“Did you see that? This is a much faster method. It’ll naturally cover the census too.”
“…That it will.”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I’m just amazed. Recently, Young Master has been surprising me time and again. I should be less surprised by now. Heh heh.”
“Stop your foolish talk. Oh, and make sure to distribute food to those in the territory who are injured or can’t come for labor service, alright? Starting this year, no one in our territory should die from hunger.”
“There are already enough right there… Yes, I understand. I was just worried that the people of the territory may become lazy pigs… Yes, yes. I get it. Stop looking at me like that.”
“Tch.”
Logan clicked his tongue, narrowing his eyes.
“Anyway, if we wait a little longer, we’ll be able to carry out the construction properly. Thanks to the Treasury Administrator placing such trust in me.”
“Don’t even start with that construction!”“Oh, you’re going to end up doing it anyway.”
“Please think it over again, will you? Why spend 2 million gold to drill a hole in the mountain each month?”
“No. We’re doing it. No matter what you say, it’s futile.”
“Urgh. Young Master…”
Dwayne was frustrated by the absurd construction and the wasteful spending that couldn’t be stopped.
Logan, having easily dismissed Dwayne’s resistance, turned his gaze westward.
‘Even if it’s not time for the scrolls, having Clayton is enough.’
The other materials ordered through Phillip had already arrived.
It was finally time to start drilling through the mountain.
* * *
“Now. One, two, three!”
Urachacha!
With shouts, tents rose up in unison.
Far from the construction site chosen by Hamal and Logan, numerous tents mushroomed rapidly in the wasteland.
The chosen location, midway between Teslon Castle, which was one and a half days away, and McLean Castle, which was a day away, made temporary accommodations for the workers essential, not a choice.
And of course, suitable accommodations for the crucial mages had to be prepared as well.
“Are you sure you want the mages to have the same conditions as labor?”
“It’s fine, Young Master. After all, our Earth Tower is called the laborers among mages, and our faction has done the most work there. You’ve seen the Tower Lord freak out.”
“I suppose it’s one less thing for me to worry about, haha.”
“Leave it to me. I’ll finish the job quickly and perfectly.”
Clayton’s grim face bore a firm gaze that felt incredibly reliable.
And the very next morning.
The gaze of nearly 8,000 people summoned from the two castles gathered upon a corner of the wilderness hill.
“To dig a straight tunnel, this spot is perfect. If we calculate the range and cause a collapse around this center, we can…”
“Dwarf sir. With my magic, we can have a much larger range, you know?”
“No, that’s too much of a collapse, you mage sir. The tunnel doesn’t need to be that big! A semi-circle about 30m in diameter would be enough…”
“Come on, trust me and let’s make it big and refreshing!”
“Ha, this is going to be troublesome.”
The dwarf and the mage were coordinating their opinions for the construction.
Logan, a step behind them, watched over the pair with contentment.
Beside him stood a large administrative officer with a dazed look, surveying the surroundings.
“You’re really pushing ahead. What will you do when the head of the family finds out?”
“It’ll be fine, don’t worry.”
“…I give up. Do whatever you want.”
Dwayne muttered helplessly as the construction finally began.
* * *
“What are they doing there?”
“I dunno.”
“The higher-ups must have some plan.”
The local peasants, who had never seen nor heard of magic, looked at Clayton with curiosity.
“Magician sir! If you’re ready, begin immediately!”
Following Hamal’s signal, a bright yellow light began to emit from Clayton’s body.
“Wow! What’s this?!”
“Wow, that’s magic…”
“It’s not some disaster, is it?”
“There’s the Young Master. It’ll be fine.”
Mixed with wonder and fear, the workers couldn’t take their eyes off Clayton.
Then, Logan felt the change caused by Clayton’s power.
‘Hmmm. The flow of mana…’
Natural energy (自然氣), Mana.
Along with The Force, one of the two great powers called the supernaturals controlled by humans on the continent.
The flow of energy that he could barely feel in his past life was now vividly alive.
The five mana rings engraved on Clayton’s heart.
Logan could clearly see the mana originating from them, stirring up matching energies scattered throughout the world.
The gathering of strength through an intricate yet specific pattern happened many times in a fleeting moment.
Even the minute flow did not escape his Force-imbued hyper senses, which were advancing beyond Logan’s estimations.
While he felt this remarkable sensation,
The direction Clayton raised his hand towards turned earthen as light slowly moved towards a rock face.
When the light touched the rock, the earth began to vibrate.
The light soon spread across the entire rock face.
With a tremendous roar and a rumbling sound, the world seemed to shake amidst the blast.
“Argh!”
“Get down!”
“To think it would come to this…”
As workers scattered in a panic amidst the flying dust, Hamal’s bellow could be heard from amidst them.
“Take it easy! That’s too powerful! Why show off your strength in vain like this?”
As Hamal flared up,
Logan sensed an even stronger flow of mana.
‘A different spell?’
From within the dust clouds rose a stronger energy than before, signaling the formation of something massive.
Giant rocks and earth crumbled from the rock face assembled into a colossal being.
‘Huh?’
Through the dust, a shadow loomed about 20 meters tall.
The colossal golem start thudding towards the rock face, crashing into the epicenter of the explosion.
The echoes of its movements resonated from within the rock face.
“What’s happening?!”
“What on earth is going on now?”
The panicked voices of workers filled the air and, after a little time, the dust settled to reveal the source of the noise.
“A monster!”
“It’s a monster!”
“Ahhhh!”
“Is this the wrath of the mountain spirits!”
“Please save us, spirits!”
Within a gouged-out rock face several tens of meters wide, a giant made of earth and stone frightened the workers enough to freeze in fear.
With the ground above the rock face seemingly about to collapse, they didn’t even realize what was happening.
“What are you all standing around dazed for? Rush over and secure the ground!”
Clayton’s command along with his disciples’ actions, emitting bright yellow light towards the cave ceiling, stirred the workers to pull themselves together and rise.
“Is that magic?”
“Hoaaa…”
“Scary…”
“Was magic always so mighty?”
Amidst their terror-stricken admiration,
“Actually committed to it. Aiyo, head of the family. Ehehe…”
Alone with a unique reaction, an administrative officer chuckled as if losing his mind, waking Logan from his daze.
“Huh…?”
The pattern of mana carved into his mind continued to linger.
The idea that he could emulate such magic with the power of Force, given its growth, trickled through his thoughts.
‘Thinking I could learn a spell that mana-born sages spent decades researching and studying?’
His rational mind immediately dismissed the notion.
‘No matter how exceptional the Divine Sword’s secrets, that’s impossible.’
A moment after shaking off that fantasy, Clayton’s magical feat once again struck his eyes.
“Such a golem…”
The massive golem looked truly remarkable, even to Logan.
Unlike the common folk who had never seen such a thing before; Logan, who had witnessed countless forms of magic in his previous life, was deeply impressed.
‘A fifth circle mage can do this?’
A golem, to his knowledge, was an artifact made by gathering stones or dirt around a magical stone, including a magestone, as its core.
Yet, the giant Clayton created with his magic far exceeded any such golem he knew.
Not only did Logan perceive many spells on the battlefield in his past life, he even saw powerful ‘Superhuman’ sixth circle mages invoke storms of fire to devastate battlegrounds, but they didn’t evoke the shock of this moment.
An exaggerated golem could hold up a mountain.
The might it would show if it were brought to war would surely surpass that of a mere storm of flames.
‘It doesn’t seem to be a one-off either…’
Thanks to his connection with Force, which let him see mana, Logan understood the mechanics of how Clayton’s magic manifested.
Admittedly, he didn’t fully grasp the complex process of mana transformation starting from the rings in his heart.
However, he could sense that the core at the heart of the massive golem resonated continuously with Clayton’s own circle.
The golem began to move again as soon as the terrain hardened above.
Thud.
It then proceeded to push aside the scattered rocks and soil from the collapse.
Despite its impressive height of about 20 meters, it looked somewhat squashed due to its breadth at shoulder height being about half that size, but the giant’s strength born from its bulk easily cleared away the debris of the rock face.
‘Such magic, such a mage, how did I not know in my past life?’
It was a natural question for Logan.
The versatile and powerful fifth circle magic seemed far more useful than the common sixth circle spells.
‘Why…?’
No matter how hard he thought, the answer eluded him.
But there was one clear fact.
‘I desire it. What an enviable talent.’
Such magic would naturally inspire greed.
Considering they were utilizing such a premium worker at no cost right now.
Hence, Logan could sincerely smile brightly at Clayton.
“Elder, truly formidable. To think I would witness such magic in this world. You’ve opened my eyes.”
“Hmm. Well, as leader of our golem faction, this is basic, Young Master. Didn’t I assure you?”
“Haha. Indeed.”
“Those like the Tower Lord may only see negatives, but our faction’s accomplishments stand proudly against the world.”
Clayton’s face remained stoic, barely hinting at pride if not for the sweat trickling from his scar.
Hiding any pity, Logan gave two thumbs up.
“Hahaha. Elder, I never doubted you. Rather, I’m even more astonished than I thought.”
Clayton’s lips curled ever so slightly.
A face mostly expressionless to most, but through recent weeks and disciples’ explanations, Logan understood that expression meant Clayton was genuinely pleased.
“Truly dependable. Are your disciples able to use the same magic?”
Thus, seizing the moment, Logan did not shy from asking what might be rude or secret.
Now only using basic magic to stabilize the crumbling terrain, Clayton’s disciples, if they could cast even a weak version of the golem spell, would speed up the planned construction than anticipated.
However…
“They can indeed cast it but, cough. There’s a slight… issue.”
“Yes?”
“The core of the golem requires a 5th circle mana script, so my disciples need magestones. Even so, they will be much smaller and weaker.”
Clayton’s response left Logan dumbstruck.
‘Magestones…?’
Magestones (魔精石, Mana Crystal) were as rare as the divine metal Orichalcum or Mithril, being minerals imbued with natural energy mana.
They were almost priceless due to their scarcity, the inability to manufacture them artificially, and the constant need for magic or crafting artifacts.
While graded by the concentration of mana, even the lowest grade magestone was more expensive than equal volumes of gold.
‘Sigh. This isn’t cost-effective…’
But who ever waged a war considering cost-effectiveness?
‘If the effect is good, that’s what matters. If money can increase the power…’
Logan briefly forgot that Clayton and his disciples were merely employees.
“Elder, even your magic?”
“Indeed. At my level, if I use an appropriate magestone, the golem’s power can be amplified several times over. Enhancing strength, speed, and duration.”
“Wow. That is truly incredible.”
Logan genuinely marveled, and while externally showing his amazement, internally he rapidly calculated.
If the golems could move just a few times faster than now…
‘They could wipe out any knight. Impressive!’
Such power would be unquestionable in war, no matter the cost…
“But as mentioned, it requires magestones suited for it.”
“What kind of magestones do you mean?”
“Well, cough cough. The highest grade, fitting a 5th circle.”
…That might be a problem.
A fist-sized highest grade magestone cost anywhere between 500,000 to 1,000,000 gold.
The moment Logan understood why the golem faction was always struggling.
Still, Logan had not given up hope.
“Perhaps your disciples also need such…?”
“Of course not! 2nd circle golem magic only requires a low-grade magestone. It should last a day and can exert several times the strength of an average man.”
These low-grade magestones, the size of a fist if assumed, cost about as much as a lump of gold.
In gold terms, that was nearly a thousand gold.
Such a price for simply a few times a man’s strength?
And with just a day’s duration?
Still not quite cost-effective.
‘But if it’s for a short-term battle, it could surely deliver much more…’
Despite all the downsides, the vision of golem magic on the battlefield was compelling.
‘What if my side had it?’
Logan unknowingly shivered slightly at the thought.
However…
‘Ah, they belong to the tower. Tsk.’
Returning to reality, Logan licked his lips and had no choice but to turn away.
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