Chapter 178 Rawls's Scarecrow (Ⅱ)

Edward frowned unhappily when he saw the sundries on the console, and turned around to scold the wooden golem sharply.

"Kino, why don't you clean up the rubbish on my desk!"

The wooden golem stared blankly at Edward, at a loss.

Kino didn't have independent will, he could only understand the simplest words, and Edward's accusations were beyond the scope of this poor puppet's comprehension.

"That's not rubbish, but the teaching aids you will use in class today."

Master Rawls came into the hall from the next bedroom in pajamas and nightcap, holding a croissant and a bottle of milk.

He yawned, put the half-eaten bread on his operating table casually, freed his right hand and used a "magic trick" to heat the milk, pulled out the cork, and gulped down the steaming milk. He burped in satisfaction.

"It's really early, boys, wait a minute, I'll be right here soon."

Master Rawls swallowed the bread in two or three gulps, went back to the dormitory to wash up, put on his formal clothes and returned to the hall, his expression became serious.

"I told you yesterday that I want to teach you construction skills from scratch, and I never discounted what I said." Master Rawls pointed to the pile of debris on the table, "Who can tell me what these are? ? Joan, can you answer?"

"Looks like 'scarecrow' material."

"Completely correct."

Rawls showed a satisfied smile.

"These things look like a pile of worthless garbage, but if you have a pair of skillful hands, if you have the most basic construction skills, you can make this pile of tattered garbage in two hours. Make a scarecrow—the kind you put in a field to frighten sparrows."

Thomas couldn't help sniggering when he heard this, while Edward was expressionless, standing upright like a sentinel, looking very focused.

Master Rawls smiled, and continued: "Of course, farmers working in the fields can also make vivid scarecrows. The reason you came to my laboratory is not to learn how to make ordinary scarecrows. The next step is the important point." ——We have to try to make the scarecrow active, from a puppet that would just stand and frighten silly birds, into a loyal guard who can patrol the fields day and night and actively drive away wild animals and thieves!"

"Like Chino?" Thomas asked.

"That's right, just like Kino, but not as smart as Kino, and not really a 'golem'. Fortunately, the cost of activating a scarecrow is not as expensive as Kino."

In addition to the virgin forest, the Yalfheim area is a vast plain with fertile land and rich products. It is the most important agricultural area in the entire New World. Although immigrants have continued to move in in recent years, compared to the vast local fields, there is still a serious shortage of labor.

The traditional planting industry is the most typical labor-intensive industry, and there is no shortage of people without anything.

In order to cope with the shortage of labor force, the farmers in Alfheim had to turn to spellcasters to ask mages to create constructs to replace serfs and hired labor to work day and night in the fields. The most common type of agricultural constructs is " Activate the Scarecrow".

The "activated scarecrow" was born at the beginning of this century. At that time, during the harvest season, farmers had to pay high prices to hire people to guard the farmland to prevent birds and wild boars from destroying the crops that were about to be harvested. Later, I don't know who first came up with the idea: ask the mage to activate the scarecrow into a construct, patrol the fields day and night, and protect the crops from crows and wild beasts.

As a result, people were surprised to find that the "activated scarecrow" was more practical than the high-priced hired workers who came to watch the night!

These tenacious sentinels will not be lazy, will not get tired, and do not need to eat or drink. No matter it is windy or rainy, they are patrolling the owner's farmland and pasture step by step, using scary faces and brooms in their hands to drive away the birds and beasts that damage the crops. , until it is driven out of the farmland it guards.

Although the cost of making "activated scarecrows" is quite high, fortunately, it only requires a one-time investment, and in the long run it is more cost-effective than hiring people to guard the farmland.

If someone innovates, someone will follow suit.

The technique of "activating the scarecrow" gradually spread like this.

At that time, the cost of an "activated scarecrow" was as high as tens of thousands of gold, and only those very rich and large manor owners could afford it. Therefore, the speed of promotion was relatively slow, until Robert Rawls was born, in order to promote and popularize agricultural use. "Activated Scarecrow" made a groundbreaking contribution.

Master Rawls was not the first mage to invent the "activated scarecrow". His pioneering work was to greatly reduce the manufacturing cost of the "activated scarecrow". The "activated scarecrows" created by him can guard an average of 200 acres of farmland or pasture, and the cost is a quarter lower than that of other mages' works. They are very popular in the agricultural structure market.

Master Rawls has gained both fame and fortune by improving this construction technology-won the praise of his peers in the academic world, won the tenure-track teaching position provided by Leiden College at a young age, and at the same time earned a huge family fortune, if it were not for him Publicly declaring advocating "singleism", I am afraid that the threshold has long been stepped down by matchmakers.

After briefly introducing the purpose of the "activated scarecrow" to the students, Master Rawls turned around and walked to the blackboard, picked up the chalk and waved it around, and drew the structural section of the activated scarecrow, with every joint clearly drawn , label the relevant data.

"The vast majority of constructs in the world are generally composed of three major elements, namely 'body', 'spirit' and 'enchantment'. Enchanting elements can also be subdivided into two categories, one is additional basic functions , and the second is to add special functions, the former endows the structure with the most basic activities and working capabilities, and the latter retains the possibility of continuous upgrade and strengthening of the structure.”

In the following class time, Master Rawls took "the three elements of the construct" as the outline and "activated the scarecrow" as an example to introduce to the students how the three elements play their respective roles and how they are closely integrated At the same time, it finally endows the construct with vitality and even intelligence.

The first and most important element of the three elements of the pile body is "shape".

This is not difficult to understand. Any construct must have a real body. Only with a body can further activation and enchanting operations be performed. For example, "activated scarecrow" has a body that is an ordinary scarecrow.

Although scarecrows are not a rare thing and can be seen everywhere in the fields, it is not an easy job to create a scarecrow that meets the standards of Master Rawls, can move around flexibly and is durable.

To make a scarecrow, you first need a wooden skeleton that resembles a human skeleton—that's what the pile of wood on the table is for.

Next, cover the skeleton with a skin and stuff it with straw—the canvas and straw from the table will come in handy then.

Five chapters today, there are three more to follow