[Tainted Lands] 12 – Dangers About

As my Golems rushed me into the house, I was already struggling to keep my focus as I grew lightheaded from the blood loss. 

When they set me down, I knew it was already too late, I had lost too much blood, and I was growing weaker by the second. I couldn’t even clench my hand enough to grab the bandages the Golems brought me. 

Then it all faded to black, and pain flooded my mind.

[You have died!]

[Unique Trait: Rebirth has activated!]

[+5 Endurance]

[3 hours until Rebirth]

...

I was so cold as I found myself floating in an empty expanse of nothing, a chill so strong that it crept into my bones and through my very soul. I felt... strange in this black void I found myself in. Yet, even as I felt a chill overaking my senses, it all suddenly changed when I felt a tremendous thump echo through the void around me. Then another. And another. And another. Like the heartbeat of a mountain, the whole void shook as something tried making its presence known, before what felt like lava began to pump through my heart and veins. 

As I flailed around in the dark, two eyes in the Void opened, and I awoke.

...

With a gasp of breath, I clutched my chest as my heart beat harder than ever before. 

A series of notifications flooded my vision informing me that I had died, once again, and that I had an increase in my endurance.

Sighing, I then looked at the last notification.

[Legacy I (Path) 0/???]

Legacy? Legacy of what? Of who?

Shaking my head, I got up from the floor and headed for my room to get another set of clothes that had once again disintegrated from my body. I also started cleaning right after, as the smell of iron was disgustingly strong in the house.

Once everything was cleaned, I put the first-aid kit back in the bathroom before heading outside, where the corpses of those monsters were rotting far faster than they should have been.

Disgusted, I ordered what Golems remained to take them out into the forest and bury them while I got to work on focusing on the Manequinn-like Golem made purely of wood.

I poured all of my mana and effort into making a walking weapon of war, infusing the wood with every ounce of my mana for two days straight, only taking breaks to eat, drink, use the bathroom, and meditate. Meditate leveled up three times in the process, with Mana Manipulation leveling up once, and Mana Shaping four times.

Noticing my Path Points reached 28 in number, I placed twenty-five points directly into the Lumberjack Path.

[5/25: The Life of a lumberjack is a laborious one, and yet you continue to test your mettle against the thick oak of the forests. +2 Strength]

[10/25: Despite the weakness of your flesh and blood, you continue to chop down the oak before you, unrelenting, unyielding. +2 Endurance]

[15/25: +2 Strength]

[20/25: +2 Endurance]

[25/25: You've honed your body and blade against the might of thick bark and wood and triumphed, choose one of the following skills: [Bark Skin] or [Mighty Swing]]

[Bark Skin (Perk/Passive) - Your skin becomes armored by a layer of thick skin with the toughness of bark]

[Mighty Swing (Active) - At the cost of stamina, you can fuel your swings with power that exceeds the strength of your body. Cost: 25 Stamina]

Thinking for a few minutes, I eventually sighed and chose Bark Skin, seeing as soon as I got a gun, I wouldn't be getting close to swinging or punching anything.

I then noticed a new path had appeared in my list of available options, replacing Lumberjack.

Unlocked Paths: [Novice Carpenter (0/25)], [Novice Cook (0/25)], [Apprentice Lumberjack (0/50)], [Legacy I (0/???)]

Taking note of it, I went back to working hard on my pet project.

And, after a day and a half of more work, I was finally finished with my newest Golem, and my god, it was a beauty, in craftsmanship that is.

/=========+=========\

Name: None

Species: Wood Doll (Arcane Oak)

Type: Humanoid Golem

Level: 10

Health: 250/250 - (0) [] Mana: 250/250 (0) [] Stamina: 250/250 (25)

=[Attributes]=

Strength: 15 / Agility: 10

Vitality: 25 / Endurance: 25

Perception: 15 / Reaction: 10

Intelligence: 0 / Wisdom: 0

Focus: 0 / Willpower: 0

=[Skills]=

Active: [Wooden Tendrils Lvl 15], [Root Shield Lvl 10]

Passive: [Tremor Sense Lvl 15], [Life Sense Lvl 10]

Resistances: [Nature Magic Lvl 25]

Unique: [Servant of the King of Golems], [Golem], [Bark Skin], [Rooted]

\=========+=========/

[Root Shield (Active) - At the cost of MP or SP, the Golem can extend roots from one of its arms into the form of a shield. With each level, the shield becomes larger and tougher.]

[Life Sense (Passive) - A skill most commonly found within the undead, this Golem is so attuned with life that it can sense the life around it far easier than most. Can detect all life within 15 Meters around the body.]

[Rooted (Unique Passive) - When standing still or motionless within a forest or around plenty of other plant life, this Golem can root itself and passively regain its mana with the help of the plant life around it]

It was a beauty of stats, even stronger than me, and more suited for close-quarters combat, and to top it all off, the Rooted passive would allow for it to recharge itself in the forest without me manually having to charge it with my own mana.

Not wasting any time, I ordered the Golem, which I named [Root Guardian] due to its active skills, to help me gather more logs and wood from the forest. I wanted to see what would happen if I tried to add Tree leaves to the Golem.

Would it gain a new skill based on this new body part? What if I gave it an arm of soil, or mud, or even stone?

It didn't sound like it would be that useful, giving a golem an arm of mud, but what if I could make a Frankenstein's monster of a golem that had the capabilities of all of my golems? It could smother one of those monsters with mud, and even use roots to attack, or subdue?

It called for experimentation, but for the next couple of Root Guardians, I wouldn't make too big of experiments as I'd need them at their strongest if more of those monsters attack.