Chapter 106: Magic Core: Korlotis

Romina shook her head, her tone noticeably gentler than before. “There’s no need to blame yourself. Perhaps my being here today was the Hunter God’s guidance. If it means saving my people, then helping you is only natural.”

She had witnessed everything just now. Nolan throwing himself into danger to protect his companions. Little Donnie risking his life to shield the others. The tiger-girl’s astonishing agility and the elemental mage’s keen perception had left equally deep impressions on her. Though she was not a woman of many words, the sharp eyes of a ranger captain missed nothing. Her opinion of Nolan’s group had risen several degrees again.

“Your companions are impressive as well,” she added.

For the first time, she smiled faintly and inclined her head in a subtle bow, the instinctive gesture Wood Elves used to show acknowledgment toward someone they respected.

Elves were already renowned for their beauty, and Wood Elves, sharing the same lineage while carrying a distinct wildness, possessed even more striking figures and far less conservative clothing.

That brief smile and graceful dip of her head made Nolan’s heartbeat quicken despite himself. Fortunately, nobody seemed to notice his awkwardness.

“Guidance, huh…” Nolan quickly shoved those distracting thoughts aside and picked up the conversation to hide his embarrassment. “I prefer to believe people shape their own fate.”

Ever since learning the truth behind the original storyline, he had never been fond of words like destiny or guidance.

“Still, thank you for helping us.”

Vivi came hurrying out of the corridor after checking Renee over and confirming she was unharmed. The first thing she noticed was Romina talking with Nolan, which made her puff her cheeks slightly in displeasure. But the moment she spotted the blood still seeping from Nolan’s shoulder wound, her expression tightened with worry. “Nolan! Are you alright?”

“Just a flesh wound. I’m not dying anytime soon, so don’t worry.” Nolan waved it off casually.

“That’s blatant favoritism, Vivi!” Little Donnie complained loudly while wrapping a bandage around himself. “I got hurt too! Why are you only worried about Lord Nolan?”

Even Renee, who was still recovering nearby, couldn’t help laughing at that.

Vivi’s face turned bright red instantly. “Th-that’s because…” she stammered while glaring at Little Donnie. “Because Sister Anna specifically warned me before we left! If Nolan gets injured, she’ll come after me when we get back!”

“Anna, huh…” Nolan recalled Anna’s perpetually serious face and sighed helplessly. “Then let’s just not tell her. Otherwise she’ll nag me to death once we return.”

As he spoke, he took bandages and medicine from the pack Vivi handed him and tightened the wrappings around his shoulder to stop the bleeding.

“Alright, enough fooling around.” Nolan stood and rolled his sore arm. “We’ve only got about two minutes. Let’s deal with this big guy first.”

He walked toward the motionless golem and placed a hand gently against its stone body.

Closing his eyes, he focused carefully.

Though the construct had collapsed from overload, the core inside it, Korlotis, still emitted faint but unique energy fluctuations as it attempted self-repair.

After a short moment, Nolan opened his eyes. “I found it. The core’s located beneath the junction between the head and chest, around here.” He pointed beneath the golem’s neck.

Then he leaped upward, stepping along protruding ridges in the stone body before landing atop its broad shoulder in two quick bounds.

Mountain’s Resonance had already returned to its one-handed sword form.

Without hesitation, Nolan drove the blade down into the marked spot.

Clang!

Without its magical barrier, the golem’s stone shell was still incredibly durable, but against an elemental holy sword infused with Nolan’s strength, it was no longer enough.

Soon, a fist-sized hole appeared in the construct’s chest.

Nolan sheathed his sword and thrust his hand directly into the opening, feeling around inside.

A few seconds later, his eyes lit up.

“Found it!”

He jerked his arm back violently.

Crack!

Something inside snapped loose.

When Nolan withdrew his hand, a pitch-black octahedron roughly the size of a fist rested in his palm.

Its smooth metallic surface reflected the firelight like a mirror. Deep within its core, yellow-brown light pulsed rhythmically like breathing itself, exuding a strange and beautiful magical aura.

Several seconds later, the glow dimmed and vanished completely, signaling the core’s dormant state.

The moment Nolan looked at it, a line of system text visible only to him appeared before his eyes.

【Magic Core: Korlotis】

【Quality: Fantasy】

【Dormant. Authorization inactive.】

【A relic from the War of Heaven. The prototype of modern Tyr magic cores. Though its output has drastically deteriorated under the erosion of time, it remains one of the most beautiful miracles in the history of magitech.】

“Why are all golems humanoid? Don’t ask me. Ask the miraculous Korlotis instead.”

— Edric the Mad, Tyr’s Chief Grand Magus and creator of Korlotis.

Finally.

He had obtained it at last.

Even in Glory, where dungeon instances could be endlessly reset, only a handful of players had ever managed to acquire this item.

This was already a treasure second only to Mythic-grade equipment. More importantly, for magitech creations like this, quality alone could never fully represent their true worth.

If he could reactivate this core in the future, the benefits to his territory would be immeasurable.

The instant Nolan removed the core from the golem’s body, the massive construct suddenly emitted a series of cracking sounds.

Crack… crack… crack…

Then, before everyone’s astonished eyes, the four-meter-tall golem collapsed like a sandcastle struck by a wave. Its enormous body disintegrated into an ordinary pile of lifeless rubble.

“Wow… it just fell apart?” Vivi stared at the heap of stones, shaking her head regretfully. “What a waste. I was thinking how amazing it would’ve been if we could drag something like that back to Coldsteel City and make it guard the gates.”

Her thoughts reflected everyone else’s feelings.

A Gold-rank golem guardian. Just imagining it was enough to make anyone excited.

Even Romina, usually calm and composed, showed a trace of envy. If Forest Home possessed such a powerful defender, the burden on the ranger corps would lessen considerably.

“What’s there to regret?” Nolan jumped down from the golem’s shoulder and raised the black core in his hand proudly. “You think that giant lump of stone was the treasure? Wrong. This is the real essence of the golem. As long as the core exists, a new golem body can always be created. And it has plenty of other uses too.” He glanced dismissively at the pile of rubble on the ground. “That shell was just a body formed by the Omnipotence Core adapting to the environmental characteristics of the earth-element plane. In simple terms, it was a replaceable vessel.”

“What? You can make another one?”

Little Donnie and Vivi’s eyes lit up instantly.

A summonable Gold-rank golem guardian? As an enemy, it had been terrifying. But if it became an ally, that would be unbelievably cool.

Nolan chuckled at their excitement and nodded. “In theory, yes. But reactivating it and making it obey us requires some special methods. Honestly, I don’t know how to do that yet. Still, there’s no rush. We can deal with it after we return.”

As he spoke, he carefully slipped the heavy magic core into his pocket.

What Nolan didn’t notice was that blood from the wound on his shoulder had run down his arm and onto the black octahedron.

As the blood seeped slowly into the dormant core, a faint red light flickered deep within it.

At the same time, a series of new system notifications flashed rapidly across Nolan’s vision.

But at that moment, he was busy answering Vivi and the others’ excited questions and paid them no attention.

【Detected living blood sample…】

【Bloodline authorization protocol activated… analyzing sample…】

【Analysis complete… bloodline verification passed.】

【Authority confirmed: No. 2, Dragon Legion “Fang of the Dragon God,” Lord Commander-class.】

【Korlotis-class core authorization approved… protocol accepted… awaiting activation…】