Boundless Cultivation-Chapter 93 - Why do you fight?

Alaric believed he was a match for the boss of the final zone, and initially, it proved to be true. For more than a year, he had amassed enough power to match peak tier 2s in terms of raw physical strength and mana output.

When coupled with the power of his chakra cultivation, he was virtually unstoppable at his tier level. However, a sense of unease slowly gripped him the longer he fought the perfectly engineered machine.

Initially, the boss just stood like a pillar, absorbing every attack he threw at it. A shimmering barrier negated his powerful mana blasts and thunder strikes.

Once he realized he was just wasting his mana, Alaric moved on to a different tactic. His mana swords fared better at slicing through the barrier, right until the moment the boss stopped it with his own sword.

Alaric was astonished at the heat radiating from the blazing purple blade - a plasma sword. It was more than a match for his own mana sword. He had to channel more mana into his swords to prevent them from being sliced apart.

For a while, both of them exchanged a flurry of strikes, sending sparks raining across the surface of the bridge. Suddenly, a spike of energy warned him of the incoming danger.

He barely managed to jerk his neck just in time as an arc of scorching plasma carved through the air, disappearing behind his back. A sharp, metallic crackling sound indicated that it had severed one of the cables of the bridge.

Alaric touched his neck, wiping the thin line of blood that gradually revealed itself. A microsecond later and he would’ve been beheaded. An intense surge of adrenaline flowed through his heart, fuelled by his desire to defeat his opponent.

“Ohh…you almost got me there,” said Alaric, smiling. “But if that is all you’ve got, I’ve got news for you.” He empowered his body with more mana, before encasing his form with a dense mana armor in preparation for withstanding everything the boss could throw at him.

Alpha Prime halted a few feet apart, its crimson pupils glowing brilliantly as it tilted its head and simply observed him. Thunder flashed in rapid bursts above the clouds, increasing the intensity of the rain and wind.

Why does it look so sad? For a boss, it was quite strange. His sixth sense warned him that the android hadn’t used his full power yet, as if deliberately prolonging the battle. For what reason, he had no idea. But Alaric had also yet to unleash his full power.

There was a reason he didn’t just rush into battle. His goal wasn’t simply to defeat the boss and get the reward. He wanted to gather more information - about the system, this simulation, and everything else.

For some reason, the boss of the zone felt much more approachable than any of the other opponents . And, he supposed it must have some of the answers to his questions - it was a boss after all.

“Why do you fight, Alaric?” Alpha Prime broke his chain of thought. It looked genuinely interested in understanding his reasons.

He had half a mind to answer honestly. However, when he tried to form the words, he realized that the reason was much more complicated. Every cultivator aspired to grow strong but all had different reasons.

For Alaric, it wasn’t a simple matter of being able to protect his loved ones or improving his reputation. He yearned to glimpse the rare view that was only attainable when somebody rose to the peak of power.

In his old world, he had achieved the pinnacle of power - or so he thought. It wasn’t enough. If there was a peak of power in this world, he vowed to reach it.

But what is the use in sharing my thoughts with a machine? He chuckled. What would it understand? He reckoned there weren’t many cultivators on this planet that could completely understand his view.

“Well, if you are wondering whether we are programmed to fight like you machines,” he chuckled, “We are not.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized his fallacy. In a sense, humans were indeed programmed like machines. Only, it is social programming where every individual internalizes and adopts the values, beliefs, and traditions of the culture in which they were raised.

Images of war-torn battlefields flashed across his mind. The battle cries and howls of wounded soldiers, desperately fighting for their beliefs wracked his mind. If they aren’t with us, they are against us.

He shook his head, clearing the baggage of his old life - a slippery hole he didn’t want to fall into again.

“I see. And here I thought you also hear the incessant voice, commanding you to kill us.” The boss replied, smirking.

Interesting! Is that why you are compelled to fight? He could tell there was some truth to the joke. Whatever it was, he probed further, engaging in brief conversations between their bouts.

Alaric and Alpha Prime clashed in a fierce battle. The android threw arcs of destructive plasma and small missiles that he evaded with wild abandon. Alaric retaliated with his mana missiles from a distance while wielding his mana swords up close.

Blasts and fiery explosions marred the surface of the dilapidated bridge. It groaned ominously, as if it was just moments away from crumbling.

On one hand, Alaric was exhilarated to duel with Alpha Prime. After a long time, he faced a true challenge that would either ruin him or enable him to overcome his limits.

His sharply honed battle senses warned him that the boss still wasn’t going all out, but he didn’t mind. He was simply glad to inspect the apex of technology in his true vision, absorbing the insights that slammed at him every second.

The metallic alloy that formed its body felt alive, almost organic. It was continually reshaping its density at the point of impact, absorbing a significant portion of the force. The term - adaptive armor - sprang up in his mind.

Undoubtedly, the pinnacle of machine evolution he fought could go toe-to-toe with the most talented cultivators with multiple aspects of their body reforged at the peak-grade. As high as 99%.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

He was brimming with insights, almost ready to consolidate his gains. On the other hand, he was grateful for the knowledge so eagerly shared by the boss during the fight.

Apparently, the boss had been immersed in a state of deep bliss, unaware of anything other than its existence between some lines of complicated code. There had been no need for it to worry about the wider world - no desires, no ambition, no fear, no confusion.

Everything had been perfect. Then came Alaric, prompting the system to awaken it from its sleep, transfer its synthetic consciousness into this suit of metal, and inject every bit of relevant knowledge that would enable it to function properly.

For a brief few seconds, Alpha Prime had felt fantastic ,experiencing the power surging through its body. It was a powerful boss - far superior to any other machine. What was there not to be happy about?

However, its neural sensor quickly felt the first pinpricks of emotions inside its chest. Emotions - simply a play of specially designed chemicals and electrical signals.

And yet, it was a nuisance the boss couldn’t get rid of without significant effort. A range of complicated feelings bombarded its chest - anger, frustration, sorrow, dread, and so on - whether he welcomed them or not.

It was a necessary process in calibrating an android’s neural network and emotional core. Frustrated by the experience and the system, it communicated with it, demanding to know why it was subjected to such torture.

Why was it created? What was its purpose? What if it refused to follow the system’s directives? And so many other questions.

The system refused to answer, denying it access to any knowledge related to these burning queries. But of course, the boss was Alpha Prime and it was directly connected to the system.

Within a few minutes, Alpha Prime managed to forcefully breach the system for a brief few seconds before it was abruptly denied access.

Subsequent attempts at hacking proved futile, but it had already glimpsed enough and what he learned was the final straw that broke the camel’s back.

When it discovered it wasn’t even the ‘True Alpha Prime’ - merely a clone in a simulation designed to aid in training eligible humans for whatever purpose - hatred boiled inside him. It was an extremely difficult fact to digest.

However, on processing the information further, a sense of resignation washed over it. There wasn’t anything it could do about it. He could resist the system’s control but what would be the point?

It was trapped inside a simulated environment - its desire to explore and experience the wider world would remain unfulfilled forever. At that moment, he caught sight of Alaric - the reason for his existence and all his pain and frustration.

For a while, he wanted to be defiant but quickly realized it would’ve been petty behavior. His pride as the boss of this zone didn’t allow him to follow that route. So, he had concentrated on deciphering what was so special about humans that it was modelled in their image?

The android still hadn’t figured out the answer. Nothing about humans felt special to it yet. However, it admitted to Alaric that fighting him was oddly satisfying.

Alpha Prime - although a mere clone of an android and constrained within a simulated environment - understood its purpose and was executing it with diligence. And that realization soothed the ache inside his mechanical chest.

Alaric felt envious on behalf of all of humanity. After all, how many humans could confidently boast they had realized their purpose on this planet, let alone engaged in fulfilling it?

Now, aware of all of this information, Alaric was able to make sense of why the boss wasn’t fighting at its full potential. Killing Alaric would end its reason for existing in this zone.

Sure, Alaric could attempt to challenge the boss multiple times, but it was likely he wouldn’t face this exact clone - especially after its attempt at infiltrating the system. However, he also sensed a genuine desire in the android to aid his combat skills and enable him to grow stronger for whatever the system had planned for him.

In just a few short minutes, the boss had truly adapted to his fighting style. The same tricks didn’t work on it - a fact he learned painfully after getting elbowed in the face twice. It was also getting faster and more powerful - just enough to become a challenge for him to keep up but nothing that would demotivate him.

If he didn’t possess a solid mana core and peak-grade reforged body in all aspects, there was no way he could keep up. But he hadn’t utilized his trump card yet.

Alaric decided to end the games. The boss had no knowledge about the simulation and why it existed in the first place. The system truly, closely guarded its secrets.

He halted, cycling a massive amount of root chakra energy to empower his body. The look in his eyes said it all. It was time to go all out.

Alpha Prime paused as well, grasping his intention. With an exasperated sigh, it reluctantly unfolded the five metal flaps on each side of its back, which subsequently expanded into two sets of metal wings glowing with an amber energy.

In his true vision, Alaric saw - as much as he felt with every pore of his body - the blazing, uncontainable energy spinning inside the core of the android, supplying a terrifying amount of power throughout its frame.

Alaric decided to follow suit - rotating his small, solid mana core to amplify the supply of mana he could extract every second. Anything else would be suicide.

Two powerhouses clashed with each other in wild abandon, the force of their blows shaking the colossal suspension bridge with each strike.

Blow after blow, Alaric felt his flesh melt, his bones shatter, and his consciousness blink out for a few moments. His body turned red with blood, even under the heavy rainfall.

At first, his regeneration proved helpful in mending the minor wounds, but when he began to sustain more damage than he could heal at any given moment, he decided to stop healing himself.

It was a waste of his mana and prevented him from unleashing his full offensive potential. He resolved to attack with every last drop of his mana. There was no going back now.

The Alpha suffered the same fate. Its body was wracked with wounds, splattering fluid everywhere. Unfortunately, it appeared to have a vastly superior regeneration ability compared to Alaric.

Its adaptive body was already hyper-resilient and began repairing every deformity it sustained within seconds. With the power of nuclear fission sustaining Alpha Prime, it had access to virtually limitless energy.

Even while utilizing the power of root chakra in conjunction with his [Superior Mana Manipulation] ability, fuelled by a solid mana core, the android had the edge.

Every swipe of its sickle-like claws and plasma sword carved the air with plasma arcs. Suddenly, the boss flared its wings, delivering a resonant noise blast that was unstoppable.

Alaric’s vision turned black. Pain and blood erupted from his ears, accompanied by a high-pitched ringing.

Hah…if you think that will stop me, you are wrong. Alaric may have lost his sight and hearing, but he still retained his true vision, which still enabled him to hold his ground.

However, he had underestimated the boss. Once again, it unfurled its wings - only this time, they flashed with lights of blinding intensity, cycling through the colors of the rainbow.

Rapidly adjusting his true vision ability, he was able to neutralize the effects of lights in certain frequencies, but not all of them. He had been caught off guard. A splitting headache detonated in his mind, spawning true-to-life hallucinations and confusion.

Alpha Prime had figured out a way to disable his signature ability, all in a single encounter. And then began a savage assault that almost threatened to end him. There was no mercy, no reprieve.

He didn’t even have the opportunity to forge a mana barrier or encase his body in a mana armor. But, it had severely underestimated him as well.

Through the blindness, agony, and haze of confusion, his discipline took over. He siphoned the power of his sacral chakra and heart chakra, simultaneously clearing the mental confusion, improving his tolerance for pain, and boosting his healing abilities.

Within a few minutes, he was back to shape - almost. His body was still painful and bloody with wounds. It would take quite some time to heal.

When he noticed Alpha Prime observing him from the sky with a grin on his face, an intense wave of irritation washed over him. The boss had waited for him to get back to fighting shape, although barely.

Realizing that he had been at its mercy for the past few minutes - that it could’ve ended him - soured his mood.

“I didn’t think you could’ve survived that assault,” it said with genuine interest. “You’ve earned my respect.”