Walkers' burst in to Grey's work shop went nearly unnoticed by the golem builder who was too absorbed in his work. He only turned his head when Walker's voice reached him, "I forgot! I have rare materials for the golem!" These were like magic words that caused Grey to drop his tools. Any crafter in the dwarf city would give the person who spoke these words their full attention.
"What made you wait?" Grey was looking in Walkers' hands to see nothing and was about to ask him why he was lying. But the fire elemental spirit started to fly around Walker in the air.
"Nones! I forgot about bones!" It was clearly excited for the ember bones to become part of the dragon style shedding golem.
Walker pulled the ember bones from his storage and presented them to Grey. "These are ancient bones from a skeleton in the ruins we explored earlier. They are called ember bones but they have a lot of fire elemental mana in them so I think they are perfect for this golem." Walker stood proudly as he watched Grey's mind work.
"The ribs can be used in the throat of the golem to enhance flame breathe attacks. The skull is actually ideal to pair with the core since it uses the undead golem core as a base for the main core. Should balance out the detachability and possibly allow me to add a small ember burst rune. The remaining can be used for...ah! The claws and teeth. They will need to be coated in metal but with those, they may be able to be enrobed in flames with less damage to the golem." Grey was already altering the design in his mind. This was a great material to add to make his build easier.
Grey soon stopped and looked at Walker, "I do have one problem. Heat. The golem will be made of metals that can withstand heat. However, with this addition, it may get too hot and melt the scales together. I need a focal point that can add a reinforcement skill. Something that will affect the golems' skin in a way." This was a puzzle to Grey, but to Walker, it was sounding like fate.
"Is it possible to use a magical staff with a skill to possibly activate that skill? Can a golem have magical equipment as a part on the inside?" Walker posed the idea and Grey just stared at him.
"What else do you think we use? We just made a magical equipment. That core is a magical equipment. We could make a golem with a ton of it if we had enough mana to provide it with. It's safe to say with the right system users working together we could make a mage golem. Not that a dwarf ever has done that." Grey looked like it was an interesting idea but impossible since magic was so rare in their kingdom.
"So you could use a staff one that has a skill called cyclops skin?" Walker pulled out the cyclops flame staff and placed it in front of Grey. "I know the skill uses mana to form some sort of barrier around the skin to act like cyclops skin. It would be crazy if a skill actually changed the skin of the user, but the golem is a golem, not a cyclops. The only worry is that it takes a decent amount of mana to use the skill."
"That's not a problem. This entire golem will be covered in mana gathering runes layered with others. That fire spirit will also be able to direct more mana to the golem. I also plan to have many mana gems inside so that it can have the mana it needs to run." Grey was admiring the cyclops flame staff and thought that adding it to the spine was the ideal area so that it could be activated along a strong line of mana flow.
"I really thought it would be a long shot to offer this as a material. But I think I have been missing the point of this the entire time. I still have way too much to learn. Even a lifetime might not be enough to learn half of what a golem builder knows." Grey was nodding along appreciatively. It was rare that someone admitted that learning all of this was a large undertaking.
"The worst part is that this is always improving. We continue to model new golems and tweak parts. There is not a perfect golem yet and if there ever was this would all end. But until that day...we will add more things to learn." Grey said this while looking towards the room full of apprentices.
Grey wandered to the open doorway and took a deep breath, "Any who wish to learn how to add a magical staff to a golem get your butt in here. Now!" The ruckus this caused was not small in the least. The apprentices wanted to see their master work and learn the tricks so they could add more to their own golem projects.
"I think I will stay and watch too if you don't mind?" Grey smiled as if he already knew Walker would want to watch this. The apprentices ran in and circled the golems' bone structure.
"Now, I already have the core in place with the base gears. The runes are still to be carved but this potion of spine will have this staff attached and fixed in. Who can tell me how?" Grey had jumped in to full teaching more for his apprentices.
"The longest part will be attached to the part of the spine that will remain straight at all times as not to damage the magical item." The apprentice that spoke received a thumbs up from Grey then he proceeded to point out the sections and why it would not move. Walker listened intently while Gil and the others were getting to know Zephyr.