The Golem Mage

The Chronomancer was astonished by the turn of events, as Alec seems to be in an enlightened state as he flawlessly executed combo after combo of attacks.

Following the left jab he threw, Alec smoothly followed through with a powerful right cross punch, by utilizing the rotation of his body to unleash maximum power while staying closely to the Bloody Changdao.

However, the Chronomancer swiftly mounted a last-minute defense as he raised his hands up, keenly sensing the immense strength behind Alec's rotational attack.

This slight resistance pushed him back, prompting the Chronomancer to exert even more force into his hands to break the attack before swinging his sword, yet, Alec skillfully rolled backward, evading the strike, and immediately surged forward once more.

During Alec's advancement, the Chronomancer hastily retreated a few steps as Alec seized his Bloody Changdao from the ground and thrust it towards the Chronomancer's torso.

Capitalizing on the opening created by the Chronomancer's attempted retreat, Alec aimed directly at him, alas, the Chronomancer swiftly comprehended Alec's intentions, skillfully waving both hands to flick Alec's Changdao and neutralize the thrust.

Unfazed by this countermove, Alec seamlessly transitioned his attack. Advancing forward with his left foot, as he swiftly executed a forceful right roundhouse kick to the Chronomancer's side, striking him with considerable impact.

This blow caused the Chronomancer's left side to bend slightly and disrupted his balance.

Frustration welled within the Chronomancer as he longed to curse aloud, Alec had cleverly employed his gravity distortion on his legs before executing the attack, resulting in internal injuries, as the distortion attacks ravaged his insides upon impact, the Chronomancer felt the full force of their power.

Unlike the comparatively mild discomfort caused by the fiery and earth fists, these gravity-infused attacks were like critical blows, and Alec's control over this ability was impeccable, enabling him to unleash its force at will.

Swiftly dropping to the ground, Alec seamlessly followed through with his Changdao in a low sweeping motion, intentionally targeting the Chronomancer's still unbalanced left leg, causing him to stumble and fall.

Without a moment's hesitation, Alec drove the blade straight into the Chronomancer's heart, his eyes bulging in disbelief as the realization of his imminent demise hit him. In a cruel twist of fate, he found himself unable to cast the time reversal spell, as the anti-magic properties had already pierced into his heart through the Changdao , rendering him powerless to avert his own death.

It was a bitterly ironic moment for the Chronomancer who played with time spells , unable to perform even a single spell due to the overwhelming presence of anti-magic, despite his struggle, it took a grueling two minutes before his life finally slipped away.

Alec couldn't help but marvel at the Chronomancer's tenacity, his sheer determination to fight on even as his life force waned, it had truly been an unexpected turn of events, however, Alec had not aimed to kill him out of malice, but solely out of his duty.

Through information gleaned from the academy, they discovered that the Chronomancer had been directly involved in numerous deaths.

Although the precise details of how and when he had wrested control of the city eluded them, they knew one thing for certain: no mage above Tier 5 could enter the City of Time and those who did enter never live to tell the tale.

Those who had dared to defy this rule had met their demise, Alec remained unaware of Selene's intentions to gamble with his life again, due to her unwavering faith in him that he would defy death once again.

With a fluid motion, Alec swung his Changdao to the side, the droplets of blood flung from the blade, leaving it gleaming in its pristine state.

He dragged the Changdao along the scabbard, each movement measured and solemn.

The blade traced the scabbard's opening slowly, almost reverently, before Alec slid it home with a soft click, in that moment, his spirit equipment set reverted back to tattoo form, his eyes closed, as he collapsed to the ground.

"I won," he mumbled as consciousness slipped away.

[> Ding! <]

[> 5/10 Mid-Tier Lifeforms killed <].

[> Level Up <]

[> Level Up <]

–

When Alec's eyes fluttered open, he found himself not at the race location but in a tastefully decorated bedroom.

As he attempted to rise, Agnes's voice rang out, "He's awake!"

Following her announcement, the rest of the team crowded into the room, enveloping him in a group hug.

"Hey!!! Watch it, I'm still in pain all over," Alec complained, and upon hearing his protests, they gave him space to rest back on the bed, he noticed his upper body was bare, but his spirit equipment tattoos were still visible. With a mere thought, they retracted into his body.

"So, what's the situation now?" Alec inquired.

"All the citizens of the city have been freed from the time freeze they were under after the Chronomancer perished, we were all booted out of the game and couldn't interact with it for the time being, but the city's residents are very grateful for your help," Agnes explained.

"They've allowed us to stay in this house until you recover," she added, prompting Alec to sigh in relief.

"I'll go check on the machine when I'm fully recovered," Alec declared with determination.

"What are we going to do about the remaining missions?, If they're all as challenging as this one, there's no way we'll complete them before the two-month deadline," Beatrice said, concern etching her features.

She felt a pang of guilt for not being able to assist Alec during the recent order, she had always considered herself strong, unbeatable by her peers.

However, witnessing Alec's stand against a Tier 5 and a master of the supreme time element—had been a humbling experience that ignited her resolve to improve.

"That's true, It seems they assigned us these missions expecting us to fail, but I assure you, that won't happen, From now on, Beatrice will lead the team on feasible missions, while I tackle the riskier and horde-related ones, splitting our efforts is the only way we can complete all the missions," Alec declared, his fist clenched with newfound confidence, he was now a Tier 4 Mage, and he felt a sense of joy for surpassing even his golems for the first time.

-> [Status Tab]

Name: Alec Gordons

Race: Human

Level: 61

Tier: 4 [Low]

Experience till next level: 34,900 / 5,000,000

[Attributes]

Strength: 188 (+30)

Agility: 165 (+30)

Endurance: 180 (+30)

Mentality: 21 (+5) (locked)

Mana: 35,000 / 35,000

Affinity: Earth (Peak), Sub: Gravity Manipulation (Mid), Fire (Peak)

Available points: 6

System points: 260,998

Alec wasn't feeling arrogant, but the breakthrough had added 30 extra stat points to his physical attributes and increased his mentality by 5 this was enough to make him feel slightly invincible.

At this point, he was at his strongest ever, even without summoning his spirit equipment, He even felt that the spirit equipment was now low-level for him and couldn't fully support him.

However, he pushed those thoughts aside, planning to upgrade it when the time arrives.