177 Magi-Golem
“A Magi-Golem…I didn’t expect to find one here,” Aife said.
“A golem?” He repeated.
From what he experienced thus far, a ‘golem’ tended to be a creature made out of natural elements, gifted a base level of sentience in order to aid its creator. However, what he saw before him more-so resembled an archaic machine; its body made of finely carved woon and tuned steel, possessing exposed gears that turned.
“Remnants of the ‘Golem King’s’ kingdom. Some still roam the outskirts of Vasmoria, like this one here,” Aife explained briefly.
Again, there was information he wasn’t privy to, finding himself perplexed but curious, though it was hardly the time for further questioning.
A vaguely humanoid shape seemed to be what it was modeled after, though it was over twice the height of the female knight, who was of average stature for a woman her age. Worn on its shoulders was a tattered, verdant cape that flowed down its back.
It looked at the humans with a singular ‘eye’: a glowing, yellow crystal embedded in its head. Something like it seemed too advanced for the medieval world, though with the inclusion of magic, nothing seemed too far-fetched to him.
“I’d suggest stepping back. Allow me to handle this,” Aife stood in front of him with her silver-and-ivory blade held.
“I can handle myself,” he retorted.
“I am aware of your capabilities, however, as a knight, I cannot allow a civilian to be in the range of danger,” Aife said with a serious tone, “You may be an aspiring adventurer, but as of right now, you’re still just a boy.”
“–” Emilio furrowed his eyebrows.
Technically, the knightly woman wasn’t false in her words, though it did perturb Emilio. There wasn’t much of a chance for him to say anything else though as the Magi Golem moved with the sound of gears turning within its shell sounded out before a pale-blue light gathered at the core in its chest. The glowing core was only revealed by wooden panels opening on its torso, revealing the inner mechanisms that were a combined effort of gears, empowered by runs and magic inscriptions.
That’s some high-level stuff…I can’t even imagine creating a golem of this caliber, he thought.
Roan was busy making sure the steed didn’t cut loose and run off, leaving Aife to be the one to act with pinpoint precision as a condensed beam of frosted energy shot forward from the golem’s chest towards the carriage.
“–!”
With her immaculate blade, Aife slashed forward, managing to cut through the release of ice, causing it to split its course as a trail of frost was left on the outskirts of the road.
Ice magic…? I’ve never seen it used before up close, Emilio thought.
Though more than the usage of ice itself, he was more awe-stricken by the feat performed by the once-thought clumsy knight.
She cut through that with just her blade. Is that a special sword or does she have some sort of unique skill? He questioned.
After splitting the beam of concentrated frost, the golden-haired knight of Vasmoria sprinted forward, moving swiftly as the Magi Golem held its hands up, revealing cores in its palms with both sharing a fiery hue.
Like flamethrowers, the golem’s palms exuded streams of fire that aimed towards the knight, though Aife moved nimbly, closing the distance while pivoting around to avoid the heat.
To adjust its aim, the gears of the advanced golem spun around, allowing its wrists to shift to any needed angle in an instant while it spun only its upper-body in a complete three-sixty rotation, chasing the knight with the spewed flames, though they failed to catch the swift woman.
She’s good–really good, Emilio thought.
Melisande watched as well, in awe at Aife’s elegant stride forward as she used swift, precise slashes of her blade to deflect small projectiles of ice that shot from the golem’s opened chest cavity.
At last, she managed to close in, ducking just below a direct stream of fire as it soared mere inches above her illustrious hair, allowing her golden locks to dance behind her back before she spun around, unleashing an array of strikes against the archaid machine’s body.
“That’s a knight…” Melisande remarked.
“Yeah,” he nodded.
It wasn’t just speed; there was formidable strength possessed by the knight as she cut through the reinforced shell of the Magi Golem, managing to damage its internal components as sparks hissed and smoke billowed, causing the golem to stumble back.
Aife slowly exhaled, holding an elegant stance with her blade held up as if claiming victory.
Though this proved to be a fatal error for the youthful knight as she looked up sharply once hearing the distinct ‘hum’ of magical energy gathering in the Magi Golem’s core.
“What…?” Aife mumbled in surprise.
I was sure I split its main core!…Wait! Aife realized.
She saw it up close now: the main, icy core embedded in the golem’s chest was still intact, split down the center but still ‘one piece’ as the dysfunctional gears forced themselves to turn as the medieval machine gathered an immense amount of frost mana from its core.
“–?!”
Aife attempted to move back, but the cold winds emitting from the golem caused frost to form on the ground around it, locking her in place as ice held her pale boots.
“She’s stuck…!” Melisande noticed.
Crap! Emilio thought.
Faced with the problem that couldn’t be solved in the split-second she had left, Aife gritted her teeth, preparing to at least split the core as her last move.
Maybe I can still prevent it from harming the young ones! Aife resolved.
There wasn’t a second thought that came into it; just as the immense concentration of frost was expelled by the element-wielding, rogue golem, the knight found herself saved–
“Born of wind and lord of the skies, Sylph, howl and tear through: Wind Blast!” Melisande invoked.
The propulsion of wind managed to stun the golem for just a second, knocking it off its balance as it adjusted itself by shifting its gear-based joints, but it was enough time as it was halted by a sphere of water that manifested around the tall foe of wood-and-runes.
The result of this ball of water engulfing the golem caused the frost essence pouring from it to freeze the aqua around it, completely petrifying it within seconds.
“Huh…? Magic?” Aife muttered.
As the woman looked behind her, she saw the blonde-haired boy holding his wooden catalyst forward, controlling the prison of water, now turned to frost that held the golem.
“…Phew…I made it in time,” Emilio muttered.
“That was some quick thinking,” Melisande said, impressed.
“Yeah, well, I just got lucky it worked out as intended…” He said.
Moving over, he carefully used a small manifestation of fire to melt the frost around Aife’s boots, setting her free as the knight looked at him, still in surprise that she was saved in that pivotal moment.
Though some level of pride was expected, Emilio and Melisande were taken aback as the ditzy, yet elegant knight knelt in front of the two much younger, lesser-ranked people, placing her gauntlet over her heart.
“I am in your debt, Sir Emilio, Miss Melisande” Aife told them, closing her eyes in respect.
It seemed he made an early, false judgment of the woman; seeing her take to a knee with a warm ray of soft, orange sunlight cascading down on her, causing her blonde hair to shine and her fair skin to gleam, he found himself left speechless.
She was a true knight; paramount of honor, bravery, strength, yet still beautiful and retaining her womanly charm.
I misread her; that ‘clumsiness’ is just a lack of an ego, isn’t it? Despite being a capable knight, she’s able to let her guard down around us. I wonder if that’s truly a good thing, though…? This world isn’t kind enough for that, he thought.
He didn’t know how to respond as he bashfully ruffled his own air, “It’s no problem, really. You would’ve done the same, right? Besides, that was a pretty strong enemy–you just got unlucky. I saw it.”
“Yeah, it was just the normal thing to do,” Melisande said proudly with her hands on her side.
She’s not good at hiding her smugness, Emilio thought.
Aife looked up in surprise at their words, returning to her feet as she smiled at Emilio, “You’re too kind. Seeing your prowess firsthand, I must ask: are you the child of one of the noble families? I ask because such knowledge of magic at your age could only come from rigorous tutelage.”
“No, I just…I just read a lot, really,” he answered, shaking his head with an awkward smile.
Though he was trying to answer humbly, it seemed to have the inverse result as Aife seemed even more shocked at his abilities.
“That’s…truly respectable, Sir Emilio. I am even more sure now that you two will make fabulous adventurers,” Aife smiled.
She’s humble, but the truth is…It really was just a small blunder. If that cut was just a hair deeper, or she didn’t get stuck, she would’ve flawlessly handled it…Talk about bad luck, he thought.
“Is it alright to just leave it there?” Melisande asked, looking at the Magi Golem entrapped in ice.
Aife looked at it, gently tapping her glove against it, “It’ll be fine. The Magi Golem expended all of its energy from its core in that last attack, so not only has it frozen itself quite deeply, it’s going to be powered down for a long time, I’d say. Still, I’ll inform the ‘researchers’ about this one.”
“Sounds good enough for me,” Emilio replied.