Kalar´s Continent

"So, what does it do?" Teo asked, while excitedly examining the magic cube before him, still holding back on touching it though.

"To be honest, I don't know."

Teo took a step back and looked surprised at the patriarch beside him. Not even he knew, what it was good for? Who else was supposed to know then?

"It is said, that one can greatly boost his understanding of Enchantment through studying it, because the ancient techniques used to craft it have been long lost in the annals of history, but its function..." Thoralv paused for a moment, thinking about how to answer the question.

"My teacher once told me, that if one managed to activate it, both speed and quality of one's Enchantments would rise a little as long as it is close by. But I don't know, if that is only a myth or if it actually works." He shrugged and ran his thick fingers through his even thicker beard.

"However, considering the channel structure and the rune density, it's real function should be far more complex, just that according to the records, no one managed to uncover it yet," he concluded, giving the limelight back to Teo, who could not stop fidgeting during his short monologue.

Well, didn't that sound mysterious and exciting? Teo was already afraid, that this was just another test of some sorts. 'Come here, son, and try to make this rock glow' something like that again, he imagined; but now it seemed much more interesting.

Eager he turned around to face the stone again and continued with his examination. The fist-sized cube did not look very impressive, not even old in fact, much less, like an ancient and powerful heritage from his ancestors. Instead, it reminded him of the toy wooden blocks, he used to play with, when he was younger, just with a weirder motif.

He gave it a slight nudge and discovered, that it did not even move in the slightest, almost like glued to the table. Only with a firm push could he force some manner of motion into it. Teo did not know, what shocked him more, that this cube, barely larger than his childish fist, weighed at least twenty kilos, or that his uncle handled it like a mere toy, without showing any notion of effort.

He decided on the material composition of the Artifact — everyone knew, that his uncle was more bear than man.

Unable to hold himself back any longer, he started to get down to business. 'I can always examine it in more detail, after I get to keep it' he thought, not even considering failure.

Teo put one hand on top of the cube and began to channel his Mana into it. Mana Infusion already came as second nature for him and he could control his internal and external Mana flow in great detail.

The cube was cold to the touch, like metal, and very smooth — besides the shallow grooves along its surface. It was just a feeling, but he could swear, there was some kind of pulse, periodically circulating around, deep inside the artifact.

As he continued to infuse his Mana, Teo quickly noticed, that the cube was like a bottomless abyss, able to swallow up the Mana he guided into it, like a mere appetizer. Hurriedly he began to grasp the Mana threads from the air around him —using the bit of attention, that he could spare— and used it to supplement his own reserves.

But it was not enough, Teo had already used up more than half of his internal Mana, as well as everything, the smithy could provide with its meager natural energies, yet there was no end in sight. The runes adorning the cube had also started glowing ever so softly, probably signifying his success.

He tried to lower the rate of his Mana consumption, unwilling to overexert himself, but some kind of suction force only further increased the Mana outflow instead. Teo was already unable to let go of his own volition.

He began to despair, not understanding what was happening to him and unable to endure the feeling of himself being s.u.c.k.e.d dry, like a preserved fruit. He wanted to cry out for help, but his body was frozen, stuck inside a prehistoric glacier, unmoving.

Soon a splitting headache assaulted him together with waves of pure exhaustion, making him feel, like he aged ten years in a single second. He was critically low on Mana.

Teo was left with barely a morsel of his internal Mana, a broken confidence and had lost all hope, he was just about to come to terms with the sudden end of the short adventure he called 'life', when he saw a small light at the end of the tunnel.

...

'Wait, that's not a tunnel!' he exclaimed in his mind. The light, he had seen in front of his minds eye, was a small spark; tiny and weak, as if about to flicker out of existence at any moment now — but it did not. It slowly grew stronger, absorbing the abundant Mana around it, until it settled down; still tiny, but stable. It was a spark, born from Teo's compressed Mana, deep inside the mysterious Artifact.

Suddenly the complex runes and lines on the surface of the cube increased their output by several magnitudes and bathed the room in a gentle blue, almost white light for several seconds, before quieting down.

Teo was panting heavily, leaning onto the heavy stone table so as to support his shaking legs, while wrestling to get fresh air into his burning lungs. That was really scary! Teo had never felt so exhausted in his life, his Mana depleted till the last drop and his muscles barely adhering to his commands, the stabbing pain dulling his thoughts. His uncle had already lent him a strong —and thankfully clothed— shoulder, which he gratefully accepted, sitting down on the nearby bench with his help.

"What was that?!" Teo hissed, after catching his breath for a moment; he still felt, like something had chewed and digested him, after he was run over by a carriage.

"I'm so sorry. I did not know, it would be this taxing, but you managed to succeed nonetheless!" Thoralv's deep voice was tinged with nuances of worry, regret and pride, all at the same time.

"I will bring you to your room, you need to rest, more than anything now! You have seriously overexert yourself today, but it is nothing that can't be fixed with time."

After a weak protest from Teo, who —even in this situation— refused to be carried princess-style, he got a free piggyback ride to his room and could finally rest. He touched the enigmatic rock-cube —that his granduncle had put onto his nightstand— one last time, noticing, that it was much, much lighter than before, but could not care less as he fell asleep in a matter of seconds.

...

Teo only awoke a dozen hours later, the warm rays of afternoon sunshine, that had fallen through his large cas.e.m.e.nt window, already replaced by the gentle light of the moon, while he continued to lie fully dressed on his bedsheets. He still felt groggy, but much better already. The thing, bothering him most, being the ravenous appetite he felt rising from his empty stomach.

Luckily, someone had already thought of that and placed a large serving of cold, but fragrant chowder on his nightstand, along with a piece of white bread; right next to the strangely glowing rock, that was shaped like a cube.

'Wait a minute...'

'A strangely glowing cube?! Oh no! Not again!' Teo was already panicking in his mind, still traumatized, from his earlier experience. The cube however, paid him no mind.

It was already quite bright and was probably the very thing, that woke him up in the first place and... was it starting to vibrate now?! It continually became brighter and brighter, until there was not a shadow left in Teo's room and he could only observe, while cowering behind his bed, unsure of what to do.

Soon, a vortex of condensed Mana formed around the now hovering and spinning Artifact, as it pulled dozens of threads towards its center in a spiralling pattern and... the cube began to grow! Not only grow, but multiply even; starting to separate into dozens of smaller cubes —with an identical appearance— which gathered in a large heap.

Unable to close his mouth and half expecting this to be a very realistic nightmare, Teo looked on with wide-open eyes, whilst the cubes slowly organized to form a vaguely humanoid shape, that stood around one meter tall.

It was made from at least fifty cubes of varying sizes, that were loosely stacked on top of each other and held together by threads of blue energy, crackling between them. The smallest cubes where only as large as dice, while its head was made from a single block of impressive proportions. It exuded an intimidating and otherworldly air; the only differentiating features on its body being the numerous, dimly glowing runes, that covered it whole.

Before Teo could even decide, if he should first call for help and then run away, or the other way around, he already heard a mechanical, but weirdly euphonious voice:

"Golem 1216 activated. Awaiting orders."

'A Golem?' Teo had obviously never seen one before, but he had heard and read about them in stories. A mechanical being, an alchemical lifeform, a construct, built as a servant or protector, but... this was only a legend!

It was not that hard to create a puppet, only expensive, but they were fairly limited in their uses, because they possessed no intelligence of their own, merely following very simple commands, that were programmed into them beforehand. Not even the best Magician's on the Continent could create a real Golem!

"You can come out now, little one. I can sense your Mana Signature as clear as day."

Busted! Teo had wasted his only chance at escaping and could only deliver himself to his fate now, falling into the hands of this killing-machine! Why was he always waiting for some fortunate encounter, when he really should be running as fast as his legs could carry him?!

"I don't mean any harm, I have already been imprinted by you, when you activated me today," the construct added in what Teo interpreted, to be an irritated voice.

He slowly stood up from behind his cover and approached the small Golem, still distrustful, but already out of cards to play.

"What are you?" Teo demanded, after collecting all of his courage, while trying to appear authoritative.

"I prefer 'who'. Also it is impolite to ask names, before even introducing oneself, but considering the situation, I will answer your question." The Golem made a movement, that probably was supposed to be a shrug, and ignored Teo's collapsing façade. The boy on the other hand, started to slowly turn red, embarrassed by his own charade.

"I'm Golem 1216. At least that is my serial number. I don't really have a name, but as my new master you are free to give me one."

New master? Teo was exhilarated. This encounter turned out to be a fortunate one after all. But what should he call this construct of magic, standing before him? Teo was not good with names.

"Well, how about... Rocky?" he tried cautiously.

"Well, how about I call you Fleshy McBonesack?" the Golem threw back fiercely, visibly unpleased by the suggestion.

Teo was flabbergasted, not expecting such a sharp retort from an Artifact. Was that sarcasm? Golems could do that?

He continued to think for a while, until he was hit by a sudden flash of inspiration.

"How would you like 'Goliath'?"