Chapter 66 – The Failed Golem

The golem was completed. Punk examined this product that could only be considered Apprentice-Level. Externally, it was quite satisfactory – Punk had covered the golem with a layer of leather, making it resemble a large cloth doll stitched from horsehide. Various blood-red runes faintly revealed themselves, creating a distinctly bloody and eerie atmosphere!

Then, Punk ordered the thing to take a few steps. Upon receiving the command, the blood-leather golem’s soul core rapidly processed the information. Energy supporting the entire golem’s operation continuously surged from the modified soul, runes faintly glowing as the flesh-constructed golem took its first step with imposing majesty…

Splat!

…It fell over…

“……”

Watching the flesh golem struggling on all fours on the ground, Punk tilted his head expressionlessly, then… used Kinetic Burst to blast this embarrassing failure into pieces!

Without a doubt… the first experiment with the flesh golem… had failed!

With the System’s analysis, Punk quickly identified the cause of failure: the fundamental issue was the extreme incompatibility between soul and body. Firstly, the flesh Punk used to create the golem came from the first white horse, while the core soul originated from the second white horse. This immediately created compatibility problems.

More importantly, the soul source was from a horse. A horse’s instinct is to walk on four legs, but Punk had created a humanoid golem. The horse’s instincts caused this humanoid construct to move using all four limbs. Although Punk had “cleaned” the soul’s memories, emotions, and instincts, some deeply ingrained instincts inevitably remained. Particularly with the experimental soul constantly resisting, such troublesome residues became even more unavoidable!

Punk casually used Mage Hand to push the bloody pile of flesh into a corner. Given the current situation, it appeared that even for experimental practice, humanoid creatures would be necessary.

Standing before the experiment table, Punk cleaned the recently used tools while contemplating sources for “humanoid test subjects.”

As a Formal-Level mage pursuing benefits, Punk could certainly capture random townspeople as experimental materials. With his utterly virtue-less heart, he wouldn’t suffer any conscience pangs. However, if he actually did this, considering ordinary people’s fear and avoidance of professionals, probably within a few days everyone in this area would flee completely.

“And moreover…”

Punk stroked his smooth chin, recalling rumors about Doleiz City’s patron professional. Reportedly, this Formal-Level dwarf warrior was staunchly Lawful Good, worshipping Soul Forger Moradin¹. It was said this dwarf warrior had been Formal-Level for over forty years!

Punk had to consider whether this Formal-Level warrior had a habit of meddling in others’ affairs. He had no desire to unnecessarily provoke an established Formal-Level expert, though he wouldn’t actually fear a fight if it came to that.If one disregards the “efficient” methods of the evil alignment for obtaining experimental subjects, then purchasing slaves must be considered. Although it would cost significantly more money, isn’t there a saying that goes, “Problems that can be solved with money are not problems at all”? Moreover, for a mage like Punk, who excels in alchemy, money is hardly an issue. By casually brewing a few potions, vast sums of wealth would come pouring in on their own. Only resources that cannot be bought with money are worth contemplating for Punk!

With this in mind, Punk decided to remind that little girl, Lotalan, to purchase a batch of slaves and send them over the next time she came to “collect the goods.” Oh, and… he also needed to recruit a couple of apprentices to assist. Punk had no intention of repeating those tedious, unskilled steps again!

The issue of souls for golem creation could be resolved with the slaves. Now, Punk needed to tackle another problem that couldn’t be solved with money—the issue of materials!

The materials for a flesh golem naturally had to be the flesh and blood of living creatures. However, Punk had no desire to waste untold amounts of time traversing mountains and rivers to search for magical creatures hidden deep in the wilderness. Instead, his idea was to open a portal and directly travel to planes where magical creatures gathered in large numbers for capture.

In reality, there are many planes teeming with magical creatures. For instance, Mount Celestia², a plane of positive energy, is “inhabited” by numerous divine servants and positive-energy beings. Then there’s Hell, where those Lawful Evil Devils are nothing short of excellent magical materials. However, these places are governed by order. Randomly opening a portal to capture creatures would undoubtedly provoke attacks from powerful beings, and there’s even a risk of directly offending the Legendary Experts who “rear” these creatures!

But is there a plane with an abundance of magical creatures where no one would bat an eye if someone openly hunted intelligent beings on the streets?

There is one place that perfectly fits these conditions—the Abyss!The Abyss is less a single plane and more a conglomerate of countless planes. As the very embodiment of evil and chaos in the Multiverse, the Abyss holds no concept of order whatsoever. Its inhabitants—demons—express this chaotic evil to the extreme. Demons possess absurdly vast numbers and formidable power, yet their extreme malevolence and disorder drive them to ceaselessly slaughter one another. Most demons suffer from bouts of inexplicable madness, during which they indiscriminately attack every visible object around them—sometimes even themselves. When any creature encounters a demon, regardless of the power disparity, the demon will mindlessly charge and attack without reason. Thus, the entire Abyss is an intensely chaotic Battlefield. Although each layer of the Abyss nominally has numerous Sub-Lords (Legendary), two or three Lords (Morningstar), and one absolute Lord (Luminary Moon or above) as “rulers,” even the demons they control through magic often revert to their chaotic nature when agitated. However, these Lords never recruit followers for lofty goals like conquest; to these mad Lords, “subordinates” are mostly seen as toys for slaughter and reserve food. So, whether these followers obey discipline is irrelevant to the Lords.

Punk is now heading to this chaotic place, but he has no intention of staying long. On one hand, as a neutral-aligned being, he’s prone to attracting swarms of demon attacks; on the other, the Abyss’s inherent corruption of living beings is no joke.

Actually, for a well-prepared Formal-Level mage, venturing into the Abyss to capture a few minor demons is relatively safe. Though demons are numerous, the Abyss’s area is absurdly vast, diluting their density even with their overwhelming numbers. Moreover, Punk is only going to the first layer of the Abyss—the weakest layer, where most demons don’t even reach Formal-Level, posing little threat to him. As long as he keeps a low profile, avoids using positive energy spells recklessly, doesn’t stay too long, and avoids attracting the attention of greater demons, his safety is reasonably assured.

Action followed decision. Punk turned back to the Experiment Table; thorough preparations were essential before entering the Abyss. Mages who dared step through portals with just two layers of armor reinforcement are all dead. As a cautious mage, Punk couldn’t allow himself to enter such a dangerous place without sufficient trump cards.

(End of Chapter)