Back on Arcanis, in Xin-xia, inside unmapped Allemandian ruins...

  "This time, surely we have the correct key," Suzumi said wearily. She swiped the ancient ID card, and with a green flash and beep, the door controls activated, and a massive door slid open with only a gentle hiss. The elder Shinobi would probably have cheered had the massive back-and-forth through the ruined labs, habitations, and recreational areas not been physically and mentally taxing.

  Aenora gave the elder Shinobi a pat on the back. "We couldn't have found it without everyone's contributions. Yes, even you Imperials," she added with a nod to the black-and-silver armored warriors, who had proven adept with Allemandian technology and also helpful in a few of the scarier spots when the defenses had activated.

  The Garlon commander, Wulfric, sighed. "If I never see a crate puzzle in my life again, it will be too soon." His human subordinate just gave him a pat on the back in unspoken agreement.

  Aenora allowed herself a smirk—privately, she agreed it was a poor security measure and was basically pointless—but for some reason, one of the Allemandians had thought it reasonable enough to build as a defensive measure. Perhaps, when I go home one day, I should write a paper based on this experience and offer that we rethink the idea of the Allemandians being 'advanced.'

  Shaking her head, she stepped into the room, with Suzumi and Wulfric at her sides, the other two shinobi and Imperials coming in behind, warily. The room they were in was massive, shaped like a semi-sphere, lined with a mix of what seemed like armored white panels and soft white-blue lights, and in the middle of the room, a control panel and a mostly-circular gate. The exposed devices at the top immediately made Aenora think of the traditional torii-style gates that were so common in this part of the world. The archaeologist in her wondered if there was some long-lost connection.

  "I think we've found what we were looking for...the thread is weak now, but this is definitely the place. It leads straight into that 'gate,' for want of a better word," Aenora said seriously. She began looking around. "If my time with Ondun has taught me anything, the moment we try to operate that console, something will happen," she added with great certainty.

  Suzumi nodded, and the three shinobi vanished into the meager shadows that were in the ancient chamber. The Imperials looked at each other and nodded. "We've got your back, Lady Aenora. You've done right by us. When you've got things under control, we'll go with your shinobi friends there."

  Aenora nodded. "Then, be alert. A fight could very well be upon us." With that, Wulfric and Aenora approached the terminal.

  The room proved Aenora's assertions correct when, out of the curved ceiling, some armor panels slid away, and a spider robot twice as big as the Imperial Garlon slammed into the floor behind them.

  Unauthorized intruders detected. Security playback indicates termination of security drones and circumvention of countermeasures. Threat level upgraded to G-class.

  Immediately the spider robot folded in on itself. Aenora conjured a wall of wind—she based the art on what she'd been observing the shinobi doing all this time—just before a burst of energy neutralized the barrier explosively, sending the two away from the control pedestal. Four of the spider's legs had folded up, and the tips retracted, exposing prongs that, if Aenora was to guess, functioned similarly to the Imperial manadrives and would allow the machine to manifest pre-programmed phenomena.

  Wulfric readied his javelin and sword. He flicked a switch on the javelin, causing the blade to offset downward somewhat relative to the shaft and exposing the firearm barrels that many Imperial weapons were known to have. "Here, spider, spider, spider!" he taunted, loudly.

  Subject: Garlon. Anomalously low animal capacity rating. Reverse-engineered Animadrive detected. Upgrading threat rating to V-class. Unworthy of immediate attention.

  Aenora shrugged. "Looks like our new friend doubts your prowess. Care to prove it wrong?"

  The large man immediately charged the massive construct with his shield. A prong smashed down onto it as his barrier flashed in defiance of the strike. He slammed his javelin into an exposed joint and pulled the trigger, causing a loud bang to sound through the ancient chamber. As the machine became unsteady on one of its legs, he moved his shield up to block another attack, even as he backpedaled out of range. From there, a Fuuma Shuriken jutsu from one of the concealed shinobi slammed into another leg, as Suzumi appeared in midair above the gargantuan device somehow and slammed both shouken into the top of it, causing a massive shower of sparks to pour from the arachnid construct.

  Even as she backflipped and melded into the shadows, the device lowered the legs it had used as weapons and retracted the two damaged ones instead. More sparks started flying.

  Activating X-ATM-092 repair protocols. Limb repair underway. Upgrading threat profile to D-class for the enemy team. Garlon subject upgraded to T-class threat designation. Subject should talk less and fight more.

  The single, red eye on the device shone ominously as Aenora jumped behind the man and erected a sphere of non-elemental, negatively aligned anima in a shield. The resulting electric attack bounced off and slammed into the gateway, throwing some metal plating off it and exposing some circuitry and what looked like coils of a silvery metal inside.

  Aenora peeked out from behind the massive man, who had his shield solidly in front of him now, and called upon positive anima to materialize a bolt of ice, which slammed into the casing around that central eye. The other shinobi pounded the ice with fire, causing it to partially vaporize, but more importantly, to slightly melt. From behind the gateway, the Eldifian Imperial, Athvelor, flipped his sword upside down and put one hand over the pommel. The manadrive on the back of the armor glowed ominously before he proffered the pommel, and manadriven lightning shot forth into the melting ice spike.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Power surge detected. Hostile attack received. Switching to backup processing and control. Threat level: Terminus. All armaments are free. Glory to Allemand!

  The ancient device shuddered as ports opened on its body. "Everyone, to me, now!"

  Immediately the shinobi dropped their camouflage and backflipped around Aenora and Wulfric, and the two Imperial soldiers double-timed it to the Felinian sorceress as ports opened across the arachnid robotic body, and a swarm of tiny missiles flew at Aenora's party from all sides. She immediately poured all her anima into a massive shield that instantly halted all of the missiles.

  "We need to finish this thing off! Someone take the missiles; everyone else, end that robot!" she yelled, her normal quiet dignity gone in the face of an existential threat. The Imperials nodded to each other. The human woman shouted, "I can take the missiles! Everyone else, you heard the lady!"

  While the Imperial human soldier was even quieter than Aenora, the woman had always moved with swift precision. So it was, raised an unusually bulky axe, and held it above her head. As Aenora felt her shield begin to waver, the shinobi were already making hand seals, and Wulfric and Athvelor were preparing for a bold charge at the ancient machine.

  When the shield fell, everything happened at once. Immediately the axe glowed red, and a burst of crimson power pulsed from it, spiking the temperature in the room to an uncomfortable degree, as a wave of pure fire anima collided with each missile, exploding them in midair in a blinding burst of pyrotechnics. The backpressure from this forced the huddle of people even closer together before the Eldifian and Garlon loosed a primal battle cry, and blades in front, pushed off with their backfoot, charging the monstrous contraption.

  Even as they did this, the shinobi completed their jutsus. Hands outstretched, one pulse of water and two bolts of lightning slammed into the device with perfect timing, causing smoke to pour from the abused machine and, more importantly, causing some armor to blow off. Immediately, Athvelor changed his course as Wulfric raised his shield and knelt. The machine fired an array of energy beams at the Garlon...but the machine had badly miscalculated.

  Athvelor vaulted off his friend, as the physical shield and manadriven barrier both failed, the massive man falling unconscious and suffering some moderately severe energy burns. The Eldifian swordsman sailed through the air, not unlike a certain part-time Dragon Knight Aenora knew, as his long blade found purchase in the device. Even as the machine began ominously vibrating, the blades extended to the sides, exposing yet another barrel. Athvelor wasted no time pulling the trigger.

  With a second and final loud bang, the machine fell to the chamber floor and was silent.

  Aenora fell to her knees, the skirts of her dress-like robe expanding about her as she did. The shinobi also knelt, not only from being winded due to furiously trying to position for the most efficient, machinaicidal strikes, but also from the drain that using so many jutsu so frequently put on the shinobi.

  After all, not everyone was Ondun, with his almost freakish capacity for anima.

  After a moment, Aenora got back to her feet. She rushed to the unconscious Garlon, whose breathing was ragged. She turned back to Suzumi. "Call Kelse. We're going to need help fixing this thing. I'll see to the wounded as best I can."

  Suzumi wasted no breath confirming the request. She immediately put a hand to her ear, focused her anima, and started talking. The Imperials just looked to one another as a shinobi patted the human woman on the back in quiet thanks, despite the look his compatriot gave him.

  Aenora focused on the Garlon. "Now, big guy, let's get you mobile again. You trusted us...never let it be said I'm a woman who doesn't repay her debts."

  When Ondun woke up to the morning sky, already light, he knew he'd overslept again. The trees, the bamboo...for a brief moment he wondered how he'd wound up back in Xin-xia. After all, it was only about four days since the Battle of Grimald Pass, of the carnage of war, and Imperial warmachina pressing against the Alliance lines...

  A very, very wet lick from Strudel broke Ondun out of the spiral. It took the adventurer a moment to remember this monster dog was his ally now. He shook his head, clearing the cobwebs, as the young canine tilted his head at him in confusion and concern.

  "Don't worry about me, Strudel. It took me a moment to remember where I was. This place does look a lot like home...but much, much greener. Where I'm from, the land that looks like this is called Xin-xia..." He patted the dog, who bounded up into his lap and curled up with a small bark of "Aquepup!"

  Ondun absently petted the dog. "So, little one, let's do some more exploring and surveying today. Then, we'll do some different training. Reward is more food." He said with a wink.

  "Aquepup!" The young monster seemed to agree, so he gave Strudel a quick pat and stood up. Strudel had gotten a little bit bigger overnight—not so much 'girthier,' but he was just generally more muscular, his hair was a little longer and more lustrous, and his snout had elongated just a little. "I was going to put you on my shoulder, but you've already outgrown me, Strudel."

  "Aquepup..." It seemed the monster had really been looking forward to a shoulder ride. So it was Ondun packed up camp, his trusty ally at his side. The dog took a look at the charred remains of the campfire and sprayed it with a jet of water before digging a hole and burying the carbonized wood into it, then covering it back up with the displaced dirt.

  "Huh...not bad, Strudel."

  "Aquepup!"

  Ondun and his monster friend just looked at each other for a moment. "Well, come on. As we walk, I can tell you about where I'm from, where I've been, the people I've met, and the friends I have..."

  Strudel walked at Ondun's side silently for many hours after that, listening to his human ally tell him his adventures in a distant world, of friendships, betrayals, reunions, fierce battles, tender moments, tearful farewells, and inspiring victories. All the while, the small monster couldn't help but realize Ondun might have been walking in this world, but his heart was far away.

  The tiny monster was coming to understand the odd person better. Ondun's path had been bloody because that's what his world had demanded of him. Strudel wondered how he and his mother would have been had he been born out here, in the Kongming wilds, and not on a ranch to a trained mother and father, and with loving human allies.

  With a shudder that Ondun missed, Strudel considered he might be no different than those Gloomcubs who attacked the human child—hungry, fearful, and angry.

  Strudel trotted closer to Ondun and gave him a brush and a bark. He wanted to tell the human, in his words, that Ondun wasn't alone right now, that he had a new friend right here, and that he would do his best to help Ondun's new friends wake up again.

  At his heart, Ondun was a man who valued his friends and just wanted to live and journey with them. He just pretended to be this hero because everyone else expected it of him. Strudel didn't know what to think about that, and Ondun seemed oblivious to the implications of the stories he told.

  So it was when Ondun suddenly stopped, Strudel banged head-first into Ondun's shin. Immediately, though, Ondun switched to his Dragon Knight's armor and pulled the massive lance into a ready position. At first, Strudel wondered if the man was having one of his odd dazes he seemed to have, but the adventurer didn't turn his attention to him.

  Instead, he was looking at ruined metal plates that still faintly glowed with pale blue lines. While Ondun couldn't understand Strudel, Strudel could perfectly understand what his very alert friend said next.

  "Why the hell are Allemandian ruins in this world!?"