The Lost Super-Hero
Chapter 9 - Down Under (1)
After walking for several hours, the Nolen encountered a sealed door decorated with ancient runes. Romy's extensive knowledge and the information she had gathered so far kicked in as she deciphered the cryptic symbols. This prevented any potential danger by deactivating the door's defenses. This was one of the few traps still active in this place. Time was not kind and had already destroyed or eroded most of the traps and defenses of this once-great structure.
As they entered the room, the walls were covered in stone engravings, which Nolen found interesting. Romy had also scanned and recorded the different engravings. She could create a copy of it and add it to the database.
Nolen noticed a metallic altar table in the small room, which had a unique design compared to the rest of the cave and was stunningly beautiful.
Upon entering the chamber, their eyes fell upon an object floating on an altar. A radiant gemstone that pulsed with an otherworldly light, it was said to grant the bearer unimaginable power.
As Nolen approached the table, he heard a voice from the gemstone. He began to feel dizzy.
Fighting off his dizziness, Nolen reached for it, his fingers trembling with excitement. However, as his hand drew near, the room trembled, and a colossal guardian emerged from the shadows, a metallic golem built to protect the object at the center of the altar.
It was a colossal metallic golem. Its massive form, hewn from ancient metal, was imposing, and its crimson gemstone eyes glowed with an otherworldly machine-like glow.
Nolen readied and stepped forward, his muscles coiling like a beast ready to strike. He tightened his grip on his mighty broadsword, gleaming with a fiery glow. His steely golden eyes burned like the sun with anticipation, locked onto the formidable adversary before him.
The Golem attacked with great speed and force as the Golem made its first move. Its stone fist swung towards Nolen with the power of an avalanche. Despite being weaker than usual, Nolen's instincts and training kicked in, and he quickly dodged the blow with the grace of a seasoned warrior. The Golem's fist slammed into the cold stone floor, causing a tremor that echoed throughout the chamber.
Romy analyzed the Golem's movements and weaknesses, helping guide Nolen through the battle and alerting him of the Golem's next move.
Seizing the opportunity of Romy's warning, Nolen struck with a vicious, upward slash of his sword right after it punched. The blade bit into the Golem's metallic forearm, sending shards of molten metal spewing across the room. With the help of the Magma Shark's broadsword, he cut the golem-like butter. But the Golem, unyielding, showed no sign of pain. It retaliated with a massive kick, sending Nolen sprawling backward.
Nolen's agile form rolled back onto his feet, his battle-hardened instincts guiding him. Nolen was young but had already had several massive battles defending Earth. When it came to a fight, he had been trained and forged in many battles against his rouge gallery of villains, which he had to fight almost daily.
He then circled the Golem, seeking an opening, a vulnerability to exploit. The Golem's metallic body was unyielding, but Nolen's mind was relentless.
Romy continued to feed Nolen all the data she could gather, but the fatigue of the intense battle was already getting to him. Seeing an opening, Nolen dashed toward the Golem with his remaining strength and a sudden burst of speed. His Leiomano-like broadsword held high. He aimed for a crack in the Golem's chest, a flaw in its metallic body. The blade struck true, and chips of metal flew as Nolen channeled all the strength he could muster into the blow.
The Golem staggered backward, its crimson eyes glowing like an unrelenting machine. It was clear that Nolen's strikes were taking a toll, but the Golem's resilience remained a formidable challenge. It was a war machine with the sole purpose of doing its duty.
The battle raged on, with Nolen weaving between the Golem's powerful attacks, dealing blow after blow to its stony form. Each strike and evasion was a testament to his training and willpower.
As minutes turned to hours, the Golem's movements slowed, and its metallic structure melted, chipped, and damaged. Fueled by sheer determination and unwavering spirit, Nolen pressed on with the attack. Due to his condition, his body has been pushed to the limit and beyond in this fight.
"Almost there!" Romy shouted while analyzing the Golem.
Finally, with a final, thunderous swing of his broadsword, Nolen shattered the Golem into a thousand metallic pieces. The room echoed with the crash of metal against stone, and the room's guardian lay defeated at his feet.
Nolen's breath was heavy, his body marked with cuts and bruises, and his armor severely damaged, but he stood triumphant. He had overcome the relentless Golem through his current strength, combat expertise, and indomitable will. A grin could be seen on Nolen's face. It had been a while since he experienced what it was like to be free to fight to your heart's content with everything on the line.
With Romy's guidance, Nolen showed an unwavering resolve. Combining his martial prowess with Romy's strategic insight, their synchronized efforts proved formidable. Even with Nolen only partially recovered, he could still defeat the Golem.
As the Golem crumbled to pieces, Nolen grasped the gemstone. Its energy surged through him, filling him with newfound energy and information. What kind of treasure was this? Nolen thought.
"That is strange. Is it the power source we are looking for?" Nolen said.
"No, it's not it. It seems this kind of learning device is trying to relay information to you. I can decipher some of the script on the table in graved on the altar," Romy answered.
Nolen felt a little strange. He also heard the voice and could barely determine what it was saying. It was the same language as in the cave.
He looked closer at the gemstone. This must be an artifact of some kind, as Nolen thought that symbols barely visible as they entered the room glowed, and the text on the walls also appeared. It became different and started to be readable to Nolen.
"I'm feeling strange, like I'm not in control. Romy, can you hear me?" Nolen said.
"Yes, I can hear you; please let go of the energy stone," Romy answered.
"Why, I want to see what this does," Nolen responded.
"I am trying to control the artifact now. It seems to be a knowledge repository of some kind, but it is a little bit dangerous; the flow of information needs to be controlled." Romy said.
"It is okay, I can take it," Nolen said.
"Just a little bit more..." Romy said insistently.
Nolen held back his curiosity until Romy was done and placed back the gemstone.
"Almost there..." Romy said.
Alright, it's done. The object is now safe, and I can download the data safely.
Nolen waited for Romy as she was analyzing the data.
" I was correct, and it's a repository of knowledge. It appears that the ancient civilization of Zion developed a civilization based on magical knowledge, and the gemstone is where they saved all that knowledge."
"So, what now?" Nolen asked.
"Now we learn as much as we can. The words written on the walls and the engravings seem to be transcribed as magical runes."
"You think I could understand it now?"
"The knowledge repository is a complete archive of the knowledge of the ancient civilization. With that as a base, I can more easily translate the language so we can understand the data."
"Any way we can use it?"
"Yes, we can use it, but we must translate the runes first to understand it. If we're lucky, the knowledge repository may help us figure out where we are and what this world is like. I also know what you are going to ask. So, no, you cannot use magical knowledge directly because you lack the affinity for it. That's why the Skill Reading Stones had difficulty reading you and only showed your Job title. The devices used in the past were based on magic, which you have no connection to." Romy explained.
"Yeah, you're probably right," Nolen said disappointed.
"I think your Solarai biology is incompatible with how magic works. That is why you can't use it," Romy explained.
"Well, that sucks. It would be cool to become a Wizard or something."
"Superhuman strength, speed, agility, and reflexes weren't enough?" Romy asks sarcastically.
"You got me there, but I don't feel that way now," Nolen responds.
"Don't worry; you can still enhance your skills by utilizing the information from the knowledge repository. Skills are not based on magic so that you can use them. This means we can use my deciphering systems and processing power to extract useful information."
"All right then, let's proceed."
Nolen then absorbed the energy into his body once again. The walls and floor started to glow, emitting blue light.
Nolen started to feel a strange sensation. His body and his mind were being opened as if the walls were absorbing him and putting him into a trance-like state. His body felt like it was floating.
As Nolen floated in a strange sensation, he heard a voice speak to him.
"Welcome, young Hero. I have been waiting for your arrival for a long time."
Nolen tried to answer but was unable to do so. He had triggered a prerecorded message for whoever this was for.
"I am glad you have decided to study here and acquired the Knowledge Gemstone. It is rare for someone from this world to have an affinity with the runes of our civilization." And he was right; Nolen wasn't from this world. The voice spoke as if it was recorded for whoever's chosen Hero came to get the gemstone. Sadly, they didn't count on someone from another world with a super AI computer to break into the ancient tech and take it by force instead of being the chosen Hero.
"You are the first Hero to come here. It's an honor to have someone like you help us in our time of need. I hope you can help us save our civilization."
Nolen felt a little weird. It seems this Ancient Civilization was waiting on a hero. Sadly, from the looks of things, no one came, and all that remains is these ruins.
Nolen felt terrible for them but couldn't do much since they were already gone.
Nolen was listening to a voice describing the ancient civilization and providing information about their history, magical knowledge, and technology. Meanwhile, Romy recorded everything in the background and used her systems to learn as much as possible.
Nolen took a few days to finish all the topics. Fortunately, he was physically strong and capable of going without sleep for extended periods. Additionally, he had prepared a lot of food to sustain him on his journey.
Nolen has found the information provided helpful in improving his skills and developing new ones. The skill system here is like game mechanics - the more you use a skill, the better you become, and the results you create become more refined. Learning new skills works the same way - "If you can learn the fundamentals of a skill," you can add it to your list of skill sets. However, they currently need a way of verifying this information. To study and demonstrate their skills, they need a Skill Reading Stone, the knowledge to separate it from their repository.
When Nolen finished translating the entire knowledge repository, he knew he needed to return to search the cave. He continued to search around. After a few more hours, he found more trinkets that he thought looked interesting and kept in his leather backpack.
