Chapter 30: Golem
Since the path of a Lineage Mage was so difficult to enter and the fact that, although they could grow quickly, their growth was limited from the start, Leon decided to eliminate that possibility.
So, all he had ahead of him was to become a Principle Mage or a Deep Mage.
Among these two choices, Leon strongly preferred the Principle Mage. Whenever he envisioned those powerful Elementium spells capable of such vast destruction, and the bizarre and frightening curse spells, Leon yearned for that power and truly wanted to master some incredible spells.
However, the path of the Principle Mage was also the hardest, as it had no shortcuts. In order to ascend the higher tiers of the Adept hierarchy, a Principle Mage had to take one step at a time, diligently improve their elemental affinity, and then master any related Elementium spells. They also had to have a strong understanding of the Central Principles of the Planes.
Only when he became the master of a principle could he proudly announce that he was a Principle Mage.
This was generally something that could be achieved after reaching the seventh rank.
If he didn’t have the Chip, Leon would never choose this path. Because, if he did, it would also mean that he would have to spend a lot of time meditating and improving his elemental affinity.
In fact, in order to gain better elemental affinity, many Mages would go to great lengths to replace their body with the Elementium to which they had the greatest affinity, even if it turned them into a form of Elementium life.
Analyzing from all aspects, undoubtedly, the path of the Principle Mage was an obvious choice for any Mage, as it was the path with the greatest potential to reach the pinnacle of the Mage World. So, with the plan set by the Chip, Leon felt that this was the best path for him.
However, before truly becoming strong, Leon would have to find ways to compensate for his weakness, or else how could he survive the intense and brutal competition among the Apprentices?
Thus, after deciding to become a Principle Mage, Leon also planned to learn some of the skills of the Deep Mages to support the slow growth of his main path. And undoubtedly, the ’Golem Creation Manual’ he obtained earlier was one of those Deep Mage methods that could help improve his current combat ability.
"Chip, what is the progress on organizing the data from the ’Golem Creation Manual’?"
"Beep"
"The copy of the spellbook ’Golem Creation Manual’ has been completed…"
"The data has been optimized, and useless content has been removed."
"The list of suitable Golems has been constructed…"
Leon’s eyes sparkled instantly as he heard the message.
"Send me all the data!"
"Beep" A stream of data was immediately transferred. Closing his eyes, he silently absorbed the additional magical knowledge that suddenly emerged in his mind.
Strictly speaking, it was a list of items.
"Clay Golem"
"A basic life form that fights using its core to manipulate Earth Elementium."
"Estimated Attributes: Strength: 11 | Agility: 4 | Physical: 13 | Spirit: 4"
Innate Abilities: (Passive) The Earth is in the Air (Regain 5 health points every minute within a location rich in Earth Elementium)
Magical Resistances: Curse Resistance | Piercing Resistance | Cutting Resistance | Acid Resistance | Earth Elementium Resistance
Materials: Core of an Earth Elementium Demon (Advanced Apprentice)
Knowledge Required: Basic Golem Creation Skill | Basic Runes Inscription Skill | Energy Transfer Circuit System | Elementium Life Grant | Mental Control Printing System
"Acid Golem"
"A simple life form that uses its core to fight by manipulating Water Elementium."
"Estimated Attributes: Strength: 8 | Agility: 7 | Physical: 10 | Spirit: 5"
Innate Abilities: (Active) Acid Spray (Single Target) | Acid Pool (20 Meters AOE Range)
Magical Resistances: Curse Resistance | Piercing Resistance | Cutting Resistance | Acid Resistance | Water Elementium Resistance
Materials: Core of a Water Elementium Demon
Knowledge Required: Basic Golem Creation Skill | Basic Runes Inscription Skill | Energy Transfer Circuit System | Elementium Life Grant | Mental Control Printing System
Previously, it was a long list, but after the Chip removed the Golems that were beyond Leon’s current abilities and other useless content, all that remained were these two elemental Golems, which had been repeatedly optimized.
Yes, the Chip recommended a Golem instead of a Titan.
Comparing their combat abilities, undoubtedly a Titan, which had a fixed body, was stronger than a Golem, which was more like a summoning. But, with the scarce resources that Leon currently possessed, it might not be realistic to expect him to gather enough resources to create a Titan.
Take the most basic Clay Titan as an example.
An eight-foot-tall Clay Titan weighing 600 pounds was made entirely of soft clay. This didn’t take into account the manufacturing cost in construction. Just the soft clay alone would cost him nine thousand gold coins. For everything he would need to make a Clay Titan, the base price was twenty-one thousand gold coins.
In contrast, the Golem suggested by the Chip was much cheaper, as the only raw material required was a core from an Advanced Apprentice-level demon. Although a lot of magical knowledge was needed to successfully create one, the total cost was around seven thousand gold coins.
By his calculations, Leon would be able to save a significant amount of money, which was a great relief for him.
Leon couldn’t create an Acid Golem now because he didn’t have a suitable Water Elementium demon core. But the Clay Golem was a perfect choice, as he had just obtained the head of an Earth Elementium demon, which would be a perfect core for the Clay Golem.
When he thought of this, Leon quickly walked over to the wooden shelf in the corner of his room.
A large glass jar sat atop a wooden tray. It was covered with a black cloth so that no one could see what was inside.
Leon gently lifted the black cloth, leaned forward, and silently gazed at the head of Sinbad, which was soaked in a yellowish liquid. Perhaps sensing Leon’s gaze, some indistinct spasms could be seen on Sinbad’s face, and he felt the weak soul pleading for mercy.
A strong odor, reminiscent of formaldehyde, lingered near the jar.
Scientifically speaking, the Ghost Nanny was not considered an immortal creature, so its organs had to be carefully preserved after being removed from its body, or else their usable value would quickly diminish. Although Sinbad’s head had not originally been acquired by Leon, it was clear that Lucy had taken good care of it. She had also trapped Sinbad’s soul within it.
Of course, Leon had no idea whether this was because Lucy wanted to vent her anger by torturing Sinbad, or if she had other plans, but no matter what, this gave him a huge advantage. At least he didn’t complain about not having obtained Sinbad’s heart.
To maximize the benefits brought by this head, Leon even sought out some Apprentices who were specialists in anatomy and borrowed a complete set of tools.
To protect his secret, Leon was forced to use his room as a laboratory.
A few minutes later, Leon had prepared everything for the operation. He donned a sterile, non-magical white cloth and stood in front of the operating table. Sinbad’s head was also removed from the liquid and lay on the table with its eyes wide open, angrily cursing the human in front of it.
Since Leon had been working to become a Mage for the past few years, he was mentally prepared for this type of surgical operation. Even though it was his first time conducting a biological experiment, he remained calm, in control, and well-prepared.
Ignoring Sinbad’s malevolent glare, Leon calmly gave a command to the chip.
"Chip, perform a deep scan of Sinbad’s head!"
"Beep" "Mission received…"
"Starting scan…"
With the blue light glowing in his eyes, a unique spiritual wave began to scan up and down Sinbad’s head, revealing the secrets hidden within it, centimeter by centimeter.
Most demons, due to their strong life force mixed with their bizarre innate abilities, formed an energy field similar to a shield. Thus, Leon normally could not scan beneath their skin with his Elementium Vision and Spiritual Vision, making it nearly impossible to analyze what was inside.
But because Sinbad had lost all his strength, and his life force was nearly exhausted, the energy field that would have blocked Leon’s vision was now ineffective. After probing and scanning several times, a three-dimensional image of Sinbad’s head was constructed in his mind.
A hard skull wrapped around an emptied brain. The brain, cerebellum, and brainstem were hidden deep within the cranial chamber. This complete model of Sinbad’s brain was presented right before Leon’s eyes. And right at the center of the emptied brain, a yellowish crystal the size of a thumb could be seen.
Since Sinbad was a Leader of the Ghost Nannies and had mastered some Elementium abilities, a unique core had grown in his brain. Thus, his heart, brain, throat, and stomach were no longer vital organs. As long as this core and his soul still existed, his damaged organs could always be restored.
Without hesitation, Leon plunged his sharp scalpel into Sinbad’s head. When the skull opened, a putrid dark purple blood instantly sprayed out, staining Leon’s clothes. But he didn’t care and continued adjusting the depth and angle of his cut. With the help of a hammer, chisel, and other tools, Leon carefully dismantled the skull.
With dozens of large candles lit, the room was ablaze with light. Covered in sweat, Leon stood firmly in front of the operating table. With the sound of a chisel cutting through flesh and bone echoing in the room, he slowly broke apart Sinbad’s skull.
Finally, under the flickering light of a candle, Leon extracted a light yellowish transparent crystal that smelled of decay and held it up against the light for a closer look.
At the same time, a message from the Chip resonated in his mind.
"Beep" "High-energy demon core detected. Type: Elementium Earth Creature…"
A relieved smile finally appeared on Leon’s bloodied face.
He now had a core from which he could create a Clay Golem!
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