The Golem Mage

Just a "Captain Level"

Bryan unleashed his signature spell skill, as the multiple wind blades began swirling menacingly around him the moment he sensed the Knight’s skill was on cool down.

“f**k!” Knight cursed as the volley of wind blades tore through the air toward him.

He tightened his grip on his twin daggers, bracing to meet the attack head-on, though escaping would have been easier if his sinking shadow was still available, however he needed a few more seconds before it could be used again.

And overusing the skill before its cool down ended risked backlash, leaving him with limited options until his mana pool grew.

Even without his favourite spell, Knight was far from defenceless.

He had fought alongside Alec and Arthur against hordes of zombies, developing combat awareness in a different way than Arthur and Brandon, who had earned theirs through hundreds of battles.

Yet Alec always remained ahead, and that was because the feedback from his golems and the skills they acquired were shared with him, giving him the same combat experience as Arthur and Brandon, sometimes more since they often clashed against his creations.

Alec could instantly learn any new skill his golems picked up, though executing them with the same precision required practice.

“Hey, who do you think would win?” Arthur asked, nudging Alec with his elbow.

“The Lanzt guy,” Alec replied.

“What? Don’t you have faith in Knight?”

“It’s because that guy set a trap for him the moment he stepped onto the stage. The fact that Knight didn’t notice it, even at that range, shows how much they’ve neglected their battle training, focusing only on cultivation,” Alec said with a scoff.

“They’ll never have Brandon’s perception or your battle awareness. Knight’s been prey from the start.”

Alec was already bored of the banquet, but he had promised the old man he’d stay to secure a favourable position for the Gordon Clan.

Their reputation as the number one clan in the city rested entirely on Draco’s victory in the previous era banquet, when he had defeated every so-called super genius from rival families and clans.

It was said that, even as a youth, Draco never shied away from a fight, he was always the first to charge in.

“Please wake me when this boring match ends, okay?” Alec murmured, resting his head on Arthur’s leg and drifting off to sleep, certain that even Arthur and Brandon could handle things from here.

Arthur, embarrassed at their leader dozing while a clan member was still fighting, covered Alec’s face with a light cloth.

On stage, Knight placed both hands on the floor and cast a different spell than before.

[]

And a solid wall of earth shot up from the ground, forming a defensive barrier.

“I may not be able to use my core shadow skills anymore, but I can still defend against attacks like this,” Knight said confidently when the wind failed to break his wall.

“You’ll pay for your ignorance,” Bryan retorted.

“I’ve been setting up a spell this whole time. Since I’m not skilled enough to cast it instantly, I unleashed those wind blades to saturate the air with wind elements. Let’s see if your precious earth wall can handle this.”

“I knew the wind blades wouldn’t defeat you,” Bryan continued.

“I tend to forget you’re a Gordon Clan member, and the Gordons always have earth elements, which they claim to be the best defensive element, however that won’t save you now.” His grip tightened around the necklace at his neck.

“Bring it on!” Knight shouted defiantly.

“I had prepared this spell for your leader, but you’re a worthy fighter too, you deserve to witness my final move,” Bryan said as the wind elements swirled violently around him, giving Knight a sinking feeling.

[]

[]

Knight poured his remaining mana into creating layered, reinforced earth walls to withstand whatever was coming.

“Crazy how Alec saw through that trap without even being on the stage,” Arthur remarked to Brandon.

“I only noticed the setup when Bryan grabbed his necklace to control that massive wind element near the arena.”

Brandon just nodded.

“Oh, will it kill you to say something back, you f*****g mute?” Arthur muttered as Brandon responded with a middle finger.

“You… you should stop copying Alec; he’ll poison your mind with all these crazy signs,” Arthur warned.

“You know, you’re free to say that to his face when he wakes up,” Brandon finally replied.

“I thought you weren’t interested in talking,” Arthur retorted.

“Don’t distract me; he’s about to use a wide-range wind skill to get rid of our buddy there,” Brandon said, shifting his attention back to the match.

[]

Bryan unleashed a small tornado that barrelled toward Knight, with his mana depleted, he had no control over the raging winds, which hurled blades of air even before the funnel reached its target.

The wind blades shredded Knight’s earth barrier, drawing a pained scream as one grazed his side.

Desperation kicked in, and he instinctively fused his shadow power into a hastily cast Stone Skin, his stone skin darkened into a blackened form, as the tornado blasted him off the stage before finally dispersing, and Bryan collapsed to his knees, gasping for air.

“The winner is Lanzt Bryan,” a voice declared from the top platform.

Agnes hurried to Knight’s side, though he was unconscious, but he is still safe thanks to the fusion of his elements.

“Rest up, because I’m getting revenge for him the moment you’re fit to fight again,” she said to Bryan.

His eyebrow twitched, he understood her rage; after all, he had stepped in to avenge his own sister.

But his confidence wavered, he had to use his final spell to deal with just knight and this is without even facing Alec, the leader of the Gordon Younger generation, and now he’d have to deal with Agnes too.

He knew she was one of the four who had fought the zombie horde alongside Alec, and each of them were terrifyingly strong, he knew if he had to fight all of them before reaching Alec, he might not even make it to the last round.

“It’s only Alec I want to challenge,” Bryan finally admitted.

Agnes’s expression tightened, a mixture of fury and disbelief.

She thought he was looking down on her, unaware that he simply dreaded facing the four warlords after seeing Knight’s strength.

Meanwhile, Brandon burst into laughter, startling everyone who knew him.

“You want to challenge the boss? You’re not worthy at all. Just because you defeated a common captain of the Gordons clan, you think you have the right to face the king of the Gordon younger generation?”

Arthur’s words left the crowd speechless, though Alec remained asleep throughout the exchange.

“That girl is barely a commander. Brandon and I are generals. Beat her, and then you can talk to us. If not, you’re just trash who doesn’t know his limits,” Arthur spat, his insult making Bryan flush with embarrassment while Agnes ground her teeth in fury at the implied hierarchy.

The attention of every clan present shifted toward the Gordons.

This banquet might have been an excuse for the elders to forge alliances and enjoy themselves, but for the younger generation, it was all about testing their strength, and most had come for one reason: to challenge Alec and gauge his power.

Arthur’s provocation stripped away the need for pretense.

Agnes instantly became a target for dozens of ambitious geniuses, who knew that only after defeating her could they aim higher.

To face Alec, they would first have to bring down Arthur and Brandon, exactly the trap Arthur had set.

In a single speech, he had turned the Gordons’ young elites into the focus of every rival clan’s ambition.

Up on the top platform, Draco’s grin stretched so wide the cracks on his face seemed ready to split his skin.

“That boy just lit a fire bigger than I expected—and I love it! We need ballsy juniors, not cowards who sit around meditating all day, too scared to step onto the battlefield,” he muttered, his expression radiating manic del

ight.

Those seated near him quickly edged away, uneasy under the weight of his fervour.