The Golem Mage

"Damn that man!, They all parade around like righteous mages, but they're just a bunch of assholes, full of greed like any normal person, Why do they hide behind those uniforms?"

Arthur ranted, his anger consuming him.

They had just been dismissed by the captain who had asked for them and was responsible for the wing near the City gate they came in.
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The Captain had made sure to meticulously gathered every detail about the Nature Low Power Mine, down to the last piece of information, even uncovering the identity of the mine's owner at the moment from them.

Once he felt satisfied, he waved Alec and his gang out of his room without bothering to face them.

As he motioned with his hand, a strong gust of wind forcefully ejected them all from the room.

This infuriated Arthur even more, They never even got to see the captain's face, and he had clearly not helped them when they were being chased by the orc army and the plant life forms.

It only just worsened their already negative impression of him.

"I wish I could strangle him!, Argh!" Arthur shouted, but Alec quickly covered his mouth.

"Are you trying to get us killed?, We are still under his wing, he practically controlled all the guard mages here."

" Just remember, if he comes after us, we don't know each other," Alec warned, guiding them towards the armoury to drop off some of the equipment they had obtained.

Fortunately, they had managed to secure some Nature Low Tier stones, but Agnes couldn't help but feel a pang of regret as she thought about the equipment they had been unable to salvage from those they killed due to being pursued.

With their limited gains from the armoury, they made their way to the return portal of the space passage.

Before leaving, Alec turned back to gaze at the double suns in the sky, feeling the overwhelming excess mana in the environment.

"This place is perfect for cultivation, If only it weren't so damn expensive to rent a room, I wouldn't mind us all staying here to cultivate," Alec mumbled, a hint of longing in his voice.

"Yeah, I can feel my realm loosening up, as if I'm on the verge of entering the ( High) Tier 2 Mage Realm. With just a little push from these Nature Low Power Stones we've acquired, I assure you we'll be able to break through once again,"

Arthur confidently stated, causing Knight to glance over with envy.

Although he was the one who got to possess the last spirit equipment Alec made, but it was undeniable that he still didn't match Arthur's strength without it as he was still a ( Mid ) Tier 2 Mage .

He silently made a promise to himself that he would also strive for a breakthrough when they returned.

"Of course, we all have the opportunity to make breakthroughs once we get back. But first, you should consolidate your realms. I don't need to remind you all that we just recently broke through, and continuous rapid progress could negatively impact our foundations,"

Agnes chimed in, attempting to give the group a dose of parental advice.

"For example, look at Alec. I'm sure he has reached a breakthrough point, but he's been holding off, not allowing his greed for immediate power to consume him. He has remained in the Mid Tier realm, his aura growing stronger and stronger. So, I think that's sufficient advice for all of you," she continued.

Agnes's words made Alec feel embarrassed, as he knew the reason he hadn't broken through was simply because he lacked enough experience points.

If he had them today for killing the Orcs, he would have already advanced to the next level, but since he was in a party system with a lot of people the experience point ended up being shared a lot.

And as for his growing powers, they were a result of his equipment, his control over Blood intent, the awakening of his mental attributes, and the fact that he had over a hundred strength stat points, Nothing else.

He nervously scratched his head and averted his gaze from the rest of the group, feeling the stern scrutiny of Arthur's eyes as he tried to figure out what Alec had been doing to constantly earn comments from Agnes, when all he got was knocks.

Alec left the second Dimension feeling content, even though he hadn't been able to achieve what he had set out to do – kill other beasts to discover if they could serve as materials for creating new spirit equipment for the benefit of the group,

Considering they were avoiding the regions under the Divine Tree's rule, which the wolves hunt.

But they became preoccupied with their stealing mission at the mine, causing Alec to forget about his second mission of killing Orcs to break through.

However, with the new influx of Nature Power Stones, he now had a means to accomplish it.

--

As Alec and his gang made their way out of the second dimension, the captain, who had obtained the information from them about the nature mine from them, was busy making plans.

He was determined to conquer the mine and claim it in the name of the academy.

By doing so, he hoped to earn merits and secure significant gains that would make his promotion easier allowing his access to cultivation resources he doesn't have now.

Aware that he couldn't just go in and finish the task, since the mine was under the ownership of an orc village, with its strongest warrior being a Tier 4 lifeform he felt disturbed.

Moving in as a Tier 6 mage or killing excessive numbers of orcs would likely draw the attention and retaliation of the mid-level orc village, which had a few Tier 6 warriors capable of defeating him,

And he clearly doesn't want any of the Mid Tier Orc villages knowing about the mine until it's under the control of the academy.

His solution was to orchestrate a heist similar to what Alec's group had done.

This time, however, it would be led by a group of Tier 3 mages with a Tier 4 mage at the helm.

Their objective was simple: eliminate anyone occupying the mine, establish a defensive barrier to secure the area, and ensure that only experts from the academy could access the mine for large-scale extraction of power stones.

Such an endeavour would significantly increase the academy's wealth and provide some stability, as it had been a while since a new mine had been discovered that wasn't under the control of a Mid-level power entity.

The captain wasted no time in assembling a squad for this operation, requesting the strongest mages available, even if it meant weakening the city's defences.

The potential rewards he could receive if he succeeded in this mission blinded him to the risks involved.

However, before the captain could finalize his plans, someone else had already swooped in to claim ownership of the mine – and that someone was the Root.

Although the mine held no value to the Root, it had other intentions in mind.

As its subordinates did have a need for the mine's energy.

The idea of how powerful his army could become by absorbing the energy intoxicated the Root.

He knew that this advantage would attract many more plant lifeforms to join his faction, before he eventually restored its previous strength.

Taking advantage of the Orc chief's severe injury from their previous encounter with Alec and his group, the Root saw this moment as the perfect opportunity to launch a strike against the remaining Orcs defending the mine.

And so, another small war began in the second Dimension between Orcs and Plants, disturbing everyone near that region.