41 Golem Switcheroo
On a specialized floor within Avant Heim, the fiery blaze of multiple furnaces working were setting the room's temperature to the point of cooking a Hunter alive was possible.
The metal the dwarves found was near the core of the Earth, a place for extreme pressure and soaring temperatures.
When Earth first experienced mana, it was when the Earth evolved. Because of mana, it formed unique elements with varying effects and the cause of the dwarves finding the unique metal that reflects mana.
Anyway, it has been a couple of days since Kara asked to prepare the smithy. And currently, Kara and the dwarves were mending and molding the metal.
It was a tiresome task as magic was useless. Enchanting the metal or casting runes onto its surface would disperse the mana, erasing the spell.
However, you might ask, how is Kara creating a golem if magic doesn't work?
Simple, Kara and the dwarves decided that treating the metal as a shell rather than the medium itself would be best.
In short, an armor.
"Is the Mythril skeleton ready?" Kara looked at the dwarves with sheer focus; Brownbeard, the Chief of the Dwarves, nodded in confidence.
"Aye."
"Good, make it stand so that I can finally fit the armor on it," Kara ordered. She had tried many other metals, but Mythril worked best under the stress of magic.
Mythril was just titanium that formed around heavy doses of mana. Meaning it was creatable.
*CLANG*
As the dwarves moved the skeletal structure of the golem, it kept producing powerful vibrations as they moved it.
One had to note that a single golem was the size of a single-story building. You can already imagine its sheer weight of pure metal.
After they got it to stand, Kara wasted no time fitting the armor pieces onto it.
Wiping off her imaginary sweat, she looked at their creation proudly with a smile. "Haha! Good work! Now, how much did that cost?"
Brownbeard, hearing this flinched, "Hehe, Lady Kara, a golem fitted with pure Reflexion took more than a quarter of what we harvested."
"WHAT!?" shocked to find out its cost, Kara almost blew a vessel. "How can there be so little of the metal you found?"
"We were merely lucky, Lady Kara, to find such metal. So, as of now, we have no ways of finding it." Brownbeard explained.
"Sigh." Sighing, Kara waved it off. "I'll deal with the method. For now, let's test it; I want to know if we should invest time and effort into it."
Brownbeard signaled a subordinate to insert a monster's core into the golem to power it up. When everything was ready, "Oi! Power the beauty up!"
Listening to the Chief, the dwarf activated the golem. And soon after, the shining blue aura emanated from within the creation.
"Lady Kara, can it already fight?" asked Brownbeard; "No, at least, not yet."
"Not yet?" replied curiously, "Correct. The magic system I created for the golem was to learn. Meaning it's nothing more than a blank slate.
"However, I did input some combat functions into it. By learning, it will adjust to its optimal best in the future."
Kara's words were easy to understand, "But how will we stress test it?" this time, Think asked.
She was the assistant of Kara during the days that passed, and it was hell for her. She wasn't used to such extreme conditions, but she powered through.
Without a second to think, Kara answered as she thought of the perfect person to ask. "I'll get Mr. Reed. That should be fine, right?"
"U-Uhm, are you sure, Lady Kara? Mr. Reed might be too much for the golem," said Brownbeard. He was already looking at the golem as if it was his child already.
"Don't worry; everything will be fine. What better way to test than get a strong fire mage? Plus, have faith in our creation. I would have called Papa, but he might destroy it instead."
Hearing Thomas made Brownbeard relent instantly. Not that he had a choice to force his decision, anyway. Another thing to note is Thomas is a counter for the golem. Relentless brute force is its weakness.
However, if the opponent is a mage, it's another outcome entirely. And that's what's happening now.
When Kara suggested Christopher Reed as a test subject, it was perfect timing, as he was soloing a dungeon raid as of now.
With a switcheroo, the dungeon's boss got swapped with the golem.
[Christopher Reed's POV]
Midway through my raid, I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the sudden mana influx. The concerning aspect was the large amount in increase.
I've been raiding Rank-A gates non-stop these past few weeks, trying to prove myself to that blasted family that I am above them!
Me, a lion that stands above others! Especially to that lion cub, Thomas. And to prove that, I've been raiding high-rank gates.
And during those raids, there's a rhythm in how things play out. The fluctuation of mana has a range in how much it fluctuates. And with my superior senses, I can accurately feel it.
But this one? No, this is no ordinary fluctuation. It's like a taxi's engine was suddenly swapped by a formula racing car's engine.
"Let's see if lady luck has blessed me today," mumbling under my breath as I walked a charred ground of blackened corpses that got dealt by me.
As I moved deeper into the dungeon, the mana became richer in density, almost prickling my skin.
Upon reaching the supposed boss area, I couldn't help but notice the boss being different from the monsters I met at the start.
Minotaurs were my opponents, not a bulky golem that oozed mana. "I guess there's a first time for everything."
Seeing that its attention wasn't on me, I decided to rain one of my powerful attacks onto it.
*Woosh~!*
Flames gathered within my arms, raging wildly and concentrated into a dense attack. Though the heat got the attention of the armored giant as it turned around, facing me.
'Weird. Usually, I would feel intent directed at me. But this one is hollow? Nothing? Empty? Well, whatever it is, I'll melt it down to slag!'
*FWOOOSH!*
My attack raged wild and was going to my target; I didn't remove my eyes; my guts told me something weird was with this thing.
And right as when my attack was supposed to come into contact, it didn't.
The armored thing just stood there, but for my attack? It bent away, crashing onto the walls behind it.
*CRACKLE!*
The heat of my attack was even high enough that it turned parts of the wall into molten lava.
"Lady Luck doesn't seem to be smiling today."
_______________
As Christopher fought against Kara's and the Dwarves' creation, they observed as well.
"HAHAHA! You see that, boys!? She's deflecting attacks without even moving! CHEERS!" Brownbeard said and cheered with the dwarves with a mug of Dagsheart, dwarven made.
Kara, on the other hand, had a sweet drink of fruits. Alcohol of all sorts doesn't work on her. It's considered as a poison by the body, unfortunately.
'Hmm. The golem is moving better than I thought but still clunky. I guess it'll improve in time.' Kara thought and quietly sipped her drink.
Looking to her left, she saw her assistant, Think, asleep. 'If she's asleep, that means it's been days since I went home. Damn, and here I said I would make it home for dinner.'
Hurriedly sipping her drink and finishing it, she cleaned Think with a spell and teleported her home to her bed.
Leaving the floor without disturbing the dwarves' celebration, she couldn't help but notice multiple notifications.
'Oh. The system notifies me of Jin-Woo's leveling up and achievement. Well, so far, it's canon.
'Anyway, I better get home. I miss Mom's cooking!'
With a snap of her fingers, she disappeared.
_______________
*CRACK!*
Meanwhile, Christopher was dodging attacks with ease, but the power behind each strike was deadly.
He's been going at it for quite some time already, slowly accumulating fatigue, while the golem kept steady and constantly attacked without tiring.
The Hunter has long given up on throwing his fiery attacks as they only kept being reflected and went on the melee.
However, he wasn't best known for physical strength, as shown in his attacks against the golem. Whenever he manages to hit the golem, it only leaves a small dent, not practical, it seemed.
"Huff, Huff, this will take a while."
.
.
.
.
.
(CHEERS!)
