Chapter 63 of 100

Chapter 63

16 min read3,901 words

Standing at a height of three meters, the golem’s shell seemed to be made of mithril, but due to the corrosion of time, its surface had oxidized, losing its original luster. Compared to the traditional constructs created by mages, such as iron golems and stone golems, this precise machine had smooth lines, exuding a sense of speed and agility. It was equipped with four upper limbs, all shaped into sharp, massive leaf-like blades.

This was the most famous war machine created by the Sun Elves, the Blade Golem.

In the third expansion pack of "The Ancient Epoch," "Black Tide," Gorden had once witnessed the power of the Blade Golem on the battlefield between elves and the undead. A single sweeping strike could crush a row of skeletons into powder and chop a group of zombies into minced meat. Even the tough and heavily armored abominations, which were like heavy tanks, could only be dismembered by the Blade Golem.

Compared to the cumbersome traditional golems, the Blade Golem had the advantage of strong offensive capabilities and could also resist a large number of spells. The only drawback was that its defensive capabilities were slightly weaker than those of traditional golems.

This construct, with a challenge rating of 14, had the effects of "Cleave" and "Whirlwind Attack" built into each of its attacks, making it particularly effective against groups of monsters. Gorden felt that if he could claim this golem, he would no longer have to worry about those disgusting rats that came in groups, and he would also be able to defeat the powerful Black Knight.

Since he wanted to claim this Blade Golem, the first thing Gorden needed to do was to check its condition to see if it could be reactivated and controlled by him.

Shelley went to search other parts of the room, while Gorden began inspecting the Blade Golem.

Although the golem looked mechanical, Gorden, a college graduate in mechanical engineering, found that his knowledge was of no use here.

The golem had no transmission system, no power source, and no complex movement mechanisms. Mages only needed to shape the entire shell and assemble the various parts. The interior of the golem could be hollow or solid, and it didn’t matter. Then, by capturing an earth elemental soul from the elemental plane and imprisoning it within the golem, it would be activated.

However, the Blade Golem was different from ordinary golems. Due to its design emphasizing speed and agility, it housed a wind elemental soul.

The Blade Golem, left in this room for centuries, had suffered multiple damages. Fortunately, its construction materials were mithril and shadow steel, which did not rust easily like ordinary iron, so the wear and tear were not severe.

Gorden found many metal scraps around the Blade Golem. Using these scraps and the first-level spell "Mending" specifically for repairing constructs, he began working on the Blade Golem.

After an hour, the Blade Golem was finally restored—though it might not be accurate to say it was brand new, as its shell was still old and dull. However, it could move without any problems, and its combat capabilities would need to be tested in actual combat.

Next, Gorden began searching for the Blade Golem’s controller. Unlike remote controls for household appliances on Earth, which could be shared among the same model, each golem’s elemental soul was unique, and thus, their controllers were one-to-one and could not be interchanged.

Since the Sun Elf mage had not taken the Blade Golem when evacuating, it was unlikely that the controller was taken either, as it would have been useless.

Soon, Gorden found an elf-styled necklace on a workbench near the Blade Golem. The pendant was set with a dark green spinel, which emitted a faint, lingering magical glow. However, since the owner was long gone or dead, Gorden easily erased the traces on the necklace and marked it with his own imprint.

"Golem, stand up!" Gorden put on the necklace and gave the command.

The dark green spinel emitted a greenish light, which echoed with the gleaming dark crystal eyes of the Blade Golem.

The killing machine made a creaking sound, which was unpleasant to the ears, but it finally stood up. Gorden directed the Blade Golem to walk around the room and swing its massive leaf-like blades, and finally nodded in satisfaction.

Golems were powerful war machines and excellent assistants for mages in battle. The only drawback was that they lacked intelligence and could only accept the simplest commands, such as "attack," "retreat," "advance," and "turn left." Unless one learned the ninth-level transmutation spell "Awaken Construct," which could endow the golem with the emotions and intelligence of a sentient being.

Gorden pinched the necklace, lightly touched the dark green spinel with his index finger, and uttered a syllable. The Blade Golem immediately disappeared into a dimensional space within the crystal, surrounded by a white light. To summon the golem again, he only needed to recite the command, which was very convenient.

After dealing with the golem, Gorden wiped the sweat from his forehead—repairing the golem was a tiring task. However, before he could relax, Shelley brought another surprise.

"Gorden, look at this!" The half-elf girl proudly showed him a stone tablet.

He took it and found that it emitted an extremely powerful magical aura: "Why didn’t I notice it when we entered the room?"

Turning to ask Shelley, Gorden learned that the stone tablet was hidden in a crystalline cobalt box that completely blocked the magical aura.

The box was inscribed in Elvish, saying, "The blood of Omaren can open, the master of arcane can inherit." This was the third time Shelley had seen the word "Omaren" in the castle. Curious, she opened the box and took out the stone tablet.

Gorden noticed that the box containing the stone tablet was placed in a very conspicuous position, as if waiting to be discovered. If he hadn’t been busy repairing the golem, he might have found it earlier.

Gorden felt the uneven surface of the stone tablet and discovered that it was intricately inscribed with text. Fortunately, this time it was in Netherese, and it did not contain the mysterious word "Omaren."

"Fragment... complete... inheritance..." Gorden struggled to read the text on the stone tablet. Unconsciously, he found himself in a strange realm.

Gorden’s consciousness was in an unfamiliar space, surrounded by darkness, with only the constantly changing and flickering light of dawn, indicating that he still retained his consciousness and senses.

A vague figure appeared before the mage. Gorden could not see its face, but from the figure’s staff and robe, he could guess its identity.

"Should I congratulate you or pity you? Whether you are a dying old mage or a vibrant young man; whether you are good or evil, lawful or chaotic, human or demon; in any case, since you have passed the puzzle I set, you are a smart person. And I, Alavir Sunriser, will guide you to inherit the legacy."

The figure, who called itself Alavir Sunriser, was likely the original owner of the castle, the Sun Elf mage. However, from his tone, it seemed that his personality was different from that of ordinary Sun Elves. Sun Elves considered themselves the nobility of elves, the most perfect race in the material plane—yes, they even looked down on dragons. Such a group would not speak in such a casual tone.

Gorden remained silent, listening quietly. He knew that the figure in his mind was just a fixed consciousness image left behind.

The figure continued, "You hold this fragment of the stone tablet and enter the Danze Ruins in the Cold Fog Mountains. There, you will piece together all the fragments and obtain the greatest... buzz... buzz..."

Due to the passage of time and the loss of magic, the consciousness image’s final words were cut off, and it disappeared. Gorden returned to reality, holding the cold stone tablet, and heard a system prompt.

"Character Template Upgrade Task: Alavir Sunriser’s Legacy. When you complete this task, you will obtain the new character template: Extraordinary Elite, and can change to a special class. Note: The Anonymous template only supports up to five character levels."

"What’s going on? Does this mean that if I don’t obtain the Extraordinary Elite template, I can only level up to five?"

In "The Ancient Epoch," there were five known character templates.

Anonymous: You are cannon fodder in war, the background in the tapestry of history. An ordinary human citizen with average combat or magical talent falls into this template.

Extraordinary Elite: You have certain talents, and with effort and some luck, you can gain considerable power and wealth. Middle-ranking officials in a city, high-level mercenaries, or systematically educated spellcasters fall into this template.

Heroic Paragon: You are a national hero, a role model in people’s hearts, and an idol for children to emulate. You have great power, and your every move can determine the outcome of wars and the fate of nations. A dragon slayer falls into this template.

Legendary Fate: Your power is at the pinnacle, and you can even touch the elusive threads of fate. You are the protagonist in the epic tales of bards, and people sing your praises. A high mage with a floating city falls into this template.

Immortal Demigod: Your body is already immortal, and few methods can completely destroy you. You can travel freely in the Astral Plane and the Nine Hells, and even powerful demons and angels must bow to you. You have even mastered the power of the rules and glimpsed the realm of the gods!

As for whether the game company would open the True God template in the future, Gorden did not know.

To provide a better gaming experience, in "The Epoch of Arcana," every player started with the Extraordinary Elite template when creating their character, as players came to the game to fight monsters, go on adventures, and save the world, not to be ordinary farmers tending fields.

Players could improve their character templates through various mission tasks, gaining better attributes, skills, and feats, but it was unheard of for character templates to be tied to levels, and not being able to level up without a certain template.

Gorden was puzzled. Could the system have undergone a mutation during the crossover?

---