Chapter 397: Iron Spine Necromancer

Chapter 397: Iron Spine Necromancer

"Alright, two spots, let's keep one for a male team member. You can inform Claire about this. As for the interview, let's schedule it for after I return from my mission." Ren thought for a moment and said.

Since they had already selected four female candidates, it wouldn't be appropriate to completely overturn the decision. Instead, they should choose one from the list.

Additionally, selecting a male team member would also take some time, so they would have to wait until his return.

Having an all-female team wouldn't be suitable. Imagine, for instance, after slaying a dragon, while he rests on the side, there should be a strong male team member responsible for skinning and collecting the loot.

This task would likely be beyond the capabilities of the average woman.

"Okay, Lord Ren, I'll inform her right away."

"By the way, help me take on this mission to slay the Magma Fire Dragon, Helmod. Also, request a small airship from headquarters for the task."

"Hmm? Lord Ren, are you sure about this mission?" Olenna was taken aback by his request.

It was only now that she realized that Lord Ren probably hadn't taken her previous words seriously.

"I'm sure." Ren nodded in confirmation.

"Okay, Lord Ren." Olenna nodded in response.

Although Olenna wanted to say more, she was well aware of her position. Since she had already offered her suggestions, all she needed to do now was to follow the orders, rather than continue advising or questioning her superior's decision.

Considering Ren's past achievements, Olenna had reason to believe that he must have a good grasp of the situation to make such a decision.

"By the way, Lord Ren, according to the rules, when a Golden Swordswoman Team carries out a mission, they can mobilize a Silver Secret Team and two Magic Iron Teams to assist them."

"Do you need to mobilize them this time?" Ren pondered briefly before waving his hand, "No, just me, Claire, and Bianca will be enough."

Considering this was their first mission after the purge, he didn't want to attract too much attention to their movements.

Additionally, in a battle against the Magma Fire Dragon, having more team members with lower skill levels wouldn't make much difference.

"Okay, sir."

After Olenna left, Ren paused for a moment before heading to the school's residence.

As soon as he entered Mogaro's laboratory, Ren saw Mogaro dusting off his hands and taking a few gulps of strong liquor, seemingly having just finished the final adjustments on the Hellfire Golem.

Audrey and Alicia were by his side, working on the final step of polishing.

"Teacher, is the modification complete?" Ren had originally planned to check on the progress before leaving for his mission, but he was surprised to find that Mogaro had made more progress than he had anticipated.

"Just finished. You're just in time; we can test it now." Mogaro replied.

"However, operating it once will likely consume a significant amount of mental energy. At least, I wouldn't be able to handle it." Mogaro added, as if something had just occurred to him.

"Okay, Teacher, I'll keep that in mind."

During Ren's previous visit to check on the Hellfire Golem's progress, he had suggested installing one or two small furnace devices to enable the golem to have an 'overclocking' ability.

Since converting the 'overclocked' power into the golem's actions would involve issues like the durability and endurance of most parts, what he meant by 'overclocking' was 'Wizardry Overclocking'.

This meant adding one or two small furnace devices and increasing the number of Wizardry Sigils to enhance the frequency or power of Wizardry release.

With this modification, the overall structure of the parts wouldn't need to be adjusted.

The modification would be relatively easy; otherwise, it would have been a massive overhaul.

It was similar to modifying a vehicle in his past life, increasing the engine's power from 2.0 to 4.0 liters and adding a turbocharger. Nearly every aspect, from the body to the brakes, would need to be adjusted, making it an extremely challenging task.

However, if one simply wanted to double the exhaust sound, it would be much easier—just modify the exhaust system.

Not loud enough? Add two more speakers.

"Lord Ren," Audrey and Alicia greeted him with a bow as they noticed his arrival.

"Lord Ren!"

Even the usually bold Alicia showed a hint of restraint upon seeing Ren again, no longer as carefree as before.

After witnessing Ren's strength, it was only natural for anyone to feel a sense of awe.

Ren nodded slightly at the two women, saying, "You've been working hard."

As the incantation sounded, Ren lightly pointed his finger, and a thumb-thick pillar of yellowish-brown light shone upon the Hellfire Golem, a Level 4 Animation Spell.

Ren was surprised to discover that driving this Hellfire Golem consumed five times the mental energy of a typical Intermediate Battle Puppet. Quantified by the system, it consumed approximately fifty points of mental energy.

This was nearly half of his total mental energy of ninety-eight points.

No wonder, typically, driving a golem in combat required a Tier 3 Crystalized Wizard, as a golem's power was comparable to a Legendary-level force.

Of course, if one had a higher metal affinity, even a Tier 2 Liquidization Peak Wizard could attempt it.

With Ren's Super Metal Affinity, the threshold was naturally lower, but this was already approaching the limit.

After all, a wizard couldn't afford to deplete most of their mental energy on controlling a golem. In battle, they must reserve a substantial amount of mental energy to counter enemy attacks and cast other spells.

This was why the wizards of the Bius Armory School couldn't dominate the battlefield with countless battle puppets.

The more puppets they controlled, the more mental energy they consumed. It was more efficient to use that mental energy to control more powerful puppets.

As the heavy four-meter-tall Hellfire Golem stood up, a surge of energy rippled from its body.

"Thud! Thud! Thud!"

With a mid-level control core installed, Ren only needed to give simple commands. For example, when he ordered the golem to attack, it would automatically lock onto the target and perform a combination attack.

"Attack the Iron Man Target ahead," Ren commanded.

The Hellfire Golem immediately charged towards the target, seemingly because it had determined that it could smash the target with a single punch.

"Stop! Cast a spell!" Ren was most eager to see the golem's spellcasting ability.

The golem's thick chest plates on both sides suddenly opened, revealing two dark cannon barrels. Immediately, intense red and black Wizardry auras began to flicker within the barrels.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The golem fired approximately one shot every two seconds, which, when combined, resulted in a fireball or shadow arrow being launched every second, trailing dazzling flames as they struck the Iron Man Target.

As the smoke cleared, the Iron Man had long since transformed into a red-hot lump of iron slag, still emitting heat.

"Wow, that's some power," Audrey and Alicia exclaimed in awe.

If they were to be hit by such an attack, they might not last more than three seconds before becoming like the target dummy.

"Defense!"

After witnessing the Hellfire Golem's spell attack, Ren issued the defense command.

A red light flashed across the golem's surface, and a shield-like red energy barrier formed around its body.

"This is a Flame Shield, a Tier 1 defensive spell," Mogaro explained from the side.

"Oh, and Ren, you can try the overclocking effect." Mogaro smiled mysteriously.

"Okay, Teacher."

"Overclock!" Ren commanded.

The deep rumbling within the Hellfire Golem suddenly accelerated, like an old-school Otto engine that transformed into a high-performance Ferrari with a simple press of the gas pedal.

"Swish, swish, swish!"

This time, the two dark cannons on the golem's chest began to fire rapidly. In just half a second, fireballs and shadow arrows were unleashed, bombarding the target dummy in an overwhelming display.

Audrey and Alicia exchanged glances, awestruck by the spectacle.

"Wow, if I had a golem like this, I wouldn't even need a partner!" Alicia exclaimed, her eyes wide with envy.

"Alicia, you could ask Lord Ren for one. Who knows, he might even give you one as a gift. If not a completed golem, perhaps a Hellfire Crystal would do," Audrey teased, hearing Alicia's muttering.

"Okay, Audrey, you're making fun of me. Why don't you ask Lord Ren yourself?" Alicia whispered, and the two girls began to playfully bicker with each other.

"Teacher, I'm very satisfied. Thank you for your hard work," Ren said with a slight bow and a smile.

Although he had other ideas, they would require a significant amount of time for redesign, testing, and debugging.

Those could wait until after the task.

Additionally, Ren had plans for using higher-level Abyss Crystals, but unfortunately, even Teacher Mogaro was only a Tier 1 Wizard Peak.

Creating a higher-level golem and engraving more advanced runes was beyond their current capabilities.

For this golem, Teacher Mogaro had to swallow his pride and ask for help from several Tier 2 Liquidization Wizards from the school and Bradley, the deputy leader of the faction and a Tier 3 Crystallization Wizard.

"By the way, I used the enchanted silver you provided to reinforce critical areas, improving its defense against spells."

"Overall, the Hellfire Golem might struggle against Legendary-level powerhouses, but it's perfect for dealing with weaker opponents, regardless of their numbers."

Teacher Mogaro summarized.

"There's one more thing. I set up a self-destruct device at the Hellfire Crystal furnace. In case of emergencies, three furnaces will simultaneously explode with tremendous power!"

"I believe this can be your trump card in times of need. What do you think?"

"Of course, Teacher. Thank you for your efforts!" At that moment, Ren knew he had made the right choice in selecting Teacher Mogaro as his mentor.

Although Mogaro's strength wasn't exceptional, his dedication to Ren was unparalleled.

"Teacher, I'll take this Hellfire Golem with me. I have a task coming up, and it'll be a perfect opportunity for a field test." Ren proposed.

"Good idea. After the field test, if there's anything that needs improvement, let me know as soon as possible," Mogaro smiled.

Meanwhile, in the outskirts of the Imperial Capital of Tamriel, in a valley in the southeast corner.

This place was adjacent to the small town of Luard, marking the very edge of the capital.

Inside a picturesque villa, seven or eight men in various long robes were bustling around an elderly man in a wizard's robe.

Apparently, this was a secret base for an organization.

At that moment, a middle-aged man in a grey robe, having received instructions from the elder, hurried along a winding pebble path on the west side of the villa.

After walking about a hundred meters, he arrived at a well-hidden cave.

The grey-robed man didn't enter hastily but bowed slightly at the cave entrance.

"We have new information. Our target has just accepted a task at the Swordkeeper headquarters. If all goes well, they should be leaving the Imperial Capital of Tamriel soon," the grey-robed man reported.

"Oh? What's the task?" asked a giant standing in the cave, meditating with his eyes closed.

This giant was none other than the legendary stitched monster, 'Scorpio Man', a towering figure with the lower body of a giant scorpion.

Behind Scorpio Man stood several large and formidable-looking ghouls, emitting a strong stench of decay and equipped with sharp claws that set them apart from ordinary ghouls.

These were the elite Clawed Ghouls under Scorpio Man's command, far superior to the average Plague Ghouls and even more so to the Rotten Ghouls.

Scorpio Man himself didn't need to hide in a cave protected by concealment arrays, but his undead servants constantly emitted energy fluctuations.

That's why he chose to stay in the cave.

"The task they accepted is to defeat the Lava Dragon 'Hemaodos'," the middle-aged man reporting the news said, his face serious.

Although his strength was far from that of dragons, he had heard of, he knew that Lava Dragons were said to be almost as powerful as true dragons.

"Do you have specific intelligence?"

As the news reached the cave, Scorpio Man's eyes suddenly opened, and a captivating light flashed through them! The bloodshot eyes he usually had were now clear, perhaps due to the rest he got from stopping his sleepless experiments during the journey.

"Yes, we're prepared," the middle-aged man said, carefully entering the cave and respectfully handing a stack of documents to Scorpio Man.

He then glanced at the terrifying undead creatures behind Scorpio Man with a hint of fear before quickly exiting the cave.

Scorpio Man carefully reviewed the task documents about the Lava Dragon 'Hemaodos'.

After half a day, he closed his eyes and began to ponder.

"The other party has accepted this mission, which means they are confident or have a grasp of killing this Lava Dragon, 'Hemaodos'."

"Even if it were me, against this Lava Dragon, the odds of victory would be less than forty percent."

"There are two possibilities. One is that the other party has some kind of special killer move against dragon-type creatures, and the second is that your intelligence is wrong! Their strength is stronger than the information you gave us before!"

After speaking, Stavin's piercing gaze fixed on the person before him.

The elder who had come to report, a Tier 1 Wizard, broke out in a cold sweat.

After all, there have been countless cases of mission failure due to intelligence gaps, and this is the most criticized aspect of the action personnel.

"Please calm down, Stavin sir. I'll report it immediately! Please wait a moment."

With that, the wizard hurried away, and in less than three minutes, an elder from the manor hurried over.

Judging by his aura, his strength was around the initial stage of Tier 3 Crystallization, likely the person in charge here.

"Stavin sir, we have repeatedly checked the information and believe it to be true. Does this mean that even 'Carver' Harold, a Tier 2 Dawn Wizard, couldn't bring out his full strength?"

"I'm afraid so." Stavin nodded.

Previously, after examining the crystal that recorded the battle between Lord Li En and Harold in Tavlin Town, Stavin determined that although Lord Li En was strong, he still wouldn't be his match.

He judged that if he were to face Lord Li En, he would have a seventy percent chance of victory.

As for Harold, the strongest legendary title, in his eyes, was more of a boast, especially since he was also affiliated with the Isodrael School.

Don't forget that the Isodrael School and their Tut Kash School are both located in the Seredil Plateau, so he naturally understood the strength of these earth-specialized wizards.

When he became famous, this Harold was still a junior who had just begun to show his talent.

"Then, Stavin sir, what if I assign two more 'King of Assassins' from the Black Blade Organization to assist you?" The elder thought for a moment and said.

"That's not necessary, and I'm not used to working with others." Stavin shook his head, rejecting the elder's suggestion.

"Then what do you mean?" The elder's face sank, and he said.

"I need something. If I have it, I'll have a higher chance of success."

"What is it?"

"The Iron Spine Necro Breastplate."

"What!" The elder's eyes widened, and he gasped.

As a Tier 3 Crystallization Wizard, he had of course heard of this item.

The problem was that this item was currently sealed in the Cologne Cathedral, and it was almost impossible to obtain it, at least in his opinion, he had no idea how to do it.

"I need to use it to enhance my undead. Only then will my chances of success exceed seventy percent."

"You can consider it yourself. If not, don't blame me if the mission fails." After saying this, Stavin closed his eyes and continued to meditate.

"This..." The elder fell silent.

After half a day, the elder said, "Stavin sir, I'll need to contact the higher-ups immediately. Please continue your preparations, and I'll take my leave."

An hour later.

Stavin's request for the Iron Spine Necro Breastplate had already been presented to the desk of a leader of the Conservative Party.

"Make it happen." After a moment of thought, the white-haired elder behind the desk ordered.

"But Duke, this Iron Spine Necro Breastplate is currently sealed in the Cologne Cathedral. If we send someone to steal it, it's almost impossible to get it within half a month."

A middle-aged man in hunting attire beside him couldn't help but show his astonishment.

"If we want to get it within half a day, we have no choice but to mobilize the Shadows. This would mean that a bishop-level Shadow would be dismissed."

If an item is unsealed, someone in the church will inevitably be held responsible.

"There's no time to replace him now, and do you think anyone can have a higher chance of success than Stavin?" The Duke spoke sternly.

"But isn't this loss too great?" The other person frowned as well.

After all, it's not easy to plant a bishop-level Shadow in the Goddess Church, and it requires years of continuous attention and support. Losing one directly like this is quite painful even for them.

"Everyone, you've all seen the information on Lord Li En. I don't want to see another Alfred." The Duke looked around the room, his expressionless face carrying a hint of sternness.

Upon hearing these words, the room fell silent instantly.

After pondering for a while, the others all nodded and said, "I agree!"

"I agree as well."

In less than half a day, a breastplate resembling the one-piece armor worn by ancient Spartan warriors was delivered to Stavin's location.

The breastplate was dark in color, adorned with intricate runes. As soon as Stavin held it, the breastplate flashed with dense spell energy.

"Very good. I'll need half a day."

"But Stavin sir, the target has already departed." The middle-aged wizard who delivered the breastplate couldn't help but show his difficulty.

"Prepare the fastest flying mount for me!" Stavin waved his hand, not saying anything more.

Stavin first cast a Silence Spell, and then he put on the breastplate on his Tier 4 Dawn Golem, 'Scorpion Man'. Although the Iron Spine Necro Breastplate was clearly too small, it fit perfectly when worn.

As the deep incantation echoed, dense Shadow energy gathered from all directions and flowed into Scorpion Man's body.

"Ahhhh!!!"

Scorpion Man's upper body, with its resolute face and muscular body like that of the legendary Brighton, emitted a painful roar.

This was the process of the Iron Spine Necro's will and surging Shadow energy being infused into Scorpion Man's body.

After completion, Scorpion Man's strength increased by approximately thirty percent, demonstrating the value of the Iron Spine Necro Breastplate.

His Scorpion Man was originally a fusion of two legendary beings, and although his strength had reached the legendary peak, the forced fusion made it easy for opponents to exploit any lack of coordination during combat.

But with the addition of the Iron Spine Necro's will, not only would his Scorpion Man tend towards perfection, but his strength would also increase further.

More importantly, through intense combat, if the three beings were to perfectly fuse into one...

Perhaps he could finally step into the realm he had longed for!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end