The Golem Mage

# Three Days Later

”The eight teams that have qualified for the Top 8 competition are as follows: Battle Mage Academy, Bloodline Academy, Holy Grail Academy, Onyx Academy, Wizards & Witches Academy, Gate Academy, Vajra Academy, and lastly, our own War God Academy,”

”The winner of the loser’s bracket is Royal Mage Academy, last year, they secured the eighth position in the competition and faced considerable scepticism from other institutions, as many believed they only achieved that rank because they are situated in the capital and receive direct sponsorship from the royal family clearing the path for them,” announced Selene to the entire War God Academy team, who were gathered on the training grounds, listening intently.

For the past three days, Alec had ensured that the team remained in the training room, leaving only for their meals, baths, or when the ones assigned to observe the day’s matches had to go out only to come back to report back to him.

Now that the first round was over, they were all assembled at the training grounds to strategize for their upcoming playoff match against the Royal Mage Academy.

A victory would solidify their status among the top 8 academies.

However, a loss would mean the end of their journey, as the Royal Mage Academy would take their place in the rankings to compete with the other seven elite academies.

This was the nature of the competition: one of the Great 8 academies had to endure the challenge of winning the loser’s bracket to dethrone the lucky eighth-ranked academy and re-join the other seven elites.

This system had consistently quashed any dark horses before they had the chance to rise, which is why many were sceptical about War God Academy retaining their spot.

People were impressed that an academy like War God Academy, which once top all other academies, had made a comeback in the inter-academy competition. However, there was no shortage of doubt that they would ultimately be bested by the Royal Mage Academy.

This was prompted because despite the Royal Mage Academy being the weakest among the great 8 academies, it still enjoyed the backing of the royal clan and some other ancient clans, while the War God Academy stood alone, an independent institution without such support.

”So, what do we know about the Royal Mage Academy team so far?” Alec inquired, turning to Agnes, who was responsible for gathering intelligence on the strengths and affinities of the other teams.

”For starters, we’ve discovered that their captain is named Liam and is a member of the Royal clan of the Northern Kingdom, beyond that, we don’t have much information on him or his abilities, however, the fact that he’s from the Royal clan suggests he’s likely to possess the Time element or a ability related to time, as that is the Royal clan’s specialty,” Agnes reported.

”He’s also rumoured to be a peak Tier 5 Mage, aside from him, there’s the vice-captain, Albert Blaze, the latest prodigy of the Blaze Clan, though he’s a high Tier 5 Mage, his combat skills are extraordinary, he’s said to be an avid admirer of someone named Ignis, the uncrowned genius of the Blaze Clan, who isn’t widely discussed since he’s not from the core family.”

”We’re still uncertain if Albert possesses any element other than fire, as he hasn’t fought in any of the matches, moving on, we have the Masked One and Kylian Zero, who are the two main participants that have fought in all the loser bracket matches,” Agnes continued.

”The Masked One’s origins are a mystery; all we know is that he wields a sword with exceptional talent, it’s almost as if he becomes a different person entirely when he has a sword in hand, he has been teaming up with Kylian from the Zero Clan, and I must say, their teamwork is the most impressive I’ve seen in the competition so far,” she concluded.

”And the final member of their main team is Asher Blaze, who has been supporting the duo from the rear, I’m sure you’re familiar with him, as you defeated him during the exchange program when the Royal Mage Academy sent some of their students to learn from us,” Agnes explained, and Alec nodded, comprehending the information.

”So there you have it, punks, they have a total of four Tier 5 mages, with Asher being a peak Tier 4. The masked one and Kylian are both categorized as low and mid Tier 5 respectively, if we want to defeat them, we need to bring our A-game,” Alec stated with determination.

”Because believe me, the small tricks we used in the first match won’t work against these punks who consider themselves nobles above us, and i want to knock them off their high horse, and it’s up to you guys to help me do that,” he continued, rising to his feet.

His gaze swept over each member of the team, observing their resolve to push through any challenges they faced, it was as if they didn’t care about losing, as long as they gave their all in the match.

”The members joining me in the next match will be Beatrice, Lucas, Endrick, and Pale, it will be an all-out battle with our best mages, let’s show them that the War God Academy is not to be underestimated, since it’s still the flag format, leave the retrieval of their flag and defense of our flag to me, it’s my responsibility to get it, you all can focus on stopping some of their team members, only for a few minutes until I retrieve their flag,” Alec declared, as he continued outlining their strategy.

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At the Royal Mage Academy, another meeting was taking place with the team members, the group listened attentively to the reports they had gathered regarding the War God Academy, preparing themselves for the upcoming challenge.

”What is there to be worried about? I’ve told you all before that Alec Gordons is the only one we need to look out for, the rest of their team is useless,” Asher Blaze, who had previously been defeated by Alec, confidently asserted.

”Still, can you explain to me how someone who was allegedly in the Tier 3 realm suddenly became a high Tier 4 mage without any help from a prestigious academy? Not only that, but his combat skills are off the charts, I’m genuinely curious,” the masked individual inquired, fixing his gaze on Asher.

”it is clear that the War God Academy might be supporting him, as he only comes from a mid tier clan which can’t support him to his current realm so it has to be the academy, Otherwise, he wouldn’t have reached this level fast, but it doesn’t matter, as we will crush him and his little team of wannabe black horses,” Albert stated with a smirk.

”Well, if that’s all, I guess the only ones we need to watch out for are the captain and the vice-captain, as for the boy from the Zero Clan, he’s useless, the other one we should look out for is the Blade’s boy, but since he didn’t even get the vice-captain position, it shows that he might not be a big deal,” Liam commented on the team, as Kylian snorted in response when Pale was mentioned.

Due to the circumstances surrounding Pale’s acceptance into the clan, not all the individuals held him in high regard, some even looked down on him, hence that’s why when Liam was referring to Pale as a ”Zero Clansman” it infuriated Kylian.

”All right, then, we shall see the War God Academy tomorrow at the Colosseum,” Liam concluded, signalling their readiness to face the war God Academy.