Aiko's POV:
I had initially come here to my family's secret inheritance site, to inherit my family's legacy, which was surprisingly easy. Thanks to an ancestor of mine who dabbled in black magic on the side, we learned a method to create golems capable of replacing our bodies once we die. This allowed my predecessors to directly pass down their knowledge rather than having it all go from one to the next, making the trial itself much easier. If I had to be honest, it just felt like an easier version of the Boss's lectures. First, I had to draw blueprints for a golem, then I had to select the materials I wanted to use for the different body parts, then I had to beat one of my ancestors who had made their own golem, in a test of skill.
There were a lot of things I learned from the Boss, and not just about golems. Like the art of abusing technicalities to do whatever I want.
The first thing I asked when I entered the trial was.
"What are the rules?"
The initial rules were as follows:
You can only use the body parts provided in the trial to make your golem. You have to be able to draw a blueprint for the golem. And you have to make the golem on your own.
And as I expected, there were plenty of things I could exploit. The first thing I did was use the fact that there were no number limitations on the golems I had to fight with. Though it was implied to be a one-on-one, the official rules of the trial written on the walls, never said it out loud. So, I handed in one blueprint of a mannequin golem with a club. When the fight started, I had one golem impale itself on the wooden swordsmen's sword and cling on to the opponent to keep it in place, while the others started smashing it to pieces.
Then they told me to do it again, adding a new rule, where I could only make one golem. So, instead of making multiple golems I made one big golem instead. I basically took the golems I already built along with a few more and fused them together to make one big golem made from smaller golems. They had actually been a bit more alert this time, and gone through the blueprints before giving me the materials, but they seemed to think it was going to fail for some reason and told me to give it a try.
My golem was really slow and unbalanced, and it threatened to break under its own weight because it was made entirely out of the heaviest metal I was allowed, iron. So, just as I planned, I had it fall over on the sparking copper mannequin, smashing it with just the power of gravity.
Then they added another rule that I could only use 6 parts. They didn't specify which parts I had to use though. So, I took apart one of the arms to get the round ball it used as a joint, then I used some lightning enchantments I learned from boss to turn it into a super strong magnet. I then used the fingers that came with the arm I pulled apart, to connect the magnetic joint and the arms to make them stick together, while at the same time giving them enough room to move. By having a spherical magnet instead of a torso gave each limb more freedom of movement, and by not having a head, I have room for a fifth arm, making it kind of look like a starfish. It also had a wind enchantment that made it float, allowing all five arms to hold weapons. I hadn't figured out a fitting enchantment that would let it move around though, so I had it stab the weapons into the ground and pull itself forwards. Once it reached the iron spearmen, I had it grab on to the spear that missed the small joint in the center, before using it to pull itself close enough to grab on to the golem. It then dropped all the other weapons save for one, so it could restrain all four limbs while the last arm started stabbing away until it stopped moving.
At this point they just decided to give up and explained the purpose of this trial. The point of this trial was to have me slowly learn from my ancestor's advice as I continuously lost to a more experienced golemmancer. The repeated loss was meant to curb my arrogance, build my character, and finally when they thought I was ready, they would let me win to teach me the value of perseverance.
None of that happened however, because I won on my 1st, 2nd, and 3rd attempts in the span of a single day, and apparently, setting a new record.
I ended up spending the remainder of the year, talking about golems with my predecessors until I made a horrible mistake.