Around him, more and more apprentices were flooding into the square.

The news was still spreading.

Colin stepped forward at the opportune moment.

He walked to the feet of the Cyclops—or more precisely, to the side of one of its toes.

In comparison, his height didn’t even reach halfway up the Golem’s instep.

But his voice was loud, cutting through the clamor of the square.

"Fellow students, esteemed visitors, welcome to the New Western’s 25th Anniversary Special Exhibition!"

Colin pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses and raised a sound-amplifying rune tablet.

"The Golem you see before you, codenamed ’Cyclops,’ is the second advanced War Golem independently researched and built by the founder of New Western, Lord Allen Wesren, during the planar battlefield expansion led by the Ring City Alliance."

A collective gasp went through the crowd.

The second one, which meant there was a first.

"Its core power system is a tri-linked ’Earth Core Furnace’ engine. The main armor is made of ’Earth Vein Tempered Steel,’ a material independently developed by Lord Weisren, with four times the density of adamantine."

Colin’s tone was steady as he rattled off one technical term after another, like a top student defending their thesis.

"Total height: 48.2 meters. Total weight: 54,000 tons. Production cost: 12.5 million Low-Level Magic Stones. The research and development costs alone were 26 million Low-Level Magic Stones."

The square fell silent for a moment.

12.5 million, 26 million.

The apprentices were still trying to wrap their minds around these numbers.

For them, who only received a few dozen Low-Level Magic Stones as a monthly allowance, 12.5 million was an astronomical figure, completely beyond their comprehension.

"And finally,"

Colin paused and looked around. "Its power is roughly equivalent to a Second-level Wizard. According to simulation data, a full-power strike from the Cyclops is enough to destroy a medium-sized mortal city covering an area of twenty square kilometers."

As soon as he said that, the square erupted.

"Twenty square kilometers?! Is it really that powerful?"

"It could destroy the capital of my home plane in a single hit?!"

"Excuse me, if this thing smashes down, can I survive by flying into the sky?"

"If a Second-level Wizard is this strong, I can’t even imagine how powerful a Radiant Sun Wizard must be!"

"I wish I could be promoted to an Official Wizard tomorrow..."

The spectating apprentices chattered among themselves. Although they had learned in class about the world-destroying power of Advanced Wizards, seeing it displayed so vividly before their eyes was a completely different experience.

Colin was inwardly gloating, but his expression remained perfectly composed.

On the display board nearby, two lines of bold, golden text glittered in the sunlight—

"New Western Education Group’s Prized Exhibit—The Cyclops."

"Creator: Allen Wesren, Founder of New Western, Second-level Alchemy Wizard."

No core secrets were revealed.

But the intended message was delivered, loud and clear.

The owner of this killing machine was the boss of New Western.

...

The name "Allen Wesren" was not unfamiliar to some of the old-timers who had remained at the academy.

The founder of New Western, the "Genius Diagnoser" of his time.

The disciple of Lord Mercer Iron Star of the Black Tower of the Forge, the monster who took nine exams in a single day.

These titles had circulated in the academy for twenty years, long becoming New Western’s most solid calling card.

But to the new students who had enrolled in recent years, "Allen Wesren" was just a legendary name.

A name they had seen countless times on New Western’s promotional boards but had never seen in person.

That legendary name had now materialized into the 48-meter-tall, dark-red Steel Giant before them.

Instantly, the weight of that name felt different.

The news spread like wildfire throughout the entire Seven Towers Alliance.

By afternoon, several professors from different schools of thought within the academy had also "rushed over after hearing the news."

They claimed it was for academic observation, but in reality, everyone’s eyes were practically glued to the Golem’s ankle armor.

The light of various detection spells crisscrossed over the surface of the Cyclops’s lower leg.

An old professor from the School of Grand Design and Dominion circled a section of armor joint three times, growing more and more excited with each look, before finally grabbing Colin’s arm.

"The Runes on this armor are incredible! What kind of shielding technology is this? What forging process does your boss use? Can you introduce me? I’d like to have an academic exchange with him!"

Colin stumbled two steps from being pulled and adjusted his glasses. "Professor, about that... you’ll have to make an appointment with our front desk."

...

However, the people who truly understood the meaning behind this "event" were not in the square.

The academy’s administrative district, third floor of the professor’s office building.

In a tastefully decorated office, the curtains were drawn tight.

A middle-aged man with a neat goatee, dressed in a dark purple professor’s robe, sat behind a desk.

Two people stood before him, both First-level Wizards who worked under him. One of them had just run back from the square.

"It’s confirmed."

The man swallowed. "That Golem is real. I asked a couple of acquaintances from the Black Tower of the Forge. Their preliminary assessment is that the combat power of that Golem alone is no less than that of a veteran Second-level Wizard."

The goat-bearded professor’s fingers tapped a rhythm on his desk.

"Weisren." He repeated the name. "When did he get back? When did he get promoted to Level 2?"

"He arrived yesterday. As for the time of his promotion, we couldn’t find a specific record. We only know that he had just been promoted to Level 1 when he left the academy twenty years ago. After that, he went to the Molten Iron Mountain Range plane, a territory controlled by the Ring City Alliance, and was in charge of an independent warzone."