Chapter 78: Golem Creation
Chapter 78: Golem Creation
"Ding, congratulations, you’ve learned a 1st-circle spell: Create Minor Golem."
"With this, all the skills have been learned..."
Matthew set aside the spell scroll Adam Smith had brought and rubbed his temples, his gaze filled with thought:
"In the original memories, the previous incarnation had almost learned all 0th and 1st-circle spells available."
"And he had trained the most practical ones up to level 3 and even level 4..."
"Could it be something missing due to death? Or is there something else?"
Matthew's pondering only lasted a moment before he redirected his attention to the most important task at hand.
Creating a golem!
The spell scrolls Adam Smith brought were crucial to this task.
The process of creating a golem wasn’t simple; in fact, it was quite complex.
But in order to relieve himself from the burdensome task of brewing ever-increasing amounts of blood-replenishing potions, Matthew was willing to spend the necessary money.
Moreover, the ability to create golems was also a vital part of his future plans.
For an arcane mage, golems of all kinds served not only as assistants in life and experiments but also as warriors in battle and guardians of the home.
Any capable arcane mage wouldn’t hesitate to create some golems to aid them, and even those without the talent or inclination for it didn’t mind purchasing a few.
For Matthew, this was another potential source of income, though its benefits would be slow to materialize.
His first goal was to create the simplest type: a clay golem.
The first step was preparing 500 pounds of impurity-free clay.
Matthew used a flame thrower to thoroughly dry the clay.
Then he crushed it into fine powder.
During this process, Matthew sprinkled in two shards of magical white crystal.
Under the light, the pale yellow dust sparkled with glimmers of light.
Mixing the crystal shards and dust completely, Matthew prepared a batch of purified water and slowly poured it in.
Using a large glass rod controlled by Mage Hand, he stirred the mixture evenly.
He continued until all the dirt had become a thick slurry.
Matthew then added some mithril powder—an expensive metal that could sell for 1 gold coin per gram.
The market rarely sold it.
Adam Smith had obtained 50 grams through alternative channels at considerable cost.
The large glass rod kept stirring, while a flame below began to dry the slurry gradually.
Before it fully hardened, Matthew placed the mixture into a wooden mold.
At the center of the mold was a 20-gold coin worth earth elemental crystal.
This would serve as the golem’s energy core.
This method was simpler than traditional golem crafting and could save a lot of effort in shaping the body.
However, it also created a bigger problem: the creator's mana consumption and skill control requirements were much higher.
So, when Matthew cast the spell to create the minor golem, tendrils of mana slowly seeped into the hardening golem puppet.
A faint “pop” sound came from the wooden mold.
It signified that materials worth over 50 gold coins had just been ruined.
Matthew wasn’t surprised by the failure; he had only been testing to see how far he could get with the knowledge and experience from his memories.
Reflecting on the failure, Matthew pondered over the critical issues in clay golem creation.
"The body of a clay golem is like a machine."
"The energy core acts as both the power source and engine, mana nodes are like the wiring and control circuits, and the spell matrix functions as the core processor..."
Understanding the golem’s workings allowed Matthew to grasp the steps needed moving forward.
This was only part of his learning.
"Ding, clay golem creation failed. Gained clay golem information, magic item creation experience +1, currently at 56!"
Normally, crafting golems took a tremendous amount of time and effort. Learning and practicing the process was long and expensive!
It was akin to building costly robots—if you failed, you lost everything.
No wonder his previous self hadn’t raised this ability to a higher level...
"Ding, spent 2 skill points to raise Create Minor Golem to level 2!"
With 7 skill points remaining, Matthew eyed the 40 grams of mithril he had left.
"Ding, spent 3 skill points to raise Create Minor Golem to level 3!"
Four skill points remained!
"Ding... Create Minor Golem raised to level 4!"
Create Minor Golem Level 4: 40% increased success rate for minor golem creation, 20% improved golem attributes, 5% chance to produce a mutated golem.
After the level-up, the enhanced spell effects satisfied Matthew. He carefully reviewed the new knowledge in his mind before diving back into the crafting process.
The second clay golem creation began!
The material preparation didn’t see much operational improvement, but Matthew had a clearer idea of how to allocate the materials.
Then came the stages of mana infusion, spell matrix construction, and spell casting.
One by one, the mana nodes formed under Matthew's precise mental control.
And once again, the attempt failed…
Watching the dust scatter from the explosion, Matthew decided to let the kobolds have these scraps as an extra snack.
Reflecting on the failure, he mentally reviewed the critical moments when the spell matrix collapsed and simulated the entire process.
Rolling up his sleeves, he resumed!
The third attempt began!
This time, the process flowed more smoothly.
The spell matrix construction, under Matthew’s precise control, was completed successfully.
At this stage, the creation was 70% complete.
But then, the slightly glowing core suddenly burst, scattering the dry clay in all directions.
The flying chunks of dirt rippled through the air before crumbling into powder on the floor.
Another failure!
A fully clear mana conduit matrix appeared in Matthew’s mind, and he quickly pinpointed the cause.
A misalignment in the mana node caused instability in the mana flow, and without an excess buffer, the nodes exploded.
Identifying the problem, Matthew began mentally rehearsing the next attempt.
He soon started his fourth attempt.
Faint mana glows filled the laboratory once more.
Time passed, minute by minute.
As his staff pulled away from the clay golem, ripples of mana energy emanated from the golem’s form.
The shape slowly began to change as though some internal program was automatically adjusting its structure.
Matthew suddenly realized that the spell matrix for Create Minor Golem likely had built-in procedural codes, hidden deep within the spell.
"Ding, successfully created clay golem, magic item creation experience +5, currently at 61."
Clenching his fist, Matthew excitedly watched the clay golem stand up:
“Success!”