The Golem Mage

#Royal Palace

In the throne room of the Central Kingdom, King Alexander stood tall as a cloaked middle-aged man addressed him, the man's face was hidden, as his presence was shrouded in secrecy.

"Send this message to the other four kingdoms, they are to prepare the participants who will represent their kingdoms, as agreed. Everyone will compete for their chance to enter the top hundred," the man said in a calm but commanding tone.

"Sir Envoy, you need not worry, your message will be delivered promptly, we all understand how the competition is structured," King Alexander replied. "We've been waiting for this day for a long time, no one would forget something as crucial as the rules."

The cloaked man gave a slight nod.

"Then I shall return, in ten days, a group of mages will arrive to assist the Northern Kingdom with the necessary preparations."

"There's something I wanted to ask, Sir Envoy," Alexander added.

"Is it possible to shift the hosting rights to my kingdom? I don't believe the Northern Kingdom is capable of upholding your organization's standards."

"Are you questioning our authority?" the man snapped, his tone sharp.

"The hosting of the Origin World Tournament has always followed the same regulations, each kingdom hosts once every five cycles, why are you seeking to host again when your turn came forty years ago?"

"My apologies, that was out of line," Alexander said quickly, bowing his head in apology.

With a snort, the envoy raised his hand as a gust of wind swirled violently around him, and within seconds, the typhoon-like whirlwind dissipated—and he was gone without a trace.

Despite the envoy's disrespectful tone, Alexander who is publicly known as the king of the most powerful kingdom on the continent—let it slide, after all, the mage's background carried a weight far beyond that of any throne.

Alexander was dressed in regal attire that reflected his royal status, with his curly blond hair left loose to sway gently with the breeze.

"I failed to persuade him... well, I suppose we'll just have to seize most of the spots the hard way," he muttered, then sent a mental message to the leader of his royal guard, instructing him to fetch the mages that took care of the messaging birds.

Though displeased that his suggestion had been dismissed, he didn't view it as a major setback, instead, he was more determined than ever to ensure the news was sent across the continent as swiftly as possible.

—

Meanwhile, as a storm that would shake the fate of all five kingdoms began to brew, the King of the Northern Kingdom, who is the designated host of this round of the Origin World tournament had reportedly entered closed-door cultivation, refusing all audiences with his court, while commoners remained unaware of the implications, the ancient clans had already begun to see the signs.

They had been counting the years and knew this silence from the royal clan wasn't without reason.

Regardless of the king's seclusion, the ancient clans were prepared to ensure their members secured a place in the Origin tournament, alongside the ancient clans and the royal family, the other group with a right to participate in the origin Tournament was the Great Eight Academies—though many believed at least one of them no longer deserved the title.

-

The informed few in the capital buzzed gossip once again with talk of the War God Mage team, but as the academy drew attention, a significant battle was about to unfold within its walls to determine a new hierarchy, with all the senior students having graduated, the top position was now up for grabs.

Normally, such battles were reserved for the end-of-year exams, where the third students tested themselves against one another to determine who reigned supreme, but this time, things were different—students had been summoned back early, as the academy appeared to have entered a conflict with the kingdom itself.

This spat resulted in many graduates choosing not to stay and work for the academy, instead, they opted to become freelancers or marry into other high rank clans, especially those without strong backgrounds, whom the academy usually took in and treated like family.

Even the new Dean didn't see a reason to blame them; he believed they made those decisions with their futures in mind, now back to the current issue, the third-year seniors who had been denied advancement to the next year classes until they proved themselves in the upcoming war in the second dimension returned to find an unfamiliar newcomer sitting at the top of the Earth Rankings who wasn't even a member of their year.

The Heaven Rankings were mostly reserved for high-ranking instructors, making the Earth Rankings the true battleground for student supremacy, though a week had passed without Alec attending classes or officially resuming, however it did nothing to calm the ambitions of the mages who were eager to challenge him for the number one spot.

Due to the academy's ongoing feud with the Kingdom, resources were stretched thin in the academy as old man Alderic hadn't brought out the new batch of pills yet as he was waiting for the War the academy planned on having, even their mercenary operations—one of their major sources of magic crystals had been halted since of the recall and command from the academy.

Now, the number one position has become even more desirable, as it offered a reward of one hundred magic crystals per month to the one who stays in that position.

But the problem was Alec, despite returning to the academy, had refused to leave his master's peak, his silence made everything more mysterious, From morning to night, students gathered at the mountain's entrance, skipping classes just to wait and see when he'd emerge.

They believed he couldn't stay holed up forever.

With so many top mages neglecting their duties, the situation reached a point where the academy could no longer ignore it, and Old Man Alderic finally decided it was time to take action as he stepped in.

Alderic mysteriously appeared at the top of Terran's mountain peak, making his way toward Alec's residence, he knew the location because he had visited the other day when Alec first returned to the academy to discuss potential business deals.

However, Alec had claimed it would be difficult to finalize anything until he returned home.

In which, Alderic agreed readily without much stress with happiness from the last batch still on his face, he even suggested they assign one of the academy's message birds to Alec to relay orders to his clan, which Alec rejected as he felt it was inappropriate for him to take such a priceless gift.

Eventually, seeing how persistent the dean who had come with Old man Alderic was, Alec stopped resisting—though he still managed to keep it hidden that he was the one truly in control of the pill supply, that was how Old Man Alderic, the logistics department's heavyweight, came to know where a second-year student like Alec resided.

Just before knocking on the door, however, Alderic sensed a presence behind him. Turning around, he saw Knight.

It was quite an achievement, in Alderic's eyes, for someone to sneak up on him so stealthily, but that didn't mean he appreciated the boldness. In the next second, the ground beneath Knight opened up and swallowed him, leaving only his neck exposed above the surface, a burst of laughter drew Alderic's attention as he turned to see Terran approaching with the rest of his disciples—Alec naturally was among them, wearing a deep frown.

"To what do I owe this honour, Old Man Alderic?" Terran began, but he hadn't even finished his sentence when Alderic casually waved his hand—burying Terran beside Knight, with only his head visible as well.