I found myself sitting in front of the Thaumonomicon, Alex next to me. She was catching me up on the things she had studied, which were surprisingly few for the time I had spent away. She justified her lack of deeper understanding by giving a very detailed recap on the basics of thaumaturgy. She had read about aura theory, including the basics on vis and nodes, the negative effects they could have on the world around them through flux and warp and memorized all aspects into the third tier. That was a good basis to build on.

I decided to go through the Thaumonomicon from my own starting point and give her simplified explanations for any questions she had. That would be the fastest way to work out what we could do. It did not take long to find something about powering golems. This first part was only for the base forms, though. I still made sure to read through it in detail.

On Golem Bodies and Seals – A Material Study

For the apprentice, crafting golem bodies is a very good test of discipline and patience. Any and all mistakes, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, will have a distinct effect on the finished product. A small scratch here or too much pressure there may reduce the golem’s durability by several magnitudes. It may also hinder the flow of vis and its effectiveness. I am sure you have already seen some of those effects first-hand as your master activated your first creations. Thus, you have a good understanding of what goes into these masterful creations.

What you may not yet understand is the effect of the material on a finalized minion. Should you find yourself lacking vis due to a weak node or simply overstressing it, you may not be able to properly power it.

There are several ways to go about supplying vis to a golem. Each and every one of these has its own advantages and disadvantages. What they all share, though, is the significance the golem’s material plays in their efficiency. Please note that your most basic versions need much less to fulfil their task but may be much slower as a result.

One more thing before I start. I have put the working speed into relation with the materials’ weight. This obviously eliminates the relevance of the more base physical phenomena.

Now, let me talk about the materials I have tested.

First off, the most base golem everyone starts with: Clay. An easy to form material with little in the form of inherent magic. It is brittle and on the lighter side. Usually, you will find the outside burnt to harden the surface and the inside kept dynamic. This has a very interesting effect on its magical conductivity. The soft clay within the golem constantly cycles through any cracks forming during its movements. In the process, it is able to easily cycle vis. Sadly, the same mechanism requires a certain amount of energy, reducing efficiency. It is still quite useful for one with little energy at hand but note that the golem moves slowly despite its low weight due to constantly repairing its outer shell.

The second material: Greatwood.

I decided to only skim the next few entries since there was little of immediate use. Greatwood had good conductivity but tended to crack similar to clay. Less so, making it a little more efficient, but not by much. Straw and flesh were mostly ignored. Iron was looking alright but had the second-worst conductivity only better than straw. It was mostly used for combat golems due to its high base durability. Brass was much better for vis efficiency but also much easier to damage. The best material this thaumaturge had access to was thaumium if only a little. I focused a little more on the text since Alex was made of it.

Last but not least, I observed thaumium. The pinnacle of alchemy is much harder to get your hands on especially if you are early in your pursuit of the Truth. Even I only have been able to make two golems from it. As expected, the conductivity is unmatched by anything else I could get my hand on. I do wonder if silverwood could be better but that would be a waste to use for a minion. Thaumium is, surprisingly, not the most efficient material for making golems. It is still a metal and to move it, more energy is required. Not just because of the weight but to keep the structure whole through most any strain. It is surpassed by clay and greatwood if you cannot provide enough base power to let it move. However, once the base needs are met, a thaumium golem will be using very little above that to fulfil its tasks. I recommend not making these for mundane tasks unless you want to flood your workshop with flux. Even with the material seemingly binding some of the harmful parts of aura, it creates the most out of any you could use. Keep it for the most important golems.

I turned to Alex.

“That sounds quite good, doesn’t it? We just need to get you that base and then you’ll be able to run without any issues.”

“You’re right. I’m just worried how things change for… well, me.”

“Because you’re an advanced golem. That’s the next part. I only skimmed it before. I believe if I understand your species better, I’ll be able to find more in the Thaumonomicon as well.”

“Is that how it works?”

I nodded.

“Weird book…”

I kept going for the rest of the day, studying what other thaumaturges before me had found on advanced golems. There were several things I was not very confident in and had to reread. Alex species was a construct just like the normal versions. The only real difference was the head, as I already knew. It was made from a real brain. Surprisingly, someone had found zombies' brains worked better than anything else. I was a little worried about the fact that zombies were a thing in this world. Especially because I had not yet seen any of them. Undeath was an aspect, however, so it was not much of a surprise. I had no interest to make my own I got back on track.

The brain used for an advanced golem did not matter. The previous sidetrack was the only possible difference. Usually, smaller organs were used to have an easier time with the golem’s construction afterwards. The process was a complicated infusion recipe, some of the components being infused objects themselves. It seemed… excessive. And yet, I learned my suspicions were true. The crafting required a large amount of soul essence which was not able to make a new one from scratch. It simply dragged in one from beyond with the aid of some magic and alien essence. Knowledge was added as well to give it some base to work off.

Alex told me she remembered dying in an accident and after that, there was only darkness for a while. At some point, maybe months, maybe years, she found she could see. She had no body but a strange and familiar structure expanded all around her. It looked a bit like a DNA spiral made of smaller versions of itself. There were spiders weaving purple threads all throughout it, some larger than the whole thing combined, some so small she could not really see them. Then, all of the arachnids were suddenly ripped away, many limbs left behind in the process. Alex had just been trying to see where they went when everything went black again. This time, she could barely even think, until energy flooded her and she found herself trapped in a golem body with instructions she could not obey.

That helped me very little for the current situation but was still rather interesting. I wanted to see her soul more closely one day. Maybe we could become close enough friends? I was slightly curious if every advanced golem remembered their previous life. If so, I might have to free them. Even if just for my own conscience. There was little to do about that now, though.

I kept going with the Material Study I had started on earlier. After understanding how advanced golems were made, I found there were a few more paragraphs for every material. They spoke about the artificial brain requiring more vis to function properly but also increasing the efficiency by a little. The soul bound to the golem was able to learn how to guide and preserve vis which, after a few months of use, would appear even in the material itself as a slightly warped version of it. Nothing that actually harmed the master, though it said nothing about other people nearby.

That was the first step. Alex could learn how to use her vis more efficiently. That would let us save some effort and find a solution sooner.

The second step was actually powering golems. There was a mention of the methods at the beginning of the article which I know looked for. A few pages opened up, several methods outlined in detail.

The first one was direct supply. In essence, it was what we used right now. Only, the thaumaturge would usually take a vis crystal to temporarily empower the golem. A direct bond was much too dangerous. Basic golems were unable to read how much energy they could take without hurting the owner while advanced golems usually had very high control of their soul and could use it to harm their master.

There were several methods of indirect supply. They were split into two categories: Essentia and Vis. The former was commonly supplied for a modified construct with some sort of tank within the body. It was useless to us since Alex did not have one. The latter was based on nodes. Always. A thaumaturge would find some way to connect their golem to a node and recharge them from it. This required little power from said node, if done right, and was practically infinitely renewable. It was also our second-best option, in my opinion. The best was getting Alex to major vis enrichment and have her form her own personal node in her body.

With a plan ready, we decided to start working. Rather than taking more from the node in the white forest, I flew out and collected vis crystals throughout the nearby mountains. I made sure to pick up mostly order and earth crystals for now since they combined into crystal and then metal. I would have liked some magic crystals as well but there was nothing suitable nearby. We just wanted to confirm if it worked, for now, so it did not matter much.

Alex touched the first vis crystal carefully. At first, nothing happened. Only after I explained in detail how I had gotten my vis enrichment was she able to figure out how to pull on the energy. Which then promptly shot into the bond and fed my soul. This was bad. Not only did she not get any energy, I also had some flux forced onto me. We tried again, this time both of us blocking the connection. It worked a little better, only most of the energy going to me. At least we could probably practice this.

We found nothing about vis enrichment in her Status. I assumed part of that was because of how the energy was absorbed. We would have to try our best and if this did not work, a node would be our only option. For now.