The Golem Mage

Immediately after the time ran out, every mage who was still on the stairs was told to make their way down and exit through the portal back to the capital, where they would be fully assessed and given their rewards for their performance in the first trials.

Many felt reluctant, especially those who were still stuck around the twenty-fifth step, thinking they could grit their teeth, push through, and qualify if they could surpass that one step more that was needed for qualifying.

However, the moment they met the eyes of the old men, who clearly didn’t care about them, they composed themselves and moved toward the exit portal.

It took a while for everyone to pass through, but when they emerged they realized they were standing in the middle of the arena and every eye was on them.

Above them, a water screen replayed everything that had transpired inside the secret realm slowly, letting most realise that they must have watched every single action and things that happened inside the secret realm

Shame washed over many as they realized their embarrassing moments had been witnessed by all, some who hadn’t even reached the twenty-sixth step stared at the ground, feeling they’d disappointed the expectations of those who held them in high regards.

“Those who completed the designated objective, move to the right, those who failed to meet the quota, follow that tunnel back to the stands, you are disqualified.”

As they were still reeling from being watched by supporters who’d placed their hopes in them, the capital’s coordinating mage delivered the verdict.

As another wave of shame hit them, the walk back toward the tunnel felt like a walk of shame to them. At the tunnel entrance, another mage waited to collect the badges that had been issued to them.

It was the same badge that had made it possible for them to be teleported into the sub-space that easily, but now they had to surrender it because they were disqualified.

While this was happening, a few tried to slip in with those who’d passed, pretending they didn’t know they’d failed the mission.

For a moment they felt they’d gotten away with it, until their badges flared blood-red and a shrieking alarm rang out.

Causing the people around them to back away as the pretenders were exposed all at once,

Making it far more embarrassing than if they’d left on their own, those who had already gone through the tunnel and were about to sit in the stands saw this and silently thanked themselves for not trying the same stunt.

“GET OUT!” the levitating mage with his hands behind his back shouted, causing the exposed mages to shuffle out in shame, leaving their blaring badges with the mage stationed at the tunnel entrance.

Only then did many realize the badges weren’t just proof of participation, they also serve to track their performance in the trials, by this point, mostly the premier-institution mages were the ones who remained; the add-ons hadn’t made it through the first round.

Immediately, a new squad of mages clad in identical black spirit armour circulated, handing out cultivation pills to the mages that passed the first trial.

Those who reached the twenty-sixth to fiftieth steps received five Tier-6 cultivation pills each as their rewards, it was a very big deal to most of them, since such pills were rare even in their own clans.

Those who made it from the fifty-first to the sixtieth steps received ten Tier-6 cultivation pills apiece.

As of this time, when Alec was handed his single pill bottle containing the Tier-6 cultivation pills, he confirmed they weren’t even top quality.

They were decent, but the Tier-6 pills he’d given his own team as a reward were clearly superior. Now when he remembered how the elder had promised better rewards the higher they climbed in the sub-space stairs, Alec felt the man needed to stop acting so important as the gift wasn’t worth much.

Normally, no Tier-6 mage would say Tier-6 cultivation pills weren’t valuable no matter how little they got their hands on; but Alec wasn’t a normal Tier-6 mage.

Those who reached the 71st to 75th steps were rewarded with one Tier-7 cultivation pill, as for the three captains who reached the 76th step, they each received one Tier-7 mental pill in addition to one Tier-7 cultivation pill.

—

After the first trial’s rewards were distributed, everyone left for the accommodation the royal clan had assigned for the competition’s duration.

As expected by many northern academy teams, the War God Mage Academy team got the worst quarters: not only smaller than the others, but it seems as if it was just stripped of many essential training devices that should have been in the practice room.

Alec recognized this as another petty ploy from the King of the Northern Kingdom to ruffle them, but he wasn’t bothered by the young, ignorant king’s antics.

He was more concerned with what they’d face the next day...

—

And the next day arrived faster than expected.

“Welcome to the second round of the Origin Tournament, I hope you all slept well,” the supervising mage announced with a smile to the mages gathered at the arena’s center, pausing to let his words sink in.

“I’m sure many of you couldn’t calm your nerves and sleep, from the confident smiles on your lips, I can tell many of you have made progress with the pills you received yesterday.”

“That’s good, because you’re going to need all of it in this next round, brace yourselves.” The mage smiled and swiped his hand toward the crowd as a flurry of talismans swept through the air.

Each talisman moved with purpose, as if it had a specific mage in mind, and soon they affixed themselves to the badges the mages had received the day before.

“In order for this to work, you must hold hands with your teammates. This round allows a maximum of ten members per team. If you don’t reach the quota before teleportation begins, you will still have to face a challenge meant for ten people.”

“If you have more than ten members, you can either split up or sacrifice one of them. Now, if you’re ready, press the badge to activate your team’s teleportation to the second trial’s venue.” The mage finished with a smile that made Alec shiver.

There were s

o many underlying meanings in his words that it gave Alec chills.