The Golem Mage

Alec could feel it—though there hadn’t been a significant rise in his cultivation level, apart from the massive experience boost he received from killing the red salamander.

Yes, the final blow that he had managed to land had been responsible for killing the Red salamander, he knows that much because he could feel its body being refined slowly by the Ancient Primordial Tree inside the amulet, but as always, the rewards weren’t his alone.

The experience had been shared between him and all his golems, as they had contributed to the battle, even if they didn’t survive until the end.

Still, the experience was vast enough to go around, even though each golem only received 5%, it had made a noticeable difference.

Although Alec hadn’t leveled up or broken into a new sub-realm, However he could feel that he had grown stronger in ways he couldn’t yet define.

However the reason he had covered his eyes wasn’t due to blindness or any damage to his vision—in fact, it was the opposite, he was exploring this new ability that seemed on the verge of awakening in his eyes, possibly triggered by the massive rise in his mana capacity.

The dean, sensing that there was no time to waste, didn’t linger on the matter, as it was time to head to the capital, after all those tasked with evaluating their battle with the Royal Mage Academy weren’t the kind of people to keep waiting.

“We should be on our way,” the dean finally said after calming his thoughts about Alec’s shocking growth.

“If you don’t mind, Dean, I’d like to speak with my master before we depart,” Alec replied, already heading toward Terran’s ancient castle, which stood at the heart of the mountain peak.

—

The moment Alec stepped inside, he immediately noticed the absence of the usual oppressive aura that often leaked from the house’s training pod system.

Instead, right before him, his master was seated at the center of the room, behind him loomed the massive image of a mountain, cracked and weathered but with each breath his master took, a rhythmic pulse of energy flowed from him into the fractured mountain behind, as if sustaining it despite its broken form.

Alec believed that, had it been before, he wouldn’t have noticed the subtle changes occurring in the mountain behind Terran—it was too faint, too slow, but thanks to his newly heightened perception, a result of the dramatic increase in his mental stats, he could now see it clearly.

At the mountain’s edge, faint but steady connections were beginning to form, as if fragmented parts were gradually being re-joined.

At that moment, Terran finally opened his eyes and exhaled, releasing a breath that emerged like a stream of grey mist, as the image of the mountain behind him slowly disappeared into nothingness.

“You should be on your way by now, what brings you to visit this old master of yours?” Terran asked, gesturing to a nearby chair, silently inviting Alec to sit.

“You don’t have to keep calling yourself old just to sound more experienced. By this academy’s standards, you’re still just a young mage,” Alec replied casually.

Terran blinked, momentarily speechless, before bursting into laughter.

“Alright then, what have you come for?” he asked again—this time, all traces of humour gone, the shift in his demeanour brought out the mentor Alec respected.

“I assume that mountain I just saw... it was your mental image, right?” Alec asked.

“Yes,” Terran nodded.

“Some call it a mental image, others refer to it as totem power, or even an aspect image, but one thing remains true—only high-rank mages can manifest one. It’s a living projection of the mage’s spirit, forged from the powerful mentality they cultivated which also received the baptism of evolution, and it grows along with its owner.”

“And to heal such damage—what would that require?” Alec asked quietly.

Terran looked at him for a moment, then shook his head.

“This isn’t something I want you to concern yourself about, even with all the wealth you’ve accumulated through the logistics department, it wouldn’t be enough to obtain the materials needed for its restoration,” he said.

“Would this help?”

Without another word, Alec tossed a bottle toward Terran. Inside were nine mental pills, glowing faintly. Terran caught it without staring at the bottle, his expression unreadable as Alec waited to see his reaction.

The moment Terran caught the pill bottle, he didn’t think much of it, until he glanced down on what he had on his right hand.

That was when his breath caught in his throat.

For several seconds, he couldn’t speak, his hands trembled slightly as disbelief filled his eyes.

“Where... where did you get this?” Terran asked, voice barely above a whisper.

“I don’t think that’s important, Master,” Alec replied calmly.

“And it’s not the answer I’m expecting, but from your reaction and your shaking hands, I take it these pills are useful to you?”

Terran gave a slow nod, then carefully uncorked the small bottle, as a wave of medicinal energy burst forth, the scent of potent herbs and runic-infused aura immediately hitting his senses.

As he studied the blue pills with glowing rune engravings, he realized something else, these weren’t just any mental recovery pills.

They were top-quality.

He had used a few of the regular kind before, especially the ones gifted to him not quite long ago by Old Man Alderic to mend lingering injuries to his mental state, those had aided in healing parts of his cracked mental image, the symbolic mountain behind him.

But now, holding Alec’s pills in his hand, he could tell the difference was like night and day, what he had previously considered powerful now felt like garbage in comparison.

Just one of these pills was priceless, and Alec had given him nine.

Terran was about to return the bottle when Alec spoke again.

“If it’ll help, keep them. Heal as quickly as you can. And if they’re not enough, let me know—I’ll try to get more. I have no need for them myself for now.” Alec bowed respectfully.

“I’ll be taking my leave now.”

With that, he turned and walked out.

As much as Terran wanted to return the pills, he knew he couldn’t, he needed them badly.

With the mental cultivation rooms still sealed off from him by the faction mages, this was the only path he had to accelerate his recovery—especially after reinforcing his mental state after so long.

As Terran stared at the pills, a faint smile broke across his lips, he couldn’t help but be amused by Alec’s innocence—thinking that offering nine of these pills, and promising more if needed, could somehow be enough.

In Terran’s mind, he would need at least a hundred of such high-grade pills to even hope for complete recovery.

To him, the idea of Alec acquiring these on his own seemed impossible.

He was certain the pills must have come from the hidden alchemist within the Gordons Clan, perhaps gifted to Alec in preparation for the future, when he would attempt to break through the peak of Tier 6 and step into the high ranks.

But he couldn’t have been more wrong.

Unaware of the truth, Terran’s assumptions were limited by his current state, after all his mental injuries had severely restricted his ability to use his mental powers, unlike the dean, he couldn’t perceive just how vast Alec’s mental presence had become.

Even though Alec had entered wearing a blindfold, Terran hadn’t asked any questions, he had always been that way—laid-back, accepting things as they came, since he didn’t teach them much apart from survival tactics .

All he could do now was silently hope that he would succeed and one day he would step into the Tier 8 Mage Realm, and when that day came, he would find a way to repay his student’s kindness, just like he vowed to old man Alderic.