So maybe, just maybe, Arthur had been a little too quick to declare the potential superiority of metal over flesh.

  This is even more embarrassing than forgetting about fuel… he grumbled, wondering why his new life seemed determined to screw him over. He hadn’t been that bad of a person in the past, right? Okay, Arthur, think!

  Everything was fine at first. He had activated the engine, felt more excitement than he had in a while, and was ready to roll his new rusty ass forward. He didn’t even plan to go that far. Just test some stuff and then wait for more fuel to be generated.

  Of course, it was not to be.

  He had managed to turn his vessel to face the wasteland just all right. All it really took was moving one track forward and the other back. With the level of control he had over his new body, this barely took him a few seconds. Simple and easy.

  What came next shouldn’t have been much different… Yet, it was.

  With the path ahead of him open, Arthur hit the gas. The engine rumbled, black smoke billowing from his exhausts, but he still began moving forward. A foot. Two. Three. Four...

  And then it happened.

  A sharp crack filled his mind as his vessel lurched and dropped into a hole that definitely hadn’t been there a moment ago. It happened so suddenly that it took him a few seconds to activate Silent Observer and glide to the front of the tank to check what the hell had just happened.

  Roots.

  He had driven over an entanglement of roots and shattered them with his weight. Now, this alone shouldn’t have been a problem, but somehow, those roots, along with the remaining half-dead overgrowth, were hiding a large, few-inch deep hole beneath them. And half of his vessel fell right into it.

  That hadn’t worried Arthur in the slightest at first. He was a goddamn tank. What was a hole like this to a magical machine of war? Nothing! Or so he had thought at least…

  He pushed the gas to its limit and watched his vessel move again. An inch, another one, and…

  …his engine sputtered and died.

  You have got to be kidding me, Arthur had thought back then. It was not that he didn’t expect the Engine to fail every once in a while. Its description had already warned him about that. But he had been hoping it would happen later, and not a minute after activating.

  Still, that should have been only a minor setback. He would just reactivate his Engine and drive out of the hole on his next try.

  Of course, in a familiar pattern now, nothing went according to plan.

  No matter how many times Arthur fired up his engine, it would always be defeated by the hole. Sure, he made some progress with each attempt—his upgraded Mobility ensured he didn’t slide back—but at the pace he was going, it would take hours to move past this annoyance. That or he would just destroy his Engine again.

  And that was how he found himself stuck here, brooding in a hole.

  Getting the engine back to pristine condition might help, but that will take almost three more days, Arthur mused. Damn, now I regret upgrading Mobility… If only I knew just how bad this old piece of junk was.

  Too late now, though. He would just have to settle on upgrading the Engine next, rather than his Generator. He had to prioritize, after all.

  But that doesn’t solve my current issue… I can’t stay like this.

  Arthur had already rerouted his Ether from Sensors back to the Engine, but that didn’t accomplish much. The damn thing still died a second after he tried to move. This just left him with one potential solution aside from brute force.

  Warrior’s Hook.

  It possessed a pull-and-grab function, so maybe he could use it like a winch.

  Ah, why the hell not…

  And just like that, he paused his repairs, allowing his Ether reserves to slowly fill up.

  About half an hour later, Arthur decided that he had waited long enough. He pulled on the trigger responsible for the Hook and aimed at the ground a couple of feet ahead of him.

  And fire!

  The black spectral harpoon shot out faster than even his cannon shells, sinking deep into the exact spot he was aiming at. The chain remained connected to its back and with that, to his vessel.

  Huh… neat.

  Arthur knew exactly what he had to do next. He pulled on some more triggers in his head, and a moment later, the chain was attached to the front of the tank. With another command, its work began.

  His vessel groaned as, inch by inch, it was pulled out of the hole. Right away, he reignited the Engine, and for the first time, it didn’t stall the moment he pressed the gas.

  Victory! Arthur beamed, pumping an imaginary fist. A few seconds later, he was free, now standing fully on the dead wasteland. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why you don’t drive through forests without a decent engine.

  Not that the hell-infested territory was a much better alternative, but at least here, he could see obstacles before hitting them. Then again, given how weak his Engine was, he was beginning to wonder whether he could even climb a five-degree slope.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Probably not.

  Arthur didn’t let that thought bring him down, though. Between the Hook and Ether keeping the Engine alive, he might actually get somewhere. He just had to choose his path well. No biggie.

  But first, he needed more fuel and Ether in his Core.

  Back to counting rocks…

  Just as the sun started its journey back toward the horizon, Arthur was ready. His Core was full of Ether. He should have enough fuel to last an hour or two. And he even managed to produce some more ammo for his machine gun.

  Not bad for a few hours of rock-counting.

  I won’t miss you, random place in the forest, Arthur declared, casting one last glance at the place where he had arrived in this world. A second later, he fired up his engine. It still sounded like an old tractor minutes away from breaking apart.

  You will be fine… hopefully.

  With that optimistic thought in mind, he took full control of his vessel and rolled deeper into the wasteland. It was far from a quick drive—a walking person could probably pass him—but he was just happy to be on the move again.

  Time flew by as Arthur kept on moving, weaving around holes, hillocks, and whatever else the terrain threw at him. The forest behind him shrank, while the wasteland got more and more interesting with each minute.

  Aside from just the usual scorched earth and a few skeletal, blackened trees, now the land ahead presented him with some more surprises. A patch of earth still alight with flames. Charred skeletons that might have once been human. And villages… or well, what little remained of them.

  One thing was certain. With how old and primitive every single ruin looked, he definitely wasn’t in Kansas anymore. Was this enough to judge the technological level or culture of this world?

  No. But it gave him some ideas. And it made him even more curious.

  Hell invaded this place, that’s obvious, Arthur thought. But just how bad is it? Where am I?

  The System offered no answers. He just had to continue driving onward and figure it out himself. He didn’t mind that. A little mystery was much better than counting rocks.

  Ten minutes later, Arthur stopped and killed the engine.

  Why?

  Demons, quite a lot of them at that.

  He had spotted them through the scope of his cannon just after he finished taking a detour around a small hill full of burning earth. At first, he thought there might be a Hell Gate nearby, but that obviously wasn’t the case here. He had looked around enough to confirm that.

  It also explained why the demons didn’t seem to be in a hurry to get anywhere. It looked more like they were simply patrolling the area. Why bother when this place was as empty as it could be? Arthur had no idea.

  Still, this presented an opportunity. He needed Upgrade Points, and those demons could give him just that.

  Arthur loaded one of his two remaining HE shells.

  A moment later, he raised his cannon barrel a bit and adjusted his aim. He had never fired at something so far away, but just like with most of his systems, he instinctively understood what to do to make his shell reach the party of demons. He just had to lead the shot a little bit.

  Okay, and… Fire!

  The cannon roared, and the shell left its chamber. It reached the group just a split second later. They didn't even get the chance to turn their heads before most of them were no more.

  Arthur loaded his final HE. Even if the first shell had killed most of the Fiends, they weren’t the only ones there. No, leading the party were six Hellhounds… or rather Hellpuppies. Those things looked nothing like the creatures of myths, aside from their black hide and pits of fire where eyes should be.

  They were fast, though. And coming straight at him.

  Arthur fired the engine and left his cover. He might have loaded the cannon, but he wasn’t planning to waste his final HE just yet. No, his machine gun would do just fine here. He just had to get a bit closer.

  And so he did.

  It didn’t take long before he opened fire.

  Whines of pain joined the rattle of his machine gun as the small hounds tripped and fell to the ground, their bodies littered with bullet holes. They all died in seconds.

  That just left whatever remained of the Fiends.

  Arthur continued driving forward, pushing his engine as hard as it would allow him. Which was to say, not that much. By the time he got within range, the demons that had only been knocked down by the blast were already back on their feet, summoning weapons of flame.

  It was all for nothing.

  Another burst from his machine gun ended their lives in the blink of an eye.

  Battle won! 1 UP awarded. Your Core grows stronger.

  That’s four now. Only six more left to go, Arthur thought as he stopped close to the corpses. There wasn’t much left of those hit by the HE, but others could still be used. Do your thing, Armory.

  Smoke quickly consumed all nearby bodies, even those hounds he had left behind. A few seconds later, they were gone.

  Recycling successful. 10 units of Inferior Omnimatter obtained.

  Not much, but I will take it. Where to now?

  The demons had to be coming from somewhere, and Arthur wouldn’t mind killing some more of them today. Ammo was the only issue, but he should have enough for another skirmish or two. His Generator was close to finishing another production cycle, too.

  If I were a demon… where would I hide? he wondered, looking around with Silent Observer. Nope. Nope… Nope… No— Huh? What’s that?

  A flicker of moving crimson in one of the nearby fires caught his attention. Careful to avoid a smoking crater, he rolled closer and stopped near the flames.

  A root?

  It sure looked like one at first glance, but after watching it for a bit longer, he scratched that thought. Even if it pierced the ground like a root, this crimson thing was definitely more than just that.

  With how flesh-like it appeared, and how it sometimes twitched, a tentacle sounded like a more apt name.

  Okay, let’s see…

  Arthur aimed his machine gun and fired a single bullet.

  The tentacle ate it.

  Damn. Something stronger then?

  AP shell slid into his cannon’s chamber. A pull on the trigger let it fly.

  The tentacle exploded into bits, leaving only two stumps twitching on the ground. Arthur waited for a notification to maybe explain what the hell he had just destroyed, but the System stayed silent.

  Maybe I can recycl—

  He paused as the stumps suddenly stilled, and bit by bit, their flesh began to regenerate. Within a minute, the tentacle was back to normal.

  Well, color me impressed. What the hell are you?

  This time, the System gave him something, just not what he had expected.

  Mission Issued!

  Find and destroy the source of this Root of Corruption. Caution is advised.

  Reward: 15 UP, 2 Utility Items of your choice, Access to basic Vanguard Database

  Oh… So it is a root after all.