The Golem Mage

Fortunately for the Gordon boys, they were already close enough to the energy shield that extended just outside the outpost city gates, as they surfed toward it, they slammed into the translucent barrier.

Due to the shield's imbued settings, their momentum instantly dropped, slowing them to a crawl as the bubble-like energy enveloped them, a green light swept across their bodies as if scanning them.

It paused briefly upon detecting their student badges, and after confirming their identities, the shield then forcefully ejected them through to the other side, where all three landed on their feet.

Arthur immediately dropped his space sack from his back, though he still clutched it tightly, exhaling a deep sigh of relief, as they were only a few steps from entering the outpost city—yet just then, a suffocating pressure fell upon them, locking their bodies in place.

"Damn, that old man came too fast," Alec muttered as all three felt themselves being dragged upward toward the top of the city gates, however none of them resisted—as the suction force left them feeling completely paralysed.

When they reached the top, they found themselves under the intense gaze of Old Man Alderic, General Edward, the dean, the Battle Mage Academy twin sisters, and a crowd of black-armoured mage guards, seated awkwardly after being dropped on their butt, they looked like a bunch of thieves caught red-handed.

"Hehe... hello," Alec greeted nervously, forcing a chuckle as he waved at Alderic.

–

Ten minutes had passed since Alec and his companions had been dragged to the gate's top, however they stood silently at the edge, not daring to speak, while Old Man Alderic continued to glare down at the growing horde of lion-type demonic beasts that was slamming against the city's energy shield, trying desperately to breach it.

Unfortunately for the beasts, their efforts were futile, but the more Alderic watched them fail, the more his anger simmered—especially as he kept recalling just how much activating that shield had cost and he had claim to take responsibility.

He was absolutely determined to get every single coin's worth of repayment from Alec using the Gordons Clan services—after brooding for so long that Alec didn't dare speak to avoid offending him—Alderic finally addressed them.

"I believe I asked you to stay away from the Second Dimension for a while, to let things cool off," Alderic said, pointing at Alec while ranting.

"Ehn?!" Both Arthur and Brandon exclaimed, clearly hearing this for the first time, Alec had obviously left them out of the full details regarding how he'd been warned not to cause major trouble for now.

"Well, General Edward had said—" Alec started, trying to shift the blame.

But Edward suddenly appeared beside him and covered his mouth.

There was no way Edward Wolf Dunce would let Alec use him as an excuse, someone had to take responsibility for the activation of the energy shield, and with Alderic still fuming he had been overlooked, however Edward still had no intention of being part of the sharing of the cost for the nature power stones powering the energy shield.

(Note : Nature power stones are the ones that can be mined and hold significantly more energy than regular power stones formed within humanoid creatures, though both serve the same purpose, however nature stones are far more valuable—one can be broken down into ten to hundred of its humanoid-formed kind based on the size.)

Watching Edward comically trying to stop Alec from pinning it on him, Alderic sighed and calmed down slightly.

Then he asked the one question that had been on everyone's mind.

"Just what exactly did you do this time to have an entire monster wave come after you this time?"

Alec didn't even try to explain. He simply smiled nervously and pointed behind Alderic.

Causing him to turn toward where Alec was pointing—only this time, what he saw made him freeze.

It was the Snow Lion King, in his humanoid form, with his upper body now draped in a regal robe made from thick fur, standing in mid-air and staring down at the mages gathered atop the city gate.

His bestial eyes scanned the crowd until they locked onto Alec and his group he had immediately locked on to their mental aura, as his lips curled into an arrogant smile.

"I will only say this once—return everything you stole from me, not a drop or speck missing," the Snow Lion King declared.

"Eerrmm, sorry to say this, but I don't recall stealing anything," Alec replied with an innocent expression.

"What I took was born from heaven and earth's Qi, and I was just lucky to pass by. Seeing such heavenly treasure without an owner, I thought it best to acquire it and put it to good use."

Old Man Alderic and the others nearby could hardly believe their ears, they were still struggling to process the absurdity of what was unfolding before them.

"Tsk... I see the stance you've chosen, then forget ever knowing peace in this realm. My pride will do everything it takes to hunt you down. You now have a bounty on your heads—issued by the Snow Pride." The Snow Lion King growled.

He made sure to memorize the faces of Alec and his companions, then twisted his fingers as three glowing images formed in mid-air from mana—replicas of their appearances.

All the lion-type demonic beasts nearby stared hard at them before the Snow Lion King finally retreated.

He wasn't foolish enough to declare war on the outpost city alone.

Facing a top-tier city under the War God Mage Academy's control would require more than one Overlord army, if not for the energy shield, he wouldn't have hesitated to attack on the spot, knowing the city wouldn't have had time to respond fast enough.

But right now, he was certain that before the energy shield's power wore off, the city would have already deployed Tier 9 human experts to keep him in check—exactly the kind of situation he was trying to avoid, a full blown war, that would affect his still growing pride.

Though he already knew the chances of recovering the stolen treasures were slim after the boys entered the city, however he still tried his luck and he made his threat clear: the Gordon brothers now had a bounty on their heads for their actions.

The Snow Lion Pride, which had long remained indifferent to the human mages adventuring in the forest due to most of their territories being in the High regions which had lesser human activities, would now take a far more aggressive stance.

From this day onward, human mages entering the second dimension would have one more dangerous race to watch out for, as the Snow Lion King vanished into the horizon with the retreating monster wave, Old Man Alderic slowly turned toward Alec—his previously calm expression shifting once again to one of utter disbelief.