The Golem Mage

754: A Scratch.

754: A Scratch.

The Earth Spears finally closed the distance, reaching Alec’s gravitational zone, the first spear pierced through but didn’t travel far before it crumbled under the pressure, however, the second spear followed immediately behind, relentless in its advance.

Seeing how persistent Brandon’s attack was, Alec couldn’t help but grin, his smile stretching almost to the edges of his ears.

A faint cracking sound echoed through the air as the spears pressed forward, pushing against the invisible force surrounding Alec.

Even though there was nothing visible blocking their path, the intense friction created a sound akin to blades clashing in battle, sending a shiver down the spines of the mages watching.

As this struggle continued, Brandon’s chain Earth Spear finally reached the ten-meter range, however, of the original eleven spears, only five remained, six had already been sacrificed just to carve a path through Alec’s gravitational domain.

Bang!

Now reduced to four, the remaining spears pushed forward, piercing deeper into Alec’s domain, seeing this, Brandon raised his right hand, his fingers coated in a thin layer of mana, and pushed forward with renewed determination.

At that moment, it was as if a new surge of life had been breathed into the Earth spears, as they surged forward, gaining momentum despite the crushing pressure.

9 meters… 8… 7… Crack!

One more spear shattered, now only three remained, but the attack didn’t falter; the leading spear seamlessly took the place of the one that had just been destroyed, continuing its charge.

Brandon twisted his hand mid-air, pushing with all his might, and the foremost spear mirrored his movements, twisting in kind.

6 meters… 5… 4… Crack!

Another spear shattered, now only two remained.

Just then, a notification echoed in Alec’s mind.

But before he even checked his system, he could already see it, his Inspect Skill which had been active the entire time, tracking the spell’s progress finally picked up on something, right before his eyes, the low-tier spell (Lvl 5) on the advancing Earth Spear flickered… and changed—

[Mid-Tier Spell (Lvl 1) Achieved!]

Alec didn’t even need to open the system interface anymore, he already knew exactly what the notification was for.

“Arrgggh!” Brandon roared, his voice echoing across the area as a surge of new knowledge flooded his mind, his spell was evolving, and with this newfound understanding, he didn’t hesitate as he acted upon it immediately.

With a swift motion, he brought his left hand forward to support his right, refining the execution of his spell.

The crowd watched in stunned silence as earth elemental particles gathered rapidly around the last two remaining spears.

The leading spear, now brimming with power, surged forward with a strong rotational force, its surface swirling with tightly compacted sand.

Just as the attack closed the final few meters toward its target, Alec casually swatted his left hand, and a massive sand-arm extended from the base of his Earth Skin, smashing into the second spear.

The impact sent it spiralling off course, drawing gasps from the onlookers, for a moment, it seemed as though all hope was lost, as they felt nothing could break through Alec’s defence.

Bang!

But the swatted spear didn’t go down easily, instead, it exploded mid-air, transforming into a massive sand trap that latched onto Alec’s left arm, solidifying into hardened stone in an instant.

The sudden weight shift threw Alec off balance, his body tilting to the left as he struggled to maintain his footing, and that was when it happened—

From within the swirling sand fog, the final Earth Spear shot forward like a hidden viper, its power concealed until the perfect moment.

Brandon had deliberately stalled it, allowing the dust cloud from the shattered spear to mask its approach, now, with Alec momentarily off balance, he finally released it completely.

Boom!

The Earth Spear struck Alec square in the chest, triggering a deafening explosion as sand burst outward, enveloping him in a thick, obscuring cloud.

Brandon stood frozen, his chest rising and falling heavily, trying to process what had just happened to him, it was a new feeling having his spell evolve, so he was still not used to the feeling, though a lot of help came from the system.

The entire crowd held its breath, their eyes locked on the shifting sand fog, waiting for it to clear, waiting to see the result.

For the first time, Alec had been hit.

And in that moment, even those who had questioned his insistence on training basic spells now understood, they had just witnessed Brandon evolve his Low-Tier spell into a Mid-Tier spell, and the sheer destructive power it gained after its upgrade left them awestruck.

Now, they wanted to learn.

As the sand fog began to clear, Alec’s silhouette slowly emerged from within.

With each step he took, the dust settled further, revealing his figure.

Then, a sharp crunching sound echoed across the field, the massive sand block that had latched onto his left arm suddenly crumbled under an overwhelming gravity force, disintegrating into fine grains at his feet.

Before the spectators could even get a proper look at him, Alec started clapping, his slow, deliberate applause carrying across the field.

Finally, he stepped out of the lingering dust cloud, a grin spread across his face.

“Beautiful.

Finally, we have our first mage who has raised this set of basic spells to the Mid-Tier level.

Let’s all strive for it.” His words rang with encouragement, directed at the remaining mages who had just witnessed Brandon’s breakthrough.

But while Alec was speaking, most of them weren’t focused on his words, their eyes were locked on one detail, the fact that, despite taking a direct hit, Alec was completely unharmed.

The only evidence that he had even been struck was a faint scratch at the center of his chest where the Earth Spear had landed.

Nothing more.

Seeing this, Brandon let out a small laugh, sure, he had managed to push his spell to the Mid-Tier level, but this moment proved that while he was now strong enough to compete against Alec, he was still far from reaching Alec’s level.

There was an enormous gap between them, not just in the spell’s raw power, but in their respective comprehension level.

And that wasn’t even considering Alec’s two variant abilities enhancing his Earth Skin, making it almost impossible to break through his defences so easily for any Mid Rank mage.

Alec’s voice rang out again, snapping them from their thoughts.

“Since I have demonstrated, I assume you all now understand the basic level I expect you to reach before the Blood Moon War, believe me, if you can’t push your spells to the Mid-Tier level, you stand the chance of being kicked out.”

His words sent a shockwave through the crowd.

Without hesitation, the mages sprang back into action, training with renewed determination.

While the low-ranked mages followed Alec to another open area, where he planned to personally oversee their training for the day.

Among them, only the five Tier 6 mages eagerly awaited Alec’s training regimen, hoping to gain further insight in spell training as it seems the young master was more knowledgeable in that area to them.

As for the rest, their only focus was on reaching the target Alec had set, unwilling to be left behind.

As no matter how unconventional his training methods were, they had all become completely engrossed in them.