The Golem Mage

It was a fitted dark-leather chestplate, reinforced with volcanic spirit metal along the ribs and shoulders, which now clad him in ember lines running across it like glowing tribal veins.

In that moment his Beast mantle that once rested on his neck seemed to disappear entirely, as if it were the trigger for his spirit equipment set.

The instant Lucas noticed this, he frowned; because every member of the Ashmaw team wore one, and the thought that each of them had a spirit-equipment set specifically made for them made him scowl and Alec, who hadn’t planned to participate, felt the same as it was a huge advantage no matter how they looked at it.

“Shall we begin again?” Afolayan said while raising his Lionfang spear, as lightning coursing over his body, and his dreads whipping around as he drew on the Elk’s power.

He was a beast master who is bonded to two demonic beasts, an Ash Lion and a Lightning Elk and his affinity with both beasts was so high that he could use their powers without even entering a merged state, a detail Alec watched with keen curiosity due to the similarity it had with his own bloodline.

As he tapped into the Elk’s element, the ember lines across his armor lit with blue arcs, sketching lightning-bright tribal veins, with each heartbeat Afolayan gathered momentum, while Lucas, by comparison, appeared understated.

First, Lucas’s spirit set was a tier lower than Afolayan’s own; second, Afolayan had already manifested a lightning affinity which is far above Lucas’s, whose own had only begun to improve from the Low rating in recent months.

Their presences couldn’t be more opposite: one was surging like a great torrent, with his spear leveled to tear through anything in his path; while the other appeared calm, steady, and unshakable, with his glaive held wide.

In the next breath they closed the few feet between them, no announcements, no flashy spells, just two mages swinging steel as their teams surged in behind them.

On one side, Brandon and Arthur blocked Osei, who wielded dual axes and Kuto, who carried a curved sickle joined to make it balanced; on another side, Beatrice stopped Sefu by setting the weird-looking coffin she carried between herself and the dagger-wielding woman.

Pale was checked by Kwesi’s flaming hammer, and Endrick was shadowed by Moro.

Sophia and Kate were cut off by Taye and Adeola, the former spinning an Ember Blade while the latter cracked a blazing chain.

The last pair, Agnes and Knight, were harried by Nuri and Makeda.

By now, the early plan to take Alec out had gone out the window; because the instant Lucas and Afolayan crossed weapons, everyone simply picked an opponent.

Lucas and Afolayan circled around, the clang of steel dominating the ring, each collision kicked up shockwaves that chewed the ground to rubble, flinging debris around while black lightning arcs hung in the air for seconds even after they left that location, such was the aftermath force left behind from their clashes.

“Both of you look reasonable, so I’ll say this once, as I don’t like repeating myself,” Kuto said, settling into a battle stance.

“Give up, and we don’t waste our time, as we both know who loses here, stay headstrong and resist, and I’ll make your surrender hurt more than you can imagine.” Kuto completed her statement

Osei stood beside her, utterly nonchalant to the decision they might make; because in his mind, the result was already decided.

“That’s the problem with you people, you underestimate us too much,” Arthur shot back, as Brandon slid into position.

“We’re all Low Tier-6 mages, and it’s a two versus two battle, and you’re still that confident we’re the ones who’ll lose?” Arthur continued, while Brandon said nothing; he simply lowered his center of gravity and raised his guard.

“And who said this was a two-versus-two battle?” Kuto said, channeling mana into the space pouch at her waist, as a Peak Tier-5 Ash Hawk burst out above her and took to the skies.

Meanwhile, Osei’s beast mantle unfurled, as the tunic sigils that appeared around it flared, and a heartbeat later he was clad in a Tier-5 Spirit Equipment set.

The most prominent piece of the set was the helmet he wore with a single horn jutting upward, his armour was dark, and his axes looked slightly altered—sharper, and more advanced.

“Fuck this, why do we always get the troublesome opponents?” Arthur muttered, feigning weariness that creeped onto his face, and seeing that look pleased Kuto.

“So—have you finally changed your mind about giving up?” she asked again, more confident now.

“Really? You’re just too arrogant, lady,” Arthur said, then glanced toward Endrick.

“Hey, could you help me get rid of that beast in the air?” He pointed upward with an innocent expression.

Arthur’s gesture made both Osei and Kuto follow his gaze, and there they saw Moro lying on the ground, already knocked out with the mage Arthur was talking to standing beside her, they could hardly believe their eyes.

#A few minutes back

Immediately after the battle began, she had rushed Endrick, trying to finish him off fast. Like the others, Endrick was underestimated; because the War God Mage Academy team wasn’t popular, so they didn’t think much of them.

Her movements were erratic, as her clawed gauntlets were whipping up and down, but when she realised she couldn’t touch Endrick, who kept slipping past every strike with ease, she merged with her beast: the Sableclaw hyena.

As she grew larger and laughed maniacally as her attacks turned savage, carving deep, tearing wounds on Endrick but despite the pain, Endrick stayed calm, flowing through his Process Foot Technique.

With a small dagger in his right hand which he used to flick aside the worst of her strikes, while his left hand gripped his spirit weapon, the one Alec had given him.

The weapon could shift forms like Agnes’s staff too; his, however, switched between crossbow and bow, and for now, it was in its crossbow form, after about sixty seconds of pure defense, he finally cast a spell.

[> Mid Tier Spell - Array Lock Thorns.