The Golem Mage

The citizens of Alec’s main city couldn’t help but grow worried, it was finally that time, yet their city lord—the main ruler of their entire small region—had still not returned from the Blood Moon Region.

They were all anxious. In fact, there were already some who had begun to fear that something terrible had happened to their lord, and they started wondering how they would survive now, or how they would continue to progress, when the one lord who had shown genuine interest in taking care of them might have fallen in the Blood Moon Region.

However, not long after that, a bright light finally flashed down from the skies and shot straight into Alec’s throne room, the moment the worried citizens saw it, they all began rejoicing and turned toward Iroh—the man Alec trusted the most and had left with many of the duties he could not personally attend to—begging him to go see the lord and return to tell them about his condition.

But just before Iroh could head toward the main palace section of the castle, the crowd waiting outside saw another wave of golden light begin pouring down from the heavens onto the land, while golden sparkles drifted through the air.

_ _

Alec, on the other hand, was summoned back onto his throne, the first thing he did was call his cube over to him and bring up the layout before his eyes.

Immediately after that, he opened his inventory, to one side, there were three gold mines, three ore mines, an elixir collector machine, and a dark elixir drill machine.

He had been able to purchase all of them using the energy points he earned in the Blood Moon Region.

After the second wave ended, he had taken his time to properly go through the items in the store exclusive to the Blood Moon Region, and that was where he found the gold mines and ore mines for sale.

The moment he saw them, he instantly understood that these were mines capable of constantly producing the resources needed by forgers who created spirit weapons, spirit armor, and other equipment, and he couldn’t help but buy them.

However, because of the restrictions tied to his city level, he had only been able to purchase low-grade mines.

However, Alec didn’t care much about that. Just getting them was enough for him. Then came the Elixir Collector and the Dark Elixir Drill, both of which were essential resource structures for alchemists who wanted to craft pills and other items.

Even without an in-depth understanding of everything, Alec was already far ahead of lords of his current level, not to mention the other mages who had come with him to this new realm.

He quickly began choosing positions for the new structures, as for the mines, he placed two close to his own city and another near Agnes’s city, while he positioned the elixir machines inside his core area.

With these new resources, he was confident that upcoming alchemists and forgers hoping to improve their craft would come from far and wide, all seeking the chance to enter his service so they could gain access to his minerals and rare resources, in exchange for taking commissions from him from time to time.

However, Alec was fully prepared to shut down any forger or alchemist who came over and failed to act with proper respect in his cities.

That was because, unlike many other lords, he did not place them on some unreachable pedestal, he already had the Ancient Primordial Tree, which he believed was far more important than any number of forgers or alchemists this realm had to offer.

He had seen enough messages in the regional and kingdom chat rooms, where other human lords complained about how forgers and alchemists always acted arrogant and self-important simply because they were needed.

As for Alec, he was determined to make sure no forger or alchemist would ever dare behave like that in his kingdom, or he was ready to drive them out without hesitation.

In the first place, the only reason he even intended to accept them was because he wanted the economy of his cities to improve; he believed that once word spread that such professionals were based in his territory, other people would naturally come to patronize them, buying goods and helping the market grow.

And who were the people that would have the opportunity to purchase the products or act as mediators for these aloof, specialized professional-path mages? His city residents.

So, in a way, Alec saw it as a means to curb unemployment while also strengthening his economy at the same time.

Then there was another reason he cared about such people coming to his city, and that was population. Alec was sure that with the arrival of these specialized professional-path mages in his kingdom, many others would start moving over to his big but scanty cities, not only because they would see it as a safe haven, but also because they would want close access to those experts.

Either way, it was a win for Alec. Still, he wasn’t in any rush to bring those professional-path mages over, especially considering how much he already disliked them based on what he had read.

In his heart, he had already decided that whoever he chose would have to meet his standards, because he was the one who owned the mines and the elixirs they would be using, that meant he would use those resources as leverage, either they accepted his terms, or they could get out of his cities.

However, he was now faced with one small issue, and that was how to guard those areas. He had started to feel that he couldn’t just leave such valuable natural resources that is coveted by everyone, completely unprotected.

Just then, he heard his door open. However, unlike anyone he had been expecting, the person he saw left him completely shocked.

Standing before him was Connan, the Barbarian hero who had helped him keep the summoned Barbarian soldiers under control.

“My lord, you have a visitor. He says his name is Iroh,” Connan said to the still-dazed Alec, who could hardly believe his eyes.

“Just send him in,” Alec said after finally finding his voice.