After taking over Utsbak, Shagatik indulged himself in the praise and cheer of the people outside, while Aldred was inside the castle with his wives and Bartrem. Tarrar was also there.
"I left you for a few days, and you already took an entire city." Tarrar laughed.
Aldred smiled. "Send the worker golems to mine everything in this region."
"The Lizardfolk's territory is rich with minerals and other natural resources. It was unfortunate they cannot harvest it themselves."
"You mean it was 'fortunate' that they cannot do it themselves?" Aldred asked with a smile.
"Hahaha, indeed. It was fortunate for us. Are you going to keep playing this game until you conquer all the western territory?"
"That's the plan."
"What about the treasure hunt?" Tarrar asked.
Aldred summoned his astrolabe and saw that the red orb spinning in the center shot out a red beam toward the east. "I don't know what challenges lay ahead of me. This is the perfect time to gather resources and more power."
"Should I reduce the number of golems we sell?"
"Preferably yes. And if you can, obtain a few treasures that can help me in the battle, specifically against stronger enemies like Platinum Rank beast."
"I will do that."
"Also send some scouts to other regions in Hofnmoen. See if there is any more territory worth taking over."
Tarrar nodded and entered the portal.
"What are you going to do now, Aldred?" Rachel asked.
"I am going to visit the vault. Wanna come?"
"Sure."
Aldred and his wives entered the castle's vault. Bartrem and soldiers followed them from behind.
The vault was quite huge, and the moment they entered it, they already saw a pile of rare treasures all over the place.
Aldred's feet hit something. He looked down and picked it up. It was a mana crystal with the shape and color of a clear diamond. Activating his godly eyes, he identified that it was an air elemental mana crystal at the Epic Rarity.
He looked around and saw a variety of Rare and even more Epic crystals. He could use this for making new golems or weapons later on.
Aldred put them all inside his divine dimension and continued to look around. He saw some weird things such as dragon bones that exuded a dark aura, and a small unassuming stone that was apparently a chipped part of a powerful sword.
After a few minutes of looking, Aldred saw an orb. Approaching it with curiosity, Aldred grabbed the orb only for it to slip away and floated in the air.
"This is a Golem Master's Essence?" Aldred's eyes lit up and he touched the orb before it turned into a ball of energy. It looked like a red sun, radiating out red light.
It shot into his body, and Aldred felt extreme heat from within. Sweat formed on his forehead, and he gritted his teeth in pain.
Mira quickly swung her spell: "Holy Rejuvenation!"
A soothing, powerful, and yet calm energy entered his body and helped him to bear the pain.
After a few minutes, the pain dissipated.
[You have absorbed 'Golem Master's Essence']
– Increases 30% Speed to all of your golems.
– Increases 30% Durability to all of your golems.
– Golem Creation skill proficiency increases by 50%.
"Nice."
"What was that Aldred?" Mira asked.
"It's a Golem Master's Essence. Absorbing it makes my golem stronger, and my skill in creating golems increases."
"Wow."
"I know right? I didn't expect to find something like this in Lizardfolk territory."
"Are you planning to make a stronger golem?"
"That's the intention." Aldred nodded. "I wanted to use warship-grade materials to make the golems but that is impossible because they are too heavy and require a complex technique."
"Can Dobbs help you?"
"No. He's not a golem master. He's a blacksmith and shipbuilder. It's a different practice. It's like asking a bird to swim or a frog to fly."
Mary looked at Aldred. "So what will you do now?"
"Well, I can use a small part of ship-grade materials, the less complex one, so it would have better materials than its predecessor."
"Are you going to make a new golem now?" Stella asked.
"Yeah, I think I got an idea of what to make."
Aldred opened his palm, and a small portal appeared beside him parallel to the ground. That was when rare materials poured out, making a pile on the ground.
Soon after, Aldred began the construction of his new golem.
With the help of his godly eyes, Aldred would quickly fix any problem that popped up and even fine-tuned any imperfection.
The golems began to take shape, and beautiful blue energy moved around it, like a sea of tiny blue neutron stars, sparkling and twinkling.
It took him hours, but Aldred managed to finish the golem in one single day.
The golem was five meters tall. For comparison, a giraffe was about 5,70 meters.
Aldred took a few steps back and stared at the golem with pride.
"It looks powerful," Mary commented.
"What will you call it?" Mareona asked.
"I will simply call it, Fighter Type 2."
"Such a lame name, but you can do whatever you want, Aldred," Mareona replied. "So what can it do?"
Aldred smiled. "Show your power," he said to the golem.
The 5-meter tall golem raised both of its hands over its back and pulled out the 2-meter tall sword made out of various rare materials. On the cross-guard of the sword, was a shining mana crystal. On the right side was an Epic Ruby crystal, and on the left was an Epic Diamond crystal.
When the golem activated the crystal, the right sword was covered in blazing flame, while the left sword had sharp, vicious winds spinning around it.
The golem swung the swords to the side, and the wall was completely destroyed by the combination of fire and wind.
The golem then shone brighter as a flame and wind created a vortex around its body. It then moved at a high speed and slashed at Aldred.
Aldred raised his Phantom Doomblade and blocked the attack, but he was still thrown a few meters away, feet sliding against the ground.
"Haha, it's powerful indeed."
The golem pointed the right sword at him, and a vortex of flame shot from the sword directly at Aldred.
Aldred absorbed the flame and returned the attack. The golem slashed with its left sword, cutting the flame with a powerful wind attack.
A burst of flame and winds shot out from the golem's feet, increasing its movement speed as it charged toward Aldred like a train.
Aldred and the golem fought for a few minutes. The longer he fought, the more satisfied he became. He couldn't help but think that he could make it even better in the future.
The fighting stopped, and the golem was standing still, like a true warrior, it was ready to fight, whenever Aldred wanted it to.
"Wow!"
Aldred looked to the side and noticed Shagatik approaching him with a bunch of beautiful maids and female guards.
"Aldred, is this your new golem? That thing is so huge and powerful. Are you willing to sell it to me?"
"Sadly, it's not for sale."
"That's too bad. But are you going to use it to conquer Melageid County?"
Melageid County was a vast county located north of here. It was their next target to take over.
Aldred nodded. "I want to test its strength in battle."
