The First Legendary Beast Master

Chapter 669  Equipped Guard

Ophelia got an excited look on her face. ”You know, if you gave the Golem a blade with Life Leech, wouldnʼt it heal you pretty well as it fought? The ones I have are kind of low quality at this point, and I was going to pass them on to the newbies, but Iʼm sure we can find some new ones for you.”

Karl nodded. ”Thatʼs a great idea. Maybe short blades, given that the golem has stealth and high agility.”

Othello took out a long blade and handed it to Karl. ”That has life steal on it. Why not see how the Golem can do?”

Karl nodded in thanks, and handed the blade to the Golem, who held it in its hands awkwardly, unable to make a fist to hold the blade with such long finger claws.

Othello facepalmed. ”Alright, I can see how this could be an issue. Iʼm used to Golems that have human hands, but this one and the Spider Golems are different.”

The Golem carefully handed back the blade, but Karl still had an idea to boost its combat performance.

He equipped the Haint Claw on the Golem, which actually looked a little like an all-black and scaly version of Overlord Leafa. Karl smiled as the weapon melded with the Golem, which now had ghostly glowing eyes, and leaked Ghostfire smoke from its mouth.

”What sort of weapon is that?” Niall asked, shocked at the transformation.

”Itʼs a Haint Claw. I obtained it in Newbon. It doesnʼt have life steal, but itʼs got a Soul Leech effect thatʼs particularly nasty, and it adds Ghostfire to all attacks, including skills.

Normally, itʼs a weapon that I would use myself, in combination with my bow particularly. But for the moment, I think it works quite well with the Epic Guard skill.”

”Should we see how it does while sparring against Ahmadʼs Golems? If itʼs an Epic Rank skill, it might be able to hold off his regular Golems for a while.” Niall suggested.

Karl shrugged. ”No better way to test it. I donʼt know what sort of combat instincts it inherited, since I donʼt have an actual combat style skill.”

Ahmad summoned his four standard Legionnaire Golems on the far side of the training room, and Karl gave instructions to his new summon.

[Show us how you would defeat these targets. Theyʼre golems, so go full force.] Karl thought.

The Golems took a combat stance, and the Guard vanished. It reappeared in a swirl of Ghostfire in front of one Golem, then leapt into the air, kicked it in the crotch and stabbed all ten long claws through the Golemʼs eyes.

[One Hundred Percent, it learned to fight from Cara.] Rae noted.

She would have appeared behind the Golem.

The Guard was already moving, raking at the leg joints of the Golems and dodging attacks with an alarming level of agility, then periodically vanishing in a puff of pale blue-green fire. It would reappear behind another Golem and try for a new target.

First, it tried to rip their throats out, then stab through the neck of the armour to their hearts. But the Golems werenʼt living things, and going for the vitals of a Golem didnʼt work.

Finally, the Golems caught it, and sliced it to bits, causing it to dissipate and return the weapon to Karlʼs possession.

All four of the Overlord Rank Golems had taken significant damage during the battle, and Karl was impressed. Even Ahmad was shaking his head in shocked dismay. ”Well, for a Golem that didnʼt come with a trained fighting style, I have to say that one is particularly vicious, and learns fast. If those had been living creatures, I suspect that your Golem might actually have been able to fight above its rank.”

Tabitha chuckled darkly. ”I just canʼt get over the fact that its first instinct was to kick the golem in the balls and claw its eyes out. What sort of fighter are you, Monarch Karl.”

The last was said with a bit of a sneer, and Karl threw up his hands in a placating gesture.

”Thatʼs not really on me. I enlisted my team of beasts for suggestions, and their suggestions helped shape our new Golem. I believe that Caraʼs fighting style is the dominant one. She would definitely start a fight that way. Iʼm surprised that the Golem didnʼt lick him as well.”

Ahmad laughed. ”I think it might have. Being so close, the smoke of the guardʼs breath was surely touching my Golem, and your Guard doesnʼt have an actual tongue.”

Cara smoothed her fur in pride, like she was styling her hair. Karl laughed at her expression, and summoned the Guard again, with the Haint Claw equipped.

It flexed a little, as if it remembered being dismembered, or wanted to do a systems check before combat. Then it turned to Karl for instructions.

[Just wait here. There are no threats.]

Rae giggled. [You donʼt need to be so detailed. Golems get what you want instinctively. If you focus, you should be able to tell where it is, the same as you can with us and the Bodyguards.]

[I got that part. Well, at least we know the new spell works.]

Rae considered it. [I need to learn that one later. I could have a third Spider Golem.]

Karl used [Follow Me, Little One] to transfer the knowledge.

{Incompatible Target}

Rae sighed. [Boo this system. I can use Golems, but not more golems? How does that make sense?]

Dana nudged Karl. ”Mind having your Guard spar with mine? I want to see how it does. I thought it was odd that the only skill yours was using was that movement skill. So, they might need time to adapt to using all their abilities.”

”Sure. Let me remove the weapon overlay. It doesnʼt need the extra damage to keep up this time.” Karl agreed.

The Haint Claw was put away, and the Guard went from animated to calm, waiting in a ready position for orders.

Dana summoned her Guard, in its black leather and plate armour. Then, with a mental command, the two Guards were on each other.

Danaʼs Demonic looking Guard fired off a flurry of blade energy at its Dryad looking opponent, which dismissively swatted them away with [Disintegrate].

”Is it just me, or did its combat style completely change?” Ophelia asked, as the two Guards locked in combat, right before Karlʼs began to use Rake to systematically dismantle its opponent into small pieces.

Niall nodded in agreement. ”I think it did. Maybe it was the influence of the Haint Claw? The additional skill? Or perhaps the merger with the weapon grants it a bit more cognitive function? It fights very methodically now, in the most efficient way.” Dana sighed. ”I have to say, with or without the weapon, that Guard is brutal in combat.”

She called back her Guard again, and the violet Demoness shook herself out in the same way as Karlʼs had, as if checking for damage. It had to be a function of the spell, remembering previous fights to improve.

”Alright, we have our answers. Now, we really can go to sleep. Iʼm sure there will be far too many questions for us all in the morning. Librarian, you can stay in my spare room if you would like.” Lady Othello offered.

”I will see you all tomorrow.” The Librarian agreed, then left with the Paladin, headed back upstairs.

[Now we have a new sparring partner for the trainees.] Rae cheered.

[I donʼt think they would survive that.] Thor reminded her.

[We could put pool noodles on her claws.]

[Thatʼs terrifying in a whole different way.]