To keep harvesting the Mana Wyrms, Herad made extensive modifications to the arcane golems.
The magical energy these things collected was ultimately intended for their own use.
Since there was no need to transfer it into another container, the arcane golems themselves needed enough storage capacity.
Planes even stored fuel in their wings for long-distance flights, and arcane golems could follow the same approach.
Herad planned to hollow out the arcane golems' bodies to store the magical energy they collected.
The new arcane golems no longer looked remotely human. They were eggs with two arms and two legs-egg superheroes through and through!
They might look a little lame, but their combat strength would not suffer.
Their round bodies would not hamper their mobility.
Their arm movements would be completely unaffected as well.
To strengthen their defenses, Herad also used mithril rather than cheap granite.
Mithril was not the hardest metal.
But it offered the best combination of lightness and hardness, and could conduct magical energy without any loss.
Some mages wore mithril plate armor into battle to improve their defenses.
It was a rare metal, so naturally, it was far from cheap.
Even a small piece cost several hundred gold coins.
Taking advantage of the continent-wide buying frenzy, Herad had built up a sizable stockpile of mithril.
In the Dawnedge Armory's foundry, the gnome and goblin craftsmen watched the mithril being cast into enormous body components and felt it was a waste of materials.
They only used such a rare metal in certain critical locations.
Ordinary metals could substitute for it everywhere else.
But that was the engineering approach, and Herad could not do things that way.
Etching arcane runes required every part to be made from the same material.
The giant egg therefore had to be cast entirely from mithril.
The giant egg cast from mithril was cream-colored.
That was right. This was mithril's actual color.
Its name only contained "silver" because dwarves liked naming it that way, and the other races had accepted it.
Still, the giant egg's color did not matter.
Once arcane energy flowed across its shell, its original color would be irrelevant.
After all the giant egg's components had been finished, they were sent to the final assembly bench and put together.
Looking at the finished product, with its round body and distinctly mechanical appearance, all the engineers thought it looked quite good.
Herad arrived to inspect it and circled the giant egg, checking whether its surface was smooth.
The engineers had already inspected this carefully crafted body and only reported its completion after confirming there were no problems.
Naturally, Herad could find no further flaws.
He nodded in satisfaction, then began the finishing work.
The hardness of the material made no difference when etching arcane runes.
It was a form of penetration at the molecular and atomic levels, rather than the carving of actual grooves.
There was therefore little difference between etching arcane runes into stone and into mithril.
With ample mana at his disposal, Herad finished etching all the giant egg's arcane runes in one go.
Once the rune etching was complete, he took out the magic crystal he had prepared and fitted it into the recess at the bottom of the giant egg.
A gnome engineer then put the cover on and welded it completely shut with a welding torch, eliminating the possibility of an enemy killing it instantly with a strike to the crotch.
With every step complete, the mysterious arcane runes on the giant egg's surface began to glow purple.
As the purple glow grew brighter, the cream-colored body began turning purple as well.
Now thoroughly permeated with arcane energy, the giant egg soon climbed down from the assembly bench and walked around the workshop, getting used to its brand-new body.
Although its new body was shaped like a giant egg, its hands were more finely crafted, each with four fully articulated fingers.
In truth, three fully articulated fingers would have been enough.
The vast majority of tasks could be accomplished with three fingers.
But four fingers would certainly provide a steadier grip than three.
With those two large, flexible hands alone, it could already crush most enemies to death.
Herad had also equipped it with a variety of basic spells.
With enough magical energy to spare, it could even fill in as an apprentice mage.
After such extensive modifications, no one would recognize it as an arcane golem once it was sent out.
What was this thing?
A giant purple egg with arms and legs?
It might be reported as an invasive species the moment it walked out the door.
Reckless witnesses might even attack it.
Herad decided to put this model in a category separate from arcane golems as well.
After thinking it over for quite a while, he decided to name it the Arcane Scavenger.
The name was a little lame, but it suited this arcane golem model's current duties perfectly.
Its task was to go from house to house, find Mana Wyrms, and drain their magical energy.
Mana Wyrms were trash that kept appearing.
Arcane Scavengers cleaned up this trash that spoiled the surroundings.
Of course, when necessary, they could clean up other things as well.
Once officially registered, Arcane Scavengers soon appeared on the main roads of Eversong Woods and Silvermoon Forest.
Not a single Mana Wyrm remained wherever they passed.
Aside from performing their duties, these strange arcane golems responsible for clearing out Mana Wyrms also helped travelers in trouble.
After all, Mana Wyrms were like chives: once harvested, they needed time to grow back.
They could therefore afford to patrol more slowly, and helping travelers in trouble was perfectly reasonable.
Whether in Eversong Woods or Silvermoon Forest, people could always count on an Arcane Scavenger coming to their aid when they ran into trouble.
These strange, helpful arcane golems gradually became the forest's guardian spirits in people's eyes.
All was peaceful among the High Elves, and even the Arcane Scavengers' small acts of kindness were widely celebrated and discussed.
The Human Kingdom at the southernmost end of the continent, however, had already become embroiled in an endless tug-of-war with savage invaders.
The Horde army occupying the Black Morass used fel magic to conceal itself from outside observation.
While hiding their true strength, they continually sent small units out to raid the surrounding areas and fight the bandit suppression forces dispatched from Stormwind City.
That was right. In the humans' eyes, these creatures were nothing more than bandits.
After all, on the surface, they looked like mutant trolls with green skin.
No one would believe they were invaders from another world.
In clashes involving purely physical combatants, both sides traded blows evenly, and neither could overcome the other.
Humans were generally at a physical disadvantage, so they fought two against one.
The formidable heavy infantry of Stormwind City could even take on those green-skinned muscleheads one-on-one.
After reading the intelligence sent back by his scout, Herad was left speechless by Stormwind City's strategic judgment.
Those orcs were simply toying with them.
Their real strategic goal was to buy time for their forces to grow stronger in the Black Morass.
Once the orcs finished their preparations, a green tide would engulf everything in its path!
Granted, it was his advantage of knowing the future that allowed him to see everything so clearly.
But even ordinary people with a sufficient sense of danger could have spotted plenty of suspicious details.
The gnome rogue sent to gather intelligence had singled out the fog over the Black Morass as a key concern.
This fog, which lingered all year round, was clearly not a natural phenomenon.
His instincts told him something had to be wrong in there.
But his assignment was only to scout the situation in the area.
Entering the fog to investigate what lay inside was outside the scope of his work.
If they wanted him to explore unknown dangers, they would have to pay extra.
Unfortunately, his employer already knew what was inside the fog.
The key concern the gnome rogue had highlighted served no purpose.
Herad merely told him to set up more recording devices and gather as much information as possible about those green-skinned muscleheads.
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