Alright, so we're... Akko trails of a little bit before yawning. She's not used to waking up early, that's for sure. We're gonna raise it early, n' see if it holds up?
You just nod, and start gathering up the necessary energies. This will take up just about half your mana, and Akko is the one who needs to raise the skeletons. It's a proper beast, to say the least. You most certainly wouldn't want to be the one fighting it. You managed to make a sort of cloak for it out of an old bed-sheet. It was covered in blood, and you never quite managed to wash it out. At least it wasn't your blood, which was the silver lining. The cloak makes the creature look almost like a centaur, as it hides a lot of a the ugly exposed flesh on the lower side. Bone is more aesthetically pleasing, so it helps to hide at least some of the flesh. Although aesthetic isn't much of a deciding factor in the grades. Adding a couple of weapons wasn't that hard. You just nailed it in there, and the skeleton took to it quite easily. The problem is, of course, it's a bit too high up to properly use a sword. You ended up giving it a broom handle as an improvised spear, but it still has some trouble using it. A little too much weight, you suppose. Skeletons aren't too strong without magical assistance, and their independence is the selling point. It would lose a bit of spark if there was some additional strength.
Bow and arrow has considerably more success, especially from the one in the back. You figure a crossbow would be even better, but considering none of these weapons would actually work, it doesn't really matter.
The exam is the first thing in the morning, just after the sun ceased it's kiss with the land it emerged from. ('BOUT NINE BONG IN THE MORNIN'!)
All the golems stand outside, and yours dwarfs them all. There are only two mixed golems here, the other one belonging to Polifia Adams, the leader of the clique that bullied Erika. She became a lot more reclusive after the incident, and is the only one to not have a partner. Her golem looks like a mostly ordinary humanoid, but considering the quality of her work (when she isn't high as a kite) there's probably more to it than that. The golem just looks like a large man, stitched together and yellowish. The increase in size is clearly just to make it easier on herself when she built a man from the ground up. Not an easy task, in and of itself.
The other golems are simpler. Mahirma and Lars built up a bone turtle, and a hole for a man to hide in, you suppose. Defensively solid, and that jaw looks like it could chew a tree in half. Geoffrey and Connie made a flesh golem, a spider from the look of things. They twisted the muscle like ropes to make it tougher, which is actually pretty cool, though you suspect that had to find a different way to make the thing move. Perhaps it works on hydraulics, though you'll have to wait and see. The examinators are arriving. Your main teacher is here, along with the headmaster, a member of the Blighted Beak and one last orc that you don't recognize.
The stranger is the first to speak to you all, with a voice seemingly made for presentation. He stands tall, like most orcs, but actually managed to pack on some muscle, as well.
Alright, bonesmiths! You have had two weeks to create your very own golem, and now we will put them through a series of rigorous tests. We will test them on strength, toughness and speed, respectively. I am Bulerim Harkunosto, the siegemaster, and will place the final design in a battlefield situation. Now, let us begin. Geoffrey Caerbannog and Connie De Maio, step forward with your golem, please.
They both step forward, Geoffrey with considerably more confidence, leaving Connie to nervously shuffle next to him.
MY FINE STUDENTS! The headmaster bellows in his signature way. I SEE YOU HAVE BROUGHT A FLESH GOLEM BEFORE US, BUT WITH A MOST PECULIAR DESIGN INDEED! A SPIDER, BASED ON THE INFAMOUS BLACK ARACHNIA, PERHAPS?
A-actually Connie says, shuffling in place. We kind of based it on... Uh... O-our classm-mate. Her voice trails in in embarrassment as she glances back to you. You're actually kind of flattered that they'd base something on you.
A fine inspiration, no need to be ashamed. Now, Explain to all of us how your golem works.
They give a detailed explanation of how they use hydraulics and rope-like muscle twisting to create a golem that is as flexible as it is tough. The original plan was to make an outright drider, but they ran out of flesh and didn't have the time to gather more, not to mention the logistics on making it work. They decided to create a normal spider, to make up for it, using powerful clamps at the front, and hooks on the inside of the legs to subdue prey.
The tests were about as to be expected. The professor raised a small horde of monkeys, to see how effective the golem is. This test will change depending on the type of creature, as something that works on sharp hooks can't quite be tested with just the force behind a tackle.
The spider is quite effective against flesh, but it's quite clunky. The fact that it needs to step over what it needs to kill, and the "mouth" not having anything in the way of tearing or gripping, meaning all it can do hold something in place. It wouldn't work that well for combat, you suspect, but quite well for a distraction. The toughness test was... Abrupt.
Before siegemaster even finished explaining, the headmaster had already leaped forward and punched the golem in it's "mouth". It shuddered and fell, and a dent was clearly made, but it still managed to pull itself upright. The headmaster then said that he's pleasantly surprised at how well the creature absorbs shocks. The flexibility is a plus, that much is clear. The speed test was rather boring, just a hundred yard dash. The spider cleared it in a decent time, not quite as fast as a creature of its size should. You could easily outrun it. All in all, they were quite pleased, and got an 80 percent for their flesh-twist technique.
The next two are Mahirma and Lars, two underachievers. The turtle was... Boring. Nothing really happened of note. It did very well on the strength test, managing to uproot a tree as an example. The toughness test was lacklustre. The punch from the headmaster managed to pulverise the part he hit, and he noted it was too hard to properly take blunt blows. Still, an edged weapon would have trouble. Speed was abysmal, as to be expected of a turtle. The results would have gotten them a failed grade, if it wasn't for the fact they though to include the room for something to hide in, and a system that grabs them. When it comes to saving the wounded, the turtle does a very fine job. It ended up giving them a passing grade.
Polifia's golem proved to be... interesting. It got the undead monkeys, like the spider, and then it proved to be as interesting as you suspected. The flesh bubbled and morphed, and almost instantly a collection of tentacles burst from the surface, grabbing the unfortunate victims. Some are crushed outright, while others are brought to the massive, strong hands of the main golem. It has perfect control, and even has a range of expressions. On the toughness test, it did surprisingly well. It managed to dodge the first punch, for one, and braced itself for the second. It was sent flying, but was left relatively unharmed. It landed nicely, as well. The speed test was quite good as well, the creature ran like an experienced sprinter, and launched itself using the tentacles that came out. She was granted a ninety percent total.
Then came your golem.
Boy was that explanation fun. Proving that the skeletons could resurrect creatures was a bit of a hassle, considering they weren't really giving your creation a chance at first. Their eyes just about popped out of their head when they saw that it instantly proceeded to add the resurrected creatures to its mass. With that in mind, the strength testing took a bit of a weird bent. You also got the monkeys, and the golem had a little trouble at first, until it managed to use both the upper arms and the ones in the front that it was using to walk. It takes a little doing, but it eventually managed to twist the monkey's head off. And then it instantly added it to the mass, which is kind of unnerving you as well. in an increasingly faster manner, it completely ends up taking over the monkeys. It looks a bit... bigger, than before. The ribs that protect the upper rider have been strengthened by some flesh, considering it doesn't need to see from there, it only helps.
The headmaster's punch makes a fist-shaped hole in the creature. Which would be really bad, if it wasn't for the fact that it regenerated it from the absorbed monkey meat. You didn't even realize the regenerative aspect by making it patch itself up all the time. This could spiral out of control, actually.
The speed test was nothing to write home about. It just isn't that fast, all things considered, and it still moves about a little clumsily, even with the practice from this morning.
You ended up getting a 95, and were also told to never EVER make this outside of this particular exam. The potential to spiral out of control, especially in a battlefield situation where corpses are easily available, has been taken into account. Akko's been placed on a watchlist, even!
However, that's not the end of the exams.
As a way of deciding the best golem in class, and for a bit of fun, they will all be pitted against eachother in a large arena in a few hours. People are allowed to make some final adjustments before sending them into the fray.
Make some final adjustments. You are allowed to add weaponry, but you need to get it fast.