The magical seal Greem that designed for himself was a tightly clenched fist, covered in flames and soared up into the sky.
The flames surrounding the iron fist represented his element affinity of Fire, while the iron fist represented strength. His magical seal also represented the wild ambitious that starting to burgeoning deep inside Greem’s heart.
After putting away the contract, Adept Angus tossed over a chest badge that represented the Byron family over to Greem.
“By wearing this, as long as you’re in Dagon Region, no one will take the initiative to provoke you. Alright, you can leave now!”
Upon completing the deal, Adept Angus simply turned Greem and Mary away from his laboratory. For him, this was just one of the backup plans he had prepared for his family. While there were countless other measures he had prepared, it hadn’t reached the level where he needed to handle it solemnly.
Hence, before that little guy became an official Adept, everything was just casual preparation!
After Greem and Mary left Angus’s residence with great respect, they were shocked to find that more than twenty elite apprentices had gathered outside of Angus’ residence. They had split into two groups and were confronting each other. When Greem made his appearance, the leaders of both groups immediately rested their eyes on his face.
When their eyes gazed over the badge pinned on Greem’s chest, the leaders of both fractions had their expressions change at the same time. One gnashed his teeth angrily, while the other’s face was covered with a bright smile; he even took the initiative to hug Greem’s shoulder.
“So? Now you have seen it for yourself.” A gloating expression could be clearly seen on Kevin’s face. “Greem is part of the Byron family now. Stop wasting your time here and leave. Why are you still standing around here?”
Greem roughly remembered that he had seen the leader of the other group in the training camp before. It seemed like his name was Hamill and he was also a Pseudo-Adept. But judging from his unconcealed Spirit wave, obviously, his overall strength was so much weaker compared to Toril.
“Greem… very good…” With a ferocious manner, Hamill threatened, “You’re smart, kid, knowing to hide under the protection of Master Angus. Or else, I, Hamill would have definitely let you known the serious consequences of provoking the Wharton family.”
Greem let out a somber smile.
“The reason I joined Byron family is because of the care from Adept Angus, as he didn’t want me to be defeated by the crafty plot of a shameless person. However, for someone like you, a coward who only knows how to show his aggressiveness with his mouth, I’ll never be afraid!”
“You…”
“Since you have the desire to seek revenge for that Toril, why don’t we find a chance tomorrow and have a fair fight? As long as you can defeat me in a fair match, I’m willing to give up the protection from Master Angus. So, do you have the guts to accept my challenge?”
“You…”
“Arrogant…!”
“This is absurd…!”
For the moment, all those elite apprentices who followed behind Hamill couldn’t control their anger anymore. Each of them kept scolding and yelling out with a loud voice. Though Hamill was also letting out furious shouts, his eyes flickered and his face looked gloomy. Obviously, he didn’t have the courage to accept Greem’s challenge.
Greem laughed scornfully.
“Same goes to all of you. For those who want to seek revenge for Toril, I’m open for a fair bet with anyone. As long as you can come out with a satisfying stake, I’ll fight with you right away. So, is anyone willing to have a fair match with me?!”
Greem asked with a severe countenance and a harsh voice. As he glared at this group of guys who appeared to be tough outwardly, but actually were timid inside, an indistinct bright light could be seen flickering in his eyes. Even Kevin, who was standing closest to him, was secretly shocked by the aggressiveness emanating from Greem’s eyes.
Though the group had been here to capture the wild kid who had offended the dignity of Wharton family, when they stared into the aggressive glances of their target, those who kept yelling angrily just now actually had shut their mouth. Some even turned their head sideways to avoid being directly gazed at by Greem.
At that moment, tens of Advanced Apprentices and Pseudo-Adepts were stuck in an awkward situation, brought on by Greem who was just an Intermediate Apprentice.
Though they knew by losing their face like this, they would definitely be punished by their family when they returned, no one was willing to stand up and fight this mad guy who was in high spirits.
Now, they were losing their face as a group, which allowed them to still have room to turn the situation around when they returned. But, if anyone accepted the challenge in a moment of madness, the problem they faced would not only be losing their face anymore. It was very likely that they might also have their reputation crushed, which was something they had been building restlessly for the past seven to eight years, and eventually become the laughing stock of everyone.
If their opponent was someone else, they wouldn’t have behaved so cowardly, but this kid in front of them was too strange. He… he actually defeated Toril, who was about to hold his advancement ceremony, also… also they heard he had done that in a fair one-to-one fight.
When Toril was severely wounded and thrown to the ground, the official Adept sent by Wharton family and stationed in the Underground Cave was right at the spot, but it hadn’t been convenient for him to capture this rascal personally. If this Greem had the courage to directly offended the dignity of an official Adept, no one would stop a Master Adept from killing him personally.
But… but the problem was, this kid actually beaten Toril to coma in a fair match. If the Master Adept struck at that point in time, other families would have definitely been laughing at him, teasing him for not having any other successors in his family, as they even needed an official Adept to handle something as petty as dealing with an Intermediate Apprentice.
Therefore, after weighing and considering the situation, this group had come here together to question Greem and capture him in the name of their family. However, since this guy was now part of the Byron family, it was impossible for them to give him a serious beating without any forethought. But… in order to capture him with a one versus one fight, none of this guys had the confidence.
Depressed, extremely depressed! Indignation, an indescribable indignation!
Tens of elite apprentices from Wharton family had their face turned livid with rage. It was as if their bodies were attacked by hundreds of thousands of ants; it was an extremely awkward situation for them.
“Let’s go, we’ll settle this score with him in future!” Realizing that the situation was going out of his control, Hamill furiously waved his hand and took all his men and quickly left the scene.
Watching how the group of elite apprentices had come in a threatening and ready to fight manner, but eventually left sheepishly, the members of the Byron family remained at the scene and kept exchanging glances with each other speechlessly. They were all veterans of the training camp. Although because of the competition, both families didn’t have a concord relationship, actually, both groups were pretty familiar with each other. If their positions were reversed in this situation, perhaps their performance wouldn’t have been better than those from Wharton family.
It was not because they were incompetent, but because this rascal had strange abilities!
Since Kevin was experienced in such scenes, he pushed Greem and brought him out from the place.
“Brother, since you have become a part of us, then as your brother, I’ll not regard you as an outsider anymore. Don’t worry, in Dagon region, as long as you show the badge of the Byron family, no one will give you any trouble. If someone does, tell me and I’ll bring our men to annihilate him!”
A big smile was immediately brought to Greem’s face and he expressed his gratitude to Kevin.
&nbs
p; Kevin was not bragging, what he had said was actually real.
According to the Chronicle of Adept Families, there were more than twenty Adept Families with the proper name who could be found in this Dagon region. Among these families, the Byron family, which Kevin was working for, could easily be ranked among the top three of all Adept families in this region. Also, the Byron and Mises family had supported a small human kingdom which had occupied a huge area of fertile land in the central area of the Dagon region.
Therefore, the promise of providing him protection within the entire Dagon region wasn’t a lie at all.
In fact, not only the entire Dagon region, this kind of situation was common throughout the entire Zhentarim territory. In this world ruled by Adepts, the noble or even imperial families of human were just tools and servants who helped Adept families manage ordinary mortals. If any of them offended the Adept family who supported them, even if he was a king of a human kingdom, he would have to step down from his throne or even die of ‘sickness’.
For Kevin, as the nephew of Adept Angus, if he paid a visit to a human kingdom, he would be welcomed with the most luxurious, grandest reception and treatment. As long as he nodded his head slightly, even if he wanted some princesses to serve him on his bed, those kings would personally send them to his bed with a bright smile on their faces.
This was in fact, the most realistic yet cruel reality of the current Adept World!
Chapter 99
Right from the start, the Underground Cave was a place where one was apt to get into trouble.
Though no one had purposefully spread the news, early next morning, nearly the entire Adept Tower was startled by a frightening news that had spread like the plague.
In a fair one-on-one match, an individual who had recently broken through to Intermediate Apprentice Adept had defeated Toril, the member of the Wharton family who had the highest chance of becoming an official Adept in the shortest amount of time. When the news was freshly heard, countless Apprentice Adepts simply sniffed at it to show their contempt.
In the World of Adept, even within the same grade, but just different by one or two minor tiers, let alone the gap between two major grades, there would be a jaw-dropping difference between their overall strength. Some busybodies actually performed a statistical study before. In a normal battle, a Pseudo-Adept could easily defend himself from the joint attack of two to three Advanced Apprentices and could just as easily defend himself against the joint attack from a double digit number of Intermediate Apprentices.
Therefore, when they heard the news for the first time, most of the people just treated it as a lousy lie used by an enemy of the Wharton family to bring shame to them. But as time went by, the ‘lie’ had grown hotter and hotter, so much so that many guys who were well-known among the elite apprentices vowed solemnly that it was real.
As the result, a massive storm broke out in the circle of Apprentice Adepts within the Adept Tower of Underground Cave!
Countless Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced Apprentices ran around, spreading the news, while inquiring about the genuine version of that ‘rumor’. Soon, all the rumors gathered through the grapevine had pointed to a name that everybody was unfamiliar with – Greem. Hence, more news about Greem was dug out.
For example, when Greem had arrived at the Underground Cave, he had just been a Beginner Apprentice. Also, during his first trip to the Underground World, he had killed the frightening Demon Vine Lady and gotten himself the first head of a Fallen Apprentice. Not only that, when he was invited to join the training camp, he actually had defeated two elite Advanced Apprentices…
When the series of outstanding results were pieced together, every single apprentice who heard about it was struck with astonishment.
This… how could this be possible?
Everyone was very familiar with the overall strength of an apprentice who had just become an Intermediate Apprentice. During this stage, their overall strength was in a rather awkward situation, as usually they had only mastered two to three offensive magic spells. Some with a stronger overall strength would master a defensive magic spell in advance, while those ordinary Intermediate Apprentices would have to fight nakedly for a long period of time before they mastered the first defensive magic spell in their life.
Comparing an overall strength like this to an Advanced Apprentice who been thoroughly tempered or even those Pseudo-Adepts who had nearly reached the pinnacle of apprenticeship, it was like the difference between a five to six year old toddler and a youth who had nearly become an adult. Most of the time, a gap in overall strength like this could never be covered up by skillful techniques or experience.
But they soon learned that, it was highly possible that this man of marvel, Greem, was a Golem Controller who had extraordinary talent. He was able to overstep the constraints of his level and control many powerful magical Golems. After this news was spread, it immediately made the few rare Golem controllers within the apprentice circle feel proud of themselves; they even walked and talked with a higher spirit as compared to before.
However, none of them knew at this moment when they were discussing about this miraculous Golem Controller with much warmth, Greem, whose face would have blushed because of the discussion, had brought Mary and Snorlax and ventured deep into the Underground Cave. They followed the path he found on his previous trip and stealthily traveled towards the ruins of the Adept Tower.
To be honest, with regards to this treasure hunting trip, though Greem had prepared numerous plans and strategies in his mind, when his opponent was an Adept level demon, it was unknown whether these plans and strategies would work as they were designed to.
Riding on the back of the Demon Alligator Hunter, the trio had a meeting and repeatedly cross-checked each other’s tasks. In order to defeat the Transvestite Fairy, not only Greem had to face a tremendous amount of pressure, he even arranged an extremely important task for both Mary and Snorlax to complete.
As the main force for the war, Greem’s existence was used to attract attention. Only by luring the frightening Fairy away from the entrance of the ruin could Mary and Snorlax have the chance to sneak into the place and search for the true form of the Fairy.
And only by finding a way to cut off the spiritual connection between the Fairy and its true form would Greem have the possibility of defeating it face-to-face. Or else, if he had to fight a complete Fairy, even if Greem sacrificed all of his Golems, he might not be able to obtain any advantage.
Perhaps the previous lesson was overly painful as all the Gnolls that had been prowling at the outer perimeter of the ruin had actually disappeared. This really surprised Greem who had planned to make a clean wipe of the outer perimeter first.
When Demon Alligator Hunter once again arrived in front of the demonized forest, both Mary and Snorlax had their jaws dropped in amazement. They wouldn’t be so surprised if what they saw was on the surface world. However, when they were at nearly twenty miles underneath the surface, yet were still able to see such a wild profusion of vegetation. This really astounded both of them who had got used to the desolate and lonely environment of the Underground World!
“Let’s move, and don’t forget about your task. Once that Fairy leaves the place, both of you need to act fast, because I can’t stand against it for a long time!” Before they separated, Greem couldn’t help but urge once again.
A sweet smile emerged on Mary’s pretty face. Her slim body leapt into the air and within a split second, she had transformed into a fist-sized red bat and flew into the forest.
Greem didn’t have too many worries for Mary. Both her overall strength of an Advance Apprentice Vampire and her new ability, Natural Charm were the biggest guarantees for her survival. Especially the latter, in a chaotic demonized forest such as this, as long as she didn’t actively attack the enemy, ordinary demonized creatures and plants wouldn’t attack her actively either.
In fact, the ability of Natural Charm could actually ignore the species,
genders, factions, and some other factors, and directly influence the subconscious mind of any intelligent creature. Thus, it could simply be regarded as the best innate ability for treasure hunting in the wilderness. Allegedly, the advancement requirement for this very unique class actually needed the ability of Natural Charm as a foundation.
The current Snorlax was seen wearing a torn and tattered leather armor, while having a perfectly matching old cloak flinging behind its back. Also, the short wooden stick that it always carried around was found in its hand.
“Master, rest assure, I’ll try my best to complete the task!” Snorlax bowed respectfully before jumping off from the Demon Alligator. It moved its short legs and strode into the depths of the forest.
Though the demonized forest was a place filled with dangers, for a goblin who had mastered Invisibility and Camouflage, those low ranked demons could never threaten its life. Also, with Mary protecting it in the dark, even if some demons had discovered Snorlax, they would be ‘lucky’ enough to have gotten themselves killed.
When both peers disappeared, only then had Greem dispersed the Demon Alligator Hunter and freed up two Spirit points used to summon it. For the upcoming battle, he needed his most powerful combative force, thus every single Spirit point was extremely precious and couldn’t afford to waste any of them.
After adjusting and calmed down his Spirit, without any hesitation, Greem summoned the Lightning Giant and a Rock Snake. It took seven Spirit points to maintain the existence of the Lightning Giant, while Rock Snake occupies three Spirit points. Currently, Greem’s Spirit had reached 13.25 (including the +1 effect from the Circlet of Nobility), if he was pushed to his limit, he could summon another Rock Snake or a Water Elemental.
This was the strongest battle group Greem could achieve after pushing himself to the limit.
Nevertheless, considering the surrounding environment in this place wasn’t suitable to let out his latest golem, the Water Elemental, to unleash its strongest combative strength, Greem preferred the former option.
Age of Adepts c1-1513 Page 67