The Golem Mage

#Inside the Logistics Department Shop in the Second Dimension

Old Man Alderic had brought the three Gordons brothers to his shop which was under his jurisdiction and had a sound barrier to prevent those outside from hearing anything going on inside, the moment they entered—alongside the dean, General Edward, and the Battle Mage Academy sisters—he immediately ordered his shop assistants to step outside.

And none of them dared to question the sudden eviction, they knew that too many questions could earn them a shallow grave, with only their heads left exposed to breathe.

Once the room was cleared, Alec recounted the events of how they discovered a mine deep in the middle regions, he even explained how the distraction caused by the sudden clash between Evil Sect mages and the lion-type demonic beasts gave them the chance to sneak in and pull off the heist.

Of course, Alec conveniently skipped the part where they had to crawl like rats—as Arthur had firmly warned him not to mention that part.

Even without every gritty detail, the version Alec delivered left everyone in the room completely stunned, the experience they recounted was enough to dazzle even seasoned veterans like Alderic and Edward.

What didn’t surprise them, however, was the part about the Evil Sect was able to invade a second dimension location under the control of the War God Mage Academy, they had long suspected the Evil Sects possessed space portals of their own that allowed them to intrude into such locations—as there was no other logical explanations for how their members were able to grow in power if they didn’t have such access.

After all, every beginning from a certain stage all mid-rank mage needed access to the second dimension to grow stronger due to certain cultivation resources that can’t be gotten in the earth realm, those who didn’t venture in themselves were usually backed by wealthy clans who provided them with second-dimension resources anyway or they would have a hard time breaking through except they fought in constant blood moon battles.

Then came the subject of the Root—the one which had a grudge against Alec which has now evolved and taken the shape of a tree.

When Old Man Alderic heard this, he looked more concerned about the Root’s growth than the Evil Sect’s appearance.

Despite everything, they ultimately decided not to punish the kids, after all, adventuring wasn’t prohibited. It just so happened that Alec’s group had an unusual talent for attracting trouble wherever they went.

Like that, Alec was forced by Old Man Alderic to part with a hundred natural high-rank power stones.

Though Alec knew ten would have been more than enough to cover the city’s losses, the old man proved to be even more stubborn than he was, claiming they were deposited to help the city resist the lion beast pride incase they decided to attack in the future, there is definitely bad blood so it’s clear the city might be dragged along in this grudge.

After some back and forth, their bickering ended with Alec reluctantly handing over the full hundred as compensation, but just as he thought it was over, Alderic turned to him again.

“Ahem! Now that we’ve agreed on the city’s compensation, I think it’s time for you to pay a protection fee,” the old man said with a straight face.

“What?!” both Alec and Arthur exclaimed in disbelief.

None of them had expected the old man to be this shameless.

“Hold up—we’re students of the academy. Isn’t it your duty to protect our interests?” Alec retorted, leaving Alderic briefly stunned at the boy’s boldness.

While Alec’s words were technically correct, and the academy did bear responsibility for its students, the old man quickly shifted his stance.

“Look at it this way—you’ve got a pile of natural high-rank power stones sitting in your space sack, they’re no use to you now, but they could make a world of difference to other high-rank mages. Why not exchange some with the logistics department? I’ll offer you a very generous price,” Alderic suggested.

“I have no value for money,” Alec replied flatly, making the old man grit his teeth, most younger students would’ve jumped at the offer, but Alec, as usual, was maddeningly indifferent about such gains.

“Don’t be so quick to turn me down,” Alderic said, his tone turning persuasive.

“Yes, adventurers are usually allowed to keep their haul—unless they choose to exchange with the academy, but this… this is something beyond your current needs. I’ll give each of you a million student credits and grant access to the academy’s killing arrays—one week for each of you.”

Off to the side, General Edward looked like he had just bitten his tongue, even he, a general of the academy, had never made that kind of sum before.

As for the killing arrays, they were special training zones only accessible to high-rank academy mages, designed to expose them to extreme elemental conditions to help push them toward the manipulation stage of their affinity.

Alec, however, had no idea what the killing arrays truly were, still, given that the old man had brought them up, he suspected they must be valuable, instead of rushing to accept, he used sound transmission to ask Selene for details.

After their brief discussion, Alec had a much clearer understanding of their benefits.

He then turned toward Old Man Alderic with a sly grin, while everyone else deliberately busied themselves to avoid being dragged into the impending negotiation battle between the logistics head and the young Gordons.

“One million student credits? Come on. We still have around 550 of those stones. I’ll only exchange 500 with the academy—if you’re serious about it, the lowest I’ll take is five million. How we share it? That’s our business,” Alec said boldly.

“You little thief!” Old Man Alderic barked in disbelief at Alec’s counteroffer. On the side, General Edward covered his ears with mana, convinced his mental state couldn’t handle the sheer volume of numbers being thrown around.

It was at that moment Edward truly realized how broke he was.

“And as for the killing array… it won’t do much for me or Brandon as we have both reached manipulation stages it would take a while before it’s of any use to us again. So throw in something else an addiction—like a Tier 8 demonic beast corpse,” Alec added with a grin, rubbing his palms together in anticipation of the loot.

Hearing Alec’s request shocked Alderic, he had known Alec possessed Earth Manipulation, but it hadn’t occurred to him that someone else in the group had reached the manipulation stage too.

The Gordons might appear ordinary, but they kept displaying feats beyond even what top-tier geniuses could achieve.

“Fine… it’s a deal,” Old Man Alderic finally agreed after some internal struggle.

In the end, the academy stood to benefit immensely, with the location Alec had provided, they would soon send a team of high-rank mages to see if they could extract the mana veins for themselves.

If they succeeded, it would be a major achievement for the academy.

If that location truly was the source of all the mined power stones, then in a few years—once it naturally recovered—it would surely produce another batch, and if the academy managed to secure it thanks to the information provided by the Gordons, then even the student credits given to them now wouldn’t be nearly enough to appreciate their contribution.

(Note: Natural Mana Stones can be used by any mage within the corresponding tier range of the stone’s rank—for example, high-rank stones can be used by Tier 7, 8, and 9 mages. However, the amount of benefit a mage—especially one at the peak of Tier 9—can gain from such a stone depends heavily on its purity. In a world where Tier 9 beasts rarely die and high-rank natural power stones are extremely rare, I hope this helps you understand why they are so highly sought after.)