In the dimly lit basement room under the room where they encountered the spider again, shadows danced across the room, concealing the treasures hidden within its depths. The air was thick with the scent of dust and age, quite a few forgotten relics lay scattered about the surface. At first glance, the space appeared to be nothing more than a forgotten storage area, filled with crates and boxes of unknown origin. But everything seems like something which hasn't been touched for centuries. But the layout of arrangements is very neat and clearly ordered, with smaller boxes on top and increasingly larger boxes on the bottom. The old boxes are marked with cuffs and scratches everywhere, but those weren't the wooden boxes the girls were familiar with, it was something else that both of them couldn't understand. The box seems way stronger than wood and it has a blackish green color which gives it a weird vibe which attracts them.
A girl and a boy, Mellona and Marcus respectively, their curiosity piqued by the unexplored mountain of box, ventured cautiously into the darkness, their footsteps echoing softly against the cold hard floor of the cave. With each step, they brushed past cobwebs and forgotten memories of the distant past of centuries, their fingers trailing over dusty surfaces in search of answers. When they opened one of the blackish green boxes, it contained something resembling food wrapped in a transparent sheet-like thing. "What is this? Do you know Marcus?" mellona asked with a face full of confusion. Marcus thought it was a mix of astonishment and she was really impressed by the sheet's transparency which seems like it isn't even there and so clear, she felt that it was almost made by gods themselves, she cleared her throat and started to raise her opinion. "Wow…., it's so clear... like glass…. but its clearly so soft as fabric of a cloth" her astonishment is clearly visible in her voice. Mellona then only realized that there are more of these around them and who knows what hidden treasures lurking inside each box stacked here, and from then onwards they both devoured as much as they could from the food stored there. "Even after years, it's still edible, that's not something you can encounter everyday" said Marcus her impression of the cave changing by the minute.
As they ventured deeper into the shadows, one of the girl's, Marcus reached out tentatively after a stomach full of meal she had never eaten before, her hand naturally coming to rest on a hidden switch which is stealthy hiding among the cave walls. With a soft click, the room was bathed in a soft, ethereal glow as lights flickered to life in a mesmerizing pattern. The once-hidden treasures of the basement were revealed in all their glory, illuminated by the gentle radiance of the newly awakened luminous globe things in the top and side of the cave. The light from the glowing stone they were carrying was quite sufficient, but the luminous objects were far brighter unlike anything they both have seen before and mysteriously, they all are glowing in white light which is the first they are experiencing for the first time. It appears that each luminous object is mounted in a metallic fixture which has a shiny and glossy surface, but when she touched it, it felt really warm instead of cold which she expected. The metal or material the fixture was made of is something she has never seen before, it looks like metal but doesn't sound like metal when she knocks on it a few times.
Among the ancient artifacts and crumbling boxes, one item stood out among the rest—a form-fitting exoskeletal frame, covered in a thick layer of dust and neglect. Its sleek contours and futuristic design hinted at its otherworldly origins, yet its true purpose remained shrouded in mystery. It seems like it is waiting for someone or something. The girls approached the mysterious object, their eyes wide with wonder and confusion. Despite the newfound clarity provided by the soft glow of the luminous objects fixed every fixed interval, they struggled to comprehend the significance of the strange thing before them. It seemed to belong to a time and place far removed from their own, a relic of a bygone era waiting to be discovered once more. It looks like human or is it something humans can wear, they both were clearly confused but even as they brushed away the layers of dust and grime, revealing the suit's intricate details and advanced technology, the girls remained perplexed. It was as if they had stumbled upon a puzzle with no clear solution, a mystery that defied explanation.
And so, surrounded by the echoes of a forgotten civilization and the whispers of objects they have never seen, both of them stood in silent awe, their minds ablaze with questions and their hearts filled with wonder. For in that moment, they had lost in thought as to what all these mean and what the hell are they looking at? Their thoughts were interrupted by a voice of a young boy who came shouting calling for them, it is unicus running to catch up to the girls. Both Marcus and Mellona were fully immersed in what's around them, that they both forgot about unicus and what happened to him. "What were you doing? What took you so long?" asked Mellona, even her anger has profound meaning because she is expressing her worries about unicus's safety.
"Ahh, I'm sorry, I just got lost along the way. '' Unicus hoped that they wouldn't ask any further questions about what happened. Marrcus and Mellona both looked at each other and chuckled for a moment, then they both said "look we have food here, go have your share of food and don't mind if there is a bit too much ok" their combined voice echoed through the cave, unicus took a look around the cave which is now well lit with lights. He only took a moment to realize where exactly he was and what he had stumbled into in a moment. He recognised the led lightbulbs with polymer light fixtures and the boxes which seemed to be made out of some sort of composite alloy material, he was pretty sure titanium is a major component there. The blackish green box contains preserved food and not to mention the plastic wrapper which protects it from spoiling into junk. He also noticed a combat suit just waiting to be deployed, and he finally found a way back home from this god forsaken cave, he was so happy that his heartbeats started racing like never before, he clearly felt the excitement of getting to use a battle suit, since childhood in his previous life he always wanted to use a battle suit in combat.
Even the smell of the room is novel because it seems like someone is using room freshener there all the time. Unicus wasn't really a fan of those but it's better than the smell of monsters and their blood mixed with the smell of mud. Then he noticed a door in the back of the suit which was quietly standing there in attention, ready to be equipped whenever needed. He opened the back door and peaked inside, he was met with a rat's mess of wires, the scene kind of nauseated him but he pushed himself forward and tried to turn it on without a manual or instruction. "I don't think it's a good idea to put your hands in there Unicus and what would you do if it came to life" asked Mellona with her eyes full of worry but he counted it with "Well I know for a fact that, this will work" he said with confidence. In his previous life he worked in a robotics company which only betrayed him the moment it didn't need him, but that's a story for another time and even so the robotics company was still in its infancy and his company didn't even think that battle suits like these were possible which raises a lot of questions. After a few minutes of connecting a few wires and stuff, he heard a chime from the suit and the red lines on the suit started glowing and then it started pulsing in a way like it's trying to convey Moore's code or something.
When he decoded the code given by the suit, it actually said "If you try to tamper with me, I'LL KILL YOU BASTEREDS!!!!" which only shocked unicus. The robotics from his time was not even comparable to this incredible piece of technology, it has some level of environmental understanding and not to mention tamper protection. It's quite the piece of engineering, whoever pulled this off, he must be a genius of the time to create such a sophisticated machine with a computer which not only can replace humans but also enhance them as well. The security of the robot is air-tight which only motivated Unicus to give it his best shot and he challenged the suit to a battle of hacking and it seems to have accepted it and stopped pulsing its lights and it's waiting to mock Unicus. Then he gave it everything he had, even the food he ate before it got digested with all of his hard work rapidly depleting his energy. Then when all hope seems to be lost he found a laptop with Linux operating system nearby and proceeded to hack that, after he emerged successful. He then sets his sights on the battle suit and with a laptop in his hands, he has a lot of opportunities and options to go around compared to before.
After hours of clicking and clacking sounds form the keyboard of the laptop, the whole part of the room where unicus is currently filled with his sweat of scent and smell and all kinds of stuff. He finally unlocked the suit and registered him as the superuser and configured the settings. Meanwhile both Mellona and Marcus, who apparently lost interest in Unicus, were shocked when they noticed Unicus trying to wear the suit. But the moment he wore it, it started pulsing and immediately was covered in a dark black color and his new combat suit turned into a sleek deep black watch. It looks so elegant as well and it perfectly complemented his outfit which has nothing but black as a major theme.
When he activated the watch nothing happened. Then he received a message directly to his brain "To activate the AMCU just say 'Activate amac now!!!!'". Following that he stood mesmerized as the AMCU donned the Anti-Magic Combat Uniform (AMCU), a marvel of Ancient scientific technology. The suit's sleek exoskeleton enhanced his strength and agility without restricting movement. With a mix of wonder and determination, he felt the integrated nanofiber muscles empowering him, while the neural interface system allowed seamless control of weapons and tactical systems.
Outside, the AMCU's adaptive camouflage subtly blended with his surroundings, showcasing its stealth capabilities. But he turned that off as he won't be needing that now. Excitedly, he explored the suit's armament options, customizing his loadout with advanced weaponry integrated into the exoskeleton. Defensive features like reactive armor and an energy shield boosted his confidence. "Wow this baby is fully loaded to cause destruction, huh??".
Activating sensor systems, he located a way out of the cave which is bursting through the ceiling and using the thrusters to boost himself to the ground. He envisioned himself as a warrior, capable of gathering intelligence, fighting with sophisticated techniques, and coordinating with allies on the battlefield to cause some serious damage. In that moment, he embraced the pain that came with the using capabilities of the AMCU to burst through the ceiling to reach ground.
He then asked both Marcus and Mellona to grab on to him "both of you grab on to me, I have found a shortcut to home!!" He shouted both girls started moving and after he made sure they both won't be caught in the middle of his idea, he used some grenades to make way and then he initialized the thrusters and took his first flight with AMCU, both Mellona and Marcus jumper and grabbed on to him as tight as they could and all three finally escaped the cave.
Outside the cave, the explosion is heard as a distant rumble, followed by a sharp crack that cuts through the stillness of the surrounding landscape but it's intensity was way lesser than before Russell wondered. Birds take flight from nearby trees, startled by the disturbance which for some reason occurs every few minutes for the past minute, while small animals scurry for cover in the underbrush. As the echoes of the explosion fade into the distance and emerge again but this time there is a hole or maybe pitfall whatever it is there, a cloud of dust and smoke billows from the hole's entrance, carried on the wind as a silent testament to the power of the blast. In the aftermath, a black figure quickly soared upwards, it was so fast Russell might have missed it, if he wasn't paying attention.
The whole time he was searching through the forest surrounding the cave, it was Russell who was desperately searching for a way into the cave, but the thing is there is nothing like that. Then Russell finally started considering other options like break into the cave with his magic, but that might cause the cave to collapse. With nothing better to do, he could do nothing but wait and pray for his son, his friend and their maid's safety. But suddenly he heard another consequent explosion, which only made him feel uneasy, if some creature can cause that explosion then there is a possibility that …. He didn't want to think about it any further, but then he heard the loudest explosion yet and something rising to the sky.
According to the research Russell did before, there is zero possibility of any monsters capable of flying living inside the cave. The cave itself is not suitable environment for a monster capable of flying, then what was that small thing which was flying there, it almost seems like human. He arrived at that conclusion after observing that something's flying pattern, he knew no monster which can fly like that nor any monster which is so small with the ability to fly which can cause explosions of such magnitude in such a short amount of time. As Russell was facing a thought process full of contradictions, that something started to move towards Russell and it moved surprising fast and reached him in only few seconds.
As that something came closer towards Russell, he can clearly see it, it's definitely a human man with a human woman and girl grabbing on to him from either sides. He had a pure deep black with red lines going through his outfit giving it a look which makes Russell panick in fear as he never saw something like that, it feels totally alien to him. As the figure of humans drew closer and closer, his eyes started to become a mess of tears as it gently flower down his cheeks. He saw them Mellona his family maid, Marcus his son's friend, but he can't see his son at all. At that moment a realisation sunk in, his heart which was full of hope to meet with his son got shattered into million pieces. As he assumed that his son must be dead, and that's why he isn't with them, he gave a silent prayer to his son, unicus who he assumed to be dead at the moment.
But as the three landed in ground, the ground started shaking in the sheer pressure. He has seen people who can use flying magic, but none landed with skree-ching notice which made him feel even more unsure, what kind of magic is this? How might he have obtained it? With so many questions which is waiting to be answered, he prioritised the safety of his family and Marcus. "So what happened to Unicus? Is he still alive?" both Mellona and Marcus looked at each other for a moment. But Russell started running before walking, his teary eyes started flowing like a waterfall.
The way he cried, no one would say, he is a man but his outburst of emotions were just so heavy. The man clad in black and red walked towards Russell and asked "why are you crying father? What am I missing here?" as he said that his pure black Armor with red lines disengaged and revealed a young 12 year old boy. "Unicus …. Unicus ….. my dear son …. you are still alive!!! Ohh that god!!!!" he hugged him tight as he muttered those words, which only made Unicus feel uncomfortable. Unicus's father was the type to show this much affection, in fact he and his father don't even talk that much except when his father is lecturing him or something. In fact there has been one surprise after another for the past 4 days, in fact Unicus and the others are clearly exhausted after everything.
Both Mellona and Marcus chuckled at the beautiful scene of a father expressing his worries about his son. "Well …. I think it's about time that everyone goes home, Marcus your parents must be worried sick, right? I suggest that you head home as soon as possible and Russell if you waste your time embracing unicus you might have to face an angry vanilla !!" she said teasingly, her playful attitude evident in her mannerisms, but then something unexpected happened. Unicus's watch which had the AMCU just disappeared visibly; he can still feel it in his hands through, "huh what happened just now?"Unicus looked hard for it everywhere but he wasn't able to see it, but he can still feel it in his hands. "Unicus, your mother is waiting, hurry up. Let's get moving and your watch vanished into thin air while you weren't looking, you didn't lose it but I think it might have fulfilled its purpose and returned back. " said Mellona. As per Mellona's suggestion Marcus already ran to her home while she wasn't looking it seems. "I was really excited to try it out, you know, I had all kinds of plans prepared to train with it, just in case!! But now it's impossible. I may need to employ some techniques to make this work, talk about major let down" Unicus expressed his disappointment as the three headed towards their home.