The Golem Mage

Chapter 987: Akagami Bloodline.

It was a complete merge unlike any other, it was not the usual copying of attack motions, but Akagami’s spirit truly entering Hoshino Ren’s body, the moment it happened, something extraordinary occurred.

A worn-out red battle armor, identical to the one Akagami wore, materialized around Ren’s body, not only that, but his weapon also transformed as well, nearly matching Akagami’s exact battle sword, in that instant, Ren looked as though he had been possessed by his own spirit even if he wasn’t as there was now a striking semblance between him and Akagami.

The only differences were that he wore no helmet to conceal his face—like Akagami typically does, and his hair had shifted to a darker shade of red not like Akagami’s own but it just helped people match their matching features more.

His eyes now gleamed with sparkling lights that radiated outward to the edges, as his realm surged past the Peak Tier 6 mage level, though he couldn’t quite break into Low Tier 7 Mage realm, but the sheer mental pressure he exuded was enough to make Raizo realize he was in grave danger.

All this time, Akagami’s power had been severely restrained by his summoning master’s realm, even though he was a high-rank spirit at a much higher realm, he could only manifest strength equivalent to a low Tier 7 mage, with many of his abilities restricted to maintain balance, since his master hadn’t yet reached the realm to help him shatter all his shackles.

To those who knew Akagami’s storied history, this limitation was a pitiful sight, yet none could have foreseen that Ren, who was still in the mid-ranks, would achieve such extraordinary compatibility, that would allow him a full merge with a high-rank spirit.

It was no secret how rare and difficult spirit merges were, not only did they require perfect compatibility between master and spirit, but the spirit had to willingly surrender full control to its master or bad things were bound to happen.

There were tragic cases of overconfident mages who attempted merges without truly understanding their spirits’ power, only to suffer complete possession, as the spirit end up taking over the mages body instead

There are specialized institutes that existed solely to hunt down such afflicted individuals like the Solarium Sanctum, as they would first attempt to exorcise the spirit, but if exorcism failed they would just come to terms that they have lost the soul of the mage, however, and then they would have no choice but to kill both the spirit who was now in complete control of the body..

Clearly, spirits come in all varieties, some benevolent, others evil and extraordinarily dangerous. Akagami happened to fall into the latter category: one of the most notorious ones, originally possessing a Peak Tier 9 realm, even if that power was now heavily suppressed due to his summoning by Hoshino Ren.

For the influential and knowledgeable mages watching, seeing a spirit they had long classified as highly dangerous fully merge with a human mage several realms below it real realm felt like far more than met the eye.

After the merger, Ren’s movements didn’t just become fluid, his battle awareness and overall prowess surged dramatically, as the Crimson Dawn Academy suddenly found it impossible to keep him in check.

He alone dismantled their entire team with few support from his team, as he delivered a breathtaking one-man performance.

In the stands, Agnes, who had been entrusted with a critical scouting duty swiftly picked up her inked pen and began jotting down extensive notes on Hoshino Ren.

She recognized him as exactly the kind of mage Alec would want to know about. Heck, she felt he was the kind of mage that every captain still in the competition would demand reports on after today.

In his last battle, many had believed he could still be contained after what they had watched him display, but now, having witnessed this merged state, a wave of urgency swept through the observers; as numerous figures resolved to return to their archives and dig deeper into how they could stop him.

___

While the participating teams scrambled to devise countermeasures against Ren’s terrifying new form, the true power players, the academy leaders seated on the second floor in clear VIP fashion, turned their attention elsewhere.

Their gazes converged on the Grand Dean of Shinsei Academy, who sat nearby the Dean of Crimson Dawn and the Kage of the School of Silent Night.

“Tell me truly, what’s the secret behind that kid? If he can fully merge with Akagami, he shouldn’t come from some nameless clan. Yet I’ve traveled to the East Kingdom countless times for business, and I can assure you, I’ve never once heard of a ‘Hoshino’ clan. So explain this: how can someone capable of such a feat remain completely unknown?”

The elder from the Blade Clan, who had accompanied his clan team to the capital for their protection, posed the question with a faint smile on his face, the moment the words left his mouth, heads turned swiftly toward the Grand Dean of Shinsei Academy, as everyone was eagerly awaiting his response.

“I wouldn’t fault you for not knowing the Hoshino clan,” the Grand Dean began, speaking slowly as he sipped his tea, deliberately drawing out the moment to hold their attention.

“That name was adopted in hopes of ushering in a new era after the devastating losses they suffered over the past decade.”

“Just spill it, Grand Dean,” the Dean of Ember Citadel interrupted, his impatience clear.

“You don’t need to waste the time of us old men—we’re all busy, you know.”

The others shook their heads at his bluntness, but no one took offense; they all knew his personality well, their only concern was that the Grand Dean of Shinsei might take it poorly and withhold the information they were all desperate to hear.

“Well, to put it briefly,” the Grand Dean finally continued,

“Ren is a direct descendant of Akagami himself and, as you can plainly see, the only heir he chose to carry on his legacy among what is left of his clan.”

A collective gasp rippled through the gathered mages as they sucked in a cold breath.

All this time, they had heard nothing more from the Akagami bloodline and assumed it had simply withered away after their last Patriarch’s death, now they realized how wrong they had been, not only had the lineage survived, but this ancient warrior clan had merely changed its name.

And soon, judging by Ren’s display, they believed the entire world would soon come to know of the name Hoshino, because the young man appeared to have fully inherited Akagami’s indomitable will, and Akagami was none other than the ancient Patriarch of the clan in the first place, so the believed if he took this long to pick someone he wanted to breed then Hoshino might be worth the hype.

With that revelation hanging in the air, and the fact that the match below had already concluded, they swiftly shifted their attention to the final battle of the day, the one the crowd had been eagerly anticipating.

The battle where the Blade Clan was set to face off against the School of Silent Night, and for good reason: many had long considered these two teams as the strongest contenders for the finals.

Yet here they were, clashing earlier than expected, spectators couldn’t help but wonder how this premature showdown would unfold and what it might mean for the tournament’s ultimate outcome.