“Come on you hunk of metal. I know you can move faster than that. If you miss this boar fewer people will have food tonight,” said a young gnome in light leather armor and cloak. On his back hung a bow and on his waist was a sword.
“I am currently moving at near my peak speed given the current speed, but you already know that Lucas. Are you trying to joke with me?” asked the golem.
“I would describe it as banter, but at least you recognized the joke from my change in tone.”
“It is important for me to watch and learn from your people to act less fake.”
The two of them continued running through the woods. Both had cast movement abilities on themselves and were flying through the forest around the gnome outpost. The golem had been clumsy at first while running, especially on rough terrain, but had improved greatly during the week it had been hunting with Lucas.
The golem had scared away many of the forest's animals at first with its bulk and failed to catch anything on the first day. This was quickly remedied with a mix of movement magic and lightweight spells that stopped the trees from shaking as they stepped. Once the golem learned those spells it took some time before it could run properly while the spell was active. Golem used the heavy vegetation to deaden the sound of his movements and finally, on the third day of trying it was able to catch one of the local wild boar.
Each day they would collect a few wild animals suitable for eating while working on improving the golem's agility, strength, and dexterity. The golem would then spend its evenings with the mages and learn basic combat and defense magic through the night. The golem had also; improved its speech slowly over the past weeks. Its intonations and vocabulary were a bit off at times, but it didn’t sound completely inhuman anymore.
“We really need to come up with a better name for you. It is getting tedious to call you Golem all the time.”
“But I am Golem. It is who I am.” Said Golem a bit confused by the question.
“You are a golem like I am a gnome, but you don’t call me Gnome now do you?”
“Then what would you suggest? If the others don’t like it I’ll be back to being called Golem again.”
“I don’t know. Ask the mages when we get back. I’m sure they can give you a great name that comes from an important figure from history that they can have you try to emulate.”
“But I am Golem. Not some dead history guy.”
“I was just giving you an example. Back to the task at hand. Where is the boar now? If we leave it running for any longer we risk running into powerful beasts that stay further into the forest.”
Golem cast [Detect Life Aura] which was one of its first spells and one of its quickest. “The boar is 22 degrees to our left and forty meters away.”
Golem turned quickly and cast another movement spell before zooming off towards the boar. Lucas pivoted and ricochet off a nearby tree and followed Golem. As soon as Golem was in range it already had a spell ready in its hand. The spell hit the boar perfectly. The spell and the boar's movements were calculated to an exact point by Golem which cause the spectral arrow to hit the boar's artery dead on. The boar squealed for a moment before falling over.
“Nice job you’ve definitely gotten faster than the first time. I remember when we did our first run.”
“I fell over and constantly hit tree branches. It was hard and still is. You are tiny. I am not.”
“Which is why progress has been great so far. Now put that boar on your back and let's find two more that are closer to the outpost.”
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Golem hefted the boar and put the beast in a backpack strapped to its back. The pair of them continued on back towards the outpost. Lucas directed the pair of them towards their next targets while Golem hunted by itself. The hunting took a little longer for Golem to complete the next time through.
Golem became even slower when it had to carry two boars instead of just one which slowed its efforts immensely. Golem was not discouraged however and kept moving to catch the final boar. Thanks to Golems inhuman body it did not tire and as long as it kept below a certain level of energy exertion it was able to be active constantly.
Golem also put itself at a disadvantage by avoiding intentionally damaging the trees and other plants. It could have fired through a tree to hit the final boar several times throughout its hunt, but by doing so the tree would be destroyed, it would expend unnecessary energy, and the death of the boar would likely not be a clean kill like the others. Instead, the boar's meat might be damaged forcing Golem to try all over again wasting time. With Lucas’s help pointing out the boar, they were able to finish in the early afternoon.
-----
“How was the trip?” asked Zoe to Lucas.
“Golem did well. It is quick and efficient when it can find its target,” said Lucas.
Further away stood Golem. It was currently being checked on by a researcher whose job was to record diagnostics for evaluation and records. Gnomes nearby were working together to lift and move the carcasses of the boars for processing by the butchers.
“We should start moving Golem into a position with the combat team soon enough. You’ve done a good job so far.”
“Hey, Ms. Zoe?” Golem turned to face her. Its examination is now complete.
“Yes, Golem. What do you want?”
“Can I have a name?”
“What?”
“Lucas said it was annoying to call me Golem. So, I decided I want a proper name.”
Zoe paused for a moment. “I’m sure that can be done. I’ll let you know tomorrow once I talk to the others before deciding on a great name for you.”
“Thanks, Zoe.”
“You are very much welcome. Now, do you want to learn ice spells today or more utility spells?”
“Lightning, please. It is pretty in my hands.”
“Good. I know just the spell I can teach you.”
Zoe led Golem back down the stone steps and into the cellar where it could hit the walls with magic all it wanted. The walls had recently been modified for this new purpose. Now each time a lightning bolt or charged shot hit the wall only the sound of the wall indicated that it had been hit. With a thud, thump, or sizzle the wall was repeatedly used as target practice and other tests until it was blackened. By the time Golem came back the next day, the wall was back to the dirty brown color from the day before.
Today the gnomes had set up a moving track of targets for Golem to set up along with a new spell [Plasma Bolt]. This spell was labeled as an upper beginner to early intermediate level spell. Golem studied the spell form and practiced the spell for two hours before declaring itself ready enough for the practice. Zoe also had to take the time to recast the spell so the golem could see how it was done. While it did have a photographic memory, the use of mana in them was not well remembered and required some repetition.
Golem charged up the plasma bolt quickly and held it together for a second longer to build up its power before releasing it. The plasma bolt arced and flew to the target, but it did not hit start on and instead burned the edge of the target.
“Good job,” said Zoe watching the demonstration from start to finish.
“I was off by six inches and would’ve missed if I tried the same thing from ten feet further back. Next time I must account for the effect of the plasma bolt itself due to its mass and unstableness compared to my other spells.”
“It was still great and that was only your first attempt.”
“Regardless of how well I just did. I need to be perfect. In battle, I might only get one chance at an attack so I must hit my mark right where I need to.”
“If that is how you feel then I will restart the target machine and you can try again until you hit it perfectly every time. Down here there is only time for practice with no stakes. Only improvement.”
Golem continued to practice and didn’t stop the machine anymore. With its abilities as a dungeon core, it quickly regenerated its mana to send out the plasma bolts. Its aim improved quickly as well in the controlled environment of the cellar. Its fire rate also increased slightly and soon like clockwork it fired off the attacks in consistent timing. This continued through the night until Zoe stopped it. Golem had barely noticed the time go by, nor Zoe’s absence while practicing.
“I went and asked the others about your question.” The golem turned to face her and powered down its attack. “We decided on Arthur. How does that sound?”
“Arthur,” repeated Golem before pausing for a moment. “That is a good name. I will use it. I am Arthur.”
“I’m glad you like it. If you would like to continue or do you want to move on to something else?”
“This has gotten… repetitive so we can move on now.”
“Then why don’t I show you some utility spells. Telekinesis is a useful utility spell that helps improve your magic technique. It is also a rather mana intensive per second, but you have a large mana storage ability, and it is fun to use as well.”
“Fun. Okay then. Show me how it is done.”