Blacksmith of the Apocalypse

"Checking minimum requirements...

Blacksmith (Craftsman): Check, Enchantment (Craftsman): Check,

Advanced Reinforce(Craftsman): Check,

Energy Circulation 3: Check

Unlocking Storage Function: Successful."

Seth followed Tatzel down the cave and soon came across the first group of decimated lizardmen. Upon touching the first corpse, he once again heard the robotic voice checking his skills, but this time successfully.

The successful unlock of the storage function was followed by a simple window that opened and gave him a question.

<Do you wish to store materials in the golem forge?>

There was a list of options. One was not to store, the other was to store the looted materials and the third offered for the whole body to be stored.

Similar to all skills, he intuitively knew how the function worked. By his understanding, the storage function was a separate space connected to the golem forge where he could put materials to craft golems from. But it already had compartments to insert materials so he did not quite get the sense behind it. Why did it have a separate space and why would it offer to store the whole body?

Just more space?

Intrigued by the question he chose to store the whole and summoned the golem forge to check what effects this had. The display was like a simple touch pad with a few riders and lists to choose options from.

The golem forge offered the blueprints from his own <Blueprint> skill, but also some preset function built into the golem forge. It took a few minutes before Seth found something that was not there, or he had not noticed the last time.

Automatic Customization.

"Checking for materials. Do you wish to add a golem core or a soul?" the robotic voice asked him when he chose the function.

Seth scratched his head, thinking for a moment. It was not really a question of whether to do it or not. But he didn't want to spend anything precious. Of the seven lizardmen Tatzel had slaughtered, 3 had dropped a medium soul.

Without much hesitation, he fused the three souls and stored them in the golem forge's storage space, before choosing the option again. This time the golem forge went to work. The two blocky towers on each side lifted off the ground and moved apart a little further.

The towering sides also slightly unfolded, making the golem forge a head or two higher than it was before. The corpse of the high-lizardman appeared in the widened gap, held in place by a mechanical rig.

Slithering with a life of their own, various tubes and pipes inserted themselves into the corpse. Colorful fluids were sucked out and pumped into the body. As all this was going on, other apparatuses were going to work.

Something like speakers started chanting around the body and a magical glow surrounded it. At first, he thought it was a forging ballad, but at a second glance, he realized this was enchantment. The magical kind an enchanter would do, not what a blacksmith could do.

With the glow of mana, the forge started turning the lizardman into what Seth could only describe as a corpse golem. The body became desiccated and the appearance became twisted and artificial. It was not a pretty sight

The blacksmith had never felt like a mad scientist as much as in this moment when this wonder of technology turned a corpse into a brainless demonic beast if he wanted to describe it a little crass.

After the corpse turned into a flesh automaton, a special robotic arm holding the soul, inserted it, breathing life into the eyes of the automaton. All parts of the Golem Forge receded and the Lizard Golem's feet landed on the ground, standing straight.

Compared to the original lizardman, that had a build similar to a muscular human. The product of the golem forge was very slender and elongated, more like a lizard monster.

"Please insert the product into the Waters of Styx to settle the soul. " the mechanical voice stated. With a dip in the waters of Styx, he got the notification that the golem was finished.

<Lizardman Drone lv.55

Trait: Unlimited Stamina

Race: High-Lizardman-Golem

Age:0

Affiliation: Minas Mar

Durability: 1000/1000

Mana: 500

Strength:260

Dexterity:170

Agility: 180

Intelligence: --

Willpower: --

Endurance: 300

Personality: --

Defense:

Physical: 4000

Magical: 1600

Poison Immunity

Mental Immunity

Status Anomaly Resistance: 35%

Magic Resistance 20% >

Overall it was worse than even the first golem he handcrafted, but it was not terrible if it just didn't look so disconcerting.

<...> even Puffles was speechless about what happened just now. Seth could only feel that Puffles was unwilling to look at the drone any longer.

Seth felt a little awkward about how things were developing. Ceres had not told him about this function and the result looked quite disconcerting. Would all results of this function look like this? The blacksmith started to doubt the taste or motivations of his predecessor.

This was far off the scope of a blacksmith. It was more similar to some of the things demonic bards would create, with the blessing of demons.

However, wasn't he an infernal scald? To see the extent of the function, he continued to store the lizardman corpses in the golem forge. He also added some other materials, like leathers and less precious metals such as <High-Qualtity Steel> and <Dwarven Copper>.

This time he did not add a soul, but a piece <Charged Aquamarine> which could be used as raw material for a golem core. Theoretically, the crafting station should have been able to also make golem cores automatically.

When he chose the option again, there was a change. Unlike before, the collection of materials was now bigger and Seth was given a choice to select the materials that would be used for the automated customization.

He added two of the lizardman corpses, the <High-Quality Steel>, the charged aquamarine, and a sheet of ice troll leather. His worries about being a mad scientist had stepped into the shadow of his bright light of curiosity.

After having seen it once, he had some expectations about what would happen with the materials and he was right in some ways. This time the machine completely and quickly skinned and dismembered the two bodies this time, which Seth was barely able to watch. It was not very appetizing.

With something similar to operations it continued to reinforce the limbs with steel and used the copper for enchantment inlays. He also understood why he needed to unlock <Energy Manipulation 3> for this function. The machine copied his skills, similar to Cerberus, and needed this skill to manipulate the materials the way it did.

After reinforcing the limbs and parts it was going to use, it reassembled the two bodies into one, creating a desiccated, two-headed lizard warrior with four arms and two legs. He had not expected that, but what really surprised him, was when it started covering the lizard warrior in the ice-troll leather as new skin.

He didn't know what to expect when he added the leather, but it definitely was not this.

<Lizardman Soldier lv.57

Trait: Unlimited Stamina, Unable to Grow

Race: High-Lizardman-Golem

Age:0

Affiliation: Minas Mar

Durability: 1000/1000

Mana: 300

Strength:310

Dexterity:200

Agility: 250

Intelligence: --

Willpower: --

Endurance: 430

Personality: --

Defense:

Physical: 5000

Magical: 1600

Poison Immunity

Mental Immunity

Status Anomaly Resistance: 45%

Magic Resistance 35%

Skill_ Regeneration>

Its starting stats were definitely better than the first attempt, despite only adding a few uncommon materials. But this was not the only difference. He noticed the trait "Unable to Grow" in the soldier. Looking into it, it was because the Lizardman Soldier was an "ordinary" golem, it was literally unable to grow, unlike the other golems he habitually gave a soul.

It also didn't have a soul golem's regeneration, but this was surprisingly covered by the troll leather. The biggest drawback of this ordinary golem was most likely its reliance on his core. Everything relied on the mana that could be stored and replenished with the core. Which was not a lot in this case.

Despite the results not being pretty and having some drawbacks, the process was quick and efficient on the materials. If he really needed a lot of golems at some point, this was a relatively easy option. Maybe they would be prettier if he only selected non-organic materials, but t that point, he could also just use the blueprints.

On his way, he collected the rest of the bodies and quickly followed Tatzel. Seeing the massacre on the way, he realized that he had taken a little too long. The blacksmith stopped collecting lizardman bodies and rather hurried to catch up.

50 were probably enough to play around with the golem forge.

Against Seth's expectations, the little Imugi had already rampaged its way to the second to last floor when Seth finally caught up to it.

~Mom! You are finally back.~ Tatzel greeted him at the short stairway to the last floor.

~Mom, what are those.. things?~ the Imugi asked perturbed when it saw the two lizardman golems behind Seth.

The blacksmith could only grimace and explain.

"Let those two to the front. I want to see their combat progress." he decided after telling Tatzel about the Golem Forge.

With the two golems looking like disfigured lizardmen, the following enemy groups reacted upset, disturbed even. Using the gap, the golems were able to get the first strike in.

Even in their active phase, the newcomers could not rival his Golem Knights, but they were also no big burden. Their lack of mana was the only problem. If they consistently suffered damage, their mana quickly exhausted. Especially that of the soldier, who only had a golem core.

He also found the soldier's movements clunky, while the drone was quickly learning to fight and was a bigger help in combat. In the end, it was all a question of materials.

The lizardmen themselves were no hindrance to the group. Seth managed to collect a few more uncommon souls, before they soon reached the boss room.