The Runesmith

Chapter 724 – Inspection.

“Hey, are those golems? Is that even allowed?”

“Aren’t those just strangely shaped golems? Did they stick small flotation stones into them? How can this be allowed?”

The people in the control box opposite Roland began speaking as they watched the floating dodecahedrons drift above the arena floor, positioning themselves at angles around the turtling construct. Mana pulsed through the runes covering their surfaces as they began preparing some kind of attack.

‘The reaction... They will probably raise a fuss after this is over.’

Roland could hear his opponents growing angry at the sight of the floating devices. Normally, they were simply regular golems, drones in a sense, each with their own programming and capabilities. Something like that, however, was not allowed in this competition. It was supposed to be one golem against another, with only a single operating system controlling everything.

There was one loophole in all of this. His golem was not truly a golem at all. The Runic Mobile Armor was more akin to a reactionary power suit. It was not a golem with artificial intelligence or a program independently controlling it. Thanks to this distinction, Roland had been given some wiggle room regarding what could and could not be controlled.

Since the main programming did not need to focus on the golem's movements itself, there was plenty of space left for it to control external weaponry. In this case, those weapons were modified golemic drones. They were controlled by the main golem core within the RMA, functioning as nothing more than shells that responded to its commands.

Even if the opposing team demanded to inspect them, they would realize that the floating devices were not actually golems. They were simply a new type of weapon that no one had previously thought to use. There was no rule against that.

The drone-like weapons hovered into position, taking up flanking positions high above the opposing construct. Their surfaces vibrated as mana gathered at their central focal points, glowing with a bright reddish hue. The turtling golem attempted to raise its tower shield to cover the new angles of attack, but its heavy frame moved far too slowly.

Robert did not need to bother operating the golem's auxiliary weapons himself, as they ran on an automatic program. He only had a few buttons to adjust their behavior and select which enemy they should prioritize. In this case, he ordered them to attack the flanks and rear of his opponent while he focused on the front.

Soon, his enemy was panicking. A blast of red energy erupted from the floating dodecahedrons, striking the vulnerable joints at the back of the heavy construct. Scorching heat blasted through the enchanted metal plating, softening the joints and forcing the machine to falter.

The opposing controller desperately attempted to reorient his golem, pivoting the tower shield toward the hovering drones. However, doing so exposed its front directly to Robert.

With a surge of mana through the RMA, Robert propelled the white and blue frame forward. He closed the distance in a fraction of a second, driving his heated blade into the newly exposed gap beneath the enemy's arm joint. The sword sliced through the metal and magical conduits, causing serious damage before Robert quickly jumped back, just as the other golem attempted to strike him with its massive sword.

A harsh screech of tearing metal echoed across the arena, followed by a shower of bright sparks. The hand holding the tower shield faltered slightly. The joint had been damaged, and the golem was now barely able to keep the shield upright.

It was now unable to retreat. The floating armaments moved higher and out of reach, their ranged attacks lacking enough power to cause serious damage, but still strong enough to slowly chip away at the heavy plating.

‘It won’t take long now.’

Roland commented as the whole match shifted in Robert’s favour. With one of the arm joints damaged, the enemy golem was as good as defeated. His brother had used a careful strategy of jumping in whenever an opportunity presented itself. Once the enemy golem focused on him, the floating drone armaments would pepper it with magical beam attacks, slowly causing more and more damage to its back and legs.

The heavy tower shield finally slipped from the golem’s weakened grip, clattering loudly onto the hard stone floor of the arena. Without its main line of defence, the bulky construct was left completely exposed to the relentless assault.

Robert did not hesitate for even a second. Taking full advantage of the opening, he drove the blue and white frame forward in a rapid burst of speed. The superheated blade collided with his opponent’s bulkier sword, sending sparks and mana particles scattering through the air.

The floating weapons continued to fire. With the opponent having no way to protect itself, it was only a matter of time before its internal structure buckled entirely. A second concentrated volley from the floating constructs struck the rear engine housing, damaging it enough to expose the mana crystals and fluid within.

Red light erupted from the cracks in the armour, followed by a loud hiss as mana vented from the damaged housing. The heavy sword slipped from the opponent’s hand and clattered against the stone. The massive machine then went limp as its core power was cut off.

“There it is, another victory for the Xandar Institute golem! Can anyone stop the rising star of this convocation?”

The announcer’s voice echoed through the stadium, declaring the decisive victory for Xandar. The spectators cheered, captivated by the unusual display of floating magical weapons.

Over in the opposing control box, the mages were shouting in frustration. They immediately demanded an inspection, claiming that deploying multiple constructs violated the rules of the tournament.

Roland remained calm. He had studied the rulebook thoroughly before designing the support gear. The regulations strictly prohibited autonomous secondary golems, but these floating units possessed neither independent cores nor any form of decision making system. They were simple directional focal points, powered and guided directly by the main suit’s singular golem core.

The golems had already been checked for things such as multiple main cores containing the program, and no one had raised any objections. There was probably nothing to worry about. However, now that the support weapons had been revealed, it was clear that the remaining matches could become a little more difficult.

‘I wonder if they will adapt to it in some way or not...’

Even though that was a possibility, Roland was not worried. His design was quite solid, and it was not as though his opponents could suddenly develop an entirely new design, replace their golems, or change their weaponry between matches.

“Contestants from Xandar’s Institute, please remain.”

It was not the announcer who spoke this time. Instead, a group of arena judges appeared. They did not attempt to examine the golem inside the storage room. Instead, they moved directly toward Roland’s creation while it remained on the arena floor in full view of everyone.

“Could they really have been cheating?”

“It would make sense. They are winning far too much. There has to be some kind of trick to it!”

“But what? And wouldn’t the archmages have caught on to it by now?”

The people in the crowd began talking among themselves. Roland could hear them all as he descended from his booth and made his way toward his golem.

Robert remained inside the cockpit, holding his breath as the three tournament judges strode across the stone floor toward the white construct. The opposing team’s head instructor marched closely behind them, red-faced and gesturing frantically toward the floating dodecahedrons that had now settled back onto the shoulder mounts of the suit.

"This is a blatant violation of Article Four, clause six!"

The opposing professor shouted, but luckily, his voice was not broadcast by the audio enchantments in the arena, leaving the audience to wonder what they were arguing about.

"A single contestant is permitted to operate only one construct. Deploying auxiliary units with their own main cores constitutes an illegal formation!"

While golems could have multiple cores to help manage different functions, there was always one main core that contained the primary program. It acted as the golem's main brain, making it a separate construct capable of moving independently without needing to receive orders.

"Please calm yourself. The judges are taking the measurements."

The judges were robed mages who did not seem to be affiliated with the kingdom Roland was from. They began circling the white knight frame while holding their staves and casting spells specifically designed for such occasions. These spells would allow them to determine whether anything was out of place or whether something had been added to the frame after the initial inspection.

Roland stood quietly before his creation and looked at the old man from the other institute, who was glaring at him. However, once his visor pulsed slowly, the professor quieted down as if afraid Roland might blast him with magic.

Technically speaking, Roland had gone over all the rules and should have been in the clear. He had adhered to every parameter, but that did not necessarily mean he would be let off the hook. Many times, prestige and connections mattered more than written regulations, especially when an underdog school from Xandar kept outshining the established institutions.

One of the senior judges, an elderly mage with intricate silver runes embroidered along his robes, stepped forward. He raised a glowing crystal orb toward the dodecahedrons mounted on the armor's shoulders. The orb pulsed with a soft golden light, scanning the inner circuitry of the support gear and tracing the runic pathways down into the central housing of the main frame.

Silence fell over the surrounding crowd as everyone waited for the verdict. The angry professor glared at Roland, confident that his claim would hold up, but Roland merely stood with his arms crossed, his expression unreadable behind his visor.

After several tense minutes, the senior judge lowered his orb and turned toward the panel of officials. He cleared his throat, his amplified voice carrying across the entire arena so that every spectator could hear him clearly.

"There seems to be someone inside the golem itself. Could you explain yourself?"

The old mage walked over to Roland and spoke to him, something Roland had expected. While the golem had been scanned previously, it had only been examined before Robert entered it and started piloting it. It was not strange that, once they discovered someone was inside, they would want to inspect the interior and the pilot's cockpit to make sure nothing was amiss.

‘There it goes. I wonder how people will react.’

Roland had expected this to happen sooner or later. Having a pilot inside a golem was something new and unheard of. Some people had probably already noticed, and even some of the judges might have known and simply allowed it to slide until someone complained. It was also possible that they were interested in seeing what was inside his runic machine.

"Is it possible to do this within the golem storage facilities rather than here?"

He asked the judge, as it would still be better not to reveal everything. However, the old man shook his head.

"The tournament regulations require that all live disputes be settled on the arena floor so that the spectators and other schools may witness the fairness of the judgment. If there is a living person operating from within the construct, we must inspect the inner cavity immediately."

The senior judge’s reasoning made sense. There was also the possibility that someone could hide something if they waited for the golem to walk back to the storage facility. Something similar had happened in the past, with golem craftsmen replacing parts to conceal illegal modifications before an official inspection could take place. Even if it only took ten minutes, there would still be enough time during the walk back to change something. 

There was no turning back now. Roland gave a quiet nod. He knew there was no point in arguing with the senior judge, who had already made his decision. If Roland refused, he would probably be banned from participating any further.

“Come out, Robert. It should be fine. They won’t try to examine your face or identity. They just need to scan the inside of the golem to see if anything has been hidden within it.”

“Alright.”

Robert pressed the lever that activated the mechanism for opening the cockpit hatch. A muffled hiss of released pressure echoed across the quiet arena floor as the heavy chest plates unlocked. Metal gears groaned softly, and the thick, runically reinforced front armor pivoted outward.

From within the newly opened cavity, Robert emerged wearing a fitted Silvergrace pilot suit and a strange helmet.

Gasps rippled through the surrounding stands. Spectators leaned over the railings to get a better view of the revealed interior. Even the senior judge blinked in utter astonishment, his mouth opening slightly as he stared at the man who had just climbed out and jumped to the arena floor.

“I will examine the interior now.”

He made no further comment. There was nothing preventing someone from sitting inside a golem to control it, but most people had assumed that Roland was the one controlling it from the control box overlooking the arena.

“Someone came out from inside.”

“Why would someone be inside? And why would they hollow out part of the golem? That makes no sense!”

“But they have been winning, so it has to be worth something, right?”

“Maybe that person was controlling the golem from inside somehow?”

The people in the arena began talking among themselves, coming up with various theories about what was happening. The judges, on the other hand, moved to examine the interior of the cockpit. They also scanned Robert to make sure he was not using any illegal spell scrolls, forbidden mana boosters, or external artifacts to assist him in operating the construct.

While some people might have been concerned about their secrets being stolen by the mages present, Roland was not worried. The golem had several layers of encryption, and the magic orb this person was using could not copy his runic enchantments. Even if it somehow managed to do so, the golem would never function properly without his knowledge.

The silver scanning orb swept over Robert from head to toe, its light reflecting off the sleek visor of his helmet. The senior judge leaned closer, squinting as the light illuminated the intricate wiring around the pilot seat and the singular massive golem core nestled above the cockpit. After scanning the area several times, the examination was complete.

“There don’t appear to be any secondary main cores, and those constructs have no golem cores within them.”

The verdict soon followed as the senior judge spoke. He paused for a moment, allowing his words to sink in before raising his voice so the entire stadium could hear the official statement.

“The floating mechanisms are merely directional runic conduits linked directly to the primary core located within the main chassis. They possess no independent thought, no secondary control cores, and no autonomous decision systems. They are weapons, no different from a bow firing magical arrows or an enchanted staff.”

Roland was a bit surprised that the judge had managed to summarise his work so well, but that was the gist of it. As expected, the people to whom the golem they had just defeated belonged were not pleased with the verdict. The angry professor shouted in disbelief, claiming that having a living pilot inside a golem violated the spirit of the ancient contest. However, he was quickly dismissed, as there were no rules against it, and the older golems from the past had used similar technology that had eventually been abandoned.

“There are no regulations that forbid anyone from riding inside a golem construct. It is the same with the outside. The operator has freedom. There is no reason to continue this. The victory of the Xandar Institute is official.”

The wait was finally over, and the stadium erupted into cheers as Xandar Institute was declared the victor. Many people were now looking at the strange golem, into which the man who had been piloting it moved back inside. It stood up and returned to the platform that would carry it down.

Roland watched the people in the stadium. It was clear that many of them were interested in his design. There were even people from the Ironspire Collegium in the crowd whose mana signatures he had previously recorded to track them. Now that they had seen the golem in action, many of them would probably begin putting the pieces together and realise what was responsible for its fluid movements. Still, he was sure there were no countermeasures they could muster that would allow them to do anything about it.

“Was that truly fine, brother?”

“It’s fine, Robert. It had to come out sooner or later.”

He replied while bringing up the feed from Lucienne’s treasure hunt. He was far more interested in what his sister was doing than in what the other craftsmen thought about his strange design. Somewhere in the back of his mind, though, he wondered if this would change the world around him. Would they embrace it as progress, or would they simply see it as some kind of eccentric machinery that was not worth the effort to develop further?