The Golem Mage

687: Bribery.

687: Bribery.

“Elder, the Star Peaking Array has lit up again!

There’s another tear in space!” a young mage announced, clad in a distinct robe that marked his rank just like most mages in the room.

The room buzzed with urgency as other mages hurried to the elder who had just returned from meeting the king of the Northern Kingdom.

Hearing the report, the elder immediately shifted through space, appearing in the center of the array in the blink of an eye.

Closing his eyes, he began moving his hands in intricate patterns, conjuring glowing runes that floated from his fingers and seamlessly merged with the ones already orbiting in the air.

The display of skill left the observing mages in awe, as they witnessed a level of rune mastery far beyond their comprehension.

“Focus on maintaining your sections of the rune, each of you plays a vital role in pinpointing this spatial fracture,” the elder commanded, his voice firm as his robes rippled with the immense mana being channelled into the array.

“If we fail to produce results this time, the king may very well take our heads.

Do your best!”

The mana coursing into the array created powerful gusts of wind, and the array began to shift, its colour glow transitioning into a milky white hue.

The light moved as it was concentrated toward the center, and when the transformation was complete, the elder’s eyes snapped open, now glowing with a blinding white light.

For a moment, he stared into the void, his hands moving as though sifting through the fabric of space itself.

Minutes passed in tense silence before the elder suddenly let out a piercing scream.

Blood trickled from the corners of his glowing eyes as his body trembled under the strain.

“Stop the array!” one of the senior mages outside the array circle shouted, alarmed by the elder’s state.

The mages immediately ceased their mana flow, causing the array’s glow to dissipate.

Two senior mages rushed to the center, catching the elder’s collapsing body just before it hit the ground.

“Damn it, he’s unconscious!” one of them muttered, pressing his thumb against the elder’s wrist to check his pulse.

Their expressions turned grim as they realized the toll the array had taken on the elder.

“What do we do now?

Even the Great Elder has fallen unconscious trying to locate the space fracture, compared to him, we’re nothing we can’t even hold a candle to his abilities,” said one of the mages who had made it to the center of the array, his voice trembling with concern.

“Forget about the damn space tear for now!

Our priority should be the Elder’s health.

We’ll report everything that happened here to the king, and if he decides to sack us, so be it, this job isn’t worth losing our lives over,” snapped the mage who had caught the Elder.

His outburst sent the other mages scrambling some to fetch medics, others gathering supplies to stabilize the Elder.

–

While all this was happening, the perpetrator of the space tear, Alec, was about to sleep after a night of bountiful harvesting.

He hadn’t even stepped into the second dimension but had instead remained in the void space of the amulet world, sorting through his spoils.

He categorized the items into low-rank and mid-rank goods.

As for the low-rank items, he and his gang clearly had no use for them anymore; they had outgrown such materials.

However, he decided to keep these items for when he returned home, after all, he was the heir to the Gordons clan, and he felt it was time to start acting like one by contributing to the clan.

Although that was what he told himself, but the truth was that he didn’t want his grandfather to scold him for certain decisions he had made without the old man’s knowledge.

He understood that his grandfather had a somewhat greedy nature, so he was essentially bribing his way into the good graces of the Gordons patriarch to avoid punishment for his rash decision.

As he tried to sleep, his mind wandered to the expression on his grandfather’s face when he presented him with hundreds of low-tier cultivation pills (ranging from Tier 1 to Tier 3).

If there were any excess pills remaining, Alec planned to turn that into a business venture, intending to leave the operation in his clan’s hands.

Just thinking about how much they could charge for the pills made Alec chuckle.

He was certain this new business idea would bring substantial revenue to the Gordon clan, enabling them to acquire rare resources and other valuable items.

Alec’s plan was simple, use what he had to accumulate wealth, turning it into what the clan needed.

It was a carefully laid foundation to slowly elevate the Gordon clan into a high-tier powerhouse.

However, Alec was well aware of the risks, progressing too quickly or drawing too much attention could provoke the ire of the real power houses like the high & ancient clans, sects, or academies.

“No matter what, I’ll build the clan up slowly before exacting my revenge.

I’ll make them choke with envy when they see the Gordon clan thriving because of me,” Alec muttered to himself.

He raised his right hand into the air, grasping at nothing as though crushing an invisible enemy, his expression turning icy and resolute.

But in an instant, his cold demeanour softened as he thought of his grandfather.

“I should also find a good wine for the old man before I return.

It’s the least I can do after sneaking off with all those bottles from his stash,” Alec mused with a small grin, his tone lightening before he finally allowed himself to drift off to sleep.

He hadn’t ventured into the beast forest at all tonight, but he had already harvested his previous loots completely and cultivated under the influence of the spiritual pool when he was done.

When a member of the gang was killed during the second level of the Beast forest, they would be transported back into the void space and join him in cultivation almost instantly.

It was only when Alec’s time in the Amulet space ended that he and his clansmen were ejected out together.

Emerging from their trance-like state, Alec quickly noticed their significant progress.

They requested some time to stabilize their cultivation, which Alec granted as they all went to their rooms.

Finally finding himself alone and at peace, Alec decided to rest, eagerly anticipating the much-awaited fight scheduled for the next day.