Rune architects do not train to obliterate demons with elemental spells like a Warlock; instead, they are the masters behind the intricate mageia circuitry and energia engineering that drive the kingdom forward. They are the enlightened ones regarding mageia golems and mageia crystals. If a Warlock is the blade, the rune architect is the smith who knows how to forge energia engineering into artefacts.
Yet today, Seraph had resolved to stride upon the path of the Warlock. Thus, he did not walk toward the Basilica of Tomes, which had once been his sanctuary within the Sanctus Sanctum. This time, the Mageia Training Hall was his final destination.
The citadel within Sanctus remained perpetually magnificent. Each pillar was built with towering height, intricately carved with ornate patterns. The halls and corridors were constructed so vast that one always had to tilt their head back to gaze upward, adorned with exquisitely painted murals. The white basilica radiated an aura of mageia at all times.
Along the corridors stood displays of knightly armour and mageia artefacts. They appeared lifeless; yet, in truth, they were mageia golems. Driven by the energia engineering of a rune architect, they moved with purpose, offering salutes to the magis of Sanctus and surveying the perimeter like eternal sentries of the Sanctum.
Before long, Seraph arrived at the training hall. The expanse was so vast it could encompass an entire wide meadow within its walls, resembling a miniature colosseum. Multiple dueling stages dotted the interior of the hall, while hundreds of knight golems stood in silent ranks against the walls. This chamber was outfitted with every necessary piece of training apparatus.
The knight golems within the Sanctus Sanctum were guardian-class mageia golems, forged by the Sanctus rune architects themselves.
A Golem is a mageia puppet or a mechanical doll constructed through intricate mageia arts. They are highly favored among magis and inventors, created for a multitude of purposes and applications, serving as anything from sparring partners to loyal sentries.
As a specific type of mageia artefact born of energia engineering, golems are versatile and multifunctional. However, due to the complexity of their creation and the rarity of mageia minerals, each possesses a staggering value. Consequently, mageia golems remain a rarity in the outer world and are considered priceless treasures even by the magis within the Sanctus Sanctum.
These knight golems were no different from mageia puppets. Their armour was etched with mageia circuitry and ancient glyphs, embedding a sliver of spiritual will within the complex energia engineering. Only a magis of Sanctus could command them; an external magis would find them immovable unless they dared to forcibly alter the mageia circuitry or destroy them entirely.
Seraph stepped before a training golem. He extended his weathered wooden staff.
"Golemous Dominus!" Seraph incanted the spell.
[Shuu...]
The golem control spell of the rune architect was unleashed. A soft, glowing light erupted from the tip of his wooden staff. Seraph's mageia weapon was a low-tier artefact, akin to a twisted branch found randomly in a forest. His staff was a light mageia weapon, easily held with one hand. Though it was a used object, he could brandish it nimbly and use it deftly.
The light shot forth from the staff's tip, aimed directly at the training golem. The knight armour's eyes flared with light, and it raised its head as if awakening from a long slumber.
The lines of the mageia circuitry around the knight armour gradually glowed across its entire frame, like a mageia circle flowing around the golem. These were the mageia patterns etched onto the armour, along with a thousand ancient glyphs inscribed on both the front and back, connecting into a perfect mageia circle. Its luminescence signaled that it had begun to operate and was ready for the young man's commands.
Seraph walked down into the arena without speaking. Some magis needed to command golems with their voice, but others with sufficient force of will did not. This was especially true now that his soul had merged and transitioned into another person entirely.
Mageia and mageia golems possess their own will. As long as a magis can communicate and link with natural forces, they can manipulate those forces at will. Sometimes disasters arise from mageia power that surpasses control. These are the reasons that mageia power moves according to the specific will of the magis.
The training golem moved instantly without command. It walked into the center of the dueling stage with heavy steps, echoing throughout the training hall. An unknowing person might mistakenly think a human was hidden inside the mageia golem; however, this was not the case. Since Sanctus does not permit outsiders without mageia to enter, these mageia puppets moved solely via complex energia engineering and mageia circuitry.
The training hall resembled a miniature colosseum, with amphitheatre seating encircling the dueling stages. At any other hour, the air might have been thick with the cheers and roars of a crowd; now, the stands remained deathly silent, devoid of folk. The only sound was the grinding of metal emanating from the training golem before the young man.
[Clang!]
The knight golem unsheathed its blade with a chilling, metallic hiss, the ring of steel echoing throughout the chamber. The tip of the sword leveled at the young magis in a threatening stance, prepared to strike. With sharp precision, Seraph brandished his wooden staff, assuming a casting posture without yielding.
Without a signal to commence! Suddenly, the mageia golem lunged, thrusting its blade toward the young magis's chest. The training golem's sword was edgeless, as were the weapons of every golem within the training hall—a stark contrast to the knightly armours in the corridors, whose blades were razor-sharp and forged to slay intruders.
Seraph had intended to chant a spell and seize the initiative, yet the training armour moved with surprising fluidity. Its greaves stomped against the arena floor; in a heartbeat, the sword's point was upon him.
"Ventus Aura!" Seraph bellowed!
[Whoosh!]
The ventus aura spell was unleashed. A verdant radiance erupted from the young man's frame, his cloak snapping violently in the sudden gale. His velocity surged instantly. With a mere flick of his feet, Seraph's body blurred, evading the blunt sword by a hair's breadth. The blade whistled past his shoulder, missing by inches.
Though he might not suffer a laceration from the training golem's sword, the machine possessed immense physical power; its strikes could easily shatter bone or cause internal trauma.
The wind generated by the blade's passage whipped his silver hair across his face. His gaze remained locked onto the knight golem, unblinking. The young man leveled the tip of his wooden staff at the mageia golem, refusing to remain solely on the defensive.
"Ventus Blade!" Seraph incanted.
[Whish!]
The bellowing shout was unleashed alongside the ventus spell. Three wind blades erupted in three directions, curving through the air around Seraph. Their fluid, unpredictable trajectory was the hallmark of the ventus element.
The three blades arced toward the knight golem from triple vectors. The training golem kicked off the floor to evade, swinging its sword to shatter the wind blade directly in its path. However, it could not escape the remaining two mageia armaments surging from the flanks.
[Slash!]
The ventus blades slammed into the training golem's back with immense force. The sound of metal groaned as if the machine were being violently shaken; the metallic golem was struck from behind, its feet lifting slightly off the arena floor.