My Fate System

"That's it?" Nikolai frowned at his system's description. "Can I at least know what it unlocks?" The system's explanation was as vague as it could be. However, all he got was a blueprint.

He took out the machine he kept in his pocket dimension and replaced it with the giant one he just took down. However, the dimension was too small, so Nikolai began expanding it using mana.

[Size: 1728 cubic meters.]

It was barely enough for Nikolai to place the giant machine inside, but he doubted it would work anymore. It was, nonetheless, fantastic to have.

Nikolai looked at the scroll in front of him. He picked it up and strolled toward the statue. It was the statue of an armored man holding a pair of blunderbusses.

The base of the statue had a missing structure, which was the shape of an irregular sphere. Seeing this, Nikolai took out the blueprint and opened it.

'I see, so the key goes in here.'

He looked at the statue and raised his head to look at the tower. There were slits in the shape of a rectangle on its surface. Nikolai guessed that this was a bridge that descends when you insert the key.

As he looked at the blueprint, he found that it had sixty-six parts. Nikolai, however, only had sixty-two of them. There were four missing parts that he didn't have, causing Nikolai a headache.

'Are there other machines?'

Keeping the blueprint safe in his pocket dimension, Nikolai ran toward the unexplored platforms. However, even after running back to the statue, he didn't encounter any machines.

'There are four parts that were taken out of the dungeon. I guess the ones who took them out were the dwarves, but how did they get out?'

Until now, Nikolai didn't see a Return Stone. Sitting on the ground in a lotus position, Nikolai tried to think of a way out. Forget about a Return Stone. There was nothing but metal and the ocean.

'Do you leave by jumping into the ocean?'

There was not a chance of that being the case. Peculiar dungeons who tested the courage and that bullshit were rare, Nikolai knew. An exasperated sigh left his mouth.

'Why do you have to make this so difficult?' Nikolai looked at the statue, who he assumed to be the creator of these machines. 'Wait...'

Nikolai realized that there was something else other than metal and water in this stone. He shook his head and blamed his lack of imagination as he stood up.

'It's not exactly a Return Stone, but it is a stone, in the end.' He walked toward the statue and placed his hand on it. A voice appeared in his mind, asking him if he wanted to leave the dungeon.

'Yes.'

His body began disappearing, and the world turned darker. After he left the dungeon, he appeared again in front of the door underground.

'Now, I need to find those dwarves to open the tower.' Nikolai walked out of the cave as thoughts filled his mind. 'How did the dwarves leave the dungeon, though? The only way to reach the statue is by defeating the machines.'

As he reached the edge of the cave, Nikolai felt the presence of someone waiting outside. He sniffed the familiar smell of herbs as a smile took his face.

"Where is the mute?" Nikolai asked as he walked toward Sergio, hiding behind a tree, waiting for him to leave the dungeon.

"Bossman! You're alive!" Sergio ran toward him from behind the trees. "Ah, Yuxi is right over here, though?"

Nikolai's smile disappeared as he heard this. He turned to look behind the tree and found Yuxi standing there, leaning on it. His suspicion of her only grew stronger.

'She can still escape my perception, even after my stats doubled.' Nikolai squinted his eyes as dark thoughts emerged from his mind. He couldn't help it even after he promised Sergio, but Nikolai can never rest easy when he knew this mute could kill him anytime.

Nikolai can't trust a person based on their character but on whether they can hurt him or not. He can never allow a stranger who can kill him to stay next to Nikolai. The case was different for people who he trusts already, like Sergio.

"Are you alright, Bossman? Your eyes look scary." Sergio blinked and said, making Nikolai snap out of his daze.

"I am, just a bit tired." Nikolai turned away before they can tell what he was thinking. "Did you gather the materials?"

"Yes! Roots and leaves of Greedy Trees! They are so dark, Bossman. It looks as if I'm holding a ball of darkness."

Sergio took out a leaf and held it up. As he said, it looked as if he was holding a ball of darkness. However, the leaf returned to normal once he stopped supplying mana to it. 

"They aren't that useful unless someone wants to hide at night. However, if we create a paint out of this, we might be able to hide Alias in the sky." Nikolai smiled.

'Does that mean we're flying soon?' Yuxi looked surprised.

Nikolai looked at her silently before turning and leaving. The thought of her traveling with them didn't sit well with him, but he promised Sergio that he wouldn't do anything to her.

'I might be cynical and edgy, but I'm not breaking a promise to my friends.'

"Bossman! Where are you going?" Sergio looked at Yuxi before running after Nikolai. The archer was confused but followed nonetheless.

"We're looking for the dwarves."

"To fix Alias?"

"That, and to retrieve a few items. But, it seems that in the end, we still need to find the possessed dwarves."

Nikolai began sprinting slow enough for Sergio to keep up. Unfortunately, the alchemist's stats were lower than Nikolai's as he only focused on mana. Glancing back, Nikolai saw that the archer was following them with ease.

Their search was more focused this time, as there were only two ways to reach the dungeon through the forest. So, the group followed the trail that they didn't come from until they left the dark area and appeared in a valley.

"Bossman, I don't think the dwarves would appreciate a group entering their lands at night," Sergio said as he looked at the darkening sky. Nikolai nodded in agreement as he stopped.

"Let's camp." Nikolai waved his hand, making the darkness appeared from below to teleport them. He noticed their discomfort when they entered the pocket dimension.

"Bossman, what's that?" Sergio gasped as he ran toward the railing, admiring the giant machine.