Gilgamesh carved with the utmost focus, fully immersed in the runes. To each Sigil he gave his soul, and to each Glyph he gave it again. And again and again and again.
[ Clay Sentry - Golem (Low Grade) ]
Strength - 30
Agility - 35
Vitality - 10
Perception - 25
Force - 0
Spirit - 25
Control - 25
Willpower - 0
Feature: Partial Morphing (bronze)
Material: Clay (inferior)
Mana Capacity: 250/250
Consumption: 5 motes per minute
Recovery: 5 motes per minute
[ You have been acknowledged as a Novice Runeforger. ]
[ You have achieved a Meaningful Feat. Rewarded 5 Attribute Points.]
[ You have completed the quest given by [ Old Man Of The Woods ]. Rewarded 2 Attribute Points. ]
[ You have completed the quest given by [ All-Father ]. Rewarded 2 Attribute Points. ]
[ You have completed the quests given by [ Serpent of False Mysteries ]. Rewarded 4 Attribute Points. ]
[ Passive Meditator has increased to lvl. 3. Rewarded 2 Attribute Points. ]
[ Some gods are paying attention to you. ]
The fifth and final golem he had managed to complete just in time was the very same that he had first ever possessed. And it was his only perfect success thus far. Gilgamesh had not appreciated it much back then, at least not compared to the physically stronger Boulder Ape or the more mobile Forest Hand. But Clay Sentries were quite versatile.
Along with well balanced Attributes and a good feature, it also possessed much better intelligence compared to the Boulder Ape, mainly centered around combat and the forms its clay arms could take. Axe, Mace, or Shield. It even possessed limited artificial intelligence to determine which form was best suited for the opponent it faced.
There was something unique about a Sentinel, he had discovered. For every Lesser Sigil he carved in its three Low Grade Components, each subsequent one became more difficult. More demanding of him.
“Well done, lad.” Lox seemed to know that he had become a Novice.
Gilgamesh looked over, his resolve unchanged. “I have things to buy.”
Lox grinned. “Course.”
Space warped to pull Gilgamesh back outside, and he purchased a new arsenal of golems for the sum of nearly 200 jadestones.
4 Boulder Apes. 3 Forest Hands. 5 Clay Salamanders with varying Features. 2 Clay Sentries. A spare Floating Shield and Bolt Viper. And no less than 25 Bombers for each of the six variants he had chosen. Mana, Fire, Lightning, Wind, Frost, Acid.
“A guide with the arrays for all Low Grade golems,” Gilgamesh added. “And as many gemstones as the rest can buy.”
The Novice Golemcrafting Guide cost 10 jadestone, which left around 2,800 jadestone to purchase nothing but refined gemstones that he could create golems from. At 1 jadestone apiece, he now had all the golem cores he could need for the trials ahead.
“Fair trials, lad.” Lox said as his farewell.
As Gilgamesh turned to leave, he was greeted by the message of a god. Though it was not only meant for him.
[ The Great Monk ] has posted a bounty.
‘1 Attribute Point for every Warlock slain.’
“Warlock…?” Gilgamesh lingered on the word, then contemplated his Attributes.
He had been afflicted by severe headaches over the past two weeks, a product of overwork and his insufficient Willpower. It had been to the extent that he had to refrain from keeping his golems active, in order to preserve as much of his focus as he could entirely for runeforging.
As such, only Passive Meditator had improved, although that was by far the more desired of his Bronze tier Traits. It now boosted his mana recovery by 30%. Increasing Willpower would allow him to level Golem Peerer more easily, as well as free him of one of the few limitations his golem body had left, but he had bigger priorities.
[ Perception: 7 -> 15 ]
[ Spirit: 35 -> 42 ]
[ Gilgamesh - Hero (Iron Rank) ]
Attributes:
Strength - 2
Agility - 7
Vitality - 10
Perception - 15
Force - 3
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Spirit - 42
Control - 30
Willpower - 14
Traits:
Incomplete Stigmata (???), Master Golem Core lvl. 3 (silver), Passive Meditator lvl. 3 (bronze), Golem Peerer lvl. 2 (bronze),
Material: Clay (inferior)
Mana Capacity: 420/420
Unalloted Attribute Points: 0
With his Perception doubled, Gilgamesh would be able to track attacks like the arrows or sling stones he had faced in his slum battles well enough. After that, he put all of the rest into Spirit.
His Control was already enough for the limits of how many golems he could wield at once, as well as enough for crafting more golems, which meant his biggest priority was once again Mana.
41 Spirit represented over 6 minutes of direct control over any one golem, or just over 2 minutes for all three. And that was significant. His time now firmly measured in minutes, not the mere seconds he had started with. He had become stronger. But still, Gilgamesh desired more.
[ Husband of the Golden Bride ] advises humility.
Gilgamesh read the words with disdain and ignored them. He activated a Forest Hand and one of the new golem models. It was made entirely of wood with six legs shaped like those of a spider, connected to a flat body which served as a platform for a simple armed chair.
[ Roaming Throne - Golem (Low Grade) ]
Strength - 10
Agility - 70
Vitality - 10
Perception - 10
Force - 0
Spirit - 25
Control - 25
Willpower - 0
Feature: Rush (bronze)
Material: Wood (inferior)
Mana Capacity: 300/300
Consumption: 4 motes per second
Recovery: 4 motes second
[ Rush ]
‘Doubles movement speed in a straight direction for a short burst.’
As his enemies grew stronger, Gilgamesh needed better means to maintain a favorable distance from them. As such, he had chosen a mount. 70 Agility was already swift. Rush allowing for a twofold burst of speed on top of that would allow him to outspeed most enemies when he needed to.
Gilgamesh took a seat on his wooden throne as his Forest Hand latched on the back of the throne, and headed back into the slums in search of Warlocks. He felt the effects of his higher Perception right away. Even as Roaming Throne raced along at full speed, Gilgamesh could watch his surroundings with perfect clarity.
It didn’t take long before he encountered one. As soon as he rounded the corner, Gilgamesh saw a woman shrouded in vile aura stab a fleeing man in the back.
“Glory to Mammon!”
With her profane shout, the man’s body spasmed until it twisted out his soul, and then his body contorted itself into pieces of jade. The woman eagerly scraped up the money from the floor and held it high with such ecstatic joy that she did not see the iron arrow from the Bolt Viper that Gilgamesh had activated until it already impaled her.
“Wealth… I must have wealth…” The woman murmured like a vile chant just before she died.
[ You have earned 1 Attribute Point from [ The Great Monk ]’s bounty. ]
[ Jordana Belford - Hero (Iron Rank) ]
Attributes:
Strength - 16
Agility - 20
Vitality - 5
Perception - 7
Force - 2
Spirit - 16
Control - 4
Willpower - 3
Magic:
Stab lvl. 5 (iron), Muffle lvl. 3 (bronze),
Traits:
Blood of Mammon (bronze),
[Blood of Mammon]
‘Grants a portion of Mammon’s power. The higher the purity, the more power is bestowed.’
“Mammon? The demon of greed?” Gilgamesh mused. “If there are gods here, it’s not surprising there are infamous demons as well. Still, he must be a powerful being in the Tower to have a Trait with his name.”
Gilgamesh glanced at the dead warlock. “Did she sell her soul because she did poorly in the Trial? Worthless fool.”
As Gilgamesh continued on, a strange creature rounded the corner. It looked similar to a goblin with sickly purple skin at a glance, but only until it turned towards him. Its face was wide enough to be considered deformed, and a fiendish smile spread from ear to ear as it hopped around with a mischievous shrill cackle.
[ Gremlin - Demon (Iron Rank) ]
The demon waved its hands with a swirl of foul magic, and an iron bolt impaled it through the chest. It squirmed in pain for a moment, then suddenly became captivated by the arrow. With a flick of its wrists, it stored the bolt of iron away somewhere with a greedy cackle, then fell dead from its wounds.
[ Gremlin - Demon (Iron Rank) ]
Strength - 9
Agility - 23
Vitality - 16
Perception - 18
Force - 27
Spirit - 36
Control - 25
Willpower - 19
Magic:
Muddle lvl. 9 (bronze),
Traits:
Blood of Mammon (bronze), Greedy Hoarder (bronze),
[ Muddle ]
‘Inflicts confusion in the target.’
[ Greedy Hoarder ]
‘Store objects of value within an endless space. Objects stored cannot be retrieved.’
“A demon?” Gilgamesh thought. “Was it summoned by a warlock, or by something else…?”
Gilgamesh continued his search but found only more gremlins. By all measure, they were creatures obsessed with wealth. Every last one of them incessantly stole and plundered anything of value and magically stored it away, whether it was owned by someone or not. And all of them rushed towards Gilgamesh with a crazed fixation as soon as they were aware of his presence.
Gilgamesh deactivated his Bolt Viper and brought out a Boulder Ape. The stone golem smashed a gremlin into ash, though Gilgamesh’s face only soured. There was no reward for the risk of fighting gremlins. He needed to find more Warlocks.
A flitter of activity caught his eye, but it only appeared to be a normal hero fleeing the slums. Gilgamesh was about to move on, until that man was caught by a pack of gremlins.
Gilgamesh watched as they methodically and gleefully took everything. They took his weapons and armor and clothes. They took his teeth and eyes and skin, and then his organs, flesh, bones, and blood. In mere moments, the gremlins dismantled a man completely and stored him away. And then they fixated on Gilgamesh.
