As Drodosis went back to the Banquet hall, he revealed a rare and genuine smile.
His family was happy. From a distance, he could see the usually grim-looking and anxious elders having fun with maids and looking at female dancers with envy! This was a rare sight!
These people were his family, and everyone in this room, were part of his world. They meant everything to him. The banquet's ambiance rose to its peak when three Grand Knights appeared, next to his grandfather.
Unlike normal Grand Knights, these three powerhouses didn't look grim or old. They were very young, only thirty or forty years old! They seemed friendly though.
"Hi, everyone! I only demand you a few moments of attention", the youngest of them said in a clear voice. His golden armour and blond hair made him look like a prince, and many women within the hall were looking at him with lust. However, the man in question was just smiling, ignoring these gazes, "We are Royal Executives, here on official business! Rejoice! You have won this war fair and square! As a grand knight myself, I am obliged to acknowledge your strength!"
Drodosis could tell the man's strength instantly, thanks to his above-average perception. A Grand Knight…no…actually, maybe three grand knights! No wonder the royal family could stay in power for centuries, and even contend with strong adept families!
"I shall declare the new delimitations of the Thornfield's territories! The Thornfield territory is now divided in three counties, seven viscount's lands, and 15 baronies!", the man said, followed by a crowd's cheering and clapping, "According to the Phuinem Royal Code, the resource site called Magnolia Forest which has been conquered is rightfully yours!".
Resource sites were the real assets of territories! Earning a new resource site was huge news, which many had yet to know about!
[Beep! Magnolia trees can be cut down and refined into planks to make solid and durable wooden house, insensible to fire. Once used by elven species to create giant wooden towns and prevent fire, these magnolia trees also possess a surprising flexibility and lightness, making it a perfect material for bows. Note that weapons made of Elder Magnolia trees also possess the strange power of improving one's sight over time!]
The biochip instantly informed Drodosis of what Magnolia trees stood for. His mind wavered, and he could suddenly project himself in the future, commanding the Ironcloud Knight Order he just created, all of his subordinates being knight powerhouses, equipped in light ironcloud armours, wielding Magnolia Bows! How great would it be! Even adepts wouldn't be able to survive if surrounded by 50 knights armed to the teeth with weapons made of magical materials, right?
Everyone was amazed. But the following words, made the elders furrow their brows.
"However, there were a lot of heated conversation in the royal court. Hence, four viscounts who worked for the royal family since their youth shall be rewarded with the lordship of the four viscounts' territories you conquered. Of course, these territories are rightfully yours but…Think of it as an opportunity to get closer to the royal family!", the grand knight said in a shameless voice.
Drodosis and the elders knew the meaning behind these words. They had won a war against the Huntingwood family and several nobles, but it didn't mean they could contend with unparalleled households like the Royal Family! These four viscounts were probably the Crown's dogs, loyal to the royal family, acting as their eyes and hears! This way, the Royal family would have ears and eyes within the Thornfield family!
Despite this 'unfortunate revelation', as the three grand knights departed, the festivities continued.
The Supreme Elder Water Dragon still said a few words before that: "I also have good news! By looting the Huntingwood's headquarters, we also managed to find several dozens spell books! Although many are related to the shadow element, there are a few spells with no affinity requirements! Moreover, we also captured 120 enemy knights, including three elite knights, who will join the Water Troops to make up for the losses. Enemy acolytes will be gathered in a hidden faction: The Dark Legion. With them as a hidden power, I can assure you no adept families in the Eastern side of the Phuinem Kingdom will be able to contend with us!"
People rejoiced, and Drodosis, who was quite exhausted from the past days' event, decided to eclipse himself from the noisy banquet. Walking on the Water Fortress' gigantic walls, glowing in blue light in the darkness of the night, Drodosis felt at peace for the first time in the past few months.
There was a full moon, and numerous stars accompanied its loneliness. Suddenly, a woman appeared behind him.
"Hi, Selene", Drodosis said.
Selene Dawins, commander of the Water Troop, now an elite knight and a strong woman in her prime. Her potential was extraordinary, and more importantly, she was his friend.
Drodosis had helped her a few times in the battlefield, and saved her army from collapsing more than once, a debt she owed him and didn't forget.
"Hi, Drodosis. I heard about your Ironcloud Knight Order. It's good to see your commanding and leadership potential flourish. Everyone sings praises of the Great plains battle, a flawless strategy indeed! Take this", she said in a sweet voice.
Her face could barely be seen, but Drodosis could see in the darkness. Her beauty didn't escape his eyes. If only he was a bit older, she would have made a fine bribe, he thought.
"Everyone says that! I was just lucky, haha! What do you want from me?", he said gently.
"This is a knight breathing technique. Your subordinates, once they break through the knight realm, will be stuck without a knight breathing technique. This comes from my Dawins household, so please take care of it!"
Drodosis picked it up, mumbling a small "thank you".
"How do you feel about me creating a knight order? Shouldn't you be angered at me?", Drodosis asked in curiosity. He had 'backstabbed' this woman in the back, after all, by creating a knight order with the thought of rivalling and surpassing the Water Troops she commanded.
"What? Do you really think your little Ironcloud Knight Order can compare to the Water Troop I command? Haha! You don't even have members yet! Commanding soldiers is quite easy, but knights are stubborn. No average character becomes a knight, only those with life and death experience can break through! Taming these men and women take years. Before your order even threatens my position, I will become the first Grand Knight from the Thornfield family!", she shouted with pride.
"Haha, so you are indeed flustered!", Drodosis laughed.
Talking about life and the banquet for a few dozen minutes, Drodosis returned to the banquet hall once again; dancing with Selene for a little more than one hour, before taking his leave and returning to his room.
The next day, the Water Fortress was struck by an eerie silence. Yet, the servants and maids had already cleaned up the mess left by knights and acolytes. Drodosis headed to the library. The war had provided his family with numerous more books, huge assets in Drodosis' opinion.
The books were more or less average, but a spell book caught his interest.
[Beep! Mass Invisibility spell successfully scanned!]
Mass invisibility was a useful skill, used in many battles by goblin acolytes, in old times. It had the potential to sneak an army in enemy's territory! Hence, Drodosis planned to learn this spell himself, without the use of his biochip since he needed to save evolution points, a much needed decision if he wanted to learn one of the three restricted spells, or breakthrough.
As the pile of books he borrowed decreased, a certain parchment caught his interest. Back in the Ivory Tower, Drodosis had been attacked by an intermediate acolyte with considerably amazing fighting power and stealth, a peerless assassin who had cut his eye and almost killed him. Looting him earned him a defensive artefact, an enchanted scimitar and a strange rock. Even with the biochip's data base, he never managed to find out what the strange rock's effects or uses.
The parchment, intitled "Golem Manufacturing Guide", unfolded very precise -albeit basic- descriptions of the craftsmanship, and the description of the strange rock he had been keeping since he had gotten it. In reality, it wasn't a rock, but a magical beast's core, refined into a golem core through special heating methods. The process of refinement was complex, but the difficulty mainly came from the resources required: 4 magic crystals for beginner cores, 40 for intermediate cores and so on, as well as a few herbs to make the refinement process stable, thus decreasing the failure rate.
Instead of just scanning the parchment, Drodosis read it thoroughly, not once, not twice but thrice. After focusing on these studies, and asking his biochip for clarification when he had any doubt, his understandings in golems rose tremendously. He analysed it from top to bottom, making sure to absorb this knowledge instead of just memorize and learn it.
The process of creating golems was complex and difficult. First of all, one had to earn a magical beast core, which would serve as a magical generator once refined into a golem core. Fuelling the golem with mana, the golem core was the both the strength and weakness of a golem. As long as the core was intact, the golem wouldn't die or require the golem master any point of mana to control! However, a precise spear thrust from a knight would suffice to break the golem core, and destroy the golem!
Secondly, the golem core had to be improved by carving runic inscriptions. This is where all the difficulty came from! A golem core was no bigger than a human's heart! Carving more than 16 runes in such a small, irregular surface could be considered a huge challenge. Yet, a golem needed three runic formations – basically combination of runes – to work properly, that is to say at least 24 basic runes! If one wanted the golem to have additional perks, like the regeneration perk, then one would have to add at least one more runic formation (8 runes)!
Last but not least, the golem core, once successfully refined and fully carved with the necessary runic formations, would require a medium. If the core came from a sand magical beast, it would require sand. If it came from a fire elemental being, then it would require flesh and fire to be successfully summoned! This was both a convenience and an inconvenience. It meant that travelling with a golem could be done by just carrying a rock which was no bigger than a fist. It also meant that he could basically carry an army of golems with him!
However, it also meant that if he lacked the medium, he wouldn't be able to make use of his golems!
Drodosis instantly fell in love with this craft. Alchemy was good, but he already saw how expansive - both in time and resource - it was. Elder Blue Beard spent his whole life studying and trying to brew potions, only achieving success after 20 years of repetitive failures and humiliation. Even though he was still improving, his life didn't really entice Drodosis'. Elder Blue Beard had invested so much in alchemy that he abandoned the path of combat, something impossible to conceive or even consider for Drodosis.
Unlike other crafts, golem manufacturing wouldn't decrease his fighting power, but instead, increase it! Moreover, runes were the core of magic. Spells required runes, golems required runes, even arrays required rune mastery! Runes were what allowed humans to use magic! By studying them, Drodosis knew he was walking towards the right direction. Who knows, maybe in the future, he would be able to create his own spells!
Moreover, Drodosis had a trump card!
[Beep! Simulated Golem Core Rune Carving is a failure! Host's hands were too shaky while carving the sixth rune of mystification!]
[Beep! Simulated Golem Core Rune Carving is a failure! Host's magic power was too high in intensity when carving the twelfth rune of Condensation!]
[Beep! Simulated Golem Core Rune Carving is a failure! The runic formation is deriving too much from the original form! Deviation: 22%!]
[Beep! Simulated Golem Core Rune Carving is a half-success! However, the deviation was so high that the golem would barely be able to be summoned! Deviation: 15%.]
[Beep! Simulated Golem Core Rune Carving is a failure! Host…]
Normal craftsmen would have to use resources, and turn them into trash upon failure. Only after hundreds – maybe thousands or tens of thousands – of repetitive and frustrating failures, would a craftsman finally reach a success rate enabling them to earn more than what they lose. However, in order to reach this threshold, the magic crystals they would have to pay would number in the thousands, or even tens of thousands!
This is why very few beginner acolytes would attempt to dive in a craft of any sort. After all, the most they could earn through missions would be a few dozen magic crystals, at best, by risking their lives for months! How could they afford to spend them in a craft which would only prove useful years or decades later?
Drodosis was different though. He could practice his craft for free!
The Golem Manufacturing Guide unfortunately only possessed basic knowledge about this craft. Drodosis had rarely heard about golem manufacturer for some reasons. Thinking about it, alchemy, array and forgery were all crafts with very little information to find. Be it in the Ivory Tower or in his tower, it seemed that information and knowledge about these crafts were controlled. It didn't take long for Drodosis to realize who would do such a thing!
Who would you buy a golem from? The Mysterious and grandiose Silver Union! Who would you ask for an array? The only organization with the backing of a third-grade adept: the Silver Union! Where do the widely spread enchanted weapons come from? The Silver Union!
The Silver Union was amassing a crazy amount of resources and magic crystals on a daily basis. However, no one could join this mysterious organization! It possessed many branches in capitals of all kingdoms, and its influence wasn't reduced to Swania, the continent he was in! The silver Union was purposefully controlling information so that the demand would exceed the supply of the said items! Only then would the Silver Union be able to make crazy amount of benefits!
Despite having cleared a mystery, Drodosis felt like he had discovered a secret he shouldn't have. However, he also knew that in the eyes of the Silver union, scavenging craftsmen like him or Blue Beard were not considered 'competitors' at all! Maybe, in a few decades, if he continued on this path, he might enter the Silver Union's eyes, but as a beginner acolyte and elite knight, he was no more than a puny insect!
The day passed quickly, and Drodosis was shocked to see the progress he had made in just one day of practicing with his biochip! The process was simple. The biochip would project a hologram in his mind, and he would carve the runic formations on the said core. One failure after the other, he always learnt from his mistakes, thus progressing at a rapid pace. After just one day, his success rate rose from a constant 0% to 3%! In just 1 day, he had over 30 successes out of 1133 tries!
One must know that one usually had to study and invest money for decades before successfully creating a potion, or a golem! Crafts were equally difficult, and often feared like hell because once you dived into such a profession, you would never have enough money.
If not for the biochip's simulation programs, Drodosis would have had to spend money to make his experiments, and the 1133 tries would have cost him over a thousand magic crystals! In one day, Drodosis' understandings in golems increased tremendously. As night fell, he collapsed on his bed, mentally exhausted. The next day, a few moments before the sun rose, he went to the training ground.
In a good mood, he suddenly had a shocked expression: he could perceive a huge crowd, mainly composed of preparatory knights and novice knights. It seemed like they had been waiting here for quite a bit of time already.
'Oh…time has come, huh. With so many members, the Ironcloud Knight Order will definitely defy common sense under my command!'