself and clattered to the ground.

The Ripper gathered its wits and charged towards Angel again. He dropped to the ground and slammed his palm into the metal plating beneath him. A spike of metal erupted from the earth, piercing clean through the monster’s chest in a shower of sparks.

With a rattling hiss, the creature slumped as the light left its eyes. Angel watched it warily for a few moments. Then he slowly straightened himself and adjusted his heavy duster, trying to get it to fit better under the metallic board attached to his back.

The eyepiece let out a small ding. Angel’s eyebrows rose and he glanced down at his own hand. Orange lines outlined his body for a moment before fading as text appeared on the glass.

User analysis updated.

Modifying database…

Complete.

New values assigned.

Displaying user status…

Race: Human

Name: Angel

Status: Healthy

Information accuracy: 100%

Strength: 12

Intelligence: 35 [+1]

Nimbleness: 16 [+1]

Toughness: 8

Comparative Rating: Minor Threat

Weak point(s): Heart, Neck, Arteries… (100/100)

Element(s): Steel

Magicore: None (39% Attunement)

Angel waved the screen away and put the eyepiece back up. He grimaced as a puff of sulfuric gas rose from a vent beside him. It was rancid enough to burn the hairs in his nostrils.

He walked across the room, keeping a healthy amount of distance between himself and the dead monster. He pressed his ear against the door and listened intently. It was silent. With a shrug, he braced his back against one of the doors and started to push.

It swung open with a long creak. Once the gap was big enough, Angel slipped through it. The room he stepped into was smaller than he’d expected. It was only around one hundred paces in each direction and had a high ceiling. A small staircase in the middle led up to a golden pedestal. A small bronze pendant was perched atop it.

The ground before the staircase had a peculiar pattern. Lines radiated outwards, traveling throughout the room and stopping before the door. Angel licked his lips. Channels of Old Magic. The technique to make them had been lost to the ages, but their potency had not.

Angel had no desire to step on the lines and discover what the trap did. He examined the room carefully for a few moments, planning out his route. Then he raised his mechanical arm and pointed it at the ceiling. A barb launched out of his palm, a thin black wire trailing behind it.

It flew through the air and buried itself in the ceiling halfway between him and the pedestal. Angel gave it a small tug. The wire held firm. He took a step back, then leapt forward and yanked his hand back at the same time.

The wire went taut as Angel swung across the room. He landed on the pedestal’s raised platform and grabbed the pendant from it with a smug grin.

“Hello there, beautiful,” Angel said. He pushed his coat aside with one hand and stuffed the pendant into a pocket within it.

A dull hum rose up from the floor. Angel glanced down. He groaned as he spotted the line travelling across the pedestal and directly beneath his foot. The lines covering the floor lit up with white light. The pattern in the center of the room flashed and Angel was forced to turn his head to avoid being blinded.

When he glanced back, a large green humanoid stood upon the pattern, staring at him with two beady black eyes. Two jagged fangs jutted out from the monster’s huge mouth, and it held a large sword in each of its clawed hands.

Angel swallowed. He tilted his head to the side and his eyepiece fell back down into position. The monster lit up as the artifact scanned it.

Race: Orc [Old World]

Status: Healthy

Information accuracy: 84%

Strength: 14

Intelligence: 6

Nimbleness: 12

Toughness: 13

Rating: Somewhat Dangerous

Weak point(s): Not Enough Information (0/100)

Element(s): Earth

Error: Unable to analyze further. Information incomplete

Angel twisted his right arm. The barb attached to the ceiling let out a hiss as it detached and spiraled back into his palm. The orc snarled and took a step towards him, raising its weapons.

Gears whirred in Angel’s arm. He grabbed one of the four remaining canisters on his arm and put it into the slot. Then he slammed his hand into the ground. Magical energy crackled as a web of frost spread out in a cone shape before him over the floor. The spent cannister popped out of his hand.

The orc roared and charged towards him. The monster’s feet failed to keep traction on the slippery floor and it fell back, hitting the ground with a loud thud.

“Dangerous, but evidently not very smart,” Angel muttered to himself as he put another cannister into its slot. Two left. He pointed his palm at the orc, pausing to make sure his aim was true. The creature managed to roll over and jam its blades into the icy ground.

It started to rise, using the weapons to keep itself steady. A ring of steam escaped the valve on the back of Angel’s arm. The air crackled and an arc of lightning ripped from his palm. It slammed into the orc, drawing forth out a roar of pain and fury.

The smell of burnt flesh filled the room and the orc staggered. However, despite the smoke rising up from its body, the fanged creature pulled itself upright and took another step towards Angel. He cursed and grabbed another cannister, shoving it into his arm.

By the time he’d gotten it in place, the orc was already upon the steps. It reared back and hurled of its swords at Angel, forcing him to dive out of the way as the hunk of metal sailed by his ear and buried itself in the wall.

He sprang to his feet, nearly losing his balance on the ice, and aimed his hand at the orc again. It roared and threw caution aside, lunging towards him. The lightning exploded forth and slammed into the monster, but that did nothing to stop its momentum.

Angel was swept off his feet as the smoldering body slammed into him. It was as heavy as it looked, and he hit the ground hard. It pinned his mechanical hand to the ground by his side, leaving only his left one open. He desperately tried to free himself, but quickly realized that the orc was no longer moving. It was already dead.