Ep. 1096 Homeward Bound Part 5 (Patreon)

That way, I won't have to worry about what might be happening outside. For the most part, by now everyone should be used to handling things without me. While this probably makes me a bad leader, it also means I have more time to learn and experiment.

Besides, with the amount of materials I now have, I am starting to have thoughts of an army of golems. I'm even wondering if I can fight the war against the demons on my own. I already planned to keep the elves out of the war, they don't have enough numbers.

Even with all the ones I have saved, I don't know if there are enough to continue their race. I seem to remember reading something about needing twenty-five thousand people to have a stable gene pool. However, that was with humans and didn't take magic into account, so I can't be sure.

That won't really be my problem since I won't be around that long anyway. Yet, I would like to give the elves the best chance at survival that I can. That is why I will try to keep them out of the war, despite knowing it will piss some people off.

The humans and beastmen of the peninsula have more numbers, but they don't count for much compared to the main continent. So, the more of their strength that they can preserve after the war the better. Because, once the demons are gone, the two empires are sure to expand their territories.

I am not too worried about the southern empire since we are allies, but the northern empire is another story. The thought of them conquering the peninsula after I am gone doesn't sit well with me. The only way to prevent that is to leave the peninsula strong enough to protect itself.

That is going to be a very tall order considering the peninsula isn't even unified. Not only would a golem army reduce casualties, but any that survive could defend the peninsula. The problem is that even with as many materials as I currently have, I could only build a small army.

Although, that could change since currently my golem building skills are still fairly weak. As my skills improve I may be able to find a way to use less materials. Also, I can always get more materials, it would just take time and effort.

It is too soon for me to decide what path I am going to take, for now it is just a possibility. For now, I am just going to take things one step at a time and see how it goes. Having more time available was a big first step, other options are possible now.

Once I am done studying the programming several hours have passed, at least in here. Not even a full hour has passed outside, meaning I still have plenty of time. The only thing I really need to go outside for is to create the soulscape and keep in contact.

"Oh, that reminds me. Jarvis set me a daily reminder at around ten at night to create a soulscape."

Jarvis says "Of course, maker."

I decide to take a short break, so I head upstairs to check and see if Mushu is still sleeping. He is, but Nala and Albion entered at some point and they immediately want attention. Once I have satisfied them, the next thing they ask for is food, they probably skipped lunch.

Of course, I feed them, but it makes me think that two pouches might not be enough. However, I don't think that making a pouch for each of the kids is a good idea. At least, not before I get home and can make them for all the kids so no one gets jealous.

Instead, I decide to add a table and enchant it to provide food, kind of like a buffet table. Despite it being a little different, it ends up being much easier than making a pouch. I tie it into the core so that Jarvis can control it and teach others how to use it if need be.

Of course, I have an ulterior motive for this, I don't want people disturbing me to be fed. Especially once I start experimenting and interruptions could be dangerous. Besides, with the time dilation, everyone will be eating more often and at different times.

As Nala and Albion are eating, Mushu wakes up, probably because he smelled the food. He quickly joins his brother and sister at the table and starts eating. I'm not all that hungry, but I eat a little just to keep the kids company.

After they are done eating I spend some time playing with them before returning to my workshop. The first thing I do is summon the two gardener golems and reprogram them. Learning from Jarvis is one thing, but I need to actually use that knowledge.

However, the gardener golems are too simple to give me any decent experience. So, once they are reprogrammed, I switch to working on building a new golem. The frames and components are going to be made from metal, but the skin will be stone.

I am making gargoyles to be the protectors of the castle and I am basing them off of one of my favorite cartoons as a kid. They will be controlled by Jarvis, so their programming won't be too complicated. That is, except for the combat programming, that is going to be fairly complex.

After all, they are meant to fight, meaning that they need actual combat skills. Not only that, I want them to be able to learn from fighting and get stronger. This is going to be really important later if I want to make a golem army.

For the skin of the golems, I actually decide to use stone from the castle itself. This will link the golems directly to the castle and make it easier for Jarvis to control them. I am hoping that it will also make it so that Jarvis can repair them even if they get smashed to pieces.

That is just a guess on my part and I won't know until it is tested once they are done. The downside is that they won't be able to operate outside of the castle's area of influence. However, I think that is an acceptable limitation since they are meant as guards.

To start with I only build and program two of them, I will make more if everything works out. They won't be intelligent, so I don't bother naming them, they will all be identical anyway. Although, if it ends up being hard for Jarvis to control all of them that might change.

When the two golems are finished, I take them out to the courtyard and have them fight each other. For now, that is the only order I give them so I can see how closely they need to be controlled. From the looks of it, they will fight until ordered to stop, but they won't use tactics.