For some reason, the less that I thought they would work, the more results I get. Something about my thoughts on how they should work together was obviously wrong. Once I realize that, I switch to the combination that I thought was the worst one.
The two techniques are almost complete opposites, but they actually work. When it actually works, it surprises me so much that I lose my focus and have to start over. However, when I regain my focus and try again, it works even better than I had hoped.
Core Upgrade Progress: 89%
If it wasn't for all the time it took me to figure out how it works I would have been able to rank up. However, I am quite satisfied with my progress by the time Lin wakes up. The only drawback is that I find myself feeling really tired when I end my meditation.
It isn't surprising since I was making my mind do two things at once for hours. I think that with some more practice it will get easier and less tiring for me. Even if it doesn't and I have to rest more often, I still think it will be worth it.
Even though Lin is awake, we don't get out of bed right away, we stay in bed until the kids wake up. Then we get up and eat breakfast with the kids before Lin leaves for the library. I escort the kids down to the dock to meet up with the first groups of elves.
While I am there I hand over the rest of the new bows that I made to Brightfire. I will let her decide who to give the bows to, she knows the warriors the best. After the groups leave the dock I return to the castle and take my place on the tower roof.
Once there, just like yesterday, I start reading and occasionally checking on the groups. A couple of hours pass and then my reading is interrupted by the arrival of Zachariah's guy. He enters through the gate and then unloads a disturbing amount of crates.
Luckily, when I check the crates I find out that not all of them contain weapons. That is a good thing since that many weapons would take me days, or help from Lin. Over half of the crates contain the metals that I asked Zachariah for.
Now that I have those, I can start experimenting as soon as I am done reading. I put the materials away and take the weapons with me up to the tower roof. Unfortunately, working on the weapons and reading at the same time doesn't work.
Surprisingly, Lin takes a break and comes back to the castle to have lunch with me. I get the feeling that she could use some fresh air, so we have a picnic on the tower roof. After we are done eating I try to convince her that she can take the rest of the day off, but she refuses.
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When she leaves to return to the library, I go back to working on the weapons. I was already done disenchanting them before Lin showed up, now I just have the enchanting left. It only takes me about an hour to finish the weapons and put them back in the crates.
After they are done, I move the crates down by the gate, check on the groups, and then go back to reading. The book I am reading currently is entirely about the various types of joints. The mage who wrote the book spent a lot of time researching and experimenting with joints.
I already had an idea of what I was going to do with the joints for my golems. After reading this book I have already made some changes to my plans. This book is full of ideas for different types of joints and ways to make them.
It even has several theoretical ideas, but the writer was unable to find anyone who could make the joints. Finding a blacksmith skilled enough is a major problem for most mages, but I don't have that problem. With my ability to manipulate metal I can do things that blacksmiths can only dream of doing.
In fact, I can probably do things with metal that even a 3D-printer couldn't do. Once I am done reading the first thing I will do is test out these theories. If they work, I could possibly create a golem that has better flexibility than a human.
I will have to wait and see, but I have a good feeling about a couple of the theories. It makes me tempted to start experimenting immediately and forget the rest of the books. However, rushing like that is a bad idea and I know it, I will have to be patient.
Knowing my luck, I would experiment a bit and then immediately start making golems. Only later down the line would I go back to the books and find something that made me have to rebuild all of them. So, I force myself to ignore my curiosity and finish the book then start the next one.
There are no other interruptions and I read until Lin comes back from the library. At this point I only have two more books to read through before I am done. Then I will have to go to the library and see what books they have about golems.
Lin and I have dinner together and then she heads into her tower to put the copied books away. While she is doing that I go and take a nice relaxing lava bath. When Lin is done in the tower, I open the soulscape and invite everyone.
Lin happens to ask about my plans for the castle's spirit, so I show her and the others the Marvel movies. This leads to me having to answer a ton of questions and it just gets worse after each movie. In the end, I have to explain all about superheroes and the culture behind them.
It is actually a relief when I end the soulscape and head to bed with Lin. Since I am still feeling tired, when Lin falls asleep I join her and sleep until morning. With no kids to wake us up, we actually end up sleeping in quite late.
When we finally wake up we have breakfast in bed, but we still don't get up until noon. When I check I find that the elven groups are already in the city, but they are fine. So, when Lin leaves to head for the library I just lay around and do some more reading.
The crates have been picked up, but no new weapons were left for me to work on. Meaning that once again I don't have anything that I need to do unless something happens. The last couple of days have been really quiet and I am starting to feel a little bored.
However, I am not going to tempt fate by trying to look for something to do. My plan is to read these two remaining books and then join Lin at the library. If the library doesn't have too many books on golems I might be able to start experimenting soon.