Outside the walled city of Loringard some half an hour away by horseback, Tabetha was alone in a fallow field, wiping the sweat from her brow and sighed in frustration. In front of her lied crumpled piles of earth. Animating a golem was a high level geomancy skill and it was clear to her that she missing some fundamentals. Shaping the body was not the problem. The problem came in the from of her magical reserves. A constant supply of magic is needed to fuel a golem's movements especially for one that is suited for combat purposes. Naturally, the larger the golem the more magic that is needed to move it. Once that reserve vanished, the golem ceased to be. 

Never mind trying to impart some degree of intelligence for some autonomy, for such a spell to be this draining on the user's body, she found it odd how some geomancers like her mother could maintain their golems for almost an indefinite amount of time without showing any visible strain on themselves. It was as if they were supplying their golems with magic from a different source. If this was true, where was this source?

She bit her lip. Tabetha knew she could simply create many golems with just the smallest amount of magic to keep them barely running but they would be extremely weak and shatter at the first swing. She was trained by mother, a powerful geomancer in her own right so being able to create a single powerful golem should be possible too. Of course, her mother had centuries more experience than her. Perhaps she should focus more on the intermediate spells?

Tabetha felt tired and her belly groaned for food. 3 hours did pass since she began to train. It was a good time to take a break. Whistling for her steed, she climbed onto the horse's back and rode back to Loringard. She arrived in time to see an unusual occurrence at the city's gates. Too far to hear the conversation between what appeared to be the leader of a war party and the watchman, she did see that they bore the symbol of the Knights of the Dawn. Upon closer inspection, she did not recognize any of them and they looked haggard and worse for wear. They were not members who were stationed here and came from far away.

The gates opened and the newcomers entered with the gate closing behind them before she could catch up to them. Once she stood at the front of the gates, she shouted at the gatekeeper to let her in. Obliging the request, Tabetha entered the city. She thought little of the knights who just entered for her mind was preoccupied with pangs of hunger. 

She entered a nearby inn and ordered food. "Thanks for the meal!" she said to no one in particular, digging in.