The sculpture vibrated, its concrete frame subtly rippling as magic threaded across its length, turning it into a Lesser Golem.
Two concrete tusks embedded with dark chunks of amethysts emerged from its facial area. While that was happening, its feet expanded, growing stronger and wider to better bear the burden of moving and supporting such a heavy Golem.
A host of other changes followed, but he could not note their specifics; there was too much happening at once to track it all. When the process ended a few short seconds later, the Golem looked indescribably denser; the concrete it was sculpted out of had changed to be a shade darker, and in total, something about its facial structure had changed to be somewhat cuter - a strange combination.
Clover tapped his fingers against the side of his wheelchair in a mix of nervousness and excitement. In his soul space, the image he had created for Bob the Elephant had acted independently, a quirk he had never seen before to such a degree. It could have been a result of the memory he had implanted in its core. He was unsure, and there was no way to know for certain.
Still, he harbored a slight fear from watching too many movies that the Golem would rebel against his control and eat him. Or whatever it was that concrete elephants did to people they didn't like.
After staring intently at the Golem for a full minute and not detecting any overt signs of hostility or danger, Clover's excitement overtook his apprehension, and he commanded Bob the Elephant to walk toward him.
One foot after the other, it walked with surprising dexterity. Its steps made little noise - not the booming, earth-shaking, King Kong-type footsteps he had expected from a Golem of its size.
“Holy shit. That thing is huge,” Ron said, turning as he finally noticed the Golem.
In terms of height, Bob the Elephant rose to a bit above Ron's waistline - maybe three feet tall in total. Where it truly shined was its weight. Stemming from its dense base materials, it looked like it easily weighed hundreds of pounds - like it would shatter the scale when it stepped on it.
Clover grinned, laughing a little. “I may have gone a bit overboard. I got caught up in the process.” Bob the Elephant was probably right around his limit in terms of size and weight when it came to turning a sculpture into a Golem.
Clover reached out and poked the stone elephant, testing its Durability. It easily repelled his finger. It felt like it was made out of, well, reinforced concrete - a normal person could punch it all day without doing any damage.
“You could probably make a lot of money by charging people to take rides on that thing.” Ron chuckled. “Not that money is worth anything anymore.”
Clover’s eyes scrunched up, the lines at their sides deepening. “I don’t know, I like the idea. Maybe someday in the future, if humanity comes out the other side of this intact, I'll make a traveling carnival. I could sell giant stone elephant rides on one side and have a giant minigolf course on the other. Or maybe I could have a giant Ferris wheel, but instead of it being a normal wheel, it'd be a hedgehog golem that could roll around." He scratched the back of his head. "I don't know. It'd probably make a lot of money, but, like, I probably wouldn't need any money in the future if my magic keeps getting stronger, so it'd all be free."
"You wouldn't have to pay any labor costs. And if the whole carnival was just a giant collection of Golems, you could move it from place to place for free, too," Ron said. Clover nodded along; he hadn't considered those factors. "As crazy as it sounds, it'd probably be possible."
Clover looked back at Bob the Elephant, inspecting the details that had emerged across its surface. In the past, he had tried avoiding thinking about the future, it only brought sadness and uncertainty; even now, his idle daydreaming brought with it other more anxious thoughts that tried to drown out his joyful vision of a magical carnival, but…
He clenched his fist tightly. A dull ache radiated out of his right hand from the space where he had lost a finger. He relaxed the muscles, letting his fingers fall loosely by his sides.
As he experienced more of life, his desire to live grew stronger. "It could be a whole team thing. Claire could sell cool potions, and you could send out the fliers and do the marketing", Clover said, not entirely serious but not entirely facetious either.
Ron smiled. “From wanting to be a garbage man to carnival owner, that’s quite the step up for only two days.”
Clover shrugged. "You know what they say…" He thought back to the man he had met in the hospital the night before the System had arrived - in quiet moments, he often found himself thinking back to their conversation. "Aim for the stars. You'll probably never leave the ground, but it's nice to have a dream."
“Ron! The squirrel is burning,” Claire hollered.
"Oops," Ron said, the sound garbled as he sped away.
Clover took a deep breath, triggering a light cough in the process, and then he used [Appraisal] on the Golem; the anticipation had been killing him.
Nothing happened. A hallmark blue box did not appear. He’d have questioned if the Skill had even activated, but he had distinctly seen his MP bar decrease after casting it.
He waited, then waited some more. Perhaps a full minute later, as crazy conspiracy theories began to brew in his mind, [Appraisal]'s familiar blue screen appeared.
Congratulations! Appraisal has reached Level 13. +1 Skill Point.
Lesser Golem: Bob the Elephant
Durability: 500/500
Mana: 50/50
Bones Break So They Can Mend: 0/100
Traits: [Pseudo Amethyst-Core], [Named Golem], [Durable I], [Remnant of a Distant Dream I].
Clover blinked twice, so overwhelmed with surprise that no other reaction was possible. He had expected the Golem's base Stats to be good, simply from how difficult it had been to create, but he hadn't expected them to have been this good, even in his most optimistic predictions.
Bob the Elephant had an immense 500 Durability, ten times more than what Mr. Cat possessed. On some level, it made sense; the cat Golem was made out of clay, and even when magically hardened, there was a limit to its toughness, and the stylish Golem was a fraction of the size of the elephant. Still, it was a shock to see such a large number.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Even more shocking was the Golem’s Mana. Somehow, it had double what all his other creations had.
Clover rubbed the bottom of his nose once again, wiping off the last remnants of drying blood. All the trouble he had gone through to make the Golem had been worth it. For the low price of a nosebleed and a slight headache, he had created a higher tier of Golem; he'd take the trade any day of the week.
He moved on to inspecting the Golem’s individual Traits.
Pseudo Amethyst-Core - Minor
Lodged in its heart, a clear piece of amethyst acts as this Golem’s core. With a physical location to anchor it, Mana gathers more easily, leading to an increased capacity. +25 Mana.
The user of this Golem can channel their own magic into the core, sparking magical effects. As the core continues to absorb more mana, wiggling lines of crystal will grow from it, spreading across the golem's interior, which will eventually lead to additional effects.
Interesting. The amethyst was responsible for the Golem's increased mana capacity. He wondered if the result would have been different if he had used a different type of crystal. Maybe the increase in capacity would have been larger if he had used a more prestigious material, like a diamond. Though it was too early to truly wonder, most of the crystal's true power was still undeveloped from the sound of it.
He focused inward to his soul space, investigating the System's claim that he could channel his mana into the Golem. After running over the small recreation of the elephant in his soul with his attention and fiddling with it for a minute or so, he discovered that there were two different containers in which he could force his mana into the totem.
The first was already full. When he tried to add his own mana to the totem, it rejected his energy. His mouth hung open dumbly as he came to a realization: This was probably how he was supposed to recharge his Golems.
He swapped his focus, grasping Mr. Cat's totem with his will. Sure enough, after searching for a moment, he was able to find the same container. Then, slowly, like a dripping faucet, if he focused, he found that he could recharge the Golem's battery.
It wasn't a very fast process - though, it felt like it could handle a much faster flow. Clover didn't have any way of modulating its speed. When he focused on the container, the System took care of all the finer details. He wasn't the one actually moving the energy.
He observed the flow of mana for a moment, then stopped, not bothering to finish recharging it right now. Mr. Cat still had plenty of mana left, and to be honest, he was more curious about further investigating his newest Golem's abilities.
That being said, he felt that there was a secret that hid behind the recharging process - something he could learn. He’d return to it after the day had ended. Maybe it’d lead to a breakthrough in his understanding. Or, maybe he was just being optimistic.
He shook his head, feeling slightly self-critical about not discovering such a basic function earlier. He couldn't make himself feel too bad about it. The System hadn't even given him a clue that it was possible.
He thought back to part of the System message that had appeared when he had first selected [Apprentice Golemancer]. Due to his increased Intelligence Stat, he was able to remember its exact wording: “In a long art such as golem making, an Apprentice without a Master is lost; however, only by becoming truly lost, stumbling miles off the beaten path, can something new be discovered. Will you wander the desert forever in mediocrity, or will you grasp the impossible?”
Only now had Clover come to understand the message. So far, most of what he had discovered about golem-making had been through dumb luck and instinct. He was still probably unaware and clueless of vital parts of the craft.
Claire squeaked loudly as a gout of blue flames shot out of the water-filled bowl in which she had been making potions. The flames did not damage her, though they charred the sleeve of her shirt, turning it black.
Clover grinned, once more reminded of the absurdity of the life he now led, and then shifted his attention back to his soul space. This time, he focused on the second container within the elephant sculpture. The System did not assist in his efforts as he tried to rouse his mana into action. Rather, something different rose up to meet him halfway.
A friendly presence mechanically sent out a call, and his mana, without Clover having to consciously move it, answered.
He opened his eyes, watching as sharp shards of amethyst began to sprout like flowers in the spring across the elephant’s tusks. “Cooool!” he whispered to himself. Before his mana could get drained too much, he cut the flow. Now, with the additions of the crystal, the elephant’s tusks looked like a ribbed blade, sharp and dangerous.
He couldn't help but wonder how long they'd last - if the amethysts were real or just mana-made imitations.
Scientifically, he gently poked one of the jagged outcroppings of purple crystal. He jerked his hand back. Yep, they were as sharp as they looked. If he had still been a normal person, his finger definitely would have been bleeding right now.
But he wasn't a normal person anymore. With 20 Vitality, it'd take more than a glancing poke to cut him.
Clover opened the expanded description of the next Trait.
Named Golem - Common
This Golem’s name has bound it, twisting its physical form to match its History and Identity.
It was the same as last time. He had hoped that seeing it a second time would have unlocked a more comprehensive description. Clover tilted his head, remembering that with this third name, he'd completed the Prerequisites to the [Named Sculpture] Path. With all the Skill Points he had gathered during their most recent excursion, he'd look into completing it after he finished appraising Bob the Elephant's Traits.
Durable I - Minor
Standing tall where others fall, this Golem has been infused with a stalwart image. Cut from stone and bolstered by a magic core, this Golem is Durable. +100 Durability.
With how much Durability the Golem had, Clover had thought the Trait should have been stronger, but then again, maybe its durability was the result of all the Traits coming together.
Without the Trait, the elephant still had ten times the Durability of his glow-in-the-dark Golem, so on second thought, he was just being overly critical.
He moved on to the last Trait.
Warning, Appraisal Level too low; increase Skill Level for further details.
Remnant of a Distant Dream I - Uncommon
This Golem is born of the past. As the sun and moon rose countless times, turning everything below their grasp to dust, this golem remained unchanged, forever frozen in a cast-off moment in time.
Lesser effects that would slowly whittle down a normal Golem, such as rainfall and rust, have little to no effect on Bob the Elephant. This Golem's defenses have a high chance of ignoring and negating attacks that deal 1 damage or less. Attacks that penetrate the initial negation will have their total damage reduced by 1.
In conjunction with [Durable I], this Trait would make his Golem a tank, able to shrug off hordes of weaker monsters. He wasn’t sure if a Level 1 Two-tailed Squirrel could even damage the thing. And that wasn’t even taking into account the innate durability of the concrete it was made out of.
Still, the situation left him a bit confused. With how simple and straightforward the Trait descriptions had been, Clover didn't understand why the Skill had taken such a long time to activate. And doubly, he didn’t understand why the warning had popped up over the seemingly complete Trait description of [Remnant of a Distant Dream I] when it hadn’t appeared over the other obviously incomplete Trait descriptions.
“Clover, I think the squirrel is ready,” Ron said as he waved at him.
Clover waved back. He wandered over to the campfire, idly ordering his Golems to follow behind him, not putting much thought behind the command.
Bob the Elephant gently swung its trunk, picking up Mr. Cat from where he rested on the ground, carefully placing the smaller Golem on its back. Then, with its head rocking back and forth with each step, it followed behind Clover.
Clover turned, abruptly stopping as he narrowed his eyes at the Golem. Not missing a beat, the Golem paused midstep, one of its giant feet hovering in the air. He smiled, then patted the Golem twice, petting it like a dog. “You’re smarter than the other ones, aren’t you,” Clover said.
The moving mass of concrete did not respond.