Chapter 88
Chapter 88
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: Golem's Core and the Dream of the Airship
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Olbern's mansion was utterly empty inside. Before departing, every miscellaneous item within had been cleared out, leaving only the bare structure behind. Back then, no one had realized just how vast it was, with trash rolling across the floors everywhere.
The mansion they returned to now revealed its incredibly spacious layout.
"How in the world... how on earth did you do it? Redesigning a finished core? That means dismantling a completed world and building a new one from scratch... And it didn't even collapse?"
"Olbern. Didn't I tell you? Master can do anything."
"H-ha, but... still..."
While listening to Durel and Olbern, I laid out the golem cores on the floor. It was something I'd been doing ever since discovering the first golem core. To me, it was as natural as breathing, but it seemed different from Olbern's perspective.
"Master...! Teach me that method too... the secret art of golem design!"
"Well..."
The girl's gaze, brimming with fervent longing, felt a bit overwhelming. She pressed right up against me, begging to be taught, but I didn't have much to say. I couldn't explain it in concrete terms. It was something I'd done so instinctively, like second nature.
'High mana affinity? Or maybe because Arcana lets me peer into the core's structure?'
Various guesses swirled in my mind, but none felt like the definitive answer. After a brief pause, I lightly patted the small girl's shoulder and replied.
"Form your fourth circle in your heart, and engrave starlight in your eyes. Then you'll be able to do it."
"The fourth circle for mastery over mana...! Arcana for insight that pierces mysteries...! I get it! Understood!"
Even with her questions resolved, Olbern didn't back away from me. It was anticipation for what was about to begin.
The turtle golem for travel was already complete. The reason they'd gathered back at the mansion like this was the remaining cores.
A golem core was akin to a tiny world. The larger it grew, the more mysteries it could hold. I'd made a turtle golem with a core the size of my fist, so with these, I might just craft the airship I'd only dreamed of.
"We're back!"
The mansion door swung open, and Simo appeared. The paper bags he carried looked stuffed full, suggesting he'd handled my errand well. He hurried over, set the bags down, and pulled out bread, meat, and several thick books from inside, laying them all out on the floor.
"Good work."
"But why these books? Ones on shipbuilding... Are you making a boat or something?"
"Something like that."
I nodded in response to Simo's question. The books I'd sent him to buy were on ship construction. When it came to airships, the first image that came to mind was a massive vessel gliding through the vast skies like it was swimming.
In truth, as long as it could fly, the shape didn't matter. There were surely far more efficient designs than sticking to a ship-like form.
Yet my fixation on a ship shape stemmed from memories of my past life.
'It's just so cool...'
A ship soaring through the skies—how awesome was that? Crossing the world by treating the endless blue expanse as its ocean. The thought alone brought a smile to my lips. In a world where humans spat fire from their hands and colossal lifeforms dwarfed mountains roamed, what couldn't be done?
Magic was the art of manifesting imagined mysteries into reality. Today, I intended to wield that magic to bring my vision to life.
Arcana was the eye that pierced mysteries. The moment I looked at the core, I'd already grasped its internal state. All that remained was packing as many mysteries as possible into this vast space.
'The first and third mana circles are essential.'
Absorption, circulation, and amplification. The foundational step for maximum efficiency. As I placed my hand on the core and channeled mana, blue light crackled and sparked from within. The pre-existing world began crumbling.
Blue mana swirled like a storm, overwhelming the world like a tidal wave. I pushed forward boldly, carving out empty space, and began inscribing the spells atop it. I'd done this several times before. My speed was incomparable to earlier attempts.
It meant I'd grown familiar with golem design.
With the power issue solved, next came the magic to lift the massive hull. No problem there. I'd witnessed colossal beasts countless times. They flew through the skies to manage their enormous bodies.
The colossal beasts' levitation magic.
I'd seen through it instantly. It was just too much for frail human flesh—that was the only reason I hadn't used it. A sturdy hull of cold steel could surely handle such primal magic.
Recalling the massive creatures freely swimming the open skies, I continued the internal design step by step.
Woooong—
"Gasp...! The core...! It's vibrating!"
"Olbern. Don't make a fuss. Master is concentrating."
"B-but...! Got it!"
Pure and singular. It held only one purpose. That was why it demanded so much mana—and why it produced such immense power. All colossal beast magic worked this way.
'More than I thought...'
An unexpected issue arose while inscribing the levitation magic. Its scale was simply too vast. The core's capacity, which had felt so ample, filled up in an instant. I couldn't abandon the spell, though.
A compromise was needed.
'Skip the golem's body structure... A Gentle Wind barrier for defense is out too. It'll just be a pure power source... Replace extras with runes. Since they'll be engraved on the hull, it won't tax the core's capacity. Link just the power generation part.'
The levitation magic's scale shrank. It was unavoidable; fully inscribing the beasts' version required far more space. As the scale diminished, efficiency plummeted. The hull size the core could support shrank rapidly too.
Late into the night. The air was crystal clear. Cold, cooled winds swept lightly through the wide-open windows into the empty mansion.
"It's done..."
I lifted my hand from the core and stepped back slowly. The rough form had been finished long ago. The delay was for fine-tuning. Having made it myself, I knew. It was properly complete.
'Better than anything from the golem workshop. The best.'
No arrogance. This was certainty from seeing it with my own eyes.
'The kids...'
Feeling the chill breeze, I glanced around. My three disciples were already asleep on the floor. Olbern, who had watched me to the very end, lay slumped right beside me, dozing off.
Had she been trying to learn by watching? A small notebook lay open before her, filled with dwarven script. Unreadable without knowledge of Ber Kingdom letters.
I gazed at it for a moment, then turned away.
The work wasn't finished. I'd only created the power to lift a massive hull. Next came the force to propel it forward.
'I planned to handle it with one core...'
The colossal magic was too vast for that. No matter. Conveniently, another golem core remained.
'Powerful firepower... Needs thrust, but just exhaling wind won't cut it. Collide opposing magics then...'
No need to link the cores. Just the power to push the future massive hull.
'Base it on absorption, circulation, and amplification circles, structured for clashing magics of opposing natures...'
Vaguely, I pictured the finished airship. The core mounted at the rear would erupt with mighty magic, serving as a jet engine.
Because I'd make it that way.
Early morning. Olbern stirred, slowly rising from her spot. Her last memory was fuzzy. She'd been jotting down a brilliant idea when sleep overtook her, yet she awoke in a corner of the mansion.
She must have rolled around in her sleep. Looking around, she realized no one else was up. Her master, who had worked until late dawn, slept covered by her own cloak like a blanket, while her two seniors snored away, tangled together.
"Oh...?"
Then Olbern's eyes caught the golem cores. One large, one slightly smaller. Master could pierce worldly mysteries with a glance, but not her. With her still-incomplete body, she needed to touch them to grasp their structure.
'Is it okay to touch...?'
Cautiously, glancing around, she placed her hand on the smaller core. In that instant, Olbern shuddered.
'This is...?'
Emotions surged, and her mana reacted. Mana slipped from her control, flowing gently into the core through her hand. Normally, this wouldn't happen. Her heart's mana circle absorbed it unconsciously, due to her lapse in control.
In that moment. Her body flew backward from the core, a massive explosion erupting.
Kaboom—!
"Gasp...!"
Olbern tumbled across the mansion floor but quickly scrambled up. In the direction she'd been holding the core—the mansion's entrance had been blown clean off. The pale-faced little dwarf girl gingerly picked up the fallen core.