Dirt and gravel bushed against his lips. The taste of dust was already on his tongue. His eyes squinted as the sand kicked up into his face. The uneven roughness of the graveled floor crunched against his cheek and tickled his ear. It took him a couple of seconds to process what exactly had happened.

  Azim had managed to hold his breaking sword together long enough to exit his counter as planned. With the knight’s armored right hand stuck in the hole of the triangular blade, the robot took action and pivoted. He bent back slightly and spun around, pulling his right arm back at an angle as he did. The android’s sword arm kept hold of the knight, heaving him off of the ground and throwing him over his turned shoulder. The armored man flew a few meters back, landing promptly in the dirt of the arena facedown.

  While the man was down, Azim raised his left arm up in front of him, chanting for a final time in the fight, “Scrap Return”.

  As he did, the armor that was wrapped around the knight’s back, sides, and chest warped, opened up and flew off of the possessed man’s body. What remained after the spell was the knight’s right gauntlet, everything below his waist except for his right boot, and his collar piece. However, the knight, who was still recovering from the landing, was not able to realize he had stripped of his suit, and of his secret weapon. Getting back up, the irritated man looked at his right gauntlet and what was left of his left one and assumed he had the rest. As he stood up and felt his legs still in their protective shells, and looked down to see his shining collar piece, he was doubly reassured.

  The knight stared at the android with the same angered look he had carried the whole fight, however this time, a feeling of desperation came with it. The man was tired. He was fed up. He just wanted the skinny knight in front of him to be struck down, and for him to the reason why.

  Huffing intensely and glaring longingly, the man in little armor darted his eyes around the ground surrounding him. Azim was unsure why, but found out soon enough. After a couple of seconds of surveying the floor, the bewitched knight bent down hurriedly and scooped up a new weapon. It was a simple sword, much thinner than the previously stolen one. Shorter, too. The wild was basic and unimpressive, with a circular cross-guard that was just as unassuming. The blade itself was chipped slightly along both edges, and the pommel was just a small pump off the end of the hilt; virtually nonexistent. It was not surprising that the weapon had been dropped. It was not of a quality made for the trials of Lemaerk, especially not far, and if whoever had wielded it previously was of any similar quality, then it was no surprise that they had lost it, either. The knight thought as such when he picked it up, and grew contempt over the fact that it was the only thing available close by.

  Azim stood stiff across the way from the possessed man. Both of his arms were down at his sides, and his blank expression was highlighted by the lack of energy coming from the rest of his body. He stood motionless, calculating and “thinking” about the situation ahead of him.

  Just as everything else had, the android’s empty expression and unguarded stance left the knight furious. He was exhausted, and bruised, his mind felt like a hurricane, and yet still this metal-covered stranger before him stood before him stupidly like something was wrong. It left the man fuming in all his exasperation. He slowly clothed the newly acquired blade with both hands and held it low in front of him. Still breathing heavily, the knight yelled shakily, “Co— Come on!”

  Finally, the robot moved. Slowly, he moved his left arm across his chest over to his hanging right arm. He brought his steely hand up to his right shoulder, before moving down gently and resting over his upper arm. The metal man grabbed his cylindrical bicep, resting his hand gently over it. With a monotone utterance, Azim spoke, “Reforming Alloy.”

  Another flash of light like the one from earlier in the fight shone out from under the robot’s hand. A second later, Azim brought his left arm back to its side, now holding the broken triangular sword by the handle, leaving his right shoulder armless once more. Besides this action, the metal man stayed relatively still, standing motionless in front of the knight, though now holding his damaged weapon. The possessed man was confused. Not only was he enraged but the man just did not understand. Why had his opponent gotten so calm? Why had he taken his arm off, especially now that he could not even use it as a weapon? For the first time the entire fight, the knight was the slightest bit cautious. He lifted the small sword slightly, refusing to back down. Still, Azim did not move. Peculiar. Infuriating.

  The knight finally caved, charging forward with his lackluster blade, screaming rampantly as he came closer to Azim. “Rahhh!” bellowed the armored man. “No more! This… is… OVER!”

  Winding his arm and the broken sword back, Azim threw the weapon forward, sending it screaming toward the rampaging knight. Despite the damage done to it, the remaining piece of the sword was still roughly three or four times the size of the knight’s weapon. Because of the whirring weapon coming toward him, the knight was forced to come to an abrupt halt, skidding to a stop and raising his blade. He held the sword up in front of him, leaving the spinning weapon to smack into his own borrowed one. The force of the thrown sword pushed against the possessed knight, leaving him to fling his arms up to knock the triangular weapon away. With his arms up and one foot slightly off the ground, the armored man quickly tried to regain his solid stance.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Nothing could have been done. It was too late. By the time the knight’s arms had knocked the thrown projectile away, he was already cornered. He didn’t even have time to get both feet back on the ground.

  Azim was on him that same instant, ducked low, having even clouded by the clash of the weapons and his raised arms. By the time the possessed knight even assessed that Azim was in front of him, the robot’s left fist was already making contact with his chest. The force hit much harder than he expected. It was more than just the fact that the android’s fist had landed in the exact precise spot to deal the most damage to his center; almost as if by luck. It was the fact that the punch barely should have hurt the knight in the first place. His reinforced aura had not yet expired. He could see it on his arm. He figured he had a good ten seconds left. And yet, the impact hit him as if he wasn’t even wearing clothes at all.

  “I concur,” replied the robot in agreement.

  The punch launched the knight across the entire rest of the arena, sending him smashing into the wall of the tower and sliding down into a defeated seat. His arms lay limp by his sides. Unable to move, only able to think, the knight felt a chill on his chest. It felt like… air. It then slowly dawned on him that his chest armor, and subsequently his armor enchantment, had been removed. Not that he could do anything about it now.

  Slowly standing upright, Azim’s gaze never left the defeated knight. He kept his eyes on the barely conscious man as he walked over to him, ignoring the battlefield of adventurers around him. A few bewitched fighters jumped in Azim’s way, attempting to take him out themselves. They were unbelievably unsuccessful.

  Dodging each of the fighters effortlessly, the robot thought back to the raiders he fought the first day he showed up, and how irrelevant most of them seemed when compared to the few others. He swiped the small group of combatants with little effort, weaving between them and using their weapons against them, dispatching them in several seconds. The robot then continued his walk toward the knight.

  Reaching the fallen man in armor, Azim stared down at the knight and waited. After a few moments of silence, the man looked up at the robot, the purple faded entirely from his eyes. “I’m… sorry,… kid.”

  “Do not apologize,” responded Azim. “Leone helped me understand that you were not in control of yourself, and your actions were not your own. Even if they were, I am… not programmed to hold a grudge.”

  The effervescent aura covering what was left of his armor began to dissipate. His weak eyes flickering in and out of clarity, the knight showed a face of confusion in regard to the last bit of the robot’s words. Ignoring them, he replied weakly, “Well, t-thank you, kid. I… I a-appreciate it.”

  He continued. “Ah, V, the kid. How— How’s he doing? I… I know I h-hit h-him pretty hard.”

  “I’m good, man, don’t worry about me,” Leone interjected, showing up out of nowhere to reassure the man.

  He and Riva, along with Roman, had made it to the edge of the room where the two were, and the knight, while unable to express it well, was elated to see them. “Oh, kid… I’m so… s-sorry, I didn’t—“

  Leone, leaning on Riva as he was still recovering, put his other arm out to shush the sitting knight. “Hey, hey, it’s alright. We’re just glad you’re back.”

  “We journeyed here in search of a potential champion to join in our adventure,” Azim chimed in. “While our time together has been brief, I believe you have shown us how capable you are of being that champion. Even if it is not an actual title you possess.”

  “W-What? No… n-no,” groaned the knight. “I c-can’t—“

  Riva then spoke up, “He’s right, hun’. Even after being beaten by that terrible man, you were determined to return and try again. There is a drive in you that we would love to have with us.”

  “Please allow us to escort you out of the tower,” Azim continued. “I apologize that we were not able to advance any further. We will return in time when we are stronger, however now, please allow us to get you some assistance.”

  As the robot spoke, he bent down and picked up the armored man, wrapping his left arm around his side and hoisting the man against his shoulder. Shaking, the armored man leaned into the android, hobbling, struggling to keep pace with the others. The group only managed to take a few steps before he paused again.

  “Wait, wait,” pleaded the knight. “I just, I need… a minute… My b-body, is not feeling too well.”

  “I understand,” Azim replied. “We may rest here for a moment, though I do suggest we exit soon before more combatants approach us.”

  “Th-thank you, kid… I understand, it’s just…. I just… I re— really… don’t—”

  Just then, the knight collapsed, slipping out of Azim’s hold and down by his feet. His eyes were closed. He breathed out slowly and deeply. “Dude!” yelled Leone.

  Leone and Riva both bent down to the knight’s level, while Azim crouched down, putting his left hand on the man’s back. Azim checked on the knight, while Leone yelled over him at the same time.

  “Sir, are you all right?”

  “Hey! Hey! What’s going on, man?”

  The knight groaned but was otherwise unresponsive. Leone shook the armored man nervously, but he did not react. The adventurers were so focused on the fallen-over knight that they did not even notice the change in the environment around them. Azim was only able to pull himself away from the situation at hand when he noticed Roman nuzzling up against his side, concerned. The robot looked over and noticed that the mosstail kept patting his paw against the robot’s leg. Having drawn the metal man’s attention, he was able to notice what was going on. Looking around them, Azim stated to the group, “It appears there is more to our problems.”

  A dark purple veil in the shape of a bubble domed over the adventures, separating them from the rest of the combatants on Floor 4. The barrier was cloudy, blurring the visibility of what existed outside of it. A second later, a voice loomed from within the barrier dome, surprising and drawing the attention of the group. “Oh, you have no idea…” the robed bald spoke, joining the adventures under the purple bubble.