After harvesting the vegetables growing on a patch of land transformed by Grem, Sensei led the group back while Maruxiel began teaching Bai Mo how to summon a Golem using this very soil.
"The hardest part of summoning and controlling a golem lies in crafting the core!"
"As long as the core engraved with magical runes is buried into the soil, the golem can be successfully summoned!" Maruxiel explained while showing Bai Mo a core she had gotten from Sensei.
"There are various kinds of cores, but they all need materials with high magical affinity!"
"For example, the one Sensei just dug up is carved from oak that's over a hundred years old. The runes on it… if I'm not mistaken, they're probably inscribed using mithril or a similar material."
"This one alone is worth more than a hundred gold coins!"
"But of course, for someone like you, that's just a drop in the ocean."
After finishing her explanation about the golem's core, Maruxiel pointed at a pile of soil and said, "The dirt itself isn't too important—you can use almost anything!"
"Like I said, 99% of the golem's body is made from soil, but the remaining 1%..."
Maruxiel hesitated before continuing, "…requires human remains. Cremated human ashes, to be precise."
"For a golem that's about four meters tall and weighs between eight to ten tons, you'd need about 8 to 10 kilograms of bone ash."
Bai Mo completed her sentence: "And a fully cremated adult male produces around 2.5 kilograms of ash."
"So, to craft a single golem, you'd need the remains of at least four people."
Maruxiel nodded in agreement. "Exactly."
Stroking his chin thoughtfully, Bai Mo asked, "If it's just bone ash… could we use monster bones instead?"
"What about skeleton soldiers or zombies?"
Maruxiel seemed intrigued. "That's an unexplored option… but it might be worth trying."
After all, magic was fundamentally the pursuit of the unknown.
After informing Leos, Sensei, and Zilchak, Bai Mo and Maruxiel went out to hunt down some skeleton soldiers and zombies. Naturally, such minor undead creatures were no match for Bai Mo. After defeating them, he stored their bodies directly into his spatial storage, saving the trouble of carrying them back manually.
Once they returned to Sensei's garden, Maruxiel used fire magic to incinerate the corpses into ash. Then Bai Mo took out about ten tons of rich black soil from his Gourmet World and mixed it with the ashes.
Following Maruxiel's instructions, Bai Mo began shaping the body, limbs, and head of the golem with the mixture.
As for the golem's core, Maruxiel had assumed they wouldn't be able to find the necessary materials in the dungeon. However, Bai Mo simply pulled out a heartwood chunk from a seven-hundred-year-old oak tree.
Although he didn't have mithril, Maruxiel accepted something similar: moonstone.
She scraped some powder from the moonstone, mixed it with blood from serpent-tailed chickens they had encountered earlier, and began inscribing magical runes onto the wooden core.
"Magical inscription is something you'll need to practice," she explained. "Once that's done, you'll need to inject your own magic into the core. That part's up to you."
Bai Mo took the core and began channeling his earth-elemental power into it. Once it began glowing faintly, Maruxiel called out, "That's enough—the energy inside the core is sufficient. Now all that's left is to bury it and start the summoning ritual!"
Following her instructions, Bai Mo embedded the core into the golem's head and began chanting the summoning incantation Maruxiel had taught him:
"Earth as bone, drizzle as soul, under the witness of heaven and earth, shape the golem—stand tall, fight for me!"
With the invocation of elemental energy, the pile of soil began to shift. The limbs he had formed began to tremble slightly, and within a few minutes, a four-meter-tall black-soil golem stood proudly before him.
"Amazing!" Leos exclaimed, full of excitement. "Maruxiel, teach me too, please!"
"Ahem, I usually don't like magic, but summoning golems seems kinda cool… teach me too if you can," Sensei added, betraying his usual stance.
Zilchak rolled his eyes at the two of them. "Seriously, you guys switch sides too easily."
Bai Mo looked at the golem with satisfaction. A helper like this, summoned with just a bit of mana and some bone ash, was incredibly useful.
Unfortunately, their attempt to use beast-type monster bones for another golem failed. Still, that didn't dampen Bai Mo's enthusiasm.
So what if it had to be human-type bones? He'd just have to work a little harder.
After all, the world wasn't exactly short on scum and criminals.
After witnessing the summoning, Sensei also dismissed his three golems—Taro, Jiro, and Saburo—for now.
With Bai Mo's spatial storage available, all the vegetables and ingredients Sensei had collected were safely stored away.
They were about to descend deeper into the dungeon, and this might be their last batch of fresh produce for a while.
After a simple meal of boiled cabbage and vegetable salad, the group continued toward the fourth level.
But even if they didn't go looking for trouble, trouble often found them.
Just as they advanced, they encountered an unexpected group—beastmen.
Maruxiel and Leos instinctively drew their weapons, but Sensei raised a hand in surprise.
"Zong? What are you doing here?"
Beastman tribes usually lived on the fifth level of the dungeon. Encountering them here on the third floor meant something serious must've happened.
"Oh, Sensei! What a coincidence running into you here. These people with you are your companions?"
Maruxiel tugged Bai Mo's sleeve, gesturing subtly.
He followed her gaze and noticed that the beastmen were carrying fresh equipment and supplies—still stained with blood.
It looked like they had just looted another group of adventurers.
Sensei also noticed and turned to the beastman leader.
"Zong, what's going on? What about your tribe in the fifth level?"
"A red dragon suddenly took over the area around our settlement. We had no choice but to flee and relocate to the third floor."
"A red dragon?" Leos and Maruxiel exchanged shocked glances. "Where exactly is it?"
"Hmph! Human brat. I'll let your rude questions slide since you're with Sensei. But don't think you can just pry into our affairs."
The beastman leader scanned their group, then added, "Since we've met… I'm sorry, but for the sake of my tribe, I'll need you to hand over all your gear and supplies."
"Zong!"
"Sorry, Sensei. I'm the chief now. I have to do what's best for my people."
Watching the beastmen draw their weapons, Bai Mo raised an eyebrow.
"So in the end… we're fighting after all, huh?"
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T/N:
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