Gilgamesh worked day and night. He rested only when he needed to recover his mana and soul, and even then, he spent that time sharpening his focus further in deep contemplation of runes.
For all his efforts, the only thing he had to show for it was a floor covered in shattered pieces of gemstones. But that only deepened his hostile resolve further. Gilgamesh picked up another gemstone and tried again.
The array was not so much a coherent sentence, but rather a string of words that were woven together through Glyphs to achieve the desired effect with as few runes as possible. Golemcrafting started with a pattern of glyphs that would form a path for the subsequent carved runes. This path allowed the string of runes and sigils to to sink into the core and weave around into an orb-shaped knot so that a single gemstone could hold the entire array. Every rune added needed a similar outline so that it will follow this path.
Next, Gilgamesh added its Attributes. Each of the seven used Attributes required two Runes of Power in a specific arrangement, bound in a triangle that itself was bound in a circle. Further looping Glyphs were added, each one adding 5 points to the relevant Attribute, until the desired amount was achieved.
With that complete, Gilgamesh added the Components.
Form was the heaviest, as expected of a Lancer. First, came the foundation. The Tier of Lesser. This Sigil required four Runes in the formation of a squared diamond. First, a Rune of Power placed at the bottom. Then two Rune of Limitations placed side-by-side in the middle, and another at the top.
Gilgamesh had to strain himself to carve them, more than one would have though a four-rune Sigil would require. But he carved them well. Just as with the Sigil for Fire that Lox had carved, the four runes shone together and fused into the glowing Lesser Sigil.
With the foundation complete, Gilgamesh carved the Sigils for its design. First were the sigils for Large, Ape, and Boulder, then came the hardest task of its material.
A stronger word increased not only the runes' strength, as Lox said, but also the difficulty in carving it. Gilgamesh had not thought much of the word 'Granite' before now, but he had been forced to respect the weight of it.
Interestingly, the Sigil for Granite was comprised of four Sigils for Stone, and Stone itself was comprised of four Runes. 16 Runes in total, each a little harder to carve than the last. The totality of the Sigil for Granite was much more difficult than the Sigil for Stone, but Gilgamesh did not fail this time.
28 Runes in total for this component. The gemstone did not break.
Function was much easier. There was no Feature, so all it needed was the Foundational Tier of Common and the Basic Functions. Activation, Deactivation, and Maintenance. Common was much like the sigil for Lesser, only that all four runes were the Rune of Limitation, and it was effortless to carve in comparison to Lesser.
13 Runes in total, this time. The gemstone held firm.
Guidance was only slightly more demanding as it was also a Common Component. A golem required all of the Basic Actions in order to be useful on its own, but nothing beyond that. Fight. Guard. Move. Stop. Target. Ignore.
16 runes in total were needed.
And lastly, Empowerment required the sigils for Mana, which were all 14 Basic Runes arranged in the same order of pairs that Lox had revealed them. Good-Evil. Space-Time. Life-Death. Creation-Destruction. Power-Resistance. Freedom-Forbiddance. Truth-Mystery.
18 Runes were needed here as well.
The entire endeavor took a total of 89 runes along with their accompanying Glyphs.
Upon its completion, Gilgamesh waited completely still as the runes shone bright. One of them broke and his eyes steeled more intensely. Another broke and two more after that, and the array began to tremble.
The world became as silent and still as Gilgamesh himself, and finally the array settled into a calm glow, and the ruby in his hand had held firm.
[ Boulder Ape - Golem (Low Grade) ]
Attributes:
Strength - 55
Agility - 20
Vitality - 25
Perception - 10
Force - 0
Spirit - 10
Control - 10
Willpower - 0
Material: Granite (low grade)
Mana Capacity: 150/150
Consumption: 10 motes per minute
Recovery: 5 motes per minute
Finally, he had completed his first golem; a Boulder Ape. But it was not perfect. Some of the looping Glyphs for Strength, Agility, and Spirit had broken. The Guard Sigil for Guidance had broken too. Still usable, but inferior to what was possible. Gilgamesh wanted to make it perfect.
[ Old Man of the Woods ] offers 2 Attribute Points if you become recognized by the Schema as a Novice Runeforger before the end of the Fourth Trial.
[ All-Father ] offers 2 Attribute Points if you create a perfect Low Grade golem before the end of the Fourth Trial.
[ Serpent of False Mysteries ] offers 2 Attribute Points for each of the same quests.
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“Ya should rest." Lox said as Gilgamesh picked up another gemstone. “Even if ya have a golem body, yer soul is no different. It’ll exhaust itself and break at this rate.”
Gilgamesh did not heed his warning. His simmering bitterness had only been tempered further these past days by his obsessive focus.
“A Dud, eh? Well, it's not bad for just 5 days of practice.” Lox inspected his golem. “Thought I’d run out of rubies at this rate.”
Gilgamesh was certain that wasn’t possible, but the sentiment was not unfounded. He had broken over 20 gemstones in the process of this success. Every component had its mistakes, but Empowerment was what stood in his way most often.
On the surface, it seemed to be the easiest of the four. Just simple pairs of the basic runes. But somehow, together in that order, they held a depth profound enough that Gilgamesh almost lost himself whenever he carved them. Almost.
“What are the ranks of Runeforging?” Gilgamesh asked. The quest he had received to reach ‘Novice Rank’ implied there was an established ranking system.
“Same as all crafts. Novice, Adept, and Expert align to the mortal grades of Low, Mid, and High. Above them is Master and the Sacred Grade, where prowess in the craft starts to encroach on the realm of the gods. And above that… is Sage.” Lox spoke the last one reverently, but he did not explain it.
“Well, I can see ya won’t be taking my warning seriously. Word of advice. Don’t just stick to one type. Any golemcrafter worth his salt is well-rounded at his core." Lox snickered. "Try ta create a golem for each of the other types with the same quality as that Boulder Ape.”
Gilgamesh glanced at Lox as he left and turned his focus to the gemstone in his hand. The Stone Ape was a Lancer type, so Dragoon, Automaton, Juggernaut, and Sentinel remained.
[ Husband of the Golden Bride ] wants you to create a golem of beautiful female form.
Gilgamesh lingered on the message for a moment, then decided to make an Automaton. It did not matter to him which order he completed them in, as he had to make them all. And the more Attribute Points he earned from these gods, the faster he could do so.
As he had never owned a pure Automaton before, Gilgamesh chose one from the collection that seemed suitable and at least useful.
Carving its Glyph borders and Attributes was no different from carving the Boulder Ape's although the bulk of which were in Control, Spirit, Perception, and Agility.
Its Form required an entirely different set of descriptors. The sigils called for Clay, Woman, and Beautiful, and the difficulty of the latter surprised him. Woman only required 3 runes, but Beautiful required 7. Gilgamesh supposed that perhaps its esoteric nature required more complexity.
Much as Granite was to Stone, Clay required a pattern of Sigils for Earth. However, the difficulty was far lower. Earth needed only 3 runes and Clay needed only 2 Sigils. It was little more difficult than the Sigil for Common was.
20 Runes in total.
Function was the same as it was for the ape; just the Basic Functions.
13 runes in total once again.
Guidance was difficult. Along with the Basic Actions, this golem required the Tier of Lesser, along with a far wider set of commands. Rather than just one word, there were conditionals. This would allow the golem to react on its own and adjust its actions to achieve the original command without requiring further instruction.
As for the directions themselves, they centered around tracking and pursuing targets. The golem would remain at a set distance from the target and even find cover to stay out of sight. If attacked, it would flee in a different direction than it had recently travelled, so that it would not lead the enemy back to its owner.
Such complex direction required a lot of new sigils, but as they were auxiliary to only some of the existing basic Guidance, the extent required of them was less intensive.
27 Runes in total.
And lastly again, Empowerment. The sigils for Mana.
18 runes.
A total of 92 Runes this time.
Gilgamesh waited for the runes to settle on this 15th attempt, and this one finally held. As with the Stone Ape, he had worked tirelessly for the Automaton. And this one had only taken him four days.
[ Clay Tracker - Golem (Low Grade) ]
Attributes:
Strength - 15
Agility - 75
Vitality - 10
Perception - 25
Force - 0
Spirit - 15
Control - 10
Willpower - 0
Material: Clay (inferior)
Mana Capacity: 100/100
Consumption: 4 motes per minute
Recovery: 2 motes per minute
Gilgamesh assessed its form, that of a sculpted clay woman with somewhat indistinct features. Less imposing than the others he had, but more defined. It had a vaguely human face, more feminine than not. Gilgamesh was no artist, but he thought it passable.
[ Husband of the Golden Bride ] thinks the puppet you made is ugly.
A trace of annoyance crept into his mind, but he pushed it back down. He had no time to waste appeasing a god that was not even guaranteed to reward him for his efforts.
[ Serpent of False Mysteries ] wants a new snake.
She was far more reliable, so Gilgamesh decided on a Bolt Viper for his Dragoon type. It was a golem he was already familiar with and its Feature seemed on the easier side compared to other Dragoons he had studied.
Attributes and the guiding pathway were the same as always.
Form was the simplest of the three yet. Just Snake, Medium, and Iron for a total of 15 Runes.
Function, in contrast, was the most challenging of the three yet. Iron Bolt required Sigils for Iron, Bolt, and Spell. And of course, the Sigil for Lesser. Spell was an interesting Sigil, consisting of three Runes of Truth arranged in a triangle and one Rune of Mystery directly in its center.
A total of 25.
Guidance was once again just the Basic Actions. They were extensive and universal enough to cooperate naturally with any Features. 16 runes.
Then, Empowerment. The sigils for Mana.
A total of 88 Runes.
[ Bolt Viper - Golem (Low Grade) ]
Attributes:
Strength - 5
Agility - 20
Vitality - 10
Perception - 10
Force - 45
Spirit - 25
Control - 25
Willpower - 0
Feature: Iron Bolt (bronze)
Material: Iron (inferior)
Mana Capacity: 300/300
Consumption: 4 motes per minute
Recovery: 4 motes per minute
[ Serpent of False Mysteries ] is delighted.
[ Serpent of False Mysteries ] bestows 1 Attribute Point.
[ Spirit: 34 -> 35 ]
This time, it had taken him just 2 days, and it was the closest he had come to perfection. Only 2 sigils in total had broken. He was improving, steadily and clearly. His effort was being rewarded.
“All I need is more time…” Gilgamesh delved back into the runes. There were two more golems to go, and three days left.
