Chương 15: Chapter 14 – Golems

Kai restrained the urge to curse excessively. The… metal thing in front of him was not only three levels above him, but visibly dangerous. He wouldn't even know how to start fighting it – he had no desire to repeatedly smack his sword into a hunk of steel. Magic seemed like the superior option, but he could easily see the golem just shrugging off fire bolts like the Terminator shrugged off bullets.

"Honey," his mother's voice cut through the sobs of Kerstin's kid.

"Can you… put it into the barn or something? Please?" Daniel looked from the crying child to the golem.

"Oh," he said.

"Yes. [Displace]." The golem disappeared with a quiet popping sound, making Kerstin flinch again.

"Do you have something, ahem, less intimidating?" Laura was visibly struggling to keep her composure, which caught Kai off-guard. Sure, the thing had been a little weird, but it hadn't been that bad, right?

"Less intimidating in what way?" Daniel asked, clearly uncomfortable with the situation.

"... Less murder-machine, more… family-friendly guardian?"

"But the design is the most–""Dad, I don't think we need the most combat-efficient design right now," Kai cut in. Daniel blinked as he always did. Thankfully, Lena seemed to actually get the point and was inclined to translate.

"You said you can use stone, too. Can you make it look more like an elemental? Like, kind of cute?"

"... I probably could, but steel is preferable in almost every way. It's twice as energy efficient and–""Doesn't matter," Laura said urgently.

"Kind of cute sounds good. Do it, please."

"I don't even know where to start," Daniel frowned in a rare display of exasperation.

"My golem designs are very good at what they do."

"It doesn't matter what they do, it matters what they look like," Kai said.

"Mom wants a face-of-the-party golem, not a kills-you-efficiently golem."

"Oh," he perked up.

"That makes sense." He took another core out of his pocket and shoved some mana into it. Then, with a wave of his hand, a large, rectangular slab of bedrock shot out of the ground, giving Emma something new to marvel at instead of sobbing into her mother's blouse. He pressed the core against the stone. Instead of liquifying and flowing around the core like the steel had, the rock shattered into countless cubes that quickly rearranged themselves into a roughly humanoid shape.

No visible internals, no sinews and muscles. Kai could see how the steel golem would be more efficient – this one seemed almost primitive in comparison; raw stone animated by mana. The rectangular edges smoothed out, giving the golem an almost weathered look. It rose out of its kneeling position, not quite towering over Kai, but standing a good ten centimeters taller. It still felt off, though. Maybe it's the lack of–"Can you make this?" Lena asked, pointing at a sketch she had drawn in the yard's gravel.

It was an almost anime-like face. Big, round eyes, a hint of a mouth.

"And make it blink every now and again."

"Sure," Daniel shrugged. He lifted his hand towards the golem's torso, stone splitting apart to reveal the glowing core inside. He touched it with his index finger, and the blank rock that served as the golem's head shifted into an approximation of Lena's drawing. The round eyes began to glow, and it blinked twice like it just woke up. ~ Stone Golem, Level 10 Goddamnit.

"Just for reference," Kai whispered to his father.

"How does this one compare to the steel one in combat?"

"Offensively, they're pretty much identical," Daniel whispered back.

"Defensively, it lacks the steel model's resistance to physical damage, but is less susceptible to lightning. It also needs twice the elemental cores to fuel." So, it can still kick my ass. Great. One person, however, did not seem to share his concerns. Emma wriggled out of her mother's arms and tried to get closer to the golem. Her mother barely caught her before she could reach the slightly less monstrous automaton. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent.

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"Cute," she decreed. Laura heaved a sigh of relief, and though Kerstin seemed not quite convinced, her shoulders relaxed a little.

"Hello," Emma said cheerily and waved to the murder machine, previous fear all but forgotten.

"What's your name?"

"Uh," Daniel said, utterly unequipped for this type of encounter. Kai whispered, "Make it wave back." His father quickly nodded, and at an unspoken command, the golem lifted its stony arm and did a little wave. It was awkward and mechanical, but good enough for the kid.

"He understands me!", she laughed.

"Can he speak?"

"It can't," Daniel replied dryly, causing Laura to quickly intercede.

"He doesn't have a name yet," she said, all smiles and sunshine.

"Do you want to give him one?" Emma considered that for a moment, face scrunched in concentration.

"Bruno the Second." Everyone paused to look at her, which the girl didn't even notice.

"... Bruno is the name of her teddy bear," Kerstin explained, her voice carrying an apologetic undertone. Laura grinned widely.

"Great. Nice to meet you, Bruno the Second." The golem simply stood there. Kai whispered a few instructions to his father, and 'Bruno' went down on one knee.

"Your knight is awaiting your orders, Princess Emma," Kai intoned with grandeur. Laura shot him an approving look, and he smugly grinned back. The girl started jumping in place, squealing with delight.

"Pick me up!"

"No." Kerstin's words carried the absolute certainty of a determined mother.

"Choose something else."

"The queen has spoken," Kai declared. Emma pouted briefly, but soon came up with a new idea.

"Build me a castle! A princess needs a castle!" Laura raised her eyebrows at her husband, who thankfully understood his assignment. The golem stood up and walked off the yard towards the playground. Its steps made the ground shake. Just how much does this thing weigh? From the deep indents its blocky feet left in the lawn, it was a lot. Kai briefly saw his mother's eyebrows twitch, but wisely decided not to comment.

The golem took a handful – so, a bucketload in human terms – of dirt out of the overgrown sandbox, and pressed. The result was a rectangular brick, which it carefully slotted into one of the many holes in the old wooden playhouse.

"... What's its Strength score?" Kai whispered.

"Nine."

"Oh, damn." While everyone else was distracted by the golem, Laura quietly approached Kai and his father.

"What exactly is a golem? What can it do?"

"Simply put, the core contains an artificial spirit," Daniel mused.

"These ones are about as smart as a dog. They follow simple orders and distinguish between friend and foe according to my definitions. Don't expect them to understand complex commands, unless I'm controlling them directly."

"So, as a thought exercise," Laura began carefully, "you could make them patrol the streets of Lindenfeld and kill every goblin they find."

"That's pretty much what they exist for, other than supporting me in combat. Area control, protection, and denial."

"How many of them can you build?"

"With the steel we already have, plus the rest coming next week, two hundred and thirty three." Laura froze. Kai's heart started racing.

"We'd need to keep some in reserve for armor and other equipment, though. So, let's say two hundred, presuming we only want the medium-sized variant. The large siege models are currently useless and expensive, so we'll discard those. The small variant would be interesting, though, if only for the much lower steel usage," he monologued, and neither Kai nor his mother had the mental capacity to stop him.

"So, if we want a balanced army, we should go with… Let's say, one hundred and sixty medium golems, plus one hundred small golems as a rapid response force. That should leave us with more than enough steel for repairs and rearmament."

"That's–""Ah, but I'm afraid I can't ramp up production immediately. We are severely constrained on fuel, and I need a lot more gold and silver for cores. Gods, I wish I had orichalcum… Being limited to Mark I golems is a pain." Kai elected against asking what orichalcum was or what it would mean for the terrifying army his father was currently sketching out. If a single level ten golem was already this scary… He looked at his mother, who had been eerily quiet.

Her expression was the one she wore when thinking about difficult clients at the dinner table. It was odd, seeing such a mundane thing amidst all this magical chaos.

"Your stone golems have no practical number limit besides fuel and golem cores, correct?" she asked, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

"Correct. However–""Yes, fuel efficiency. How many of them can you power, and for how long?" Daniel was visibly hesitant to answer, as if the mere contemplation of inefficiency hurt him.

"... Depends on usage. Simple guard duty – lingering in standby, moving around conservatively – maybe a dozen for one week if we want to maximize numbers. If we expect combat though… The elemental cores we have are enough for six or seven engagements total. So, building more than two golems would be a waste for now." Kai frowned.

"Wouldn't it be best to have a few stone golems as 'police', and a bunch of steel golems as 'military'?" His parents looked at him consideringly. To his surprise, his father spoke first.

"I see. The 'cute' golems for population control, the efficient ones for combat engagements."

"Don't call it that," Laura hissed with a hasty glance towards Kerstin, who was thankfully far enough away and distracted.

"Stone golems are more likely to be accepted as a constant, reassuring presence. Having them on standby except for emergencies would minimize resource depletion, right?"

"Yes."

"Alright. I'll talk to Andrea," she sighed.

"I doubt she will agree to golem patrols right away, but given some time–""–and goblin attacks–" Kai interjected.

"–she will come around." Back in the garden, Bruno the Second stacked another brick on Emma's new castle.