41

Clay Puppet

Forseti's speed was greatly reduced as the clay puppet charged forward, raising its hand in a hammer-like punch. Its fingerless hands made the punch resemble a blunt force strike.

Forseti attempted to raise his hammer to block, but his movements were sluggish.

He tried to dodge repeatedly but was too slow, ultimately taking the puppet's punch straight to his face.

"Boom!"

Forseti cursed inwardly as he was knocked back and fell awkwardly to the ground.

Luckily, the puppet's punch wasn't very hard. Though it left him seeing stars momentarily, it wasn't debilitating. He rubbed his nose and quickly got to his feet.

The clay puppet followed up with another strike, and Forseti realized escape was futile. Clutching Verrigan tightly, he released holy light from his hand as the puppet closed in.

Holy Light Strike!

Light and fire intertwined on Verrigan's warhammer, directly colliding with the clay golem's fist.

"Boom!"

Naturally, the puppet's fist couldn't withstand Verrigan's blow, causing its right arm to be blown apart, scattering soil everywhere.

The puppet showed no urgency. Immediately after, it swung its left fist, knocking Forseti down.

Though the puppet's punches weren't forceful, taking two consecutive hits to the face wasn't pleasant.

Stars flashed before Forseti's eyes, his nose stinging as he struggled to rise before the puppet could attack again.

His deceleration effect had lessened slightly, allowing him to stagger to his feet, using every ounce of strength to create distance from the puppet.

Forseti stood panting, keeping a vigilant eye on the advancing clay puppet.

After this encounter, he understood the puppet lacked intelligence, skills, or complex movements, yet it was far from easy to deal with.

Right before Forseti's eyes, the clay puppet's previously destroyed right hand began to slowly regenerate, eventually fully growing back.

This widened Forseti's eyes.

It's immortal!

But he quickly regained his composure, noticing that as the right hand regenerated, the puppet's overall size decreased slightly.

Clearly, it wasn't an indestructible body but rather a makeshift repair by redistributing soil from other parts of its body.

After a moment's consideration, Forseti gritted his teeth and rushed forward with his warhammer.

The clay puppet continued its relentless advance, preparing to strike with its fist.

Just as they were about to clash, Forseti dodged the puppet's fist with a swift swing of his warhammer.

Holy Light Strike!

Amidst holy light and flames, Verrigan's hammer shattered the clay golem's right leg.

Losing balance, the clay puppet crashed to the ground with a thud.

"Now without legs, let's see how you retaliate!"

Forseti seized the opportunity, wrestling the puppet to the ground and preparing to deliver a crushing blow with Verrigan's fist.

Unexpectedly, the clay puppet showed no distinction between up and down; lying or standing, it made no difference. Raising its hand, it blocked Verrigan's fist.

"Boom!"

This caused one of the puppet's arms to explode again, but it immediately retaliated with its other hand, punching Forseti in the chest.

Forseti was knocked back, chest aching, rolling over and clutching his chest as he eyed the clay puppet.

As expected, the puppet's blown-off limbs soon regenerated.

After two destroyed arms and one leg,

Its size had shrunk by nearly half, now about Forseti's height.

Persist!

Forseti encouraged himself, roaring as he charged forward again.

Thus, they traded blows back and forth until Forseti finally obliterated the clay puppet with a final hammer strike, dispersing it into smoke.

Finally got it!

Forseti slumped to the ground, gasping for breath.

An ordinary monster was surprisingly troublesome, even more formidable than the rare monster Graf Sharptooth.

Reflecting on it, he realized rarity didn't necessarily correlate with strength. Monster strength was determined by experience level; rarity affected only dropped items.

Let's see what this earth golem can drop.

Forseti examined the loot list.

Received: **Devotion 17.25**, and **Experience Book: Rock Golem**.

For a regular monster, this drop was quite good; most regular monsters dropped minimal devotion.

Forseti flipped through the pages of the experience book.

**Experience Book: Rock Golem**

**Experience Level: Level 4**

A fourth-level monster... on par with Uncle Hogg.

Forseti estimated he might not be a match, yet curiosity got the better of him. He decided to venture forth and investigate.

The rock golem's experience realm resembled that of the clay puppet: standard forest and grasslands.

However, the differences were substantial. Firstly, size—the rock golem towered over Forseti, nearly twice his height.

True to its name, the rock golem was composed of stone, not mud.

As Forseti observed the rock golem, it too noticed him.

Gripping Verrigan's hammer tightly, Forseti remained vigilant, recalling his battle with the clay golem and trying to anticipate the rock golem's fighting style.

At that moment, the rock puppet raised its hand and made a sweeping motion.

Another deceleration skill?

Forseti focused, preparing to evade.

Unexpectedly, the rock golem hurled its right hand, transformed into a large boulder, hurtling straight toward Forseti.

The boulder's speed caught Forseti off guard, striking him squarely.

"Boom!"

Forseti snapped back to reality.

This puppet was formidable, he realized, recalling its origin.

Deceleration and stone projectiles... wasn't this the stone golem from Warcraft?

No wonder it was so powerful; Warcraft golems were among the fiercest creatures in the wild, able to rival dragons.

Forseti adjusted his mindset, setting aside thoughts of the stone golem and retrieving the gold and silver jewelry he'd seized from Lord Skrins.

Gold coins required no identification, but the gems did.

**Tier 1 items: Total Devotion 9.51**

**Tier 2 items: Total Devotion 17.66**

...

All jewelry identified: one Tier 3 item, the rest Tier 1 and Tier 2. Forseti decided to hold onto the Tier 3 gem for now. As for the others, he planned to sell them.

Of course, not to the holy deed; selling gems directly to them would be a loss. Selling them as genuine donations for gold coins was far more profitable.

Every time he considered this, Forseti felt a bit conflicted... Here they were, a holy deed, yet they valued money so.

After donating a substantial amount of gold coins, Forseti checked his devotion balance: 4452.

The decimals were irrelevant; with money came attention to patterns.

He decided to try his luck with a fate gift.

Forseti purchased a fate gift, expecting a token of gratitude, but upon opening it, his eyes widened in surprise.