A white-haired female was alight on one of her golems, sitting comfortably on the arctic wolf’s back and waving at any nearby townsfolk whom she met eye contact with. For a small town in the common region, they seemed fairly used to seeing all sorts of Magic Knights going through their town, whether by foot or carriage—or in Iona’s case, riding her wolf. Her squad captain had sent her out on a mission: to help the people in Hage fix their political buildings.


Earlier in the Coral Peacock’s headquarters:

"A construction site? Would there be lots and lots of building to do?" Iona danced around, clapping her hands together. "Oooh, I’m so excited!" She brought out her grimoire, and as the book glowed, she snatched a card out and tossed it out in front of her.

"Junior Deck: Arctic Wolf!" The card glowed, and as soon as it fluttered to the ground, instantly started to expand and fold itself like origami. A few moments later, a giant golem shaped like a wolf stood in front of its owner. She patted its snow-white side. "Down, boy!" The canine-shaped golem crouched down, allowing her to climb onto its back before straightening back up. "Let’s go build some stuff, Wolfie!"


Presently in Hage:

"Aww, those houses are so cute!" The junior leaned forward in excitement, staring at the quaint establishments that she passed. "Those shops, too!" Being the construct mage she was, the young knight took close note of the buildings that she passed, eager to see different variations and expand her horizons. She was quite inexperienced in the ways of the world, but if it was one thing she knew, it was how to build things. All she needed were design inspirations.

Then, a scene came into view. "Oh! Now that isn’t cute!" She frowned. "Not cute at all!" Her eyebrows scrunched together in a very comical expression. Several important-looking buildings were in a very sorry state, courtesy of the Shattering and the massive effects on the physical structures. "Dear me, so ugly..." She spurred her golem up to a faster pace, then once she was closer to the construction site, she leapt off and landed softly on the ground.

She glanced around, not seeing the leader or manager of the site. "Hai! I heard you guys needed some help rebuilding?" She called out, waving her hands above her hands. Then, without pausing for an answer, the short girl puffed out her chest. "No worries! Iona of the Coral Peacocks is here to help!" She certainly got some stares and uplifted brows, but for the most part, she went unnoticed. That is, until a man who seemed to be the head of the construction came over to her.

"Coral Peacocks?" He looked at her up and down like she was a strange specimen he had never seen before. "Ah, it’s been a while since I’ve seen one of you around."

"Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?" Iona crossed her arms and pouted. Though she was not very bright, she caught on to the slight in his tone, and it annoyed her. In addition, even though she was a new knight in the squad, her new family’s reputation was being doubted! "What do you mean?" She asked again, this time a bit more demanding.

The man only shrugged, but did not answer her question. “Yes, we need extra help moving some wood pieces from the woods over here, although,” he raised an eyebrow at her, “I don’t know if a puny little girl like you can even lift one of those—”

"Hey!" Her face had taken a more aggressive expression, and she stomped on the ground in a child-like manner. Her wolf golem behind her also mirrored her aura, giving off a menacing atmosphere. "That’s why I have Wolfie here." She patted the wolf’s nose, her eyes not leaving the man’s. "Are you doubting a knight from the Coral Peacocks?"

The man only sighed and shook his head. “No, no. We just need help transporting a big pile of cut wood back over here to the site.” He pointed to a direction that led to the forest outside of town.

Iona’s face fell. Transporting wood? That’s it? She thought she would be able to build something! But, she was under her captain’s orders, and she did not want to give her squad a bad name by refusing the manager man. "Pity, I could really build some cool and fun buildings today...but okay." She pouted again, but shrugged it off. She was on a mission from her captain, and she was not about to fail her now!

As the man walked off, Iona glanced around. "Hmm, does anyone have baskets and some rope here?" She called out to no one in particular, though she need not have asked. After all, what construction site would be without those two items? "Oh! My bad!" She laughed merrily, then ran over to where she had spotted some stray baskets and a coil of rope. Then she skipped back and tied the baskets on either side of her wolf golem. Now she had a better and faster way to transport wood!

She climbed back up, and with her new makeshift transporting machine, ambled to where the man had pointed out earlier. Indeed, there was a gigantic stack of cut wood on the outskirts of town. This would be easy work. "Open up and grab that one, my pretty!" Iona pointed to a larger plank of wood. The wolf golem, controlled by her mana tether, obeyed and grabbed the said piece of wood in its mouth. "Good boy!" Then she filled out the two baskets on its side with shorter pieces of wood. She patted the golem’s side. "Okay, now let’s go back!"

And thus did the Magic Knight work, making trip after trip, back and forth transporting wood pieces from the forest back to the town. It was definitely helpful to have her golem do most of the heavy lifting and carrying, and by the end of the day, she had made a big dent in the pile of wood. She was very happy and elated to see progress in her own work.

It seemed like the man in charge was also impressed, despite his folded arms. “We got enough wood here for a couple days.” He nodded at the generous amount that Iona had brought. “Guess your golem really is helpful.”

Iona brightened up. “Of course he is!” She patted the wolf-golem affectionately.

“Here’s your yul. Good work.”

"Of course, of course." She waved her hand in the air dismissively, but accepted the offered money. "All in a day’s work for a Coral Peacock knight! Although, if I may suggest..." The girl settled back a little, tapping her chin thoughtfully as she critically studied one of the half-finished buildings. "I think that one will look better if it was shaped as a circular dome...it would also be stronger, since there will be no corners to fight against gravity!"

However, her suggestions would be futile, as the building design had long been put in place, and was not something she could influence. But no matter, she had completed her mission, and she was quite pleased with herself as she rode her wolf golem back to headquarters to report on what she accomplished.



Junior Deck: Arctic Wolf (Monster)

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Spell Element: Cards (Snow Oddity)
Spell Rank: Junior
Mana Cost: 10 | 5
Type of Golem: Balanced
Applicable Perks: Quick Shot, Fast Lane, Armament, Elemental Oddity
Description: When Iona tosses this card on the ground, it expands and changes into a golem shaped like an arctic wolf. Her oddity gives these golems a snow-white appearance, and they stand at 2.5 meters tall from the base of their neck and 3 meters from head to tail. She alone can control her creations, whether by simple spoken commands or telepathically through her mana tether. In return, they can send simple information back to her, such as alerts to damage or ally and enemy spottings. If she summons only one, the golem gains +5 in its Durability, Power, and Sensory. Following ammo rules, she may summon another golem for every 10 Control she has. Each golem is limited to only one passenger (unless a transport spell is cast on it via Armament). As per its junior rank, only 5 of these golems may be summoned in maximum.

Type	Power	Durability	Sensory	Range	Speed	Health
Balanced	15	15	15	20m	6(+10) m/s	Junior

Arctic wolf:

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Size in comparison - Princess Mononoke-style:

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