Water Magician

Chapter 32: Golem Nest

The two walked along the wall.

After walking for about two hours, the wall gradually became lower.

“The wall is getting lower little by little but it still seems impossible to climb.”

“It’s difficult. Perhaps it will work out if we don’t rush and keep going like this.”

The height of the wall was getting as low as 30 meters, but it still seemed difficult to climb.

(It feels as if the wall was gouged out by a huge laser. Maybe a Light-Attribute Magician can use that kind of magic.)

No one answered the question that was raised in his head.

But even if he did voice it out, no one would be able to answer it either.

After walking for about another hour, the wall suddenly ended.

“Is the wall finally over?”

“So the other side of the wall was not a forest, but grasslands.”

As Ryo commented, the grasslands spread out as far as the eye could see, apart from some rock masses that were about a meter high.

It was a significant change, given that they had been walking through a dense forest until they hit the wall.

“The outlook is good, but … well, it doesn’t matter either way. We have no choice but to head north anyway.”

“Then, let’s go.”

It was around the time after they set foot in the grasslands and walked for about 30 minutes.

Kakin

Abel, the vanguard, pulled out his sword, swung it, and slashed something that had flown over.

“…… Stone?”

Abel murmured.

With that as the trigger, thumb-sized stones flew toward Abel from the front.

He avoided them or knocked them down with a sword and squinted forward.

He saw it firing a rock from about two meters away.

“<Ice Wall>”

A wall of ice created by Ryo formed in front of Abel.

Abel, who no longer had to worry about the stones due to the Ice Wall, looked even more intently.

“Ryo, this is bad. We seemed to have entered a Rock Golem nest.”

“Golems have nests?”

Ryo, the rearguard, ran up to Abel.

“Adventurers call the place where golems appear in large numbers, 『Nest』. Apparently, that is the case here. It’s my first time experiencing it too.”

Even with knowledge of it, there were times when it didn’t help.

“That rock-like thing is a Rock Golem?”

“Yeah, that’s it.”

“I thought that golems would have hands and feet more like humans …”

Ryo’s knowledge came from Earth.

Even though there was no historical fact that there were golems on Earth.

A 『golem』 is a moving mud doll that originally appeared in Jewish folklore.

Well, housing a soul in the soil and moving it or making it from a person, they remained in myths and folklore all over the world, so perhaps there used to be golems on Earth …

“Oh, those that are moved via alchemy have that shape. I’ve heard that there is a country in the west that has a golem squad. But, naturally occurring golems have various shapes … I guess the golems here formed from those rocks.”

As soon as Abel said that, he turned around and slashed with his sword.

Kakin.

Golems were firing stones behind too.

“<Ice Wall>”

Ryo created an Ice Wall behind as well.

“Now that I think about it, there were such rocks in the place where we passed by. Did they wake up?”

“A pincer attack after leading us in? Lumps of soil shouldn’t use their heads that much.”

“Is it possible to defeat golems with a sword?”

Incidentally, Ryo had no knowledge at all on them because the golem-type monsters were not listed in 『Monster’s Encyclopedia: Beginner’s Edition』.

“I won’t know until I try it.”

“I guess.”

“Well, this may be a good experience. I’m attacking the one nearby. Ryo can stay here.”

After saying that, Abel went out from between the front and back Ice Walls and ran towards the Rock Golem which was approaching from the front to the right.

Yes, the Rock Golem had the appearance of a 『rock』, but it was getting closer and closer.

(Since it is a rock, it probably can’t be cut with a normal Water Jet. Abrasive Jet likely can cut it … but it doesn’t feel like it will cut in an instant … I’ll try it later.)

While Ryo was thinking about that, Abel slashed into one of the Rock Golems.

“Combat Art: Perfect Pierce”

As he approached, he activated the combat art and thrust with his sword.

Zaku

Abel’s partner, his magic sword, coupled with the effects of the combat art, pierced the Rock Golem’s body.

He pierced it and mowed it down sideways.

Ordinary creatures would die from that but … the golem was already repairing the location where it was cut.

“Damn”

Abel kicked the golem that was restoring itself with his foot before heading back to the Ice Wall.

He did so to earn some time before it could fire the stones.

Getting shot from behind while running would be difficult to dodge.

Perhaps the golem couldn’t shoot stones while it was toppled over as Abel was able to safely return to the Ice Wall.

“It doesn’t work, they can repair themselves.”

“Yeah, I saw it. The golems current moving, including the one Abel attacked, are seven in front and five behind.”

“Twelve in total huh … the prospect of escaping is a bit slim.”

“Yeah, it’s impossible to escape. Hmm~ there is an attack I want to try … can I try it?”

Ryo said and looked up at the sky.

“Either way, I am out of means. I’ll leave it to you.”

“Then. <Ice Wall 10 layers>”

Upon Ryo’s chant, Ice Walls formed 『parallel to the ground』 40 meters above the golems.

And then, they fell.

Accompanied by a roaring sound, the soil and grass were blown up many meters.

Ryo and Abel weren’t hurt because they had a defensive ice wall, but the place where the Ice Wall 10 layers fell was terrible.

Of course, the Rock Golems that the walls of ice fell on … there were no fragments of them left.

It seemed to have crushed two golems.

“Weapons that rely on mass are scary.”

Yes, what Ryo did was nothing special.

He just created Ice Walls in the sky and dropped them.

He used 10 layers because he imagined that 10 layers would be heavier…

The Icicle Lances from the sky and this new attempt, it seemed that Ryo may have a liking toward dropping things.

Ryo was content with the result but Abel remained stunned and couldn’t move.

It took about 5 seconds for him to move once again.

“Ry-Ryo … What was that just now?”

“See, this Ice Wall in front of us, I just created it in the sky and dropped it. It’s extremely simple but it worked.”

Ryo smiled broadly to reassure Abel.

Even though the weapon utilizing mass produced an effect that was stronger than expected … Ryo thought that it would be cooler to show that everything was as expected.

“It seems that I killed two of them but I guess I can kill the others in the same way too.”

After saying that, Ryo generated Ice Wall 10 layers in the sky one after another, dropped them, and pressed them against the ground.

Ryo noticed.

Only the Rock Golem that Abel kicked down had stopped moving since then.

“Abel, I’ve defeated 11 for the time being.”

“11? Hn? But there were 12?”

“Yeah, the one that Abel kicked down first had stopped moving.”

Ryo said and pointed to the golem that Abel kicked down.

“Yeah … it certainly isn’t moving.”

After dispelling the defensive Ice Wall, the two of them approached the toppled golem.

Abel touched the golem with the tip of his sword but there was no reaction at all.

“Why did it stop moving…?”

“Maybe it stopped working due to Abel’s terrific kicking technique. Abel should stop being a swordsman and become a grappler!”

“What is a grappler? In any case, it wasn’t such a great kick.”

Abel’s kick was more of a knock-down kick rather than a damaging kick.

It was a push with the sole of his foot … almost like a professional wrestling kick.

Against a human opponent, just kicking the solar plexus would deal damage, but such a kick would not deal any damage to a golem made of stone.

“Perhaps …”

Ryo crouched down and carefully examined the lower part of the Rock Golem, which was originally in contact with the ground.

He was hypothesizing if the golem was supplied with some sort of energy from the ground and could only receive it with the lower part of the golem.

The source of that suspicion was the non-contact smartphone charging technology.

He remembered wondering on Earth if he installed that technology on the floor or the walls of his house, he wouldn’t need a power outlet for home appliances … when he saw the golem that turned over and stopped moving, his mind went to that.

On the golem … there was certainly something.

“Abel, look at this.”

Ryo showed Abel the spot.

“Is that … a magic stone?”

A small glimpse of a yellow magic stone was visible from the part where the golem was originally in contact with the ground.

“Should we dig it out of the golem?”

“Yeah. But a Rock Golem is tough. My combat art Perfect Pierce could do it but …”

“It’s okay, it will take some time but there is a spell that is just right for this in Water-Attribute Magic. <Abrasive Jet>”

A spell that he thought wouldn’t be useful for defeating Rock Golems, but would be just right for dismantling, even if it took some time.

Since he didn’t know how big the buried magic stone was, he carefully scraped off the surrounding rock.

After about 10 minutes, he succeeded in retrieving the magic stone.

It was a palm-sized yellow magic stone.

“This is … pretty big.”

It was a shocking magic stone even for Abel, who had defeated countless monsters and gathered countless magic stones.

The value of a magic stone was determined by its size, color, and shade.

The larger the size, the greater the value. Generally, stronger monsters have larger magic stones.

The colors had their corresponding magical attribute. Red for fire, blue for water.

And the shade depends, in general, on how long the monster lived since it was born, the duration, and its experience. The more experience it has, the darker it becomes, and the darker it is, the higher the value.

“The size is perfect. The color is yellow, so it has Earth Attribute. Its shade is also surprisingly dark. It probably defeated the monsters that intruded here for a long time.”

Abel said while looking at the golem’s magic stone.

“Ooo, so this is the loot for this battle. Abel should carry it.”

“Me?”

“Yes, since my clothes don’t have pockets.”

“O-oh.”