Already familiar with the way the gates worked, Mack turned his back to the gate and saw a large green field in front of him.

Some trees and small plants but mostly green grass.

Close to him, the already expected signboard and one unexpected small cube.

After seeing the two, Mack walked closer to the signboard so he could read the runes.

“The path you chose will be filled with blood. This gate shall ensure that the blood is not yours nor from your loved ones, but from your enemies.”

Mack pondered over the words in the signboard and thought it must be another kind of training.

[You know what to do with the cube already. The rest will be self-explanatory once you pass that hill] .

Mack looked in the distance and could see that there was indeed a small hill a few kilometers ahead and behind that hill only clouds and nothing more.

‘Maybe some kind of valley is beyond that hill?’

Then Mack’s gaze fell on the Cube.

He walked to the cube and raised his bloody right hand, and after a few seconds, the sound of blood dripping on a metallic surface could be heard.

Fourteen long minutes later, Mack was looking at several metallic boxes on the ground.

Every time Mack retrieved one box of the Cube another one would appear and just like that Mack saw himself looking like a Christmas tree, surrounded by boxes.

“And here I am. An alien Christmas tree.”

Said Mack, realizing the awkward scene.

“Ok let’s see what we have here”

Said Mack, grabbing one of the boxes.

The boxes themselves were nothing extravagant, just some kind of purple metal that resembled plastic to the touch, with a more soft surface, but were cold as normal metal.

Mack opened the small box, pulling the lead in the indicated engravings.

And to his surprise, what he found inside the box was a pair of boots.

Metallic black boots.

[The colors were chosen based on your usual preference by me]

“Hmmm. I indeed love black clothes a bit too much.”

Said Mack, looking at his current outfit all in black color.

His gaze changed back to the pair of boots as he grabbed them and he could see they were also made of some kind of alien metal that looked like the same as the box but more rough to the touch.

The black color was not some shining black with a metallic luster. But more like an opaque and unreflective black. It was as if the light itself could not touch the boots. Yet, they were as cold as metal could be.

Mack raised the boots and felt almost no weight.

Looking more closely at the boots, a message appeared in Mack’s vision

(Durak Special Forces Boots, rare grade, made by Cube Inc.)

(Modified Design: Small gravity cancelation engine added)

“Some fancy boots indeed”

“I wonder how this gravity cancelation stuff works”

Said Mack, already putting the new boots and throwing his old ones to the side.

When he put the boots on, they shrank a bit to fit Mack’s feet.

“Really? Alien stuff is the best.”

Even in those simple things, their technology was worlds apart. Literally.

After stomping his feet a bit to feel the new boots and appearing very satisfied with the grip and malleability, Mack grabbed the next box close to him.

“A swimsuit?”

Said Mack, raising the thing inside the box.

(Durak special forces battle suit, rare grade, made by Cube Inc)

“Am I going to receive a complete package from those Duraks?”

[Yes, you will. The Duraks have the most advanced technology know to this date and this suit is capable of shock absorption to a certain degree, and also has self-repairing capabilities.]

“You are very talkative today. Why the sudden change?”

Asked Mack, already used to this non-responsive book girl.

[I only follow my protocols. If what you ask do not affect the objective of each gate, I will gladly help you]

“I see. Gladly. Yeap. Such big soul.”

[…]

Mack removed his new boots. Then removed all his clothes. And put on the Durak battle suit.

He stretched a bit and felt nothing wrong. It was very comfortable to use.

Looking from a distance one could easily mistake Mack for a surfer. It really looked like a swimming suit. It completely covered Mack from the base of his chin to the arms, body, and legs. Even his fingers were covered. Not a single line or drawing could be seen on the suit, it was completely black.

The only unprotected place was his head. The suit covered everything else, even his neck.

“Don’t tell that I will need to remove this every time I need to pee?”

[If you touch your neck, you will be able to spot small buttons on the right side. It allows you to use several functions of the suit]

“How these things work? I mean they use a battery? They can’t simply repair themselves using nothing. Right?”

[You are correct. They can’t. They use the heat produced by your body to work. That’s why the boots and the suit only shrink to adjust to your body after a few seconds]

[All the items in those boxes also came with self-repairing ability. It’s hard to explain but they use a replication matrix similar to the cubes. A far simpler one. But if the suit is not completely destroyed and the core area, the neck, is intact. Then given time the suit will repair itself using your heat as energy and converting the free Essence in the environment to the material used in the suit. And it’s an intelligent material similar to nanorobots from Earth]

“That’s quite cool. I guess there is not any clothes company anymore in those Duraks place.”

[…]

“Ok, let’s open all those boxes. It seems is time for a visual upgrade hahahah”

[If I may advise. Don’t rely too much on them. After all, their designs are from thousands of years ago in Earth time. They are for sure obsolete. Remember that my creator designed me and the tower before his death. Thousands of years ago.]

“I see. Thanks for the reminder. I guess tools are only tools in the end. One must rely primarily on himself to achieve anything.”

Said Mack, grabbing one of his two guns at the side.

Then he pointed at his own feet.

~bang~

“But. It does feel nice to be bulletproof.”

Said Mack, seeing that no damage was done to the suit after shooting at his own foot. But he still felt a sting of pain. As if someone was stomping in his foot very hard.

Mack threw the guns away. Put the new boots on again and approached another box.

There were several of them. He was curious to see what gifts better than this suit he would still receive.

For him. This ‘bulletproof’ suit was already the pinnacle.

Alas, he could not be more wrong. This was only the start.