Terror spread through the rest of the group, but not through Gilgamesh. He first commanded his Clay Sentry to meet the Boulder Ape head-on with free reign to wield its Feature, then shouted out at the pawns.

  “If you run, you will be killed by the monsters in the forest! Focus on the fight in front of you if you want to live!”

  Those words were enough to prevent a rout, but the situation still seemed dire. While his Clay Sentry managed to keep the wild golem at bay, that was all it could do. Attacking did more damage to its own mace-shaped hands than it did to the Boulder Ape’s durable body, and its heavy limbs mauled away the sentry’s clay body with relative ease. His golem was losing.

  [ Clay Sentry ]

  Mana Capacity: 26/250

  Gilgamesh ordered Clay Sentry to stop using its ineffectual Partial Morphing and assessed the stone golem’s design. But he found nothing encouraging. Both its torso and limbs were bulky with no obvious weakpoints, not even narrow joints. And if it was anything like his clay golem, the core would be located in the most protected point, the center of its torso.

  Just as he considered using the others as scapegoats to escape with his golem, Gilgamesh sensed something. A connection, the same kind he felt when he first held the Clay Sentry core. But this one led to the wild Boulder Ape.

  Gilgamesh attempted to form that connection without hesitation, but something resisted his attempts. Gilgamesh was not dissuaded. It only resisted, not prevented. He could feel an opening.

  “Distract it! I can defeat it.” Gilgamesh shouted, though he saw none of them move into action. “Do you think you can run from that if my golem falls?”

  Tentatively, the pawns took action. Most threw rocks and sticks they picked off the ground. Some were bolder and ran close enough in brief intervals to draw its attention. And while they put their lives on the line, Gilgamesh honed his focus.

  It was a struggle, but gradually he pushed forward. Pushed closer to control. Just as he got within reach, the Boulder Ape went berserk.

  With a reckless maul, it barreled past the Clay Sentry with no regard for its own protection. The trident warrior was trampled in his unfortunately timed distraction, as the golem charged straight towards Gilgamesh.

  Gilgamesh acted quickly. He controlled his Clay Sentry to grab hold of the Boulder Ape's leg, causing the ten-ton giant to crash to the ground with such force he felt the tremors beneath his feet.

  But still it aimed for Gilgamesh, and cared for nothing else. Gilgamesh maintained his control of the sentry to grapple it down. The stone golem was strong, but it had no intelligence. It merely continued to mindlessly drag itself closer towards him.

  Eventually, it would reach him but before that could happen, Gilgamesh would usurp control. He refocused his mind on the thin trace of a connection, and a spear impaled him low through the back.

  “T-this is your fault…” Coward muttered with his scarred face, wrapped in more fear than hatred.

  But Gilgamesh did not hear him. Red Light flared out from him like lightning that had escaped from a sealed jar, and it brought with it indescribable pain.

  The Boulder Ape ceased its relentless pursuit immediately and returned to fighting the Clay Sentry, which had itself returned to an autonomous mode.

  Coward fell back in fear at the sight of Gilgamesh wrapped in ominous red lightning with frightening howls of torment, but the bandages started to repair themselves and the Red Light began to subside. Gilgamesh collapsed to his knees as his golem body repaired itself and consciousness returned to his hazy red eyes.

  Coward flinched, then mustered enough resolve to snatch the badge hanging from Gilgamesh’s belt, and made a run for it. Gilgamesh tried to reach for the trident in front of him through gritted teeth, but another small lingering flicker of Red Light paralyzed his movements.

  However, the pierced bandages finished repairing themselves and the Red Light faded away. Coward nearly crossed past a large tree, which would have signalled the turn for his escape, but a trident impaled him from behind.

  The few other surviving members of the group fled as well, but Gilgamesh ignored them. His sharp focus fixated on nothing but the stone golem, as it impaled the Clay Sentry through the chest and broke its core with a clench of its fist.

  Once again, it set its sights on Gilgamesh as the closest enemy, but Gilgamesh did not cower. He raised his hand with an air of tyranny as desire and resolve seemed to swell within him without end.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  The Boulder Ape hurled a mauling fist which surely would have splattered him over the forest, but it stopped just short of landing. And Gilgamesh settled his eyes.

  Gilgamesh glanced at the shattered core of his Clay Sentry, its earthen remains dispersing in the wind, and walked over to retrieve his badge from the coward.

  Annoyance simmered within Gilgamesh. He never would have been caught off guard by this worthless amateur had he not needed to devote so much of his concentration to bringing the Boulder Ape under his control.

  On that note, his thoughts drifted to the ambush. The injury itself had caused no pain nor any true wound to his golem body, but that ominous Red Light had crippled him.

  “This is the third time now. No, the fourth. It struck Ate back then too.” Gilgamesh mused. “Is that light a force within the world, or is it controlled by something? The Tower itself? Whatever it is, it is grander than gods. So why does it afflict me…?”

  On that line of thought, another mystery arose. Gilgamesh stared at the bandages wrapped around his hand. Before the Tower, they were merely a small measure to reduce the pain of leprosy. But, just as he had, they seemed to have undergone a more profound change with his entry into the Tower.

  “...if the Red Light is above gods, then how is it suppressed by mere bandages?” Gilgamesh’s thoughts lingered on the question, but there was nothing he could glean from them now. And he had other priorities.

  Next, he went over to the Archer Woman’s grisly remains. It was a shame that she had died. She was the only one he had deemed truly useful and who he felt could quickly improve as she gained experience in combat. But that didn't matter now.

  Gilgamesh collected her badge, but a single attempt showed that the transfer of souls between two badges wasn’t possible. He pocketed her badge anyway, then inspected the information of his new golem.

  [ Boulder Ape - Golem (Low Grade) ]

  Attributes:

  Strength - 60

  Agility - 30

  Vitality - 25

  Perception - 10

  Force - 0

  Spirit - 15

  Control - 10

  Willpower - 0

  Material: Granite (low grade)

  Mana Capacity: 22/150

  Consumption: 10 motes per minute

  Recovery: 5 motes per minute

  [ Granite (low grade) ]

  'A low grade stone that is resilient and durable for its weight.'

  “Low Grade material. No wonder it held up so well against the Clay Sentry. Though it has no Feature, it's Attributes are better suited for brute combat. 60 Strength is a huge threat to even most Magi. But..." Gilgamesh eyed the details of its mana.

  "10 motes per minute? Why is it so much higher than the Clay Sentry? Is it because it is made of Low Grade material?" Gilgamesh wondered. "Recovery is half its Consumption. Is that because it's Spirit is less than 25?"

  Gilgamesh felt his severe lack of knowledge concerning golems, and he deeply desired to fix that flaw. However, there was no such knowledge to be obtained in the forest. And his new golem was steadily losing mana every moment he spent in contemplation.

  [ Boulder Ape ]

  Mana Capacity: 21/150

  "Even at its full capacity, it can only remain active for 30 mins. Just 4 minutes of that left now. I need to hurry."

  "Hold you hand out low with your palm facing up." He ordered the Boulder Ape so that he could climb on. But the Boulder Ape did not move.

  "Move one step forward."

  Boulder Ape did as ordered.

  "...Can it not follow plans as complex as the Clay Sentry?" Gilgamesh wondered. But he had no time to test his new golem's limits.

  Gilgamesh climbed onto the golem's shoulder and commanded it to rush back towards the outpost. Once he got close, he checked his surroundings for anyone nearby. Then he made his golem break down to just the core, and stored it within his cloth pouch as he ran towards the gate.

  Gilgamesh exaggerated his movements and put on an expression as though he were fatigued and just barely stricken with fear. Like this, he ran past the Heroes who loited inside near the entrance and continued on until he was deep within the outpost and out of the common view. He held for a few moments as he checked all around him but it did not seem that anyone followed him.

  There was nothing to gain from fighting opportunistic fodder and too much to risk, so he would rather avoid it. His Boulder Ape was nearly depleted and his own mana had reduced to less than half of his capacity after the fight against it.

  [ Gilgamesh ]

  Mana Capacity: 42/90

  "I need more golems, most of all another like Clay Sentry which can remain active at all times." Gilgamesh started to plan in the orange hue of dusk. "Boulder Ape can last 30 minutes at a time, and needs a full hour to restore to full capacity. That only gives me 1 hour for every 3 to scavenge through the Scrapyard."

  "It is dangerous to scavenge in the dark, even against Giant Rats. But..." Gilgamesh glanced at the faint full moon climbing its way to the top of the clear sky. "There will decent enough light to see with a full moon, and Giant Rats are no match for the Boulder Ape. I will look for more golems tonight, and try the forest again in the morning..."

  [ Handsome Monkey King ] snickers at your petty trickery.

  [ Loathsome Stag ] is disappointed by your incompetence.

  [ Three-Headed Snake ] advises that if thinking is beyond your abilities, you could always use your hands.

  [ Some gods laugh at your expense. ]

  [ Club-Footed Smith ] encourages you to make those arrogant fools eat their words.

  The messages came and went, but Gilgamesh did not care about their approval or disparagements. He had gambled with his life and it had paid off, even if just slightly. Tomorrow, he would gamble it again with a new plan, having learned from the failures of today. Effort was rewarded in this new world, and no one would work harder than him.