— GREAT EDRYAN, YEAR: 7294. SEASON: COLOR FADING.

  “First things first,” Lawruthian said, picking up his hew and chisel. “Let’s create this test suit.”

  He looked toward the small hill of materials piled at his feet. The majority of it was Rare iron-based ore, but plenty of mythical components for crafting specialized parts were present.

  “My measurements are 193 centimeters in height and 50 centimeters in width. A comfortable golem should…,” Lawruthian mused, staring down at the materials. “…perhaps around 3.5 to 4.5 meters.”

  He looked up, visually measuring the distance. That range would allow him to fit extremely comfortably in the golem, but it was slightly large. At that range, he’d stand eye to eye with most demigods and Prestiges in their True Bodies. This wasn’t even including the extra height that the Auxiliary Armaments would give him.

  “Likely something around 2.6 to 3.2 meters would be best for my frame. Auxiliary Armaments will add to it, no matter the armor layout.”

  “I think that makes sense,” Minerva chirped. She watched him curiously from her perch. “What loadouts are you planning?”

  “Well… I have a few in mind—a heavy armor set, a pure attack-based set, and likely a mixed combination for now. I’ll likely start with the mixed combination to test the waters, but later, I could have specific elemental sets to target specific magic types.”

  “That makes sense, with Calamity Crafting and Auxiliary Armaments combined, your Golem Suit will already have an advantage from the multiplier. The first thing you need to do is craft its energy source.”

  Lawruthian nodded in agreement, picking up a few conductive materials and pulling a large octahedron crystal vial from his spatial ring. This vial served as the container for all Mana Batteries and kept the concentrated mana within. They were constructed from reformatted mana crystals but held many times the quantity of their counterparts. In a sense, this was the mana battery as it held the charge while the outer layers helped distribute the energy.

  “ Calamity Crafting, ” Lawruthian activated, using its fourth property.

  Lawruthian grabbed some copper and a few beast materials and began to shape them using his hand. He focused, braiding four sets of copper wire into a three-strand twist for better conductivity before inserting it into the bottom four connections of the vial. His next steps were simple as he brought to life the standard Military Grade Mana Battery or MGB. This was version ten, capable of holding ten years’ worth of charge. If subsequent components were added, the battery was capable of drawing mana from the air and recharging itself.

  This was the core of Edryan technology. This was the core of Lawruthian’s earliest plans that allowed Edryan to develop into a state some might call modern in some areas, or even past modern in others.

  Over the course of an hour, an MGB slightly larger than a softball came into shape. It was spherical with a smooth outer shell and four connectors that would allow power to be expelled from it and into anything connected. These batteries were the basis of Edryan technology, running the buses, trains, and even the newly emerging omicraft like the EQS Sanctuary.

  ‘Ok,” Lawruthian said, nodding as he admired his work. “Ok, not bad… I lost some of the finesse an artisan of my level should have. It should have emerged as a Legendary tiered item, but it’s been a few years since I last did this. I think I’ll name you MGB Prototype 10.”

  The moment he gave his new creation a name, a notification appeared with its information.

  Lawruthian skimmed it before setting the core to one side and gathering more materials to craft.

  “For now, I can only craft Golem Suits at a base state or 1 Star. That would give it a total of 500 attribute points,” Lawruthian contemplated. He began to work, activating Auxiliary Armaments as he did so. The consumption immediately jumped, and his true mana levels began to drain. “That isn’t much with my current attributes, but for a lower-level soldier or someone newly initiated to the system… that 500 points is the difference between life and death.

  “In truth, if I had a normal noble trajectory and started with Rare everything… bloodline, class, etc, 500 would be a major increase. Let’s not forget Calamity Crafting gives me a 1.5 times boost, making all base golems I create have 750 attributes.”

  Lawruthian continued to work, his thoughts on the suit he was building as mana drained from his body. He wasn’t disappointed in the number of attributes he could gain; rather, his mind worked quickly to ultimately factor in how much his strength would increase by. These numbers would add combine with his Life Points, changing everything about his current style of fighting. What was important to Lawruthian was that end goal, and how drastic an advantage what he sought would give not just him, but those he empowered.

  “Creating just a few suits could give me a small, but elite tactical team. I could create a Shadow Loadout, giving enhanced stealth capabilities to its user.”

  Minerva followed the train of his thoughts and couldn’t help but chirp out. “Not just spies and assassins could benefit from your suits. This is a strategic ability that can ultimately change the state of warfare. You could have this as a reward, allowing specialized champions to emerge in the armies,” she chirped excitedly. “You could create a Scout Loadout with advanced detection spells and more. If your ability to create Auxiliary Armaments can be learned by other Golemancers and smiths…”

  “It would remove pressure from me and emerge as its own production field. If lesser versions of the class can come into existence…,” Lawruthian finished her words.

  “It would be like Princess Carina when she created Lawyers and Judges in Edryan. This is on the cusp of opening an entirely new field,” Minerva excitedly continued. Her red-gold eyes were wide, and they rapidly flickered as connections were made. “This needs to be kept hidden for as long as possible.”

  “But wait, Minerva, there’s more you haven’t thought of. Forefather of Edryan Innovation allows me to create a factory and produce golems and other things,” Lawruthian spoke rapidly, and his eyes shone with light. His hands moved faster and faster, iron melting, beast components combining as a suit came to life before him. “If it can synergize with Calamity Crafting and Auxiliary Armaments … would it count as me making the golems through such efforts?”

  Minerva gasped. Forefather of Edryan Innovation was a skill gained when Lawruthian first made Nubia, the first Calamity grade golem of Edryan make. It was right before he visited Starglow Valley with Laura Lance and the West Gate Army. One of the properties allowed him to set up an Industrial Manufacturer —a large complex that could produce items he completely understands how to make. All it required was personnel and a power source to run.

  “ Mind Link ,” he activated. Readying his second MP potion of the night.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Theoretically, I don’t see why it shouldn’t work,” Lawruthian said. Time continued to pass, and the Golem Suit grew closer and closer to completion. “So long as I fully understand what I’ve created, and can replicate it multiple times, the factory should be able to produce it.”

  Lawruthian let out a breath, stepping back to admire his work. The Golem Suit before him was no Adam 2.0. It didn’t shine with starlight like his growth weapon Legacy , but it did have a strange, unique charm to it that made Lawruthian proud.

  The Golem Suit stood at 2.7 meters, with a simple metallic gun grey as its sole color. At the center of its chest was the compartment for the MGB Prototype 10, which Lawruthian had yet to insert. Currently, his focus was on the spell inscriptions that came from his various skills, but mainly Calamity Crafting as it was the primary source of construction. A little over an hour passed from start to finish, and Lawruthian felt confident in his work.

  “It looks like…,” Minerva gave Lawruthian a pointed look at the Ironman imitation. “It’s like War Machine without the War. And the hard facial features are missing.”

  Lawruthian laughed, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. His original heroes still existed somewhere in the back of his head. He’d subconsciously shaped the Golem Suit into something he admired.

  “I wonder… is this classified as a mech,” Minerva chipped. She took flight, coming to land on the scattered pile of debris as it was closer to the suit. “Or would it be some type of enhancement suit?”

  “I don’t think it matters,” Lawruthian responded.

  Minerva made a horrified expression, fiercely countering once she recovered. “It definitely matters. At this point, it’s considered a mech, as it’s a suit you step into and you’re piloting it!”

  Lawruthian frowned and turned to stare at his companion. “It’s an augmented suit. If I were just controlling the golem, it would be a mech, but I’m merging attributes with it, which means it’s enhancing what I already have. Although… I do have ideas on mechs now that you mention it.”

  Minerva huffed but kept quiet as Lawruthian moved to insert the MGB. He spoke softly as he did, swallowing with anticipation. “I think I’ll call you Standard Golem Suit or SGS for short.”

  He pressed the core in, smiling at the acronym. There was nothing better than a good acronym.

  CLICK!

  In that moment, several notifications appeared, but Lawruthian ignored them all as he watched his machine come to life.

  Blue-golden light slowly ignited, spreading from the center of the chest along the lines that powered different parts of the golem. The imbued spells lit up one by one, each placed at a different location on the golem’s chest.

  Adaptive Executer.

  Body Sync.

  Enhanced Processor.

  The three glowed in a triangular position, with room for seven more inscriptions present next to them. Subtle changes emerged in the golem as time passed. Details its creator may have missed are now properly aligned from the three enhancement skills. Only when the process was complete did Lawruthian look at the host of notifications that appeared.

  All he could do was smile. His thoughts were different from when he first accepted the Hero of Edryan class. He spent weeks in the Skill Library on palace grounds building the perfect hero class. In truth, it was a hot mess that slowly conformed and merged as he experienced class evolutions. Adam, his first golem, was built to be a companion and protector. Something underneath his own power, not beholden to Goddess Madris, not underneath his mother’s command… solely belonging to Lawruthian Imperius Koltius Edryani.

  He’d spent days planning before finally building the thing. Even experienced Hunger due to his refusal to leave while working. It was… precious.

  Project Adam.

  For Lawruthian, it felt like he was creating a brand new life. The start of a life that would explode into hundreds, thousands, millions, and so on. Of course, it wasn’t his first golem built. Huego, Hela, Hector, his Hero Golems were there along with others. However, Adam was special for the sole reason that he designed and did everything without help.

  That process continued over the years. Adam 2.0 or the Star Suit — Mark 1, as its second official copy. The Star Suit was just that… a suit he could wear with hopes of one day piloting or combining his power with that of a golem.

  Lawruthian smiled at the thought, falling backwards and sitting on the ground. He’d appeared foolish, creating a space inside a golem and issuing commands from it. To any sane Edryan, he would have been called crazy and likely arrested for his antics or perhaps shunned and ignored. If not for his position as Chosen of Madris, those around him would have likely called him mad. Even his mother, Queen Titiana, attempted to persuade him from inhabiting the golem. Eventually, she just turned a blind eye to it entirely.

  Now, before him, the SGS was proof that his persistence paid off. Two class evolutions, multiple tries, days and nights spent researching, building, and repeating.

  “Heh, ha… ha… ha…,” Lawruthian laughed. A sense of relief and achievement spread throughout him, giving him a feeling of estacy as if he was still leveling.

  If Men of Edryani cried, perhaps he would have shed a tear at his accomplishment. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Men of Edryani do not cry.

  “Congratulations Lawruthian!”

  “Thank you… Minerva… thank you. Let’s build it some armaments and test it out.”