The Golem Mage

Alec awoke to the loud noise emanating from the center of the camping area, his head throbbing from the hangover that was trying to bring him down.

The lord of the Sweden city had forced him to drink mead, claiming it was the drink of the gods and that only the chosen ones were privileged to partake in drinking it, Alec knew it was all a ploy to get him to drink with him, but he couldn't bring himself to reject the offer of such a powerful man.

Underestimating the potent effects of the mead, Alec had imbibed a cup, only to find himself misbehaving, he was certain he had come close to engaging in inappropriate behavior, despite knowing he was inhabiting a fifteen-year-old body.

He thanked the gods that Agnes had intervened to come bring him back since he was taking time there after the general and major returned to the camp ; otherwise, he feared he might have done more than he could recall.

Draping himself in his academy clothes, he made his way to the center of the camp to investigate the source of the disruptive noise, only to realize that almost everybody was heading there.

"I trust you all had a good night's sleep, if so, I am happy to inform you that this is where some of you will be given the chance to return to the Academy as your external training ends here!" Selene announced with a serious expression, prompting some of the students to cheer.

They had endured a great deal in the past days, enduring mission after mission and fighting in a Blood Moon war, many of them from the High Tier clans had never experienced battle like this, and the toll on them was evident in the losses of their loved ones.

They had forgotten how high they were as they charged forward, witnessing Alec's golem tearing through the undead one by one.

Their morale was so elevated that they attacked alongside the entire team, now, their aura and mana were more refined, clearly indicating that the bloodshed they had endured had transformed them into better mages and fighters than they were when they were just greenhorns.

However, the prospect of returning to the Academy, to their old lives, to rest and attending classes, filled them with a sense of excitement.

The adrenaline from putting their lives on the line had diminished as they reminisced on what they had been through.

They thought about how they would brag about their achievements, but for now, they simply wanted to be among those who would return.

"The purpose of this competition has always been to find the best eleven among you, these eleven will continue their training and will be drafted as the team to represent the academy in the inter-academy competition!"

Selene continued her explanation once she realized that the group had settled down a little.

"So, calm down, as your name is called, come to the top of the platform, as you have been chosen to represent the academy!"

"For the first person and our captain, not only in rank but also the team's captain, Alec Gordons!"

Selene called out to Alec as the crowd erupted in wild applause.

It was evident that Alec was already popular due to his exploits in the Abyss, but he had always been compared to Beatrice, as they were known as the twin geniuses of the War God Academy.

For the younger generations, Beatrice and Alec were the most admired figures, with Beatrice being seen as the most talented and Alec as the strongest combatant, however, their previous comparisons were forgotten as Alec's performance in the war left no room to doubt his talent.

"Beatrice, Lucas, Endrick, Pale, Brandon, Katie, Arthur, Agnes, Knight, Sophie " Selene announced.

"That concludes the team, you have all been chosen based on your achievements in the Blood Moon war, Beatrice will serve as the assistant captain of this group, the rest of the mages who have not been called will be escorted back to the Academy."

"Come with me," Selene instructed, leading the eleven selected mages to the house at the center.

Alec took a moment to observe the boy beside him, Endrick, and noticed the Tier 4 aura emanating from him.

It seemed that Endrick had been fortunate to advance to the middle rank due to the Blood Moon war, with Alec recognizing that luck was also a part of strength, as evidenced by Endrick's name being called before Pale's.

Pale, on the other hand, couldn't help but grit his teeth at how things had unfolded.

During the war, he had believed himself to be the one with the best area-of-effect damage, given his primary class as a magic path.

However, when Alec's golems entered the battlefield, they demonstrated a level of destruction beyond what he could handle.

It was clear to everyone that their victory was largely due to Alec's summons.

As he reflected on all the things he had said to Alec, he wished the ground would open up and swallow him, now that the academy team had almost all his clan members, it was clear who held sway in the group.

Even as someone else was called ahead of him, he chose not to voice his thoughts, hoping to keep a low profile in the hope that they would ignore him and forget he even existed.

"You have all been chosen as the team to represent the War God Academy, but you have not yet reached the level we would want you to reach, therefore, the academy has decided to subject you to a process of rigorous training and nurture you along the way, you have two months remaining before the competition starts," Edward announced as he threw a long scroll of missions to Alec, who quickly caught it.

"Inside that scroll are all the activities we want you to accomplish before the end of the two-month training, during this time, you are not to return to the Academy, and you can be assured that we will not interfere with your training, for now, you are all cut off from any support, except for what is described inside that scroll, be mindful that if any of you die, we will simply replace you with the next-ranked mage, so don't die," Edward concluded.

"But I have a life-or-death match soon!" Alec pointed out, expressing concern that if he followed everything in the scroll, he wouldn't have enough time to return for the battle with Orion.

"Oh, about that, it's been settled, the battle will be postponed until after you return from the two-month training, and remember, if you die, Beatrice will be the new team leader, so don't die too," Selene responded, causing Alec to frown at the way they played with the concept of death.

However, he understood that they had become independent mages who would not return to the Academy until they completed all the tasks outlined in the scroll, marking the final phase of their training.