Chương 109: Chapter 109: Bloodline Imprint and Twin-Blade Spider
Sunan and Rose were overjoyed. The discovery of the Gem Bugs alone made the journey worthwhile.
After collecting their thoughts, they turned to the third notebook.
This notebook detailed how to extract the bloodline of ancient mythical beasts from magical creatures and transform it into a one-time-use bloodline ability.
Avigney named this ability the Bloodline Imprint.
Depending on the ancient beast's bloodline extracted, the resulting Bloodline Imprint varied in strength and effect.
However, to create a Bloodline Imprint, the extracted ancient beast bloodline needed to reach a certain concentration.
Avigney had attempted to extract the Crimson Fang bloodline from the Blood Soul Bugs, but the concentration was too low to succeed.
"An ancient beast's bloodline? That's incredibly rare," Rose shook her head.
Many descendants of ancient beasts still existed on the Starlight Continent, but their bloodlines were invariably diluted.
If even Avigney couldn't extract a suitable bloodline, it was unlikely she could either.
Moreover, the few creatures with high bloodline inheritance were too powerful for her to handle.
To her, this research was practically useless.
But Sunan thought differently.
Bloodline concentration wasn't a problem; with the cube, he could synthesize and increase it.
He'd done it before.
In this sense, the Bloodline Imprint seemed tailor-made for him.
As long as he could find a population of ancient beast descendants, no matter how diluted their bloodline, he could use the cube to synthesize and elevate it to meet the Bloodline Imprint standard.
Setting the notebook aside, Sunan couldn't help but admire Avigney.
He may have been ruthless and unscrupulous, but there was no denying his brilliance.
Blood Soul Bug bloodline fusion, Gem Bugs, Bloodline Imprints.
Any one of these would take an ordinary level-three wizard apprentice a lifetime to research.
But Avigney achieved them all.
Had he not been unlucky and chosen the wrong path, his achievements would have been remarkable.
Even if the Starlight Continent's environment prevented him from becoming a full-fledged wizard, he would have been a renowned powerhouse!
"This man was truly a genius," Rose said, gently caressing the notebook's cover, feeling a touch of melancholy.
If someone as talented as Avigney fell on the path to becoming a wizard, what hope did she have?
Would she ever become a full-fledged wizard in her lifetime?
With different thoughts occupying them, the room fell silent.
After a long pause, Sunan gathered his thoughts and said, "Let's search the rest of the place."
Rose nodded in agreement.
They thoroughly searched the entire cave but found nothing new, so they began dividing the spoils.
They each copied the notebooks and took one of each.
The Gem Bugs and Blood Soul Bugs were evenly split.
Sunan took all the rare metals, compensating Rose with some magic stones.
After dividing the spoils, Rose's mood improved significantly.
Although the knowledge gained, like Bloodline Imprints and Blood Soul Bug bloodline fusion, wasn't particularly useful to her, the Gem Bugs alone made the trip worthwhile.
Sunan had even more to be pleased about; he gained the additional knowledge of Bloodline Imprints.
"The over ten thousand gold coins spent were well worth it."
Sunan felt satisfied.
As they exited the cave, Rose smiled at Sunan, saying, "It was a pleasure working with you, Player. If another opportunity like this arises, let's collaborate again."
Sunan returned the smile, "I'd look forward to that."
"See you at the gathering."
"See you at the gathering."
After watching Rose leave, Sunan returned to the original cave.
Crossing the lake, he glanced toward the Man-faced Lion city-state.
Numerous kobolds and ogres were busy near the city gates, seemingly repairing the collapsed walls.
On the island, patrols of Man-faced Lions were more numerous and vigilant than before.
This increased security would likely be the norm for the city-state for some time.
"It seems a second infiltration won't be possible soon."
"Oh well, the information I gathered is sufficient for now."
Taking one last look at the city-state, Sunan turned away.
Back in Shimmer City, Sunan immediately met with Key to explain the situation with the Man-faced Lion city-state.
Hearing Sunan's report, Key couldn't help but frown.
"So you're saying the city-state can muster a force of four to five thousand?"
"Pretty much. The inhabitants of the Underground World are different from us humans; they're almost all warriors."
Seeing Key's expression grow more solemn, Sunan reassured him.
"Most of the city-state's slaves are kobolds and lizardfolk, not much stronger than ordinary soldiers. Only the ogres are somewhat troublesome."
"The real threat is the two thousand Man-faced Lions."
"What do you plan to do?" Key asked gravely.
Sunan had already thought it through and replied without hesitation:
"First, continue sealing off that forest. From now on, it's a military zone, off-limits to unauthorized personnel."
"Second, build a camp in front of the cave. I'll need a bridgehead for the assault on the city-state."
"And I'll need a large supply of granite."
Key agreed to the requests and asked, "How many troops should I send to assist you?"
He had long wanted to eliminate the threat of the underground city-state, even if it meant paying a high price. He was prepared for that.
Surprisingly, Sunan shook his head.
"No need."
"The Underground World's environment isn't suitable for human combat. I'll use golems as the assault force."
The dim lighting of the Underground World was challenging for humans without dark vision.
Even knights would only be able to exert sixty to seventy percent of their strength.
Using Shimmer City's troops would result in heavy casualties, even if they managed to capture the city-state.
It was better to use golems.
With dark vision, golems could operate freely in the Underground World.
Sunan was unconcerned about the potential losses of war.
Rose's map indicated that within a hundred kilometers of the city-state, there were seven mineral veins, including one large iron mine, three medium iron mines, one large copper mine, one small silver mine, and one small gold mine.
Once the city-state threat was neutralized, he could exploit these resources.
Future profits would easily cover the costs of war.
With plans finalized, Key began making arrangements.
Sunan returned to the base and got busy.
He merged the six Divine Blood Ambers from Rose with the high-level amber he already had.
As a result, his daily Star Ring Meditation Method proficiency increased to 3100 points.
Meanwhile, his progress in learning spell muting was steadily advancing.
Sunan estimated that by the Spring Dawn Month (March) of the following year, he would likely master it.
Notably, the establishment of the Knight Academy was also underway.
Considering the commuting and logistical challenges for teachers and students, the academy couldn't be located outside the city.
After careful selection, Sunan chose a site in Shimmer City's suburbs, near the northern gate.
Construction had begun, and the project was managed by others, with Sunan occasionally checking in.
Based on the construction schedule, it would be completed by the Flowing Fire Month, when enrollment could begin.
Key worked efficiently.
Before the Spring Dawn Month was over, a new camp had been built on the original mining site.
Sunan named it Camp 1 and established a new puppet factory there, ramping up the production of stone golems.
The production of steel golems was limited by the availability of soul crystals, preventing mass production.
However, stone golems could be produced indefinitely with enough gems and stones.
All profits from the cave's mining operations were invested in stone golem production.
To hasten the resolution of the city-state threat, Key allocated a significant portion of the territory's income to support the golem army's construction.
With ample funding, the golem army's numbers grew rapidly.
Meanwhile, Sunan considered creating a new type of puppet.
While steel and stone golems were powerful and durable, they were slow-moving.
This was evident in the battle against the Man-faced Lion city-state.
The nimble Man-faced Lions had a natural advantage over the cumbersome stone and elite stone golems.
To address this, Sunan felt he needed to design a more agile puppet.
Traditional golems were typically bulky and humanoid, with short, thick limbs. Aside from a few that could fly, most had slow movements.
Thus, a new puppet design had to be more animal-like, with greater agility.
Sunan's first thought was a spider.
In the Underground World, the most feared monsters were various mutant spiders and spider-like creatures.
Dark elves transformed into spider-like beings, known as driders, were especially notorious throughout the Underground World.
They moved with ghostly speed and stealth, often launching surprise attacks from unexpected places, scaling cavern walls with ease, making them some of the most formidable assassins in the Underground World.
Designing a puppet with a spider form, with eight legs, would better adapt to the complex terrain of the Underground World.
Sunan immediately began designing a spider puppet.
His proficiency from mass-producing stone golems had already advanced his [Puppet Crafting] skill to level 4.
Combined with his experience crafting the black rock panther, Sunan quickly completed the spider puppet's design.
The main challenge was material selection.
To maximize the spider puppet's agility, the materials had to be lightweight metals.
Of course, durability couldn't be compromised.
Otherwise, they'd end up with fragile puppets that shattered upon impact.
Blackstone iron was an ideal choice, but its low production meant it couldn't support mass production, especially with the need for crafting black rock panthers.
After careful consideration, Sunan decided on tungsten steel for the new puppet.
Tungsten steel was known for its high hardness, wear resistance, and toughness, as well as excellent heat and corrosion resistance.
While not as hard as blackstone iron, it was suitable for synthesis and reinforcement.
Overall, the synthesized tungsten steel, with hardness and lightness similar to blackstone iron, had a comparable cost, making it a viable substitute.
With materials and design finalized, the crafting process was relatively straightforward.
The completed spider puppet possessed dark vision, immunity to all mind-affecting effects, poison, sleep, paralysis, confusion, suffocation, and high elemental resistance—similar to a golem.
At this stage, the spider puppet's capabilities rivaled those of a stone golem.
But Sunan wanted more.
He enhanced the spider puppet's two front attacking legs with magic, adding [Black Steel] and [Sharpness] traits to significantly increase hardness and sharpness.
In other words, the spider puppet had two built-in enchanted weapons capable of simultaneous attacks.
The final cost of crafting a spider puppet was 180 gold coins.
Over nine times that of a regular stone golem!
But you get what you pay for; the spider puppet's combat prowess far exceeded that of a stone golem.
Testing showed that in a one-on-one fight, the spider puppet could slice a stone golem into pieces in under thirty seconds, its vaunted defense no match for the enchanted leg blades.
Overall, the spider puppet's combat power reached the level of a peak knight.
It was a fitting match for its cost.
"This puppet shall be called the Twin-Blade Spider."
Gazing at the massive black spider, as large as a carriage, Sunan was pleased.
With the Twin-Blade Spider, the golem army's combat capabilities were more well-rounded.
"Too bad flying puppets are rare. Without a blueprint, researching one is time-consuming, and crafting them requires high skill and materials. Adding an aerial unit would be perfect."
Sunan's current puppet blueprints were primarily low-tier golems, lacking any flying designs.
Even if he had one, his current skills and materials were insufficient for crafting.
After all, flying puppets needed more than just flight—they required potent ranged attacks.
Flying puppets without ranged capabilities were merely airborne targets.
For example, metal golems with both flight and ranged attacks were at least at the level of shadow steel golems or mithril golems.
These golems' combat power approached that of full-fledged wizards.
Level-three wizard apprentices generally couldn't craft them.
"It would be nice to have flying puppets with weaker ranged attacks. I could always synthesize them."
"I'll ask the others at the next Forest Cabin gathering."
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