The Golem Mage

And so the day wore on, with Alec continuing to struggle with his new Amulet, despite his efforts, the Amulet remained in its dormant state, refusing to react to anything Alec tried in order to make it active, Alec even attempted to coax it by offering food, but all his attempts were in vain.

It had already been two days since Alec and his team arrived in the city of time, and although they planned to depart the following day, Alec couldn’t shake his reservations, as he felt uncertain about leaving the city when he wasn’t sure he had resolved all the issues surrounding it.

Realizing that he couldn’t control certain aspects at the moment, Alec decided to rest and cease his fruitless attempts with the Amulet, weary from his relentless research on how to activate it, he lay on his bed, yearning for some much-needed sleep.

Yet, as he closed his eyes, an uncomfortable sensation overcame him, as it felt as though he was floating, causing Alec to promptly open his eyes, but to his astonishment, he found himself no longer in his room but rather in a boundless, black expanse.

As Alec took in his surreal surroundings, he realized that his clothes had vanished, leaving him adorned only in a loin cloth to preserve his modesty.

Turning his attention, he observed three levitating doors in close proximity to him, the first door displayed an inscription that read ”1st level of the Beast Forest.”

In that moment, Alec experienced a sudden clarity, being suspended in this black void, he had initially questioned whether it was all a dream.

However, with the sight of that door, he now knew without a doubt that he had been forcefully transported into the very space concealed within the Amulet Artifact.

And the three doors clearly corresponded to the first three levels of the Beast Forest Scroll that he had assimilated into the Artifact.

Nearby, he could see a long black tree standing in the middle of the space, illuminated by a mysterious light, on the tree, Alec could see the body of the Chronomancer being turned upside down, with the rest of his body wrapped by a large black leaf.

The black tree at the moment seemed to have only one branch, Alec floated towards the dead body of the Chronomancer, attempting to drag him down, but to no avail.

He decided to divert his attention elsewhere and entered the second level door of the Beast Direct, which was red in colour.

–

Alec found himself transported into a vast forest, with nothing but his loincloth covering him, he tried summoning his Red Salamander armor, but all that appeared was the tattoo instead.

The red, black, and brown tattoo of the Red Salamander set was glued to his body, making it look like he was a warrior from a tribal race, Alec had wanted to summon his armor to cover up part of his naked chest, but right now he only felt that the tattoo made him look cooler in the place he was in.

Determined to find out more about the jungle, he climbed up a certain tree nearby to get a clear view of the whole forest.

That was when Alec saw it: the entire forest was filled with demonic beasts.

Demonic beast that was emitting the aura of Nobility, it was clear from just a glance that they were much stronger than the average demonic beast in the same realm as them.

As he was still sightseeing and trying his best to analyse their power levels, that was when he heard a chirp behind him.

Anxiety gripped Alec as he gazed upon the colossal sparrow behind him, its wingspan towering over a grown man, even without the system’s confirmation, he knew he was in deep trouble; the aura emanating from the sparrow made it clear that it surpassed his current realm and he was no match for the demonic beast.

[Status]

Name: Sparrowkeet

Realm: Tier 5

Affinity: Wind and shadow.

Alec was Caught off guard by the Beast’s realm, as he had initially mistook it for an intimidating Tier 6 monster, however, the analysis revealed that he was facing a Tier 5 demonic beast.

He couldn’t help but feel a pang of hope that he might still have a chance to escape, as he wasn’t prepared to engage in another gruelling battle with another Tier 5 lifeform, especially not in an unfamiliar environment and when he was not at his full strength yet.

As he attempted to make a move, Alec witnessed the Sparrowkeet release a dark dart from its beak.

A chilling sense of impending doom washed over him, prompting him to leap from the nearby tree, to his dismay, the shadowy projectile relentlessly pursued him.

The dart’s speed was unfathomable, piercing him from behind and causing Alec to collapse weakly onto the ground, as blood sputtered from his lips as he grappled with the sensation of his heart being pierced.

With his mind spiralling, he wondered if this would be his end within the confounding world of the Amulet, Slowly, his breath faded until he succumbed to the fatal blow of the shadow dart.

__

Alec’s eyes flew open as he gasped for air, jolting upright in bed.

Anxiety still gripped him as he instinctively checked his chest, the location where the dart had pierced him, a sigh of relief escaped his lips upon realizing that he was unharmed there.

A refreshing and invigorating energy surged through Alec’s body, briefly offering a sense of satisfaction, however, his surprise peaked as a notification appeared before him.

[> 20 experience points gained]

The shock of gaining experience points simply by entering the Amulet world was beyond anything he had imagined.

It made him contemplate how much experience he could have accumulated if he had been able to defeat one of the demonic beasts in the second level forest, perhaps then, his worries about reaching the daunting milestone of five million experience points would have been alleviated.

The prospect of breaking through to the next small realm, transitioning from low tier 4 to mid tier 4, had plagued Alec’s thoughts, the system’s multiplication of required points had become a burden, particularly after his cultivation technique had transformed his entire body into a mana pool.

However Alec had finally discovered why most mages faced a similar delay in advancing to the next cultivation realm during their mid ranks without support from powerhouse organisations or clans, as the unyielding accumulation of energy they required demanded immense time and effort.

In fact, if cultivation was broken down and scrutinized according to the system’s classification, it could take years for mages who only cultivated and rarely engaged in combat to make a breakthrough.

Observing the serene moon still hanging in the night sky, Alec decided to return to his slumber, hoping for another round in the Amulet world.

Determined to seize the opportunity, Alec resolved to ensure he could defeat one of the beasts before being pulled back to the real world, with closed eyes, he gently tapped the Amulet resting on his chest.

”Come on, little baby, take me back into the dream world,” Alec whispered, eager to delve back into slumber.

He couldn’t afford to miss out on the potential cultivation benefits that seemed to be within his grasp, prepared to spend the entire night in this pursuit, he was willing to do whatever it took to inch closer towards increasing his experience points.