Explaining the dream to Colt in the morning, his face goes through a range of emotions. “It’s a relief that your parents are okay. I was really worried, but did you have to tell The Construct that you’re going to kill Restruct’s ass?”

My face colors a bit at this. “Well, I may have gotten a little carried away… But it really pissed me off, controlling me like that! What if I never got control of myself and you-” my words catch in my throat, tears sting my eyes.

Colt pulls me close, shushing me. “I’m here though, I’m okay… We’re okay…” Regaining my composure takes a minute, but I smile at Colt.

“Let’s have a fun day, no fighting monsters if we can help it, just enjoying ourselves. Maybe we can grind some skills we’ve been ignoring!”

Colt grins back at me. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

Pulling my enchantment guide Ilmarinen gave me from my hold, I flip through the pages.

“I noticed this when we were back in the dungeon, but it didn’t seem as important to try… We have some downtime now though so I’d like to.

Colt takes the book as I hand it to him, his eyes scan the page for a second. His enchanting skills are good, but he has less of a vested interest in it. He still understands the basics enough to get what the book is talking about.

“Golems? That sounds cool! What are you going to make it out of?” Thinking for a moment, I get out of bed and grab some clothes.

“Well, I’ll have to look and see if we have some clay or something, but for now I think I’ll try to find some Playdoh from when I was a kid. Seems like it might be a good medium for starters.”

Colt nods in agreement. “Playdoh golem. Sounds cute. I think I’ll get our garden set up with all these new plants from the dungeon. If you need any clay though, my earth spells might help.”

“You’re the best! Thanks!” Giving him a peck on the cheek, we head downstairs together. On our way down we hear Becky snoring loudly from the guest bedroom.

“Let’s let her sleep, for now, she’s been through a lot.” I agree with Colt and we step down the stairs as quietly as possible.

Breakfast is, surprise, more volley stag steak. Colt cuts up the steaks into thin slices to try and create a makeshift bacon so it’s more breakfast-like. “Colt we need more food, I’m sick of volley stag.” He frowns, nodding his head.

He sets some kind of purple dipping sauce that I don’t recognize in front of me before handing me a plate of volley-bacon. Curious, I inspect it.

Buoyoberry Sauce

Quality: Low

Traits: Levitation

Description: Upon consumption, makes the consumer levitate for a period of time depending on how much is eaten. Max time: 5 minutes 12 seconds

Shrugging, I dip the meat into the sauce and take a bite. There’s a tart sweetness to the sauce which complements the savory flavor of the bacon quite nicely. Once I swallow, my body lifts off of the chair I’m sitting in by a couple inches.

“Colt look! I’m flying!” He stares over at me in shock.

“I inspected it myself, but honestly didn’t expect it to work!” Grabbing the rest of the bacon and sauce, I eat it quickly, wanting to enjoy as much of this sensation as I can.

Within minutes, Colt and I are both floating above the floor, “swimming” in the air. The sauce doesn’t make us float very high, but it’s still extremely fun. Until both of us weren’t looking and we crack our heads together.

Only after crying out in pain do we notice Becky standing in the doorway to the kitchen, a blank look on her face. “You two are dorks.” She glances over to the counter where more of the sauce is. I can tell she inspects it.

Slowly, she sidles over to the counter as if we aren’t watching, dips a finger into the sauce, and rises off the floor. She grabs a plate of bacon, some of the sauce, sets them on her stomach, and backstrokes out of the room. All the while glaring at us, challenging any kind of response.

“Frankly, I’m impressed she didn’t spill anything backstroking like that.” Colt sits in a cross leg position several inches from the ground.

“Agreed. I’d definitely be covered in food if I did that.”

Eventually, the levitation effect wears off, Shared Indulgence made it last far longer than it should have, my face slams into the floor.

“Fucking ow.”

Rubbing my nose, I stand up and begin to walk upstairs to find Playdoh. Colt laughs his ass off before falling to the ground and cracking the back of his head off the floor.

In the hall upstairs, I grab the string that leads to the attic and pull down the door. Grabbing on to the ladder attached to the door, I unfold it and climb up.

Searching through the mess that is my attic, I find an old toy box. Towards the bottom of it, I identify a few Playdoh containers. “Bingo.” Taking them out, I frown when I note from the clacking noise that it’s all dried up.

Deciding to try anyway, I grab one more small thing out of the box, climb back down, close up the attic, and return to the kitchen. Colt is gone now, likely beginning gardening, and Becky is out in the backyard doing some kind of… yoga?

Taking a small amount of water from the bucket sitting in the kitchen, I attempt to rehydrate the Playdoh. Mashing all the colors together, my inner child screams at the variegated amalgamation I’m forming.

After washing my hands off, I read through the enchantment book once more, making sure I know exactly how the Aspect runes should look as well as the Intent runes.

Making golems is apparently difficult for those without Inscriber’s Touch, or in my case Spellbound Physique, as it’s very time consuming to use an Inscriber for this.

Beginning to mold the Playdoh, I make a basic multicolored body shape. It’s a bit runny because I added a little too much water. While I work the medium, I add enchantments with my fingers, pushing them deep into the material.

In the places the enchantments are set, the Playdoh stops running, the magic locking it in place. Attaching important Intent runes for actions like movement to the Aspect runes, I finish the body.

Next is the arms, which I use several Aspect runes to indicate the joints and where motion will occur, then use Intent runes to give its arms the movement actions they need. This process is repeated for the legs.

After a while, I’ve formed some basic arms and legs, complete with simple hands and feet. They’re slightly lopsided and awkward-looking, but they feel like they’ll be functional.

The last challenge, which according to the book will be the hardest, is the core. Focusing my mind on the task at hand, I mold the Playdoh into a ball shape for the head, leaving a hole for the core.

Grabbing a cat’s eye marble I found in the toy box earlier, I begin to inscribe the important Aspect and Intent runes that will give the golem life and a mind.

Getting the shapes right is extremely difficult, they’re mostly complex whirls, loops, sharp corners, and geometric shapes. Shaper’s Soul does wonders in allowing me to mentally calculate the space I need while being unable to see what’s going on under my fingers.

About an hour passes of just inscribing the marble to function as a golem’s core, which is about four times the amount of time each limb and the body took me, despite the small surface area.

Finally finishing, I sigh in relief, a headache building from the concentration. “Well, he’s a little melty, slightly lopsided, and he’s very uh… colorful, but I think he’s ready!”

Pushing the makeshift golem core into the ball of clay, I poke holes to act as eyes and draw in a mouth with a toothpick. Placing the head on, I put my hand over the golem. A pulse of mana escapes my palm, activating all of the enchantments.

The Playdoh shudders a few times before a yellow glow appears in the eye holes. It looks directly at me and stands up. It’s legs bend quite a bit under the weight of the body before it falls down and starts dragging itself towards me.

The modeling-clay horror makes gurgling noises as it slides towards me. I’m frozen in shock at this horrible amalgamation slowly crawling at me.

Colt begins to walk into the room “Hey Lucas, where do you keep your trowel? I could always use earth magick, but a trowel would just feel- JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!”

Colt’s reaction breaks me out of my stupor, with a swift hand I behead my golem and take out the core. My heart is threatening to beat out of my chest.

“Lucas was that supposed to be a golem?! You made a monster!” Looking more objectively at the scene, I see how flawed the entire creation was. The legs were far too small to support how heavy I made the body, arms, and head. It’s also a mess of leaky, wet Playdoh.

Frowning, I pat the marble. “I’m sorry buddy, I’ll make you a better body next time!” Colt eyes me wearily, mutters about how he’ll just use earth magick, and walks away.

Level up! For branching out into different aspects of Alchemy by creating a golem, your Talent: Fledgling Alchemist has reached (33/50)!

Level up! For challenging yourself and inscribing complex enchantments as well as successfully creating a golem core, your Talent: Fledgling Enchanter has reached (31/50)!

For reaching your sixth Talent milestone in Fledgling Enchanter, you have been awarded applicable stat points to Intelligence, Attunement, Willpower, Insight, and +180 XP. In addition, you have been granted the Perk: Inscriber’s Precision.

You have created the blueprint: Wet Playdoh Golem

‘...I’m literally never using that blueprint. Golems are related to alchemy? I guess I’ve read about that sometimes… Perks.’

Perks:

Inscriber’s Precision

Description: Your ability to inscribe with your body has become enhanced. You can create smaller, more delicate inscriptions that will hold the same level of power. Dexterity and Willpower increased by 1. +1 Dexterity and Willpower per level up.

Having a thought, I take another marble. ‘I still haven’t tried that perk…’ Laying my finger on the glass surface, ready to inscribe, I activate Magnum Opus. Clarity fills my entire being. My mind has never felt more open.

Beginning to move my hand, every single line comes far easier than it did before. New ideas fill my head based on my understanding of inscriptions.

Taking these new ideas, I improve upon my golem core design. Its mana flows should be far more efficient now. It should be able to take more commands than the last core would have allowed.

This core only takes me about a quarter of an hour to complete, despite the far more delicate and precise lines. Inscriber’s Precision came in handy as I was able to fit a lot more on to a small surface.

I’m left somewhat out of breath, strangely. A quick check of my MP tells me I’m nearly out. ‘Holy shit, Magnum Opus is pricy.’

Holding the core up in front of me, I simply appreciate its beauty. The silvery lines of inscription have a very slight blue hue emanating from them, and the light casts through them beautifully.

Waiting, no level up for Fledgling Enchanter pops up. ‘What gives!? Inspect.’

Marble Golem Core

Quality: High

Traits: Efficient mana flow, medium command capacity

Description: This golem core has been created by a Fledgling Enchanter under the effects of Magnum Opus, giving it the high quality that it is. The inscriptions allow for efficient flow of mana throughout the golem as well as 10 simple commands to be given.

‘Okay, I did make a golem core. Why didn’t I leve- oh no. Magnum Opus gives no experience, does it?’ Filling with disappointment, I store both golem cores I’ve made in my hold. I’ll come back to this later.

Cleaning up the wet, Playdoh-y mess, I walk out of the kitchen feeling disgruntled. Finding myself in the garden, it’s heavily expanded. Colt is tilling a new plot with Geokinesis.

He looks up and smiles at me. “Hey Lucas, check out the garden!” Taking the whole view in, my mood shifts to one of awe.

There are large lattices of stiffened vine holding up the zingpods, two fully grown bushes of clustersprings, a patch of Flashfire Sprouts in a metal-sided plot, and some purple berries which are floating like balloons off of vines, which I assume to be the Buoyoberries.

A quick inspection confirms my assumption. The original plots of vitaleaf, magetongue, and fleetchutes are still there as well. “Wow, it looks amazing here, you’ve done a great job! Hey, check this out.”

Pulling the golem core out of my hold, I hand it to Colt.

He inspects the marble, shock filling his face. “It’s high quality! Magnum Opus? Is that a perk? Damn, how many levels did this thing get you?” He notes my frown.

“Zero. I’m super fucking disappointed, I made a sweet golem core and Magnum Opus gives no goddamn levels!” Kicking a rock in frustration, it rockets across the yard, slamming into a tree with a loud CRACK!

“Don’t be too upset, you still made a golem core! That’s useful!” An idea pops into my head, my lips shifting to a smile.

“Colt, I had a great idea! You can’t be managing this garden 24/7 right?”

“Right, and- No. Are you going to make me a gardening golem?! Oh my god, that’s so sweet of you!” He pulls me into a hug and kisses me. Laughing, I give myself some space to talk.

“Yeah! This core can only take 10 commands, but that seems like it should be enough for gardening, right? I want you to help me make the golem though, I’ll do the inscribing but you should make the body. You’re better at this kind of artsy stuff.” He nods excitedly.

“I’d love to help! What do we need then?” Considering, I reach out with my Primordial Perception into the ground.

Detecting a pocket of clay, I indicate where to Colt. “There’s some clay down there, think you could pull it up?”

“Sure thing!” He closes his eyes and a green aura glows from his hands. The ground rumbles for a moment before cracking. A clump of brownish-red clay pops out a second later.

Grabbing the clay, we head inside, back to the kitchen. Colt was able to keep everything separate from the clay, so it’s fairly pure. We wet it somewhat to make it more pliable, and Colt gets to work on shaping the golem’s body.

“Wait, Colt. This is technically alchemy. Try putting some of your Fae Blood into the clay!” He gives me a weird look but uses some Aerokinesis to cut his finger. He lets a droplet of blood fall into the pile of clay.

Instantly, the clay turns to a pale green shade. “Woah! I’m shocked that actually worked.” Colt is poking the mound tentatively.

“Honestly, I’m shocked too, hand me as much as you’ll need for a body.”

Colt considers for a moment, grabs a lump of clay, and hands it to me. Working in a similar set of inscriptions as I did with the Playdoh golem, I add more reinforcement emphasis. It takes about 15 minutes, but the body’s rune setup is complete.

Handing the body back for Colt, he already has the limbs and head pieces ready for me to inscribe. He gets to work shaping the body while I inscribe everything else.

Keeping an emphasis on reinforcement, I make sure the golem won’t be a slopping mess like last time. I have an idea for the arms, so I add in some further enchantments.

By the time I’m finishing up the head, Colt is just completing the torso. Using Geokinesis, he adds fine details to make it look like the golem is wearing a shirt. Handing him the rest of the limbs and head, I leave him to his work.

Level up! For proactively thinking of the necessary enchantments to improve your creation, your Talent: Fledgling Enchanter has reached (33/50)!

“Colt, I added some enchantments to the arms, before you make the final hand form, make some gardening tool shapes out of the arms and put a pulse of Wild Magick into them.” He gives me a strange look but follows my instructions.

He makes some shear shapes, a pointed seed dibber, a rake, a trowel, and other various tool shapes. Each time he finishes one of the tools, his hands glow green for a moment. Finally, he finishes doing so and shapes the arms to his liking.

He goes for a realistic look, giving the golem human arms and legs, with detailed hands and feet only achieved by his high level of control with Geokinesis.

Reaching the head, he shoos me away, saying he wants to make it in private. Deciding to go see what Becky is doing, I head out to the backyard.

Becky is breathing hard when I walk outside, several deep cuts mar the ground around her. “Hey, Becky, training? Want a sparring partner?” She gives me a quick look before shrugging.

“Nah, I’m too tired now, I’ll kick your ass some other time.” She gives me a sly grin.

“Yeah, sure. Anyway, Becky… What’s the world like now? Colt and I never really left here after… Nevermind I’ll tell you what happened to him later.” Becky’s expression drops almost imperceptibly.

“It’s… Not good, Lucas. Portland is a mess. Planes were crashing out of the sky, there’s no electricity.”

My heart drops. “Oh god, I didn’t even think of that. Wait, you ran here from PORTLAND? That’s like a two-hour drive from here!”

She actually blushes for a second. “I was running from… A guy. Then those stupid deer found me.”

Concern replaces shock now. “Wait, why were you running from this guy? What happened?” Her face drops and she refuses to make eye contact with me.

“He… Wasn’t a nice person. The Construct didn’t make him any better. Then suddenly he started yelling about some Reduct or something, I don’t know. He got really violent… So I just... ran.”

“Wait, Becky, he didn’t say Restruct, did he?”

She nods. “That was the word. Listen. Can we not talk about this anymore? Please?”

My heart is racing, but I nod to her. “Sure, I understand. I’m here for you though, if you need to talk.”

She smiles slightly before her typical blank expression returns to her face. “Sure, whatever.” Just then Colt opens the back door, calling us both to come see his finished product.

“Colt, the fuck is this?” He’s grinning ear to ear.

“It’s a mini-Pasivier! I thought it would be hilarious.” On the table is the golem head, which is a striking clay resemblance of the starry Fae.

“Okay, that’s pretty great. Let’s put it together.” Colt puts all the limbs on, I hand him the golem core, and it stuffs it into a hole in the head. Once he puts the head on, we both lay a hand on the golem.

Our mana flows into it, awakening it. It stands up no problem, the reinforcement enchantments are working perfectly. “Oh, Lucas! We need to name it! How about…”

“Lil P?” My suggestion gets a laugh out of Colt and a frown out of Becky.

“I love it, Lil P!” The golem’s eyes flash in recognition. They have a soft green glow to them. ‘Inspect’

Lil P the Fae clay golem

Traits: Gardening tool transformation, reinforced structure, flourish

Description: The clay of this golem has been imbued with Fae Blood, giving it enhanced magical properties which have increased the number of commands this golem may take as long as they are associated with nature. This golem gives off a passive aura, increasing the rate at which plants around it grow. Due to specific enchantments, this golem’s arms can transform into a variety of gardening tools.

Level up! For continuing the path of golem creation, your Talent: Fledgling Alchemist has reached (34/50)!

“Cool, I gained a level in Fledgling Alchemist for this!” Colt looks happy with his gains. Becky is silently judging the whole exchange. She does follow us out into the garden, however.

Setting Lil P down, Colt gives it some commands such as pruning the plants, keeping bugs off of them, and watering them. He did some heavy work to revive my plants upon our return from the dungeon.

Lil P seems to take on all these commands quite easily, as it begins to move around, maintaining the plants. “Wow, it works perfectly! Good job Lil P!” Colt smiles at the tiny golem.

It looks up at him for a moment before returning to work.

Heading inside, we settle down for Colt to make lunch, happy with our gains. In my heart, however, I’m worrying about Becky’s… Ex-boyfriend?

‘If he’s under Restruct’s control… We need to stop him before it spreads or he hurts anyone.’