Autonomous Golem
- Owner - Willow
- Resources
- H: 100%
- S: 44%
- Skills
- Photosynthesis
- Iron Bark
- Body Manipulation
“Sweet! He has Photosynthesis! That theoretically means that his stamina will be replenished over time, right?”
I had him stand still in a rather sunny part of the clearing and observed. After a few minutes, his stamina ticked up a percent, which confirmed my theory. I was confused as to why he didn’t have mana though, not that he needed it with the skills he had. Maybe it’s because I didn’t put any mana into the acorn when I made this one?
Well, initial experiment over, I gave him the order to relax in a well-lit area. When he was fully charged again, he can go on patrol and possibly hunt some orcs. As long as he stays away from BBW and his gang, my golem should be fine.
“Should I name him? Or should I keep calling him ‘him’ and ‘my golem’?”
After pondering the idea for a bit, I rejected the idea for now. If he’s still around in the weeks to come, I’ll consider it.
“On to the next one!”
With my first golemic creation being a success, I think it’s time I start making my golem army. Armed with the knowledge of what exactly it was that I had been doing wrong in previous attempts, I was finally able to produce my mini-me’s.
I plucked an acorn off of my branch and prepared the golem’s body. This acorn had the Iron Bark and Vine Control skills, so I added a bunch of extra vines to it for the skills to not go to waste. To make it even better, I wrapped the vines around the body to look like it was wearing robes. The golem could unwrap them as needed and use them as weapons or even tools for extra mobility.
I laid the doll down and made the preparations. Once it was ready, I inserted the acorn into the chest cavity and sealed it shut. The wait was a lot shorter before the golem stood up using its vines to just push its body up. It was honestly a pretty badass move on its part.
“Greetings, my creation. How do you like the body I designed for you?”
The golem stretched its body, including doing a flex of its vines. Its whole body appeared to wriggle, making me burst with glee.
“It is well suited for me. What are my orders, master?”
Again, its voice is similar to mine, but this one doesn’t seem to have the personality traits the other possesses. I can only assume it’s due to my mental state when creating the acorn. I’ll have to experiment with that further. Actually, I think I should get rid of the ones I have now and recreate them one at a time for a better understanding of how it works. I got the information on how to create golems through the skill, but it didn’t give me anything about creating personalities in the instructions.
Also, I don’t like being called master. It just gives me the ick.
“It’s Boss. And for now, patrol the area. Leave the wolves alone, but clean up the orc population. I’ve noticed an increase in orc activity near the roads, so focus your efforts there. Oh, and don’t kill anything that isn’t a monster. I don’t need that kind of attention from the humans or elves. Beyond that, you have permission to do what you deem fit for self-defense.”
The golem wriggles its body in compliance and seemed to float away. When I zoomed in using Domain of Awareness, I saw it was walking on its vines instead of the legs I gave it. I’m interested in to why it walks like that, but I’ll leave that for later.
As my second golem walked away – or rather, wiggled away – I grabbed the acorns I had left and used a bit of Fire Magic to get rid of them. It was a bit of a waste of effort and mental energy, but I feel like I’m better off starting from scratch.
For my first experiment, I focused on giving the acorn an intense hatred for orcs. I also gave it the skill Unarmed Combat, which will let the golem fight a lot better using only its natural body (the weapons like claws and spikes I give the puppets don’t count as armaments, so it should get a buff from having this skill in its repertoire) and the standard Iron Bark. It feels basic, but it should prove to be a pretty good combo. Honestly, a lot of skills pair well with Iron Bark. It’s to the point that it might be a pretty standard skill to give my creations.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
I finished making the acorn and sorted through a few premade golem bodies in my testing chamber before scrapping them all and making a new one. I armed this one with the basic retractable claws as well as knee and elbow spikes, and finished it with a thorned body. Every part of its body that didn’t bend or stretch in some way was covered in half inch thorns. Since the thorns were technically made of bark and more akin to armor than weapons, they also benefit from both skills.
As I was getting ready to place the acorn into its chest cavity, I got a surprising notification.
Orcs x3 have been killed. Experience awarded.
I did a little happy dance as I looked around the area I controlled. I spotted the offender just as he was wrapping his vines around his body again.
“How was your first hunt?” I asked the golem.
“Easy. It would be troublesome if they were spread out more, but they attack as a group. A vine through the skull ends the fight rather quickly.”
Morbid, but efficient. I like it. I also like the experience. I want to complain that it’s less than what I would have gotten from hunting them myself, but it’s also passive income, so I don’t mind.
I sensed a core in one of the orcs and was about to grab it when I noticed my golem had a visitor.
“Quick, hide in the canopy. BBW and his pack are coming, probably attracted by the scent of the orcs.”
I could feel the questions forming in the golem’s mind, but he followed my instructions without delay.
I’m curious about how much autonomy these golems have. Shouldn’t they be more robotic? I feel like they should be more inclined to follow my commands than to question them. Oh well. I guess some critical thinking is better to have than to lack.
BBW came and went rather quickly. He looked around for the source of what could have killed the orcs, but he wasn’t all that interested as they left soon after.
“Avoid that group when you can. If you run into them, avoid a direct confrontation. They’ve been doing a good job of keeping the orc population under control until lately, so I want to keep them around.”
It was true. Until the last week or so, BBW and gang have been keeping the orc population pretty low. But I’ve been noticing a larger number of orcs gathering, typically around the road. If I can get my golems to hunt around there, then it’ll work as a good way to decrease their numbers while gaining strength for myself.
Speaking of hunting orcs, it was time to finish my first personality experiment. If all went well, then this golem would stop at nothing to hunt all the orc he could find. I will give it the limit of staying within the land I control, though. If he gets into too much trouble, I can always help bail him out.
I lowered the core into its chest and waited with baited breath as the body and core combined into one being, creating the golem.
As soon as the melding was completed, the golem curled its body into a rolled fetal position and did a kick up move, like the ones ninjas in movies would do to quickly stand from a fallen position to get into a fighting stance.
“Impressive. Does that mean you like the body I made for you?”
The golem flexed its arms and stretched for a few minutes before responding.
“The shoulder joints are too low, and the hip joints need to be tweaked some. Do you mind fixing them for me?”
The fix was simple. I just had to connect to the golem through a root in its foot and I was given access to the body. I worked with the golem, making all the adjustments it asked of me before releasing my control over it.
“Much better, thank you. Now, where can I find some orcs? I feel the need to hunt.”
The golem didn’t have an actual voice box, nor did it have facial muscles, but I could feel the devilish grin forming in its mind. My boy here wanted to hunt, and a trio of orcs just happened to waltz right into my domain. I pointed him in the right direction and prepared to enjoy the show. This should be good.
“Go get ‘em, Tiger.”
By creating a fully autonomous, named, plant-based golem, skill [Golem Creation (R)] has been upgraded to [Dryad Creation (E)].
“Oh baby, now THAT has some potential!”
Lord Ostlan paced the length of his room. Over and over, he walked the same 20 steps. He had a gnawing feeling that something just wasn’t right with the world, and nothing he did seemed to fix it. When he went to the diviners and oracles, they all just waved his worries off. When he talked to his most loyal butler, Alfred, he seemed to have the answer to everything, yet his gut told him something was wrong.
*knock knock*
Ostlan jumped, unprepared to face whoever was outside his door. He knew it would only be Alfred, given the hour, but he was too on edge.
After composing himself for a moment, he sat behind his desk and called out in the most confident tone he could.
“Enter.”
The guards opened the door, and in walked his butler, carrying a silver tray with a tea set and cookies. This was the set that Alfred typically used when Ostlan was stressed and needed to relax, which Ostlan felt very appropriate. He had been too on edge, and needed to calm himself.
“Thank you, Alfred. I very much needed this.”
Alfred only nodded as he poured a cup of steaming brown liquid for his lord. Most days, Ostlan had tea before bed. But when he was as stressed as he was, he found a cup of hot chocolate to be much more soothing. Especially with the sweet cookies made using his favorite tutor’s recipe. It was a recipe he had ever since he was a little boy, when life was so much simpler.
Alfred wordlessly handed the cup to his lord and prepared a plate of the cookies.
“Will that be all, my lord?” the butler asked, stepping back to the corner of the room nearest the door.
“That is all for today,” Ostlan said, sipping on his drink. It tasted slightly more bitter than he was used to, but that was just from the sleeping powder he asked Alfred to add. He was looking forward to a restful night.
“I think I’ll sleep in tomorrow. Life has been too hectic lately, and I need the rest.”
Alfred bowed and exited the room. Ostlan could have sworn the door was open for longer than typical, but he could have been imagining things. He also thought he heard a minor thump, but ignore it as meanderings of a sleep deprived man. He has been having too many sleepless nights lately.
He finished his drink, chomped the last of his sweet treats, and went to bed. He could barely keep his eyes open as he slid into his blankets. Little did he know, his eyes would never open again.
Discord Here!