The branch of alchemy required more memorization and understanding rather than practice. As such, Davey had only memorized information about it and had never really made something. He was regretful that all he did was stuff his head with information without actually using it.

Whirrr!! Whirrr!!!!

Illyna looked like she had now given up on Davey. She just watched the sharp, cone-shaped metal spin mercilessly. She muttered, “Every time I see it, I feel that you have a talent for creating terrifying things. I feel like I’m going to wet myself in fear just from looking at it.”

Elder Goulda had also said something similar when Davey had given him the blueprint to the golem. ‘The idea is really fresh and new, Wise Teacher, but this is also quite terrifying.’

It was a drill that rotated a huge piece of metal with a large amount of mana.

“All I did was make a few feasible modifications with the data I’ve accumulated so far, but I still have to test the durability and sustainability more,” Davey said. He didn’t have high expectations but the materials weren’t going to waste either.

-It’s inevitable, since you just made it with whatever ideas popped into your head.

Since Davey had just spontaneously made the drill with no proper data, he had to consider it breaking or its power output suddenly decreasing.

It took about three days for the drill, the first custom part prototype, to be completed. Davey felt proud now that he had an initial finished product after working for three days straight in the Decepticon Fleet Workshop, which was the basement of the seigneur’s newly renovated palace in the Heins Territory.

Buzz!! Buzzz!!! Davey inserted the drill into the metal sheet that was made for experimentation and fixed the parts that needed improvement. He also checked the power of Megatron, which was drilling away mercilessly.

“The black metal is coated with mithril for now, but it should be somewhat durable.”

Similar to how parts like a scope, laser, flashlight, or handles could be attached to a gun, one advantage of a golem was that custom parts could be attached to it. In that sense, the drill was the start of detachable armory. The rate of growth from actually building something was very different from just theoretical study itself.

“But where are you going to test that?” Illyna asked cautiously.

Davey shrugged like it was obvious. “They’re everywhere in the High Palace of the headquarters of the knight order. The overeager saplings full of motivation and determination who will test the performance of the new product.”

Illyna began looking at Davey like he was trash. “…You are really an ass.”

Davey was aware of that.

* * *

“Kyahh!!”

“Sob!”

Two girls ran around the battle stadium, screaming or crying out for help.

Grind!! Grind!!! Vrrr!! With an electric chainsaw in one hand and a drill in the other, Megatron was going after the two girls without stopping.

‘Hm, other than the fact that it gets overheated too quickly, I like the performance.’ Davey observed. He had wanted to fight some evil beasts, but he wasn’t yet given access to the entrance area of the Pandora Region where evil beasts ran wild.

“S—Stop!”

“We lost! We surrender! Surrender!”

The two people, Fendyr Renda, the younger sister of the twins, and her partner, Lincy Peila, screamed and collapsed onto the floor with pale faces. It was a tremendous result that the golem had them instinctively feel fear even when they knew that the golem wasn’t really going to hurt them.

“Stop moving,” Davey commanded.

[Command accepted.]

Megatron, which was charging toward the pair without hesitation, stopped as soon as it heard Davey. Stopping the two horrifying things in its hand, it slowly bent down.

Fendyr Renda, an intermediate wind elementalist, and Expert Hunter Lincy Peila­­­ were a pair specialized for long-range attacks. They would use the wind spirits to elevate their mobility and utilize a hit-and-run method by tag-teaming. They weren’t a bad combination, but they both didn’t have enough firepower to blow away Megatron’s big and heavy body. There was nothing to protect them, since the spirit they urgently summoned to be their defensive wall was shredded up by the electric chainsaw and punctured by the drill.

“I told you to go a little easy on us…”

“Hm… You’re so mean!” Fendyr still took the candy Davey handed her despite grumbling with a frown.

There was nothing better than sugar to comfort children.

“Davey! Let us try, too!”

Then, Shayir Renda, Fendyr’s older twin sister, and Heg Pair, who wielded a warrior giant, came up onto the battle stadium.

In the two weeks that he had become a trainee and commuted between Alpha Reinforcements and the Heins Territory, Davey had earned the reputation of someone who was quite powerful and had a good eye.

Perhaps the children had rubbed off on Davey; it seemed like he took a liking to those guys who were treating him as a fellow trainee with basic kindness and civility. In fact, he had never experienced anything like this in his past or current life, or even his life in the Hall. He couldn’t deny the fact that the children had grown on him in just less than a month. It was only secondary that the Teachers’ evaluation about Davey’s competency had improved.

“Would this be what being in school feels like?” Davey wondered. Even considering his past life, he had no memory of going to school beyond elementary school. He remembered some things, but since he had never left the hospital after finishing elementary school, the only memory he had was spending time in a jail-like aseptic room until he died. Davey became a little annoyed as that recollection popped into his head.

“I prepared a lot for this day! I won’t go easy on the golem since I want to learn how to beat the golem.”

Davey revealed a genuine smile after patting the armored arms of Megatron, which was silently waiting for its command. He commanded, “I look forward to it. Let’s go with Tactic type DDD.”

[Command accepted.]

It was ‘D’ for ‘Dark’! ‘D’ for ‘Death’! ‘D’ for ‘Destroy’!

Clang!! Whirrr!! At the same time, the metal monster with shining blue eyes began moving. Its drill and electric chainsaw began moving ferociously too.

The combat practice came to an end when a few shouted about the news that a new ancient ruins had been discovered, and all the trainees were going to go to the ruins for a field trip.

44. Falling!

The ruins were an undiscovered site near the Pandora Region’s entrance. It seemed that the three Teachers who were responsible for the knight order’s education had decided to send the trainees to the ancient ruins, which was difficult to discern how old it was.

“The new residents and the existing ones are harmonizing much better than expected, thanks to the policies you implemented,” Royal Attendant Bernile updated Davey.

“Okay, that’s a relief,” Davey commented.

“And…I received a message from Royal Attendant Bespard of the Royal Palace that Sir Ramdas, the doctor of the royal palace, is visiting His Majesty more and more often…”

“Is that so?”

“Your Highness, he is still your father. How about you go see him once?”

“No.”

Royal Attendant Bernile smiled bitterly and said nothing more.

Davey believed that King Krianes wouldn’t want him to visit, and Davey also didn’t really want to meet him. Apparently, Second Prince Carlus, the person Davey had given circular bald spots to, was acting with more disrespect as the days went by. Carlus had been affected with a nasty case of circular baldness and strange animal sounds that followed his words. Although the curse of animal sounds had been broken, Carlus was probably being quite hysterical since the shiny spot on his head hadn’t been treated yet.

‘I hope he brings destruction onto himself after suffering as much pain as possible,’ Davey thought, since there was only one possible outcome from the start.

“Anyway, you look much better recently. Has something happened?” Bernile asked.

“Do I seem that way? I met a few amusing people recently,” Davey replied.

“Yes. It is disrespectful, but…you used to look like a grandpa who had experienced all that life has to offer, Your Highness.”

“Your sense of humor seems to have improved yet again. I assume you mean to say that it’s nice to see me this way.”

When Davey agreed contentedly, a pleasant smile appeared on Royal Attendant Bernile’s face.

When Davey returned to the High Palace as the Heins Territory’s residents waved their goodbyes, he could see the overeager and highly motivated little saplings standing in front of him. They were all prepared and excited.

“Ah! Davey! Illyna! You’re here!”

Excited for their practical class, the trainees were showing off their backpacks like the overeager saplings they were.

“Quiet!”

Then, the three Teachers came out. They had been waiting for all the trainees to gather at the auditorium.

“As everyone knows, we are going for a practical class to the labyrinth found near the Pandora Region’s entrance!”

“The place you guys are going is the real deal! Don’t forget that dangers will be lurking in your surroundings at any given time! And they can cause you your life!”

“Do not let your guard down at all times. Being off-guard is death for a knight order.”

The trainees listened to the Teachers with sparkling eyes, but it didn’t seem like they were taking the advice to heart. Then, they stepped onto the carriage, following the lead of the Teachers and chattered like they were children going on a picnic. Since there were some who completely abandoned the outside world and only lived in the base of Alpha Reinforcements, the field trip might’ve been a fresh stimulus for them.

“Uh…” Davey let out a dumbfounded moan when he saw the ancient ruins after traveling for about five hours.

-This is…

The Pandora Region was in the north of the central continent, and the Heins Territory was in the eastern continent, but the discovered ancient ruins were so similar despite the relative distance between both places.

-It’s slightly different… But it’s mostly the same.

The trainees only thought of it as just a fascinating site, but Davey was thinking of something else altogether. Although it was just a prediction, Davey thought that since there was something huge hidden in the Heins Territory’s ancient ruins, there should definitely be something similar in a ruins like this if it hadn’t been discovered yet.

‘Should I take it?’

It was worth a shot whether it was possible or not.

-What if there’s a golem again?

‘If there is, let’s just take the part that has the magic stones and magic circles arranged on it. It’s a problem that we only have one Megatron in our Decepticon Fleet.’

Since there was only one more being built, Davey would be able to arrange a perfect army of guardians that would be able to take care of the problems that arise in the territory.

“Everyone quiet! Everything is unknown from here on! Remember that the only person you can count on is your partner! Rescue them if you can! However, retreat if you think it’s dangerous!” Boris cautiously announced a few things to keep in mind and pulled out his sword after nagging a few more times. “From now on, you will explore the ancient ruins!”

The eyes of the trainees sparkled with excitement as Boris shouted firmly.

* * *

As Davey expected, the inside of the ancient ruins was very similar to the Heins Territory's ancient ruins: the inside wall built of unknown stone blocks that were difficult to break even with [Aura Blade], and the blue light seeping out from the cracks. However, one difference was that golems were nowhere to be seen. It was quite a shame, but there was a high chance that the trainees wouldn’t have been able to come here if something like that were to appear here. The golems would still have firepower similar to the power of an extremely advanced Expert even if they didn’t have the output of the Megatron.

“It is said that this place has three levels.” Alyssa Patrick said.

“Three levels?” Davey asked. He was walking behind Illyna, while the former remained silent.

“Yes, but it seems like it’s fine for trainees to explore the first and second floors as only low-level evil beasts show up there.”

Alyssa was friendly enough to give out information to Davey even though he didn’t even ask. He felt even more pressured after she said something about him being her role model or something.