Hot Pursuit

Inside the Great Chest were three items with their own glow, which she promptly picked up. One of which was a strange device glowing yellow, which made Cerezie's eyes go wide. She fumbled around with her rifle until she found what she was looking for. There was a small hole in the side of her rifle, which she slotted the device into it. Her rifle hummed and pulsed with yellow energy. She was grinning from ear to ear as she looked over it.

"What was that?" Garrett asked, examining the rifle.

Cerezie aimed her rifle at a wall and fired a shot. The bullet, this time, was coated in yellow energy as it flew through the air. As it impacted the wall, sparks shot from the origin in a small burst of electricity. "New modify for Lazarus," she said as she gently stroked the rifle.

"Lazarus? Is that the name of your rifle?" Plex asked as it looked at the other two objects that Cerezie pulled out of the chest.

"Yes," Cerezie said, not paying attention to anything but her rifle. She subconsciously handed the two other objects to Garrett.

One of the objects was an ornate dagger with blue glowing veins running up and down it. The air around it was frigid, with a soft mist emanating from the blade. The handle was simple, bound with scaly leather with a blue gem at the hilt. "Is this blade ice?" Garrett asked as he looked it over.

"Close," Plex said as it grabbed the dagger. "It is infused with Ice Xir, allowing for it to create ice upon impact." Plex swung the dagger around with incredible skill and precision.

"Well, I guess you should hold onto it," Garrett said as he looked at the last item. This one, which was glowing green, was a small ring, though it looked big enough to be able to slip right onto Garrett's fingers. On the top was metal in the shape of a bomb with the symbol of a plant leaf engraved into it. Curiously, Garrett put it onto his left ring finger. He felt a surge of energy flow through him similar to when he put on the bracelet, but it was less intense. "I wonder what this-"

"INTRUDERS SPOTTED."

The three adventurers whipped around to see the large robot entering the room, blocking the entrance. It aimed its weapons towards the trio and unleashed a rolling torrent of fire. Cerezie immediately ducked to the right and rolled into the tunnel exit. Garrett dodged to the left and ran into the other tunnel exit. He didn't look behind him, but he also didn't hear Plex's metal body following him, so he assumed that Plex went with Cerezie.

"Crap, we'll have to find each other. Splitting up is not a good idea, but I don't have a choice right now," Garrett said to himself as he kept running. Behind him, he could hear the sound of something metal skittering towards him. Quickly, he glanced behind his back to see half of the robot chasing after him. It was the right half of the robot and was following close behind him, red eyes glowing brighter as the tunnel went deeper.

"Oh, you have to be kidding me," Garrett muttered as he kept running, ignoring the pain coursing through his body from all his wounds. He looked down at the ring and the bracelet, only now also realizing that he left his spear behind and only had his sword. The bracelet had two charges of the spell recharged, but there was no telling whether or not it would actually be effective against the pursuer. Still, trying anything right now seemed to be better than nothing.

Garrett turned around quickly and aimed at the pursuer. "Flariseo!" A blast of flames emerged from his hand and flew towards the robot. As he expected, however, the robot passed right through the fire like nothing happened. Garrett turned back and quickened his pace to increase the distance between him and the robot. "Of course. The stupid thing shoots out fire. Why would it be vulnerable to fire?"

As he continued to run, he noticed the tunnel beginning to widen into a room he had already been in before. On the other side of the room was a large metal door and attached to the ceiling was a rotating turret ready to shoot at whatever makes the slightest sound. Garrett turned back to see the distance he was making between his pursuer, but the robot was steadily closing the gap. If he stopped or turned around, he'd be burnt to a crisp, but if he kept going, he'd be riddled with holes. There had to be some way out of this. Sure, if he died, he'd return back to Otris, but he didn't want for his plan to be to die. As he looked down at the ring, it was the only chance that he had.

"Whatever you do, do it now!" Garrett threw a punch forward towards the room, hoping that the ring would do something that would save him. In an instant, a small bright green grenade was launched from the ring towards the turret. Upon impact, there was a brilliant green flash of light that surrounded the turret. When the light faded, the turret was covered in thick green vines that rooted themselves around and within the turret. Garrett stepped into the room, hoping that it wouldn't be his last few.

The turret attempted to swivel and shoot at Garrett, but the vines restrained it. Sparks flew from gaps within it as it struggled. Seeing the opportunity, Garrett tried something tricky. He turned the corner and ducked into a minecart, attempting to be as quiet as possible. He covered himself with his shield and hoped. He could hear the sounds of metallic skittering as something walked into the room and looked around. Garrett held his breath and bit his lips to not make any sounds. After a few moments, the skittering faded away down a tunnel. Garrett waited at least half a minute before emerging from the minecart.

"It worked," he said, breathing again. Garrett slowly got out of the cart and looked at the turret. It may have been restrained for now, but it could break out at any moment. He turned to the tunnel that led back to Cerezie and Plex, but he stopped and turned towards the metal door. Clearly, something worth protecting was behind there.

Garrett walked over to the metal door and turned the handle, causing it to slowly creak open, and then he went inside.