Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  Greem closed his eyes and listened carefully, and kept throwing out questions after he thought about it.

  “With regards to the project Lighting Giant you mentioned, what stage are we at now? How long does it take to complete?”

  “Beep. The design of Lightning Giant has been completed. We currently lack the necessary magical materials to craft it.”

  “What else do we need?”

  “Five Advanced Apprentice level Wind element cores!”

  “After being successfully crafted, what will be the overall strength of Lightning Giant?”

  “Based on all the Apprentice Adept levels we know so far, upon completion, the Lightning Giant will possess the basic overall strength of a Pseudo-Adept.”

  “How about in comparison to Hulk?”

  “According to results derived from basic statistics, out of one hundred matches between the completed form of Lightning Giant and Hulk, Lightning Giant would be defeated and killed in seventy-three matches, defeated and severely damaged in eleven matches, and end in a draw in sixteen matches. Based on preliminary estimates, the complete form of Lighting Giant can only use guerrilla tactics. Only by keeping an appropriate offensive distance with Hulk and attacking with lightning in between will the possibility to inflict sufficient damage to the enemy exist.”

  “That means it totally can’t defeat a top level Pseudo-Adept!” Greem muttered to himself, then quietly recalled the short moment when Hulk struck.

  Though the battle was very short, but with the Chip’s function of image saving and replaying, Greem could still clearly and directly felt the frightening fighting strength Hulk showed. Extremely tough muscles and their brutal aggressive strength had given Hulk unapproachable power.

  With just one strike, he had broken Rock Snake’s base defense like it was nothing, and transferred extremely violent and powerful force into the inner body of Rock Snake. Otherwise, it was impossible for him to shatter Rock Snake’s body with just one punch and capture the summoning core straightaway.

  To be honest, after the Chip had scanned the Transvestite Fairy today, though its overall strength was Adept level, if it was to fight against Hulk, Greem wasn’t sure if the Fairy could still keep its dominating fighting style.

  If he had someone who was as strong as Hulk and could stand in front as the shield, and pulled together another four to five Pseudo-Adepts who specialized in long-range magic spells, then the percentage of winning this battle would be around 20-30%. Of course, if Greem included all of his three Rock Snake Golems, the percentage would straightaway climb up to 50-60%.

  Therefore, the key to the battle was how to inflict sufficient damage to the Transvestite Fairy effectively and in a timely manner. Otherwise, if he just fought with his three Rock Snakes, the enemy would be able to rip them into pieces easily.

  It wasn’t that he couldn’t get the help from Hulk, but if he did that, maybe he would have to give away most of the profits he found to someone else. According to Snorlax, there were several magical treasures that Greem was determined to get. Therefore, after giving the idea some thought, Greem decided to rely on his own strength for this mission.

  Since he couldn’t get the help from Hulk, he would have to find something else to substitute for Hulk’s position.

  The Lightning Giant project was a summoning core enhancement project that had been tailored to the Storm Giant core he obtained previously.

  For a simple Elementium core, due to its size, there was a limitation to the magical arrays that could be accommodated. It was impossible to add more powerful magical arrays on it without restriction. Therefore, currently, all the Golems that Greem crafted using Pseudo-Adept level cores were rather weak. Though they were enough to bully lower ranked opponents, once they were to face a similarly ranked opponent, the fighting strength they put out was just not satisfactory.

  In light of this, after being prompted by Greem, the Chip started enhancing the procedure of Golem crafting by trying to split the magical arrays that were all crafted on one single core to multiple cores. At a point in time, one core would serve as the bearer of the Golem’s conscious, while, using the method of energy sharing and magical arrays distribution, the rest of the cores would serve as the key nodes that constructed a brand new type of Golem.

  With this method, Greem would be able to maximize the limited space on each core by fitting more enhancement magical arrays onto each one of them, and eventually produce an even more powerful Elementium Golem.

  Of course, in this way, it was impossible to summon a complete Golem with an individual core. A Pseudo-Adept level core of a Storm Giant plus six Advanced Apprentice level Wind element cores; each of them would bear part of the functions, and would use the method of consolidated cores and three-dimensional magical arrays to construct the Lightning Giant.

  However, though this project had been worked on for half a month, the Chip was busy calculating the distribution and connection between the primary core and node cores, so it hadn’t come out with a specific design solution. But since the Chip had included this project in the strategy today, it meant the calculations had completed, and the design solution of the Lighting Giant was done.

  This place was, after all, not rest stop. Thus, after having a short break, Greem quickly resumed his return journey. While he was leaving, some ignorant Gnolls actually tried to intercept him, which made Greem, who was filled with pent-up anger, explode. He commanded all three Rock Snakes to crush their nest straightaway.

  Faced with three near invincible super monsters, the arrows, daggers, and short spears of the Gnolls were useless. If not for the fact that Greem had no desire to continue fighting, with a single charge, this renowned Gnoll tribe of Gray Ear would have lost thirty percent of their members.

  Hence, when the two Pseudo-Adepts sent by Elysium City, Langdon and Philip, arrived hurriedly later, all they saw was dead Gnolls and the Lizardman tribe who had been completely wiped out. Greem was long gone.

  With a gloomy expression, Langdon listened to the bloody story told by the leader of the Gnolls. He didn’t pay any attention to the story’s fishy details, but instead, focused all of his attention on the other side of the demonized forest.

  There many strange rumors were told in the Elysium City in regards to that place. Even his master, Adept Dark Light, once warned him not to simply try to seek the treasures inside of the ruin, as if there were some secrets hiding in it. As a result, he only had a superficial knowledge about the demonized forest, as he hadn’t spent any time trying to understand or explore it.

  Impatiently, Langdon interrupted the weepy complaint of the Gnoll leader, and asked with a cold voice, “Have you entered this demonized forest before? Is there anything inside of it?”

  He was not an idiot.

  In regards to the completely wiped out Lizardman tribe, many of their adult fighters had been killed by element damage caused by a throwing type of attack, which made Langdon think of the Clay Golem of that bastard. But the rest of them had been killed by sharp weapons at close range. Also, he didn’t believe that kid from the surface would have the patience to venture deep into the nest of Lizardmen, slaughtering every single woman and juvenile of the tribe.

  This place was the best habitable area closest to the demonized forest. For the underground creatures, having control of the magical materials harvested from that place would bring them tremendous benefit. Thus, it was understandable what kind of role the Gnoll had in wiping out the entire tribe of Lizardmen.

  But Langdon wasn’t interested in being the judge on this. He only wanted to find out why that bastard had been in the demonized forest.

  Could that guy intruded on this place by accident? Or, did he come here with a purpose and was searching for something?

  Having these questions in mind, Langdon invited Philip to explore the demonized forest. Therefore, the two Fallen Pseudo-Adepts who thought they were strong enough simply walked into the demonized forest. But, not even half an hour later, both me
n were forced to run out from the forest in a sorry state.

  Their bodies were full of bloody holes, pierced through by the element arrows. Infected by bizarre and nasty energy, the blood dripping out from the wound had turned green. While they were fleeing, many lower grade demons had taken the opportunity to attack them as well, leaving more scars and wounds on their body.

  After Philip left a Teleportation mark at the edge of the forest, both men rushed back to Elysium City.

  Obviously, they had found some clues in the demonized forest. Judging from what they had found, they believed that the bastard must have gone straight to the ruins of the Adept Tower located in the depth of the forest. And since that guy had such a clear and precise target, clearly he wouldn’t abandon what he was looking for just because the place was guarded by a frightening Adept level demon.

  So, both men arrived at the conclusion that the kid must have temporarily withdrawn after learning of the difficulties, and would return once he got more help.

  That was why Philip had left a Teleportation mark behind. With that, they would be able to launch a surprise attack once Greem returned to the forest. If they were able to intercept them on their way back, with an advantage in the number of Fallen Apprentices and that frightening demon who lived in the demonized forest, it was highly possible they could destroy every single person in the surface team in one clean sweep.

  Even in the bloody battle history of Elysium City, that stretched more than hundred years, a result like this was extremely rare!

  Chapter 93

  After smoothly returning from the Underground World, Greem busied himself once again.

  However, different from his usual, currently he was busily working towards a goal and was well-directed.

  After he returned, the first thing he did was pay a visit to the Lothar Merchant. By the time he left them, he had five Advanced Apprentice level Wind element cores in his waist pouch. Nevertheless, a big purchase like this would mean a sharp decrease in Greem’s stash of crystal cores.

  In the blink of an eye, he had spent more than half of the over 3000 magic crystals he had won from the bet previously. Currently, Greem’s magic crystal savings had dropped below 800. Considering that he and Mary had become ravenous beasts who had to have the daily magical energy meal set, he had to save the remaining magic crystals to support their daily consumption. Therefore, earning a lot of magic crystals in a short period of time had presently become a pressing matter.

  After he returned from the Underground World, the trio who had temporarily formed a treasure hunting alliance gathered together and had a meeting. When Greem briefed the team about the situation he had seen in the ruined Adept Tower, both Mary and Snorlax were stupefied.

  An Adept level demon!

  This… was this something their small team could ever handle?

  Although Mary had a high opinion of herself, in the end, she was just an Advanced Apprentice Vampire. If she were to fight that frightening Fairy, she would be instantly killed by it. As for Greem, so far he was still just an Intermediate Apprentice, even though, under the double tonics of the magical energy meal set and the Ming Concentrating potion, his Spirit was rising quickly every day. If they really were to fight an Adept level demon, not only could he not provide any help, it was possible that even the shock wave of the battle would cause him deadly injury!

  As for the mighty Goblin merchant Snorlax, though its unconventional ability of invisibility and ability to stay concealed was pretty amazing, they could not fight. Therefore, besides what little bit of help the memories that reside in its brain could provide, there was nothing it could do to help.

  Noticing the frightened expression on both his teammates’ faces, Greem let out an understanding smile. He then soberly analyzed the advantages and disadvantages between themselves and the enemy. Following his lead, both his teammates gradually overcame their fear towards the Adept level monster, and started to seriously and carefully plan out how to defeat the frightening Fairy.

  First of all, the three of them were sure of one thing. If they allowed that Fairy to keep its overall strength at Adept level, planning this treasure hunting mission was no different than planning their own death. Therefore, they had to find ways to weaken the overall strength of that frightening Fairy.

  There were two possible ways to do so. First was using curse magic spells, and secondly, targeting the true form of the Fairy.

  Greem could find a way to purchase some curse magic wands or one-time use magic spell scrolls. But they didn’t know if the inferior products produced by Apprentice Adepts could penetrate the magic resistance of the Fairy. So, they couldn’t place too much hope on this.

  While they were discussing the issue, Greem secretly hinted that he could get in touch with Adept Angus, and maybe he could obtain some Adept level magic spell scrolls from him. But in order to trade with an official Adept, Greem had to produce something that could attract his interest.

  Therefore, Greem had to figure out this new problem!

  As for the true form of the Fairy, Greem’s predicted (actually it was the Chip’s prediction) that there was a high chance it was hiding close to the broken Elementium Pool. At this point, Snorlax finally came into play. Its familiarity with the Adept Tower let it quickly draw out the inner structure of the place, and it was able to precisely point out the location of the Elementium Pool.

  According to its description, the Elementium Pool was located in the second underground floor beneath the ruins of Adept Tower. In order to get there, they had to go through numerous magical secret doors and arrays. Though it was highly possible that most of these mechanisms had stopped working, if there were still a couple of them still functioning, it would cause immense problems for Mary’s infiltration. So, upon Greem’s request, Snorlax had to follow Mary when she snuck into the ruins of Adept Tower.

  In regards to this, Greem showed an unprecedented firm attitude. Left with no room to argue, Snorlax fearfully agreed.

  In order to achieve the above two things, Greem needed to have the overall strength to fight or pin down the Fairy. Being able to do so would heavily rely on the near completed Lightning Giant. Only when the Lightning Giant had the expected strength would Mary and Snorlax have more confidence in this treasure hunting mission!

  With that in mind, in the following days, Greem, Mary, and Snorlax became really busy. Greem lived night and day in the Alchemy Laboratory, crafting his new Golem, while Mary would go out early and came back at dusk, covered in scars and wounds. Even with the extraordinary regeneration of Vampires, she still had so many scars. This showed how incredibly dangerous her training was, that it had gone beyond what even her body could endure.

  Snorlax, who dreamed of becoming the greatest Goblin merchant, was rarely seen in the public hall on the first floor of Adept Tower. Instead, it was wearing old and torn thief equipment, and spent all of its time in the Magic Spell Practice Room, practicing its stealth. As for its original glittering magical equipment, it had no choice but to lock it away in a wooden chest while crying.

  During this period, Greem and Mary managed to find some time to participate in an Underground World ambush mission organized by the training camp. However, after the miserable defeat last time, the Fallen Apprentices had strengthened the defending forces in all of their resource sites. This caused the team, led by Kevin, to get entangled in a bitter battle.

  In this tough war, when two of the Pseudo-Adepts from Kevin’s team became locked in combat with the Fallen Pseudo-Adepts, Greem was forced to send out Rock Snakes in order to defend against the bombardment coming from an extra Fallen Pseudo-Adept.

  In the situation where the number of their Pseudo-Adepts was outnumbered by the opponent, and the overall strength of their Advanced Apprentices wasn’t too strong compared to the enemy, for the sake of avoiding an ambush by the enemy’s reinforcements, Kevin had no choice but to abandon the mission.

  Even with such an ending, all of the team members had a calm atti
tude. In their usual battles with the Underground World enemy, a result like this was perfectly normal. With regards to Greem’s performance in the battle, no one seemed to have any opinion. With the overall strength of an Intermediate Apprentice, he was able to withstand bombardment from a Fallen Pseudo-Adept for more than fifteen minutes. A result like this could simply shut anyone’s mouth.

  It was because his firm standing that Kevin’s team hadn’t been defeated from a shortage of Pseudo-Adepts. Otherwise, once their team had been scattered by the attack, among all of the Advanced Apprentices, who dared say he could escape from the enemy’s pursuit? As a matter of fact, it wasn’t rare for many ambitious and genius apprentices to get themselves killed in the dark and quiet underground tunnel.

  Every year, there were always more than a couple of Advanced Apprentices who died quietly in some random dark corner of the Underground Cave. Even an incident as big as the death of Pseudo-Adept wasn’t rare news. In fact, the root cause of the destruction of the previous Elysium City by the surface Adepts was because a surface team consisting of six people bumped into a Fallen Adept while they were patrolling in the Underground World.

  No one knew what exactly happened, because all of the two Pseudo-Adepts and four Advanced Apprentices were killed silently in the Underground World. With reinforcements sent by the Zhentarim Association, the raging surface Adepts stormed into the Underground World and forcefully destroyed the stronghold of the enemy – Elysium City.

  But too bad, the Second Grade Adept of the enemy, Adept Pridka, had self-detonated the Adept Tower, taken some of Fallen Adepts, and escaped from Elysium City, which allowed them to escape from the catastrophe. Consequently, within just a few years, a new Elysium City had been built up once again.