Chapter 105: Retry

Alex looked at the remaining bot and smiled, "This one seems to be the leader then." He looked at the bot as it took out a knife. The bot however didn't focus on Alex, It ran straight to Imani. Alex's eyes opened wide when he saw the Bot running to Imani, he ran to the bot but before he could reach Imani, the bot touched her on the shoulder with the knife and then fell to the ground. 

Imani stood up and sighed. She looked at Alex and smiled, "Good try but you lose."

She then turned to the other bots and walked out of the room. Alex took a deep breath and spoke, "I guess I was too slow… I've never had proper combat experience before, except the last 2-3 days… And all of them were creatures who were after me or trying to take me down. I guess The thought of them not going after me but rather going for someone weaker for an easy win never came to mind. It was my lack of awareness." Alex sighed as he followed Imani. 

Imani looked back at Alex and continued her way down the stairs. She slowly explained, "Well, I totally understand what you mean Alex. It makes a lot of sense for you to fail this. That's why I'm not disappointed in you, I just wanted to do this so that I could find your flaws in this type of missions…" 

She then smiled, "I've got what I needed but still, You were pretty close to success there, Alex. I was surprised… If you were a bit faster, It would have been an amazing achievement. So Don't fret. You've already surprised me and the others who might be watching this tape later on. So, follow me. We're going to have a lengthy review session about this entire situation after we retry this once more." She walked to the bottom of the floor before jumping up the stairs once again. 

Imani looked at Alex and smiled, "Well, I could have told you to go back and try again but I wanted to truly congratulate you on going that far so I walked with you. Now, Alex… We're going back to the start. You know everything, the layout of the place, where everyone is, and where I am being held. You know the numbers and you know their weapons as well as weaknesses… So, Mr. Hero… Save me won't you?" Imani clapped her hands as a few new bots ran to her and took her back to the room.

Alex watched speechlessly as Imani was taken away. He shook his head and smiled, "I guess she wants me to succeed in this… Thank you, Imani. This time, I won't let you down. I will do this mission and I will succeed!" Alex felt excited. He knew that he could do this mission without a hassle now that he had all the information from his previous experience. 

He jumped back to the stairs and ran towards the right hallway, "No bots here, this is like a buffer zone… The real thing starts next floor, I'll need to make a plan." Alex said to himself as he ran back up the 2nd flight of stairs. He peeked up to see the two bots, entering and exiting the two rooms at opposites ends of the hallway.

Alex thought back to how he took down the two bots and smiled, 'I think I can do it at a quicker pace now.' Alex looked back and searched his surroundings. He spotted a small vase and threw it down the stairs to the hallways below. 'They seem to react to sound so why don't I just lure one of them out, take him out and then take out the 2nd without alerting it?' Alex formed a plan.

Both the bots heard the noise but only one walked out to check the noise, Alex watched as the bot passed by him. Alex was hiding beside the stairs in such a way that he couldn't be spotted by those who were walking down the stairs. The bot walked to the vase and looked around. Alex took that opportunity to take down the first bot. He let the bot fall, making another sound before pulling the bot away, keeping its body out of sight from the stairs. 

The second bot ran over to inspect. It looked around but before it could spot the bot's body or Alex, It fell on the ground, a dagger in the back of its head. "Nice." Alex said to himself before running upstairs. Imani watched as Alex took down the two bits. She smiled, "I guess it was a good choice making him do this again. I guess he'll breeze past this now he knows everything that is needed." 

Imani was right, Alex ran to the bot in front of the iron door. He lured it by the sound of another vase falling, 'There sure are many vases here. It's truly like a rich man's house. Weird expenses on the art they don't understand.' Alex commented on the vases and weird paintings around him in the hallway as he waited for the bot to check the source of the sound. 

The bot came to the source of the sound but Alex quickly took it down. He then turned to the iron door and smiled, "now comes the hard part." Alex said to himself as he approached the door. He looked around to see if there were any other ways to enter the door but Alex only saw doors to the next room. 

A sudden idea popped into Alex's mind. He looked at the door and ran towards the door at the right. He slowly peeked in through the key hole and spoke, "This is an empty room… So, What if I do this?" Alex said as he slowly entered the room. 

Imani looked at the door with furrowed eyebrows, "It must have been an almost impossible situation for Alex to take care of but now, he seems to be plotting something… I want to see what you're plotting." She looked at Alex's action curiously.

Alex looked around the room and nodded, He then walked outside and then paced to the iron door. He pulled the bot's body away and hid it in another room before running back to the door. Alex then took a deep breath, "I hope this works." 

*Knock* *Knock* *knock*

The bots around Imani looked around the room and then at each other. The leader walked up and slowly approached the door. Imani looked confused as well and turned her gaze towards the door, "What is he planning? I want to see what he does with my own eyes now." She said as she turned her attention to the door, waiting for Alex to pop in. 

The bot slowly opened the door and looked around but there was no one. Before the bot could look turn to Imani however, A huge bang came from the room besides their own. The walls were torn and there was a huge gap in the wall, large enough to fit a person. 

Alex jumped inside the room through the wall and ran towards Imani. He then turned to the Wall and helped Imani through the hole to the other room. He then turned to the three Bots and cracked his knuckles. 'I have some remaining mana so I can activate might a few more times.' He scuffed, "Let's see how you will win now that It's only you three and Me!" Alex jumped to the bots. 

Imani watched as Alex took down the three bots on his own in direct combat. He used everything that he had learned till now and only used the dagger when necessary. "He looks like a monkey when jumped… But those kicks look amazing… I fear that this guy will beat me in terms of practical ability by the end of this week… I hate to say it but I think I might need to take lessons from Imani when I can as well." She looked at Alex who stood between three bots lying on the floor. 

He looked at one of the bots and smiled, "He really is strong… " The bot slowly stood up and turned to Alex. "Nearly as strong as the one I fought yesterday… But That one was at the Peak of B rank, this one must be around my level in combat. That's why I won't lose!" Alex felt hyped. 

Imani shook her head and clapped. The bot which had already stood up to contest Alex in battle suddenly fell to the floor. Alex looked at Imani in confusion, "Why?" He was excited about the fight but Imani had stopped it before he could do more. 

Imani looked at Alex and rolled her eyes, "Because it was pointless… You are at your peak right now… It might have been the same strength as you but it's a bot. It lacks proper thinking and analysis… So in the end, even if you two were equally contested, you would have won. That's the first reason. The second point, we don't have much time and I want to focus on explaining a few things to you as well. So, follow me to the observation room."