In the end, Li Xiuman was knocked unconscious by knowledge, just as he had wished.
By the time he woke up, it was already dark outside.
Without a word, he picked up the book and continued reading hungrily.
The skeleton claimed in his defense that he was not normally like this. This was all a side effect of the skill upgrading. It was the same way back when [Magic Analysis] had leveled up. Or perhaps the skeleton simply enjoyed the feeling of being ravished by knowledge.
The poor skeleton was played like a fiddle by knowledge. Therefore, cherish life and stay away from knowledge. If you touch even a shred of knowledge, your life will be ruined.
Having memorized the entire book, Li Xiuman's mind was now filled with the appearances and identification methods of various rocks, dirt, and ores, as well as their corresponding rapid Golem-crafting techniques.
He had benefited immensely.
Li Xiuman took out the other book, Make a Golem in Three Seconds.
This one operated on completely different principles from the first. This book focused entirely on finding ways to streamline the crafting process of a Golem, training one's hand speed, and sacrificing the Quality of the Golem. But it was much better suited for ordinary people.
The ingenious streamlining techniques inside made Li Xiuman's eyes light up. Quick to discard the old for the new, Li Xiuman immediately set Combat Techniques of Golems aside and opened Make a Golem in Three Seconds, diving into it in earnest.
By combining these two books, they would both become his wings.
Three seconds.
Heh.
He could go even faster!
Three seconds was the limit for ordinary people, not for him.
Li Xiuman read and experimented at the same time, honing his hand speed and technique until he reached absolute mastery.
Dawn arrived once more.
Sleep? He didn't need it.
Acquiring knowledge was his best form of sleep.
...
Setting the book down, Number Zero stepped forward obediently and began carefully tidying up the cluttered desk. With its bulky frame, it used its massive stone fingers to clean with extreme care, a sight that looked rather comical.
“Has it already gained a rudimentary intelligence?”
Li Xiuman looked at Number Zero and pondered.
He decided to test it further.
“Number Zero.”
“What does two plus two equal?”
Number Zero paused its actions. It glanced at Li Xiuman, then looked down at its fingers, of which there were only three.
Then, it raised its head again, tilted it, and looked back at Li Xiuman.
He saw it. Deep in the depths of Number Zero's eye sockets, Li Xiuman saw a spark called intelligence.
Number Zero's "processor" was running at full speed.
Then...
It raised one hand and did its best to stretch out its only three fingers. One could feel that Number Zero was straining with all its might, causing its three stone fingers to tremble slightly.
However, Number Zero did not understand that no matter how hard it tried, it could not make three fingers become four.
Number Zero lowered its hand and stared at its three fingers, motionless.
Then, it held out both hands.
Out of its six fingers in total, it folded two and held up four.
It had evolved!
Li Xiuman looked at Number Zero, his eyes filled with gratification. A skeleton was actually expressing a gaze like a proud father from his flaming eye sockets.
Then, this twisted father figure continued speaking.
“Good job, Number Zero.”
“Now, listen to the next question.”
“What does three plus four equal?”
Number Zero hastily held out both hands and strained to stretch out all six of its fingers. It stared at its six fingers, fully extended.
“Ah, it's still a bit silly after all.”
Li Xiuman shook his head and left the basement, leaving a hard-thinking Number Zero behind.
Although letting knowledge flood his mind was a highly pleasurable experience, and the sensation of being slowly filled to the brim with knowledge was something he could never get enough of, the feeling eventually subsided once the influence of the skill upgrade wore off. Without the stimulation of the skill, the pleasure gradually faded.
That irresistible sensation turned somewhat tasteless.
This was probably the legendary Sage Mode.
Possessing the clarity of Sage Mode, Li Xiuman stopped reading and decided to go outside for a breath of fresh air.
Arriving in the yard, he saw Rorona wearing a large straw hat, busy at work. He had expanded the boundaries of the fence and yard, using a hoe to cultivate a small plot of land.
It seemed this vampire's learning capability was at least one ten-thousandth of his own. From not even knowing how to clean at the beginning to being able to till a field now, he had come a long way.
“Master, you're out!”
Seeing Li Xiuman, he looked up, waved, and greeted him.
“Yes.”
Li Xiuman's gaze swept over the plot of land.
“What are you doing?”
“Master, you mentioned before that the yard could be expanded. Since there's no one else around, I thought about setting up a flowerbed and a field to plant some flowers, plants, and crops.”
Quite diligent.
If this continued, Tedela's position as the number-one tool in his heart would be usurped.
“Yes, that's not bad.”
Scanning the yard, Li Xiuman imagined this desolate space filled with blooming flowers; it actually didn't seem half bad. Though it wasn't exactly the kind of thought a skeleton should have.
Li Xiuman then walked to a more desolate area behind the house. He intended to test the Golem techniques he had been practicing these past few days in actual practice.
There was plenty of dirt and stone here for him to mess around with.
First, Li Xiuman planned to create a few enemies.
Using Earth Magic, Li Xiuman located a decent quality rock deep underground.
“The quality of this rock should make for a decent Golem.”
Li Xiuman gripped his wand, pointing it at the rock.
“Awake, Golem.”
An earth-colored magic circle expanded over the rock.
Following that, cracking sounds echoed from the rock as it squirmed bit by bit, soon transforming into a bulky Golem.
Its left arm possessed a heavy rock shield, while its right arm gripped a blunt greatsword. It looked exactly like a Heavy Warrior.
[Name] Golem Li
[Level] Lv 15
[Class] Heavy Armor Golem
[Skills] Great Strength Lv 2, Hard Rock Lv 2, Resilience Lv 2, Close Combat Lv 1, Elemental Resistance Lv 1
[Status] Decaying (Can probably last for another 2 hours)
[Description] A Heavy Armor Golem created by the Mage Xiuman Pound Li. A temporary warrior that sacrificed longevity in exchange for a boost in strength. Stalling is likely an effective tactic to deal with this Golem.
Li Xiuman could only bestow skills that he himself possessed upon the Golems he created. Furthermore, the more skills he bestowed, the more mana it consumed.
His experimental subject, Number Zero, for instance, had ultimately cost him not only two magic steel ingots but also 500 EXP to fully empower. Number Zero was the peak of his current capabilities; a temporary throwaway like the one before him was not even in the same league.
Next, Li Xiuman unearthed five more decent-looking rocks from underground and spent his mana to craft them one by one.
One [Swordsman Golem], two [Elementalist Golems], and one [Healer Golem].
There was also one new [Heavy Armor Golem].
The [Healer Golem] was merely a Golem that possessed Li Xiuman's modified [Earth Magic], as Li Xiuman lacked any actual healing skills. As such, the [Healer Golem] could only temporarily repair damaged Golems.
Rate on N.U.
