Venti: "I should learn more about slimes."
With a soft sigh of satisfaction, he resumed his gathering.
The wind brushed against his cheek as if to approve his choice, and Venti felt strangely lighter.
Even a simple decision like this reminded him that adventure wasn't just about fighting; it was also about encounters, judgment, and respect for his surroundings.
Even for a small elemental creature.
He puts away his he resumed his search for sweet flowers, a discreet smile playing at the corners of his lips.
The afternoon was going well.
A few minutes later:
As he finished picking the twentieth and final sweet flower, Venti gently grasped the stem to collect some pollen…
Venti: "Finally, it's over."
Venti had just completed his first mission without any problems.
The quest was relatively simple; he just had to collect twenty sweet flowers.
Venti: "Now let's go back to the guild. Tonight I'll drink the bottle Arlan's gave me."
But a dull, sharp, metallic sound echoed across the plain.
BOOM
The ground vibrated slightly beneath his feet.
The leaves of the distant trees rustled.
Even the tall grasses seemed to bow under the echo of this distant explosion.
Venti jerked his head up, his eyes wide.
Venti: "What was that?"
"It sounded like an explosion." "
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFffffffffffffffff
The wind carried a dust-laden blast, as if something had just violently struck the ground a few hundred meters away.
Venti: "But where did that noise come from?"
Nothing close enough for him to see what had exploded, but loud enough to jolt the novice adventurer out of his reverie.
He looked around:
- No monsters.
- No bandits.
- No signs of a fight.
Everything was normal.
Too normal.
The tone in his eyes changed. He sensed a kind of… tremor in the air.
Not aggressive, but heavy.
Mechanical.
Rhythmic.
Yet, he didn't recognize the feeling.
And another explosion rang out.
BOOM
Venti: "It doesn't sound like a slime… or a sort."
He thought, frowning.
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFfffffffffffffff
The wind brushed against his ear, as if to whisper a warning. Even he, an almost adventurous soul, could only perceive one thing:
Something massive had just stirred.
As a precaution, he packed the delicate flowers into his satchel, took a deep breath, then placed his hand on his lyre.
Venti: "Well… I'm supposed to start slowly, but… I should at least go and see."
"Just in case."
He didn't know that a few hundred meters away, amidst ancient ruins, a Ruin Guardian had just awakened from its millennia-long slumber, its mechanical heart still pulsing with the remnants of dust it had kicked up upon waking.
Archive: An ancient humanoid war machine.
Legend has it that these machines were combat automatons created by a long-destroyed nation. They now wander ruins and ancient detritus, attacking offending travelers.
Research indicates that the Ruin Guards and the ruins they operate in do not originate from the same source, suggesting that there may be a difference of as much as several thousand years between them on the timeline.
So why then do the Ruin Guards continue staying among these ruins, using their "explosive firepower" to protect the crumbling walls and broken tiles?
Ignoring this crucial detail, Venti began to advance cautiously, each step accompanied by a murmur of the wind, as if advising him to remain on his guard.
Before heading towards the source of the noise, Venti glanced back one last time.
The little Hydro Slime, the one he had spared earlier, had settled in a small puddle.
It floated peacefully in its puddle, its surface rippling gently like a resting water bubble.
Plop plop
Venti: "I didn't even notice it was still there."
The almost peaceful scene contrasted sharply with the explosion he had just heard.
A part of him still hesitated. Was he really going to venture towards something that could be dangerous… when he had only just begun his life as an adventurer?
He smiled gently.
Venti: "Hey… little slime."
Plop
The creature raised its gelatinous body slightly, as if it understood that someone was speaking to it.
Venti crouched down and placed a hand on his knee, bringing his face closer.
Venti: "I'll have to go."
"Something's happening over there."
The slime responded with a soft pop, an air bubble bursting on its surface.
Plop
It probably made no sense to a slime, but Venti liked to imagine it was wishing him good luck.
Venti: "Thank you."
"And... take care, okay?"
He accompanied his words with a graceful, almost theatrical wave, like a bard bowing to his audience after a performance.
The slime slowly submerged itself back into its puddle, half-disappearing into the clear water.
Venti stood up, his satchel full of flowers, the wind gently lifting his coat.
Venti: "Well... my turn now."
Then, turning his back on the tranquility of the plain, he headed toward the noise, still unaware that he was walking straight toward a threat far older and more formidable than anything he had ever encountered.
Venti: "If anyone is in danger, I must get down."
Venti started walking, moving lightly in the direction of the explosion. The wind blew gently around him, as if guiding him along an uncertain but important path.
Venti: "I wonder how I manage not to get out of breath."
BOOM
Venti: "What's making such a noise?"
As he crossed an area where the grass thinned, the idea suddenly crossed his mind:
Venti: "Wait... I have teleportation, right?"
Venti had discovered this ability a few moments ago, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to use it.
He stopped running and thought it might work.
Venti: "Okay, let's try it. All I have to do is imagine myself moving in a certain direction."
He slowed down, placed a hand on his chest, and mentally summoned one of the skills inscribed in the identification gem.
A shiver ran through his body.
Green light swirled around his feet, a small, pressurized breath formed…
Venti: "Let's go."
And
Poof.
Venti vanished in a pale green swirl… his skill had worked.
He hadn't thought he'd succeed on the first try.
And he hadn't thought he'd be so disappointed.
Because his skill made him disappear only to reappear exactly three meters away, barely beyond a bush.
He blinked.
Looked behind him.
Then ahead.
Venti: "That's all."
He mentally rehearsed the process, curious, almost annoyed.
Poof.
Again, a mini explosion of wind.
Again, a ridiculous movement.
Venti: "Huh?"
FFFFFFFFFFFFfffffffffffffffff
The wind itself seemed to chuckle softly as it swirled around his blond hair.
Venti sighed deeply, hands on his hips.
Venti: "Well… maybe level 1 is really just symbolic."
"A teleportation for dwarves."
He looked up at the sky.
Venti: "......"
"Okay, okay, I'll run!"
He took a deep breath, tightened his satchel around his hip, and started running across the plain.
This time, it was different:
- His steps were lighter than before, almost carried by the breeze.
- His body seemed to float, as if his mass had diminished.
This was one of his other abilities, working without him really being aware of it.
He leaped over the tall grass, slid between the rocks, leaving behind small wisps of wind that marked his path.
Each beat of his heart resonated within him like a drum of excitement.
Venti: "That feeling... yes."
"This was adventure."
And as he accelerated, another BOOM, louder this time, shook the air. A cloud of dust rose on the horizon, confirming He was right to be worried.
Venti gritted his teeth.
Venti: "I won't be too late... I hope not."
And he ran even faster, propelled by a breeze that itself seemed uneasy.
A few hundred meters further on:
At the far end of the meadow, the guardian of the ruins, a massive silhouette of ancient metal, advanced, swaying heavily.
Its single red eye scanned the horizon as if searching for a specific target, but its system seemed completely malfunctioning.
GGGGGGGGGG
It whirled its mechanical arms with brutal force, unleashing shards of air and dull impacts that shook the ground.
GGGGGGGGGGGG
Each movement produced a grinding noise, a sign that its internal mechanisms were worn out or poorly powered.
The enormous wooden mechanical machine resembled a golem, except that it must have been almost four meters tall. It was equipped like a human, with two arms and two legs, and an enormous red eye at its center.
And on its shoulders and back rested two barrels for its ammunition and branches of wood that had surely grown from all the time it had spent there.
He unleashed a powerful punch in an empty direction; the impact sent a cloud of dust flying and tore a clump of grass from the ground.
Then, for no apparent reason, he pivoted to the left and launched a salvo of missiles… which flew in all directions, exploding in the void or against innocent rocks.
With each shot, a shower of sparks erupted from his cracked armor.
It was as if he were fighting an invisible enemy, or as if he were awakening after centuries of slumber with a still-unstable system.
GGGGGGGGGGGG
The mechanical monster saw nothing, touched nothing; it simply struck, exploded, and whirled about, like a machine gone mad in a peaceful clearing, completely oblivious to Venti's approach, which was slowly drawing closer.
Meanwhile, on Venti's side:
Venti continued running towards the noise, unaware that an uncontrollable machine was unleashing its fury for no reason.
Venti: "I'm not far now."
Venti finally emerged into the clearing, slightly out of breath after his run.
To reach the meadow, he ran through a forest, weaving through trees and bushes to move faster.
He parted a few branches of a bush and looked up just as the Ruin Guard turned sharply towards him.
GGGGGGGGGGGGGG
Venti was unlucky this time.
He had just arrived when the Ruin Guard was only a few meters away from him as he emerged from the forest.
The machine's single red eye instantly fixed on his presence, glowing with a more intense, almost aggressive light.
Even without understanding the automaton's exact intention, Venti felt a peculiar vibration in the air… a strange, almost animalistic sensitivity to his elemental Anemo energy.
Venti: "Oh no… you're one of those who react to the slightest spark…"
He murmured, taking a step back.
GGGGGGGGGGGG
The Guardian let out a harsh, mechanical sound, a mixture of grinding and crumpling metal, then began to wave its massive arms.
It didn't hesitate for a second:
- It charged straight at Venti.
BAM
Venti: "Whoa."
A heavy blow landed on the ground where the young bard had been standing a moment before.
Venti barely had time to jump aside, his boots slipping slightly on the crushed grass.
Venti: "Hey!"
"I didn't do anything!"
"I just came to pick some flowers!"
He protested, even though he knew perfectly well that a Ruin Guardian understood neither words nor diplomacy.
GGGGGGGGGGGG
The machine raised a second arm and whirled a blade of air.
BAM
The wind generated by the attack was so strong that it knocked Venti back several steps.
The Guardian's red eye pulsed like radar, drawn to its elemental energy, ready to launch another offensive.
Venti summoned his bow and stared at the lock of hair that had been whipping around by the automaton's violent movements.
Venti: "Well... you want to play?"
"We'll play, but gently, okay?"
Even he wasn't sure he could manage it.
But the fight was now inevitable.
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
Venti drew his bow with a swift, precise movement.
The string vibrated, and the arrow whistled towards the Guardian's chest…
Venti: "TAKE THAT."
Slash
Venti watched the arrow hurtle towards the center of the machine, hoping it would pierce him.
Clang
Venti: "......."
The arrow ricocheted immediately off the metal shell with a sharp clang, without even making him flinch.
Venti: "Oh, okay… this isn't going to be that easy."
He grimaced.
Venti didn't think he could pierce such a shell with a simple arrow; besides, there was certainly a layer of metal beneath the wood.
The Guardian jerked its head around and resumed its relentless charge.
GGGGGGGGGG
One of its blows nearly hit Venti.
Venti: "Whoa."
Venti leaped to the left, feeling the ground tremble under the impact of the mechanical arm that had just struck the earth.
Venti: "Alright, we'll try another way."
Venti concentrated and summoned his arrow back into his hand with a flick of his wrist, the air around him shimmering before he focused into an Anemo Arrow.
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFffffffffffffffffffff
Venti: "This time, it'll work."
He fired it straight at the Guardian's core.
SLASH
Clang
Venti: "...... "
The gust of air dissipated as if it had struck an invisible wall.
No damage.
Not even a scratch.
Venti: "What?"
"But that's supposed to work!"
he protested, his eyes wide.
Venti's elemental energy-infused flashes weren't the most powerful, but they weren't exactly weak either.
Earlier that day, he had pierced three targets during his trial to become an adventurer.
The Guardian didn't give him a chance to think.
GGGGGGGGGGGG
His mechanical legs deployed abruptly, and the automaton charged at Venti again at surprising speed.
An arm flashed past his head, tracing a path through the air that could have sent him flying into the trees.
Venti tumbled to the ground, stumbled to his feet, and ran off.
Venti: "Is he joking or what?!"
"Why is he chasing me so relentlessly?!"
The Guardian, however, was not joking.
He was relentlessly hunting him, drawn by the intense elemental energy that Venti unwittingly radiated, like a beacon in the night.
Each step of the machine made the earth tremble.
Each rotation of its arms threatened to cut him down.
Venti ran, his thoughts a jumble, his breath coming in short gasps.
Venti: "Okay... we're going to have to come up with a real strategy."
"And fast."
A few minutes later:
For the next few minutes, Venti continued to dodge the Guardian's blows without managing to scratch it.
GGGGGGGGGGGGGG
As he sprinted through the tall grass to avoid another attack from the Guardian, Venti desperately searched for a way out.
He racked his brain for a plan to get rid of this mechanical machine, and he had several options:
Wait for the Guardian to tire?
Venti: "Impossible… it's made of metal, not flesh."
"I can wait a week until it runs out of steam, it won't even flinch…"
Run towards the city?
He glanced behind him:
The Guardian was relentlessly pursuing him, drawn by his elemental energy.
Venti: "If I bring this thing back near the walls, I'll put everyone in danger… the other adventurers might not make it."
Fight him?
Venti can already feel his legs burning.
Venti: "No."
"I'll fall before he does."
"And if my arrows don't even pierce his armor, I'll end up flattened like a pancake..."
Every plan falls apart.
Every idea shatters against the implacable reality of the machine that continues to advance, mechanical, unperturbed.
It was he who decided to move toward this enemy when he heard him, but now he didn't know whether he should be proud to face such an enemy or whether he should regret it.
Venti: "........ "
"I think I regret it a little."
It is then that, turning his head, Venti notices something further away on the plain:
Two round, massive silhouettes, swaying gently.
Large Pyro Slime, glowing with heat.
Archive: A monster created by the sedimentation of Pyro dispersed throughout nature.
Though its intelligence has not increased with its size, it is very hot.
During dry seasons, it can cause wildfires.
It will spit forth blazing fireballs when angered, and will turn dark when it is feeling down.
A most expressive slime, indeed.
Large Electro Slime, streaked with tiny purple sparks.
Archive: A monster created by the coalescing of Electro dispersed throughout nature.
Due to the abundant Electro within its form, it will deliver an electric shock to its surroundings from time to time.
At present, some have attempted to harness this energy to aid in production activities. Perhaps some new science will be born from this...?
They're about ten meters apart, but clearly visible… and dangerous.
Venti frowns.
Venti: "What are these two slimes doing here?"
"Wait?"
A thought flashes through his mind.
A word, almost an echo of ancient or forgotten knowledge.
Something he doesn't remember learning about… and yet he knows it.
Overloaded
Chapter 13: Sweet Flowers and Ruin Guard
The End