Chapter 122: His Golem Problem

Raziel walked out of the hidden room and shoved the leather journal deep into his tunic. The thick fabric hid the book.

Gideon and Oswyn stood in the center of the circular chamber.

A large stone statue rested on a pedestal in the middle of the room, a white sheet covered the figure.

The ambient mana in the room shifted.

The white sheet caught fire and burned into gray ash in one second.

FWOOSH!

A stone golem stood on the pedestal It measured two meters of solid rock.

Thick blue runes carved into its massive fists glowed with aggressive light.

Attack seals.

This was the real evaluation, the instructors designed this obstacle to force a three-person team to work together.

Oswyn dropped to his knees. He clasped his hands together and shut his eyes tight.

“By the grace of the Goddess, return to the earth!” Oswyn screamed.

He activated his Gift, the volume of his voice amplified and hit the walls with force.

The golem ignored the prayer as sound waves did zero damage to enchanted rock.

The machine stepped off the pedestal.

THUMP!

Gideon shoved the Orator out of the way.

“Move, idiot.”

Gideon planted his boots on the floor and channeled his mana into his right arm.

His Gift of Amplified Strength activated, biceps swelled and stretched the sleeves of his gray uniform.

He ran forward and threw a massive punch right at the center of the golem’s chest.

BAM!

The golem did not take a single step back.

The enchanted stone absorbed the kinetic impact, blue attack seals on its oversized fists flared.

The machine swung its right arm and the stone fist hit Gideon in the stomach.

CRASH!

Gideon flew backward through the empty air.

He hit a stone pillar on the opposite side of the room, dropping to the floor and coughed.

Blood dripped down his forehead and stained his left eye.

Oswyn kept screaming useless prayers from the floor.

Raziel evaluated the board; direct combat Gifts failed against this target.

The golem absorbed offensive mana and countered with physical mass.

It required environmental manipulation to defeat.

Raziel stepped forward.

He needed to act, but he had to hide his true core.

Oswyn watched his every move so If Raziel used his gold and black Umbral energy, the fanatic would report the heresy before dinner.

[MENTAL STABILITY: -2%]

Raziel forced pure blue mana to his right index finger, his muscles cramped.

Suppressing the Shadow Parasite while channeling standard Church magic caused a burning pain in his veins.

He ignored the pain and slid across the dusty floor, stopping right next to the golem’s heavy right foot.

He dragged his glowing finger across the stone tiles drawing the geometric lines of an Anchor seal.

The blue ink stabilized on the floor and the golem planted its right foot inside the geometric circle.

The magic locked the stone foot to the ground.

The machine pulled its leg upward, the floor cracked, but the foot stayed pinned.

Raziel stood up and pointed his finger at the ceiling above the construct.

He channeled more blue mana. He traced a Pulse seal in the empty air.

FWOOSH!

A downward wave of kinetic force shot from the ceiling. The invisible weight hit the golem’s shoulders.

The machine wobbled leaning hard to the left to fight the downward pressure and the anchored right foot. The stone joints groaned.

It was off balance. But it stood firm.

Raziel lacked the standard mana capacity to break the solid stone, he needed physical force.

Raziel turned his head toward the pillar.

“Its left leg! NOW!” Raziel yelled.

Gideon sat slumped against the stone.

He panted and spat a mouthful of blood onto the floor, glared at the golem then glared at Raziel.

Gideon possessed a massive amount of pride. He refused to fail an evaluation in front of a novice he hated.

Gideon stood up, channeling every drop of his remaining mana into his right fist. The veins in his arm turned dark blue.

He ran across the chamber, dropped his shoulder and punched the golem’s left knee joint with his full Strength Gift.

CRACK!

The stone leg snapped in half.

The golem lost its only point of support, the massive weight of the machine dragged it down.

THUD!

The golem crashed onto the stone tiles, impact shook the chamber.

Raziel stepped over the fallen construct.

He drew two suppression seals over the glowing attack runes on the stone fists, the blue light flickered and died.

The golem powered down becoming a simple pile of rocks.

The fight ended.

Gideon slid down the wall and sat on the floor, he gasped for air while blood ran into his eye.

He wiped it away with the back of his dirty sleeve.

Gideon looked at the broken machine.

“How did you know about the left leg?”

Raziel wiped sweat from his forehead.

“The balance seals are on the right leg. You anchor the right and hit the left, and it has no support.”

Gideon looked at him and did not show his usual hatred. He showed begrudging respect.

“You are a manipulative bastard.”

Gideon spat more blood onto the tiles.

“But you are not stupid.”

Raziel walked over to him, offering his hand to help him up.

Gideon stared at the extended hand.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Five.

He reached out and grabbed Raziel’s hand. Raziel pulled him to his feet.

“Where is the evaluation artifact?” Gideon asked.

Raziel pointed to a wooden pedestal behind the destroyed golem. A simple wooden box sat on top, carrying the official wax seal of the evaluation.

“Grab it. We are leaving.”

Gideon walked over and picked up the box.

Oswyn stopped praying, stood up and dusted off his knees. He avoided eye contact with both of them.

They walked back through the dark corridors of the Founder’s Wing. They reached the heavy iron gates at the entrance.

Mission accomplished.

Raziel reached out and pushed the heavy iron gates open.

The bright sunlight of the main hallway hit his face.

A sharp spike of freezing pain hit the base of his skull.

[SKILL ACTIVATED: SHADOW ECHO]

[WARNING: MASSIVE HOSTILE PRESENCE DETECTED]

Raziel stopped walking. His heart rate stayed flat, but his analytical mind registered disaster.

The presence was missing when they entered the test.

Four elite Inquisitors stood in the center of the main hallway.

They wore red cloaks over heavy silver armor, kept their hands resting on the pommels of their swords.

A man stood in the middle of the armed escort.

He wore a pristine white and gold robe. He leaned on a crystal cane and commanded an aura of absolute, crushing authority.

Elector Mordecai.

He arrived a full day ahead of schedule.

Mordecai did not look at Gideon, at Oswyn or the wooden box.

He looked straight at Raziel.

“Ah.”

Mordecai smiled with cold eyes.

“I have heard fascinating things about you.”

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