The sun rose to herald a new day, though Gilgamesh had long been hard at work. In addition to fatigue immunity, he had learned over the night that he did not require sleep or food either. Advantages he had made keen use of.
Gilgamesh sifted through the piles of scrap as quickly as he could while the Boulder Ape watched his back. He flung away some tattered clothing, and finally found an intact core.
[ Wooden Scarecrow - Golem (Low Grade) ]
Just then, a Giant Rat came screeching over the side of the pile and was immediately battered into mangled gore by a huge stone fist. The blow sent tremors through the small hill of scrap, which unlodged enough pieces to cause a slight landside. And Gilgamesh saw another gemstone.
[ Clay Scout - Golem (Low Grade) ]
Fortune was an unpredictable thing. Gilgamesh had spent the entire night without success, but only now came across what he was due in droves. Gilgamesh looked at his newly obtained gemstones. One was an emerald and the other a sapphire, but there seemed to be no tangible difference from the ruby cores of the Clay Sentry and Boulder Ape.
Gilgamesh tossed out the emerald core with its activation and felt a slight pressure on the essence within him.
[ Wooden Scarecrow - Golem (Low Grade) ]
Attributes:
Strength - 10
Agility - 85
Vitality - 10
Perception - 10
Force - 0
Spirit - 25
Control - 10
Willpower - 0
Material: Wood (inferior)
Mana Capacity: 202/250
Consumption: 4 motes per minute
Recovery: 4 motes per minute
The golem had the form of a tall man wearing thick clothing sculpted from wood, though it had a simple but ominous-looking carved face. Its remarkable Agility was the first thing Gilgamesh took note of, but his interest in the golem waned with the rest of its information.
"Inferior Material, no Feature, and an unimposing design that seems ill-suited for combat compared to the Ape and Sentry. If only it had claws instead of hands." Gilgamesh thought, as he turned his focus to the details of its mana.
"It's efficient." Gilgamesh keenly assessed. "The only similarity between it and Clay Sentry is its Spirit. Is 25 the requirement to reach efficiency? Why isn't 25 given to all golems, then?"
Gilgamesh noted that it had a total of 150 Attribute Points, just like his first two golems. "Is 150 the limit of Low Grade golems? If so, then adding points to Spirit would demand taking points away from something else. Boulder Ape was likely optimized for combat in the short term, rather than for sustainability."
"Well," Gilgamesh reasoned. "At the very least, I can have it stand guard as some form of deterrent while my Boulder Ape recovers its mana."
Gilgamesh tossed out the sapphire next and felt even more pressure, almost as though a weight burdened his very being. "Is there a limit to how many golems I can have active at once?" He wondered.
The sapphire core became a man-shaped golem as well, although this one was made of clay and had an even less distinct appearance.
[ Clay Scout - Golem (Low Grade) ]
Attributes:
Strength - 5
Agility - 60
Vitality - 10
Perception - 25
Force - 0
Spirit - 25
Control - 25
Willpower - 0
Material: Clay (inferior)
Feature: Muffle (bronze)
Mana Capacity: 183/250
Consumption: 4 motes per minute
Recovery: 4 motes per minute
[ Muffle (bronze) ]
'Silences the wielder's movements.'
Mana Cost: 1 mote per second
Gilgamesh saw even less combat potential in this Clay Scout than in the Wooden Scarecrow, but he did believe it to be more useful. Specifically towards the role implied by its name.
"I can have it play the role of a canary, a decoy to test the area ahead while I travel. But other than that, it seems little more than a distraction." Gilgamesh thought.
Gilgamesh then turned to its Attributes. "25 Spirit and efficient mana usage. That proves my theory. It also has 25 Control, just like Clay Sentry, so that must be the requirement to have a Feature. On that logic, 25 Vitality is likely needed to enable Low Grade material, as with Boulder Ape. But Clay Scout also has 25 Perception, just as Clay Sentry did..."
"Why Perception?" Gilgamesh wondered. "It is a 'scout' so having a wider and keener field of vision is certainly better, but that cannot be all there is to it when 25 in the other Attributes bestowed such substantial changes..."
Gilgamesh thought deeply for a moment.
"Lower your hand to the ground with your palm facing upwards."
The Clay Scout did as commanded.
"Walk on your hands and move behind me."
The Clay Scout stood on its hands and moved deftly to stand behind him.
"Raise one arm up and place the other on the ground." Gilgamesh ordered his Boulder Ape this time.
Boulder Ape did not move.
"Touch the ground."
Boulder Ape put both hands on the ground in a simple manner.
"So Perception enhances its intelligence." Gilgamesh assessed. "That could prove very useful."
"Hold this dagger."
Gilgamesh held out the simple iron weapon he kept on his cloth belt, and the Clay Scout took it by the handle.
"Imagine an invisible enemy and fight with it."
The Clay Scout did not move.
"Abstract thought is beyond it..." Gilgamesh noted.
"Attack the Wooden Scarecrow with the dagger."
"Evade the Clay Scout's attacks."
Gilgamesh commanded the two golems and watched. The two fought clumsily. Gilgamesh compared the Clay Scout's attacks to the Boulder Ape's in its simplistic and crude skill.
"So its intelligence is limited to specific areas." Gilgamesh glanced at the Wooden Scarecrow. It was just as clumsy but easily dodged every strike by virtue of its greater speed.
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Then Gilgamesh glanced to the growing light of dawn. He had hoped to enter the forest at this time, but didn't even consider sticking to his original plan. He needed multiple golems that were strong in combat before he was willing to take the risk.
Gilgamesh commanded his two new golems to stop fighting and to defend him from all enemies. Neither could be heralded as promising soldiers, but they were more than good enough to handle Giant Rats by their Attributes alone. Even better, they were efficient. He could search through the Scrapyard ceaselessly with them as his guards.
[ Boulder Ape ]
Mana Capacity: 7/150
Boulder Ape was nearly exhausted, so Gilgamesh broke it down and stored the core in his leather pouch. Boulder Ape had an inconvenient efficiency, but his own mana recovery proved a far steeper liability.
[ Gilgamesh ]
Mana Capacity: 87/120
It had been 12 hours since he returned from that first venture into the forest, and yet the mana within him was still a few motes from full capacity. At that pace, it would take a full 24 hours for his mana to recover from empty to full.
He could siphon mana from his golems, but there were flaws with that. For one, draining his golem's mana was detrimental. He himself had hardly any ability in combat. Without his golems, he would not strong enough for these Trials. He could redistribute mana from one golem to the next, but not while they were active. Not if he was in a fight.
Glycon had not yet returned, nor was there any sign that he could find such knowledge within these piles of scrap. So Gilgamesh focused on what he could do.
Over the hours he’d had alone, he had already contemplated a direction. Ultimately, he concluded that there were three types of golems he needed above all.
"A Spear to strike my enemies down. A Shield to withstand my enemies' attacks. And a Wall to keep my enemies at bay."
Gilgamesh walked deeper into the Scrapyard now that he had the light of dawn, with the intention to scavenge until he had acquired all he needed.
---
A trio of primitively armed goblins stalked through the forest on the hunt for prey. Boulder Ape startled them as it rampaged into action from a dormant state, but that shock quickly turned into aggression and the monsters charged back at it.
An arrow made entirely of dark-gray iron impaled the slowest one through the back. One of the remaining goblins jolted around to see Gilgamesh standing beside a large iron snake and a floating wooden hand.
It abandoned its unwitting ally to rush straight towards Gilgamesh, but the giant floating wooden hand moved faster to block its path. The goblin swung its club, but the wooden hand dove under and pinned the goblin to the ground.
The goblin was stronger and would have broken free had it just a few more moments, but an iron bolt pierced its skull before that could happen. Over in the distance at the same time, the Boulder Ape smashed the last goblin dead with ease.
Gilgamesh assessed the aftermath. He had been hunting for a while now and was starting to get a feel for his new pawns. Wielding them was far more effective than leaving them autonomous, but he lacked the mana capacity to do so too actively. It was more efficient to command them normally, and only take control for a brief moment at the most opportune time.
Using golems also entailed more than just mana, he had found. It wasn’t obvious with just one, but the more he activated at once, the more strain it put on himself. That strain was neither on his body nor mind, but somewhere within him. The same place he could feel mana enter and leave.
"...Is that my core?" Gilgamesh wondered.
[ Master Golem Core (silver) ]
‘Allows for direct control over soulbound Golems. Holder becomes a Living Golem.’
Mana Cost: Dependent on the Grade of Golem wielded.
Gilgamesh had felt some disdain towards becoming a golem when he first read the Trait, but he was quickly warming to the reality of it. His body had never been his strong suit, and a golem's physique held a number of advantages. However, he could not help but recall the sight of the Boulder Ape destroying his Clay Sentry's core.
"There is advantage, but it is not without is drawbacks. I need to protect my core."
He tried once again to activate a fourth golem, but this attempt failed just like all the others. Three was the limit that he could endure.
With that, Gilgamesh glanced at the two new additions he had found.
[ Bolt Viper - Golem (Low Grade) ]
Attributes:
Strength - 5
Agility - 20
Vitality - 10
Perception - 10
Force - 50
Spirit - 30
Control - 25
Willpower - 0
Feature: Iron Bolt (bronze)
Material: Iron (inferior)
Mana Capacity: 190/300
Consumption: 4 motes per minute
Recovery: 4 motes per minute
[ Iron Bolt (bronze) ]
'Conjures and casts an arrow made of iron.'
Magnitude: 1.0
Mana Cost: 20 motes
Bolt Viper notably had more than 25 Spirit, but that did not improve its Efficiency. Gilgamesh had hoped to find one that would gain mana faster than it consumed, but he gladly settled for what he did obtain.
Though far from the behemoth powerhouse that the Boulder Ape was, the Bolt Viper made up for it with its Feature. Iron Bolt was a ranged attack that allowed it to spit out a large arrow made of solid iron.
The range was decent, accurate to about 50 to 60 yards, and its piercing power was good. But the cost was high, a whole 20 motes per use. Fortunately, it had a fairly high capacity.
This was his chosen ‘Spear’.
[ Forest Hand - Golem (Low Grade) ]
Attributes:
Strength - 30
Agility - 10
Vitality - 10
Perception - 10
Force - 40
Spirit - 25
Control - 25
Willpower - 0
Feature: Levitation (bronze)
Material: Wood (inferior)
Mana Capacity: 93/250
Consumption: 6 motes per minute
Recovery: 4 motes per minute
An unusual golem compared to the others he had found. It was a giant hand about 5 feet long from the tip of its fingers to the base of its palm, made entirely of wood as opposed to earth.
The Bolt Viper was fairly agile, but the Forest Hand was even more so. It lacked the strength and durability of Boulder Ape, but its mobility made up for that deficiency. He also found that it regenerated faster than the earthen-based golems. A quality of it being made of wood, he suspected.
[ Levitation (bronze) ]
'Innately hovers over the surface below.'
Magnitude: 1.0
Rather than Agility, Levitation seemed a lesser form of flight and the speed of its movement was based on Force. This gave it a more dynamic array of movements, but that came at a cost.
Despite having 25 Spirit, it was not efficient. With no other notable differences between his other golems, Gilgamesh assumed that its Feature was the cause. And it did not escape his notice that it was more akin to a Trait than a Spell.
It seemed that Trait-like Features affected a golem's Consumption. As a result, Forest Hand could only remain active for a little over 2 hours at a time. Still, it served as an adequate ‘Shield’.
And of course, he had the Boulder Ape. With its high physical attributes and no enchantments, it was an effective vanguard, both practically and in its ability to draw attention.
Wooden Scarecrow and Clay Scout were not as strong as these three, so he kept them as spares. But Gilgamesh would not turn down more tools to have at his disposal, especially when he knew all too well that they could break.
[ Serpent of False Mysteries ] voices happy approval of your snake golem.
[ Husband of the Golden Bride ] says your golems lack beauty.
"She can communicate again." Gilgamesh asked her his questions at once. "Is there a Trait to increase my Mana Recovery? How do I acquire new Traits?"
[ Serpent of False Mysteries ] says she isn't going to tell you things anymore because she'll get punished.
[ Serpent of False Mysteries ] wants to watch you.
"Punished by who? The Tower?"
A horned rabbit lunged out of the bushes with shocking speed, but Gilgamesh did not even so much as flinch. At his control, the Forest Hand caught the small beast and wrung its neck.
[ Almiraj - Monster (Iron Rank) ]
Attributes:
Strength - 11
Agility - 35
Vitality - 9
Perception - 18
Force - 12
Spirit - 21
Control - 14
Willpower - 10
Magic:
Piercing Horn lvl. 6 (bronze), Rush lvl. 3 (bronze)
[ Piercing Horn (bronze) ]
'Enhances the wielder's horn with increased sharpness.'
Magnitude: 1.2
Mana Cost: 11 motes
[ Rush (bronze) ]
'Briefly bursts in a straight direction at twofold normal movement speed.'
Mana Cost 10 motes
Gilgamesh lingered in the feeling of direct control, as he regularly did. By far, his biggest weakness was that he could only control one golem at a time, and even that felt as though he waded through mud.
“The low level is definitely the reason, but adding some points into Control might improve it as well.” Gilgamesh thought. However, the priority was still Spirit. His mana capacity was nowhere near high enough for him to feel secure.
Still, he had accomplished what he set out to do. As Gilgamesh absorbed the almiraj’s soul, his badge shone. He had collected the full 30 required.
Gilgamesh headed back to the outpost without delay.
He deactivated his two inefficient golems and replaced them with his two spares to serve as guards. As he walked through the residential area, he overheard some complaining about the taste of rations. It seemed a day’s supply cost 1 soul, not that it mattered to him.
“Pathetic…” Gilgamesh disdained them for complaining about something so insignificant. The sight of feckless incompetents who refused to seize a precious opportunity when it revealed itself brought him a strange unease that irritated him greatly.
As he approached the red gate, he spotted a large group of people lounging around with a certain foreboding air about them. And that quiet, menacing feeling only grew stronger the closer he got.
Gilgamesh made the first move. He wielded Bolt Viper to shoot an iron bolt into the closest Hero with a bow, as he ran into the Scrapyard with the cover of his Clay Scout and Wooden Scarecrow.
“Get him!” He heard someone yell.
They chased him into the scrapyard, but what they came face to face with around a turn was a towering stone golem that had just finished forming. It crushed the ones at the front with both open palms and bellowed at the others.
“Forget the golem, kill the guy!”
An iron bolt impaled the one who shouted that through the chest. With the Bolt Viper and Forest Hand entering the fray, Gilgamesh freely slaughtered the group of twenty disorganized attackers until the last remaining few fled with terror-stricken faces.
“Vermin…” Gilgamesh cursed them for wasting his time as he moved on.
But as he came before the gate, he paused. A looming fear crept into his subconscious. Those people were truly vermin. All they had were numbers, nothing more. And yet, he still had to run from them, however briefly. He was still weak.
“...the trial said I need only pass within 7 days. Nothing more. What lies ahead might be even more dangerous. No… it must be.” Gilgamesh thought. “There are still five more days before the trial ends. Five more days I can use…”
Gilgamesh’s eyes sharpened even more. Without hesitation, he walked away from the gate and headed back out into the forest.
