The Golem Repeater
It seemed impossible to modify the mass-produced golems connected to the Golem Repeater with features like mana absorption or attribute binding. "It'd be nice if I could give them stealth or something," I muttered.
Unfortunately, there didn't appear to be any modifications that utilized the Veil of Silence. Maybe I could apply the attributes from Expanded Multi-Element Magic to golems instead?
Or perhaps a white magic golem. There were plenty of buff-type spells in white magic, after all.
I cast the Veil of Silence over my room and brought over some mana stones. 'It's better than before, at least.' With the Magic Tower's level increased, I could now perform slightly more precise mana manipulation.
Even so, extracting just a tiny bit of mana and shooting out just a tiny bit felt oddly like playing with ant droppings—hardly pleasant.
Next came the part about shining light onto stone to carve magic runes, supposedly like making semiconductors. This task felt exactly like that. 'Though it's a little different.' I drew out the light element from my right hand, thin and sharp, like forging a blade of light.
If it had been any larger it would've been a proper lightsaber, but true to the magic's low-output nature, my light blade became nothing more than a mouse-dropping-sized laser cutter.
Which was actually perfect, since I needed to engrave an extremely delicate circuit onto this stone.
When I lightly touched the blade to the surface, the light reflected brilliantly through the grooves in the mana stone, as if the rock were a gem or mirror. Pretty, but blinding.
'If the circuit draws mana from an external storage and distributes it to the surroundings......'
The Magic Tower's defense system, currently active and occasionally emitting mana light, bore a strange resemblance to what I was trying to create.
With the defense system turned on, the flow of mana powering it became clearly visible. I used that as reference while carving the mana stone.
Energy 38/100
'Energy seems to recover about 100 per day.' That said, the consumption rate was higher than the recovery rate, so I'd have to keep it off during normal times and only activate it when sleeping or busy.
While I was carving away at the stone, there came a knock at the door. Dayeon had arrived.
> Dayeon: I brought the materials!
When I finished the section I was working on and opened the door, my disciple stood there holding a large basket brimming with mana-infused iron in both hands.
"Wow, you've got some serious strength......"
Carrying a basket full of metal like that? I couldn't have managed it before my body changed. 'Back on day one I nearly gave up on life just trying to move a shoe cabinet......'
"Ehehe...... Still, I could never beat a zombie."
She set the iron down on my floor with a thud. "You looked like you were making something, so I produced some extra materials to help."
She really did have a talent for alchemy. "I've understood it ever since you asked me to explain it before. But even if I know all the theory, it doesn't work unless I've been taught the magic directly."
Made sense. Even if I opened the Free Archive and mastered white magic theory, nothing would activate without spending experience points to learn the spells.
That was also why there were no strategy guides or theory summaries in the Free Archive.
'So that's why posts like that exist.' If she wanted to use more alchemy, I'd have to learn it myself and pass it on to her. Slave...... No, workshop...... No.
"Hmm......"
"Yes. Elemental magic took forever just to get a feel for......"
"Got it. I'll finish a few things first, then learn more alchemy to teach you."
But before that, I needed to finish the repeater and test the white magic. So—
"Could you make some more of this and bring it over? While you're at it, some mana stones too......"
"I still don't know how to make mana stones. Putting mana into water isn't working out......"
"Then just the mana-infused iron is fine."
If she brought me more materials, efficiency would go up. "Yep! Leave it to me."
This was still far more wholesome than those lunatics in the Free Archive. I'd nearly had a heart attack reading about a black mage who literally ground up his disciple to make a Death Knight. 'Yeah, I'm definitely never doing black magic.'
Anyway, I finished carving the stone and pressed mana dye into the grooves like inlaying porcelain. A bright light of an indescribable yellow-blue hue spread along the circuit. Looked like it worked.
Now, using the mana-infused iron Dayeon had brought, I formed the basic frame, drew a magic circle on top like when making a golem, and embedded mana cores.
As expected, a flash erupted and all the materials began taking shape. The completed repeater resembled a computer tower you'd find in some company's server room.
"Huh."
If this shape reflected my subconscious, then it made sense—I'd apparently thought of it as a machine that would control multiple lesser golems in my place, hence the server-like appearance.
Inside was a cartridge that could be loaded with mana cores for charging. Connect the golems, insert mana cores here, input commands, and it would operate automatically.
"The quality seems decent enough."
It had taken far too long. By the time I finished, it was already 10 PM. 'I'll make just one more mass-produced golem and then sleep.'
Around then, Dayeon came down from upstairs again with another load of iron. I used it to create one ordinary human-type golem. No auxiliary magic circles, no special runes, not even the high-volume power or amplification runes like Unit 1—just a completely ordinary golem. The good materials would give it solid base strength, but that was it.
The mass-produced golem didn't look like the pretty feminine models of Unit 1 or Unit 2. It was just a plain, clunky android made of metal.
Whoosh— A test punch suggested it could handle zombie combat, but without the wide-area attacks of Unit 1 and 2, it might draw aggro and get mobbed if I wasn't careful.
I'd have to order it to stay hidden. "Move safely within a 500-meter radius. When you encounter zombies, lure small numbers into alleys or narrow buildings and fight while......"
Since the person who farmed with golems had said commands for the repeater should be as detailed as possible, I spent several minutes inputting extremely specific farming instructions along with thorough explanations.
"It would also be good to add an order to move while taking cover," Unit 1 suggested upon returning. The stories from its fragile tree-golem days were surprisingly helpful.
Once the settings were complete, I connected the newly made mass-produced golem to the repeater and inserted a mana core. The cartridge filled with white light. When I pressed the activation button on the machine, the mass-produced golem began moving according to the commands I'd just entered.
"Oh."
The biggest advantage of golems connected to the repeater was that they didn't count toward my golem control limit. The downside was that the repeater itself consumed one slot.
Still, trading one high-grade golem for three mass-produced ones wasn't a bad exchange rate. Nearby farming didn't require high specs anyway.
Thanks to the Magic Tower upgrades, I still had limit remaining. Once I learned white magic, I'd make Unit 3 too.
"It appears to be functioning properly."
Unit 2, who had just returned, smiled at the sight. This time it had looted what looked like a high-end restaurant, bringing back several unfamiliar seasonings.
"That one's mass-produced, right? It doesn't even get a number designation. Just a lesser model."
Unit 1 seemed oddly competitive toward other golems.
"I'm planning to make Unit 3 soon too."
Its eyes flickered slightly at that. So that was it.
"Still, I'm the strongest and most capable."
At times like this, a simple head pat was enough. They were magical machines that couldn't disobey my orders anyway. Their antics were cute.
"I brought more mana-infused iron. This should be the last batch for today. I also have water and grass here."
"No factory needed. Thanks—I'll be counting on you like this from now on."
I kind of wanted to pat this one on the head too. Would it hate it?
"By the way, now that the mass-produced golems will handle nearby food farming, I'd like Unit 1 and Unit 2 to go a bit farther out. Focus on searching intact buildings for survivors."
The farther from the school and the less damaged the buildings, the higher the chance someone had survived the first day's zombie rampage. Resources could be left to the mass-produced units; the main forces needed to venture farther.
I generously charged the golems with mana cores, checked the updated radio broadcasts, browsed the Free Archive for white magic materials, and eventually fell asleep.
The radio had quite a few reports about special zombies discovered and reported from southern Gyeonggi Province. How exactly were these reports being made? Were there survivor bases with wireless communication?
The ones sending news from around here were probably the Pyeongtaek Shelter people. Contacting them someday might be a good idea.
More importantly— 'Tomorrow I'll make Unit 3 and learn white magic.'
At the time, I still hadn't truly understood what people meant when they called white magic a ridiculous magic. Just how absurd it really was.