Student To King: The Transportation To A New World

Chapter 51: Progress

Ace and Yuni spent hours cleaning up one of the castle rooms. It was twice the size of their bedroom, perfect for Ace's project. He activated his inventory ring, releasing a swarm of mana particles that formed into the golem they'd captured.

"Yuni, help me get it on the table," Ace called.

Together, they lifted the two-meter-tall golem. Its armoured shell was bulky and thick, making it challenging to move. Ace remembered how rigid and robotic the golems had seemed when they first encountered them, despite being crafted by the skilled Artes.

"Time to make history." Ace said, excitement in his voice. "The first automated soldier for the Ineran Kingdom. But it won't be easy."

Ace saw both limitations and potential in the golem. He imagined a whole squad of these man-made soldiers fighting alongside him. But first, he had to solve a few problems. The lack of flexibility, bulky size, and basic functionality.

He carefully took the golem apart, piece by piece, studying its structure. When he reached the damaged magical core, he glanced at Yuni, who was still watching him intently.

"You know, this will take a while," he said. "You don't have to stay and watch all day."

"I don't have anything else to do," Yuni shrugged. "I could sew something, but I don't have any materials."

"You can sew?" Ace asked, surprised.

Yuni smiled proudly. "Of course! Ineran princesses learn tailoring basics. I actually really enjoy it and I'd say I'm pretty good."

"I'll take your word for it," Ace nodded. "But for now, you're stuck watching me if that's what you want to do."

"I could stare at you all day," Yuni said with a smile.

Ace pretended not to hear her comment and got back to work. He laid out the materials from his inventory ring, realizing he only had enough for one golem. While Artes' design was clever, its movement was stiff due to the skeletal frame that prioritized protection over mobility.

As Ace worked, his mind raced with ideas for improvements. He knew he could make this golem faster, more agile, and more efficient. With Yuni watching, he felt a mix of pressure and motivation to create something groundbreaking for this world.

"...I have to make a few redesigns. Instead of potentially making golems I'll use the term 'automatons' to mimic a humans proportions. So there's going to be a size difference from before." 

"How long do you think it will take for you to craft this one?" 

"The frame might take an hour of configuring and testing, plus I have the magic core to worry about. The armour might take less than an hour if I'm just reshaping what it previously had." Ace answered as he kept note of all the potential changes in his head.

"Then I'll make myself comfortable then."

Hours went by as Ace underestimated the task at hand in front of him. He wanted to make the exoskeleton as durable as possible whilst making it compatible with future armour pieces he plans to attach. However Ace failed to predict that it had taken double the predicted time to complete. 

Unfortunately, it didn't stop from there. When Ace had started work with the magical core it wasn't originally configured as he hoped, inevitably configuring the core from scratch. He had to implement his settings which will hopefully allow the automaton to synchronise its communications with future units when the time comes. The core is both the power source and the processor that grants a structural being life.

"This was... a lot harder than I thought." Ace says with barely any energy in his body. He poured so much mana into experimenting with the perfect frame for potential units. It didn't help that he had to concentrate even further on its magical core.