The Golem Mage

First of all, I want to take this opportunity to apologize for my inability to update any chapters over the past few days. I've really been going through a lot—family issues and other personal matters. Honestly, I still don't know how I'll make it up to everyone who's stuck with me and read every chapter, but I promise I'll find a way to make up for the missed updates.

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Before Alec, Arthur, and Brandon reached the center of the Arena Square, they were joined by the rest of the Gordon Clan members who had also been in the team that was created by Selene, the moment it happened, Alec felt a wave of nostalgia, as he felt like this call was more of an old team gathering, and he wasn't wrong.

Because when they arrived at the Arena square, the others were already in position, Pale and Katie stood off to one side, Lucas sat alone with his arms crossed on another side, and Beatrice lingered quietly in another corner, her eyes fixed on the two figures standing atop the small raised stage in the middle.

As Alec and his group entered the square, only Endrick and Sophia stepped forward to greet them with smiles, the rest didn't bother moving—Lucas simply sent a curt nod towards Alec which he reciprocated in acknowledgment, while Pale smirked at Alec, who was giving off a deceptively ordinary aura.

The others who had recently been defeated earlier couldn't sense Alec's true power, but Pale could.

Beneath that calm exterior, he detected a peak Tier 5 aura as he forced his Mana Energy to cover Alec. Pale felt a flicker of pride, believing he had finally surpassed Alec in cultivation speed, he knew he couldn't beat Alec in a real fight, but this small edge still felt like a win to him.

However, his confidence quickly vanished when his eyes scanned the mages standing behind Alec, the moment he sensed their cultivation levels, his composure cracked—every single one of them had reached the Tier 6 realm.

Suddenly, even Pale found it hard to believe that Alec was still just a peak Tier 5 mage.

Finally, Alec took his seat, as he was joined by the rest of the Gordon mages, with Endrick and Sophia settling in beside them.

Though Pale wanted to ask a lot of questions, he was cut off when the two figures at the center of the arena finally decided to speak, these individuals were none other than the new Dean and General Edward W. Dunce—Terran's brother and the master of Selene, who had just recently graduated.

"Welcome. I appreciate that every one of you answered the call, now, I won't waste time and will get straight to the point," Edward said, swiping his hand as a strange device materialized and began to levitate, projecting an image into the air.

"Can anyone tell me what this is?" he asked.

Though they were all staring at the image, but none of them seemed to understand it, a long silence followed, until Alec, noticing that no one else was willing to speak, finally broke the silence.

"A map," he said.

Just as Edward was growing tired of the silence and about to speak again, Alec's quiet voice reached him—and the entire arena.

"Yes, clearly this is a map, naturally, this is a very sensitive matter, and many Patriarchs who know the workings behind this map have kept it hidden. I'm surprised you even have an idea about it," Edward said, turning a sharp gaze toward Alec, as though silently interrogating him to see how much he really knew.

Realizing that he might've overstepped, Alec quickly shut his mouth.

Truth be told, he didn't actually know anything special about the map, he had only guessed it was a map based on the way it was drawn—especially the depiction of water bodies surrounding it.

Despite the fact that he just spoke up because no one else did, it didn't mean he was a star student, he wasn't exactly known as a model student, he missed most classes and only showed up for exams—something that had earned him more than a few cold shoulders from his instructors who saw him as an unserious student if not because their hand are tied they would gladly fail him but since he was doing academic duties he was exempted for such crimes as missing classes.

"Well, I'll continue the explanation for General Edward from here," the new Dean said, stepping forward to ease the air.

"This map you're looking at shows the entire Five Kingdoms continent, every city and region under the control of the five great kingdoms is represented in this small projection."

His words caused a stir of confusion among the gathered mages, many of them struggled to believe that such a small drawing could represent all the lands of the five kingdoms.

Because most hadn't even visited all the cities within the Northern Kingdom alone, yet they were well aware of how vast their own kingdom was.

"I'm here to inform you all that the Five Kingdoms are merely a small outer island under the broader domain of the human race, and there are many more like it" the Dean continued, deepening the confusion on everyone's faces—Alec included.

"Let me put it more simply, there is a higher realm that is above our continent—it's a realm where even the Five Kingdoms combined cannot even begin to compare to one established kingdom there. It's a place where the top human organizations, sects, guilds, and kingdoms reside."

"This realm is called the Origin World, or the Realm of Kings. And it's not just humans who live there. Numerous other races from the Second Dimension dwell there as well, since their numbers far surpass ours, they naturally control more territory."

"Luckily for us, the races of the abyss in that realm aren't as united as we are, they often battle among themselves, but beyond that, there's something even more important for you to understand: even the multiverse races of the Abyss and the humans, share one great enemy and that enemy is the Zerg race."

The Dean looked around, observing the stunned expressions on the young mages, he could tell something had shifted.

The sheer weight of the information he'd just revealed was overwhelming, and many of them were still trying to process what it all meant.

"Well, I won't bore you with too many details," the Dean said, his tone sharpening.

"Let me get straight to the point. In the Origin World, monarchs who have reached the Sun Level of the Monarch Realm are allowed to select a hundred individuals each year, but most of these monarchs don't bother with our world, because there are many smaller realms like ours to choose from, and taking someone in means taking responsibility for their growth. Naturally, they don't see the value in investing in us."

"However, there is one human monarch who reached the Sun Level from our world—back when the laws here were still intact, for every world the rule is the laws would become flawed after a sun level monarch expert is born pushing them to the origin world, the laws of this small world have definitely helped that mage break through and move to the origin world"

"So to show his appreciation, every ten years, he holds a competition for the most promising mages across the Five Kingdoms, his goal is to nurture the potential of those from his homeland within the Origin World. With his authority, he can only accept mages who are Tier 6 or lower."

"Now, the ten-year cycle has come again, and the competition is about to begin. We were supposed to have a guaranteed slot to participate after winning the inter academy competition, but due to certain actions by the royal family which we all know, that privilege was revoked."

"Fortunately, the envoy sent by that monarch saw through the royal family's slander and decided to give us a chance. A trial—to determine whether or not we deserve a quota to compete."

The Dean finally paused, though everything he had just said was a lot to absorb, but their curiosity now burned brighter than confusion.

"What's the trial about?" Alec asked, breaking the silence with the question that had crossed everyone's mind.

"It's a five-versus-five match against the Royal Mage Academy ," the Dean replied.

"We have to defeat their representatives to prove we're more worthy of the opportunity."

The moment the words left his mouth, a wide smile spread across Alec's face.

He had been waiting for another chance to face the Royal Mage Academy—and clearly, he wasn't the only one.

As everyone present was chuckling, genuinely pleased with the trial that had been announced, unlike the last time they faced the royal academy's team, they had all grown significantly. Now, they were more than ready to take back what had been stolen from them—and settle the score.