I returned to the government-assigned apartment. With a thud, I sank into the soft beanbag chair, finally letting myself relax. Thinking back on the day, I realized it was one of the most exciting moments of my life. The last time I'd felt this way… well, that was probably the day I'd been ambushed and knocked out by Suma. I shook my head, banishing the embarrassing memory.
With a thought, I opened my status panel. Looking at the powerful stats displayed, I felt a surge of confidence. If Suma tried any tricks again, I'd be ready to put her in her place.
Then I noticed that the ten mechanical bodies in my AI core had finished generating, reaching the current limit. My lips curled into a grin like a kid who'd just gotten a new toy. I could hardly wait.
Just as I was about to materialize one of the mechanical bodies from the creation space into the real world, a notification suddenly appeared.
Prompt: The Dominator can make minor adjustments to the appearance of the mechanical body as a base. These tweaks don't affect its actual performance, aren't permanent, and can be changed again in the future.
I paused for a moment, then fell into a dilemma. Considering the dominator might lack artistic talent, the system offered a thoughtful solution. The dominator could provide ideas, and the mechanical core would make adjustments based on those ideas. So, consider it.
I, still tangled up in indecision, suddenly brightened. I blurted out, "Make it cool looking, and it has to look powerful. Give it some real presence. More intimidation, please. The current color scheme is good. The build should be like that…"
After a round of picky selections and endless tweaks, I, now the embodiment of a demanding client, finally confirmed the design of the mechanical body to manifest.
A wave of Azure light shimmered into existence. First, a translucent blue silhouette appeared. Then, starting from the feet, the figure solidified as if being 3D printed from the ground up. In no time, a humanoid machine radiating an overwhelming sense of power lay horizontally on the floor before me.
I sprang up from my beanbag chair, eyes sparkling, circling the new body and inspecting it from every angle.
Next came the crucial step: using the mechanical empowerment skill to grant intelligence to the body. After a long moment, my rational mind finally resurfaced, reminding me of my purpose. I focused on the mechanical body before me and silently commanded, Use skill: Mechanical Empowerment.
A deep hum rose from the body, growing louder. Black and red streams of light flickered in the seams of its shell, pulsing like breath and heartbeat. At last, the visual sensors in its eyes lit up with a brilliant red glow, intense and awe-inspiring.
Intelligence transfer complete. Scanning environment. Protocol detected. Highest priority: Dominator.
The mechanical body swiftly stood up facing me. Its movements were smooth and fluid, nothing like the stiff, clunky motions I had expected. From this moment, it wasn't just a mechanical body. It was a mechanical war soldier.
The war soldier bowed its head slightly, then dropped to one knee before me. Its mechanical voice carried both reverence and fervor. "Greetings, my lord dominator. The mechanical war soldier will forever fight for you."
Inside the government welfare housing, I was practically trembling with excitement, my barely regained composure nearly slipping away again. I took a deep breath to steady myself, adjusted my expression and posture, trying to look as dignified and authoritative as possible. Then I spoke, "My loyal subject. Uh, rise."
I opened my mouth only to realize I had no idea what to call the mechanical war soldier. If I had to name every single one, and considering I'd need ten names just at level one, my head started to ache.
Suddenly, inspiration struck. My eyes lit up. "From now on, you'll be Number One."
"As you command, my lord dominator." Number One stood up straight, waiting for orders.
I began to examine Number One's stats panel.
Intelligent Mech Soldier.
Level: 1
Intelligence: Low
Strength: 10
Agility: 10
Spirit: 10
Constitution: 10
Skills:
Melee Stance
Ranged Stance
Melee Stance: Transforms arms into blades for close-quarters combat.
Ranged Stance: Transforms arms into firearms for long-range attacks.
Note: The level of intelligent mech soldiers increases in sync with the mech core level. Upgrading the mech core automatically upgrades all mech soldiers.
Note: The intelligence of mech soldiers is affected by the mech empowerment skill. The dominator can upgrade this skill to grant mech soldiers higher intelligence.
I nodded repeatedly as I studied the panel, then activated my Mind Link skill to command Unit One for a test run.
A typical level one mage only had a spirit stat of 10, with all other stats at five. But a level one mech soldier had all four stats at 10. Even better, I could have up to ten of these mech soldiers at level one. Their skills could freely switch between melee and ranged modes. Super convenient.
The notes below were easy enough to understand:
Class Level up -> Mech Core Level Up -> Mech Soldier Level Up
Class Level Up -> Mech core Level Up -> Mech Empowerment Skill Level Up -> Mech Soldier Gains Higher Intelligence.
In short, all I needed to do was focus on leveling up.
After some testing, I confirmed that even with their current low intelligence, the mech soldiers could already follow basic combat commands. In other words, they were perfectly usable.
I closed Unit 1's status panel and let out a long sigh. Now that the initial excitement had worn off, the emotional roller coaster of the day, combined with the energy spent casting skills, manifesting mechs, granting intelligence, and running tests with Mind Link, all caught up to me. Fatigue washed over me.
With a thought, I recalled Unit One back into the mech storage space. The remaining nine could wait until after a good night's sleep.
I headed to the bathroom to wash up. After changing into pajamas, I collapsed into bed and quickly drifted off, peaceful and content.
The clock ticked on. Midnight arrived. I slept soundly, a faint smile curling at the corners of my mouth, lost in some pleasant dream.
Several gentle, muted notifications sounded in the background.
Dominator's mental state stable.
Physical condition normal.
Surroundings safe.
Initiating god-tier perk system for dominator.
God-tier perk system overview.
The dominator draws one god-tier perk every five levels.
Current level: 1.
Eligible for one god-tier perk. Drawing perk.
Perk acquired: Perpetual Motion Machine.
Perpetual Motion Machine: The dominator can use skills freely without worrying about energy consumption.
Applies to all subordinate mechs as well.
Perk draw complete.
Next draw available at level five.
Thanks to the considerate silent mode, I remained blissfully unaware of all that was happening. Still fast asleep, breathing evenly.
At noon the next day, the sunlight was blocked by thick blackout curtains. Only a faint sliver of light slipped through the cracks into my room. I slowly opened my eyes, yawned, then sat up and stretched with a long, satisfying groan. "Ah, that was a great sleep."
Thud. After stretching, I flopped back onto the bed. "Strange," I thought. "I feel better than ever today," bursting with energy. "Is it because I became a class changer?" I pondered for a moment, then opened my status panel.
A long string of notifications greeted me, and my eyes gradually glazed over.
"Wait, what? God-tier divine-level trait system? Calling me master? Is this all an extra perk from the AI core? Why didn't anything happen when I changed classes? Maybe just like the prompt said, there were certain conditions—mental state, physical state, or something in the environment—that weren't met at the time? Did a good night's sleep restore my energy and fulfill the requirements?"
A flood of big questions filled my mind. "Hey, hey, hey, system?" I tried reaching out, but there was no response. Seems like it's some kind of preset program automatically triggering once the conditions are met.
"Phew, what a surprise to wake up to."
Since I couldn't figure it out, I decided not to dwell on it. Even if there really was some hidden plot, there was nothing I could do about it right now. Worrying about things I couldn't change would only add unnecessary anxiety—not my style. Besides, from the looks of it, there were no downsides. In fact, it was all a huge windfall.