Maxwell opened his eyes to a bright blue sky with white clouds overhead. He quickly turned his head to find he no longer had his right arm, and in addition, he could tell he no longer had his legs. His left arm only retained partial function as well. In fact, the only fully functional thing about him seemed to be his Core system. With a sigh, he leaned back and watched the clouds drift by before boredom finally took him and he went into sleep mode.

  -----

  Amber was a small girl of six years when she found the half-metal man in the field. She had been to the field every day since the winter snow melted and she was surprised she found him after following a trench dug into the ground. At first, she thought he was a dead adventurer and poked him with a stick, but soon decided to talk to her adopted father.

  “ Dad... dad come quick... I found a metal man in the field. I think he’s dead.”

  Her father cursed as he wiped his forehead with a rag as he backed away from his swill with the other men of the village. Who were just as surprised as the little girl when they first saw the man.

  “ It looks dead Wal. What you gonna do with it?”

  The girl’s father looked into her eyes and sighed before hardening his resolve.

  “ That good metal. The smith can make us some good tools out of it.”

  Naturally, that was the end of it in his mind. But for Amber, it was the beginning.

  -----

  “ I don’t know what ta tell ya Wal. I put it in the forge and got it nice and hot. Notin I got made not a dent. Maybe a merchant will take it. Don’t expect more than a few coppers from those swindlers.”

  Wal cursed his luck and gave the hunk of offending metal a swift kick in between the missing legs, regretting it immediately as his soft leather boots met a solid metal plate.

  “ Piece of shit wasn’t worth hauling from the field then.”

  The blacksmith shook his head as Wal left, not even noticing his daughter watching the whole time.

  “ Come on out lass, I know ye hiding out there.”

  Amber hid from the doorway before walking out bashful from her fright.

  “ Mr. Walker, will you really sell the metal man?”

  The blacksmith smiled gently as he started stroking his beard. A habit he got from his half-dwarven mother.

  “ Na las. Wal be a fool to think I sell this marvel for mere coppers and bobbles. This here is something special. You see las, my blood on my horny grandpappy side says this here metal man still lives. That and my [Identify] skill says it too. Make no mistake, he hurt’n and something fierce, but I recogn it a project worth my granddaddy’s time.”

  Amber smiles at that and puts a gentle hand on top of the metal man’s shoulder.

  “ I don’t know. I feel something seeing him hurt like this. I think he could be something more... something better.”

  The blacksmith smiles at that as well and soon shoos the girl out of his forge so he may get to work. With a sigh, he moves to one of the shelves and pulls out a stone.

  “ Bet the old drunk never thought he sees me use this for something like this.”

  Meanwhile, as the blacksmith talked to his dwarven grandfather, a young girl leaned against the wall outside the smithy listening in on the conversation. And she was not the only one listening to the quarter dwarves words.