Anthony
So far, it was a day like any other in the plains of silnaria near the tiny forest at the edge of a small river, not fat from a small village. The sun had risen just a few minutes ago and slowly, life started to emerge from the woods to start another peaceful day in the cycle of nature. Unlike this unstoppable cycle of life, the cogwheels of the Kuilei that sat motionlessly between the trees had stopped turning decades ago. Her whole body had been taken over by vines, moss and other plants, some birds even decided to buid their nest between the two pointy horns on her head. Between the green vines and patches of moss, some of her bare artificial skin still was exposed. Their was only a small pieceof cloth covering up her chest since she usually wore her full cloth armor which was reinforced by some steel between the layers of thick, cut resistant cloth, however the cooling pipes used to cool her main body inside of the armor had rusted away, leading to her wearing her armor around her waist for the time outside of combat. In her hands, she still tightly held onto that latge sledgehammer which had seen so many battles in its lifetime
Jeanne
*Ryker was making his way through the Silnarian forests, keeping his eye out for any potential bandits that the guards here always warned about. He hadn't seen any yet, but for some reason they seemed very worried about them. Coming from a battle-driven nation, the idea of a simple bandit or two didn't concern Ryker as much. Even more so he typically had his magic to utilize. But ever since the attack and getting separated from the others, his magic has been running out a lot faster, forcing him to have to use it only for good enough reason. And, with money starting to fall short in how long he's been away, he may have to start searching for potential jobs that require it. He let out an exasperated sigh, cutting through the wild vines with the length of his summoned greatsword. He typically preferred the city, but being away from home made it a lot more confusing than usual for him. Inevitably he'd have to go there, but for now he was simply dealing with the pests of nature. He sliced through another barrage of overgrowth, coming to a stop only as he found himself coming across a Kuilei.*"Huh..."*He said in quiet confusion. With the Macen-like appearance she carried and the horns atop her head, he'd have mistaken her from another Oni, but it was strange coming across one all the way out here, especially one that's been sitting long enough for nature to grow around them. Were they dead perhaps? They didn't seem to carry any injuries. These thoughts ran through Ryker's mind as he slowly approached the woman, lowering his sword so that he could gently tap at them.*
Anthony
Ryker wasn't the first to come across the lonely, deactivated kuilei. Most showed little to no interest in her, either mistaking her for a recent corpse or a machine beyond repair, even though her inner machinery was mostly intact, she simply needed a bit of magic to jumpstart her core. Fortress' pale artificial skin was decorated by a few fark, hardened spots which tessembled scars of a human, proving that she had seen quite a bit of combat when she was still active in duty. Now, she simply was a lifeless, cold husk. Back then, she always used to protect her creator, that was her entire reason to exist after all. When he passed away, she simply didn't know what to do, she had no purpose. It was a weird time, she wasn't capable of feeling deep sadness like other feeling beings in that situation of not knowing where to go, she simply felt... Empty. With no one to keep her mechanical body in check, she slowly started to deteriorate. Slowly, the the cogwheels started to turn slower, her movements got clunkier and less precise until eventually her hot core couldn't transfer anymore energy into her body which led to her being immobilized. Her core shut down as a response to avoid overheating and shes been in a state of deactivation ever since
Jeanne
*Ryker drew his hand away as she was cold to touch, instead simply kneeling down. He wasn't foreign to the schools necromancy or artificer. Something about this woman didn't seem completely organic. He lifted his hand to his chin in thought as he prodded at her with the other, some parts definitely seeming to be made of hardened material.*"Hm... Not completely the anatomy of a Macen as I'd suspect... And definitely not an Oni... Odd..."*He said in a stumped tone. Part of him felt like he's heard a description of something like this before, but that was in books tied to warfare. If only he could recall. While he was lost in thought, the amulet around his neck had begun to glow a faint blue color in response to the mana flowing through him. Looking down at it, gave him an idea.*"Hm, I don't have healing magic if that's what you require."*He said before holding a hand out and creating a light blue sphere in it, a collection of his mana.*"But I've known that some souls can be revitalized with a bit of mana at their disposal."*While he wasn't completely sure if she was living or not, whatever it may be he's seen the power of mana able to assist both in its own way. The sphere shifted in form and shrouded his hand just as he placed it on the piece of cloth covering her chest. Its blue lighting took the time to transfer to her, though he knew if she didn't wake soon, he wouldn't have much more to spare for this curious endeavor.*
Anthony
As he transferred the blue light into her chest, nothing happened at first. The birds continued chirping and next to the birds only the sound of the flowing water from that small river could be heard. Then after a few moments, a deep rumble could be heard emerging from the forest, causing the birfs to fly out of the trees. This small amount of Mana sufficed to kickstart her core, similar to a spark plug in an engine. The heat quickly returned into her body, her temperature contuining to climb until it reached the normal operating temperature of 45°C, a body temperature which was still pleasently warm, but fatal for a regular human. All of a sudden, her eyelids opened, exposing her large eyes with their distinct aggtrssive red glow. Shortly after, the rest of her limbs started to carefully move too. With some unpleasant screeching, she slowly managed to stand up to her full height where she was now towering over her curious savior. Her movements were still relatively clumsy and slow, her joints hadnt moved for decades after all, so of course time has taken a toll on them. Her consciousness had returned as well, yet it was still from a long time ago. She could still only think about her old creator, who she swore to protect. Rhats why everything seemed to work, instead of the green lights on her tight collar, that lit up to signify that she is currently serving and protecting someone. She now looked at this boy in front of her with a serious expression, she was taught to treat everyone as a potebtial enemy accept if she was told to not harm them, so she slowly lifted that heavy, intimidating sledgehammer over her head, which took quite some time and was accompanied by a lot of screeching sounds
Jeanne
*As her body started climbing to the higher temperatures, he quickly snatched his hand away so as to avoid being burned by it. He watched as she seemed to wake up although, quite a bit slow. His gaze shifted over to her weapon as she reached for it, suddenly fueling his thoughts with the idea that maybe he should have disarmed her first. All things considered though, he wasn't sure if she would wake up, much less like this. Most things outside of Amongko didn't start aggressive or so he thought. The Oni remembered his Greatsword and quickly clung to it as he got back up on his feet.*"Stand down."*He told her sternly.*"I was just trying to get you to wake up. Just as I've given you some of my mana I can still take it away as well."
Anthony
His threats didn't work with her, after all she was designed to give her life to the protection of someone else. She was built for combat and had lots of experience, so swords or really any weapon didn't intimidate her. When she was faced with a threat to the one she is supposed to protect, her usually calm, collected, quiet and almost shy personality disappears and she turns into an emotionless weapon, emotions would only get in the way of battle after all. The only emotion remaining is the sheer determination to pritect those dear to her. Due to her long sleep, she misinterpreted him as a threat and started to protect someone that was long dead, simply because she didn't know better at the moment. Even if he would take away the small portion of mana, she wouldnt be turned off that easily again, after all she was running on her own core now. So she swung her mighty hammer in his general direction, although her clunky movements made aiming quite hard
Jeanne
*While she was taking a bit of time to aim her swing, Ryker took the opportunity to create a shield out of his mana. The object floated in front of him, acting as blockade for her to swing at for the time being while she continued her acts of violence. As Ryker stepped back a bit, keeping on guard he thought to himself.*"Seems like threats doesn't keep you passive, not even too sure if you understand what I'm saying at all."*He thought aloud.*"Clanky, metallic... Yet seemingly Macen-like. Where have I read about this before..."
Anthony
Her heavy hammer swung down towards the mana shield he sat up. However, shortly before the impact, he heard him speak. His words sounded nothing like the accent she was used to and in general his language structute and words sounded slightly different. Fortress still talked in quite the ancient tongue, but it was still obvious what she was trying to say even for someone living in the present. This fact however caused her to snap out of her trance and realize her current situation. She remembered that her former creator passed away and that she had no one to protect and therefore no one to fight for. With this realization, she lowered her hammer. She remembered to losing more and more power, so it seemed like she was deactivated for a long time and this individual seemed to have reawakened her. For the first time, she decided to speak as well. Her voice still was a bit raspy and glitchy, but nothing too severe
"Please refrain from using those derogatory terms when referring to me, my name is Fortress, not clanky, metallic yet seemingly macen-like"
Jeanne
"Oh-, you can speak."*He said in surprise. The mana shield collapsed into pieces in front of him upon her yielding, seemingly like it took quite a bit of magic out of him. Lowering his weapon he continued.*"Apologies, you seemed quite lacking in..."*He looked her over, debating for the right words, then realized he didn't have a way of finishing the sentence without sounding derogatory as she had wished otherwise.*"Never mind. Might I simply ask... What are you doing out here exactly...? And what happened to you?"
Anthony
"I am a Kuilei built by an engineer who has long passed away. I used to serve as his personal protector, this was the reason i was built and this was my purpose. After he passed away, i did not have a purpose anymore, so the degradation due to inacticity started to build up until i could not maintain my consciousness anymore"
Her voice was starting to reclaim its soft, silent tone as her vocal chords freed themselves of the dirt again. Her motions seemed to get more fluent as well as all the dirt between her joints was pushed out due to her finally moving again. She anseered all his questions honestly, she didnt have any reason to withhold these informations after all
Jeanne
"A Kuilei-."*He said, facepalming in exasperation at his inability to recall something so obvious.*"You're one of those war mechanisms I've read about-."*His dark blue eyes glinted in fascination.*"The one's created by the Silnarian-. Or was it Lymian... Oh nevermind that-. I've never seen one in person before."*The Oni caused his weapon to vanish, walking around the Kuilei as if inspecting a new specimen before realizing the insensitivity of it.*"Ah... Right... Apologies. I've only recently gotten into artificer works. This is a new field for me."*He readjusts his glasses and moves to stand in front of her again.*"Well what is it you plan to do now that you're awake again? With the... Purpose and lack thereof now."
Anthony
"If i knew, then i would not experience a lack of purpose" She said in a pretty dry manner, although she didnt mean to offend him with that obvious answer. Towards people she trusts, she is a lot more caring and quite possessive, however towards strangers she always tends to either act a bit shy or she tries to suppress her emotions as much as possible, just like her creator taught her. Since she has a consciousness, her creator couldnt disable her elotions altogether, althoigh he selected a personality that fit her purpose best. Determined and merciless in battle, quiet and reserved outside of battle. He couldnt see a lot when he was walking around her, all her complex machinery was hidden underneath her artificial skin. The only thing worth mentioning was her rather unique armor, which wasnt made fully out of metal like the typical knight armlr, but it probably protected her even better, although the excessive heat and heavy weight was quite a drawback
Jeanne
*He rubbed his chin in thought.*"Right... Well what if someone gave you a purpose then?"*Ryker asked curiously.*"Your function is foreign to me, although you are seemingly fit for battle as one would expect."*Part of Ryker wasn't sure what to make of her. It seemed like without a purpose she wasn't bound to do much, which could inevitably just leave her back in the same state he found her in. It felt like a waste of mana in a way, though of course he wouldn't say that aloud.*
Anthony
"This would help, one shouldn't forget that i ultimately was made to be a tool and serve a purpose to someone"
Back in the days of her creator, people, especially men had a lot more authority. When confronted with a weapon like her, they would have immediately taken the opportunity to use her to their advantage. It seemed that people got a lot more liberal over the years, at least thats what she was currently observing
Jeanne
*The response did bring an idea to mind, but after the climactic awakening, he felt a bit doubtful of going through with it.*"Must be pretty hard if anyone can just give your orders at any time. Couldn't just about everyone just turn you against... Anyone?"*He figured with her being a war machine, maybe that was the point, but surely the nations that used it had some kind of fail safe. What happened if one fulfilled their purpose? Do they just wait around until some other person gave them an order and in the end just leave it to a back and forth brawl?*
Anthony
"I think i gave you a wrong impression, im sorry. It's not like i don't have my own will. I myself have a moral compass and can judge whether the purpose is good or bad. I am no doll that can be used by anyone and thrown away after they are done. I was created by a specific man for their specific purpose which was a lifelong commitment, of course my creator put little thought into what happens after he passes away. I believe im not incapable of finding a purpose for myself, however i struggle very much, i am built to serve someone else after all, however i still get to choose who i serve"
The way she talked and moved fluently now really made it difficult for someone who didnt know to tell her apsrt from a regular human... Well minus her size, weight and the horns on her head
Jeanne
*He eyed her more thoughtfully.*"You know for someone with a creator you seem like you carry a lot of personal judgement, but it's quite unique."*The Oni finished.*"Back in Amongko I mainly served my lord, but I'm not sure the chances of you finding a willing one are too high. Granted, it seems like out here, a lot of people just do Mercenary work to get by as their soul purpose for the time being. I'll be having to start looking into it as well, but maybe you can benefit from something keeping you occupied for now."