The Golem Mage

The capital of the Northern Kingdom was bustling with activity as the inter-academy competition drew near. Inns throughout the city were experiencing a surge in business, with every room fully booked even the most modest establishments were all filled up.

Prestigious academies had secured their accommodations in some of the finest lodgings in advance, like a full month before the tournament was set to even begin.

Meanwhile, the less renowned academies that had only just arrived in the city were struggling to find suitable lodgings, due to their lacking preparations, but the influx of visitors wasn’t limited to students and scholars; the city was also teeming with respected High and Ancient Mage clans on the lookout to recruit talented mages from lower clans or independent rogue mages.

If they didn’t strike gold by finding an exceptionally talented individual, they always made sure at least they made an effort to scout for those with potential, enticing them with the prospect of working for their clans as enforcers.

They lured them with the possibility of gaining Cultivation Pills, marrying into the clan and adopting their prestigious names.

While such opportunities were rare, it was true that if an enforcer reached the High rank realm, they were no longer bound by their contract and could easily leave the clan they served.

However, not all clans were willing to let their flourishing investments go without reaping some benefits.

They would often try to retain these high-ranked individuals by offering marriage into the clan, family names, higher cultivation resources like monthly Cultivation pills, spirit weapons, and more.

Mages from low or mid-tier clans were often fully tempted to join such prestigious clans and discard their own clan names to become enforcers, this is how the outer branches of large clans were formed, with their descendants often completely unaware of their true ancestral lineage.

After examining the descriptions of the new set of loot drops, Alec gained a clearer understanding of their significance. Firstly, the fragments of the spirit equipment set required a collection of about a hundred pieces before they could be assembled into a Tier 3 spirit equipment set.

Alec couldn’t help but smile, feeling a surge of excitement as he realized he had finally found a way to create spirit equipment set for the rest of his team without having to cause a horde run after them again.

However, he also recognized the immense challenge that lay ahead, right now he needed to kill precisely 91 more Tier 3 Flarefang Saber tigers in order to complete the set. Yet, he found solace in the fact that even with the unpredictable teleportation within the Beast Forest, the first level posed no significant difficulty for him and his golems.

From what he understand, as long as he could discover another fragment with high compatibility to the Flarefang fragment, he had the possibility to create a hybrid or mutated form of the spirit equipment set.

While the cultivation pills drop remained remarkably effective, Alec noted that the description indicated any lower-ranked pills he consumed as a mid-ranked cultivator would only yield half the benefits.

Consequently, he decided to refrain from consuming them himself, instead intending to share them with his team members who were still at the Tier 3 level.

His goal was to bolster their progress, hoping they could attain the Mid Rank either before or during the upcoming competition, thus propelling them towards a breakthrough.

Alec’s attention then turned to the Random Spell cards. As he watch each one displayed an artistic rendering of the slain Flarefang Saber tiger that had been used for refining.

This realization struck him: he had another valuable resource to share with his team, the intriguing part of it all was that the others would believe these cards to be attack talismans, given that only Alec could see their true form as clarified by the system.

With a determined expression, Alec closed his eyes and focused, maximizing his efforts to connect with his space ring.

Through multiple visits to the Amulet Artifact space, he had discovered the ability to establish a connection with his other equipment and devices from outside simply by concentrating on the desired item and visualizing it as still with him.

This technique enabled him to easily access these resources whenever needed.

As Alec concentrated, a small dark whirlpool materialized before him, eagerly swallowing up all the valuable loot he had accumulated, A smile played on his lips as he surveyed the scene, noticing the sole branch already feasting on the lifeless bodies of the demonic beasts scattered around its trunk.

The branch continued its relentless process, devouring nine complete demonic beast corpses, as a result, ten enormous black leaves formed, completely covering the bodies of the devoured beasts that have now sprouted on the branch.

It was at this moment that Alec noticed the branch’s preference for targeting the highest-ranked demonic beasts first, he couldn’t help but wonder if having multiple branches would enable him to consume the demonic beast corpses more rapidly.

Although the demonic beast corpses didn’t decay within the Amulet space, but the sheer number of fallen creatures crowded the area around the tree trunk, just as Alec began to feel a sense of confusion, a notification materialized before him.

[> Use 100,000 to grow another branch from the Primordial Tree (Y/N)]

Alec’s eyes widened as he read the system notification, he even speculated if the system could perceive his desires within the Amulet space, allowing it to respond accordingly to his thought.

Having struggled to control the system consistently while he was within the Amulet space to no avail almost given up, since he had been searching for ways to establish effective communication but now he thinks he just found a way too exploit the system options.

But he was more surprised by the revelation of the black tree’s true name, he realized with a name like that such a tree must have origins far more complex than he initially assumed.

While contemplating how the Amulet came to possess such an extraordinary tree, Alec realized he was bound by time constraints.

So he promptly, he pressed the ”Y” button, causing another long branch identical to the first to sprout from the opposite side of the Primordial Tree.

Now adorned with two branches, the Primordial Tree required no specific command from Alec as the newly formed branch instinctively burrowed into a clump of demonic beast corpses, consuming another ten before coming to a halt.

Alec felt immense satisfaction, as he had finally discovered a way to diminish the overwhelming number of demonic beast corpses that had encircled the magnificent tree.

With a determined mind set, Alec focused his thoughts on adding yet another branch to the Primordial Tree as the notification appeared once again.

Accepting the offer, Alec spent another hundred thousand system points, undeterred by his previous attempts, he proceeded to do it for the third time, resulting in a total of four branches adorning the Primordial Tree, each branch had voraciously devoured ten demonic beast corpses.

Feeling a surge of anticipation, Alec rubbed his hands together in excitement, eagerly anticipating the moment when his efforts would bear fruit.

However, when he attempted to further add another branch, an error message appeared on the system screen:

[> Error! Upgrade realm to be able to unlock the Fifth level]

In that moment, it finally dawned on Alec why the Primordial Tree, which emanates a dangerous vibe, held no killing intents towards him or showed signs of harming him.

And it was The profound connection he now shared with the tree due to being the master of the Amulet, so nurturing the Primordial Tree was akin to taking care of his exclusive, cherished Divine plant.