I rembered a book I had once read.
According to it, there were two explanations for the origin of these creatures.
One claid they were failed experints of a mage, while the other described them as a subspecies of humans.
However, both versions agreed on one point: these Beast-Demons were extrely savage and cunning.
Weren’t they always confined to the Barren Lands of Despair?
Why would they be wandering around here?
And attacking acolytes, no less?
—Have they joined forces with the dark acolytes? This is practically an open provocation!
I frowned, intrigued.
—The brains of Beast-Demons are underdeveloped. Who knows what they might be thinking?" Charlotte comnted. —But they’ve never dared to provoke Mages before. Otherwise, they would have been exterminated long ago."
She was right.
Whenever the Tower’s official Mages went out, they encountered no obstacles along the way, nor did any strange incidents occur.
It was as if the Beast-Demons had hidden themselves in advance.
And yet, they attacked acolytes with full ferocity whenever they saw one.
A typical case of bullying the weak while fearing the strong.
—This won’t last long! Kenny is the apprentice of a powerful professor, known for protecting his reputation and not tolerating failures. He will definitely take action!" Charlotte declared confidently.
The Sun Mountain Tower had never taken asures against these beings because they were too weak to pose a real threat to official Mages.
On the contrary, their presence gave the acolytes an opportunity to hone their combat skills.
But now, the situation had changed—several apprentices with 5- to 4-star talents were dead.
Even so, sothing felt strange.
Why had these Beast-Demons suddenly appeared near the Tower? Along with the incident involving Brenca and Bleia, it seed that sothing bigger was happening behind the scenes.
I’m not the only intelligent person in this Tower.
If I noticed this, others must have noticed it as well.
So why are there still no rumors?" That thought unsettled .
I shook my head and looked at Charlotte.
—Did you bring the map?
She nodded and pointed to the dress lying on the floor.
—Yes, it’s in my dress."
...
The next day.
...
After finishing my routine with Miguel, I went to lunch while thinking about many things.
Perhaps I was getting a little anxious, but nothing that could harm .
I picked up a magical piece of horse leg and began to eat.
The at was tender.
—Magical horse at is truly delicious.
A voice rang out, and a young man in a white robe sat down beside .
—Oliver? My eyes widened.
["Beep!"]
["Na: Oliver"]
["Gender: Male"]
["Age: 15 years"]
["Level: Acolyte Level 2"]
["Race: Human"]
["Strength: 1.90"]
["Agility: 2.70"]
["Vitality: 3.10"]
["Spiritual Energy: 5.0"]
["Low-grade magical artifact energy waves detected on the target’s body."]
["The target is classified as dangerous!"]
The Biochip’s scan appeared in my mind.
Oliver’s spiritual power was the highest among the acolytes, and even his vitality had increased after constant exposure to radiation.
Normally, Mages intentionally enhanced their vitality to prepare for future bodily transformations.
Now, Oliver’s spiritual power was higher than mine.
He also carried a magical artifact, but no one knew for sure about his battle experience.
—Calculate my chances of winning if I fought Oliver!
["Simulation initiated."]
["Without the chanical armor"]
["Success rate: 60%!"]
The Biochip provided the data.
Just a little over half. It seems the power of a magical artifact is no small matter. Oliver won’t be an easy opponent either.
["With the chanical armor"]
["Success rate: 100%!"]
["Before he could activate the artifact, the machine gun bullet would effortlessly bring him down."]
I almost smiled when I saw the lab’s notification. After all, it was rare for an acolyte to possess magical shields.
After the Biochip’s analysis, I understood a bit more about Oliver’s strength.
I was considered the most battle-experienced among the Level 2 acolytes.
That ant his combat power was lower than mine.
Even if he had so battle experience, it didn’t seem to be much.
Of course, these were only rough estimates from the Biochip.
In reality, many factors could influence the outco of a battle.
—Oliver, it’s been so long since I’ve seen you!" I greeted him.
Naturally, he had no idea that I had analyzed his stats in just a single second.
Adjusting his robes, he sat down beside .
He revealed his pale white face as he raised his arm to pick up a spoon and taste the soup on his tray.
—I’ve been a bit distant from social interactions. Ever since I started following Marcelina, she hasn’t left alone. My schedule revolves around... ditation, experints, and studies!"
Oliver chewed the pieces of at in the soup, looking satisfied.
—I heard you’re doing very well under Miguel’s guidance!" he suddenly said.
—It’s alright. Basically, I’m preparing devices and exchanging them for resources."
I responded in an extrely modest tone.
—However, you’ve been talking occasionally with Liam. Are you planning to join that bastard’s side?"
Oliver suddenly smiled, but a cold glint passed through his eyes.
I was montarily speechless.
I never thought the conflict he had with Liam on the airship was still ongoing.
But then I rembered that, in the end, I was still in the body of a sixteen-year-old boy.
—We all know each other. That poor fellow ca to asking to join his group on a trip outside the tower, but I refused. After all, I don’t need to associate myself with useless beggars!"
As soon as I finished speaking, I smiled at Oliver.
Although I wasn’t afraid of him, I still thought it was better to avoid trouble whenever possible.
So I embodied the personality of a rich and arrogant engineer, sothing that matched Oliver’s character type.
Oliver gave several looks, and the Biochip inford that my brainwaves had been scanned multiple tis.
It seed he had truly used a spell to check whether I was telling the truth.
After a while, he smiled brightly.
—I have a very good opinion of you! Intelligent! Prudent! Sticking with Liam and the others will only drag you down. Only by joining a superior circle of friends can you gain more resources, glory, and even your very life!"
He then stood up and, in an indifferent tone, added,
—Let give you a piece of advice... The school is no longer safe. Run while you still can."
—What? Can you clarify that?" My heart tightened as if I had grasped a loose thread leading to sothing greater. I asked hurriedly.
However, Oliver rely smiled and walked away without even looking back.
I remained seated on the bench, sowhat lost in thought over his words.
Acting mysterious, like so great genius, trying to persuade to join him... Is this amusing to him? Does he really think he’s the protagonist of a novel?
However, Oliver was a 5-star acolyte and was considered one of the most likely to advance to Mage.
He could definitely obtain information faster than I could.
I feared that sothing was truly happening.
My expression darkened.
I knew the situation with the other towers would only worsen...
Without wasting ti, I went to several alchemy shops and bought potions—so to remove odors, others to alter the composition of the air, and others with various effects.
I needed to strengthen myself as much as possible.
Mastering the golem was the most obvious path forward.
After that, I would focus on engineering and, finally, find a quick way to leave this tower within a month.
Later, in the darkness, I took the newly created Mud Golem out of my waist pouch.
The core, the size of a thumbnail, glowed faintly with the radiance of earth elents.
The four energy nodes carved into it could continuously absorb the surrounding earth elent, converting it into usable energy and storing it for future use.
Of the four energy nodes, two were lit, indicating it was 2/4 charged with the mud elent—or wet earth—which would be enough to run a few tests.
I tilted my head and listened carefully for any movent outside my room.
Then, opening the door cautiously, I slipped out.
At that hour, most apprentices were already asleep.
As a result, I encountered no one along the way.
Fifteen minutes later, I was already walking along the rocky trail outside the tower—a familiar path.
The fierce battle between the acolytes had exterminated many of the demons in this swamp.
As I walked and saw the scattered corpses, a rare feeling of pity arose in my mind.
Although these demons appeared terrifying and malevolent most of the ti, when confronted with acolytes willing to kill and die, they beca nothing more than trembling cattle, unable to resist the oppressive power of sorcerers.
Perhaps, in their eyes, we apprentices were the true monsters—far more cruel than they were!
Moving swiftly along the trails, silently and with my alert chip at maximum, I soon arrived at my chosen testing ground.
The Muddy Swamp.
Luxiria was dead.
Brenda had taken her head as a trophy, since Luxiria could be sold for a large sum. Now the mud demons had no leadership, making this the perfect ti to train here.
I stopped firmly at the edge of the Muddy Swamp, five steps from the filthy, foul-slling lake.
I could faintly sense the weak spiritual waves of three mud demons hidden beneath the murky water.
Without hesitation, I threw the summoning core of the Mud Golem to the edge of the lake.
When the pale yellow core touched the mud, a slight vibration reverberated from it.
"Buzz~~"
Guided by my Spiritual Energy, no activation spell was necessary.
Imdiately, a large amount of yellowish, earthen smoke began to spread around the core.
Driven by strange forces, the mud on the ground began to twist, rapidly molding itself into a humanoid form.
I closed my eyes and connected with the mud, sensing the core I had created.
Slowly, the creature began to take shape around it, positioning the core in its chest.
When I opened my eyes, I examined the being before .
I was counting on this Clay Golem to change my destiny!
....
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