Chapter 111: A Wild and Creative Idea

Chapter 111: A Wild and Creative Idea

The group fell into a moment of silence.

Finally, Heilin cleared his throat and said, "I happen to have a design for a special type of puppet, though it's not a flying one. Interested?"

"Can I take a look first?"

"Of course."

Taking the design from Heilin, Su Nan opened it and was immediately taken aback.

At the top of the design, the name of the puppet was written—Gem Golem! The peculiar name instantly piqued his interest.

He continued reading, and his expression gradually turned curious.

Golems were generally named based on their primary material.

For example, an Iron Golem was primarily made of iron, and a Stone Golem was primarily made of stone.

Throughout the history of the wizarding civilization, wizards had developed a wide variety of materials for crafting golems, including some quite bizarre ones like flesh, bones, and even enchanted ropes and shutters.

The materials were diverse and varied.

However, using gems as a material was something Su Nan had never heard of before.

It wasn't that gems were unsuitable as materials; the main issue was—cost!

Wizards, when creating anything, always prioritized cost-effectiveness.

Whether it was a magical item, a puppet, or a potion, no matter how powerful the effect, if the cost far exceeded its value, the item was considered a failure.

This was why no one had ever thought to use gems to craft a golem.

But the author of this design dared to think differently.

His idea was to use diamonds as the main body, supplemented by various gems to form the golem's body, and then inscribe a certain number of second-level spells. By drawing inspiration from the techniques of the Gem Magic school, the gems would amplify the power of the spells, ultimately creating a gem golem capable of casting multiple spells.

Admittingly, the concept was quite creative.

A golem constructed primarily of diamonds would be incredibly durable, possibly even surpassing an Adamantine Golem in toughness.

The idea of using gems to amplify spell power was equally ingenious.

With the gem's amplification, the spells cast by the Gem Golem would be on par with third-level spells.

A golem with an impervious body and the ability to cast spells with the power of third-level spells would have a combat strength that even a typical third-level wizard apprentice couldn't match!

However, upon closer examination, two significant flaws in this concept became apparent.

The first was the manufacturing difficulty.

To inscribe second-level spells into a golem so it could cast them was far more challenging than permanently enchanting a second-level spell into a magical item.

With Su Nan's level 4 in [Magic Item Crafting], he had failed multiple times trying to permanently enchant a second-level spell on a robe. Inscribing a second-level spell into a golem would likely require dozens or even hundreds of failures to succeed.

Even Su Nan, with his abundant resources for practice, found it difficult. Other wizard apprentices would have an even tougher time.

A typical third-level wizard apprentice would be considered exceptionally talented if they could achieve level 2 in [Magic Item Crafting].

Moreover, to use gems to amplify spell power, the crafter would need to master the knowledge of Gem Magic.

But that knowledge had disappeared from the Starlight Continent when the Gem Magic school left.

There was no one now to teach this knowledge.

The second flaw was the cost.

To create a Gem Golem, the amount of gems required would likely be measured in tons, with the final cost possibly reaching several million gold coins.

Even the wealthiest wizards couldn't afford such an astronomical expense.

Even if they managed to scrape together the funds, spending so much money just to create a golem that was slightly more powerful than a typical third-level wizard apprentice would be considered extremely wasteful.

Even in the future, when the gem swarm expanded and could produce gems in large quantities, Su Nan wouldn't waste gems on this.

To him, this design was almost entirely impractical.

In fact, according to the author's own account, he had only conceptualized the idea and had not yet created a finished product.

After finishing the design, Su Nan pondered for a moment and then looked at Heilin with a teasing smile. "What do you plan to trade for this design?"

"Three magic stones, how about that?"

Heilin knew the design was unreliable, so he offered a particularly cheap price for a puppet design.

Su Nan thought for a moment and agreed.

Although the design was wild and creative, it wasn't without its merits to learn from.

Take it back and study it thoroughly. Perhaps you can use it as a basis to design a new type of puppet.

With the final trade completed, the gathering came to an end.

Before parting ways, Heilin waved at Su Nan and said with a smile, "Player, if you're interested in puppets, I have another rare puppet design. I'll bring it to the next gathering."

Su Nan was slightly taken aback but nodded. "I look forward to it."

Time flew by.

Before they knew it, it was the month of Xia Long, and the scorching sun hung high in the sky, making the weather unbearably hot.

At the base.

Xie Man had just come out of the potion laboratory when he met Athel, who was walking out of the opposite room.

They exchanged glances and smiled simultaneously.

"Are you here to make potions too?"

"Yeah, it took a while, but I finally managed to create the first bottle of Lesser Dragon Blood Potion."

Athel shook the potion bottle in his hand, the bright red liquid inside swaying gently.

As one of the first students to enter the base, Xie Man, Cole, and Athel had all learned to make zero-grade potions.

However, Xie Man and Cole had progressed faster and had already mastered the more challenging Lesser Dragon Blood Potion and Lesser Vigor Potion among the zero-grade potions.

Athel, on the other hand, had been slower, and it was only today that he finally managed to create the Lesser Dragon Blood Potion.

"Potion-making isn't everything for a wizard's apprentice. Don't worry too much about it."

Seeing Athel's dejected expression, Xie Man racked his brain for words of comfort but could only manage a dry, "It's okay."

This only made Athel chuckle.

"Don't force it. I know my limits. I'm not as talented as you and Cole. I'll probably just be a second-level wizard's apprentice for the rest of my life."

"But you and Cole, you might even advance to third-level wizard's apprentices!"

Xie Man smiled but didn't say anything.

To advance to third-level wizard's apprentice, one had to construct nine star rings.

He had spent over three years and still hadn't constructed his third star ring, so the nine star rings seemed like a distant dream.

"Have you heard that the newly established Knight Academy is starting to recruit students?" Athel changed the subject.

"Right," Xie Man replied with a smile. "When I visited Old Roger a few days ago, he said many people were applying."

If there was one thing Xie Man regretted about the base, it was the lack of students from similar backgrounds.

Most students came from middle-class families or noble households.

As a result, he found it hard to make close friends.

This wasn't because the others were bad.

Athel and Ethan, for instance, never looked down on him despite their better backgrounds, and they got along well.

However, their different upbringings and worldviews made it difficult for them to truly connect.

The new Knight Academy, however, was said to recruit students only from the common folk and farmers, and they would join the base's knight guard after graduation.

This way, the base wouldn't be entirely dominated by middle-class and noble-born students.

Suddenly, a wave of laughter and chatter came from a distance.

Xie Man turned to see a group of young men and women walking toward them, led by Ethan, who was on good terms with him.

The group soon noticed Xie Man and Athel and waved to greet them.

"Senior Xie Man!"

"Senior Athel!"

Athel smiled and greeted them. "You all look so happy. What's the good news?"

Ethan laughed. "Nothing much, just that Skinner finally mastered his first spell, so we're all happy for him."

Skinner was one of the second batch of new students and the youngest among them at thirteen years old. He was fair-skinned and well-liked by everyone.

"What spell did you master?" Athel asked Skinner with a warm smile.

"Hand of the Mage!"

Excited to show off in front of the popular Senior Athel, Skinner's face flushed red, and he was about to cast the spell when Xie Man quickly stopped him.

"Don't be hasty."

Xie Man pointed to a nearby tree.

A red-eyed crow perched on a branch, its deep eyes fixed on them.

Skinner finally realized the situation and quickly shut his mouth, startled.

After the third batch of students joined the base, the base implemented strict rules to manage the growing number of students. Violators would face punishments like solitary confinement and the deduction of contribution points.

There was a rule that prohibited casting spells outside the spell training area and the laboratory, with violators facing a deduction of contribution points.

For Skinner, that would be a significant amount, enough to make him cringe.

Shaken back to reality, Skinner hurriedly thanked Xie Man.

"Don't worry about it," Xie Man waved him off with a smile. "Just be more careful next time."

The atmosphere relaxed again.

After a few more jokes, Ethan and the others left, heading straight for the spell training area, which had been their original destination.

"Where do you plan to go next?" Athel asked.

"I'm going to check the mission board and pick up a few tasks."

"I was thinking of doing the same. Let's go together."

The two of them headed to the warehouse, greeting Miss Gail, who was basking in the sun, before approaching the mission board.

To their surprise, Cole was already there.

Seeing Xie Man and Athel, Cole nodded in greeting and continued scanning the board.

Xie Man walked over and noticed several new tasks had been added.

For example, feeding gems to the gem bugs in the nest, collecting the pure gems they produced, performing magical enhancements on the front legs of the double-bladed spiders, and crafting stone golems.

There were over a dozen new tasks in total.

"Have you heard about the new camp being built in the northern forest?" Cole suddenly asked.

"We've heard about it," Athel replied.

Xie Man nodded in agreement.

They had known for some time that a vein of minerals had been discovered in the northern forest of Flash City, and that it connected to an underground world, where a city ruled by a sphinx was located.

The newly established Camp 1 was supposedly set up to monitor the activities of the sphinx city.

Naturally, this information came from Lord Amy.

Lord Amy often shared interesting stories and adventures, providing a rare bit of excitement in their otherwise monotonous training lives.

"Lord Amy told me that the teacher plans to wage war on the sphinx city."

Xie Man and Athel were taken aback.

But upon reflection, the signs had been there all along.

For instance, all the gems collected from the gem bug nests were being sent to Camp 1, likely for the creation of stone golems.

The new tasks on the mission board, including the one for crafting stone golems, were clearly related to this.

"I plan to ask the teacher to let me join the war," Cole said surprisingly.

"Join the war?"

Athel and Xie Man exchanged glances, both somewhat shocked.

"Isn't that too risky?"

"Yeah, that level of war isn't something we can participate in."

The soldiers in the war would either be sphinxes with near-knight-level strength or knight-level stone golems and double-bladed spiders.

There would even be grand knights and legendary knights involved!

For a first-level wizard apprentice, even the slightest mistake could mean death.

"Indeed, you're not ready for that yet," a familiar voice suddenly chimed in. Athel felt a slight weight on her shoulder and turned to see Lord Amy's snowy white cat body.

"Lord Amy!"

Amy licked her paw and said lazily, "A first-level wizard apprentice can barely handle one or two knights. Participating in a human war is already a stretch, let alone fighting against sphinxes—it's a death sentence."

"Wait until you become second-level wizard apprentices."

Cole frowned. "Lord Amy, I just want the teacher to allow me to use this opportunity to gain more contribution points and speed up my strength improvement. Besides, the battle might help me break through my current bottleneck."

"Sounds like something a dark wizard would do," Amy tilted her head, waving her paw and chirped.

"Suit yourself. I can put in a word for you with Su Nan, but don't get your hopes up."

Cole's face lit up with joy. "Thank you, Lord Amy!"

"What about you two?" Amy turned to the other two.

Athel shook her head.

All the spells she knew were support spells, and she had no offensive spells. Going to the battlefield would be no different from suicide.

Xie Man also shook his head.

Unlike Cole, he wasn't single-mindedly focused on power.

He enjoyed the current state, learning new knowledge every day and feeling his progress.

The process of gradually uncovering the mysteries of the world and understanding it was something he found deeply engaging.

He preferred to proceed step by step, steadily and methodically, rather than rushing ahead recklessly.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end