Garrett and Vanessa quickly whipped around to see a large robot standing in the room. This one towered over the Flame-Gunner's size in both height and width. It stood bipedally with sturdy legs that were jointed like crickets. The armor on the robot was a deep brass, lined with silver streaks and veins that glowed a deep crimson. The face of the robot was covered with a helmet similar to a bike helmet, only serving to cast a shadow on the face, contrasting the glaring red light of its eyes. It had a wide mouth with metal teeth, lined and shaped to crush. The arms had blades attached to the sides and the hands were gripping Plex and Cerezie.
"Put them down!" Garrett shouted, drawing his sword. This robot was enormous, dwarfing Garrett and Vanessa.
"Oh? And what are you going to do about it?" the robot said, its voice robotic and artificial.
"Wait, that thing talks?" Garrett said, still keeping his stance.
"Thing? How dare you?" The robot to a few steps towards the middle, crushing the minecart underneath its foot. "I am no mere thing. I am Uxur, a Guardian hand-crafted by Prism itself. And you are its territory."
Garrett could feel his breath becoming more labored as he stared at Uxur. Not only was this robot much larger and looking much tougher than the Flame-Gunners, but it also had both Plex and Cerezie in its grip. Any wrong movements and it could crush them like Krotos did to Iadre.
"Though, surprised you made it this far. Guess that means we have to up security," Uxur said, turning its attention to the broken Flame-Gunner before crushing it like the minecart. It reared its head upwards and laughed an artificial laugh. "Now then, to deal with you lot."
There wasn't any time to waste. Garrett charged forward, shield up and sword ready. The gloves he got from Soxart should be able to pierce the armor. "Sir Bates! Wait!"
"I admire your bravery kid!" Uxur said with a laugh.
Garrett expected one of the bladed arms to swing at him, or the legs to attempt to kick him. Maybe Uxur would throw either Plex or Cerezie at him. He didn't expect the eyes of Uxur to shoot lasers. The next thing Garrett knew, he was on the ground and his stomach felt empty. In fact, his whole lower body felt numb and absent. He heard the thud of flesh hitting the ground and turned his head. Laying next to him were his legs and blood was pooling from them.
"But your stupidity wins out." Uxur lifted a leg above Garrett's head and brought it swiftly down. The last thing he heard was Vanessa screaming.
Garrett awoke to an airless breath and a powerful splitting headache. Normally, he didn't experience any sort of pain when he returned here, but this was different. There was something else different. He saw Otris in its Duken form, but there was something else there. It looked like the flavor of the number 7 and smelled like the texture of an avocado. Garrett's head felt like it was going to split apart at the seams.
"I have company. It would be wise to assume a more suitable form for my guest," Garrett heard Otris say. As suddenly as they began, the headache cleared away. Garrett turned and saw Otris back in the human form and another human standing there, but it didn't look human. It looked similar to how Otris was attempting to imitate a human.
"My my, so this is your hero?" The voice was calming and gentle, a mix of feminine and masculine. The figure wore a blue and white pantsuit similar to Otris. It had long brown hair and a thin jawline. Strangely, Garrett felt that this being used male pronouns. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Nil'Qy, another Duken here." He extended out his hand, which Garrett slowly shook.
"Nil'Qy is a middle Duken who comes down often to check on lower Dukens, such as myself," Otris said.
"Don't put yourself down like that," Nil'Qy said with a chuckle before opening a portal. "You are doing well here Otris. Keep up the good work." With that, he walked through the portal and closed it behind him.
"I apologize for any pain that seeing their Duken form may have caused you," Otris said, pulling out a hot tea kettle from behind the desk. They poured out a cup of mathematics for Garrett and handed it to him. In exchange, Garrett handed over the pouch of Helioxene. The mathematics dulled the pain from the headache, which Garrett was grateful for.
"Now then," Otris said after absorbing the Helioxene, "Here are your options." Otris waved his hand and three boxes appeared. "Once again, there are the Sword Bow fusion and the Ring of Identification."
"Do you have anything that would help me learn the languages of Asuria?" Garrett said, looking at the two options.
Otris pondered for a bit before snapping his fingers. A brown belt appeared on the desk, which Otris handed to Garrett. "This belt will allow you to slowly gain knowledge of other languages."
"How slowly?" Garrett asked, looking over it.
"If I had to give a rough estimate," Otris said, scratching his chin, "Maybe roughly 900 hours."
"900 hours!?" Garrett said. "That's like a month and a week!"
"You are attempting to learn a new language," Otris said, crossing his arms. "It wasn't going to be that easy. But, this belt will allow you to slowly gain knowledge as long as you are in the vicinity of a native speaker. And, if you are intentionally trying to learn the language, you'll gain the knowledge even faster."
"Well, it's better than nothing," Garrett said, putting on the belt. He grabbed the empty pouch that held the Helioxene and turned, ready to enter the portal once Otris opened it. He waited there for a few seconds, then turned around. "Otris?" Otris was lost in thought, staring at the world of Asuria. "Is everything alright?"
"Ah, yes," Otris said, snapping back to whatever this reality was. "I was just studying your progress in Asuria. You are coming along quite well in your journey." Otris took a deep airless breath. "Just the prospect of actually becoming a higher-ranked Duken being more than just a dream is still new to me."
Garrett turned and softly smiled at Otris. "I never thought I'd be considered a hero. Back on Earth, I was just someone who people kinda tolerated. But, this whole experience so far has opened my eyes and helped me understand what it means."
"What what means?" Otris asked, confused.
"Honestly, I'm still trying to figure it out," Garrett said. "But, whatever it is, this is helping me, and it's because of you."
Otris smiled back at Garrett and, with a nod, the portal to Asuria opened behind Garrett. "Go forth, Hero of Asuria."