Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  It was a perfect battlefield for him. Although the ground he was stepping on a was made by magically hardened dirt, it they was still dirt!

  In next moment, a huge amount of Earth Elementium gathered around the summoning core. It gradually revealed a vague, mammoth figure in front of the crowd.

  Ugh… wasn’t this a little too oversized?!

  Staring at the huge Demon Alligator Hunter who slowly making its debut, the exciting clamor from the edge of the battlefield starting to subside, while a feeling of doubtful starting to rise in the heart of these bystanders.

  Was this kid a summoner? Why did he summon such a huge creature?

  Following the condensation of Earth Elementium, the body of Demon Alligator Hunter became firmer and sturdier. It continued like this until its massive body and ferocious appearance had finally revealed itself in front of everyone. Greem strode forward and climbed on top of the Demon Alligator’s back, sitting there comfortably.

  Damn it, this kid surely had remarkable skill!

  Dark Wood cursed inwardly and quickly preparing his own magic spells.

  As this was a battle under the watchful eyes of the crowd, both parties were allowed to prepare themselves with some supplementary magic spells. However, they were forbidden from launching an attack in advance. Thus, the magic spells Dark Wood prepared were mostly assisting and summoning type spells.

  When Dark Wood waved his black wood staff in the air, the little decorative items tied on top of the staff hit with each other and produced a clanking noise. Numerous white illuminating balls burst out from the sharp teeth and miniature human skulls. They soon formed into two frightening bone shields that floated beside his body.

  The bone shield was assembled by countless pale white bones, and there was even a ferocious-looking skull protruding on the surface of the shield. Two pale green flames were floating in the eyes of the skull and the skull kept moving its jaw, portraying a frightening look of being constantly ready to devour someone.

  At the same time, Dark Wood was reciting some magic spells quickly. A bizarre- looking dark halo, whose purpose was unknown, began emanating from his right palm.

  “Have both of you prepared?” Hulk’s loud roar echoed throughout the entire battlefield.

  Upon seeing both men quietly nodding their heads, Hulk then yelled out loudly, “Then, I hereby announce that the battle has begun!”

  Right at the very moment when the announcement was given, the dark halo floating in Dark Wood’s palm trembled in a strange manner. On the other side, Greem, who had been on full alert, immediately noticed the incoming attack through his Elementium Vision.

  It was a curse attack!

  Only a curse attack could be so incorporeal, making it hard to defend against.

  Greem sat high up on the back of Demon Alligator. His apprentice short robe began to wave lightly in the breeze. Below his exquisite Circlet of Nobility was a pair of eyes, flicking with a blue glow. These eyes stared at Dark Wood, who was standing a hundred meters away.

  If it was another apprentice, perhaps he would’ve been hit by Dark Wood’s dirty trick without knowing anything prior. But Greem’s Elementium Vision allowed him to see all magical Elementium, so he could see this dirty trick vividly. An incorporeal, bizarre-looking dark lasso coiled out from the dark halo in Dark Wood’s palm and flew towards him.

  At this moment, the Screaming Tree Branch, which Greem had brought along, was sounding a constant alarm.

  But Greem’s mindset wasn’t disturbed at all by the Screaming Tree Branch. Instead, he had all his attention focused on the hints that the Chip was transmitting into his mind.

  “Warning… warning… A hostile Spiritual lockdown is detected… Host, please move away from this spot immediately… Failure to do so will result in host being attacked by any subsequent curse spells… Upon matching the spells with current magic spells database, possibility of Spirit Confusion is 71%, possibility of Spirit Slow is 26%, possibility of Soul Borers is 3%…”

  Apparently, all curse spells needed to first lock down on the victim with spiritual energy, before they could establish the hidden spiritual tunnel that allowed the curse spells to reach the body. This method saved the time, as the curse spells no longer needed to fly through the air. Perhaps this was the main reason why all curse spells were so difficult to intercept or counter!

  Greem soon understood this fact. As soon as the Demon Alligator’s mind was interlinked with Greem’s, it instantly took a step back, dodging the curse by a split second. Greem used the Hunter as a replacement for himself and let the black lasso trap it.

  In next second, the dark halo in Dark Wood’s palm vanished after a flash. As soon as it disappeared, a clump of smoke bursted out from Hunter’s body, transforming into a black skull that flew a half circle around its body, before finally penetrating into the Hunter’s body.

  Damn it, it had failed!

  That guy had summoned an Elementium Golem.

  Through his Spiritual Sense, Dark Wood instantly realized his curse spell had never actually hit an actual Spiritual entity. This led him to curse under his breath. Without hesitation, he raised his right arm, which looked like a ghost claw, and began to draw in the air, preparing himself to cast his next spell.

  But, right at this moment, Greem’s attack had approached him.

  The Hunter mounted on top of Demon Alligator kept waving its arms, and threw out strong spears made from Earth Elementium onto Dark Wood. This caused his bone shields to violently tremble. Right after that, a Fire Arrow, which contained pure, high-concentrated Fire Elementium, broke through the air and pierced the bone shield.

  In the next second, the raging explosion of Fire Elementium had flooded the tiny region where Dark Wood was standing.

  “Eh…”

  At the same moment, the elite apprentices outside of the battlefield couldn’t help but exchange an astonished expression with each other. The strength of the attack and the attack pattern of magic spell didn’t look like something a beginner apprentice could do! The spell was casted quickly and had an offensive strength that was as high as 32 points. Were all these something a beginner apprentice could achieve?

  No sound could be heard coming from the crowd, as they started to treat this half playful battle with a more serious attitude.

  Even those apprentices outside of the battlefield could sense something. Dark Wood, who was being attacked by Dirt Spears and Fire Arrows. had an even stronger feeling. Damn it! It was a combined attack of Earth, Fire and Physical damage! The trembling bone shield, that was being burned by a raging flame, started to show signs of collapse.

  A gloomy expression emerged on Dark Wood’s face. Using his conscious, he quickly drove away the other bone shield and replaced the one that was defending all the attacks. Meanwhile, clenching his jaw tightly, he took out a few chunks of black, stinky, rotten meats. He conveniently tossed them beside his feet.

  In next moment, Greem drove the Demon Alligator and strode forward. He planned to use the massive body of the Demon Alligator to crush his opponent. Suddenly, a bizarre figure dashed out from the raging flame and threw itself on the ground. It used a totally weird style of running and sprinting around Demon Alligator.

  It was a frightening corpse that stood two meters tall. It had a pale body, two heads, five arms and seven legs. The entire body looked like a monster that had been messily pieced up together using a few broken human bodies. It crouched on the ground and moved forward using all five arms and seven legs. This made it move in an unpredictable pattern. It swiftly dodged a few dirt spears that were aimed at its body and soon approached the Demon Alligator who was coming in its way.

  The heavy front legs of Demon Alligator pounded on the ground forcefully, causing the ground to keep violently shake. The misshapen corpse, who had just arrived in front of him, was affected by this immediately. It staggered and seemed like it could no longer stand firm.

  The Demon Alligator moved aggressively and opened up its huge
mouth. It leaped forward and pulled the corpse into its mouth. With a powerful clench, the razor sharp fangs instantly crushed its target into meat paste.

  But, a muffled boom suddenly rung through the air. The corpse surprisingly exploded into a huge amount of black blood, which stained the Demon Alligator’s head. After that, under the shocked gaze of Greem, the Earth Elementium that had molded with the Demon Alligator’s head collapsed within a split second. Tons of dirt lost their bond with the Demon Alligator and splattered all over the place.

  Damn it! What powerful corrosive black blood. It could even corrode and neutralize Elementium!

  But obviously, the controlling crystal of Demon Alligator wasn’t located in its head. If it was, then, perhaps Greem’s trump card would’ve been destroyed in an instant.

  Although it lost its head, the Demon Alligator still moved forward vigorously. Strong Earth Elementium once again gathered in front of its body, revealing the outline of a new head.

  The self-healing ability of Demon Alligator was pretty convenient, as, as long as its body was still in touch with earth, it would be able to heal 10% of damage every minute. This was one of the biggest reasons why the Demon Alligator Hunter was so hard to defeat!

  Chapter 64

  Just as Greem was feeling proud of Alligator’s strong recovery ability, he suddenly heard strange noises. One after another, frightening misshapen corpses suddenly leapt out from the flames, sprinting their way towards the Demon Alligator while letting out terrifying groans.

  Damn it! There were too many of them!

  Moving as nimbly as squirrels, eleven of the misshapen corpses swarmed up in a fan shaped formation.

  Without hesitation, Greem quickly activated his bracelet, which unleashed body armor made up entirely of thorny vines. It blinked with a bright green glow as it covered his entire body.

  What happened next was a bloody and savage close-range battle between the Demon Alligator Hunter and the group of misshapen corpses.

  Although the misshapen corpses appeared to be attacking Demon Alligator, anyone could tell that their actual target was Greem, who was sitting high up on its back. This tactic was the go-to for most apprentices who primarily used summons as weapons when attacking their opponents.

  Compared to the powerful combat strength of a summon who was unafraid of death, the summoner himself had much less defence. Therefore, rather than waste a huge amount of energy trying to defeat the summon, it was easier and far more effective to just defeat the summoner. Thus, after he used his blood essence to create the eleven misshapen corpses and entangled Demon Alligator in the fight, Dark Wood stealthily moved far away to once again start casting the long-range curse spells that he was an expert in.

  While controlling Demon Alligator Hunter and trying to deal with the crazy attacks of the misshapen corpses, Greem also needed to focus his mind to defend against the mysterious dark lassoes that Dark Wood kept attacking him with. He was suffering greatly!

  Many of the misshapen corpses in close range of the Demon Alligator were being killed, but the death of each corpse would result in a large explosion, which would destroy a large part of Demon Alligator’s body. After the third corpse exploded, the front of the Demon Alligator, which had looked so strong and mighty before, was in a disastrous state.

  He couldn’t let this continue!

  A trace of a smile appeared on Greem’s lips, then he quickly put something into his mouth and lightly stomped his feet. The Hunter, who was mounting in front of him and kept throwing dirt spears at the enemy, expanded its body and moved backwards, swallowing Greem’s body into its own.

  In the next second, like a giant whale, the massive Demon Alligator Hunter sank into the ground and disappeared without a trace. The eight remaining misshapen corpses immediately stormed forward, restlessly digging into the hardened ground, but failed to find anything.

  Damn…

  Instant uproar from the side of the battlefield.

  The damn kid could actually travel under the ground? This was going to be fun for Dark Wood!

  To be honest, when Dark Wood saw his opponent and the summoned golem disappear from his line of sight, he was also filled with questions and frustrations.

  Damn it, how was he going to fight this battle? If he couldn’t see his opponent, how was he going to lock down the target with his curse attacks?

  While he was looking for a solution, his spiritual senses suddenly discovered something under his feet, bringing a dramatic change to his expression. Without hesitation, he forcefully hit the ground with his staff.

  A huge dirt claw suddenly stretched out from the ground beside Dark Wood. With tremendous force it slapped onto Dark Wood and crushed him into a pile of meat paste. After that, the upper body of Demon Alligator Hunter unearthed itself.

  Although it was a successful strike, Greem’s face on the Hunter didn’t show any sign of joy. Instead, he threw his gaze like two lighting beams into the far distance.

  He saw a misshapen corpse suddenly thrown itself onto the ground, violently twisting and struggling.

  In just a couple of seconds, Dark Wood had replaced the misshapen corpse and was standing where it had once been.

  The Hunter’s expression changed slightly and it started to squeeze back into the ground, but it was too late.

  The pile of meat paste under the Demon Alligator’s giant claw suddenly exploded, staining the exposed body of Demon Alligator Hunter with a large amount of a gray-colored substance. Hearing the sizzling sound of corrosion made Greem’s heart pound.

  Through the Hunter’s eyes, Greem viciously gazed at Dark Wood, who was standing up again. Without saying anything, he once again sank into the ground. The misshapen corpses who had fast been approaching once again missed their target.

  Fuck… staring at the emptied battlefield once again, except for the remaining seven misshapen corpses and the broken ground, there wasn’t any trace of that hateful kid. Dark Wood was furious.

  Under the command of Dark Wood, the seven misshapen corpses were stationed around his perimeter. With this, not only could he could instantly block that bastard from retreating the next time he tried to attack, the formation also allowed him the flexibility to shift himself to any of the corpses as needed.

  However, just as Dark Wood retracted his spiritual senses to the vicinity of his body, quietly observing every slight change under the ground, the ground under the feet of a corpse standing at a far distance suddenly started to boil. Countless dirt spikes poked up through the ground and turned the corpse into shish kabobs.

  Once again, the misshapen corpse exploded. But this time, the gray substance splashed onto the ground harmlessly. As the attack had been launched from beneath the ground, the Demon Alligator was never exposed.

  Dark Wood, standing on the battlefield, together with the audience at the side, gasped in astonishment.

  Damn it, it was hard to tell the outcome of today’s battle!

  In the next seven or eight minutes, Greem cunningly stopped launching any attacks at Dark Wood. Instead, he kept moving around Dark Wood’s perimeter, finding opportunities to kill the remaining misshapen corpses. Clearly, he wanted to destroy all Dark Wood’s minions.

  If they were all slaughtered by this kid, how was he going to shift himself to another corpse when he was again faced with danger?

  Left with no alternative, Dark Wood called all four remaining misshapen corpses to his side, having them surround him in a circle. With this, if Dark Wood was under attack, he could shift himself to another corpse, but he would still be inside the attack radius of his opponent, which significantly increased his risk!

  But under such circumstances, he had no choice but to take this risk. He was trying his best to lure that bastard from the ground, then he’d seek his winning chance, despite the great danger.

  At the thought of himself being forced into such a messy state by a Beginner Apprentice, a shivering ghost flame instantly ignited within Dark Wood’s gloomy eyes. He wished
he could instantly capture the bastard and torture him good.

  But too bad, you couldn’t always get what you wished for, as it was Dark Wood himself who was being tortured by this mere Beginner Apprentice.

  In the second half of the battle, the hateful bastard never showed his face, but instead kept attacking from under the ground using long-range magic spells. Although most of the magic spells were noticed by Dark Wood before they hit him, two misshapen corpses had been miserably killed by the combination of a Quagmire Spell and dirt spikes.

  The sorrow of getting attacked but failing to catch the enemy was perfectly expressed by Dark Wood.

  As he witnessed one corpse puppet after another, each meticulously made by him to possess the fighting strength of an Advanced Apprentice, be destroyed by the ‘enemy,’ Dark Wood’s emotions moved from anger to frustration to sadness until he nearly burst into loud sobbing from Greem’s torture.

  When Hulk finally shook his head, sighed, and announced the winner, Dark Wood, who had remained standing through will alone, immediately fainted from anger.

  The crowd gazed at each other helplessly. Although they wished to say a few words to comfort Dark Wood, no one seemed to know how to start.

  Without the ability to attack underground, no matter who encountered such an enemy, he would land himself in serious trouble. This situation could only be blamed on Dark Wood’s bad luck, as he was picked by Hulk to fight with this freak who had brought him such a miserable ending.

  Wearing a gloomy expression, Hulk pulled Kevin in front of himself, asking with a ferociously, “I thought you said he doesn’t have any special abilities? How did we end up with this kind of result? Tell me honestly, if you are fighting with an opponent like this, can you defeat him?”

  “Ugh…” Kevin gulped, then continued, saying, “If it is not a fair match, and the venue is a desolated wood, give me half day and I’ll be able to kill him in the dark. But if we were to fight in an emptied field like this, I… I wouldn’t have a chance of winning, because I can’t cause him any damage.”