From afar, Rex could already hear the whirring sound of machinery.
Arriving before the Blood Mechanic Workshop left Rex feeling like he just walked into an industrial district. The sound was loud as even from the outside, the rowdiness currently inside this building could be detected.
The large workshop was built like a bunker. According to Rex's information vendor, Aragorn hired and renovated this building to become like this.
Rex observed his fill in just 10 seconds outside as he went closer to the building before knocking gently on the door.
"Locked!"
"We accept no customers today, thank you".
"Locked!"
"We accept no customers today, thank you".
Rex looked up at where the sound came from only to see a Parrot, no, a mechanical Parrot blabbering about through the series of programs given to it.
Looking at the mechanical Parrot that kept on hollering, Rex got a basic image of the personality that he was about to meet. He cleared his throat and knocked some more on the door before pushing it open.
Once Rex entered the workshop, he was assaulted by noise from all sides. Machinery sounds filled the workshop as they formed a chaotic cacophony.
[You have activated Blackfire skill: Zone!]
Once Rex activated this skill, all the chaotic sounds faded into the background. It took some effort on his part but after manipulating the zone a bit, he was finally able to pinpoint the sound that he wanted from the other sounds.
Clang! Clang!
Rex heard the clear ringing sounds of metal beating against metal, and he easily guessed that this was the work of a human amid all the machinery.
Rex navigated around the labyrinth-like workshop to where the sound originated from. Along the way, he saw different machinery ranging from bikes to guns, and a lot of other unconventional machinery.
On getting to where the sound originated from, he saw his candidate.
At this moment, Aragorn was bare-chested with only a pair of shorts on, exposing his prominent muscles as he hammered hard with a massive hammer on a short curvy dagger.
As he worked, he had headphones on his ears as he hummed to the song that was on the playlist. He seemed to be detached from the outside world.
At this moment, Aragorn seemed to be in his own world entirely but Rex was mistaken as this mystic mechanic spoke up the next moment.
"Did Charlie malfunction again?"
"What?"
"Did the Parrot not announce that we are locked?"
"Umm, yes…"
"Then why are you here?"
"…"
Rex was speechless for a few seconds, and this was when Aragorn stopped his hammering as he finally turned to look at him with that reproachful look that a father gave his son when he f*cked up.
"Umm…" Rex was tongue-tied on how to reply so he rather changed the topic. "Why are you working manually with so many automated machines present in your workshop?"
"Well, sometimes, a mechanic got to revisit the old ways to regain the feel".
"Um, ok, actually, I am an intermediate mystic warrior".
"I know".
"…"
The mechanic's tone irritated Rex a bit as his attitude finally changed. "I saved Maximo and his crew's lives in the Great Forest of Elias".
"I was due to leave this village in a few days but I heard of the tragedy that befell here. As a compassionate warrior, I decided to help him rescue his son but to succeed, I need a helper and that is the reason why I came to meet you".
"Do you have what it takes to follow me on this honorable mission?"
"Lol".
"What?"
"Haha".
"…"
On noticing the young man's mood change and the gathering of strange sharp mystic energy, the mechanic was quick to raise his hands in surrender.
"Take it, easy brother, you can't take a simple joke?"
Aragorn laughed again before turning to pick his hammer up. "I've heard of you already and I know what befell Maximo. I also already know how strong you are, but don't you think you're underestimating the enemies a bit?"
"Hmmm, what makes you think so?"
"I've clashed with them a lot of times, and yes, I'm powerful enough to damage them a lot but I never entertain the idea of going against all of them alone".
"Putting aside their outrageous numbers, Pain, their leader is a badass".
"I once fought with him and he trashed me completely. Trust me, you won't last 5 minutes against him".
"I don't know your relationship with Maximo, but I advise you to forget it bro. The risks are not worth the efforts nor the gains".
Rex rubbed his chin in thought. "You may be right".
It was after Rex said this that his thoughts quickly went into a spiral.
"F*ck!" He cursed in his mind.
He came here to get a helper and play boss but without him knowing, the mechanic already won the game of words and was now leading him by the nose. Rex felt embarrassed all of a sudden after discovering this truth.
Aragorn noticed at the same time as he smiled.
"Give me that or just forget about it".
"…"
Rex was left speechless again for more than a minute. Before he could speak again, a loud horn blasted from outside into the workshop, dwarfing all the other noise from the machinery.
He had to cover his ears to shield them from the loud blast. Once they survived the blast, Aragorn picked a pistol before shutting down his systems.
As the pieces of machinery came to a stop, both of them tiptoed outside.
Through a hidden port, they were able to spy outside and what they saw shocked them. A helicopter was currently hovering in the skies, and outside the workshop were parked 3 armored military vehicles.
At this moment, Maximo stood before all 3 military vehicles with a sound amplifier in his hand as he spoke the next moment.
"Blood Gunner and the foreigner Warrior Swordsman, I plead with the 2 of you one last time to join in the rescue team to save my son".
Aragorn and Rex turned to look at each other, stunned.
-------
[You have received a new system mission!]
[You have received your first faction series mission: Eradication of the Desert Cowboy Gang!]
>Mission Details<
[Maxime, Maximo's son has been taken by the Desert Cowboy Gang and is to be sold to the Great Shelters.]
[Pushed to the wall, the wealthy merchant pulled all stops as he made use of his expansive connections to organize an elite rescue team.]
[5 Intermediate mystic warriors have already been pulled into the elite rescue team, join the team of warriors with the Blood Gunner to make it 7.]
[1st Sub Mission: Kill 20 members of the Desert Cowboy Gang!]
[Mission Reward: 100 Skill Points.]
[This sub-mission is divided into 4 series: 20 killed members for 100 Skill Points; 100 killed members for 3000 Skill Points; and 500 killed members for 10,000 Skill Points.]
[2nd Sub Mission: Kill the leader of the Desert Cowboy Gang, Pain!]
[Mission Rewards:]
- 200 Free Stat Points
- 2000 Skill Points
- 100 Constitution Points
- 200 Mystic Energy Limits
- 1 Ability or Skill from the boss criminal, Pain
…
[Main Mission: Eradicate the Desert Cowboy Gang!]
[Mission Rewards will depend on contribution to the eradication of the notorious criminal gang.]
[System Remark: When a Chicken's feathers are ruffled, it bites!]
Visit freewe𝑏no(v)el.𝘤𝑜𝓂 for the best novel reading experience