Early morning.

Overnight, a massive sign had appeared in the open space in front of the New Western Education Company building. It was made from a single metal plate, its surface etched with shining silver letters using Alchemy:

"New Western Education Company’s 20th Anniversary Special Event!!"

"A close-up academic exhibition of the top-tier Level 3 Golem, the Cyclops, direct from the pioneering front! Time: Today at twelve noon. Free admission for all students."

Next to the sign, Vera directed staff to fence off a circular area fifteen meters in diameter on the open ground.

She also had employees rush-produce several thousand exquisite flyers using Witchcraft, which were then stacked on wooden racks on either side. The paper was of high quality, filled with text and illustrations.

The flyers were printed with front and side sketches of Cyclops, along with a bolded tagline:

"The latest masterpiece from Allen Wesren, founder of the New Western Education Company and Second-level Alchemy Wizard, upon his return from pioneering a new dimension."

The news spread far faster than anticipated.

The apprentice trading district was already the area with the highest foot traffic in the academy. After morning classes ended, the first group of apprentices who saw the sign brought the news back to their respective dormitories. From there, it spread during breaks, in the cafeteria, the laboratories, and the library.

The combination of "top-tier Level 3 Golem" and "pioneering a dimensional frontier" created a buzz far greater than the sum of their parts.

In an academic research-focused environment like the Seven Towers Alliance, the vast majority of apprentices would go their entire lives without ever seeing a true High-Level Golem in person.

Such things only existed in textbook illustrations and professors’ classroom projections.

Now, someone was telling you that you could see one for free, right downstairs, this very noon.

Who wouldn’t show up?

「...」

The time was approaching twelve noon.

The small plaza in front of the New Western building was already packed shoulder to shoulder.

Junior apprentices, Advanced Apprentices, a few outside visitors who had come to the trading district to purchase materials, and even a couple of passing First-level Wizards were all swept up and squeezed into the crowd.

The crowd surrounded the fenced-off area, packed several layers deep. The innermost ring of junior apprentices was practically pressed against the railings.

Vera and Colin stood at the edge of the crowd, maintaining order.

The two wore their formal New Western uniforms. They appeared calm on the surface, but in reality—

"What in the world is he going to unleash?" Colin asked, lowering his voice.

"I don’t know." Vera’s nails dug into her palms. "Last night, he just told me to clear out a space, said it just needed to be big enough."

"Big enough? Is fifteen meters enough?"

"It should be, I think."

Exactly twelve o’clock.

Without any warning, the air in the center of the plaza suddenly twisted. A spatial rift tore open silently, its width rapidly expanding from one meter to ten, then twenty meters.

A shockwave of Magic Power from the spatial fluctuation washed over them, and the apprentices in the front row instinctively took half a step back.

And then...

"THUD!"

A metallic foot stepped out from the spatial rift.

The foot was over six meters wide, its dark red armor gleaming with a metallic luster in the sunlight.

Then came the lower leg, then the thigh. Each leg was over six meters in diameter, like a dark red stone pillar descending from the heavens.

It landed heavily on the plaza’s stone pavers. The sound of cracking spread out from the point of impact, and a dozen or so stone slabs were instantly destroyed.

The entire New Western building shook from the impact.

The crowd fell deathly silent.

A colossal torso squeezed out of the rift. Its thick armor plates, forged from Earth Vein Tempered Steel, interlocked like tectonic plates, with a faint, dark red light seeping from the seams.

The second foot landed, shattering another circle of stone pavers, and the giant Golem’s body was fully revealed.

Finally, two twenty-five-meter-long metal pylons emerged from its back, with terrifying spiral drill structures at their tips.

Finally, its head, encased like a heavy helm, slowly turned.

In the very center of its forehead, a single Crystal Stone eye over three meters in diameter suddenly lit up. Accompanied by a powerful fluctuation of Magic Power, a ghostly red light swept across the entire plaza.

Cyclops had arrived!

Forty-eight meters tall.

Standing at the entrance of the New Western building, it was a full three times the height of the structure itself. Half the street was shrouded in its shadow.

The spatial rift closed silently behind it.

The plaza was dead silent.

The silence lasted for about three seconds.

Then, someone screamed.

It was like a switch had been flipped. Fear and astonishment erupted simultaneously.

The apprentices in the front row couldn’t help but retreat, shoving one another. Someone fell to the ground.

Some of the more timid ones turned and fled, only to stop twenty meters away when they realized the thing hadn’t moved at all, turning back to look.

But most people didn’t run.

After the initial fear, a more primal emotion nailed them to the spot.

Awe.

An instinctive awe in the face of pure power.

They had to crane their necks just to see the giant’s knees and its sky-blotting torso.

Further up was its oppressive head and that single, scarlet eye.

It wasn’t doing anything. It was just standing there.

But the Magic Power it radiated sent every apprentice’s Spiritual Power senses screaming in alarm. The intensity of this radiation was comparable to a small-scale ley line node.

A short boy in a junior-grade Apprentice Robe stood at the very front of the crowd. He hadn’t retreated.

He stared up, his gaze burning as he fixed it on Cyclops’s enormous body, his lips trembling.

It wasn’t from fear.

"One day... I’m going to be a Golem Wizard, too," he murmured to himself.

His companion beside him tugged on his sleeve. "Are you crazy? You haven’t even passed your basic Runes class yet!"

The boy ignored him.

He stared intently at the dark red Steel Giant, his eyes reflecting its scarlet glow.