I watched the mock battles between the warrior caste and human imps for an hour before Rachel messaged me.
[Builder is coming up to meet you]
[No, once Builder gave instructions to the new Builders, he went down to the vault on the 9th Level to collect all the gemstones, marble, and granite before coming up]
Builder took some time to walk to me while dragging a hover chest with the contents he collected from the vault. I looked over to Zoro and Heracles, who were resting by the river after the battle they went through to rank up to silver.
Once Builder reached my side, he revealed the reason for coming up.
"Boss, do you remember when I told you that I unlocked a few holy architecture blueprints after scanning the exterior of the Heroes Church in Falar? I need to build one of them to unlock an evolution path. Since we didn't have any Holy Elemental Cores, I decided not to bring it up again, but I noticed one of the blueprints did not require it. I can create a custom-built life-size statue of any creature made with marble, granite, precious metals, and gemstones. As long as the statue possesses a Holy aesthetic, it should qualify as Holy Architecture. The problem is I have never seen a Holy Creature since I became a Golem and don't have any past life memories. Do you have any suggestions?" the Builder asked me seriously.
"Valgrind gave me a ring filled with books about creatures in Arya. One of them is about the Holy Unicorns of Tawang. Have a look at it." I inform as I mentally summon the Mage Academy ring from my pendant and then summon the Beastiary book within it before handing it over to Builder. He studies the images of the Unicorns and gets inspired.
"This is good! But I hope Raw Gemstones won't disqualify it." Builder muttered.
"Why would you need to use Raw Gems? Just get Maya from the Smith Caste Imps to cut them for you," I point out.
"There is an Imp who can do that? Where can I find the Smiths?" Builder asked in surprise.
"Wait! Have you met the Smith Caste Imps yet? I instructed them to ask you to help them build a smithy to melt the metal ores into metal ingots to make combat equipment."
"Oh? So that's why they were standing outside the tunnel. They were looking for a Builder Golem, so I just told one of the new ones to talk to them and went about my business to get the material to build the statue," Builder asked.
[One of the New Builder Golems is building a Smithy for them with the Stone mined from the deposit nearby. Its design is a bit odd, but it must be based on what the Imp tribes use]
[Maybe his name should be more distinct than the other Builder Golems]
[As their Dungeon Lord, you are the one who has to assign them a name. Otherwise, they are given the default name as Builder or Miner Golem with numbers based on their order of summoning]
[Affirmative]
[We are fused, so it's possible. I can easily draw upon all the names in your memories, which is overwhelming. Do you have a suggestion on what to focus on for their names?]
[Understood!]
"Boss? Are you alright?" Builder asks.
"Ah! I ordered Rachel to give names to the new Golems since that seems to have become a problem now that we have so many builders and miners. I had planned to wait until you and Miner evolved to bestow new names, but that can't wait. Do you have one in mind, or should I pick one?" I ask.
"I asked Rachel for suggestions when depositing the Stone and Mana Crystals in the Dungeon Core. She told me you used to watch Bob the Builder from your memories. I liked the sound of it." Builder informed.
"Bob, it is! Do you have any clue about a name that Miner might like?" I asked, and the name on his details switched to Bob.
"He liked 'Stoner' and 'Rocky,' but I am sure he will be happy with whatever you bestow on him," Bob suggested.
I should explain the meaning of Stoner to Miner directly.
"By the way, where did you store the exploding Pine Cones?" I ask.
"250 from the first day should still be in the first Hover Chest I made, which is used in the tunnel. On the way up here, I noticed 250 more had been stockpiled, with trees cut down by the Warrior Caste Imps on the 2nd Level. Do you need them?" Bob asked, and I explained the plan proposed by the Sin Imps.
"Should have tested the explosive power. I will order a Builder Caste Imp to bring the Hover Chest up to deliver the Pinecones. That reminds me that we need more Hover Chests so that the New Builder Golems can match my tunneling speed without waiting a turn to use the only one we have to store the debris. 10 Hover Chests should be enough to address it if you can spare 10 Mana Crystals," Bob requested.
"There should be 700 Mana Crystals left in the Dungeon Core's personal inventory space," I inform.
"Wow, that's a lot. Will you make 69 Warrior Golems from what's left?" Bob asks.
"No, I will wait for more Stone to be collected before converting the rest of the Builder and Miner Caste into Golems," I inform.
"Boss! The 9 Builder Caste Imps and the 15 Miner Golems helped me add 1 kilometer to the tunnel in the past hour. The 15 Miner Golems and 11 Miner Caste Imps are more than enough to mine all the resources in the Dungeon before their help is needed to mine through the Stone Mountains. If their mining speed is the same, I estimate the tunnel should reach the Gemstone Mine within 24 hours, even if the Imps take a few breaks for food and sleep. So we don't need more Builder and Miner Golems." Bob pointed out.
"That's a relief. Then, I will use the rest of the Mana Crystals for the Monster Breeding Farm and the Warrior Golems. You can build your Holy Statue next to the Smithy on the 2nd Level. That way, the Smith Caste Imps can get the Ingots and Cut Gemstones." I suggest.
"Good idea, Boss!" Bob replies before walking away.
"Hold on! Take Heracles as your mount since you have to walk a lot." I instructed and then went over to wake up the Giant Metal Beetle, which should maintain its large size for an hour or two. Bob climbed on a Horn, and I mentally ordered Heracles to serve as his mount until he returned to his original size. The shell on the Beetl's back split open, spreading its wings to take off vertically and then moving forward like a helicopter. I watched them fly towards the Dungeon gate and disappear through it.
Before I could turn around to continue watching the Mock Battles, Rachel sent me another message.
[Miner has mined 50 hours and gained 5000 EXP to Rank up to Stone. He has evolved into a Driller Golem. His right arm has turned into a Drill-lance, and his body has grown to 5 feet tall]
[From what I can see, the drill has doubled it]
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
[I suggest waiting for the tunnel to the Gemstone mine to be built first. By that time, we would have mined enough Stones from the Stone Mountain to summon the 302 Dwarf Souls together]
Two hundred ninety-nine were left from the remaining Warrior Souls that Timun purchased from the Soulmancer store in Rodwin, and 3 Dwarf Souls were turned into Zombies by the Necromancer.
After that, I returned to spectate the mock battles. The Priest Caste Imps blessed the Human Imps, which boosted the DEF and STA of the Male Human Imps while boosting the ATK and SPD of the Female Human Imps. Most of their wooden equipment had been destroyed, and the priests were almost out of Mana to cast their prayers.
"Human Imps! Take a break and tend to your wounds. You can continue the mock battles once the Smith Caste Imp crafts Heavy Armor equipment for you all," I instructed, which was received with cheers. Then I added. "Warrior Caste Imps! Those of you with the skills to create Weapons out of Mana, step forward."
Out of the 210 Warrior Imps, 92 stepped forward.
"Your group will be known as 'Mana Warrior Imps,' and the rest are the 'Savage Warrior Imps.' I want to ask how you learned to create Weapons out of Mana." I ask the group in front of me. They looked at each other with confusion, and one stepped forward to speak.
"I used to be like the Savage Warriors, but I obtained an Iron Spear from a Non-Human Warrior I killed. After I ate his brain, I learned the basics of using the Spear and unlocked the Mana Spear skill," he explained.
"Oh? What about the rest?" I asked.
Only a dozen had unlocked it the same way. However, most were trained with a physical weapon until they unlocked a skill that highlighted their affinity for it. Then they unlocked the Mana Weapon Skill if their Mana Pool was sufficient.
I noticed that the MPs above the heads of the Savage Warriors are poor compared to the Mana Warrior Imps. They could also unlock those skills by increasing their MP and learning a weapon. But what about a Mana Shield like mine? So I ask them about their experiences with them.
"Armor and Shields are only given to the Warrior Caste Imps who reached Iron Rank. Since they had proven to be worthy of it." A warrior Imp informs.
I recall the Imp corpses at the ruin with iron equipment on them, which my bugs fed on to gain their Iron carapaces. They must have all been Iron or Steel Rank before becoming Clay Rank Undead Imps.
"Nazrat told me the Priest Caste Ink Tattoos similar to the Rune Armor on my Golem. I noticed none of you have them on your bodies. Why is that?" I point out, and Lomar answers.
"Rune Armor Tattoos that nullify the damage from physical and elemental attacks can only be inked on those with a sufficient Mana Pool," Lomar informs.
"Can you tell me the MP requirement in numbers?" I ask.
"Hmm... I'm still getting used to seeing it in numerical values, but it should be 6000 MP at the minimum. A 100 MP will be deducted every minute to maintain it, meaning they receive the protection for 60 minutes after it is activated," Lomar points out, and the rest of the Priest Caste agrees with him.
Most Clay Rank Imps had less than 500 MP, so I assumed they would need to reach Gold Rank to get enough Mana for it.
"So only High Ranked Imps can have them?" I ask.
"Yes, though I can Ink a unique type of Blood Tattoo. But it is time-consuming and weakens me greatly when I use it." Lomar informed.
"Toru told me a bit about your ability. Is there a way to use it without weakening you?" I ask.
"It's a very expensive way. But if I get over 200 Blood Elemental Cores, I can ink all the Warrior Caste Imps, Human Imps, and Sin Imps in a day." Lomar informed me, and I was surprised the solution was simple.
"Interesting. I think I can arrange it. But I would like to confirm the benefits and restrictions." I ask.
"The imps who have the same tattoo will gain a 10% increase in speed and strength, but it can only rise to 100% if there are nine others within a range of ten meters from each other, along with their rank, class, and tattoo design," Lomar informs.
"Jamma! I want all the Warriors Caste imps divided into teams of 10. Once I get the Blood Elemental Cores for Lomar, every Imp will be inked with unique tattoos for each team," I inform.
"Dungeon Lord, Blood Elemental Beasts are difficult to find and kill. Two hundred will require incredible luck," Jamma points out. I informed him about the Pillar of Elements and how I would use the Human Imps to farm for their cores.
"If that is possible, then our Warrior Caste Imps will double in combat power compared to the other Imp tribes." Jamma realizes.
That's good. Now, all we need is enough metal ores to make the equipment.
"By the way, I noticed the fallen members of your tribe had a lot of Iron Equipment. Was it all taken from Adventurers, or did you have an Iron mine?" I ask.
"An Iron mine, of course, but it was deep beneath our ruin. That was where our Non-Combat Class Imps were working when the massacre took place above. But we sealed it when I ordered the evacuation," Jamma revealed.
"By tomorrow, my Builder Golems will be free to build a new tunnel to reconnect to it. How much Iron is left in there?" I ask.
"Zero! Since I brought it with me," Jamma says, summoning a five-foot radius Iron Sphere, which slammed into the grass nearby. "Anywhere we bury it, the sphere will create a replenishable Iron deposit. The daily maximum is 4000 Iron Ores." Jamma explains.
[The one in the Dungeon must be a lesser version of this thing. But can it also be moved?]
I relayed the question to Jamma.
"If it can be reset, it must be a Metal Core Node. They can only be moved once a month. But I know how to do it if that is what you require." Jamma explains.
"Did your Ruin have this as well?" I asked Lomar.
"Ours had a replenishable Gold mine. But it only produced 500 Ores a day." Lomar explained with a sad tone.
Mine can only produce 50 Ores a day. He should be happy to get so much Gold.
"Will the other ruins have more of these things?" I asked.
"Possible. My fallen High Chief obtained this Iron Core Node from slaying an Iron Titan Golem in the Underworld," Jamma revealed.
"One of our High Chief ancestors did the same against a Gold Titan Golem," I mentioned.
"Metal Titan Golems? Were they made from Dwarf Souls?" I asked, and Timun answered. I didn't notice that he had joined the crowd.
"Nothing to do with Dwarves. They are the souls of ancient Dragons that were reborn as Golems. However, their evolutionary path always chose precious metals for some reason. Their form will resemble a Dragon but be far smaller and weaker than a real Dragon," Timun informed.
"Do you know where to find them?" I ask.
"Chingar's army hunted most of the high-ranked ones, as their Metal Cores produced thousands or hundreds of thousands of Ores daily to build his Automaton army in the early days of his global underworld conquest. It was before he had captured enough Mithril to only make his Automatons out of the best metal in Artrea. The Lower-Ranked Metal Titan Golems would have been spared and refused to rank up to avoid being hunted. To increase their chances of survival, they hid within the Mountains of the Overworld, where Chingar's Dwarves wouldn't dare to go. However, some were discovered and slain by the Human Kingdom armies, who turned their cores into resource mines for their armies." Timun explained.
"Oh? Would there be some hiding in the Mountain above the Dungeon?" I ask.
"Of course, there should be a few. But it would be hard to find those Metal Titan Golems unless you have a Dwarf Nose. But before you ask me to find them. They aren't so weak that they will succumb to an army of Clay Rank Imps or Golems," Timun points out.
"I see. But you will help me when I have the army that can slay them?" I ask.
"Only if you agree to share the resources produced daily from their Metal Cores." Timun requested.
"Of course, but if you want to split it in half, you and your dwarves must contribute to the kill," I suggested.
Timun nodded and then pulled out our Mana Contract. I understood what he wanted and used the Mana Pen he gave me to add the new agreement.
A few minutes later, a herd of over 150 Megaloceros rushed into the Dungeon with the Tamer Imps riding the largest Bucks, each adorned with the largest antlers on their heads. Right after, they came through a herd of 28 Elasmotherium charge into the Dungeon with Tamer Imps on their back.
One of them comes up to me while the rest rush to the river to let their Ice Age animals have a drink.
"Dungeon Lord! Are these enough, or do you need more?" A Tamer Caste Imp asks.
"Is the sun coming up?" I ask.
"Yes, dawn will be here soon." He responds.
"Then these animals will do. What about the Hunter Cast Imps? Are they still hunting for food?" I ask.
"There they are!" he replies, and the Hunter Caste Imps come through the Dungeon Gate with their hover Chests.
Lock-On comes to my side with a smile on his face.
"Lord Rai, we have acquired enough meat to last four more days in these Hover Chests. But we found this ring within a cave that belonged to the Dire Wolves. I looked in it and discovered a few things that might be useful to you," Lock-On reported and then passed over a Gold storage pendant in the shape of a winged Griffin.
[Ownership of the ring and its contents has been transferred to you]
A note and five black eggs are inside the ring.
[Falar's Lost Children - Note
"To whoever finds this:
This storage pendant once belonged to the last descendant of Griffin Knight Riders, who migrated from the continent now known as Churchland to serve the Black Phoenix. Over time, our clan diminished to become monster hunters for hire and the last Griffin Riders of Arya.
Three Griffin eggs were intentionally left unhatched because the Black Phoenix perished soon after they were laid by their mother, who mentioned the Black Phoenix sired them when he transformed into his beast form. She shared a vision that he would be reborn in the distant future, and only then should these eggs be hatched so that they can meet and serve their father. However, we waited for centuries without any sign of his return, and the rest of our Griffins either perished or flew back to the ancestral continent. Our enemies hunted down the rest of our clan after we lost the Monsters that protected us. One of them has been hunting me for over a decade with his Dire Wolves, and I do not believe I can escape them any longer. I will swallow this Storage Ring so they consume it with me.
My only regret is not hatching these eggs to bring back the Griffins to resurrect my clan. But they shouldn't remain unhatched for eternity. My last wish is for the reader to hatch and raise them regardless of the prophecy I mentioned. Griffins are eternally loyal to the one who raises them, and they carry their ancestor's memories along with the characteristics of their father.
These eggs have already been incubated. All they need is to be bathed in the memories of the individual who wishes to raise and ride them. A Griffin can only be bonded to one rider, so choosing carefully is important. They will inherit all their rider's memories and some of their personality. They will only listen to their rider and can potentially extend their rider's life unless they meet their father, who might be able to break the bond if he wishes to.
I know the temptation to sell them for wealth is great. But know that you are losing the chance of raising the children of the Black Phoenix, which is priceless."]
[Obtained 3 x Ancient Black Griffin Eggs]