Lydia- Awakening

by Grey Arney

  “That sounds right. Stone is very dense. A man made out of stone would weigh hundreds of pounds, so the weight limit would have to be higher. But the weight of wood is similar to flesh. It sounds like you could create around ten of these, then.”

  Ten wooden scarecrows against hundreds of goblins didn’t seem like good odds. But at least the sprites would be hard to defeat. Their hard wooden bodies would be resistant to ordinary weapons.

  ***

  When Arcturus arrived back at his camp, he found that many of his rag-tag team had settled in for the night. Catching sight of him, Fish approached.

  “Boss,” said the goblin. “It’s time to make the work plan.”

  “Okay, but now we’ve got to wait for everyone to wake up.”

  “No need. While you were gone, I talked with them all about their skills and preferences.” Fish rolled out a long piece of paper with names and notes. Now it was Arcturus who was surprised.

  “I guess I was right to put you in charge. Tell me what we have.”

  “The goblins are Kitty and Croc. Croc is a standard thief build, no skills. Kitty is low level with no specialization. In Goblin society she was training to be what you might call a courtesan.

  “For the elves, the boys are Glen and Thorn. The girls are Rose, Gardenia, Ivy and Amber. All of them are ranger-types, good for stalking, hunting, and all that. Except for Amber, she’s more of a warrior. Glen can do some tanning, so I’ve asked him to take a look at that smelly old Dire Bear coat you dragged in. Oh, and Gardenia is a crafter, so you may want to talk with her.

  “The Dwarf is Cobalt. He is good with smithing, but we don’t have any equipment here he can use for that. As a smith, he also has some knowledge of prospecting for ore and mining it, so it’s a good thing you brought a few tools back from Aurora!”

  “And then the humans. The guys are Stephen, Paul, Michael, Randall and Archibald. And the girls are Sarah and Fiona. They’re a more mixed bunch, no real specializations, so think of them as warriors for now. Fiona recently discovered she can use Life Magic, but she’s only Level 3. It seems like everyone can help with the construction. But we had better leave the hunting and gathering to the elves. Anybody else would just scare off the animals.” Fish paused and let Arcturus consider this.

  “Wow. Alright then,” said Arcturus, “here’s the plan: the goblins will be assigned as helpers. It would be best for them to earn everyone’s trust by starting with simple tasks. Glen, Gardenia and Cobalt should come see me tomorrow so we can talk about Crafting tools and weapons.

  “The rest of the elves will be on hunting duty. Everyone will need to be fed. All the better if we can get a surplus supply of food to dry and store.

  “Everyone else will help Jerek and the others with the construction. And once that project is completed, let’s build a few extra structures. It wouldn’t hurt to have a workshop, storage sheds, and the like.”

  After that, he went to sleep underneath the tree. The silence of the night was broken sporadically by coughing, sneezing and the whispers of those not yet ready for rest.

  ***

  In the morning, Arcturus rose early and called all of his team to attention. He announced the work plans, and nobody seemed to have strong feelings about them. The elves departed at once, confident they could bring in enough food to feed many.

  That morning, the command center was finished ahead of schedule. Jerek beamed with pride has he showed Arcturus the construction site.

  “It’s a simple structure, with lots of room for future changes and upgrades,” said the man. “After lunch, we’ll get started on some of the other buildings.”

  At first opportunity, Arcturus slipped away from the campsite to create his sprite elementals. He already had one waiting outside of the camp, pretending to be a tree. He had decided not to scare everybody by bringing it inside.

  He improved the design of his sprite elemental by adding thorns all over its surface. After that, it was easy to copy and make new ones. He had to pause to replenish his mana pool each time because it was drained almost completely every time he cast the spell. He had created seven more of them when his Earth Magic leveled up yet again.

  You have improved Earth Magic (Level 49)

  Your Earth Magic is now stronger.

  When he was finished, he had ten sprites standing at attention, waiting for orders. In order to reassure himself, he pitted two of them against each other in combat as a test of skills. As soon as the command was given, the first one lunged towards the other. There was a whir of thorns and snapping branches. It seemed that they had the strength to tear each other apart. He had to intervene almost immediately and repair them. Any beast made of flesh and blood would be at a serious disadvantage against them.

  After he was done testing them out, he ordered the sprites to arrange themselves all around the outside of the tree line of the camp. They could protect the camp day and night. Truthfully, he may have been able to create a few more, but without the means to weigh them, he didn’t want to risk so many of them rebelling against him and tearing him apart. He asked Fish to notify the others about the sprites.

  Next, he moved his spies. He kept the rodents near the camp, figuring that they were more useful watching close to home, due to their poor movement speed. He positioned most of the flying spies further outside of the camp. If hostiles approached, he would have plenty of time to react.

  There was still much to do. That afternoon, he took Fish and Cobalt on a trip to the cave that had once been the hideout of the Blackfang wolves.

  The first thing Cobalt noticed was the unusual arch inside of the cave.

  “Well blast me silly, look at that!” said the Dwarf.

  “What is it?” asked Fish.

  “A portal! Ya don’t recognize it?” asked Colbalt.

  “No, I’ve never seen one. How is it used?”

  “It can’t be used, ya grass-eating goblin. Ain’t been one of these opened since before anyone can remember.”

  “So why does it matter, then?” asked Fish.

  “Well, the Ancient Ones weren’t in the habit of just buildin’ portals in the middle of nowhere! They were difficult to build, and expensive, at that. There must be somethin’ special about this place! Some powerful magic nearby! Treasure! Lost cities. Something!”

  Well, that certainly sounded intriguing. But they hadn’t come here in search of lost civilizations. Actually, Arcturus was just looking for materials to build his golem out of. And maybe a bit of salt.

  “That’s really incredible, Cobalt, but I’m afraid we don’t have time for any adventures. These woods will be thick with goblins within a week, and we need to prepare our defense. Is there anything in this cave that can be used to create powerful magnets?”

  “Aye, of course there is. You’ll be lookin’ for any of the ferrous ores, which are surely abundant in this little hillside. Now let me have a look around.”

  For about forty minutes, the dwarf walked about the cave, poking it in spots. Sometimes he would put an ear to the ground and then point off into the distance enigmatically. Once he swiped at a chalky substance with his forefinger and pressed it to his tongue before spitting it out.

  “Is that salt?” Arcturus asked.

  “Nay, that there is bat shit,” said the dwarf, before continuing his examination.

  After another five minutes, he stopped.

  “Alright, here’s what we’ve got. This here cave is rich in ordinary minerals. There is no adamantine, celestial copper, mythril, or anything like that. But there’s plenty-a ordinary copper and iron ores, includin’ hematite and magnetite. If ya want to start playin’ with some magnets, here’s a good place to start. I can’t say for sure, but I bet there are a few precious stones here. There’s also other useful minerals like salt.”

  “But pullin’ these ores out of the rugged mountain ain’t as simple as prancing around in the forest pickin’ berries with them elves. It takes a hard, muscle-bound man to do that work. And even
if ya find the willing labor, you’ll need picks and shovels, you’ll need carts to wheel it outta here, and it will take a bit o’ time. Maybe a week or two and we’ll have some good ores to work with.”

  “And then! That’s not all, if ya want to make weapons with any of this, it’s no good as a pile of rocks! It needs to be melted, refined, and processed into ingots. And that means ya’ll need to build a smithy.”

  Arcturus nodded his head. “Alright, well maybe we can do that later on. I don’t think that the goblins are going to wait for us to mine ore, build a smithy, and fashion our own weapons. They’re going to attack us before that. For now, I just need some strong magnets to work with. How do I get those?”

  “Did ya hear me, or do ya got kibble in yer ears? I said there’s magnetite here, doggo. Magnetite. You know, like magnets? It’s the shiny-lookin’ black crystals like those over there.”

  “Alright. Prepare as much of it as you can, and let me know when it’s ready. I’ll bring some help over here to pick it up.”

  “I can’t be tearin’ open the side of a mountain with my bare bands, can I?”

  When he heard the phrase “bare hands,” Arcturus had an idea.

  “Why, sure you can. And I’ll help.”

  For the next hour, Arcturus supervised his two friends, in Dire Bear form, smashing up the walls of the cave. Using both of his mitts, Cobalt was able to clumsily grasp Arcturus’ pickaxe. It was grueling labor (or so he assumed), so he helped speed up the process with his Earth Magic, and a few encouraging words here and there. Eventually, they were rewarded with seven large lumps of magnetite, each roughly the size of a human’s head on average. And hopefully enough to build a truly breathtaking golem.

  Arcturus tasked the two bears with carrying it all the way back to the campsite, and then he flew ahead of them to tackle the next job.

  Upon his return, he found the human Glen working at the Dire Bear hide that he had taken as a trophy.

  “What do you think?” he asked.

  “Well, a day or two later and this would’ve been completely ruined, but I think I can turn things around. At least you washed it up and kept it moist. If it had gotten all hard, it would already be ruined. I’ve already asked the hunting party to bring me some ingredients. Get me some more salt, and I can have the pelt tanned in a few more days.”

  Cobalt was really not going to be happy about going back to that salt lick.

  “How about this?” Arcturus asked, producing the Lucky Rabbit’s Foot from his bag.

  “That’s easy. Hand that over.”

  He next visited Gardenia. She had already noticed the Ironwood Bark. He handed her some of the other Crafting materials he had gathered. He instructed her to examine what the elves brought back each day for materials, and that she could go out on the hunting expedition if she wanted to explore for more.

  Now there was little left to do but sit and watch the construction crew, which was not very sporting, so he began work on a new project: an escape tunnel, for the wolves or any players caught in an emergency. It would deposit the escapees somewhere safe, far away from the campsite. For now, he decided to build a tunnel to the rock outlook he had been born on, as that was nearby. The tunnel would need a concealed entrance and adequate drainage to prevent flooding. It would also need to run fairly deep into the ground. In the campsite, the entrance would be disguised as a drinking well, and the forest entrance could be covered up with vegetation.

  Choosing the location for the well at the southwestern-most edge of the campsite, Arcturus rolled up his sleeves and dug both hands into the soil. He used his mana to explore beneath the dirt and found that he could visualize any direction that he wanted, creating a thin mana projectile that pushed through the earth like a worm. He sent this further out, occasionally winding around larger obstacles, until the picture in his mind’s eye became vague. Then he began. Using his limitless Earth mana, he pulled up soil, parted roots, and displaced organisms that came flying up in a spray that left him covered in dirt and grime. A pile of sand began forming next to him, and he soon found it was so large that it started land-sliding back into the hole he had made. So he redirected it further away and continued. A rock the size of a cat flew out, nearly clocking him in the chin. Startled, he swung his body back and it landed quietly on the pile of soft dirt.

  As he continued this display, the workers in his makeshift village all crowded around to watch the feat, although they kept their distance, not willing to get as filthy as he was. The tunnel wasn’t nearly complete yet, but it did extend far beyond his mighty wall of trees, a fact which he knew because he had been forced to part their roots to make a pathway through. As he pushed to his limits, his Earth Magic leveled up again.

  You have improved Earth Magic (Level 50)

  Your mastery of the earth has grown. You may now purify metals, make alloys, and reshape the earth.

  His first pile of dirt was now too massive to add more, so starting a new one, he dug further. He dug until he reached the end of his range. Then he used the Golden Eagle form to drop into his hole, switching back to human form to walk straight ahead. Tired, grimy, and drained of mana, he plodded forward.

  The tunnel was dusty, and exposed roots clawed at him as he pushed forward. It took much longer than he expected to reach the end. According to his minimap, he had tunneled almost halfway to the rocky alcove. Once at the end of the tunnel, he tried to continue digging, but after nearly choking on wet dirt, he gave up. He would need to find another way to continue the dig.

  After he flew back out of the hole, in a whirlwind of sand, he switched back to human form once more. Few dared approach him, but Jerek did.

  “Might I ask what exactly you’re doing here, and if our help will be needed?”

  Arcturus hadn’t taken any management classes before Lydia, so he didn’t really know that it was important to notify your key stakeholders of major changes coming that might impact their workflow.

  "Just doing some digging," he stated simply.

  >>Fish: Boss, we’ll be along soon. Where do you want these shiny rocks to go?

  >>Arcturus: Set them near the hole in the ground.

  >>Fish: What hole in the ground?

  >>Arcturus: You’ll see.

  Then Arcturus cleaned himself off in the stream, ate some lunch, and fed some pieces of meat to Lyle while he waited for Fish to come back with his magnetite.

  ***

  Fish returned and set the magnetite down by the large hole as instructed. Thanks to the excavation, there were ample materials to build a golem. As he sat in the dirt playing with rocks, most of his onlookers had returned to ordinary tasks.

  First, there was the problem of the structure. It was easy to get pure magnetite into any shape he wanted now, but it was extremely brittle. If the golem were made entirely of magnets, one good whack would turn it to breadcrumbs. But after his excavation there were also plenty of other, non-magnetic rocks to work from, so Arcturus picked the largest one, which was about five feet across and four feet tall, and created hollow cavities all around it. He reshaped the magnetite—a new feature of his Earth Magic—and poured it into those cavities, spinning the ions of the mineral up to a high speed and initiating a hyper-charged magnetic reaction. Then he repeated the process again, making the beginning of an arm. This time, he spun the ions in the opposite direction.

  As soon as it was in vicinity, the powerful force of the magnet drew the arm piece into place. Arcturus tried to pull it away but found that he was unable to. He then worked to reshape each of the pieces so that they could rub together with less friction.

  Satisfied that he was on the way to building a functional golem, he repeated the laborious process, making stones imbued with highly magnetic fields, and linking them together. When he was finished, the torso had two legs, each made of three pieces: an upper leg, a lower leg, and a foot. And it had two arms, made from two pieces. For now, he decided not to bother with hands, because of all of the time it would take to m
ake the many individual parts.

  Finally, he propped an eighty pound head on top of the creation. Everything was in place, and he was hopeful that it would work. But if the golem went berserk here, it could end up killing everybody.

  As a precaution, Arcturus asked everyone to evacuate—wolves and all. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t see his moment of glory, but it wasn’t worth the risk.

  When everyone had cleared away, he got a message from Fish.

  >>Fish: We’re about a half mile north. We’re out of range of those creepy trees, just like you asked.

  Convinced that he was ready, Arcturus invoked the spell to imbue the golem with life.

  You do not have enough mana to cast that spell. Required: 3,532 mana.

  At one mana per pound, that meant that this golem was going to be quite a beast. Because the golem spell belonged to the Earth Magic branch, it could be powered with Earth mana, so Arcturus collected it from the ground around him and poured it into the mass of stone, noting to himself that in the future he wouldn’t waste his own mana on creating earth elementals.

  The arms, legs and head made an awful noise grinding against the torso. The creature throbbed and convulsed like somebody who was having a seizure. It managed to push itself onto its legs and stood up. Two fiery, black eyes burned on its otherwise vacant stone head.

  Standing upright, the golem dwarfed Arcturus at about ten feet tall. Even though it was under his control, he was terrified it would smash him to bits. But it stood still waiting for orders, so Arcturus asked it to walk around, and it did. Just to push the limits a bit, Arcturus asked it to hop on one leg, which it did, awkwardly. The noise it made when its limbs ground against its torso was awful. It wouldn’t be sneaking up on anybody.

  >>Arcturus: It’s safe to come back now. Please tell everyone not to be scared of the ten-foot-tall stone man. He’s friendly.

  In a short time, the villagers were back, gathering around to gawk at the massive golem. Some even dared to poke it, but it didn’t flinch. They were all the more awed by their de facto leader. Feats of this type were normally beyond a Level 50 Earth mage, and certainly beyond a humble Level 19 player.