With Dawn and Rachel filling in the knowledge gaps in my plan, suggesting changes, and managing the team, I fall back to old role of barback. I run parts and pieces to each of the members, easily done with Blink Step. For lunch, Gorm and his crew of Cooks help me bring food and drink over to keep everyone's Stamina up, no one stopping to sit and take a break. Choosing, instead, to take bites and sips whenever a chance comes up.

"How come no one's read this book until now?" Rachel asks, nose deep in the Basic Golem Manual.

"Didn't even know you could read," Dawn chides, taking enough time to playfully elbow her in the arm.

"This has a lot of pictures in it," she smiles as she tosses a piece of scrap at the Infernus without looking up from the book.

"I think we got it at the same time as the Frost Dragon Ale," I muse out loud, smiling at the memory of the taste. We still have quite a few barrels left, but with everything going on we haven't had time to break one open.

"Anyway," Rachel continues, "Looks like we totally have a handle on the shell, but we have the concept of the core cage all wrong." She shows us a diagram of a humanoid shell similar to the one we designed. She flips to another page and Dawn and I get a little disheartened.

Originally, I thought about using the Stellar Ore to create a sort of battery to power Sonny who, in turn, powers the shell. But, according to the book, it would be like hooking up a battery to a lightbulb and hoping that the energy it emits is enough to power a solar paneled car.

Rachel sets the book down in front of Lavina, "We're gonna have to turn a dungeon core into a golem core, but they're, like, two very different levels of energy. Like a car battery and a nine volt."

"Shit," Dawn grumbles and I repeat her sentiment. "So what do we do now?"

[Well, we do still have the Golem Core that Ardy acquired from the Bark Golem.]

By now, Sonny is the size of a lime and her glow is too dim to light the pillow she sits in. I scramble over to the storage crate to retrieve the core and come back. I hold the orb of swirling clear energy up to her. It's about twice her size, but just as bright.

[Do you remember the last conversation we had about it Y/N?]

"Honestly? No, I don't. I remember getting it from the Bark Golem… Then we talked about a Gold or a Mythril Golem…" I lose myself in the memory, unable to come up with what came next.

[You asked if we could enchant something with it and I responded with it's complicated.]

"Oh yeah, that's right," I snap my fingers as the scene becomes clear in my head.

Dawn and Rachel come over, everyone pausing from their work to look over as I hand Dawn the core. "How complicated are we talking here, Sonny?" Dawn asks as she appraises the orb.

[With our plan, it will be relatively simple for everyone except me.]

We all turn our attention to the little amber ball in the carriage.

[I will need to merge with it. Unfortunately, there are a myriad of things that can go wrong, least of which will be the possibility of losing everything that makes me, me, to the golem core.]

The silence in our group hangs heavy upon us, unable to process the dangers of our endeavor. It's Conner who is the first to speak and his voice is full of confidence, breaking us out of our stupor, "That's what we've been doing this whole time, Sonny! All those conversations and affirmations we had were meant to strengthen your personality. You know who you are. You are Sonasolaria, daughter of Dimitria. You are the Linqs Dungeon Core and you will not wink out of existence without a fight. Look around you."

Conner waves his hands about theatrically, "We are all your friends and we would not be doing this if the risk to save you wasn't worth taking." He cradles her in both of his hands, though he could've picked her up with his thumb and forefinger. "Prove us right, Sonny."

The young Machina takes tentative steps toward Dawn and the glow from both orbs begins to brighten. They set them down together on a table with all the constructed parts surrounding them. A specially designed, cage-like container lay open, waiting for the cores to merge.

[You're right, Conner. One of the things I have learned from my observations of everyone in Linqs is "Quickly, slowly, easily, or laboriously. In order to survive, one must keep moving forward." Thank you all for this opportunity.]

Lavina swaps the container for another one, smaller and made from Violetta Wood and Umbramium. She tosses the metal cage into the scrap bin and applies some last minute tweaks to some internal parts.

Dawn and Rachel look at her, eyebrows raised and waiting for her explanation.

Well aware of that look, having received it once or twice from her mother, Lavina clears her throat and forces her knees to stop shaking, "Oh. Okay. So, the wood. See. The wood will bend a lot without breaking?"

She picks up the cube and twists and turns it while trying to explain herself, "Okay. The core will pulse like a heart and it needs a way to stay in contact with a Mana medium without breaking it or constricting the core unnecessarily." Her eyes dart all over the room at our shocked expressions as she sets it back down. "Plus, I gave it an automatic safety release in case it grows too big from, like, too much mana? It'll expand it an extra thirty five percent which should be more than enough room. What? It was in the book!"

Rachel picks her up by the arm pits, swinging her in the air, both of them giggling like mad. Dawn smiles as she opens it up, revealing a spherical hollow space inside, "That should also increase the Mana flow efficiency since she'll be in constant contact all around. I know it's your dream to be a Cleric, are you sure you don't want to be one of the Forge, like me?"

"Come on," I say, "Convert on your own time."

Rachel sets the Golem Core into Lavina's container and Conner lifts Sonny to it. "You're ready," Conner affirms. Dawn and all of the other apprentices briskly piece together all of the parts to form the humanoid shell, the "ribs" splayed open and waiting.

[Ready. Press me into the Core until I'm completely submerged, then place the cage into the shell. I can handle the rest.]

With the greatest care he is capable of, Conner touches Sonny's orb to the Golem Core. At first, the surface resists the intrusion, almost like pressing into an underinflated rubber ball. On the fourth attempt, the Golem Core had the consistancy of a gel, Sonny sinking into it little by little. The clear swirling energy mixes with bands of amber as the shape of the small sphere dissolves within.

[This may take a while. Basically, I have to anchor myself onto several ports. One hour, give or take. It's a mess in here. The Bark Golem must've been around for many years.]

We take this as the best time to take a break. The apprentices jump up several Craft levels, but Dawn and Rachel only get a single level up. They grumble as they clean everything up after sending the others out to rest.

Dawn sends comminiques out to Kona and Richter while Rachel chats with me. Victoria, Serenity, and Mika join us to catch up on the latest news on Sonny, every citizen in Linqs sharing the Quest to save her. Lavina is on the side at a work table, playing with Coaster and observing how he behaves.

"So, like, looking back on it, the process isn't really like making a Golem. We totally took a bunch of ideas from the book and ran with them, but Golems aren't really supposed to be sentient beings." She crosses her arms at her chest and knits her eyebrows together, looking over at Conner dutifully watching Sonny's progress.

"So," Mika muses, "Is she more like a homunculous?"

"No," I interject, "Those are like soulless puppets." I also look over at Conner and Sonny. "I think… we're making something like a Machina…"

Rachel nods her head, pointing at me and smiling, "We totally are! That means she can level up and stuff, right? Get, like, a Job Class and Artisan Classes?"

"That's a good question. Conner can, so one would think--"

"Everyone!" Conner shouts, erratically waving us over with his hands. My heart races, but it takes me a moment to decide which emotion to go with. A glance at Conner's panic stricken face and my heart sinks. We gather around the two and stare at the mostly clear Golem Core, its luminosity much brighter than before.

"Shit," we chant as one. Without further provocation, the cage closes, sinks into the chest, and seals itself in. "Oh shit," once more altogether.

We all take a small step back from the now motionless shell. As much of a hodge podge of materials as it seems, the end result is, in my humble opinion, a brilliant use of available resources, knowledge, and skill.

We made a base skeletal system using the lightweight Umbramium infused with pieces of the bones from the Skeletal Hydra. Strands of Dridersilk and countless gears act as the muscles. In addition to the Golem Core, we added a Dust Elemental Soul Piece to act as a sort of backup energy source, according to Lavina's recommendation. All of it wrapped in a skin made from softened and dyed Nightmare Leather. We opted to skip hair for now, figuring we craft or find wigs according to her own preferences.

We stare at the dark brown body as, one by one, the fingers begin a little dance toward the edges of the table where she lay. Arms outstretched, perpendicular to her body, the hands grip the sides. The strength of their grip becomes too strong and the wood cracks and splinters where the hands are. They release just as suddenly, still no other movement from the rest of the body.

[Warning! Oxygen levels low! 5 seconds until HP loss!]

[Warning! Oxygen levels low! 30 seconds until unconciousness!]

I take a deep breathe, tiny stars flashing before my eyes. I look around, seeing the others doing the same. The scene before us must have had us all holding our breath for too long.

Coaster leaps off his table, running toward Sonny and Lavina chases after him.

Someone shouts her name and I react with a Blink Step, reappearing in front of her and shielding her with a hug.

[Golem Shell slashes you for 45 damage!]

I can feel a river of burning pain running up my back and I grit my teeth, holding in my scream of pain, "It's not Sonny yet!" I can't teleport with Lavina so I pick her up in my arms and carry her away from the scene. The others move in to take aggro away from me. I look over and see Victoria using Dash, getting right in front of her and drawing a sword and shield.

I circle back around, placing the others between me and Sonny. "Alright, kiddo. Get everyone near the exit, but don't leave until we give you all the signal."

"And what's the signal?" she asks, picking up Coaster and holding him to her chest. His legs are drawn in and his little head is trying to peak over her arms.

"You'll know it when you hear it." I speed off to join the others. Vic and Conner are on the front line, deflecting attacks from the arms which are now in the shape of single edged blades.

That's probably what got me earlier, I think to myself, my HP already back up to full.

Serenity is supporting the two by casting Debuff spells on the shell and Dawn is purely healing the Fighters. Mika is standing next to Serenity and Dawn with her crossbow, frustrated and unsure what to do.

The moment I step close enough I get a notification.

[Major Quest Update: Feed the Core]

[Major Quest: Subjugate the Core

[Until Sonny refills her EP, she isn't strong enough to defeat the personallity of the Bark Golem in the Golem Core. The shell must survive until then. 1209/11,000EP

[The Quest will end in Failure if the shell's HP reaches 0 or if the MP reaches 200 before the time limit.

[Time Limit: 10 minutes

[Reward: 1000XP per person, 2*Rook Chest, ??

[Failure: Death of Sonasolaria, -30% XP Gain Debuff for 2 Levels, Golem Core Self Destruct]

Everyone else listens as I read the update out loud, casting Healing Breeze once in a while to suppliment Dawn's Spells.

"Okay, looks like we just gotta keep up this pace," Dawn says, her shoulders relaxing a little as I whince.

"You did not just--" My words are cut off when a dark cloud swirls into shape above us and four bolts strike Vic, Conner, Mika, and me.

[Sonasolaria's Lightning Storm hits you for 44 damage!]

"What the hell was that?" I ask, muscles still twitching and burning from the magical attack.

"Shit," Dawn mutters before casting Healing Light on Mika. "We may have infused a Quartz into her chest and loaded it with a few of Serenity's Lighting Spells."

I Analyze the shell, noting that the HP is draining by a few points per second while the MP is going in the opposite direction. "I can drain the MP with my new Racial Feat, but I have to attack her to do it."

[Dawn casts Protection Aura on you!

[+3Defense_Bonus for 10 minutes.]

"I'll heal, but we gotta get her out so she doesn't damage the vardo or in case we fail. I'll tell Richter to pull over. Mika, can you get everyone out?" Dawn asks. The dwarven alchemist nods and takes off for the exit.

"Go."

In an instant I teleport behind Vic and Conner, "Switch!"

I press right into the shell's chest like an over excited boxer, taking in all the aggro. I parry the blade strikes and manage a single slash at a leg.

[You deal 65 slashing damage and drain 9MP!]

Only able to hit for one fifth of my attack to MP makes it feel like a feeble stopgap measure, but it does grind the MP rise to a halt. A quick Arcane Sight check showing a blue glow around the shell tells me that, for now, the main plan is working.

And now for part two, I think to myself, gritting my teeth for what's to come.

I activate Distracting Footwork, slipping and dodging ahead of each slash as I move us closer to the exit. I'm able to spin around through a rapid combination of attacks to gauge my surroundings. My hood flies off during the break neck movements and I could feel a blade sliding through the flames on my head.

The others are keeping their eyes on us and moving stuff out of our way. I've got about a minute left in my Taunt and we're only halfway through the room.

"I've gotta run for the door," I shout, turning around to run. The others copy me in time and we make our mad dash.

I can hear the clacking of footsteps behind me, resisting the urge to teleport so I don't lose the shell's attention.

[Golem Shell's Lightning Bolt hits you for 44 damage!]

My insides burn and I trip when the muscles in my legs misfire. I tumble on the ground, moving to roll to try to keep my momentum, but the pain and awkwardness of my fall just send me back to the ground. For the first time, the ground grants me mercy, dealing no damage and I'm strangely grateful. I finish rolling and struggle to pull myself up to crawl. A handful of seconds laced with anticipation feel like an eternity, especially when my goal is so close.

I'm a few feet from the door, the others already outside watching me with horrified expressions. Something slams me to the ground, a blade piercing through each shoulder, narrowly missing my heart.

[Golem Shell pierces you for 56 damage!]

[Golem Shell pierces you for 54 damage!]

(24/169HP)

My words gurgle out at the same time I hear a ragged yell from outside, "Healing Breeze…"

"Healing Light!"

[You heal yourself for 28HP!]

[Dawn Nobel heals you for 66HP!]

(118/169HP)

The blades tear out of my back and punch down once again.

[Golem Shell pierces you for 55 damage!]

[Golem Shell pierces you for 56 damage!]

(7/169HP)

My eyes slam shut and I grind my teeth into powder from the pain. I can't concentrate enough to cast anything when the abrupt crunch of heavy metal slamming into heavy metal fills my ears, the blades sliding out of my body. I curl up into a ball, thinking of my parents, praying that they're both alright.

[Kona Cafe heals you for 30HP!]

[Kona Cafe heals you for 30HP!]

The ridiculousness of the notifications springs my eyes wide open. There in the doorway is Victoria, rushing over to shield my body and recalling her thrown Thunderstruck, and Kona behind her with the Stellar Staff.

"How did you…?"

"The staff! Now shut up and don't die," she continues pointing the staff at me as Richter and Elsbeth help me to my feet. I pop a Stamina and Mana Potion and Kona hits me with a white, molten meteorite. I can see Dawn drinking from a bottle of blue liquid and casting Healing Light on Sonny.

[Kona Cafe heals you for 30HP!]

They give me plenty of space to activate Distracting Footwork one more time and we finally get her out of the vardo. We lure her away from the vardo and shuffle every back inside. Richter and Elsbeth scramble to drive it a safer distance down the road. I dole out slashes sparingly, making sure Dawn or Kona heals her before attempting another attack.

"Just enough to keep your MP in check," I mutter to her as I slash her once more.

"One minute left! You can do it, Sonny," Conner shouts from next to Victoria.

Her movements become jerky and the chaotic moves throw off my timing. I'm punished with a swipe of a blade arm that severs my left hand at the forearm.

[Vital spot! Golem Shell slashes you for 75 damage!]

[Debuff! Max HP -20 for 10 minutes or until HP is refilled +20HP]

The others step in before I can do anything else, realising that her HP and MP will no longer be an issue during the remainder of the time. We have a handful of seconds left and we don't want her wiping us out before her personality clicks into place.

She suprises everyone by bypassing their defensive perimeter, ducking under and between them and heading straight for me, even though the effects of my Taunt were gone.

Maybe the Golem Core intends to finish me off in the final seconds before the Sonny takes over. Maybe it finally remembers me from the fight the reduced it to a glowing bauble, who's to say? But I raise my hand for a little used Spell and I hope with all my might that it doesn't backfire on me.

"Lethargic Miasma!"

The Monster Spell I learned from the Red Spores near the Sun Seeker Lotus cave creates a pink mist in a ten foot radius that imparts the Slow Debuff on any creature within. Unfortunately, unless they are immune to such things, it includes the caster. Another condition to the Spell, the Debuff only works on creatures that breathe, which I'm hoping that the act of sucking in Mana is enough to count as breathing.

I try to hold my breath, but a slice to my side causes a sharp intake of air and I get the notification.

[Golem Shell grazes you for 15 damage!]

[Debuff Gained! You're movements are Slowed for 20 seconds!]

I'm falling back from the attack in slow motion, my eyes are locked forward at the shell, its facial features are completely neutral. Its a stark contrast to the aggressive actions I've seen so far. My thoughts are unaffected by the Debuff as I realise that somehow my assumpion was correct. Sonny is still lunging toward me, blade past my side and the other arm readying to strike my chest again, but at a fraction of her normal speed. Inch by inch, we both glide through the air in a meticulous motion.

The seconds drag by and I hope I got the timing down. Everyone watches us from a ring around the miasma as the blade inches closer to me and we fall ever closer to the ground.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

There's a flicker in the shell's eyes as my back slams into something before I can fully fall to the dirt and time returns to normal. I shut my eyes, flinching in anticipation for the attack when I feel two different sets of arms wrap around me. I reactively catch the shell as I hear a feminine grunt behind me.

"Easy, now. The timer's up," Victoria says in my ear.

I look down. The shell's face is buried in my chest and our arms are still locked in an embrace. There's a short pause before the head tilts back and I see the bright, amber pupils of her eyes. A shy smile curls the lips and I can't help but smile back.

[Major Quest Complete!]