The Golem Mage

Seventh Elder

“Hey Alec, why didn’t you summon your golems to walk with us? It’d remind those fools who’ve forgotten your brilliance that you’re still the boss of the Gordon clan’s younger generation,” Arthur said.

“Shut up, Arthur. The only reason you want me to summon them is so you can show off, why don’t you walk quietly on my left like Brandon?, because if you keep running your mouth, I might just sell you off,” Alec snapped.

He’d been stewing over his repeated failures in crafting a lava golem, and this was because it always broke down at the final stage, no matter how carefully he tried merging the two primary element particles together to form a golem.

All that time, effort, and planning, gone in smoke.

“Boss, sorry, but I could never be like Brandon,” Arthur replied with a shudder, as if the idea of staying silent all day was worse than death.

“We’re here,” Brandon interjected, ending their bickering before it spiralled into an all-day affair.

“How dare you little brats keep me waiting!” a booming voice roared, cutting through the air like a whip.

Alec and Arthur looked up, eyes locking onto the source and in that instant, Alec’s instincts screamed danger.

“We’re in big trouble,” Arthur muttered.

“Who the hell is that? I feel like he could kill me on the spot. I didn’t even feel like this fighting those zombies,” Alec whispered, clamping his mouth shut.

“He’s the Seventh Elder.”

The moment Alec heard the title, his head throbbed, everyone in the Gordon clan knew of the Seventh Elder’s legend, someone previously called a madman by the previous generation before them, Draco had graduated from a local mage academy and through sheer obsession, he managed to merge his fire and earth element in affinity with each other, therefore creating a super-rare third element: lava.

He hadn’t been taught the art; he had awakened a combination element on his own.

Controlling his newly awakened lava element was difficult, but after breaking through to the Tier 5 Mage realm, Draco unleashed it recklessly, slaughtering Tier 5 mages from every rival clan of the Gordons.

He openly challenged them to duels, and they had only two options: accept and risk humiliation or refuse and live in shame.

It wasn’t long before no clan dared to pit their Tier 5 mages against him, he was a thorn in their side too dangerous to ignore, yet too terrifying to confront, one clan even went so far as to hire an assassin to eliminate him after one of his brazen challenges.

He only survived thanks to the personal intervention of the Gordon patriarch.

Recognizing both his power and volatility, the patriarch insisted he be appointed as the Seventh Elder, he was swiftly granted cultivation resources befitting his new position to the best of the Clan’s ability.

Draco then entered seclusion, and after several months he emerged as a Low Tier 6 mage, entering the same realm as his own father, the Grand Elder of the Gordons clan.

Without hesitation, he hunted down the assassin who had once targeted him, killing him and uncovering the clan responsible, however before he could ignite a full-scale war of revenge, both the Patriarch and the Grand Elder stopped him in his tracks.

Since then, he had remained in seclusion, his enemies living in constant dread, never knowing when—or if—he would return.

“Join the carriage and stop daydreaming,” Draco’s deep voice cut through Alec’s thoughts, yanking him from his mental stroll down memory lane.

Alec glanced at him, the man known as the Lava King since attaining Tier 6. He made a deliberate effort to fix Draco’s image in his mind.

With long brown hair, a black cloak draped over princely attire, and an effortlessly regal bearing, Draco looked every inch the heroic figure adored by the younger girls in the crowd.

To Alec, he was the definition of a prince charming, handsome to the point of absurdity, his pale, almost vampiric face sharpened by a chiselled nose and a physique so well-built that no clothing could hide it.

Brandon finally tugged Alec and Arthur, who were both still caught up in the moment, toward one of the empty carriages.

Naturally, as soon as Agnes and Knight spotted them boarding, they slipped into the same carriage without hesitation.

“What do you think you’re doing? Aren’t there other carriages you could get into instead of barging into ours?” Arthur snapped, finally shaking off the daze from seeing his idol.

“I prefer to sit with people closer to my level,” Agnes replied with a snort. “No point sitting with those who can’t hold a candle to me.”

“Just admit you miss the big boss, you pretentious b***h,” Arthur said, picking his nose like it was the most natural thing in the world, Alec sighed and face palmed tired of both their bickering.

“What did you just say?!” Agnes’ voice spiked, her cheeks flushing with anger, as she was about to move, however before she could swing a punch, Draco’s calm but commanding voice cut through the air, freezing her mid-motion.

Grinding her teeth, she muttered,

“Just you wait. When we’re back, I’ll settle this with you.”

“Hmph. Who’s scared of a little Mid–Tier 1 mage? Bring it on,” Arthur shot back.

Alec rapped him on the head.

“We’re supposed to be low-key. Keep it that way—or I’ll let Legion use you as a training dummy when we get back.”

Even in a whisper, the threat Alec dropped carried a lot of weight for Arthur, Knight who was by the side shuddered at the memory of Legion, as he reminisced about the spear-and-shield golem that fought like an unkillable monster.

Agnes, however, only looked more determined even though the words weren’t directed at her, ever since breaking through to the Mid–Tier 1 realm, she’d been itching for a challenge above her level, and Alec’s golem, Legion, seemed like the perfect opponent.

Arthur caught her expression and shook his head.

“Don’t even think about it. Legion’s not just a monster, he’s the monster. Even the newer ones would mop the floor with you.”

Brandon snorted with laughter, but Agnes and Knight were too focused on deciphering Arthur’s warning then understanding why he was laughing.

Draco’s voice then boomed through the carriage, silencing all chatter.

“Listen up, brats! I don’t care who you are or who your parents are—only your strength matters to me. As the leader of this expedition, I expect one thing: crush the other clans’ so-called geniuses.” A flicker of flame danced in his palm, reflecting the fire in his eyes.

“I don’t care how you do it, the more chaos you cause, the better. And if any elder dares to make a move on you, rest assured, you’ll be safe, even I came here to stir up trouble. Is that understood?” Draco’s voice boomed across the crowd.

“YES, SIR!” the crowd roared in unison, their morale surging.

Despite Draco’s speech being full of nonsense, they couldn’t deny how much it fired them up.

As the kids waved from inside the carriage to those wishing them a safe journey, Alec caught sight of his old man grinning, his gloating expression impossible to hide.

“Why do I feel like I’ve been set up?” Alec

smiled back at his grandfather, unease flickering in his thoughts.