Chapter 566: A New Companion

In the end, Tauro succeeded in creating a total of seventeen puppets: fourteen large puppets modeled after the Guardian Stone Golems, two adult human-type puppets—one male and one female—and one child-type puppet.

The fourteen Guardian Stone Golem-based puppets had their joints reinforced with the mysterious dungeon material Ragune had obtained. The same material was also used as armor over the abdomen, where the core was located, partially covering their main weakness.

The two adult-type puppets were made entirely from the mysterious dungeon material. Not only were they extremely durable, but they were also equipped in the chest with the shockwave mechanism—the Guardian Stone Golem’s most powerful offensive ability. Their strength was beyond question.

Above all, however, the child-type puppet exceeded even Tauro’s expectations. It was an autonomous-thinking type, capable of acting and making decisions on its own even without direct orders from Tauro.

Surprisingly, the child-type puppet could also share information with the other puppets. The fact that it could control them without Tauro’s direct input was a major advantage.

The thought of such a puppet rebelling against humanity was chilling. However, since it remained under Tauro’s control and helped reduce the burden of operating the other puppets, it was incredibly convenient.

“You don’t have to name all of them, but why not at least give names to the adult and child dolls?”

Aeris suggested it, perhaps because she had already grown attached to the child-type puppet.

“…You’re right. Okay then… The original fourteen will be called the ‘Rock’ series. The adult male and female will be ‘Adam’ and ‘Eve.’ And the child is… Seth, I think.”

Tauro chose simple, fitting names that were easy to remember.

“Seth, huh? Yes, I like it.”

Aeris seemed pleased with the naming.

“I agree. Sounds great. Nice to meet you, Seth.”

Ankh held out his fist, and the child-type puppet, Seth, lightly bumped it with his own.

“Oh? You actually understand!”

Ankh was impressed by Seth’s responsiveness.

“Haha! That’s because I sent the image to Seth. But he’ll learn from it, so I think he’ll start thinking and acting more on his own from now on.”

“…Amazing. I’ve never seen a golem like this even in our village.”

Ragune was astonished and praised Seth.

“Lord Tauro, what will Seth and the others usually do?”

Zion, already fond of Seth and enjoying exchanging high-fives with him, voiced her question.

“Adam, Eve, and the Rock series will basically stay in [Magic Storage] while we travel. As for Seth, if we say he’s a puppet moving under my control through [Puppeteer], he could probably adventure alongside us regularly.”

“Yay! Seth, I’ll teach you martial arts!”

Zion beamed at the arrival of their new little companion.

Seth mirrored her movements in response.

“In that case, I’ll teach you the spear and shield,” Ragune added eagerly, leaning forward.

“Hey, hold on. If Seth shares information with the leader, then most things will just be taught by him anyway. That kind of makes it pointless,” Ankh pointed out.

“Doesn’t that mean Seth will be able to use the same combat techniques Tauro specializes in?” Aeris asked, pulling Seth into a hug as she highlighted the implication.

“Like you and Ankh said, probably. We can share vision too, so it’s almost like there are two of me. I can also send him ahead for scouting through shared sight as originally planned. And I can have Seth operate Adam and Eve as well. There’s a lot we can do.”

Tauro spoke excitedly about the expanded possibilities.

“Then wouldn’t it be interesting to give him a bow, a short sword, or even a shield?” Ankh suggested, further expanding the possibilities.

“A sword might work, but we’d have to test how well a bow works. My archery is built on a foundation cultivated through practice and enhanced by [Precision] and the archery-related ability [Divine Archer]. On top of that, Behemoth Leather Armor and the Guardian Doll Round Shield increase my abilities and let me produce tremendous strength. It might be difficult for Seth to reproduce all of that.”

Tauro’s point was reasonable.

Moreover, equipment like the dungeon-derived Bow of Artemis, which allowed Tauro to make full use of those abilities, couldn’t easily be prepared for Seth. That was another issue he would have to consider.

“So Seth isn’t all-powerful… Oh, right. We should test whether you can still control him over long distances,” Ragune suggested, opening [Dimensional Corridor] to the dragonfolk village.

“Good point. Let’s try it.”

Realizing the oversight, Tauro used [Spatial Transfer] to teleport to the dragonfolk village.

“…Seth. Are you still linked with Tauro?” Aeris asked.

Seth nodded.

“Oh! It worked? The dragonfolk village should be pretty far from here. That’s incredible!” Ankh exclaimed just as Tauro returned.

“Looks like it worked! There were no problems sharing vision with Seth.”

Tauro smiled in relief at the unexpected success.

“Maybe from now on we should think about battle strategies that include Seth. Though his growth will be important for that,” Aeris proposed.

“That might be difficult. We share information, but when there’s something Seth can’t judge, he leaves it to me—that’s the sense I get. For now, it’s probably best to think of Seth as my hands and feet, and as the core that operates the other puppets.”

“Really? That’s a bit disappointing.”

Still hugging Seth from behind, Aeris sounded dejected—clearly very fond of him.

“We’ll take our time figuring out what to do with Seth.”

Smiling wryly at how attached everyone had become to the child-type puppet, Tauro concluded the day’s experiments.