The Golem Mage

“Well, you seem even more excited than I am about this change I’m about to get used to,” Alec said, staring at the Old man before him.

“Well, who wouldn’t be happy about getting the champion of one of the smaller islands to come to their region? You see, the Wilderness has lost far too many lords in recent times, so much that I had to come and recruit new lords myself, that’s just how dire the situation has become,” the old man said.

Though his words made it seem like he held a position of high standing, however; he still didn’t state his real rank. Even so, Alec showed him respect, because the man was emitting the aura of a Tier 7 mage.

However, Alec believed the man was hiding something, because despite the fact that he had faced many dangerous Tier 7 mages before, none of them had given him the same unsettling feeling as this old man who was dressed like a beggar.

“Well, senior, is there a way you can arrange for all eight of us to have our lands close to each other?” Alec asked, and the next moment, the old man burst into laughter.

“If it were any other region, they might have found it hard to accept all eight of you, and place you all close to each other. However, such a situation does not exist in the Wilderness Regions. The one thing we do not lack is abundant land. You really are my lucky charm, Alec, bringing along with you seven other exceptional lords” the old man said as he raised the list before him to check Alec’s name.

“Well then, let me check the lands that are close to each other,” the man said before spreading out his hand in midair.

Just like that, a wide map materialised before him like an holographic image, and he began to look through it, there were green, grey, and red patches spread across the map, though the green areas were not that many.

The red patches were slightly more than the green, while the grey areas were by far the most numerous. However, one thing they all had in common was that each grey patch on the map had a tiny green dot on it.

In that brief moment, Alec had already started using his own knowledge to read the map, he quickly linked and came to a conclusion that the green parts were lands still under the control of human lords.

Then the red ones should be the lands already taken over by the abyss lords, and as for the grey ones, they were probably the territories without any lord currently present.

“What do you think about this?” The old man finally said as he pointed at one of the grey points on the map, it was quite larger than most of the lands around it, and around it were eight other smaller lands, though one of them was dyed with a red hue.

Immediately, Alec looked at the old man as if trying to read through his intentions.

“The last land that would be around you is currently being controlled by a High Orc race, this is only one of their smaller lords, but they have caused the Wilderness a great deal of pain. Me sending you and your seven friends there isn’t without reason. It’s because I’m hoping that, by some miracle, you and your group will be able to stop them from pushing deeper into human territory,” the old man said with a nervous smile on his face, finally making his ulterior motives known.

Alec, on the other hand, looked at him with a blank expression that practically said:

‘Already throwing us straight into the frying pan, huh?’

“I assume that if you’re placing us there, then you believe we have enough strength to stop whichever High Orc lord has taken control of that city, right?” Alec asked.

“He is only a Tier 8 lord with about fifty Tier 7 subordinates and many more below that realm. However, you won’t be facing low-rank orcs. They rarely let their younger ones leave their lands,” the old man said.

After hearing that, Alec was already frowning since he was not expecting the man to throw him and his group again such a worthy army, but he could also tell that if he truly wanted all eight of them to remain that close to one another, then he really had no choice but to accept the old man’s offer, even though it was obvious the man was trying to push him into a battle despite not knowing much about the Wilderness Region, he felt if he rejected this offer the old man wouldn’t hesitate to separate them so far from each other that they might be a tough issue for him to help them out.

Alec was not happy about any of this, he had only wanted to grow in secret and in peace, yet even with an F-grade evaluation, he still seemed to have caught the eye of the suspicious old man before him.

“We’ll take it. I can’t guarantee that we’ll be able to stop their invasion completely, but I can promise that I’ll do everything in my power to try and put an end to it,” Alec said, and the old man nodded in satisfaction at Alec’s initiative.

“In that case, what are the things I need to understand—” Alec was just about to ask questions about the various things he believed he needed to know, but it was clear the man had already had enough of him.

“Okay! That’s all we’ll be talking about. Don’t worry. Once you reach your new city and your lord token connects to your town hall, you’ll receive all the information you need to know,” the old man said as he moved between them, placing a golden token into each of their hands, each one marked with different symbols.

“But—” Arthur tried to speak this time, but the man’s expression instantly turned stern, and Alec quickly turned to Arthur and shook his head, silently asking him to let go of his curiosity for now.

“Now that you lovely new lords of the Wilderness are here, go and make me proud,” the man said, tapping his staff against the ground as a wide door appeared before him.

He stepped aside and gestured for Alec and his group to enter, though Alec was still skeptical of the old man, and of the fact that he was doing things no Tier 7 mage should be able to do, however, he didn’t feel the need to worry too much about it.

As he felt it was obvious the man wanted them to deal with the High Orc problem, so he clearly wouldn’t wish for something bad to happen to them, though Alec didn’t know why the man couldn’t handle it himself, However; after considering the fact that he seemed to hold a high position, he decided that might be the reason.

When Alec opened the door, he saw a purple-black portal, and without much hesitation, he stepped through it as the rest of the group followed behind him.