Cashew: Hm... That Stone Golem looked powerful, but I doubt a Stone Golem made by me would be similar. In fact, I doubt any Stone Golem made by a person would be like that one, but they do seem powerful enough to validate trying to make one.
Cashew looked at the Dragon Meat he had, it seems he can only eat 10% of it before feeling full. So this could last him 10 Days, assuming it doesn't rot.
Cashew: The Old Man said that the benefits and downsides would be stronger the more I eat, but I don't feel any different than I did the first time.
Cashew decided not to think about it and pulled out the Golem Construction Spellbook, reading it some more.
He already read a good amount of it when he first got the book, but he was rereading it to see if he missed anything.
Cashew was only reaffirmed that making a Golem would be very expensive, not expensive in Coin, but expensive in resources. Even with the assistance of the dragon meat, Cashew isn't sure if he has enough Mana to power a Golem Core, so he sighed and gave up quickly on making a Golem, returning his attention to the SpellBook on Runes.
Reading this Spellbook, runes are just as complicated as Golem Construction, but it seems easier at the same time, the book even goes into the crafting of your own spells, which Cashew found interesting.
Cashew: Who knew that Runes and Spell Crafting followed the same format? I'll avoid spell crafting for now, how am I gonna make new spells if I don't know much about already existing spells?
Moving on, Cashew kept reading the book on Runes, looking for a section that talked about camouflage of your runes, which inevitably went back to spell crafting, with annoyed Cashew, he didn't wanna craft a spell, he wanted to improve the camouflage of his Poison Rune and Ice Rune so that people won't spot them so easily. Cashew shuddered at those Goblins in the past spotting his runes and avoiding them entirely.
Reading the book some more, he eventually came to the conclusion that Runes involve spell crafting and he can't avoid it, so he went back to the spell book that he obtained the Poison Rune from, studied the Rune a bit, went back to the Spellbook on Runes, and slowly redrew the spell in the dirt with the Symbol for camouflage drawn into it, only for it to fail. Cashew then tried making a entirely new Rune that did the exact same thing as Poison Rune, but camouflaged, which worked. The Rune slowly stabilized itself in the ground and turned invisible, only Cashew could see it.
Cashew: This is annoying... Maybe making a Golem would be better... The Runes can get more and more complicated and the book on runes suggested drawing the Runes onto a scroll or in a spellbook for faster casting, otherwise you'll need to memorize the Rune itself.
Cashew sighed, Hoping that 1 Rune would be good enough for now, he went inside and collected the unused 4 Crystals he had left, deciding to sell them.
Cashew looked around that house for a moment, seemingly looking for something.
Cashew: Hm... I swear there was a Long sword in here... Did those guards take it when they took the bodies?
Cashew Cursed the guards silently, shutting his chest and locking it, putting the key back in his shoulder bag and heading out.
Cashew: I'll try my luck at Creating a Golem when I get back.
Cashew started to walk towards the village again, not running because he wants to spend time thinking about what kind of Golem and the type of Golem he can make.
The book mentioned many different types of Golems, Wood Golems - Not very good at defense, Most mages who use Golems only use Wood Golems for manual Labor, such as Mining, building, moving materials, etc.
There are Stone Golems - Which are the most popular type of Golem among mages for their defense and offense capabilities as well as ease to make.
There are Metal Golems, which most mages hate as they are worst than Wood Golems, but also deteriorate faster and are very expensive to build. The Golem Construction Spellbook mentioned that about 600 Years ago, a mage built a Metal Golem out of Iron ore that people slaved away for just as a way to show that he has absolute power over those people.
Next are Crystal Golems, On top of being very difficult to make and Expensive, Crystal Golems are very powerful, Powerful enough to destroy an entire city by itself from just existing. But with large amounts of power, They are incredibly difficult to control, So only the most powerful mages can even attempt to make a Crystal Golem, if someone else tried, the Golem would break free from control and go on a Rampage. There are only 3 known Crystal Golems in the world that are being controlled.
There are plenty of other Golems, but the 4 above are the only ones Cashew could potentially get the resources to make. Wood Golems would be the easiest, then Stone Golems, Then Metal, then Crystal.
Cashew finally reached the Village gate again and saw the Massive Guard was still there.
Massive Guard: You... Back again?... Finally, Turning. Yourself in?
"This will be difficult. I don't think he would chase me if I leave the Village, but he probably will if I break into the village." Cashew was thinking about how to get around him.
As Cashew formulated a plan in his head, Rognil showed up and Stopped the Massive Guard.
Rognil: Bert. I thought I told you to drop it?
The Massive Guard, Who's name is Bert, Cashew suddenly remembered Rognil mentioning a "Bert" in the Cabin.
Rognil approached Cashew and crouched down to be eye level.
Rognil: Why are you here? I thought I said you needed to rest and let the injury heal?
Cashew: It's healed up. I'm here for the Old Man in the Pink Merchants basement.
Rognil: Oh, I see... Well, just go there and hurry on out. The people here are wary of you because of your recent stunts.
Cashew: Wary?
Rognil: You attacked a guard, you fled from a guard, and you resisted arrest. Everyone thinks you're a Bandit.
Cashew looked at the people nearby the gate, and Rognil was right, they were all eyeing Cashew with suspicion. A few parents were even huding their kids.
Cashew: Even hiding their kids from me? Be suspicious all you want, but don't they think hiding their kids from me is a bit dramatic?
Rognil: Look, they don't trust you and probably never will, just hurry up, do your business with the Merchant, and leave. It might be best if you don't come back to this Village ever again as well.
Cashew: How fun...
Cashew entered the Village and headed to the Merchant.he did not Rush like Rognil told him to because he was feeling petty.
"Why are they scared of a young child? Any of them could punt me away like a ball of they really wanted to and they're scared of me?" Cashew thought in his head, Watching people give him a side eye as he walked.
Cashew finally reached the Merchant with a Pink door and entered. He looked up from his book and pointed at the exit.
Store Owner: No. Get out. You're bad for business and you never buy anything.
Cashew: I'm here to sell. And maybe buy depending on prices.
Store Owner: Well come in and show me what you've got!
Cashew: I'm selling to the Old Man in the basement.
Cashew started as he walked towards the door to the basement.
Store Owner: Oh fuck off... Get out.
Cashew: Sorry, couldn't hear you over the sound of the door opening.
Cashew Rushed into the basement and shut the door behind him, announcing his presence to the Old Man.
Old Man: Oh, Look... It's the Trouble Maker. What do you want?
Cashew: I got 4 Crystals to sell.
Cashew pulled the 4 Crystals out of his pocket and handed them to the Old Man.
Old Man: Oh, these are fresh, and Nice. So you lied when I asked if you only took 1?
Cashew: No. You assumed I only took 1 and I never corrected you.
Old Man: I assume you also have a Crystal the size of a human head, since you mentioned that specific size?
Cashew: I left it at home because I don't have 20 Silver coins for you to turn it into an Orb and I don't know how much those smaller ones would sell for.
Old Man: Fair enough. Even Selling these Crystals, you still won't have enough to turn the big one into an Orb from just this profit. Looking at these Crystals, I'll pay 3 Silver Coins per Crystal. So 12 Silver Coins total.
Cashew: I Feel like you're ripping me off, but I'll accept it anyways.
Old Man: I have no reason to scam a young child, but here are 12 Silver coins.
Cashew: Thank you. Since I'm being honest, I do have dragon meat, ate some of it. Then asked you questions about it last time I visited. I don't feel any different after the second time eating the dragon meat, why?
Old Man: Well, you're not gonna live a very long life, then... Since you already got the mark, you might as well try to get as much as possible from it. When eating dragon meat, you're supposed to eat as much of it in one sitting as possible, not eating it slowly over time, the benefits you get will become less if you eat dragon meat that way. You're supposed to ignore the fullness and eat as much Dragon Meat as you have. That will maximize the benefits.
Cashew: Thank you. What about Dragon Scales?
Old Man: Dragon Scales? You managed to get that too? Well, Dragon Scales are very durable material, if you brought that with you, you could easily get 20 Silver coins off of it. I don't have 20 Silver Coins though.
Cashew: I see... Thank you, I'm leaving now.
Old Man: You're still not gonna name yourself?
Cashew: Can't hear you over the door!
Cashew Rushed up stairs and exited the basement, finding himself and the Store owner looking at each other again.
Cashew: ...
Store Owner: ...
Cashew: I got coin. May I browse?
Store Owner: if you don't buy anything, you're banished from this store and I'll call the guard to escort you out. You gotta buy 4 items. 3 items for each visit and a 4th one for being a pain in my ass.
Cashew: Fine. I'll browse. If I think I won't buy anything, I'll run outside and flee.
Store Owner: Now you gotta buy 5 Items.
Cashew: I hope the stuff here isn't too expensive...
The Store Owner didn't respond, he simply returned his attention to his book.
Cashew started walking around the store and seeing many different items. He saw books on various different topics, no spell books though. He saw clothing, he saw what looked like a junk shelf, full of random trinkets and random items, he saw a few weapons, not much better or worse than his Dagger, though, Cashew saw many different things and only a few that were of interest.