The Golem Mage

Old man Alderic finally arrived at the Dean’s peak, just as the alliance between the War God Mage Academy and the Battle Mage Academy was nearing completion, the dean had summoned him via sound transmission to serve as an elder witness for the final signing of the agreement between both academies.

However, upon realizing that Alec was nowhere to be seen, Alderic’s mood soured.

He had hoped to see the boy and continue persuading him to produce some spirit equipment sets like the ones that had been auctioned off at the Gordons Clan auction house for the institute.

But with Alec absent, that plan quickly fell apart, though Alec always gave the same evasive answers, Alderic never stopped trying his luck each time they met.

“If I knew Alec wouldn’t be here, I wouldn’t have even bothered to come. As the current leader of the War God Mage Academy student body, shouldn’t he be present for something this important? Why didn’t you call for him?” Alderic questioned sharply the moment he sat down, frowning at the Dean’s position.

Watching Alderic’s behaviour, the dean couldn’t help but recall how Terran had often sent him sound transmissions complaining about Alderic’s extreme bias when it comes to Alec, now being on the receiving end of that favouritism, the dean understood how frustrating it truly was.

However before the dean could respond, Edward spoke up.

“I thought you two would naturally cross paths, given your relationship and the place he is heading, but since you’re so curious, let me inform you—Alec should have already entered the second dimension by now.”

Alderic froze after he heard that statement, as his gaze sweeping across everyone present as though he couldn’t quite believe what he had just heard.

“Please tell me this is a joke and you didn’t just say that little brat is where I think he is?” Old man Alderic finally spoke after regaining his composure, his voice was low, but the cold edge in it was impossible to miss.

“I believe he’s capable of protecting himself, so I advised him to enter the second dimension to hone his skills,” Edward replied, standing up as he spoke, his earlier casual tone completely gone after seeing how the rage on Alderic’s face deepened with every passing second.

“You fool! You actually thought I restricted his access to the second dimension just because I wanted to protect him?” Alderic flared up, and by now, everyone present was beginning to sense that something far more serious was unfolding.

“The real reason I wanted him kept out is because Alec is a bigger magnet for disaster than even his master, Terran, ever was in the second dimension, since his very first entry, there has never been a peaceful visit, every single time, it ends in some large-scale battle. It’s as if trouble actively seeks him out wherever he goes, and just so you know, he’s been triggering these large-scale conflicts just when he was still in the low rank.”

“It was already troublesome back then, but at least manageable, now imagine the level of chaos that could erupt if another large scale battle happens because of him again and given the power he currently holds—thanks to your wonderful advice!” Alderic snapped before dashing into the air, his direction clear as he headed straight for the second dimension portal leading to the orc territories.

From his knowledge, this was the region Alec was most familiar with; if Alec was planning anything, it would undoubtedly begin here.

Behind him followed the Dean, Edward, and the Twin Sisters.

Normally, entering another academy’s space portal required numerous formalities and permissions, but at this moment, no one cared about protocol, the only thing on their minds was making sure that the disaster Alderic spoke of hadn’t already begun.

—

Inside the second dimension, a towering tree, nearly fifty meters tall, red in colour with black totem-like tattoos swirling around its trunk, suddenly began to sway violently, at its center, a gap opened, revealing a small, orb-like head with facial features that were neither fully male nor female.

“Finally, that little brat has returned. I will have my revenge!” the red tree hissed as waves of energy rippled through the surrounding forest. In response, the nearby trees crackled and groaned.

Within seconds, over fifty trees uprooted themselves, their forms shifting into more humanoid shapes.

These were Treant warriors, elite melee fighters of the Plant race, under the command of the towering tree, which had now fully evolved and gained dominance over this section of the mid-region.

Among the transformed Treants, ten radiated the powerful aura of Tier 6, while the remaining were at Tier 5.

This was not the same Root that Alec had fought in the past, not only had it fully recovered its lost strength, but it had grown significantly stronger over time.

Its roots now spread deep throughout the region, extending its mental detection far and wide, and just moments ago, it sensed Alec’s aura—faint and distant, but unmistakable, for an evolved entity that had harboured a grudge against Alec for so long, recognizing that presence was as easy as breathing.

“Go get him!” the red tree commanded as its entire army of Treants surged forward, breaching deeper into the orc regions.

Though the red tree knew the orcs would retaliate for this blatant intrusion, but it didn’t care.

As far as it was concerned, if it could kill Alec and obtain whatever secrets his corpse might yield, then offending the nearby orc village was a small price to pay for satisfying its long-held rage.

—

Elsewhere in the mid-region, a lone human figure stood before a massive snow-furred lion, behind him stood several other mages clad in black priestly robes, a golden mask concealed the man’s face, but had Terran been present, he would have immediately recognized him as Cardinal Damien — one of the Cardinals of the Evil Sect.

Though the Evil Sect preferred to work from the shadows, spreading fear and horror among humans, Damien remained the most notorious and publicly known Cardinal, largely due to his infamous clash with Terran over the birth of the Minotaur Prince.

Back then, the War God Mage Academy had appealed to the royal palace, requesting that the Royal Family dispatch their expert trackers to hunt down Damien as they classified him as dangerous.

But the palace dismissed their concerns, attributing the failure to capture Damien to the Academy’s own incompetence, accusing them of exaggerating the situation to cover their failure.

Disheartened by the palace’s indifference, the War God Mage Academy eventually dropped the matter, but that didn’t mean Damien had forgiven them.

On the contrary — if anything, their inaction only gave him more reasons to keep hunting for an opportunity to strike back.