The Golem Mage

"Old man, spare me some face! How could you still do this to me in the presence of my disciples?" Terran protested, wearing an expression of wounded pride, but Alderic simply ignored him, levitating toward Alec with a smile.

"I've come to see you again. I need your help with a little problem," Alderic said, causing Alec to flinch, raising his elbow in surprise at how suddenly the man had appeared.

Alec was already a Tier 6 mage, with an agility stat over three hundred, which means he was fast enough to match the speed of many Tier 7 mages, and the Agility stats didn't just boost his speed; but it also enhanced his reaction time and attack speed too, and that's was why he could fight against the Tier 7 goblin on equal footing and even look like he surpassed him in speed.

Yet, despite all that, he couldn't even sense how the old man had closed the distance between them.

"So, what can I do for you? If it's about another transaction, I'm afraid my hands are tied right now," Alec said, letting his arms drop as they started to ache from being held up too long.

He assumed Alderic was here to press another deal, but the old man simply shook his head, fixing Alec with a measured stare.

Terran, who had just managed to pull himself out of the ground, glanced at the dean and sighed at how quickly he had taken an interest in his new chief disciple (now that the previous one had graduated Alec became the chief disciple of the Terran peak).

"Silly, that's not why I'm here," Alderic said.

"There are a few senior students who aren't convinced you deserve your current ranking, I want you to deal with that—so they can stop loitering at the base of your master's peak and actually return to class."

Alec sighed and began removing his kimono down to his waist, revealing his torso to the dean's astral body.

"Even if I wanted to, I really can't be bothered to unlock my weight restraints just to satisfy the egos of a few old-timers. If possible, you can just take me off the number one spot—it's not like I care about being in the spotlight anyway," Alec said with a shrug showing the weight devices strung on his body.

But the old man only stroked his beard, lost in deep thought.

"Unfortunately, I can't just remove you like that, the academy's ranking system isn't controlled by any executive—it's tied to the student badge you wear, and It follows you everywhere and automatically logs your performance," Alderic replied.

"And let me tell you something, if I were to compare your points with those of the second-ranked student in the Earth Rankings—which is Lucas—you'd be shocked, because just based on hidden point accumulation that isn't shown alone, you're ahead of him by a staggering factor of a hundred, with such points gap only multiple defeats, would allow other mages others take out of your points and in return you fall In position." He added,

Alec blinked, puzzled at what could have caused such a gap.

Then it hit him—the badges were linked to their blood essence and also tracked kills and even if he had never thought of it, that moment he started to think that maybe the badge was also measuring every creature he killed inside the amulet world and since they have been counted it made his points so staggering high.

The more he thought about it, the clearer it became: because from what old man Alderic just explained to him it meant that even if all the other mid-rank students combined their points, it still wouldn't be enough to surpass him.

And with his hunting activities about to increase as he had set his sight for the 3rd level of the Beast forest, it only means he would continue getting more points which in turn would fast track him to reach the Colonel rank while still being a Tier 6 mage.

He had once feared that his slaying of the Tier 7 agility-type zombie would push him over the edge into Colonel rank.

But thankfully, while it was relatively easy to rise through the mid-rank military levels by killing the opponent of that level or breaking through to that level, the high-rank military positions at the War God Mage Academy were much more tightly regulated.

That brought Alec a sense of relief, as he didn't want to explain why he was already on par with many instructors in rank, as that would lead to an early graduation, which would only cut short his plans, and he still had unfinished business within the academy.

But even then, Old Man Alderic wasn't satisfied with his excuses.

He stepped closer to Alec and examined the black steel weights locked around his wrists and muscles, he then proceeds to crouch in order to inspect Alec's legs as well, puzzled by the level of intensity the boy was putting himself through.

While Alderic knew Terran practiced under such pressure, considering even his entire castle was wrapped in gravity arrays like one massive training capsule, however these weight devices were something entirely different.

They weren't just heavy; they radiated a level of suppression he hadn't encountered before.

"I don't care how you do it, just make sure you deal with them," Alderic said, standing upright.

"Break as many bones as you need, just don't kill anyone." With that, he tapped the ground lightly, with his right foot, as the earth beneath him split open and swallowed him whole.

"I can't believe it—Old Man Alderic can use the Earth Escape spell just like the Patriarch, do you think the Patriarch could be as strong as him?" Kelvin asked as the group began speculating, their eyes shining with excitement after seeing someone else use the same spell that their patriarch was revered for back at the Estonia city.

While the others chatted, Alec let out a sigh of relief. He was grateful the dean hadn't pressed him about the origin of his weight devices. Alec could tell Alderic had noticed how unusual they were, however he likely assumed they came from Terran—but that wasn't the case.

Even Terran didn't own anything that could aid a mage above Tier 6 in such a direct way, and as Alec's physical strength continued to surpass the Tier 6 realm, the training weights from his master had long since become ineffective.

Infact, That was why Terran relied on gravity chambers for his own training.

These weights, however, were different—far beyond anything his master could provide.

These weight devices had been obtained from the system store.

They were part of Alec's new daily training routine, and every time he took them off, a penalty was applied, one so severe he didn't dare risk it.

The weights had effectively suppressed his power, pulling him back to the level of a Tier 5 mage while keeping his body under immense pressure, if Alec were to fight under those conditions, his body wouldn't be able to keep up with his thoughts, let alone react quickly enough to dodge incoming strikes.

Still, he couldn't outright ignore Old Man Alderic's command.

But then he recalled the old man's exact words, he didn't care how it was done, as long as the students stopped loitering around the base of his master's peak and returned to their daily routines.

Not that Alec enjoyed their presence anyway—they were a nuisance.

But dealing with them felt like a hassle, especially now, as ever since he equipped the new weight set, he'd found himself becoming unusually lazy.

Yet just as he was turning over potential solutions in his mind, he came face to face with Brandon and Arthur—his two capable clansmen and a slow, unsettling grin spread across his face.

"You really need to tone down the excitement. That smile's giving me chills," Arthur muttered, visibly disturbed, with Brandon just nodded silently in agreement.