Once that is done, the castle is pretty much finished, all that is left is to test it. So, I shrink the castle, put it in my pouch, and put the pouch down on the ground. Then I use magic to enter into the castle and make sure that it is safe inside.

Even though the castle is currently shrunken, I do not shrink when I enter it. The reason is because the inside of the castle did not shrink, it is now a small world. The inside of the castle is not affected by the changes in size of the outside.

That is the main reason that this spell was so hard to create, it is completely isolated. However, I don't stay inside long, once I am sure it is safe I exit immediately. Mainly because I don't want to leave my pouch lying around with so many people around.

When I exit the castle I notice quite a few people backing away, they were eyeing the pouch. However, when I pick up the pouch they all try to pretend that they never had any such thoughts. They quickly clear the area when I set the castle back up and they go back to hiding and watching.

Just as I enter the castle I notice Zachariah's delivery guy coming down the street. So I keep the gate open while waiting for him to come in to make his pickup and delivery. When he is ready to leave I hand him two of the new bows to take to Zachariah.

After he leaves I take the new crates of weapons to the tower roof and get to work. Again I split my attention to keep an eye on the elves while I work on the weapons. I have to take it a bit slower this time since my mana is still rather low.

However, I am still able to finish all the weapons and work on making more bows. The rest of the day passes peacefully with no one attempting anything with the elves. I manage to finish about half of the bows by the time Lin returns to have dinner.

The last groups of elves have already returned to the ship, so I have nothing left to worry about. After moving the crates of completed weapons down by the gate I join Lin for dinner. After we are done eating Lin goes to put the new books into her library and I start reading one of the golem books.

It turns out that what I think of as golems is not what these books are about. Rather than simple animated servants, what the books refer to as golems are more complicated. What this book describes is more what I would call a construct or a clockwork.

The types of golems I was expecting are called magic servants and are regarded as being simple. They are something that can be created by any mage capable of casting the spells. While what this world calls golems are much more complex and made from multiple enchanted parts.

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The giant snake I fought in that one library was a real golem by this world's standards. The need to have a master blacksmith create all the intricate parts is why golems are so expensive. That snake thing probably cost as much as having a castle built or more.

Luckily, I can make the parts myself so I won't have to worry about anything but getting the materials. The enchantments to allow the golem to move aren't very complicated, but the core is different. The enchantments needed for the golem's core are what stops most mages from being able to create a golem.

Even if they have the power required, the core enchantments are just too complicated. That is why the golem's core was so useful in creating Athena's core for the ship. Luckily, not only can I already enchant a core, I can do it better than what is in the book.

However, there are still several other books I need to read and it will still take time. After all, building the golem's joints will be the hardest part since I haven't done something like that before. Not to mention that the joints are one of the most important parts of the golem.

When Lin gets done in the library I put my book down and open a soulscape. Since I have been thinking about golems I decide to show the girls a Gundam anime. After only a couple of episodes Lin suddenly turns to me with a suspicious look on her face.

Lin says "Ash, please tell me you are not thinking of trying to make one of those things?!"

"Haha. No, I don't plan to try and make a mech. While it would be fun. I don't have that kind of time. Making a mech, especially a magical one, would take years of research and experimentation. Besides, do you have any idea how much material that would take?"

Lin says "No, but I don't put anything past you."

"True, everything else would be doable, but time is the biggest problem. Wait..."

Lin says "What? That look on your face is worrying me!"

"Well, I was just thinking that I can't make time for that kind of thing. While I can't directly create more time, there might be a way to give myself more time for things and it would help you too."

Lin says "That sounds ominous for some reason. What are you planning?"

"In Yui's tower there are reading rooms where time moves differently inside. Basically, every two hours inside is only an hour outside. I was thinking that now that the castle is an isolated space I could do the same, just on a bigger scale."

Lin says "That would give us more time, but is it safe? Do you even know the spell needed?"

"No, but I can figure it out. Time still passes inside, meaning that we would need to eat more, but we have the pouch. Now that we can enter the castle anytime we will be able to use it more as well. It might not be enough for me to research a magical mech, but it would give me more time for other things."

Lin says "It would give me double the time to read!"

"Possibly more. Double was just an example, I might be able to do better than that. There is a problem though."

Lin says "What problem? What can I do to help?"

"I have already put more enchantments into the castle than is really safe. To add more now I would absolutely have to add a core to the castle."

Lin says "Why is that a problem? You have already created a better core than anyone else knows how to make for the ship."

"That is exactly what worries me. I don't know if Athena was created because of the core, from the spirit of the tree, or a combination of the two. I don't want to end up creating another spirit for the castle."

Lin says "Why not? I thought you liked Athena?"