Chapter 8: Scrappy

The guardian was a robo! Robos were a fascinating race. No one knew who created the first robo but, ever since, every new robo had been created by a robo before it. Robos aren't born in the same manner as humans or most other races, it would be more accurate to say they're put together. Actually, every single robo in this domain comes from the same place, Punk Station. Although the robos have the entirety of Neo Gear Land to themselves, they only have a single sprawling city, Punk Station, at its centre. 

There are two types of robos, neo droids and the gear folk. The only real difference is their looks and the type of energy they convert mana into. Gear folk are robos who are composed mostly of gears that move in conjunction with their actions. Neo droids typically have sleeker, modern designs and mostly use various types of conductive metals for their bodies. 

As for the magic they use, they both are locked into the summoning pillar from 'birth'. Both the gear folk and neo droids have an aspect completely unique to their race. Gear folk have the oil-core aspect and neo droids the spark-box aspect. When a robo converts mana, it becomes either oil or electrical energy depending on their race. Although the robos can't use either for themselves, they can expel it and form it into a core to summon various monsters and creatures to fight for them. The abilities each summoned creature will have depends on the robo that summoned it and what exactly was summoned. For instance, A gear folk might summon a gear gorilla that can burn its oil core to produce steam, that steam then produces energy which can then allow it to go berserk and temporarily become stronger. A neo droid might summon a small army of drones that can home in on enemies and use their cores to shock and paralyse the opponent before detonating. 

To say the two robo races live in harmony is nothing short of a lie, but that's just because of the nature of their city and their long-standing feud with one another. Neo Gear Land is the only duality land in this domain, and it being a duality land is the main reason the two robo races are at each other's throats.

Duality lands are simply places that change from day to night. During the day, Punk Station is best described as a steampunk city. The clock tower in the middle of the city ticks away and automated gear soldiers interlink with oil chains to form barricades. Large half-pipes filled with oil act as a sort of transport mechanism that people can ride and there's also gear gondola lifts you can hop on to reach the higher areas. In the Gear Gardens, you can find razor-petalled flowers and oil ponds with automated wildlife. 

At night, the clock becomes a holo-display that projects the time into the night sky. Drones patrol neon-lit streets and taze rowdy civilians before dragging them away to solitary confinement. The oil pipes are closed off but, instead, people can use electrically powered air vents to move around. The air from the vents is imbued with magic and forms multicoloured, luminescent wind paths above the streets. They push along and increase the speed of everyone that uses them, somewhat like an open air-tunnel. The gondolas collapse into the walls they're attached to and become glass lifts.

The gear folk are usually out during the day and neo droids mostly come out at night. It's primarily a lifestyle difference kind of thing and it would be like this regardless, but there's also a deep-rooted hate for one another thanks to various political campaigns influencing public opinion. It also doesn't help that there's not so subtle racist 'undertones' in the campaigning operations of the two major political parties.

Ares had once used Neo Gear Land as an example of the strange places that Aejaz would one day get to see. Of course, Aejaz' curiosity was immediately sparked and he wanted to go there as soon as possible, but Ares informed him it would be important to train before going there. 

The method of cultivation robos use is also locked in at creation. Robos can't use the same kind of treasures and resources that humans use to cultivate, instead, in addition to secluded cultivation, they use 'upgrades'. Some leftover upgrades from eras long gone can still be salvaged and found here and there, but most are manufactured and sold as business in Punk Station. Upgrades are much easier to acquire than typical human resources. For that reason, plus the ease of creation for robos, they have quite a large and strong population. Their individual fighting strength isn't typically as high as their cultivation would make you think it is, but that doesn't affect their summons. Because of this, and the difficulty in finding resources for humans there, Ares didn't want to take Aejaz to the Neo Gear Land just yet. He would definitely take him there eventually, but there were better and closer places to acclimate Aejaz to the world of cultivation first.

As for Slick, he didn't quite resemble either a gear folk or a neo droid, rather, he looked like an amalgamation of both, and there was a reason for it too. Ares had also told Aejaz about the strife in Punk Station between the races so, needless to say, he also told him about the 'scraps'. The scraps are a self-proclaimed group of freedom fighters who 'seek to free Punk Station from the tyranny of two warring factions'. They sneak into production factories, steal robos still in their creation phase, and complete them using parts from the opposite race of whatever they were originally supposed to be. They flaunt their mixed heritage as a symbol of peace and coexistence in an attempt to fight against the oppression robos face from the two major political movements that fight over Punk Station. They originally had no name for themselves but were accidentally given a mocking one during a press conference that would eventually stick. The scraps thought their new name was fitting and wore it with confidence which just made the people that already hated them dislike them even more. Of course, not all scraps are happy with their lives; after all, it's not something they themself got to choose. Some stay hidden away in the city, and some, like Slick, escape it to find a better life elsewhere. In truth, Slick was originally manufactured to be the son of an important political figure for the gear folk in Punk Station but was 'mutilated at birth'. His parents couldn't bear to watch him suffer discrimination day after day, year after year, so they took him away from Neo Gear Land six years ago when they visited Red Sun City during a festival. Slick was a naturally gifted fighter and so his parents asked if he could work as security for the Heaven's Path Sect during the meeting they attended that day. The sect was more than happy to take Slick in and he'd been with them ever since, earning himself quite the reputation as the sect's guardian.

"Walls? Doors? It's all the same to me, Rud!" Slick's carefree attitude was on full display.

"Oh? 'All the same', you say? Then I don't suppose you'd mind paying for a new wall then? After all, it's all the same to you." Rud was still very much unhappy with this pseudo one-man demolition crew. For some strange reason, treasurers really were quite strongly-opinionated when it came to walls. It didn't help Rud having two people he rated as 'extremely annoying' in the same room. For Rud, this was a rare disaster that would inevitably ruin his mood for the rest of the day.

"Hold on, we can talk about this, Elder." Slick was well aware that Rud was quick to slash pay checks.

Meanwhile, Ares couldn't help but shudder inwardly as he came to a similar assessment to Rud. Didn't this robo resemble Aejaz? Wasn't Aejaz saying something along the lines of, 'Hold on, we can talk about this, brother,' literally less than an hour ago? One Aejaz was enough, thank you! Any more than that and it would be far too annoying!

"Whatever you schmuck, I'll decide how much you owe me after." Rud wasn't quite as lenient with Slick as Ares was with Aejaz however.

"Fine, fine. Guess I'll just have to take my anger out on you fleshy things… And… Whatever the hell that weird floating thing is."

Appa merely tilted its head slightly and looked around as it was momentarily unsure if it were the 'weird floating thing' or not. 

"Alright, head on over in whatever order you want. When you come up, tell me your cultivation realm and stage and I'll lower mine accordingly. Also, you don't have to worry too much. I won't hit you hard enough to kill you, although I might hurt you a teensy 'bit' for sport. Also also, I definitely won't be using any mana." Slick shot Ares a quick derisive glance towards the end of his little explanation. Slick had managed to overhear the last trial introduction while he was waiting outside, which naturally included Ares' overconfident remarks.

Some of the more reasonable token holders decided to let others go first and test the waters for them. Thankfully, there were at least two particularly energetic knuckleheads that were itching for a fight. After a quick game of rock, paper, scissors, Li Li went up first. Unsurprisingly, her opponent in the rock, paper, scissor duel was Dirk and, predictably, he chose scissors while Li Li obviously chose rock. Life truly imitates art.

"4th realm meridian expansion, 6th stage," Li Li told Slick her cultivation and he began to lower his to match it.

"Don't think I'll go easy on you just 'cos you're a girl... You are a girl, right?" As it turns out, Slick was truly a profound expert at pissing people off. It was almost as if he knew exactly what kind of comments would really grind someone's gears. A single sentence of his managed to set Li Li's mind on the warpath. 

If there was anything Li Li hated, it was the typical tomboy-appearance jokes she received non-stop throughout her childhood. In her mind, she decided to fashion this robo into a tin can and kick it around a bit before throwing it in the trash!

"Your time starts, NOW." Teng decided to ignore the rising tensions and let them settle their grudge themselves.

Li Li raised her fists and took a stance. She knew that although the robo was obnoxious beyond belief, it would also be really damn strong. Slick moved forward, crossing the distance between them in just two steps and lazily swung his fist. Li Li was pushed back a good five or so steps and could feel a searing pain in her arms where Slick's punch had connected. "Tsk." Li Li kissed her teeth and decided it would be for the best if she put any thoughts of taking an aggressive stance to the back of her mind. She wasn't giving up on her plan to beat some decency into this stupid robo, she was just putting the plan on hold as she simply wasn't capable of doing it yet. The difference in strength and speed was too great, but she still felt confident she could one day do it if she cultivated hard enough. As for right now, as long as things didn't escalate beyond the level things were currently at, she felt confident she would pass. Just grin and bear the pain, dodge a few hits, and play the slow and steady game. Of course, she wasn't just going to passively take a beating the entire time and would make sure to get a few licks in here and there when she could, but that was mostly an afterthought.

Slick let Li Li regain her bearings for a second before chasing her down again. He threw out another lazy punch but, this time, Li Li slipped under it and retaliated. Li Li threw a burning uppercut but Slick just casually jumped back to avoid it. Once again Slick chased Li Li down, but now his punch wasn't quite as lazy as before and couldn't be dodged.

Li Li was pushed back again, but this was still manageable even if it was hurting like hell.

Slick ran up to Li Li for a fourth time but Li Li wasn't just going to let him keep doing the same thing over and over again.

"Guesswork!"

She stamped her foot and magma curtains rose from the ground, one in between her and Slick, and the other behind him. This was an art of the fire pillar's 'Magma Mastery' aspect. 

Slick was forced to hold back his punch as he couldn't see where exactly Li Li was behind the magma. Li Li rushed out in a low stance from the bottom left corner of the curtain and threw a straight towards Slick's unguarded chest. Slick decided to jump back again, ignoring the magma curtain behind him as his mechanical body was more than strong enough to ignore magic of that level and just jump through it.

Thud

Well, aren't you clever? Slick thought.

Li Li didn't actually have to stomp her foot to raise the curtains, she did it as a guise to secretly raise a hardened-magma wall behind the second curtain whilst masking the noise. She had already predicted his jump back so she used the second curtain to obscure his vision behind him, not to prevent him from jumping. The magma wall was what was actually going to stop him, and it certainly did. Li Li's straight punch caught the unguarded Slick straight in the chest.

"One Flaw, Five Strikes!"

'One Flaw, Five Strikes' was a 'bare-fisted aspect' art. The bare-fist aspect came under the weapons pillar and revolved around hand-to-hand combat. Even though Li Li used knuckle dusters, it still technically counted as hand to hand for the sake of using the art, which just made it hit harder. One Flaw, Five Strikes required getting one solid hit on the opponent. After the hit connected, mana would be spread out through the body to five other nearby locations. When the mana reached those points, it would recreate the force from the original strike in those five new positions. This art took the best of both worlds allowing its user to hit hard, multiple times without losing out on the ferocity of the first attack. The only downside was having to actually hit the person prior to being able to use it as opposed to magic that could just be fired off whenever.

Slick was pushed back two steps with a loud metal clanking sound. The Magma curtain fell and Li Li could see Slick was completely unharmed. There was only a little steam coming off him. The steam was there because Li Li had imbued some fire pilar magic into the art to burn him, but it didn't really do much to someone as strong as Slick. There were only ten seconds left and Li Li was feeling good, this had been much easier than she was expecting. As soon as that thought crossed her mind though, Slick appeared directly in front of her and swung once again. 

After Slick's fist collided with her arm, he immediately grabbed it to prevent her from being forced back. Slick reached out his second hand which also grabbed onto the same arm, he then took one step back and twisted his body, lifting his shoulders up in order to swing Li Li overhead and slam her into the ground. 

Bang

Slick reached down to grab the token peeking out of Li Li's pocket when something came drilling into his forehead. 

Li Li had shaken off the pain from being thrown into the floor and used her mana to shape the gum in her mouth into a magma bullet. She then used fire pillar magic to propel the bullet into Slick's head when he let his guard down and went for the token. The bullet hadn't actually broken into Slick's head, but it was enough to catch him with his guard down yet again and waste his time by pushing him back.

"One minute is up, congratulations Li Li on becoming this year's first new disciple!" Teng clapped as he spoke. "Please take a seat and wait for the rest of the examinees to finish, after which you'll be shown around the sect and taken to your place of residence."

"Next!" Slick shouted. 

Dirk immediately rushed on stage, took out two daggers, and made a few small cuts on his arms. "4th realm skeletal structuring, 5th stage."

"Wow, this'll be easy. I mean look at you, you're already bloody and I haven't even done anything yet!" Slick teased.

"Hmph, you couldn't deal with Li Li, you won't be able to deal with me."

"Oh? But isn't a battle of attrition against someone with no blood your worst nightmare?"

Slick wasn't far of the mark. Haemomancers would have to use their own blood against robos which put them at an immediate disadvantage in longer fights. That being said, a minute wasn't exactly a long period of time to have to fight for, Slick was just trying to annoy Dirk. He was already not in the greatest of moods as the Elders always forced him to hold back during these tests. Obviously, he would never lose to anyone if he didn't, so he had to rein himself in. His pride took a massive hit whenever he let someone pass, though. When Dirk had said he couldn't 'deal' with Li Li, he decided to be a bit rougher on Dirk to shut him up. You don't like unfair treatment? Then don't be an asshole to someone who's doing you a favour.

"Your time starts, NOW!"

"Grim Warden!"

Dirk was the first to take action. In fact, he had technically cheated as he had taken action before the match had even started. The blood that had dripped onto the floor from when he cut himself earlier raced along the ground. The lines of blood curled up Slick's frame and formed chains that then bound Slick to the spot he was standing in. If Slick weren't a robo, the chains would have been absorbing his blood by now as this was an art of the 'drain aspect'.

Slick wrapped the chains binding his arms around his wrist and grabbed them tightly. He leaned back and began lifting up the platform that the chains were attached to. 

Dirk's footing became unstable and he was flung into the air as the ground around him burst out from underneath him. 

Slick threw out one of the blood chains like a lasso and caught Dirk in mid-air, yanking him violently toward him. Slick leapt at Dirk who was hurtling toward him and leant back, readying what was absolutely going to be an incredibly painful punch to be on the receiving end of. "FUCK YOU, YOU GLORIFIED MOSQUITO!" Slick roared.

Rud slapped his own forehead out of frustration. How many times did he have to tell this idiot not to make it personal?!

Thunk

Dirk took the metallic punch to the abdomen and threw up blood all over Slick. Dirk burst like a blood bubble, disappearing and leaving behind a red mist that was hard to see and move through. 

For the next minute, Slick aimlessly wandered around trying to find Dirk in the corrosive, bloody fog. If Slick could have used mana, he would have just removed the fog forcefully and found Dirk that way. Slick felt as though this really wasn't in the spirit of things, but a pass was a pass and this sort of indirect fighting method was the specialty of haemomancers anyway. Any creature with blood in this situation would have just slowly died with no way of fighting back.

"One minute is up. Congratulations Dirk, wherever you are, on becoming a disciple of our sect!" Teng gave another round of applause.

The blood mist began to converge at a single point. When all the mist had gathered, it rushed towards slick. Slick just stood there and let it happen out of curiosity. He didn't know what Dirk was doing but, at the very least, he could tell he wasn't being attacked. 

The mist split up and was soaked up into the blood stains on Slick's frame. The stains became thicker and dripped off Slick. When the blood fell, it formed into globules that flew off to the side where the examinees were sitting, gradually reforming themselves into Dirk. He hadn't hidden himself in the mist; the mist was just a distraction. He was hiding in the blood he threw up on Slick. If Slick wasn't a robo, Dirk would have been draining his blood that entire time without him even realising in addition to the fog. Haemomancers are truly tricksy fighters.

And here I thought these lot were just a bunch of no-brain all-brawn dunderheads, Slick mused.