The Golem Mage

"So when exactly do we get the chance to beat up those snobby mages from the capital—ahem—manners, I mean, when exactly do we get to contest against the Royal Mage Academy team?" Pale asked with a grin, while cracking his knuckles as a sharp pop echoed from his joints.

"If everything goes as planned, we'll be fighting them in the next nine days," the Dean replied.

"A message bird arrived from the Central Kingdom, informing us that a group of envoys will be arriving in the Northern Kingdom to make preparations for the tournament, but before that, they're especially focused on addressing why we were excluded from the eight great academies chosen to participate."

Some of the mages sucked their teeth in frustration—it felt too far away, the clash they had been waiting for, just then, the Dean whispered something to General Edward before flying off.

"The Dean had something urgent to handle, so I'll be closing this meeting on his behalf," Edward said.

"As much as I appreciate your confidence, I suggest you all get your attitudes in check if you think this fight against the Royal Mage Academy will be a walk in the park just because you've gotten stronger than last time you faced them."

"Seriously, how could you all be so naive? Do you think you're the only ones who've been training hard, striving to break through to the next level? You think they've been sulking in defeat this whole time and not training ?" He shook his head.

"Better get rid of that fantasy, because I can assure you—they've grown stronger too. Even if they hadn't before, I'm certain the royal family and their academy are pouring every resource into boosting their team's strength for this rematch."

"Naturally, it's the Royal Mage Academy's responsibility to ensure that the team facing you won't be weak, after all, they wouldn't want to lose their spot in the Origin World Tournament," Edward said.

"As for why I mentioned the Royal Clan—it's simple. If you win, not only will the Royal Clan lose face and credibility after what they did, but they'll also suffer a major blow, as you all know the Royal Mage Academy is their creation, so anything good that happens there reflects positively on them and they also stand to gain from it, a loss would be a public embarrassment."

General Edward made sure to clarify everything so they would understand why they couldn't afford to slack off.

"Well, that's all. I've given you the best advice I can, what's left is for you to take it seriously, when the time comes, you'll all be summoned again," he said, dismissing the gathering.

As Alec made his way toward Beatrice, Arthur and Brandon followed close behind, already making teasing noises, as Agnes snorted and muttered, "Boys."

Just before Alec could reach Beatrice, Edward spoke again—this time directly to him.

"I don't know what you've got going on, but out of everyone here, it's clear you're the one putting the most pressure on yourself—beyond your limits, if you really want to push that far, there's a better way to do it, one that might get you the results you're looking for very fast with a chance to awaken an acute sense."

"You'd also be putting your life on the line, but it'll give you whatever you're chasing, go into the Abyss—the Second Dimension I mean, don't summon your golems. I know how strong they are, and that's probably why you're not feeling or facing any real life and death pressure, take a few of your clansmen with you as support, but make sure you fight without your golems, you'll experience something truly thrilling—something you've never felt before."

"Thank you for the advice. In fact, I'll be heading out immediately," Alec said to him, before turning to Beatrice almost at once.

"It's been a while, you should learn to smile more, I believe it would make you look a hundred times more beautiful," he added with a light sigh.

"How do you feel about losing your tongue, Captain?" Beatrice replied coldly, not even sparing a smile as she met Alec's gaze.

She could clearly sense that her realm was higher than his, yet something about him unsettled her, a hidden sense of danger lingered beneath his calm aura, like an instinct warning her that if they ever faced each other in a life-and-death battle, she'd be the one to fall.

The thought irritated her—especially because it was her own intuition screaming it, she had thought she would have at least reached him after all those advanced puppetry training from her clan elders but he was still far from her reach.

"Hey! No need to get violent. Just saying hi," Alec replied, waving with a playful smile.

Even Lucas and Pale noticed the change in Alec's demeanour—it was far more casual than the previous year when he carried himself like a dependable leader, the type they could pile their problems on and trust to fix everything.

"By the way," Pale chimed in, cracking his neck,

"if this is supposed to be a school thing, why are only eleven of us here? I mean, there are other Tier 6 mages on campus—some have even hit Mid Tier 6. Wouldn't it make more sense to bring in the strongest available?"

It was a question no one had thought to ask until now, and the realization struck them the rest of them—they hadn't felt any pressure or competition for the task assigned to them.

"Well," Edward answered,

"even if some students have a higher realm than you, the student badge ranked you eleven as the cream of the crop, you should already know by now that—we don't control the rankings, this isn't about past teams or favouritism. You're all here because you're the top eleven on the Earth Ranking Board."

"And it just works out well for us that you're all former teammates—as we don't have to waste time with the usual process of building team chemistry," Edward finally replied to Pale's question before turning to leave as well.

"It's nice knowing we're teaming up again," Beatrice said, brushing her hair back.

"But I need to get back to the peak quickly, or my master might slack off and sleep through his responsibilities." With that, she dashed off.

"I guess it's back to my specialized training," Lucas added, rising from his seat.

"Same here," Pale said, stretching. Even Katie gave a small nod toward Alec before heading out with the others, leaving only Alec and his core group behind.

"Don't give me that look, if you're waiting for me to suggest something, forget it. Go do your own specialized training or whatever. I'm heading back to the Abyss—and I'm dragging Arthur and Brandon with me." Alec said, catching their expectant stares.

Without warning, Alec leapt onto Arthur's back, slamming his heels against his sides like a rider urging a steed forward as he recalled his golems. Arthur's mouth twitched in protest, but he complied, lifting off toward the direction of the space tunnel under the control of the academy, with Brandon following, as he waved to the rest of the group as he soared after Arthur.

"Do you think he even knows what specialized training is?" Agnes asked Sophia, who stood beside her, causing Sophia to burst out laughing.

"Hell no. If we had to take practical exams along with the physical exams, Alec would definitely have flunked ages ago, the katana specialization instructor has dropped him so many invites, and the guy doesn't even check his mail, how would he suddenly know what specialized training means?"

Knight shook his head as he finished blasting Alec's clueless state about a lot of the War God Academy facilities, with a faint smirk on his face.

"Embarrassing."

The three of them couldn't help but laugh together after that.