The Golem Mage

Inside the Second Dimension, nestled within the territory dominated by Orc tribes, an old visitor returned.

The moment Alec stepped through the portal, he spread his arms wide, inhaled deeply and shouted at the skies with great joy.

The air was thick with mana—rich, potent, and far denser than in the human realm.

The very atmosphere seemed to embrace him, as mana here was more than three times as abundant, and while that hadn't made much difference when he was still in the low ranks, now that he had reached the mid-tier, it felt like a divine gift.

Though Alec wasn't a conventional cultivator, environments like this made it far easier for him to draw in and manipulate mana.

And even though he was technically restricted to the Tier 5 mage realm, he could already feel his Tier 6 mana pool responding within him. It was a welcome sensation—unlike what he had been feeling this days.

Around him, the black-armoured guards stationed near the teleportation hub stared in surprise, but none approached to reprimand him for his outburst, though he stood at the very edge of the teleportation zone, his student badge made all the difference.

The deep burgundy colour marked him as a Major, which shows he is a high-ranking mage of the War God Mage Academy—someone with authority, the highest-ranking officer of the Black armoured guards at this outpost was only a captain, and in wartime, someone like Alec would outrank even their commanders.

To add to that, etched on his badge beneath his name was a new marking: "1."

Alec had barely paid attention to it, but even Brandon and Arthur bore numbers along with their names, it was a privilege reserved for the top ten ranked mages in the Earth Rankings, seeing three such figures arrive together, the guards didn't dare correct Alec, no matter how disruptive he seemed.

"Should we go see old man Alderic now that we're in his base?" Brandon asked.

The moment the words left his mouth, Alec's body jolted. He spun and slapped a hand over Brandon's mouth, eyes wide in alarm.

Arthur and Brandon both looked at Alec in surprise as his eyes darted nervously toward the logistics department that was just a gaze away, he stared in that direction for a few tense seconds, and when no one emerged, he finally sighed in relief.

"Phew… he's not around. Just remembered something—while we're still in this city, don't mention his name, that old man's mental strength is terrifying. If his name is spoken in the city, he'll know, we need to avoid him for now," Alec said, issuing a firm warning.

Then he pointed at Brandon and ordered him to head over to a nearby vendor in the market square to buy two low-rank space rings from a mage trader.

Thanks to the wealth Alec had accumulated—from his auction commission percentages and the temporary shop he opened—he had more than enough to buy low-rank space rings without batting an eye, money meant little to him in the grand scheme of things; he much preferred hoarding high-rank corpses since they were of more use to him.

Still, money had its uses, especially for buying basic necessities like these, so he always kept some on hand.

Even so, acquiring space rings wasn't as easy as just flashing cash.

They were only able to get one extra ring despite having the funds. Alec then made sure each of them purchased space sacks—lesser alternatives often used by mage adventurers in the Second Dimension, while they didn't match the capacity of space rings, their storage was slightly enhanced thanks to the refinement process involving space-attributed power stones.

"Why are we sneaking around like fugitives just to go shopping?" Arthur asked, clearly suspicious and knowing Alec too well.

However he got his answer in the form of a sharp smack to the back of his head.

"Ow! Even Agnes doesn't do that anymore!" Arthur protested.

"Stop questioning me too much, just because we've come back to the Second Dimension stronger doesn't mean we're invincible. Today, we're each going to be doing something that will put serious pressure on us, that means it's going to be risky—so we need to hide our identities, just in case anything goes wrong. We don't want the city outpost pointing fingers at us when the time comes."

Though Alec's explanation sounded simple enough, However, Arthur and Brandon weren't entirely convinced.

They'd known him the longest and were fully aware of how much trouble they'd end up in just by sticking around him—and how shameless they'd have to be to survive it.

"Seriously, Alec, what exactly are we doing this time?" Arthur asked, already getting a bad feeling.

But Alec only brushed the concern aside, telling him not to worry as they exited the human outpost city.

The guards who checked their badges as they exited the city, had been left stunned, still reeling from the unexpected appearance of three of the Earth Ranking's top mages, all they could do was stare at their backs as Alec, Arthur, and Brandon skidded off toward the path that led into the orc forest.

The moment they entered the lush forest, memories of their last visit resurfaced, stirring mixed emotions.

But there was no time to dwell, moving at full speed, they were bound to encounter orc warriors patrolling the area in order to hunt demonic beast back to their villages or goblins lying in ambush, hoping to catch human adventurers off guard.

"Humans!" one orc shouted, just as a silver blade flashed through the air and slit his throat, before returning cleanly to Arthur's hand without him even breaking stride, every low-rank orc that crossed their path was swiftly dealt with by Arthur's precise strikes. In just fifteen minutes, they had crossed the low region and reached the borders of the middle region.

This was their first time stepping into the edge of the mid-tier zone, a greenish light shimmered in the sky above—a barrier that restricted mid-rank lifeforms from entering the low regions.

It's not entirely invincible—if a Tier 4 lifeform that isn't human persists long enough, it can eventually push through, but the true purpose of the light barrier wasn't really restriction; it's to prevent the denser mana of the mid-region from leaking into the lower zones.

This containment keeps the mid-region rich in mana, making it the ideal habitat for mid-ranked beings, that way any creature which has entered the Mid ranks and wanted to seek advancement further in their realm would naturally gravitate toward where mana concentration is higher, which is the Mid regions.

Of course, the high region boasts the most powerful mana density, but venturing there without the strength of a true high-rank would be suicide, as any intruders would simply become food for the monsters that dominate that area.

Alec glanced at his two partners-in-crime before stepping forward, as the green light washed over him without resistance. Brandon and Arthur followed right after, and the barrier let them pass through just as easily, marking their entry into the mid-regions.