"Alright, everyone, we're mining here! I'm counting on you!"
As I issued instructions to the four Petit Golems lined up before me, each responded with a rhythmic piko! I had been experimenting with various improvements to see if I could make them talk, but I hadn't quite realized that goal yet. They could repeat words back to me, but that was the extent of it. In exchange—though I wasn't sure if it was a fair trade—they had started making these digital-sounding chirps. I’d established a rule where a single piko meant yes and a double piko-piko meant no, which made basic communication much easier.
We were currently on the Seventh Floor. This was a prime spot for iron ore. While there were mining points on the Third Floor as well, those were reserved for the city residents. The points on the Seventh Floor, however, were fair game for anyone. That said, it wasn't an officially maintained mine, so we just had to pick a likely spot and start digging. Fortunately, we had the Item-finding Rod. Since we knew the general vicinity of the deposits, there was no need to waste time on trial-and-error excavations.
"The Petit Golems have really grown!"
"Their movements are much faster, too."
Halfa and Spira watched the Petit Golems with excitement. Thanks to me keeping body enhancement-type magic active at all times lately, my Non-Elemental Magic level had risen considerably. I’d also been spamming Stone Wall for no particular reason whenever we were outside the city, so my Earth Magic had seen decent growth as well. As a result, the performance of my golems had improved significantly.
For instance, I was now capable of creating fairly large golems. They weren't exactly giants yet, but they were taller than me—about the same height as Lowell, actually. In terms of shape, they looked like stout, blocky robots. I really wanted to give them a more human-like silhouette, but it was surprisingly difficult. It might not have been a lack of Creativity so much as a simple lack of artistic sense on my part.
Even though they were no longer "petit" in the slightest, I still called them the Petit Golems. It had become more of a group designation for Petit No. 1 through Petit No. 4. I also used the name to distinguish them from the golems I made without egos.
I had recently figured out how to create mindless golems that did nothing but faithfully follow orders. It seemed Shiroru couldn't use Thought Transmission with those types. Their role was to handle dangerous experiments—and, if necessary, carry out self-destruction attacks. I felt a little guilty about it, but they were a highly effective offensive tool.
With the increase in my Non-Elemental Magic level, the golems' agility had improved as well. They still weren't exactly "swift," but their work speed was impressive. Plus, they were far stronger than I was, making them incredibly reliable.
I planned to use the iron ore we were mining to upgrade the Petit Golems' bodies to be iron-made. I could use Clean for the refining process; if I activated it while visualizing everything except iron as "trash," only the metal would remain. However, high-purity iron wasn't necessarily durable. I’d heard that you needed to mix in carbon to create steel, but since I didn't know the specifics, I figured I would eventually have to consult a blacksmith. Then again, if I gathered both carbon and iron and tried to use Create Golem to make a Steel Golem, it might just work through sheer magic.
"Piko..."
Petit No. 4 let out a weak chirp. Its mana was running low.
"Oh, I'll top it off!" Halfa offered.
"Me too, Halfa-chan!" Spira added.
"Thanks, I appreciate it."
I watched as they replenished the mana. If a golem ran out of mana, the connection between its body and its ego—essentially its soul—would be severed. To prevent that, I’d added a function that allowed for mid-task recharging. Since people other than myself could provide the mana, the girls had taken to doing it regularly. I’d also made it so they could draw magic power directly from magic stones, much like a magic tool. They had even started keeping a private stash of D-rank and lower magic stones for that purpose. It was like they were carrying around emergency snacks for the golems.
I’d also mastered the ability to swap their materials. While they were currently in their large, industrial forms for the mining work, they could shrink down to a compact size—even smaller than their original forms—whenever we went into the city. Because of that, the Petit Golems had been active and "out of the bag" almost constantly of late.
While the mining was the Petit Golems' job and we were mostly there to supervise, we were still in a dungeon. Monsters appeared from time to time.
『Oh, a monster is coming!』
Shiroru, who had been lying down and lazily wagging his tail, suddenly snapped his head up. This was the Seventh Floor, so the monsters were roughly D-rank. As long as we didn't get careless, they weren't the type of opponents we would struggle against.
"I'll handle it," Lowell said, stepping forward.
"Wait, let me. There's something I want to test."
I stopped Lowell, who was about to engage the threat alone. I had a new golem-related theory I wanted to put into practice.
After a few moments, the monster emerged from the shadows. It was a Black Lion—a swift creature and one of the stronger threats in the D-rank bracket.
"<Fireball>. <Create Golem>."
I cast the two spells in rapid succession. Fireball was a spell Sally used to use often—a simple attack that struck the enemy with a projectile of flame. I held the newly formed sphere of fire for a moment, then reshaped it into a bird-shaped golem. Since its purpose was to collide with the enemy, I made it the ego-less type.
Perhaps because it was made of magical flame, the golem formed from the Fireball took to the air naturally. Though it lacked a mind of its own, it followed my mental commands perfectly. If I told it to strike the enemy, it would continue to fly toward its target until its mana was spent. Essentially, I had given my Fireball a homing function.
The Black Lion tried to dodge, but the fire bird golem banked and gave chase. By the time I’d launched three of them, the Black Lion’s evasion capabilities reached their limit. One bird made contact, and as the lion staggered, the remaining two delivered the finishing blows. Its vitality was instantly depleted. It vanished into motes of light without ever getting close to us.
"Tort, you're as absurd as ever," Lowell muttered from beside me. "I thought I could at least make myself useful in combat, but if you can do that..."
Lately, he seemed to be growing more concerned about his own perceived lack of combat strength. But that wasn't the case at all. Our party was stable specifically because Lowell acted as our vanguard. In terms of raw melee power, he was still the strongest among us. Beyond combat, his initiative in information gathering and preparation was a huge help.
I tried to remind him of his worth whenever the opportunity arose, but there was only so much I could do if he continued to dwell on it.
More concerningly, though...
"As I thought... are muscles the answer? But how..."
He looked so cornered that he seemed to be on the verge of seeking salvation through pure physical bulk. Training was all well and good, but I really didn't want him turning into an overbearingly intense muscle-head like Masso-san.