Before they left, Alec finally noticed some notifications on the screen that he had previously ignored due to being engrossed in a heated battle.
However, now that he was no longer clashing with zombies, he had more time to examine them properly.
[Basic spearmanship leveled up]
[Basic spearmanship lvl 5 (Max)]
[To evolve the skill from basic spearmanship to intermediate spearmanship, you would have to kill a hundred life forms higher than your level]
When Alec looked at the mission again, he couldn't help but feel a sense of dread wash over him.
The system seemed determined to throw him into the jaws of death once again; It was like asking a (low) Tier 1 mage to take down a (mid) Tier 1 mage, a task deemed almost impossible.
To make matters worse, the system demanded that he eliminate a hundred Tier 2 lifeforms while still in the Tier 1 mage realm.
It was a daunting challenge.
Although Alec felt the weight of the mission press upon him, he forced himself not to dwell on it for the time being.
There was no use worrying about his impending doom at that very moment. His attention shifted to the second notification that the system had presented him with, and to his surprise, it held some unexpected information.
[ One of Alec's golems had reached its maximum potential and was ready to evolve into a powerful tier one golem, Choose its Path. ]
× Ordinary tier one golem ( cost 25 mana)
× Spearman tier one golem ( cost 50 mana)
× D spearman tier one golem ( cost 100 mana)
When Alec saw the different choices for his golem's evolution, he immediately recognized that each path had been shaped by the golem's fighting style thus far, except for the first choice, which seemed rather ordinary.
Alec hesitated when considering this option since he had a limit on the number of golems he could create.
He already had a clear preference in mind: the defensive spearman; he believed that since it required more mana, it was bound to be more impressive than the others.
As Agnes asked about their plan, Alec returned to reality. He realized he didn't have enough mana to upgrade his golem, let alone reach the necessary one hundred mana for the mission.
He put those thoughts aside for now; all his golems, except for Titan, were safely stored inside his space pouch. With his massive shield and mace strapped to his back, Titan continued to protect Alec as they made their way towards the north gates.
Alec addressed the group, instructing those with long-range spells to conserve their mana until he requested it, as Titan would ensure their defense.
Arthur raised a valid concern about Titan's Duties to guard anyone other than Alec, given his intelligence.
Knight also questioned how Alec would protect himself if Titan were assigned to defend them.
Alec reassured them, stating that he wasn't defenseless and had other golems at his disposal.
Knight nodded in understanding while Agnes snorted, expressing her skepticism.
"Still, I'm pretty sure none of your golems are as good as Titan," she remarked.
"From what I can see, you have put all your wealth into raising him to this level. This means you're going to be in big trouble without your trusty shield," Agnes tried to analyze his powers, thinking he was trying to show off.
"Well, I might not have my trusty shield, Titan, but I have my fierce spear,"
Alec responded, thinking about the golem he was about to evolve; unfortunately, his Clansmen misunderstood him, thinking he was referring to himself fighting with his spear.
Upon arriving at the battlefield, they were met with a gruesome sight: Zombies had breached the walls and were biting and clawing at anyone in their path.
While the core members of the Lanzt family seemed to be holding their own, they were quickly running out of mana, as they had no chance to regenerate there.
The Lanzt family had retainers who acted as shields for each of them, firing off one wind blade after another.
They were skilled at taking out the zombie horde, but Alec's Clansmen realized that this tactic would only deplete their mana faster, leaving them defenseless against the remaining wave of zombies.
As his grandfather had insisted, Alec surveyed the area and noticed no Tier 2 zombies among the horde.
It seemed they had taken the same approach as the Gordon clan, using this battle to train their younger generation and gain battle experience.
It was an opportunity they couldn't waste, especially considering the constant threat of higher-ranking members assassinating the weaker ones.
"Follow behind me and my golems; save your mana for now. I and my golems have to sharpen our earth spears with zombie blood. I'll need all of you when I run out of stamina,"
Alec said, feeling a heat spreading throughout his body.
With determination, Alec dashed towards the zombies, attempting to circle the Lanzt family.
He quickly released his golems from the space pouch to act as the vanguard while instructing his clan members to stay behind for safety.
Walking alongside Titan, he noticed another golem with the highest battle power among his group. Even though it had not evolved yet, it was already displaying signs of intelligence, and he became aware that it might be the golem that had reached Maximum value.
"This is going to be fun," Alec whispered as his golems crashed into the zombie encirclement.
With their impressive spear skills, Alec and his golems easily pierced through, leaving the Gordon family members amazed.
They had witnessed Alec's spear mastery before, but now it seemed even more lethal and beautiful.
"Is it just me, or does Alec's spear skill look more impressive than before?" Agnes asked, marveling at the display.
"There is nothing beautiful about this kind of art. It's bloody and deadly,"
Arthur replied, unable to shake off the feeling of his first kill.
Alec held onto his spear with a firm grip, fighting like a fearless General of China; he utilized all the knowledge of spear skills that the system had imparted to him when he gained the spearmanship skill.
Determined to practice all the basic skills the system had given him, he thrust his spear into the body of every zombie as he moved forward.
With his spearmanship reaching level five, executing skills with the spear seemed effortless, causing minimal strain on his wrist.
It was as if he had trained with a spear for over ten years. However, Titan fought using a different style, swiftly decapitating any zombie that crossed its path.
Alec ensured that any zombie who survived the initial blow would face a hellish second move with one mighty swing of his mace.
He would roll his spiky mace like a drill while it remained embedded in the zombie's body, grinding their heads to a pulp.
None of the zombies' attacks could bypass his ample shield, which he held steadfastly in front of him.
Continuously swinging his right hand, Alec took lives in the name of the Gordon Clan.
"If you know the spell for stone bullet, now is the time to use it; aim for the head; don't worry about missing; just practice your accuracy on their bodies; we'll clean up the rest," Alec instructed.
As the zombies started to pay attention to them, both the zombies and members of the Lanzt family noticed a decrease in pressure from their left side.
They turned to see five kids wearing clothes that belonged to the Gordon Clan tearing apart the zombies from the back of the encirclement that had trapped them.
"Those clothes belong to the Gordon Clan. It means they've sent their younger generation to save us," a boy with white hair among the younger generations of Lanzt said.
"Are they trying to show off that their younger generation can handle a crisis while we can't?" another Lanzt child sneered angrily, his mana running low.
"No, I don't think that's the case; look at them, especially the guy at the front; he's been fighting solely with his physical powers, along with those nine golems by his side,"
The white-haired boy replied.
"It's clear he's their leader,"
The boy's statement silenced the arrogant younger generation members of the Lanzt family.
Seeing how Alec and his golems fearlessly hunted the zombies, with no fear in their eyes, while the other four kids supported from behind, those watching nervously imagined themselves in Alec's shoes.
The Gordon squad followed closely behind Alec, spraying earth bullets all over the zombies. Alec made sure to finish off any remaining zombies, and they repeated this process until they became adept at handling the undead with their stone bullets.
The combination of Alec's golem squad and the stone bullet squad formed a perfect shield and spear formation as they fought toward the Lanzt family, eliminating every zombie in their path.