Chapter 198: ["Golem Consciousness: stable."]

After returning from the Subterranean World without any major problems, I became busy again.

In fact, busy was a weak word to describe my situation.

Over the past few days, my life had turned into an endless sequence of calculations, experiments, training, resource gathering, and preparation for a single mission.

After the failure of my first incursion into the Demonized Forest, I could no longer act on impulse alone. The Demonic Mosquito had shown me, in an extremely painful way, the difference between my current strength and that of a true Official Mage.

And as soon as I returned from the Subterranean World, the first thing I did was look for Merchant Kang.

When I left his shop, five Wind Elemental Cores were stored inside my waist pouch.

I had obtained exactly what I needed to begin constructing the Shining Light Giant.

But that had come at a price.

A painful price.

In a single purchase, an absurd amount of my Magic Crystals had disappeared.

I looked inside the pouch.

My face immediately darkened.

My savings had fallen to less than eight thousand Magic Crystals.

For any ordinary Acolyte, that would still be a considerable amount, but for me... who was accustomed to wealth, it was little. Very little.

Ruby and I had become true resource-consuming beasts.

All of this needed to be maintained.

It seems I’ll need to find a way to make money again.

But that was only one of my problems.

I found Ruby taking care of Raticati, and we sat down together. Soon, I told them everything that had happened.

The moment I finished explaining that creature’s level of strength, the two of them fell silent.

A Mage-level demon.

Ruby blinked several times.

— You want to go back to that place?

I nodded.

Her expression changed.

— George.

— That thing is at the level of a Mage.

— I know.

Ruby fell silent again and looked at Raticati.

The Rat Merchant also seemed to be reconsidering all the decisions that had led him to become my slave.

It wasn’t difficult to understand why.

Ruby possessed an absurd amount of confidence in her own strength.

But in the end...

She was still only an Acolyte-level Blood Fairy.

If she directly confronted that Demonic Mosquito...

The battle would probably be over before she had time to use all of her abilities.

As for me...

I was still only a Level 3 Acolyte.

Yes, my Mana was increasing rapidly.

My Magical Energy Meal and the Concentrated Mana Potions were producing results.

But that didn’t change one fact.

I still didn’t possess enough strength to directly confront a monster with the power of an Official Mage.

In fact...

If a battle between a true Mage and that Demonic Mosquito took place near me, there was a real possibility that I would die simply from being too close.

— Are you afraid?

Ruby frowned.

— I’m not afraid.

— You are.

— I’m just...

She crossed her arms.

— Assessing our chances of survival.

We couldn’t fight the Demonic Mosquito while it remained in its current state.

That would be suicide.

Therefore, our first priority was simple.

We needed to weaken it.

We could buy several disposable Magic Scrolls.

But there was a problem.

The Demonic Mosquito’s magical resistance was unknown.

A Curse Spell created by an Acolyte might simply be unable to penetrate its defenses.

Therefore, we couldn’t put all our hopes into that.

Well... I could try to contact Mage Pretel.

Perhaps... Through him, it would be possible to obtain Mage-level Magic Scrolls.

The difference would be enormous. A Scroll produced by an Official Mage would have a much higher probability of affecting a creature of that level.

But negotiating with a Mage... wasn’t simple.

If I wanted Pretel to help me... I would need to offer something.

Something that would pique his interest.

And that meant one more problem.

It seemed that every time I solved one problem, two new ones appeared.

But there was still the second strategy.

According to the Biochip, the creature I had encountered was probably only a manifestation.

Its true form could be hidden somewhere within the ruins.

It was at that moment that Raticati finally showed his value. After all, he knew the structure of that place. The problem was that the energy source was located on the second underground floor, beneath the ruins.

I looked at Raticati.

— You’re going with Ruby.

— I’m going... what?

— You know the place.

— You know where the passages are.

— Then go with Ruby.

His expression changed.

— Master, please...

I raised a hand.

— Don’t even start.

My voice became serious.

Raticati bowed and didn’t dare protest.

In the following days, everyone was busy.

I practically started living inside the Alchemy Laboratory.

The Shining Light Giant was the most complex project I had ever attempted to create.

A single mistake could destroy several Cores.

Therefore... it needed to be perfect.

Meanwhile, Ruby was Training.

She left early. And only returned when the sky was already dark. And every time she came back... She was injured, covered in Cuts and Scratches.

Sometimes, I found her body covered in blood.

Even possessing the extraordinary regenerative ability of a Blood Fairy...

She couldn’t fully recover before the next training session.

And that said a lot.

The training had surpassed the limit that her body could comfortably endure.

As for Raticati... He rarely appeared in the public hall on the first floor of the Tower of Mages.

Instead, he spent practically all of his time training his Stealth ability.

His shiny equipment, and his expensive clothes...

Everything had been locked inside a chest, following my order.

And he had done it while crying.

— Why do I have to wear this?

He held an old outfit.

— Because your clothes make noise.

— They’re made with high-quality materials!

— And shiny. That’s good!

— Not for someone trying to remain invisible.

Raticati simply lowered his head and obeyed, but continued training.

During this period, I still found time to participate in an ambush mission in the Subterranean World.

The mission had been organized by the Training Camp.

The team was led by Rustil.

But after our previous victory...

The outlaws-in-training had learned their lesson.

They reinforced all the important points, and because of that, the mission quickly turned into a difficult battle.

The problem arose when two of the Pseudo-Mages on our team became trapped in combat against the enemy Pseudo-Mages.

And to make matters worse, another outlaw Pseudo-Mage appeared.

And began bombarding our Acolytes.

At that moment, I had no choice but to reveal my Basilisks.

The gigantic Black Rock bodies took their positions.

And began taking the attacks.

Explosions struck their scales.

But they remained firm.

I kept my Golems on the front line for more than fifteen minutes.

Meanwhile... Rustil fought and analyzed the situation.

The enemy had the advantage.

The Acolytes weren’t strong enough.

And there was a possibility that enemy reinforcements would appear.

In the end... Rustil made the only sensible decision and ordered a retreat.

But no one was particularly shaken.

In the Subterranean World...

Victories and defeats were normal.

A failed mission didn’t necessarily mean a complete defeat.

As for my performance...

No one complained.

After all, I had managed to withstand the bombardment of a Fallen Pseudo-Mage for more than fifteen minutes.

That was enough to silence any criticism.

In fact...

My presence had prevented the team from being completely defeated.

If the Acolytes had lost formation...

If the enemies had managed to break through...

Who could guarantee that we would have escaped?

In the dark tunnels of the Subterranean World, many talented Acolytes had disappeared in this way.

Every year, Acolytes disappeared in the caves.

And it wasn’t uncommon for even Pseudo-Mages to die.

Darkgem’s story was proof of that.

Years ago, a special team from the surface Mages’ families had encountered a Fallen Mage during a patrol.

They were all killed.

The response of the surface Mages was immediate.

The Mages invaded the Subterranean World.

And Darkgem was destroyed.

But the enemy managed to escape.

The Second-Grade Mage, Lucary, detonated the ancient Tower of Mages.

He took several Fallen Mages with him and fled.

A few years later, a new Darkgem was built.

That was why everyone was careful.

A small conflict could grow, and a death could trigger a war once again.

But at that moment...

I had a priority, and that was the Shining Light Giant.

As soon as we returned...

I went straight to the Alchemy Laboratory and continued working.

After dozens of days of work...

["Beep."]

["Verification complete."]

["All magical matrices are functioning within the expected parameters."]

["Connection between the Primary Core and the modules confirmed."]

["Golem Consciousness: stable."]

...

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