The Golem Mage

#Estonia Capital

The fight to decide the loser’s bracket had been brutally intense, it involved the mages of the Argent Guild, Solarium Sanctum, Ember Citadel, Crimson Dawn Academy, and the Blade Clan, after all the chaos of that disturbing brawl, the final match came down to Vincent and Vladimir of the Battle Mage Academy against Kaelus and Aeron of the Blade Clan.

It was supposed to be a peak-level battle, but when the Team royal rumble-style clash began, most of the teams had immediately targeted the Battle Mage Academy.

First, because they were an academy from the Northern Kingdom, and second, because they were widely regarded as the weakest team once their captains and vice-captains were removed from the fray.

They thrived in direct combat and chaos, but only when they were given the chance to execute their battle formations, without that opportunity, they were quickly overwhelmed and eliminated.

It was almost a miracle that Vladimir and Vincent had managed to last as long as they did without being disqualified, by the time this final battle arrived, both of them were completely exhausted.

So when the two Blade Clan members advanced toward them, it felt almost inevitable. Nearly everyone in the crowd expected them to lose, and they did.

Yet, the moment they fell, a standing ovation erupted, as many citizens of the Northern Kingdom rose to their feet, clapping in admiration of their bravery and their ability to endure for so long.

It was meant to be encouraging, but instead it caused the emotions of the Battle Mage Academy members to finally overflow, tears streamed freely down their faces.

Vladimir supported Vincent, keeping his head held high, refusing to look down, they had tried. They had truly tried, still somewhere in his heart, he blamed himself.

They had been targeted because their enemies realized how vulnerable they became whenever one of their members was hurt. But even so, he believes he would rather remain a compassionate vice-captain than become someone who sacrificed his teammates for victory.

And just like that, it was decided, the final loser’s battle would be between the Blade Clan and the Arcanis Dominion Academy.

If the Blade Clan team won, they would still advance to the next round as the sixth team, but if they should lose, the Arcanis Dominion Academy would take their place, this was the unpredictable nature of the tournament.

A team that had already lost once could still earn another chance to move forward, and it was precisely because of this that the loser bracket battles were always the most violent.

To many, the idea that the Arcanis Dominion Academy, whom the Battle Mage Academy had already defeated—could advance further than the Battle Mage Academy itself felt deeply unfair.

But life was never fair, the Battle Mage Academy simply hadn’t had enough luck, and because of that, they bowed out of the competition without ever reaching their full potential, and they weren’t the only ones.

There were simply too many powerful fighters present, in the grand scheme of things, it didn’t really make much difference, that was why the loser brackets were so important to the judges.

It gave them a second chance to observe each mage’s true potential and battle prowess, allowing them to jot down names that stood out.

If a mage failed to perform in the main competition and also failed to impress in the loser bracket, then their chances were effectively gone, as they had lost their final opportunity to show what they were truly capable of.

_ _ _

Immediately after the matches ended, the Dean and the Grand Dean returned to the War God Mage Academy quarters with the students that went to watch the battle, they headed straight into the living room, where Terran was already waiting, calmly sipping tea.

“Dean, Old Man Alderic,” Terran greeted, pressing his clasped hands forward respectfully.

Old Man Alderic, who was in front, only nodded in response, clearly not in the mood for idle conversation.

“How is Alec faring?” he asked, the loser bracket battles were almost over, and he wanted to persuade Alec to fight for the academy despite what he might be going through, he wanted Alec to air out his anger.

Though a part of him just wanted it because of the fact that he had ulterior motives , which is the fact that he felt that the team would perform poorly without Alec’s presence, just knowing what their captain and some of their members is going through is already crushing their morale, but the deeper reason he wanted Alec to participate ran far beyond that.

He was doing it as a form of protection, in case Alec’s clan was destroyed, at the very least he believed Alec could still be chosen and sent to the Origin World far from the reaches of the one who dared to make a move against the entire of his clan, as for being chosen, he had no doubts that Alec would definitely be picked.

The real problem though was different, he had no faith that they could keep Alec confined in the academy, preventing him from seeking revenge on his own.

“He’s been inside his room this whole time, not even coming out,” Terran replied to Old man Alderic’s question, the moment Old Man Alderic heard that, his eyebrows lifted slightly.

He couldn’t understand why Alec was still inside, he didn’t believe Alec was so emotionally shaken that he would remain locked in his room and not even attempt to leave or escape.

Without hesitation, he began walking toward Alec’s room, wanting to see for himself what Alec was doing in there.

Knock!

He knocked lightly, but there was no response, the next moment, he spread his mental aura to cover the room. Almost instantly, he sensed traces of Terran’s mental signature lingering at the edges of the room and Alec’s presence at the center, completely unmoving.

After confirming that Alec was indeed inside, he pushed the door open without waiting any longer.

With the Dean and Terran followed closely behind him.

But the instant the door fully opened, he came face to face with a light-blue, humanoid-shaped mass of mental energy, the moment his eyes landed on it, the mental clone shattered into countless fragments.

Its task had already been completed, and such a construct could only last for twenty-four hours before collapsing.

The only way for it to burst like that was if someone entered its detection range and that person was not Alec, because if Alec was the one who truly walked in he would certainly carry the same mental signature as the clone and that wouldn’t trigger its destruction, but clearly it was the Grand Dean who walked in instead.

There were methods to fool such a construct, like hiding one’s presence or masking one’s aura—but there was absolutely no way Old Man Alderic could have known that Alec had already mastered something like this.

He was already executing mental techniques that only high-rank mages were capable of using. Mid-rank mages simply did not possess the mental power required for something like this.

“ALEC!!!!!” the Grand Elder shouted, as he saw the letter Alec left on the bed for him.