Free Web Novel"Matt."
"What?"
"Be careful."
Matt put a hand on the door.
"What a useless thing to say."
"I know."
"And you said it anyway."
"Yes."
Matt smiled just barely.
"You're developing a terrible habit."
The door began to open.
Grrk!
The hot air from the other side poured into the room.
Heavy.
Dry.
Full of hostile mana.
Matt felt the guns at his waist vibrate slightly.
The bow-spear did the same on his back, but with more intensity.
The cave was waiting.
Or maybe it was angry.
Probably both.
Matt opened his wings.
The voice went quiet.
Matt stepped forward.
The next room was enormous.
Too much so.
No ceiling visible.
The walls disappeared into the darkness, covered in red runes that pulsed slowly, like veins inside black stone.
The floor was circular, smooth, wide, and without visible columns.
Matt narrowed his eyes.
"I don't like this."
The voice responded:
"Why?"
"Because when a room is this empty, it means something horrible is about to fill it."
The cave groaned.
CRRRRRR!
Matt looked down.
The floor started splitting in the center.
A red crack appeared.
Then another.
Then many.
"There it is."
The tremor grew stronger.
Matt spread his wings and rose immediately.
FWOOSH!
The floor beneath him shook violently.
Chunks of stone flew up.
The wall runes blazed brighter.
And from the central crack, something began to emerge.
First came fingers, long and metallic.
Then a hand.
Then another.
Then another.
Matt swallowed.
"That's a lot of hands."
The voice spoke more quietly.
"They're not normal hands."
"Really? I thought it was a greeting."
The creature finished pulling itself out of the floor.
It was a mechanical skeleton. Its body was tall and thin, made of dark metal, polished bones, and red crystals embedded between its ribs. It had a faceless head with only a vertical opening filled with red light, and eight arms.
Eight.
One held a long, curved sword.
Another had a circular saw in place of a hand.
Another ended in a kind of thin cannon, loaded with a reddish-blue light.
The other five appeared unarmed.
But they moved too fast.
Like serpents.
Matt felt his mouth go dry.
The voice spoke with tension.
"Matt."
"What?"
"That thing is dangerous."
"Don't state the obvious."
"I'm being serious."
"So am I."
"Don't hold back."
Matt frowned.
"Excuse me?"
"Don't limit yourself."
The voice sounded firmer.
"You always do. You avoid using blood. You avoid regenerating too much. You avoid pushing our power to where it can actually reach."
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Matt gritted his teeth.
"I don't need a motivational speech."
"It's not motivational. It's a warning."
The mechanical skeleton raised its head and the red opening on its face lit up.
The voice lowered its tone.
"If you fight that the way you fought before, you're going to die."
Matt didn't respond.
The creature disappeared.
No.
It didn't disappear — it moved so fast that Matt barely had time to react.
"Damn it!"
Matt twisted in the air just in time, but the sword passed right beside his face.
The cannon fired.
ZAAAP!
Matt folded his wings and dove to dodge it.
The saw came down toward his back.
VRRRRRR!
Matt tried to spin, but didn't quite make it. The saw grazed his back.
SHRAAAK!
The pain burned like fire.
Matt gritted his teeth.
"Ah!"
The wound opened from one shoulder to the middle of his back.
Not deep.
But enough to throw off his rhythm.
The smell of blood filled the air.
The creature swung all its arms toward him.
Matt felt his heart accelerate.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then he stopped overthinking and drew the heavy gun. The grip was hot under his fingers.
"Alright."
The voice spoke:
"Matt—"
"I know."
Matt raised the weapon.
The blood from his back ran down.
Part of it moved.
It didn't fall.
It didn't scatter.
It responded.
Like red threads crawling toward the gun.
Matt started feeling sick, but ignored it.
The blood entered the weapon's channels.
The red core blazed.
The skeleton lunged toward him again.
Eight arms spread wide.
The saw screaming.
The sword ready.
The cannon charging.
Matt aimed straight at the center of its chest.
"Take this."
He pulled the trigger.
One.
Two.
Three.
The compressed energy made the weapon tremble.
"Come on…"
The skeleton was right on top of him.
Matt gritted his teeth.
BAAANG!
The shot came out like a red explosion.
Not a bullet.
A hammer blow.
The recoil sent Matt flying backward and his wings spread on reflex.
FWOOSH!
The skeleton was thrown back too.
The bullet hit its chest and sent it several meters down into the ground.
BOOM!
The creature slammed into the stone. The impact raised dust and fragments.
Matt spun in the air, trying to stabilize himself.
His wrist hurt.
The heavy gun was smoking.
A crack ran along the side of the barrel.
Matt looked at it.
"That's bad."
"It's damaged."
"I noticed."
Matt immediately holstered the heavy gun.
He wasn't going to risk it exploding in his hand.
The dust parted.
The mechanical skeleton stood back up.
Slower.
But not destroyed.
The crystal in its chest was cracked.
Nothing more.
Matt felt his eye twitch.
"How tough."
The voice spoke:
"The other one."
"I'm on it."
Matt drew the light gun.
The creature prepared to jump again.
Matt fed the core with mana.
Then blood.
Less.
Faster.
The weapon responded immediately.
Bang!
The first bullet struck one of the skeleton's shoulders.
BOOM!
The small explosion barely pushed it back.
Matt fired another.
Bang!
Then another.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The red bullets didn't have the heavy gun's power, but each impact exploded against the mechanical body.
They didn't destroy it, but they interrupted its advance.
One arm veered off.
Another got stuck.
The cannon lost alignment.
The saw came down late.
Matt started moving around the room, firing while he flew.
"Ha."
The voice spoke cautiously:
"It's working."
"Don't say that."
"Why?"
"Because—"
Click!
The light gun jammed.
Matt stared at the weapon.
The creature raised its head.
"Because this happens."
The skeleton jumped.
Matt cursed.
"Damn experimental piece of junk!"
Matt holstered the light gun all at once.
The sword came down toward him.
Matt pulled the bow-spear off his back.
The weapon vibrated when his hands touched it.
Not like before.
This time stronger.
Almost excited.
Matt felt the reaction.
And for some reason, he felt embarrassed.
"Yeah, sorry for not using you first."
The bow-spear glowed.
"Don't get worked up."
The creature arrived.
Matt barely had time to switch to spear mode.
CLACK!
The spear blade clashed against the sword.
Red sparks flew.
The saw came from the other side.
Matt swung the shaft and blocked it.
GRRRRK!
The saw bit into the weapon's metal.
Matt felt the vibration to his bones.
"Don't bite it!"
The cannon of the third arm lit up.
Matt's eyes went wide.
"Ah."
ZAAAP!
The shot hit him dead on.
Not completely.
Matt managed to angle the spear and reflect part of the energy.
But not all of it.
The beam burned his side.
PSSSHH!
Matt was blasted backward.
"Damn it!"
The spear suffered too.
A black mark appeared near the center of the shaft.
The metal vibrated with pain.
Or anger.
Or both.
Matt swallowed.
"I don't like this."
The voice spoke quickly:
"Its weapons are adapting."
"Don't say that."
"But it is."
The skeleton moved again.
Now it wasn't just jumping.
The unarmed arms were extending like whips to cut off his routes.
The sword was forcing him to block.
The saw was chasing him.
The cannon fired whenever he tried to put distance between them.
Matt gritted his teeth.
The guns were already showing failures.
The bow-spear was damaged.
And he had just come out of the rest room.
"Great."
The creature attacked him again.
Matt dove.
Then climbed.
Then spun.
The saw passed under his feet.
A metallic arm tried to grab his ankle.
Matt kicked it.
CLANG!
It hurt him more than the skeleton.
The voice spoke with urgency.
"Use more."
Matt knew what she meant.
Blood.
Regeneration.
Wings.
Strength.
That part of him he hated.
The skeleton fired and Matt barely dodged. The beam cut off several strands of white hair.
Matt felt a horrible heat rise up his back.
Not from the shot.
From his own blood.
The saw wound burned.
Then closed quickly.
His wings spread wider.
The world grew clearer.
Redder.
Sharper.
Matt felt his body lighten.
"No."
The voice spoke quietly:
"Matt."
"No."
"You need it."
The skeleton came after him again.
This time using its ranged weapons too.
The cannon fired bursts.
The unarmed arms launched energy blades from the wrists.
The sword released red cuts that traveled through the air.
Matt dodged one.
Then another.
One opened his cheek.
Another cut his arm.
His body regenerated.
The blood moved again.
His vision blurred.
For an instant, the world distorted.
Matt felt something pulling at his body.
Bones.
Muscles.
Skin.
Hair.
"Not now."
His voice came out different.
Barely.
Softer.
Matt ignored that.
He had more urgent problems.
Like the mechanical skeleton trying to turn him into ground meat.
He spread his wings with all his strength.
FWOOSH!
The air exploded behind him.
Matt shot upward.
Faster.
Much faster.
The skeleton followed from below, jumping between stone platforms that were beginning to emerge from the walls.
"Right, of course. It does parkour too."
The voice sounded alarmed:
"Your body—"
"Later."
"Matt."
"Later!"
He switched the bow-spear to bow mode.
The weapon responded immediately.
The string appeared as a red line of energy.
Matt gripped it.
Drew.
The blood from his wounds flowed toward the bow.
Not much.
Too much.
His arm trembled.
The bow-spear's core blazed with a fierce intensity.
The skeleton jumped toward him.
Eight arms spread wide.
Matt breathed slowly.
"Move."
The arrow formed.
Long.
Red.
Dense.
Like a lance of compressed blood.
Matt felt exhaustion hit his chest.
The voice whispered:
"Now."
Matt released.
FIIIIUUM!
The arrow shot out.
It didn't fly.
It pierced.
The air.
The distance.
The skeleton's first arm.
Then the second.
CRACK!
BOOM!
Two arms exploded into metal fragments.
The creature spun violently in the air and fell against the floor.
BAM!
The room shook.
Not from the cave.
From the impact.
Matt stayed suspended in the air, breathing hard.
He looked at the bow-spear.
Then at the remains of the two destroyed arms.
"That…"
The voice said nothing.
Matt swallowed.
"That was powerful."
Too powerful.
More than before.
Cleaner.
More brutal.
Matt felt an uncomfortable mix of satisfaction and fear.
Then he looked down at his arm and froze.
His arm was thinner.
The wrist more delicate.
The fingers more slender.
The skin paler.
Matt stopped breathing.
"No."
The voice went quiet.
Matt looked further down.
His clothes were the same, but they fit differently.
The chest.
Slightly fuller.
Not much.
But enough to know that wasn't a boy's chest. ƒгeewebnovёl.com
Matt felt the air leave his body.
"No, no, no."
The voice spoke carefully:
"Matt…"
"Quiet."
"Your body is—"
"Quiet!"
The mechanical skeleton began to rise below.
It only had six arms now.
But it was still alive.
The saw spun.
The cannon lit up.
The sword rose.
Matt was still looking at his body.
His arm.
His chest.
His hair falling a little longer beside his face.
The rage came before the fear.
Matt gripped the bow-spear until his fingers trembled.
"Damn it."
The voice said nothing.
Matt raised his gaze toward the skeleton.
His red eyes blazed brighter.
The bow-spear vibrated in his hands.
The guns at his waist responded with small pulses.
The mechanical skeleton aimed at him.
Matt spread his wings.
Larger.
Darker.
More powerful.
His voice came out softer than he wanted, but full of hatred.
"I'm going to kill you."
