Over a year ago on the northwestern corner on the 2nd martial continent, not long after Nox stole the Walpurgis Island.
"Yes Wimp? You have a question?" Nox said to the purple-haired girl raising her hand in the air.
"Why are we here?" Aiko asked her master.
Soon after the events of Walpurgisnacht, Nox had used the inbuilt spatial gates of her new floating island to travel to a base on the 2nd continent, before leading her new disciple into a no-man's-land.
"We are here cause of that buffoon!" Nox said while pointing at the little doll sitting on Aiko's shoulder.
"I don't understand! What does little grandpa have to do with anything?" Aiko asked.
"You're pretty dense you know that!"
"…?" Aiko just looked confusedly at Nox.
"*Sigh* Your big grandpa was a decent golemmancer, right?"
Aiko nodded.
"Then what can you tell me about your great grandpappy?" Nox asked.
"I think grandpa told me he learned about golems from him!"
"And he learned from your great, great grandpappy, who learned from your great, great, great grandpappy and so it went for the umpteenth grandpappies! You're from a long line of half-decent golem-freaks, my wimpy daughter! So here is the million teal question! Where did all their golems go?"
Calling Aiko's ancestors 'half-decent' is an understatement. In terms of golems, there is no lineage as great as Aiko's. There were many who were close to being the next 'sage of runes', and out of all of them, Aiko's grandfather was the greatest. He was considered one of, if not the best golemmancer in the world due to his vast army of golems, some of which were of the legendary grade.
"So, we're looking for clues to grandpa's inheritance?" Aiko said.
"Correction! We're picking up your geezer's inheritance! We already know where it is!" Nox replied.
"Huh?" Aiko looked confusedly at Nox.
"Still haven't caught on yet, have you? Here's a hint! What did your gramps leave you with when he kicked the bucket?"
Aiko turned to look at her little doll.
"Little grandpa?"
The only thing Aiko had left to remember her grandfather by was the little autonomous mannequin golem he had given to her when she was a child.
"So, little grandpa's a clue!"
"Oh, he is much more than just a clue! He's the map, the guide and the key to the whole darn thing!"
"What do you mean?"
"You'll see in a moment! Hey, geezer doll, this the cave we're lookin for?" Nox asked pointing at a mossy cave.
The doll shook its head and pointed off to the right.
"What other left? There is only one left!"
The doll just pointed at Nox before folding its arms arrogantly.
"Hey, it's not my fault you can't tell your right from your left, you blind old baseball bat! If you knew we took a wrong turn, then why didn't you speak up sooner?" Nox yelled at the doll.
The doll's body language indicated that it was yelling angrily at Nox.
"Boss?" Aiko said with a confused look.
"We're apparently at the wrong cave cause the little stick on your shoulder forgot to make himself some eyeballs!"
The doll folded its arms and looked away.
"Hey, don't call me short you twig, or I'll snap that tiny body of yours in half!"
"I've been wondering for a while now. Can you hear little grandpa speak to you?"
"Huh? You're only just now figuring this out! I think meathead's starting to rub off on you!"
"…"
Aiko said nothing, as she didn't want to get hit with the pain-stick for telling her master that she just assumed Nox was talking to a voice in her head like a crazy person.
"What's with that look?! You're not making fun of me in that noggin of yours just because you're slightly taller than me, are you?" Nox asked in an annoyed tone as she pulled out the pain-stick from her hand.
"…"
"Silence is violence! Conclusions jumped! Time for punishment!" Nox said as she raised her stick.
"No, wait! I just thought you had voices in your head!" Aiko blurted out in a panic as she backed away.
"I do, and what about it?" Nox admitted lowering her weapon.
"…?"
Aiko just responded with silence as she was not expecting Nox to admit it. Nor that she seemed to find being short more upsetting than being crazy.
"What's with that look?" Nox asked, as she was about to raise the stick of concentrated pain once more.
"You hear voices in your head? Like, they're talking to you and telling you what to do?" Aiko asked.
"Nah! They're more like the screams of the people I've killed, haunting my mind as they curse me from the ever after on a 24-hour loop! You know! Normal stuff like that!"
"…"
"What's with that look you two are givin me?"
Aiko and little grandpa, even though he doesn't have a face, only gave Nox a look of pity. Anyone who spent an extended period of time with her would realize Nox wasn't in her right mind, but they never realized it was this bad.
"You want to talk about it?" Aiko offered.
"My growth spurt just haven't hit yet, you cocky brat! Just wait and see! One year from now I'll be taller than you!"
"Not your height! I meant-!"
"Here we are! Hey! Geezer doll! This better be the right cave this time, or else I'll tattle to you-know-who!" Nox said, pointing at the small cave.
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Aiko asked as she saw her little grandpa start to panic.
"Oh, just your dolls secret stash of doll-porn! Now get in the cave!" Nox said before picking up Aiko and threw her into the cave.
Then, Nox snapped her fingers, and the revolving door disguised as the cave wall turned, pushing the three of them into a hidden room.
"Ugh! Hm?"
As she was getting up from the floor, Aiko immediately noticed the big, bejeweled metal door covered head to toe in active enchantments that lit up the otherwise dark room.
"This place reeks of old-man-farts! Hey, geezer! Get in the keyhole so we can get out of here already!" Nox said, while pointing at a doll-shaped dent in the center of the door.
"Because I'm not a third-rate enchanter like you! I'm second-rate!" Nox said as she picked up little grandpa.
Little grandpa started resisting as he tried to squirm his way out of Nox's hand.
"Well, how else are you going in there? I don't see a tiny ladder, and I'm pretty sure you can't fly!" Nox said.
Little grandpa just started pointing back and forth between Nox and Aiko.
"Fine, geez! If it matters that much to you then fine!"
"What's wrong? What did he say?"
"He wants you to be the one to shove him into the door! Says it's tradition or some shit!" Nox said as she tossed the little golem over to Aiko.
"So, I just put him in here, right?" Aiko asked as she began pushing little grandpa in the keyhole.
Suddenly, numerous enchantments on little grandpa's body began to light up, connecting with the unlit lines around the keyhole. The light began traveling down from the door and down to the magic circle on the ground.
"Okey! So how do we get in?" Nox asked the doll as he jumped down from the door.
Little grandpa ignored Nox's question and made a run for the tiny door in the corner of the big metal door.
The magic circle on the ground was a one-person spatial transportation circle. It teleported Aiko to somewhere past the door in front of them.
"Oh! So, it's a 'you have to be this small to enter' type of situation!" Nox said in an annoyed tone as she begrudgingly shrunk down to little grandpa's size.
*Slam*
*Click*
"Hey! I think you locked me out by mistake! Open up!" Nox said as she knocked on the door.
*Knock**knock**knock*
"Must be on the toilet! Wonder how he poops with no hole? Well, whatever! I'm sure the diarrhea doll won't mind if I smash it open!" Nox muttered as she grew back to her original size.
Then, the entire room began to shake as multiple defensive and offensive enchantment circles lit up only to shatter or malfunction from a slight alteration to their structure Nox made using spirit magic. It wasn't until the door was so damaged, it looked like it could crumble apart any moment that little grandpa finally came back out, frantically waving his hands for Nox to stop.
"Finally, back from the can! Anyways, let's go! I need to help Wimp carry out your crap, right?" Nox said as she started shrinking again.
Little grandpa only fidgeted nervously in response before a staticky voice rang out from one of the door's few remaining enchantments.
"WHO DARES INVADE THE WATANABE INHERITANCE SITE?!"
"There's an invader?! What bad timing! Anyways, if you'll excuse me!" Nox said as she opened the tiny door, only for a laser to come shooting out at her.
"Hey, I think your security systems are malfunctioning!" Nox said as she grabbed the laser and changed its direction.
Little grandpa began frantically waving his hands at Nox.
"What, but she's my baby girl?! Don't you know not to separate a mother from her baby you monsters?!" Nox shouted.
"DESCENDANT! WHO IS THIS?!"
"I am the mommy of that girl you just kidnapped, you old sex-doll! Now open up, or I'm gonna rain cans of whoop-ass down on you suckers!" Nox said.
"YOU AND WHAT ARMY?!" The voice said mockingly.
"Haha! Who needs an army to raid a base full of dusty old sex-dolls?"
"HOW INSO-!"
"1 mythical, 13 legendary, 342 unique and 4953 rare! Sound familiar?"
"DESCENDANT! HOW DARE YOU DIVULGE OUR SECRETS TO THIS INTRUDER?!"
"He didn't tell me squat, so calm your rusty old ass!"
"HOW ELSE WOULD AN OUTSIDER-?!"
"You're kidding, right? The anti-scrying enchantments on the door were the first thing I broke when you locked me out!"
"…"
"And this is why you're all third-rate enchanters!"
"HOW DARE YOU!"
"I already showed your defense system is useless against me! I know your forces and is still not shitting my pants in fear! If you're not an idiot, you know what that means, right?"
"…"
"Now, open the hell up before I rase this place to the ground!"
Just as Nox seemed about ready to follow up on that threat, Aiko's voice could be heard shouting through the cracks in the door.
"WAIT! BOSS! STOP!"
"Hm? Is that my sweet baby wimp I hear crying out for help? Don't you worry baby girl! Tall mommy Nox is coming to save you!"
"NO! I'M FINE! SO, STOP!"
"Huh? Oh, I get it! My baby Wimp is in her rebellious phase and running away from home!"
"…? Sure?" Aiko replied.
"Hmph! Then I'll just send you to summer camp with your siblings for being a delinquent! Now watch me wreck this place!" Nox said as she kicked down the door.
"BOSS! NO! DON'T DESTROY IT!" Aiko screamed as she clung to the giant one-eyed, metal golem, which was pointing the laser enchantment circle located on its hand towards Nox.
"Huh! So, that's why you were screaming like that?" Nox said as she used her spirit magic to cause the laser circle to malfunction and explode, destroying the hand of the giant golem.
"NOOO!" Aiko cried as she saw the pieces of the metal hand fall to the ground.
"You almost never shout like that, so I thought they were impersonating my baby to shoo me away!"
*BOOM*
*MOOB*
Suddenly, Nox exploded only to implode into a black sphere that no light can escape.
"Boss?" Aiko muttered in disbelief as she witnessed what happened to her master.
"Hmph! So, she was just bluffing after all!" A familiar static voice spoke.
Suddenly, the light distorted and an adamantite golem covered in countless enchantments appeared.
"Whose bluffing?" Nox said, undoing her own invisibility enchantment as she leaned her arm on the golems shoulder.
"Whoa! BUT HOW? I SAW YOU BLOW UP!!"
"Correction, third-rate! You saw my golem blow up!"
"WHAT?!" The golem shouted as he waved his arm as he undid the orb of darkness.
Inside were the fragments of Nox's golem. Its skin and bone were dirt and metal that had been painted over while real guts and entrails had been added for realism.
"I wouldn't try that if I were you or you'd end up like one-armed-Johnson over there!" Nox said as she pointed at the giant mech.
"And that goes for the rest of you hiding as well! You can stop hiding I already spotted you all on the way in!" Nox shouted out to the thousands of invisible golems surrounding her, pointing a mix of weapons and enchantment circles at her.
"You don't seem concerned about your situation?" One of the golems asked.
"If you haven't figured it out yet, I can mess with the enchantments on your bodies using spirit magic, and you are all within range!"
"…"
"With a snap of my fingers I could ruin the enchantments you all use to move, paralyzing you all in an instant!"
*BOOM*
Just then, the legs of a golem exploded, destroying its lower body.
"Or I could just have you all self-destruct like the guy who just tried to get the jump on me with a movement enchantment!" Nox said as she held out her hand preparing to snap her fingers.
"Do you now understand why I don't need an army to take you hunks of junks down? If I felt like it, I could massacre you all just by going for a stroll around this place! So, cling to your weapons and spells if you wish, but know this! If you piss me off, I'll be listening to your agonized screams from the bowels of hell!" Nox said, as her eyes turned dark towards the end.
"BOSS! PLEASE!" Aiko begged.
"Okay, I'll leave, but only if you say the magic words!"
"…"
Aiko's face flushed red, while little grandpa facepalmed.
"Tall mommy Nox! Pwease don't bweak my golems!"
"There is a good little Wimp! Now, tall mommy Nox is going to the store to buy a carton of cigarettes and will be right back! Hey, how long will the inheritance tria-!"
Nox's words were cut off as she used her spirit magic to rebuild the broken door on her way out alongside little grandpa.