The Golem Mage

723: Severing Ties.

723: Severing Ties.

# War God Mage Academy

The atmosphere at the War God Mage Academy was somber, despite their academy team’s victorious return, the events at the Grand Royal Arena had cast a heavy shadow over what should have been a time of celebration for the whole academy.

What truly broke the spirits of the academy’s executive members, however, was the Northern Kingdom king’s final decision to withdraw all support for the academy, the normal shares they usually receives before has been cancelled, the new Dean interpreted this as a blatant show of power, an attempt to subjugate the War God Mage Academy and keep it in check so they don’t go out of line.

In response to this injustice, a long silent voice emerged, the retired old Dean, who had been in self imposed seclusion for years, sent an urgent message to the academy’s top instructors, in fact to call it a message would be an understatement, it was more of an order.

The old Dean had demanded that all senior students with no link to any clan, who were scattered across the Northern kingdom assisting various cities with blood moon wars to temper themselves should immediately return to the academy.

This directive wasn’t limited to current students; as even alumni who had graduated but remained affiliated with the academy’s military service system and making a living with the system were also summoned back.

Most notably, the academy’s general ranked alumni, powerhouses in their own right, were ordered to return without delay.

But that wasn’t all, the second part of the Dean’s decree was even more drastic, the War God Mage Academy was to sever all ties with the Northern Kingdom.

Effective immediately, they would no longer respond to calls for help from any city under the northern kingdom’s domain.

Instead, the academy was to focus on consolidating its foothold in the Second Dimension, and try to better their situations if the opportunity presents itself.

The old Dean’s bold stance made it clear, if the kingdom had chosen to abandon them, then the academy was prepared to sever all ties with the kingdom in turn.

The old Dean himself was already making plans to come out of seclusion to oversee this monumental shift.

The bounty of resources typically shared among the kingdom’s academies, were mostly being derived from power mines which veins have been extracted from the second Dimension to the surface to plant and create a new power mines on the surface, and other rich resources deposits, this were all fought for by most of the old deans in the past when the kingdom was still in its infancy, and to ensure fairness it was left

Under the watchful eyes and care of the Royal family, and it’s always ready for mining and harvesting every one year, these resources cultivated over the course of a year are prepared for redistribution through the grand competition in disguise.

This event determines which eight academies, the Great Eight, are deemed worthy of receiving the lion’s share of the bounty.

The Royal family in the past believes these academies are the most capable of continuing the legacy of past great mages by venturing into the Second Dimension, and securing further victories for humanity, and returning with coveted resources such as the power stone veins that cultivates part of the academies resources each year.

The resources remaining after the Great Eight have claimed their shares, are distributed among the rest of the other lesser academies.

However, these leftovers are often insufficient to cultivate top-tier talents, leaving the lesser academies unable to rival their elite counterparts.

This disparity is one of the main reasons other academies remain mediocre compared to the Great Eight.

Yet, it wasn’t only the system that created this gap; the Royal family’s greed played a significant role, acting as custodians of the hard won resources for so long, the Royal family finally leveraged its position to establish the Royal Mage Academy, ensuring that a large portion of the resources always funnelled back to them as form of tributes.

Now, with the opportunity for another academy to potentially replace the Royal Mage Academy, the king has revealed his true colours.

Determined to retain the Royal Mage academy’s position and the continuous stream of resources, he has made it clear that such a change will not happen under his reign.

Ironically, the Royal Mage Academy is one of the weaker members of the Great Eight, largely because the Royal family demands a significant portion of its share as tribute.

These tributes are then redirected to bolster the Royal family’s forces, helping them maintain dominance over the ancient clans they are so scared of, while the ancient clans have tried to support other Great Eight academies in exchange for minor shares of the resources, their influence still pales compared to the Royal family’s who gets a larger pie.

Beneath the surface of the Great Eight’s grandeur lies a web of politics and manipulation, which means staying at the top isn’t merely about nurturing the best talents from the top clans; it also requires access to resources at the right time.

While other ordinary academies might produce a few promising talents, the lack of timely cultivation often leads these individuals to miss their peak potential, leaving them unable to surpass their better-supported peers.

The War God Mage Academy, however, adopts a far more brutal philosophy.

Eschewing the slow path of controlled cultivation, it thrusts its students into the Second Dimension or life-and-death battles, such as the blood moon wars.

This harsh environment either awakens their latent potential or eliminates them entirely, the academy’s unforgiving methods is what had earned it a reputation for having the highest death rate among all institutions.

And the old Dean understood the harsh realities of his academy’s philosophy, but he was unwilling to nurture a batch of inexperienced greenhorns like other ordinary academies.

His gamble of pushing students into extreme, life-or-death scenarios often bore fruit, but always at the late stage of their training and at the expense of many lives, as only those who survived these trials emerged as formidable pillars of the academy, embodying its ruthless ethos.

One reason for this success was the academy’s unique trade system, students were encouraged to sell anything they killed or discovered in the Second Dimension back to the academy, this system allowed students to accumulate wealth little by little in order to purchase resources needed for their advancement while also enriching the academy.

Of course, the system wasn’t without its flaws, the daring mid-tier mages who brought back valuable items often found themselves outwitted by the astral projection clone of the old Dean, who is secretly managing the academy’s logistics.

Many ended up selling priceless treasures for far less than their true worth, a necessary sacrifice to sustain the academy’s operations.

Now, with the kingdom fully withdrawing its support, and the old Dean decided to take drastic action.

His plan was bold, to invade the Second Dimension and establish a stronger resource foothold independent of the Northern Kingdom.

Though many Great Instructors privately questioned this move, but they followed his orders without objection, especially after hearing that the Dean had summoned “Mad Dog” and the other generals back from the Abyss battle, this signalled a complete severing of ties with the kingdom.

The return of Mad Dog would cause a shift in the academy’s power dynamics, the Punishment Hall which had long been subdued without its formidable leader, was poised to regain its intimidating swagger.

However, these political shifts weren’t the academy’s current focus.

All eyes were fixed on the final exams for the first-year students, these exams marked a pivotal moment as the students prepared to return to their homes.

Every high ranking executive of the War God Mage Academy was present as they had gathered to witness the outcome, curious to see the potential of this new generation.

After all, it had been too long since the academy had basked in the glory of being champions despite being stripped of it, so they were quite eager to see the standards that would be set by the War God Academy team which would be a sort of benchmark for all first years.