What's wrong with me, a mage, loving to farm?

Chapter 186. Magic Alloy, Joyful Golem

The apprentices were completely unaware of Kroya's inner turmoil.

They are busy shaping clumps of white clay into form, gradually building a white factory building from scratch.

I don’t know if it’s because they come from poor families, but they all tend to do things like repairing roofs and patching walls.

Anyway, I'm very skilled at doing it.

These white slimes are basically the same as large-sized modeling clay.

Apprentices only need to lay it flat on the ground, then build it up step by step, and shape it with magic, and it will become stable and sturdy.

Among the apprentices, the most hardworking was... Jamie.

"Over here!"

Jamie, the apprentice—no, he was already a level one mage—climbed to the top floor, building as he went, calling out to his companions to bring up more materials.

The blueprints Kroya gave him were as clear as a 3D model in his mind, every column, every beam...

It's really like building with blocks; he always manages to place each piece of material in the most suitable place.

With him working so hard, the factory was built quite quickly.

He watched as the tall building gradually took shape under his and his partners' hands, and felt an indescribable sense of accomplishment.

This fulfilling joy motivated him to work even harder.

He carried basket after basket of white slime to higher levels, magic gathering at his fingertips, and wisps of blue light swirling around the white slime.

Floor, walls, ceiling...

He quickly became engrossed in it, his movements becoming increasingly nimble, unaware that his body was covered in a mess of white slime.

He looked exactly like a construction worker who had been shoveling mortar all day, completely lacking the noble and reserved demeanor of a mage.

The other apprentices didn't stop working, but they relaxed a little and started chatting:

"Jamie is really putting in a lot of effort."

"Among us, Jamie's house is the best."

"Didn't the master say he was going to have him design an underwater town?"

Although Jamie was the first apprentice that Kroya recognized, to be honest, his talent in magic... can only be described as very average.

This was something all the apprentices knew, but no one would laugh at him for it, because there wasn't just one path to mastering magic.

Kroya had told them more than once that if they had any interest or hobbies about potions, magic circles, or other magical arts, they should tell him as soon as possible.

While a territory's strength is judged by its combat power, it's not the only factor. He didn't want his apprentices to become violent spellcasters who only knew how to fight.

……

Time passed second by second.

An oval-shaped factory was finally completed.

Jamie and his apprentices excitedly reported to Chloe, "We've done it, sir!"

"Um."

Kroya snapped out of his daze from the seaweed sofa formed by the luminous algae of the thirsty sea, shook his head, and chased away the sleepiness.

He stood up, glanced at the oval building not far away that was twenty meters high and covered an area of ​​about one acre, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Well done."

"Each person will be rewarded with ten gold coins and three magic crystal flowers."

"Jamie, I'll give you an extra book about architecture; study it carefully."

"Thank you, sir!"

The apprentices bowed in unison.

"Get up and come with me."

After giving the reward, he ordered the Kaba beasts to be brought along and entered the newly built building.

The style here is actually a very simple industrial style. At present, it is at most a rough shell. The real golem factory still needs a lot of processing and modification.

He went straight down the stairs to the basement, the area where he planned to refine ores for the Kaba Beasts.

There is a huge pool here.

It is about 500 meters wide and 3 meters deep.

The pool was already filled with sea monster iron ore mined during this period. The bluish-green ore piled up in the pool looked quite beautiful.

"All of you, get out of here," Kroa said to the Kabamon. Fifty Kabamon jumped into the pool like dumplings being dropped into boiling water.

They walked toward the sea monster iron ore, sniffing it from left to right, and then began to slowly gnaw on the ore.

"Crunch, crunch~"

Sea Iron is supposed to be very hard, but in front of these battle-hardened Kabamon, it doesn't seem much harder than Blue Candy.

The blue teeth, brimming with ethereal magic, chewed the ore repeatedly, sending it into its stomach while simultaneously infusing it with that magic.

They no longer need to excrete minerals; rumination is a good substitute for excretion.

Furthermore, through repeated chewing and rumination, they can repeatedly refine the ore. By the time they spit out the ore, the originally hard Sea Demon Iron has already turned into a liquid state.

They spat the liquid sea iron into a pipe to the side, and the liquid sea iron quickly sank to the bottom.

Seeing this, Kroya took out a magic crystal filled with the magic power of the etheric realm and handed it to the apprentices.

"Go and put these magic crystals into that magic rune array. You should have memorized those runes by now, right?"

"Sir, we've memorized it."

After answering, the apprentices walked to the magic array at the end of the pipe and began to activate the magic array with the magic crystals in their hands.

Strands of blue light emanated from the etheric crystal, gradually coalescing into a water-like substance that gushed forth from the magic rune array, filling the entire conduit.

They also soaked all the liquid sea iron refined by the Kaba beasts in it, which bubbled up with visible bubbles.

After the bubbles were driven out by magic, the liquid sea iron became even purer in color, changing from the azure of the sea to a clearer shade, like the color of the sky.

"Just what I expected." Kroya had been observing the changes in the liquid sea iron and instructed his apprentices to slow down or increase the injection and impact of magic.

This array is actually a magic circle version of ore refining magic.

The liquid magic emanating from the magic runes is used to perform a secondary filtration of the refined ore by the Kaba Beasts, while also eliminating foreign magic.

This was Kroya's first time operating in person, and he didn't yet have a clear understanding of how to control the output of magic power, so he needed to sense and consider it at all times.

Once he finds and records the most suitable magic output intensity, he can hand it over to his apprentices to operate.

The clear blue water, carrying the liquid minerals, was piped from the large pit where the Kaba Beasts were located to the small pool above.

Kroya walked up to the small pond, picked up a piece, examined it, and raised an eyebrow slightly.

This... seems to no longer be able to be called Sea Demon Iron.

The special magic belonging to the etheric realm has completely permeated this liquid ore. Apart from retaining some of the basic properties of sea demon iron, it can be said to be a completely different material.

Most importantly, the magic of these ethereal realms remains active, which means... it can still be mixed with other metals.

"Hmm."

After thinking for a moment, he took out all the minerals that he had found that could be used to make golems and instructed his apprentices: "Try to combine these minerals to make them the most sturdy and have the strongest magical properties."

Don't worry about the materials; any materials will do. If you can produce the right metal, I'll give you a reward.

Since the magic of the etheric realm can now obscure the original magic of ores, let's use it as a base to mix various ores and create an alloy.

Alloys have many advantages. When multiple metal elements are mixed together, they are stronger than a single metal in terms of strength and magic conductivity, and may even produce some amazing reactions.

Some precious alloys are incredibly expensive, and of course he wanted to own his own special alloy.

"yes!"

Several apprentices who had studied alchemy immediately began their research.

They fed the other metals to the Kabamon, and once these liquid metals appeared, they began to mix them with the basic Sea Demon Iron.

During the mixing process, the metals are soaked in a pool of etheric magic to ensure that they do not undergo a rejection reaction under the suppression of the etheric magic.

This is the simplest method for making alloys, and also the most luxurious.

It can be said that the experiment was entirely based on the incredible properties of etheric magic.

That's the magic of the ether realm. Who else could be as extravagant as Kroya, giving his apprentices unlimited amounts of it?

He doesn't lack resources now; what he cares about is the visible benefits he can create from those resources.

He was very much looking forward to seeing what kind of works his apprentices would produce.

Some things are born from a flash of inspiration, such as the mixing ratio, the technique, and a little bit of luck.

……

Soon, alloys of various colors were presented to Kroya.

These alloys are strikingly colorful because the apprentices not only experimented with various minerals but also added different magical materials.

The most outrageous one... even cut his own wrist and dripped his blood into the liquid metal.

"..."

Kroya inspected them one by one, testing their hardness, conductivity, and corrosion resistance.

After testing each one, his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

Sure enough, the materials made from the ethereal magic possessed unique and wondrous properties. Although the vast majority were useless waste, he was very satisfied with just a small portion of usable finished products.

For example, this alloy, made by mixing Sea Demon Iron and Ultra Steel with Astral Crystal Iron, has a cold and hard steel texture, with some starlight shimmering on the surface.

Although it lacks the characteristics of astral crystal iron and its magical conductivity is terrible, making it difficult for even Kroa's magic to flow through, its sturdiness is still a decent property.

Even hitting it with a heavy hammer won't deform it.

It can be used to make armor and weapons for knight apprentices, and due to its extremely poor magic conductivity, it can even be used as a material to isolate magic.

There is also a metal made from aquamarine shards, the blood of the crocodile, sea demon iron, and larimar silver, which has exceptionally good magical conductivity.

When Chloe tried to input magic, the magic flowed through it like it was on an oiled slide, without any loss in the process.

It's a very good material.

Others come in various colors, have excellent elasticity, and some even have a very fragrant aroma...

Kroya instructed the apprentices who produced them to hand over the formulas and name them according to the order of Hanjiao Alloy No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, etc.

The alloy he ultimately chose to make the golem surprised all the apprentices.

He took the unremarkable gray alloy from a short apprentice who was at most fifteen or sixteen years old, and announced:

"I named it the Reef Golem Alloy."

"From now on, we will mainly use this alloy to make golems."

Everyone was puzzled, and the apprentice named Matt was even more bewildered, never expecting to be chosen.

This alloy is the least remarkable among all alloys; its magic conductivity, strength, and ductility are all inferior to those of other alloys.

In comparison, it can be described as utterly unremarkable.

However, some people immediately thought of the reason why Kroya made this choice.

Kroya glanced around and said to Jamie, "You seem to have figured out why I chose this alloy. Tell me."

Jamie nodded and said frankly, "I guess it's because this alloy has the most comprehensive properties; other alloys are too extreme."

"That's right," Kroa praised. "That's why you should remember that the golems we're making now are the most basic ones."

These golems don't need to have any particularly special characteristics, but they must be stable and simple. In the world of magic, simplicity equals stability.

He glanced at the apprentices again: "Of course, it's not that the alloys you make are useless. They can be used to make other things."

Since they've already reached such an extreme, you should think about how to make them even more extreme.

The apprentices weren't fools; they all understood what Kroya meant and nodded thoughtfully.

After instructing his apprentices, he ordered them to begin manufacturing this Reef Golem Alloy. Once enough were produced to make one golem each, he led his apprentices upstairs.

At this moment, on the first floor, the earth thieves had already moved over six long worktables.

The apprentices stood in front of the worktable one by one, with a piece of Reef Golem Alloy and a blueprint in front of each of them.

Those are the individual part drawings.

The golem was meticulously divided into six parts, from its limbs and body to its head, and then assembled after these individual parts were made.

"Let's get started. If anyone finds it a bit difficult, just say so and quit."

At Kroya's command, the apprentices began manufacturing parts with great enthusiasm, while he inspected them during the process, pointing out where they were doing things wrong.

……

Five hours later, the first batch of parts was completed.

Note that this was made by fifty apprentices working together, and they only managed to produce six usable parts in the end. The success rate was actually quite low.

There was nothing they could do about it; after all, they hadn't received any systematic training in magic rune making and had simply memorized everything by rote.

Kroya could turn them into skilled workers who could make golem parts in just five hours, but he couldn't teach them the knowledge contained within the golem runes.

This is a task that will require him to spend a lot of time to complete.

He took the parts up to the second floor and found a few apprentices who were interested in golems to observe how he assembled them.

To let them see clearly how he made it, he deliberately slowed down his movements, showing the magic rune connections between the parts and the drawing of the core magic rune circuit...

The apprentices cherished the opportunity to observe Kroya making golems, and each of them was very careful and attentive.

He slowly pieced the golem's body together. Although the golems sold by the Holy Spring Merchant Guild were humanoid, they were only humanoid.

It looks more like moving armor.

It seems they also know that the more human-like something is, the more terrifying it becomes. If it's realistic to a certain degree, that's fine, but the problem is that being too realistic would greatly increase the cost of building the golem.

"Did you all understand?"

Kroya disassembled and reassembled it three times before finally putting it back together completely.

"My lord, the magic runes here..."

"Its limbs..."

"What did you inlay?"

The apprentices asked all the questions they had accumulated, and Kroya answered and guided them one by one.

After they were all satisfied, Kroya placed the core diamond raspberry into the core of the golem's heart.

Then magic was infused into it.

It immediately stretched out its limbs and stood up, then nimbly jumped off the assembled platform and ran around happily in the empty second floor.

It completely lacks the dullness and stiffness of a newly created golem.

The apprentices stared at each other, wide-eyed.

Kroya's lips twitched involuntarily. Although he had anticipated that there might be some changes after installing Raspberry Pi, he did not expect it to be so excited.

However, it's understandable; it must be very happy to have suddenly transformed from a raspberry into a golem that can run and jump.

So Kroya let it run around freely for a while before waving its hand and saying, "Come here!"

The golem immediately ran over, and although it had no eyes, you could feel a kind of affection for Kroya that resembled filial piety.

"Try moving these materials."

Kroa pointed to the pile of ore to the side, and the golem immediately began to move it, easily lifting a basketful.

Then came the second basket, the third basket, the fourth basket...

Each basket of these ores weighed a standard 100 kilograms, and it wasn't until the tenth basket was being moved that it finally started to break down.

This means its limit is one thousand kilograms, or one ton.

It's pretty good, considering it's just the basic version of the Power Golem.

The next step is to continue producing more golems.

Take advantage of this time to develop your business.

Thank you all for the monthly tickets!

(End of this chapter)