I placed my hand on the slowly turning sphere of the device, then closed my eyes. I focused on the classes, slowly going through the whole thing to find the new entries.
They weren't really in the same spot, so the search took me a moment, but eventually, I was able to find them all. The list consisted of: 'Earth lord', 'Watcher', 'Evolutioner', 'Spirit shaman', 'Fire lord', 'Devourer', 'Toymaker', 'Air lord', 'Crystalborn', and 'Springbringer'.
I linked a few to the bosses I killed, but when I needed to actually think about it deeper with some other ones, I dropped the thing. The golem-making class seemed to be the 'Toymaker' so I bought it for ten class points.
It gave me access to the following skills: 'Design', and 'Engineering'. Yes, only two, and both are quite self-explanatory. I know, you probably expected something which would allow me to make a working thing. Living almost. I did too. Imagine my disappointment.
I could make something semi-automated, but this wasn't the golem I had in mind at all! I was furious, but after taking a deep breath, I decided to get the evolution of the class to look for the correct skills further down the line.
This reacquired some points though, so I had to stop using the device for a moment, to dump all the crystals on the glyph on the ground. It was quite a pile. my ears caught upon the air leaving people's lungs as they exhaled from the awe. Not only because of the number of crystals but also because of their size.
In total, I've earned 418 718 000 regular points and 12 class points. Which put my account at 495 652 200 regular points and 4 115 since I bought the class before. A quick calculation later I knew that I needed more than two hundred days of hunting to get the reacquired amount for the next upgrade of the device. This meant that focusing on making the golems was actually a better idea.
Since to upgrade the 'Toymaker' class I needed only 22 222 000, I immediately invested that after putting my hand on the sapling once again.
The next tier was called 'Automaton crafter'. It gave me access to the following skills: 'Design II', 'Engineering II', 'Core infusion', and 'Basic protocols'.
p 'Core infusion' was all about creating an energy source and the brain of the automaton at the same time. Thanks to magic being fueled to a specially constructed piece, the golem, and also every other creation I could possibly craft, would be able to function using magic as fuel. Using the same principles working behind a different skill of mine, the 'Mana overcharge', the core was able to create mana to a certain degree.
'Basic protocols' was the knowledge of a way of programming the creation, so it could do certain tasks by responding to the commands.
At my current understanding of things, I was able to make something that would be helpful only with very basic matters. Like picking up objects and transporting them to different places, or repeating the same motion, over and over.
Useful, if not for the fact that I had a variety of skills that allowed me to get the same things done way faster, and sacrifice fewer resources in the process. Nevertheless, the first step in creating my very first golem was made.
I still had plenty of points, so I decided to invest more, to evolve the class even further, so I would be able to achieve what I was aiming for.
I fully upgraded all the skills, since I was able to afford them, which unlocked the tier-three evolution. It was called 'Master of automaton creation', and I obviously immediately acquired it, since I had plenty of class points lying around. This unlocked me access to the following skills: 'Design III', 'Engineering III', 'Core infusion II', 'Advanced protocols', 'Mana circuits', 'Modular design'.
'Mana circuits' was a knowledge of making special pathways inside the machine's body, which were perfect for allowing the mana to move through. Because of this, I could make some portion of the energy be supplied to certain areas. You could think about this as veins in the human body.
'Modular design made it possible for me to make golems built of parts that could work separately. For example, I could build a mana cannon on my automaton's arm, connect it by the circuit to the core, and it would function as long as the power would be supplied, which I could program in the core itself with advanced protocols.
In such a way I could give my puppet a mana gun. Awesome, right?
Unfortunately, I was out of points, to upgrade the skills to the level I would wish for, so I decided to save what I had, and collect more crystals in the following days, so I would finally start working on making a machine that could hunt at least some of the monsters.
I knew that to get to that point I would need a lot of investments in skills, because not only the golem had to be very strong, sturdy, and agile, but also the weapons, defense systems et cetera, needed to be of high quality. Something I couldn't really yet produce.
Otherwise, I would have to prepare the damn thing too often.
My true goal was even harder to achieve. I wanted an army that would support us in the upcoming war. This would require an insane amount of work, not to mention all the upgrades of skills I could possibly get, and that needed time.
Quite happy, with what I achieved I pulled my hand back, then turned around, briefly glancing at people, still shocked by how many crystals I brought. I gave them a mysterious smile, then left before they could possibly flood me with questions I was too tired to answer.
I really needed to find some time to finally get proper rest, but because of what I wanted to build, that time wasn't even on the horizon yet. Still, I finally was hopeful for the future of me, my family, and Petrograd itself.