"Wait, Aldred. We need to discuss more details of what you wanted us to make."
Aldred halted his step and turned around. "In that case, let's talk elsewhere." He closed the portal.
They then took a walk to a private room where Aldred explained what he wanted. He did not really explain it in detail, but it was enough to give them an image. Aldred did not want to limit their creativity.
After a few hours of talking, both Grigradd and Dobbs left the room.
Aldred took a sip of his hot cup of coffee. He enjoyed it very much, but he needed something to wash it down first. He poured some wine for himself, drank it and sighed as it refreshed his body. He sighed again as he thought about Grigradd's contraption.
"I am glad he accepted my offer," Aldred said to himself as he walked out of his room and into the lab where Grigradd and Dobbs were working together. "You two nerds got along quickly, huh."
The two men stared at each other as they worked on their project, looking for flaws and fixing them.
Dobbs had made a golem that could fly, but it was hard to control because of its heavy weight and awkward shape. Grigradd had suggested that it should be made lighter, but it required more mana to be used.
As they worked on their project, Aldred felt that he could see a glimpse of a new invention in Grigradd's eyes. "This guy is not an ordinary inventor." Aldred thought to himself. "He is going to do something big."
Unlike Dobbs, Grigradd did not have a divine blessing. But his inventive mind made him a valuable employee.
Aldred didn't really mind whether it was good or bad, he just wanted to see his contraption flying in the skies above. "I must make sure to give him all the necessary materials."
Failure is after all a part of the journey to success.
He walked into a storeroom in his lab and saw a wooden crate. Inside the crate were all kinds of rare materials that Tarrar had sent for Dobbs. He might have to contact Tarrar again to send more materials.
He must be annoyed by all the workloads he had to carry.
Aldred chuckled to himself as he picked up the crate and walked back into the main lab, carrying it with him. He handed the crate to Grigradd and watched as the inventor opened the box and stared at the crystals and other materials in it.
He stared at the runes for a few minutes, before he finally understood what it was for. "All of these are rare materials, and could cost a fortune to obtain. This will help with my research." Grigradd nodded in understanding and nodded at Aldred who nodded back at him as he was about to leave.
"I hope you make a good invention." Aldred left them alone as Grigradd began to work on the golem once again.
"I must be patient and wait until the time comes." Aldred whispered to himself as he left the room with his hot coffee.
***
After a few weeks of hard work, Grigradd finally made something new and useful that caught everyone's attention. It was a golem which looked like a dragonborn made out of wood.
It stood tall like a proud dragon warrior with scales, powerful legs, and arms. It was also slender and looked agile. No one would have thought that this golem was designed to fly.
"Wings would make it an easier target to hit," Grigradd said. "This golem is small and slender. It can move in the sky at a high speed. Good luck trying to hit it. It's also very powerful, so you can fit it with short range weapon or long range weapon of any kind."
It was still a prototype however. The real golem would be made out of powerful material.
They were so impressed by his contraption that they asked him to demonstrate it to them, so he did. The golem's eyes lit up and it leaped into the sky. Moving left and right, up and down before executing barrel roll, rudder roll, and aileron roll.
After a few minutes, it came back on the ship.
As they stared at the contraption, Grigradd spoke. "The name of this new invention is Phantom Sky."
"It is named after Aldred's sword." Grigradd smiled and pointed his sword to the contraption. "But I think it's a fitting name because of its speed in the sky it might as well be a phantom."
"I am thinking of fitting one weapon for the golem. We can add two weapons, but that would add to the weight." Grigradd.
Aldred crossed his arms and smiled. "I like this. And this is only the prototype right?"
"That is correct. The real golem would be much faster than this," Dobbs replied. Both he and Grigradd made this together so he understood the golem as his own creation.
"Incredible!" Aldred exclaimed.
The crowd applauded and cheered at this moment, which made Grigradd proud and happy to see everyone happy for him. "Thank you, everyone!" Grigradd laughed. "It feels great!"
He was glad that he accepted the offer. In this ship, he had total freedom. He could work whenever he wanted and however he wanted. Also, his every needs were fulfilled be it materials, food, or entertainment.
Aldred and Dobbs were watching from afar. "What do you think?" Aldred asked Dobbs.
Dobbs was smiling as he stared at Grigradd's Phantom Sky. "It can be said to be one of the best things I have ever created. Well, I can't really take the credit myself. Grigradd is the one who makes this possible." He said after a while.
"So, I can finally have a proper flying golem army!" Aldred said. "It also looks cool without wings. Grigradd is a fantastic designer."
"Are you going to use the most expensive materials you can find?" Dobbs asked.
"Of course." Aldred answered with a smile. "As long as the supply is sufficient, I want my golems to be the best they can be."
Aldred opened a portal to his divine dimension and poured in more materials for Grigradd and Dobbs to use. They both were not surprised by this, because they had known Aldred's spending for improving his golem.
"How do you have all the money to buy all these?" Grigradd asked.
Aldred smiled. "I owned the golem company."
Grigradd's eyes widened. "So it's you! No wonder. That company might be in the top 200 wealthiest companies on this continent."
Dobbs looked at the treasures piling up on the deck. "This is why I like working with you. My past employer is very stingy with his damned materials."
"I can relate." Grigradd laughed.
Dobbs turned his head towards Aldred and whispered to him. "I must admit, I was wrong about Grigradd. I thought that he would be an annoying person, but now I can see that he is much better than that."
Aldred nodded his head as he watched Grigradd fly around with the dragon wings attached to him. Aldred had given him the dragon wings pill to make it easier for him to move around.
"Yes, you are right about that." Aldred said to himself as he thought about Grigradd's inventions and what they will be able to do in this world. "I gave him a fantastic work environment, and he gave me his brilliant invention. I would say it's a good deal." Aldred laughed softly to himself as he watched the two nerds working together as they checked the golem for any mishap.
"He is good at making golems, but he is better when it comes to inventing." He added on as he was looking forward to seeing what kind of inventions will be made by the two nerds in the future.
They continued to work on their projects. Tweaking some imperfections here and there. Then, they continued to test the golems for a few days.
At the same time, Aldred continued to search for Avre Heartdancer, but Krista told him that she was still far away, so it would take a while.
***
Grigradd and Dobbs finished their projects, and they both stared at them with amazement. They were both very excited about what they had built together and what they could do with them.
Dobbs walked up to Grigradd who was still looking at the contraption he made and looked down at him. "That looks great."
Grigradd's ears twitched in excitement as he looked at Dobbs with a smile on his face. "Yes, it does."
Dobbs grinned as he patted Grigradd's shoulder, then walked away from him and stared at his own contraption again.
Grigradd turned around and followed Dobbs, who was staring at his creation with pride as well. He stared at it for a few minutes before he finally got an idea in his head. He took out his sword from its scabbard and put it on the ground in front of him as he sat down on the ground next to it, closed his eyes and put his hands together in front of him with his fingers spread apart like a bird's claws, and started to hum a soft melody.
The crystal on the wooden crate began to glow as if it had been lit with fire as a bright flash of light came out of the crystal. And then, as if moved by an invisible force, the crystal embedded itself onto the chest of the golem.
Phantom Sky was finished. And it was ready to take on the sky.
