Chapter 6 - My Driver Armaments

< Equipment: Bumper Sword >

< B+ Rank. Durable greatsword, unique to combat drivers. Shaped like a bumper, it carries heavy car power to blow away enemies like unsuspecting pedestrians. Punish those that violate the red light. >

At first glance, the object did truly resemble the front part of a car, the bumper. There was a big rectangle hole where it would normally be the place to put the grill. Pointy tips bulged prominently on the top edge as well as near the hilt.

By design, it was complete nonsense to call the thing a weapon, much less a sword. Senna doubted it could even cut anything.

How would he even wield it too? The massive object was as long as he was tall.

Dubious, he chose another nonsensical name from the list. Steering Chakram, it was called.

The item appeared small this time, exactly the size of a steering wheel. Shaped like one too. It was a metallic ring with a sharp outer edge to cut the flesh of the enemies, along with a T-shaped spoke on its inside.

"Why in God's name does this be called Steering Chakram?"

The logic was hard to understand. Did Senna need to grip it the same as the steering wheel? Why? For what reason did he have to abuse his hand doing that?

< Steering Chakram >

< C+ Rank. A variable weapon, useful in many situations. Can be controlled by the wielder remotely after being thrown. Fun. Like piloting a lethal drone. Keep it away from the children. >

The description made it clearer now. It was supposed to be used normally like a chakram, but with the added function of remote control. That was where the 'steering' part come from.

Sure enough, it sounded versatile, unlike regular handheld weapons. It reminded Senna of those mind-controlled projectiles used in mecha anime that the pilots could control from their cockpit.

But what about this weird 'Hood Shield?'

When he took it out, a regular car hood materialized. Like, a literal hood. No fancy material, added function, or accessories whatsoever.

Since it was to be used as a shield, he guessed no other weird feature was needed.

"How am I supposed to wield this thing?" Senna wondered as he turned the shield over and over. "No handle. No grip. This thing doesn't even make sense."

The previous two didn't either, but this one took the cake. Considering his current situation, the shield would only be a burden.

For the other items on the list, a few were various parts of the car and some were the goods he kept in his car, like the crispy chicken bucket he bought that evening.

Senna decided to ignore the weirdly named PC game he hid in his glove box. He wasn't the one who bought it. It was lent to him by one of his long-time high school friends.

"Then I guess I'll be taking this… and this…"

The chicken bucket, pizza, and cola were priorities. He didn't know where he was and securing food and water was a basic survival tactic.

It looked like a subtropical forest at first glance, but in his former world, no gorillas would ever live naturally in those places.

The existence of this clearly man-made ruin suggested humans existed, at least at some point in time. It was also possible that other sentient creatures were the ones that built it, but that was fine too.

When Nyaru said about a disaster this world was about to face, he couldn't have meant a natural one. After all, a hero was needed to avert it. It would have to be artificial.

"…Is this really my only choice?"

Apprehensive, Senna tried to lift the Bumper Sword with his right hand. "Hup, woah!"

Surprisingly, he managed to easily raise it aloft. It was uncannily light, completely in contrast to its appearance.

"I guess this could do…?" It was still questionable whether the thing could function as a weapon.

As he tried to swing it multiple times, a potential problem with the sword came to him. It was as compact as a tree trunk. Carrying it along would be a huge hassle.

Scanning through the list, Senna found his familiar seatbelts. Luckily they were included. If they weren't, most likely they would've been burned to a crisp by now.

He would fashion makeshift straps using these. They would help in securing the Bumper Sword on his back like those cool-looking warriors in video games did.

Surely that would alleviate the burden of carrying the massive thing, at least a little.

Senna spent some time preparing his stuff like that. Bumper Sword and Steering Chakram as his equipment, sure. The junk food as his supplies, fair enough. The knife the robber abandoned… Might as well.

Was there anything else he need to bring along?

"Ah." Glancing through the wreckage, a small object caught his eyes. It was still inserted into its proper hole, carrying out its duty until the very end.

His car key, which had been with him almost constantly in his daily life.

"…Of course. Can't forget about it."

With difficulty, he shifted through the mangled frames to pick it up. The small object had barely any scratches on it as if to signify the unbroken will of the Avalon.

«Increase in Fate Level detected.»

The voice had returned after being quiet for some time. She mentioned that fate thing again.

"Is this alright, Sis? Anything more I can do over here?"

Because she was the voice of the power system he was given, it would be normal to call her the 'System.' Senna liked to give people contracted nicknames, so in this case, he would call her Sis.

«There is nothing more to be done. Your mana has slowly recovered and with that, it is advised to relocate for safety's sake.»

That advice was one he could readily agree on. Checking his status, the mana count had indeed been raised.

< Mana: 23/80 >

It was now more than double the initial value he had. Considering that fact, Senna wondered if he could summon a more advanced vehicle than a stupid training bike.

«Affirmative. It is recommended that you should manifest a Vessel as you travel.»

With her blessing, he moved away from the wreckage to a more open area of the ruin. It was the raised platform where he and his sedan first appeared.

*Brrmm Brrmm*

Something vibrated in his pants pocket. His smartphone, most likely. Pulling it out, Senna found out that he had no signal. And obviously no internet.

How did he receive a call with that condition? Immediately that question would be answered as he read the name of the caller.

'Nyaru, The Crawling Chaos'

Crawling Chaos was included in his CIRCLE username. What an edge Lord. Senna cringed pretty hard as he read it. Would he have to endure this every time he called?

Better to manually change it soon.

"Hello…?"

"'Sup. Looks like the connection work, eh? Here's the deal. As compensation for how messed up your summoning procedure was, I'll guide you for a bit. At least in the near future. You seem like, so horribly lost."

"You're damn right I am…"

"I'll help you too, Mr. Farron."

Truckie's booming voice could be heard from the speaker. If it was going to talk through Nyaru's call either way, then why bother sending a friend request in the first place?

"You're about to get away from the ruin, right? Well, I'll be honest with you. That place was formerly the capital of an old kingdom that had fallen more than 2000 years ago."

"…So? What's that have to do with anything?"

"A mistake, man. A mistake. Just like almost everything else which went wrong with you, reincarnation brought you to an utterly outdated place," Nyaru explained with an apologetic tone.

Though if it were to be looked at from a different angle, the way he said that might sound like he was mocking him.

"It's probably fine if you got there during those thousand years ago. But now? No civilizations in sight for miles. You got it hard, so I feel for you."

"Thanks for the concern…" But the sentiment didn't help him in the slightest.

"Mr. Farron, the compass app on your phone is still working, right? I suggest you put it to good use."

"Ah yes, that. The closest human city to your location is to the northeast. I won't say how far because I think it will just depress you. Just move in that direction for now."

Thanks to Nyaru's advice, Senna now had a clear direction to go. Not telling him the distance was a smart move. It could be hundreds of kilometers for all he knew and that would definitely kill his mood.

"That's it for now. Don't worry, I'll call again when you need help. Truckie will chime in too. Just try to adapt to your new world bit by bit."

"I believe in you, Mr. Farron."

Having a box truck say it believe in you was surreal. Was he supposed to be happy? Or weirded out? No one knew.

After hanging up the call, Senna took a deep breath. The fresh air went inside his lung and rejuvenated his spirit. Looking at the sky, it was likely that the day had only reached late morning. Noon at the latest.

This moment will mark the beginning of his life in this other world.

Returning to the task at hand, he concentrated. "Alright. Here I go…"

This time he wouldn't ask for an unreasonable vehicle. He had enough headaches during one day to last a lifetime.

It would be a simple request. A plain car was enough, or if that wasn't possible, at least a motorized vehicle he could relax in.

Closing his eyes, the images came into his mind. Focusing, Senna chanted the words.

"Vehicular Manifestation."

No fanfare, no passion, only heartfelt solicitation. The glowing orb from before returned, again it started small and slowly expanded as it grew brighter.

When it faded, the purported Divine Vessel finally appeared.

«You have successfully manifested: Mountain Bike.»

"I'm still getting a bike!?"

It would seem the day when he could drive freely in a shiny Aventador was still far in the future.