The Golem Mage

For roughly ten minutes, the battle between Alec and the two Beastkin generals had raged on. Yet, they found themselves completely unable to restrain him in skill or power despite going at him together, a failure that stemmed not only from his unconventional moves, but from a far more alarming reality, which was the fact that while they were growing increasingly exhausted, and burning through their own life energy just to keep pace with him, Alec only seemed to grow stronger as the fight wore on.

Eventually, they managed to identify the distinct nature of the aura different Alec was now emanating: they believed it belonged to the vampires. Even so, the realization left them deeply conflicted.

Because Alec was far too unnatural for them to claim he was a vampire.

Vampires lacked standard elemental affinities, possessing blood control instead; and any secondary powers they unlocked were typically tied to dark or curse magic. Alec, on the other hand, seems to defied these traits by having all.

Despite their doubts, they could not ignore the undeniable evidence before their eyes: his slightly elongated fangs, blood-red irises, dark claws, and abnormal speed were all unmistakable hallmarks of a vampire.

The only thing they had yet to witness was him drinking blood.

In reality, Alec had already cast several blood arts that are only linked to the blood family—or bloodline spells, as he called them.

While the beastkin generals assumed he had not fed on any blood, they simply failed to grasp how he had been doing it as the secret to that is also linked to how he had been able to maintain his peak condition while they exhausted themselves throwing everything they had into the fight.

It was not that Alec was abstaining from drinking blood; he was merely avoiding the conventional methods that are followed by vampires.

He possessed the Blood Changdao, a weapon forged from the blood of king vampires, though it is originally crafted with the plans to slay vampires in mind, however the blood used in its creation made the weapon so harmoniously attuned to vampire powers that it was nearly destroyed just after the forging had been done This was due to the long-held belief that if such a divine weapon fell into the hands of a monarch vampire, it would be repurposed to devastate humanity.

However when the weapon ultimately came into Alec’s possession, it initially offered little more than basic blood-drinking capabilities.

Yet, after remaining at his side for so long and gorging on the blood of countless formidable foes, it gradually began restoring its ancient abilities slowly.

Alec had also observed that whenever he merged with the lesser sanguine bat bloodline, he could draw out an even greater measure of the blade’s true power.

At this stage, opening the sword’s second seal no longer required him to plunge the blade into his own chest again; a mere smear of his blood across the steel was enough to trigger it instantly almost like his blood had been bonded to it.

Slicing his hand with the edge was merely the catalyst, now the true strength of Alec’s regeneration connection to the weapon lay in its devastating vampiric nature, as every strike that drew enemy blood activated its siphon, draining far more vitality than a standard wound is supposed to do.

In addition to inflicting relentless bleeding upon his targets, the sword is able to funnel a portion of the stolen blood back into Alec, this constant transfer mended his injuries and replenished his stamina, allowing him to remain in peak condition while his exhausted adversaries continued to deteriorate.

“That sword in his hands—it’s bad news,” the Were-tiger general warned, falling back alongside the Bearman general as they kept a wary distance from Alec.

They had exhausted every tactic in their arsenal, yet defeating him seemed entirely beyond their reach.

“Let’s combine our astral images and unleash a lethal attack to take him down. If it fails, we retreat immediately,” the Bearman general urged, teetering on the brink of complete exhaustion.

The Bearmen were renowned for their exceptional defenses, as they were built to withstand immense and powerful attacks. Yet, Alec had bypassed his formidable resilience entirely, opting instead to riddle him with countless bleeding wounds.

Right now a lightheaded feeling was already setting in on him, and the beastkin general knew that if he should ever succumb to this feeling, then it would only be a matter of time before he died from severe blood loss.

And he clearly didn’t need the Were-tiger general’s warnings to realize how dangerous the Changdao was, after all he had felt its brutal potency firsthand.

Because from the start till now, Alec had fixated almost exclusively on him, treating the Were-tiger general as little more than a nuisance , as he had only parried or deflected his attack, never taking him seriously.

[? Mid-Tier Spell: Flaming Wheels ?]

While they were engrossed in formulating their strategy, Alec cast another spell, as two circular hoops of flame materialized before him. Utilizing his flame control, he manipulated the hoops to shrink, compressing the magic within them into two small flaming rings before driving them down beneath his boots, where they hovered just below his feet.

Once positioned a short distance beneath his boots, intense flames erupted from the center of the hoops, one amber and the other black, the display creating an illusion that he was floating in midair, suspended by a pair of booster boots.

The Flaming Wheels flame technique, is a high-tier spell reputedly to have been created by his father, which was already bordering on the power of a monarch spell.

Alec had witnessed it only once, a long time ago after earning the skill at the War God Academy from the new dean acting generous before they went for the inter academy competition, it was then the system had forced him into a state of synchronization to deepen his connection with the cast spell.

Though he might lack the level required to unleash its full form or power, however; Alec had simplified the spell to suit his current capabilities and theories.

Thus, while the spell originated from his father, its present execution relied entirely on Alec’s own understanding.

“‘Let’s do this, let’s do that...’ You all talk far too much for a pair of Tier 8 entities ganging up on a mere Tier 6 boy,” Alec taunted. “Just bring it on.”

Leaning into a low stance, he sheathed his Changdao stylishly as he had the scabbard on his left hand now holding it in the middle, the scabbard blood engravings glowed brighter with every inch of the blade that slipped back into place.

The next instant, the fire erupting from the center of the flaming rings beneath his feet flared violently, launching him straight toward the two Beastkin generals, his movement was instantaneous.

Though the generals could visually track his trajectory, the burst was so blindingly fast that it felt closer to a mini-teleportation, far too quick for their bodies to react to make a counterattack.

[? Mid-Tier Spell - Iaido ?]

Alec had intentionally riled them up to disrupt whatever strategy they were planning, and his provocation had worked. Now, all that remained was to cut them down as all the gathered energy of his new spell started to make his scabbard tremble.

As Alec materialized directly before them, the Bearman general reacted first, fully expecting Alec to target him once more while warding off the Were-tiger general as he always does.

On the other side, the Were-tiger general was already swinging his sword, though baffled as to why the young human lord was so fixated on pursuing only the Bearman, he was more than pleased that Alec had his focus diverted, since it gave him multiple perfect opening to strike.

[? Mid-Tier Spell - Tremor Tremor Clap ?]

Desperate to widen the distance between himself and Alec, the fleeing Bearman general finally brought his hands together, which resulted in a shockwave which propelled him backward at an even greater speed, with the shockwave directed towards Alec, he raised his left hand high causing a light purple aura to spread around him in a very fast motion as the gravity bubble he spread around his body disperse the power of the shockwave easily without him even moving an inch

Expecting Alec to pursue the retreating Bearman, the Were-tiger general pressed his attack, lunging forward to strike before his opponent could shuffle away and vanish as if teleporting again.

Instead, Alec caught him entirely off guard, as this time rather than chasing after the Bearman, he pivoted sharply toward the Were-tiger.

Holding his scabbard in his left hand, Alec slightly raised the blade with his right hand as he used the raised bladed part to parry the incoming blow from the Were-tiger.

But he wasn’t finished—a sharp, metallic screech rang out as his body seemed to glitch in midair.

“Noooooo!!!!” The Bearman general screamed from a distance as he watched Alec’s form phase like smoke straight through the Were-Tiger, in that same fluid motion, his Changdao swept around, severing the Were-Tiger’s head.

Even as he phased beyond his opponent, Alec wasn’t done as he reversed his grip on the blade, flipping the blade backward towards himself, as he plunged the tip deep behind him and into the falling, lifeless torso of the headless general before it could begin its descent to the ground.

“Absorb,” Alec uttered softly.

At his command, the sword violently began to siphon every drop of blood from the beastkin general, while also unleashing a surge of wild, unrestrained blood Qi that thrashed swirled around him in a protective sphere barrier.