The Golem Mage

Just as Alec was still looking at his system screen, the kangaroo leader had already risen, it let out a roar toward the sky as its body surged with wind, lightning, and water elements, the cries that followed were laced with anguish—every one of its minions had been slaughtered, and it howled in grief, a cry meant to announce its location to the other overlords of nearby regions.

It knew it owed them blood debts for their subordinates it had killed so its kind could devour their hearts to progress and assimilate with other affinity though they didn’t have time to learn how to use those affinity yet, before they met with the unlucky star Alec and his golems.

Now, those debts would draw other overlords to this spot soon and that was exactly what it wanted. It no longer believed it could stand against Alec’s golems, so it intended to drag Alec down with him in a final stand.

Despite everything, the kangaroo still clung to the belief that he could take Alec in a one-on-one fight, he convinced himself that his earlier failures were due to carelessness, not weakness, but when Alec looked at him, he saw only a demonic beast driven mad by grief and the loss of its kin.

Titan stepped forward, stretching his right arm to form a massive mace, ready to strike.

But Alec reached out and shook his head, signalling that the kangaroo was his to deal with, it was the least he could do, for the sake of honour, he wouldn’t belittle the beast by letting a golem finish it off, he had to defeat it thoroughly, to crush any illusion that it hadn’t been a fair fight.

“Alright, time’s up. Let’s do this,” Alec said, tapping his shoulders as the upper part of the Infernal Mantle set vanished, revealing glowing, totem-like red tattoos etched across his torso, they pulsed with energy, and shaped like mythical beasts.

But that wasn’t the most terrifying part, while he still wore the lower set of the armour and his gloves remained, Alec had taken a fighting stance, as steam was rising from his flexed muscles while his hands radiated a deep yellow glow overlaid with a red hue.

There were no flashy moves, but the aura around him had shifted, he now exuded a raw, dangerous intensity that made the kangaroo leader realize just how serious Alec was.

And the kangaroo leader responded with a stance of its own, its muscles bulging and swelling until it stood nearly a foot taller, both combatants stared each other down, locked in a battle of wits, until—

Bang!

With a deafening boom, they vanished from their spots.

In the next second the sky was filled with golden arcs clashed with crimson bursts as their fists met in a flurry of raw power.

But this time, the kangaroo leader was clearly losing ground, as Alec effortlessly deflected its strikes, as though he had more than two eyes, in truth, he was using his heightened mental senses to anticipate each move, exploiting the kangaroo’s clouded judgment, its fury had dulled its instincts, leading to mistake after mistake.

Alec capitalized on every flaw, each punch he threw landing heavier than the last, as though repaying the damage he’d received earlier.

Within minutes, the outcome was clear, the kangaroo could no longer keep up. Its body was riddled with bleeding wounds and punctures, the magma-infused blows had torn through its flesh, and the intense heat only worsened the damage.

Each strike seemed to increase its pain sensitivity, and no matter how hard it tried, it couldn’t stop the bleeding or heal itself with his water magic, the magma left behind wounds too deep and volatile to recover from that fast especially during battle.

The kangaroo leader collapsed, with his body soaked in blood, while Alec stood tall over him.

Though Alec bore a few scorches and shallow cuts, his expression remained calm, then, with a faint crackling sound, a thin shell broke apart and fell from his body, revealing pristine skin beneath completely unharmed.

All along, Alec had been absorbing the damage with a combination of his activated Stone Skin spell and the Infernal Mantle tattoos, which dramatically boosted his defence.

“I see…” the kangaroo murmured bitterly, finally accepting his defeat, Alec really crushed his confidence.

Alec’s mastery of Stone Skin had reached the peak of the Mid Tier, and the only thing holding it back from advancing to High Tier rank was Alec’s current level of comprehension and cultivation realm.

Even so, whenever Alec cast it, it was nearly impossible to tell that Stone Skin wasn’t actually his real skin, at the Mid Rank stage, the spell had gained two extra attributes beyond mere defence: it could blend seamlessly with the body like a chameleon special ability, and it could absorb a significant amount of damage before cracking.

Once broken, however, it required several minutes before it could be casted again, unfortunately for the kangaroo, he hadn’t been strong enough to push the stone skin past its limit.

“You fought well,” Alec said as he conjured a spear of magma, its rugged, glowing surface radiating intense heat, and with one swift motion, he plunged it into the kangaroo leader, ending his life instantly.

As the beast’s body went still, its spirit energy vanished into the air.

[Level Up ×3]

Just like that, Alec gained three levels from the kill, an unexpected surprise, considering he hadn’t anticipated levelling up anytime soon, but a rank-up was always welcome, before he could revel in the moment, a thunderous roar echoed from all four directions.

Alec looked up and saw four immense figures descending from the sky.

‘So this kangaroo had the nerve to offend all four regional overlords… Guess that saves me time, I was planning to take them down anyway.’ Alec thought, smirking.

“You dare slay the one marked by a Great Beast? Prepare to die, human!” roared one of the overlords.

Alec found the statement amusing, these four—rulers of the North, South, East, and West—had clearly marked the kangaroo as a threat, as It had reached a level that disrupted the balance of power they had so carefully maintained, where no one was allowed to grow stronger than them by reaching the peak of the Tier 6 realm itself.

Alec had done them a favour by eliminating it, yet here they were, fabricating excuses to kill him as they feared he was a more dangerous threat than the kangaroo.

The Golden Lion King who had spoken was joined by the Shadow Wolf Alpha Lord , the Winged Falcon Queen, and the Ice Serpentine Lord (System identified name).

Together, they were the four great overlords of the wild regions in the second level beast forest and now, they had unanimously declared Alec Gordons their enemy.

“I’ve come a long way, and I appreciate the attention, when I first entered the second level, I wouldn’t have dared face any of you who stood at the peak of the Tier 6 realm, but look at us now, you’re all here just for me. For the record, I’ve been planning to kill you lot anyway. You’re all just too damn annoying.” Alec said, his voice calm but laced with menace.

At his words, all his main golems dismissed their minions, except the Hive Queen.

“What are your orders, Master?” Butcher asked, resting his massive axe on his shoulder.

“The same as always,” Alec replied, unsheathing his Changdao. “Their blood will dye the ground. Kill them all.