Chapter 62 Ragna Newgate (1)
Like the outer circle, the inner circle was a huge place where the participants were required to venture deeper in the lands to reach the core circle.
When the participants finally reach the inner circle, they will appear at the border of the dimension. The border of the dimension was barren, almost empty.
It was an intentional design from the academy.
The border of the inner circle had the least amount of checkmarks and participants, that was why it was necessary to walk deeper towards the center of the inner circle to pass the examination.
The closer the participants were to the center, the more checkmarks and participants that would appear, but there was also newly accompanied danger along with it.
Merely travelling and getting puzzle pieces was simple, therefore the academy thought to add some challenge and increased the difficulty by a notch.
At this moment, Elias and the gang stopped at one peculiar checkmark.
The checkmark was the same as the others, a pillar-like beacon covered with ancient complicated markings and firmly standing while gravitating an oldened presence.
The only peculiar difference was the sleeping mass of stone besides the tower.
Elias and the gang's gaze drifted to the side of the tower and stopped at the strange mass of stone.
It was a gigantic life-like statue, hardened and massive. It was over six metres tall and had large, circle white eyes.
Its eyes were pure white, seemingly innocent in contrast with its intimidating overwhelming stone physique.
Similar to the checkmark, complicated markings were carved deeply on its body, drawn beautifully reflecting the masterful craft of whoever made it.
"A golem."
Celestia raised her brows.
The mass of stone beside the tower was a Golem, slumbering peacefully while guarding the checkmark silently.
The Golem had no reaction to their slow arrival, as though a motionless statue, it kept slumbering. In fact, it was quite common to mistake a golem for a statue.
But whoever does so ends up paying for their mistake.
Celestia smiled sweetly and reached out her arm, stopping Elias and the rest from continuing forward.
"I haven't done anything for the group yet, have I? I suppose I'll try and be helpful. Golem's have strengths and weaknesses, let me analyze it. Wait a moment."
"...Alright. I'll leave it to you then."
Elias looked at her strangely and nodded. Beside him, Hajin had an interested expression while Ragna wore a confused expression.
Hajin had heard of Golems before, but never actually seen one. He was curious about its appearance and abilities.
However, Ragna was perplexed. He had never heard of Golems before. For most of his life, he was stuck in the mountains and had no knowledge of anything related to sorcery. n0Velusb.c0M
However, somehow, he could feel a presence—a sense of life within the mass of stone. It was strong, Ragna thought with narrowed eyes.
Celestia nodded and stared at the Golem deeply.
Golems were separated into two states: activated, and unactivated. Currently, the golem in front of them was deactivated and still slumbering.
Usually, the activation of a Golem depended on the requirements set by the creator or the Sorcerer, but Celestia's intuition told her that stepping forward would spell its awakening.
It was common for Golems to be used as guards on magic towers or labs of sorcerers. Most golems that had this kind of purpose were activated through intrusion of other individuals.
It was best not to awaken the Golem at the moment, she wanted to examine the Golem's strength or abilities first through the formation on its body.
Celestia told her intentions to the group.
Elias agreed almost immediately, but Ragna was left slightly confused. He was not familiar with sorcerers and formations, much less golems.
A golem was not a natural mutated beast from nature. It was a lifeform made by Sorcerers using thaumaturgy.
Golem creation was a branch of thaumaturgy.
Golems had different types, purposes and abilities, all of which depended on the intention of the sorcerer during the creation process.
The most common of Golems were those with just brute strength, lacking any magical related abilities aside from reinforced physical resistance.
Only accomplished and talented sorcerers would be able to make Golems with magical related abilities, such as a Golem with fire resistance and fire spells.
Celestial scrutinized the sleeping Golem. She was a Sorcerer, so she was familiar with thaumaturgy and golem creation.
In fact, she was very adept at thaumaturgy.
The Holy Orthodox Church taught each generation's Saintess of thaumaturgy, including all of the branch, however the branch of Golem creation was the most frowned upon by the church.
It stepped into the domain of god—life creation.
After a few seconds of silence, Celestia smiled calmly with an interested gaze.
Elias noticed her face and raised his brows.
"What's the matter?"
"I tried to examine the formations around it to find a weakness, but there's little to none. Whoever made this Golem is a very talented and accomplished sorcerer. It's resistant to most attacks; physical and magical."
Celestia explained.
"Hm, but I did gain some insights about it. The Golem has five different type of spells, its body has some light resistance to magic and strong resistance to physical attacks. Its strength should border around a normal beast emperor, facing it with sheer strength would not be recommended."
Hearing her words, Elias rubbed his chin in contemplation, he suddenly remembered something from the novel.
Ah, the creator of this golem should be her...
He was remembering a particular character in the academy. That character was very famous and a favourite among the fans.
In fact, that character was also his favourite in the novel. Unfortunately, she also suffered a tragic end at his hands later on.
Elias shook his head calmly and looked at Ragna.
"Ragna, you're bored right? I'll leave this to you."
"Wait, I just told you... physical strength is not recommended. It's greatly resistant to physical attacks."
Celestia was confused. However, Elias simply smiled at her words while looking at the white haired burly man.
"What do you think, Ragna?"
"I don't really get it... but what you're saying is this stone thingy is a monster to beat, right? Leave it to me then."
Ragna rubbed his neck and made a 'cracking' sound. His lips curled into a smile, looking at the golem with a grin.
His fight with Elias was disturbed and temporarily cancelled, he was naturally dissatisfied, but for the sake of the bigger picture he kept it in.
Under Celestia's puzzled expression, Ragna walked towards the golem.
"So this thing is called a golem, huh?"
Ragna raised his brows and approached the golem. As soon as he stepped into a certain distance, the golem trembled.
It slowly stood up, with its overwhelming rock body towering over the gang like a giant. It was even bigger than Ragna.
However, to Ragna, that didn't scare him one bit. Living in the wilderness, he was used to fighting beasts at the size of giants.
"Hehe..!"
Seeing him face the golem, Elias and the gang took a step back and watched with interested expressions.
Hajin, in particular, was attentive. He was curious of this mysterious man that Elias lured in the team and wanted to see the man's strength.
"Ragna Newgate..."
Elias smiled faintly.?In front of him, a status interface floated.
[Name: Ragna Newgate]
[Race: Human]
[Talent: Totem Deity]
[Rank: D+] (Rank Advancement: Unfulfilled)
[Level: 39]
[STR: C]
[AGI: C-]
[STA: C-]
[CONS: C-]
[INT: E+]
[WIS: E+]
[MAG: E+]
[GROWTH: S]
[SKILLS: [Blessed by Nature (Passive)], [Giant Strength (Passive)], [Heaven's Rage], [Dragon's Fist], [Wind Flight], [Lightning Rage]...]