Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: Excellent Members
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“Then we’ll begin the golem’s imprinting process.”
The mage named Dion Magis had brown curly hair and prominent dark circles under his eyes.
He stood before the golem, holding a complex mechanical device carved from crystal.
Kang Geohan swallowed hard and focused on the scene.
‘This is my first time seeing magic.’
The transcendent powers that upheld Laniakea. Among them, he had been gradually adapting to the power of a knight, but he had never actually seen a real mage before. Today was the first day he would witness magic.
[디온 매지스]
Height: 171cm
Weight: 72kg
Willpower: 68/71
Strength: 7.7/7.7
Spell Power: 307/307
Fat Mass: 14.37kg
Muscle Mass (Skeletal Muscle Mass): 23.15kg
Demonic Essence: 512 pindem
Spirituality: 2,337 spirit
What surprised him was that the mage possessed a considerable amount of demonic essence.
Dion Magis had nearly as much demonic essence as a Horcrux.
‘But why does he look so scrawny?’
He appeared skinny on the outside, and his InBody screen showed a strength of 7.7, below even the average adult male.
‘And... spell power? Spirituality? What are those?’
As Kang Geohan examined the InBody screen, which was quite different from a knight’s, and felt curiosity building, the magic began to manifest before he knew it.
Puff—
‘Smoke?’
Smoke rose from Dion Magis’s shoulders. It was completely different from the vigorous hiss of steam knights emitted when using their demonic essence.
And then,
‘A savory smell...’
A sweet, nutty aroma spread through the air, like freshly baked bread from an oven. Knight steam carried a burnt scent, but this was entirely new.
‘Why the difference? Because of spirituality?’
As Kang Geohan pondered this and concentrated, a long-absent notification rang in his ears.
[Ting! Witnessed the manifestation of magic. Conditions met, ability has changed. From now on, spirituality will be added to stat information. You can now view others’ demonic essence and spirituality as clearly as looking in a mirror.]
‘Ability change?’
He hadn’t expected witnessing magic to trigger it. Kang Geohan eagerly checked his new ability.
[강거한]
Height: 178cm
Weight: 61kg
Willpower: 197/197
Strength: 80/80
Demonic Power: 108/108
Fat Mass: 5.93kg
Muscle Mass (Skeletal Muscle Mass): 23.63kg
Demonic Essence: 1,021 pindem
Spirituality: 483 spirit
He could see that ‘Spirituality’ had been newly added to his InBody screen.
‘More spirituality accumulated than I thought? The light mana diet I scarfed down for bulking must’ve quietly contributed.’
Kang Geohan brushed it off as no big deal. Right now, a more fascinating sight was unfolding before his eyes.
Creak! Grind!
The crystal mechanical device in Dion Magis’s hand glowed orange with heat. It protruded rods like an engine, operating abruptly.
Anyone could see this was the peak of the magic’s manifestation.
‘Full-body mirror!’
Kang Geohan felt intense curiosity and applied his full-body mirror ability to Dion Magis.
Until now, he could only view his own body, but now he could see the workings of demonic essence and spirituality in others’ bodies.
And then,
Kang Geohan was shocked.
‘That’s... spirituality?’
He saw white spirituality spread throughout Dion Magis’s body. It clung to the demonic essence like sticky fat, enveloping it tightly.
The spirituality writhed as if devouring something, rapidly increasing its volume, while the demonic essence barely supported it.
‘The demonic essence... isn’t fulfilling its role at all.’
He wasn’t unaware that spirituality was akin to fat. But seeing it visualized made him realize how foolish it was to think of it as mere fat.
The reason Dion Magis remained skinny despite over 500 pindem of demonic essence, and why his strength was so poor—it was all because the spirituality was devouring the demonic essence.
The shock hit him like a blow to the back of the head.
Kang Geohan quickly looked down at his own body.
‘Spirituality... infiltrating the demonic essence everywhere.’
Of course, with far more demonic essence, it still looked fine for now. But Kang Geohan shivered.
‘Spirituality is far worse than fat.’
Fat merely weighed the body down, but spirituality clung to the demonic essence like a parasitic organism, suppressing its potential.
To think something like this was growing inside him...
Kang Geohan broke out in cold sweat.
Unaware of this, Dion Magis, who had manifested his magic, smiled brightly and said,
“If a knight’s demonic essence dominates power, a mage’s or shaman’s spirituality is the power of communion. That’s why it can control the souls imbued in the golem. Magic is quite an alluring power, you see. Like this.”
I don’t need any power of communion.
As Kang Geohan thought that, before his eyes,
Rumble.
Groooar.
Roooaaar!
Blood golems awoke with thunderous roars.
Red light gleamed from their eyes, and their crimson muscles writhed across their bodies. It was a beautiful sight.
[Blood Golem]
Height: 512m
Weight: 2,300kg
Willpower: 500/500
Strength: 12,540/12,540
Demonic Power: 1,000/1,000
Fat Mass: 0kg
Muscle Mass (Skeletal Muscle Mass): 1,400kg
Demonic Essence: 10,000 pindem
Spirituality: 8,700 spirit
‘Ahh...’
And he saw it.
The vicious 8,700 spirit of spirituality lurking throughout the lovable blood golem’s body.
Its willpower and demonic power were a bit low, but considering its strength and size, it could stand toe-to-toe with an ogre one-on-one. This sturdy weapon was infested with malignant spirituality everywhere.
“Now, Sir Kang Geohan White Knight. Drip blood onto the golem’s palm. Then it will connect to you through the soul.”
Following Dion Magis’s instructions, Kang Geohan sliced his hand with a knife, drew blood, and let it drip onto the golem’s palm.
In that instant, he felt a lightning-like bond form between souls. He could sense the golem’s emotions and realized he could issue commands to them with just a thought.
Roooaaar!
Ooooh!
Awoooo!
The golems howled toward the sky.
“Ah, I implanted a dire wolf soul as the control soul, so they act like that sometimes. But since it’s a dire wolf with strong pack loyalty, they’ll recognize you as the leader, Sir Kang Geohan White Knight, and obey your commands absolutely.”
Yeah. They were cool. Truly magnificent golems.
For those magnificent golems, Kang Geohan planned,
‘Diet. They need a diet.’
A rigorous PT schedule.
* * *
Crunch!
The kingdom workshop’s firepower testing ground echoed with the sound of massive muscles straining.
Three blood golems stood in a row, exercising.
They held enormous demonic essence stones—used for giant output tests—with both hands and performed squats in unison.
The weight was so immense that steam poured ceaselessly from their muscles. It was training harsh enough to make one fear the golems might evaporate.
Thud!
Once a blood golem completed the designated 10 squats, Kang Geohan immediately directed the next set.
“Perform 10 hammer curls!”
Roooaaar!
The blood golems responded vigorously, gripped slightly smaller demonic essence stones one-handed each, and alternated pulling them toward their chests and lowering them.
Hiss—!
Steam billowed as if they were on fire.
At first, people even mistook the steam for actual flames and came rushing.
“Fire! Fire! Where’s the fire...?”
“Ah, it’s just training.”
The soldiers who hurried over saluted Kang Geohan, watched the golems with expressions of having seen every bizarre sight imaginable, and then left.
Hiss! Pfft!
The more Kang Geohan worked the golems, the more spectators gathered.
“Making a golem train by giving it demonic essence stones? Ever seen anything like that?”
“First time...”
“But damn, it’s impressive, those bulging muscles...”
Murmurs rose among the crowd.
Word of Kang Geohan’s eccentricity was spreading.
Then, at one point,
“You can’t do that!”
Dion Magis, the blood golem’s creator, came rushing in with a pale face.
“Mr. Dion Magis?”
Kang Geohan widened his eyes, and Dion Magis pleaded with an incredulous expression.
“You can’t let the blood golem hold demonic essence stones!”
“I didn’t hear anything about that...”
“I’m sorry! I never imagined you’d give them demonic essence stones. But if the blood golem uses them, its body will deteriorate.”
“Can’t you just feed it food to regenerate?”
“You can! It even gets stronger! But eventually, the body slows down and ultimately stops completely!”
Slow down and then stop?
“Could you explain in more detail?”
Dion Magis sighed deeply and said,
“What golems eat isn’t just food. It’s mana food. And due to the golem’s nature, spirituality accumulates very quickly in their bodies. Spirituality enables magic but also burdens the ego and body. As spirituality grows, the control soul gets eroded by it, and the body’s demonic essence hardens, eventually rendering it immobile. It strengthens for a while, but excessive training will kill the golem in the end.”
At that explanation, Kang Geohan smiled. A thrilling realization coursed through him.
“So, ultimately, the golem stops functioning because of bloated spirituality?”
“Yes!”
“Then my method is correct.”
In Kang Geohan’s eyes, confidently speaking, he could see the golems’ spirituality burning away in real time.
“Didn’t you hear me? Torturing them like that means you have to feed them to recover...”
“Well, just watch. The basics of dieting are diet control, after all.”
“Di... what?”
“Oh, it’s done. Excuse me for a moment.”
Kang Geohan pulled three orcs off the fire, skewered on iron rods and roasted gently while turning. Orc meat removed at the precise time. It reeked disgustingly, but the inner flesh was fragrant beyond words.
A tonic for demonic essence, brimming with dark mana.
But seeing this, Dion Magis recoiled in horror.
“Wait, hold on! You’re not planning to feed them monster meat, are you?”
“Yes.”
“No, you can’t! The toxins in monster meat are fatal to golems...”
“Ah, it’s fine.”
Kang Geohan hefted the orc skewers and distributed one to each blood golem.
The blood golems roared and tore into the orcs with their massive, bright red mouths wide open.
“Ah... no... I put so much effort into making those guys...”
Dion Magis collapsed in despair, but Kang Geohan smiled as he watched the blood golems chew the orc meat.
“Come on, my excellent members. Eat well. That’s how you grow.”
* * *
Kang Geohan’s blood golem PT continued.
Frenzied strength and demonic essence training with steam billowing wildly.
Followed by meals.
Watching the routine run like clockwork, Loen remarked,
“Kang Geohan... has become four people...”
The golem creator, Dion Magis, showed up every day, watched the training with a hollow expression, and trudged away.
Only Kang Geohan beamed cheerfully.
Able to view InBody screens, Kang Geohan could track the golems’ growth in real time.
[Blood Golem]
Height: 512m
Weight: 2,323kg
Willpower: 507/507
Strength: 12,747/12,747
Demonic Power: 1,000/1,000
Fat Mass: 0kg
Muscle Mass (Skeletal Muscle Mass): 1,423kg
Demonic Essence: 10,012 pindem
Spirituality: 8,618 spirit
The spirituality had dropped from 8,700 spirit to 8,618 spirit.
Demonic essence had increased by a modest 12 pindem, muscles by 23kg. Willpower up by 7!
Seeing such excellent members (blood golems) grow right before his eyes ignited Kang Geohan’s motivation.
He opened his eyes each morning and headed to the firepower testing ground with the golems, spending the whole day training happily with them.
Hiss!
That day too, he was immersed in training, sweating and steaming.
The steam that day was especially thick, blanketing everything like a forest fire.
A soldier came dashing up, shouting.
“Smoke! Smoke’s rising!”
Ah, here to think it’s a fire again?
Kang Geohan waved leisurely.
“Ah, this isn’t fire, it’s...”
But he soon realized. The soldier wasn’t even looking his way.
The soldier ran straight to Harold James, the kingdom workshop’s top official, and yelled.
“Beacon! Beacon smoke! News from the sea labyrinth!”
“What? Beacon? What color?”
“Red!”
“Red... red?! That’s a call for reinforcements!”
Word had come from the front lines.