Master Of None

It had been a while since Walker had been to the underground section of the city. He knew that it was always working since many of the nocturnal races had enjoyed it. However, it was also due to the fact that the dwarves would work themselves in to exhaustion while forging.

The building and crafting that the dwarven race did was always seen as the highest quality. That came about because of them being always close to metal and ores along with their hyper focus on anything crafting. This was also another reason that they did not have as many warriors in a traditional sense or mages.

They did however, have rune carvers specialized in weapons or building, craftsmen covering a variety of subjects, and of course the unique focus that Walker was here for, the golems.

They had all visited the dwarven home city and seen the dwarven golem workshops. They had all seen the ways that the dwarven golems were controlled by the king of the surface and how they patrolled their territory. They might be dangerous because one wrong move and someone could end up fighting the entire army, yet, they were also keeping the immediate territory safe from monsters and any unsavory characters.

Besides this, the golems modeled after monsters, especially ancient monsters, were growing in popularity. This wasn’t simply because of their cool designs or unique building challenges. It was because the spirit race members more easily controlled them than a basic golems that were easily controlled using runes and a bond to someone like the dwarven king of the surface.

Being controlled by a member of the spirit race or an elemental spirit was not something easy in all comparison to other methods of control though. There had to be a specially crafted core for that golem that aligned with the spirit in question. Therefore it could not be easily controlled by another spirit at all. It was delicate but it was also something in the real that the dwarven race exceeded.

Learning this safe method for the spirit race to live within the golems and use them as a more physical body was also making up for the past where the dwarven race had wrongly trapped elemental spirits within weapons as part of crafting methods to make unique weapons. Knowing their error and making sure that any weapons like that were undone safely along with making methods to prevent that from ever happening had gone a long way.

For some of the spirit race who had taken the chance to control golems, it was something considered a new spot for their newly founded race. The spirit race was young since the elemental spirits had always been attached to the will of the world and flow of mana. Now, they could rise up and become properly intelligent beyond just an elemental spirit and become a recognized member of their race.

The golems that were made being unique since they were styled after monsters meant that the process varied in crafting between different golems. It was a challenge to be handled but it was something that could be achieved with enough care.

”The forges seem very busy.” It wasn’t hard to see that the forges were removing a lot of metals in and out. The ores alone were being dropped off in a nearly unending line of merchants and carriages.

This was the main work of the forges beneath Genesis. They procured the ores gathered elsewhere or deeper in the earth from caverns beneath all of Genesis. They also refined those ores and made them to be sold to every blacksmith within the entirety of Genesis while some were sold to those outside of Genesis. It worked well since the production did not halt waiting for transport as the forges in need were right above them or just next door.

”It’s good that everything is moving smoothly. The golem workshop is just around the corner.” Walker heard the familiar clicking and metallic latching of golems. They moved differently since they all had been made with different specifications.

Some changes had occurred though. The dwarven golems in the dwarven city and territory had been larger and bulkier. Less humanoid than what Walker could see now. The production of the dwarven golems was now guided by more than just the dwarves which led them to advance the forms they crafted. It was a good thing since it meant other races could pilot certain golems of unique uses like heading underwater, in to dangerous caverns, or just as a suit of armor in a battle.

The monster golems were also very familiar since many had been copying them after the ancient pictures from ruins. Walker saw a few of the serpent golems copying spiked serpents or the forest eating serpent from some picture left behind in ruins he had personally looked at before. Otherwise, he was surprised to see that there was a somewhat larger gorilla looking golem copying the skull back gorilla monster that lived within one of the newly found dungeons he heard about.

With that being the case, it meant the inspiration was growing more and more. Yet, Walker worried he was not seeing what he needed to see. ”There don’t seem to be a lot of spirit race members here.” Walker could sense the mana around. It was slower and did not hold many elemental spirits in general. It meant something was wrong somewhere in this production that he had to help fix. Or at least that was his thought since it was the only thing that could cause issues here right now.

”Hello there, I would have thought you would be a little busier tuning golems to the elemental spirits interested in them. Need any help with that?” Walker found one of the dwarves tinkering away at a golem that looked suspiciously like a large fish. From the looks of the dwarf, he was unhappy with the pieces not fitting right and had to recarve a few pieces to ensure they meshed well.

”Apparently the natural mana spirit or something like that called every member of the spirit race to a meeting. They are at the grand spirit tree.” There wasn’t even a second to glance up from the dwarf as they worked on the minuscule parts and pieces.

”Ah, I thought Fleur would do something like that. She recently finished absorbing a lot of natural mana and helping me out. I would guess that she wants to make sure that some of the spirits are doing well. Especially the younger spirit race members who just advanced from being lower ranked elemental spirits. There are definitely a lot more elemental spirits now that they can move between the elemental plane and here.” Walker wished he could just simply call them over, but that wasn’t what he should do.

Not to mention that Fleur would surely understand what he was thinking. Their bond was more unique than what Onyx and Midnight had with him. She could bond with him and dwell within the spirit mark on his body. They were linked at a level greater than what any other was. He had even heard of the spirit warrior class that specifically required an elemental spirit poor one of the spirit race to bond with a warrior to be able to gain strength.

That class was one of the ones that only required binds to grow. If the spirit race member or elemental spirit was unhappy with the warrior, then the warrior was limited to being unable to use their own mana. They ended the cooperation of their partner. It was even more refined than the ways that a tamer raised and teamed up with a tamed monster. Where the monster could live alone without a tamer and the same with the tamer, the spirit warrior and the spirit needed one another after bonding. It was a deep connection at the level of their very souls.

After sharing his thoughts, Walker sensed that Fleur understood and would come looking for him shortly. ”I have Fleur bringing some of the spirits over when they have the time. Since that will be a while, can we find your master golem crafter and work on trying to plan more production of monster golems for a future exploration of a new continent?”

This finally made the dwarf working on their golem look up. When he realized that it was Onyx and Walker right before him, he dropped the tool in his hand and stood up embarrassed. He had entirely disregarded a figure responsible for helping make a dragon golem that was perfectly bonded with one of the spirit race members and an example for every single golem crafter there was.

”I can do even better than that! I will have him come and meet with you so that you can plan everything right away!” The dwarf ran off, forgetting his work for the time being and leaving Onyx and Walker fairly amused by the sudden change in attitude. They hadn’t minded the focus on work though.

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