The Golem Mage

# The Day Before

After the hugs broke, Alec was quick to ask about the situation, when he heard they’d been defeated, and learned of Lucas’s and Beatrice’s conditions, his gaze turned cold.

But after a few seconds, his expression softened, and he sighed in relief, as he was grateful he’d made it back in time before the Loser bracket commenced, his words coming out as:

“Thank God there’s still a loser’s bracket match, let’s win that and get revenge for the loss against The Silent Night. I’m back now.”

After that, he passed by Lucas’s room and tossed him a Tier 7 healing pill, seeing this, Lucas almost rejected it due to how precious it is, even he knew that the other academy were giving their mage Tier 5 healing pills,

But Alec just scratched his head at his words and said if Lucas didn’t want it, he could throw it out the window, as he wouldn’t be taking it back.

Seeing Alec’s nonchalant expression as he spoke filled Lucas with a mix of emotions, and he couldn’t find the right words to say to express his gratitude because he knew the Tier 7 healing pill was way above what was needed to fully heal him.

“Seriously, look at it from my point of view, I want you out there with me tomorrow. It’s time we show off a little. I guess I’ve been pretty laid-back about this competition from the start, but what do you say, from tomorrow, we go all out?” Alec said to Lucas, cracking his neck awkwardly at first before stepping closer and pointing at him.

Seeing Alec that riled up and eager, even Lucas didn’t realize when he popped the pill into his mouth and swallowed it.

Immediately, he felt his whole body undergoing changes, and his aura growing more robust, he even sensed he wasn’t far from breaking into the Tier 7 mage realm.

The pill hadn’t just healed him; it had cleared out various hidden injuries he had incurred up till now, even he couldn’t deny the effects because he could feel his mana flowing way much better than it has ever done in a while.

He watched Alec walk out the door with a face full of appreciation, he always felt he owed Alec far more than he could ever repay.

It was one of the reasons he’d fought to attend the War God Mage Academy again, even when the clan elders had all tried to make him change his mind with all the rewards and private lessons that they claimed would be available to him.

If anyone had told him that such an opportunity would be handed to him, and that he would turn it down, he would have called it a lie, as never had he even dreamed of such a chance, let alone rejecting it.

But then again, when he reflected on everything he’d gained just from being close to Alec, his decision didn’t feel hard at all again, because he believed he’d progress far better alongside Alec and the team, who inspired him to strive and become a better version of himself, than in the clan, where everything boiled down to cutthroat competition.

After leaving Lucas’s place, he dropped by and slipped a mental pill into Beatrice’s mouth, and two minutes later, she woke up.

Seeing Alec back, she finally sighed in relief, knowing she didn’t need to push herself so hard with the knucklehead around again.

That was how Alec distributed Tier 6 healing pills to the rest of his team members, instructing them to use them immediately as he didn’t want anybody to have hidden injuries.

After wrapping up such matters, he declared that he’d handle the next match alone, however; the others vehemently disagreed, pointing out that it was a five-man team loser’s bracket and he couldn’t go in solo.

_ _

“Alec!!!”

Though more than a few minutes had passed since Alec stepped onto the stage, the crowd’s cheering hadn’t stopped, even after the judge raised his hand to silence them, it took several more seconds before they quieted.

“Well, it seems you’re all riled up and ready for this battle to begin?” the judge asked, as resounding “YES!” replies echoed from every corner.

“Then I pronounce this match begun.” He declared, rocketing into the air at such blinding speed that a faint boom lingered even after he’d vanished from view.

Alec glanced toward the two opposing teams, then turned to his own teammates.

“What do you guys say? You don’t need to do anything at all, leave them all to me. I’ll be quick,” Alec said, trying to convince his teammates for what felt like the hundredth time that they didn’t need to lift a finger, he was trying to make up for the fact that he just disappeared on them.

“Well, I don’t know about the rest, but I think I want to clash against the captain of the Blade team,” Lucas said while looking toward where the Blades stood, this caused Alec who had his back to the others to tilt his head in that direction.

Immediately, he nodded, as if coming to some understanding.

“That can be worked out,” Alec said.

“I would be fighting another mage too,” Brandon swiftly chipped in before Alec could slip out of his good mood.

“Me too!” Arthur, who didn’t want to be left behind, said almost immediately. And before Alec could even process what was happening, even Knight claimed he would battle one mage from the opposing sides.

Alec looked at his supposed teammates and couldn’t envision a comeback that would make them abandon the idea of competing against at least one mage.

“Ok!!” he said as he eventually agreed, while Alec and the rest of the War God Mage team were talking, the whole crowd watched in surprise at how casually they were acting.

Meanwhile, the other two teams, who were close enough to were able to overhear their conversation and catch every word because they all have heightened hearing, just listening to Alec’s act so confidence infuriated them.

In the meantime, Hoshino Ren had seized the opportunity to summon his Bound spirit, Akagami, as a crimson aura spread out as it overlapped with him.

“Shit, we were too busy getting caught up in the boasting of that small team that we didn’t even focus on our main opponents in this round,” Kealus said as he turned to stare at Ren.

But then he noticed something, Ren had already dashed out, heading straight for Alec Gordons, who had his arms crossed, hands tucked into each other’s sleeves due to the extra fabric in his kimono.

Seeing this, Alec smiled and said,

“Spread out.” As he spoke, he moved his left hand and drew his Bloody Changdao from its scabbard in a reverse grip, he raised the weapon high in a defensive stance as Ren, shuffling forward like a specter, appeared before him and swung down his Qi formed Katana.

Bang!

A loud explosion rang out, but unlike what Ren had expected, Alec didn’t fly backward, he didn’t lose his balance—in fact, the hand he’d used to block hadn’t even flung back.

In every scenario Ren had pictured, where he believed a single move would shatter Alec’s infuriating confidence, none of it came to pass, on the contrary, the only thing he’d accomplished was forcing Alec’s hand down slightly.

But in a swift motion, Alec swiped his right hand through the air, with his middle and index fingers extended, at their tips flickered a flame that trailed along, until his fingers pointed straight at Hoshino’s head.

[> Innate Combination Spell - Flaming Bullet.