I made enough golems for a full team like Martimer's, plus four mage golems. I sent two of the mages to join Martimer's team. Then I made one guardian knight, one spear knight, one archer and two more assassins.
When they were finished and clothed, none of them were above normal rating and none were growth types. I put them on standby and got to work on another Frankenstein golem. I don't have the luxury of waiting, and after I craft this one, I'll be piss-poor in game.
At least with a Frankenstein golem, it would be a growth type with a growth class.
The second Frankenstein fought me the whole way.
The varadinium was gone, so I used black iron for the frame, and black iron is stubborn. Twice the arm joints seized while I was sculpting them, and twice I had to heat the whole limb and start over. Torva came to watch on the second try. She didn't say anything, but she handed me the right file before I asked for it, and then the right chisel after that.
"You've been watching me work," I said.
"I watch everything that is forged in this hideout, Praetor." She said it like it was obvious.
When I held the ego vial, I didn't know what to think about. Martimer's ego had been about family and loyalty. I didn't want a copy of her. Then I looked across the workshop at Martimer, sitting on the bench and cleaning Oliburn, laughing at something one of the mage golems couldn't possibly have said, since they barely talked.
She was the only one of her kind. There could only ever be two.
So I thought about that. About having someone who's the same as you. Someone who gets it.
The liquid went dark purple, like Martimer's, with a thin line of silver running through it.
[A growth-type golem with a growth-type class has been produced. All stats rise by +10, and reputation throughout the continent permanently rises by +50.]
[Growth golems with classes created: 4/5]
Her body was like Martimer's, but with shorter hair and less defined in the assets department. That didn't take anything away from her looks, though. She sat up, looked straight past me, found Martimer across the room, and said her first word.
"...Sister?"
Martimer dropped Oliburn. She actually dropped it. It clanged off the floor and scorched a black mark into the stone, and Martimer didn't even look at it. She crossed the workshop in four long steps and hugged the new golem so hard they both nearly fell off the table.
I named her Joul. She started at the same rating as Martimer.
When everything was finished, I made sure everyone was clothed and had at least some weapons and armor before I sent them out. The two teams would work in tandem, covering more ground and working out among themselves the best way to hunt the area.
Once all that was done, I decided to raise my mining skill even further and expand the hideout at the same time. My mining skill was at intermediate level 5. That's pretty high, but considering how big the hideout already was, I'd be upset if it were any lower.
While I mined, I had the cameagle that had observed the wandering party explore, to look for any interesting targets, or just something to pass the time.
I'm not averse to staying connected for multiple real-world days at a time, and I probably will, since I want to expand pretty far.
That was when Torva told me something interesting. Grid had been challenged to a blacksmithing competition against the Mero Company. Looks like a free quest win for Grid. I let Torva keep me updated while I kept looking for another target.
After mining for two in-game nights straight, I called it and logged off.
When I logged back on, Torva told me Grid had run into an Orator who seemed to be rallying the citizens of Winston against the Mero Company. An orator, huh? I didn't know how that would work as a golem, but it wouldn't hurt to get another production method to grind.
I sent my roaming cameagle to their location, and once it arrived, it started observing him. Apparently it would only take two hours to get the method, because of the nature of the class.
After the skill finished, the orator, 'Huroi', was captured by the Mero Company and imprisoned. Oh well. That's what he gets for getting involved with them. I'll just keep grinding my skill levels as much as possible and hope for one more growth-type golem.
[Lim Cheolho's POV]
11:50 p.m.
Lim Cheolho, the head of Satisfy and the S.A. Group, had just finished being somewhat surprised by the user who obtained the first legendary class and triggered an S-grade hidden quest. Now he was watching a user who had obtained a class originally made as a joke, one that couldn't possibly become a reality. Somehow, that user had shattered the super AI Morpheus's prediction that he'd give up on it.
The main reason he should have given up? The resources and money needed just to get started were absurd. Even if he made a few golems, there was no guarantee they would ever get basic AI with personalities.
Yet somehow, the very first golem the user 'Daz' made was based on Grid's legendary class!
Not only that, but his title had the absurd effect of letting him invent classes, as long as they didn't break the game itself. Thankfully, Lim had built a failsafe so the hidden effect's description would never show, even once its effects were discovered. And to put a damn cherry on top, the man already had four golems with advanced AI, on the level of NPCs like Piaro and Earl Ashur!
"Morpheus. If Daz's golem Martimer and Kraugel were put on an even playing field, what are the chances of Martimer winning?"
[The probability of the golem Martimer winning against Kraugel is 40%. If Martimer absorbs and assimilates a large number of creatures of varying kinds and power, she would have a 75% chance of winning.]
"What?"
That night, the head of Satisfy added another name to his list of 'miracle' players who broke Morpheus's predictions.
[Daz's POV]
In the middle of mining, I found a black iron vein! That's a great boon for me.
That reminds me. I should have my two golem teams run nearby dungeons for gear materials and faster levels, but I don't want to stop them from hunting either. I guess I could send one team to do a raid or dungeon and have the other keep hunting nearby.
Good news: Grid made some epic-rated items under Torva's watchful eye, so she gained some inspiration from his form.
I also noticed something interesting through one of my roaming cameagles. It was near the Akero Dungeon. I have no idea how it reached such a high-level area, but then again, it can fly and has advanced stealth, so I doubt it would get caught easily.
I saw a young-looking girl with the username Euphemina being harassed by other players showing off their skills. Nothing special was happening until I tried to use Golem Understanding on her.
[The player 'Euphemina' has an epic class with much higher stats than a normal or rare class of the same level, and is a much higher level than the user. Golem Understanding cannot be used at this time.]
That was the first time I couldn't use Golem Understanding on someone. It didn't deter me at all. It just made me more determined to get a production method from her class. Looks like I'd found one of the epic-class users. I had my cameagle keep following her from a distance, then went to the second workshop to make more cameagles.
While I worked, I noticed Euphemina was heading toward Kesan Canyon.
"I wonder why she's going there? I'll find out soon enough, but it's either leveling or a quest."
She went into a cave and immediately triggered a trap someone had set, then got into a fight with that someone. It looked like she had a quest to fight this NPC, and she was easily being overwhelmed. His name was Piaro. I wondered who that was.
I tried Golem Understanding on him too, but it also failed, this time because his class was Great Swordsman.
For a moment it seemed like Euphemina would win, and I guessed her class was some kind of powerful mage. But even under a bombardment of spells, Piaro came out fine and defeated her. The closest town for her to respawn in was probably Winston, so I'd send one of my new cameagles to find and follow her there.
After things settled down in the cave, Piaro surpassed my expectations.
"Who's there! I can sense you nearby. You can't fool me! Are you another one of Asmophel's dogs?"
I had the cameagle stay silent and slowly back away. The silence didn't last long.
Rumble.
Piaro's stomach echoed through the cave.
Then an idea came to me. I sent the cameagle out to gather some nearby fruit and bring it to Piaro. This might be my only chance to get a cameagle close enough to spy on him. The great thing about cameagles is that they have a small five-slot inventory. I had it leave the desert temporarily to gather fruit, vegetables, and meat from some weak rabbits it could catch, then fly back.
When the cameagle entered the cave, Piaro was instantly alert and dropped into a defensive stance. I had the cameagle land a short distance away, in his line of sight. He didn't lower his guard even slightly, but he didn't make the first move either.
Slowing my breathing, I had the cameagle empty part of its inventory in front of it. I started sweating as Piaro saw the food and slowly made his way over. When he was right in front of the food and the cameagle, he spoke.
"You're quite the peculiar bird. I haven't seen your kind before. I thought you were another enemy, but it seems you want to introduce yourself as a friend. I'm going to start a fire for this meat. You wouldn't happen to have any more, would you?"
Piaro was still a bit cautious, but I had the cameagle unload all the meat it had scavenged. His eyes widened in surprise, and he finally relaxed his guard. I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding. I'd been so focused that I'd stopped making cameagles entirely.
After Piaro made a fire and started cooking, he gave the cameagle a name.
"Duke. You look like a Duke. Proud. Bit of a show-off."
I decided to log off at that point, but first I gave Duke a command: listen to Piaro's commands, and hunt food for him periodically if he doesn't do it himself.
The last thing I saw before logging off was Piaro feeding Duke a piece of meat while he ate some himself.
I wonder where the food goes when a golem eats it. Huh. Food for thought. No pun intended.