The color of the flame outside of its body was bright red, yet the flame inside of its body was pure white. One could even see a shade of gold at the core of it. It had a pair of gigantic palms made from condensed lava. Ferociously high temperature flares and flame were emanating from their cracks, making them into a pair of deadly palms covered in violent flame.
The space within the flaming cage wasn’t big. It was surrounded by flaming fire pillars that no one could get close to and there was a Fire Lord who crazily punched and attacked the enemy. From time to time, it would raise both hands high up in the air and unleash an AoE Fire Core Explosion or Firestorm.
A combination like this instantly drove Alice to desperation.
Alice kept teleporting herself crazily and running for her life within the confined space of the cage while trying her best to search for the weak point of this isolated space. But it was a pity that the ominous environment didn’t allow her to halt even a brief second, hence she wasn’t able to focus her attack at the constantly moving weak point. Instead, the dreadfully high temperature and the flame that filled every inch of the space had worn away at her Protection Barrier, making it as thin as a piece of paper.
The Spatial Cut she unleashed did slice through some of the lava rock pillars and shattered them, causing flame and sparks to leap everywhere. But too bad, following the circulation of a red glow on the lava pillars, all damage done to them was instantly repaired. As for attacking the Fire Lord directly, Alice had also tried that, yet all of her hard efforts had yielded no result.
After all, Fire Lord was a real Adept level golem and it had cost Greem 18 points of Spirit to summon. If the Flame Body hadn’t been able to reduce the cost of all Fire element magic spell to half, it would have been impossible for him to deploy it and Lightning Giant at the same time.
Nevertheless, the debut of such formidable golem always meant catastrophe. With Alice’s current overall strength, she could only flee at the mere sight of the oncoming attack and there was no possibility that she could fight it head to head. If the flaming cage hadn’t existed, with just a teleportation, Alice could have always escaped from the attack range of the Fire Lord. Then she could have just fled without turning back.
But now…
What would be the consequences when a person was placed in a cage together with a fierce lion?
No matter how crazily Alice dodged, the flame in the air still burned through her Protection Barrier. Her dress was kindle, her long hair started to curl up, and one after another blisters started to appear on her delicate skin… Wherever she went she would be greeted with flame; the air was filled with scorching hot flares and everywhere had a deadly high temperature. Where could she run?
Even under such a miserable and tragic situation, even if Alice’s voice turned hoarse as a result of constantly letting out pained shrieks, and even if her face was washed with tears, she still clenched her jaw tightly and didn’t want to bow her head and admit defeat to her damn enemy!
If she was defeated once again today, she would rather be killed instantly in this place, a place that brought her despair!
Finally, the fire poison that existed in every inch of the air invaded her body, turning her feet heavy so that she could barely move and her vision started to sway and blurr. Eventually, through her tear-filled vision, the last image she saw was the frighteningly gigantic hand of the Fire Lord grabbing toward her and filling up her entire line of sight.
Losing all her strength, Alice relaxed her tensed mind and her consciousness immediately sank into a vast darkness.
…………
She had no idea how long she had lost consciousness for.
When a stream of pure and sweet water flowed into her dried and cracked mouth, Alice finally regained her conscious.
She choked on the water and kept coughing, yet she still swallowed, in her mind, the most refreshing and sweet dew, with big gulps. When her belly was bloated and could no longer swallow anymore, only then did she stop this nearly insane behavior.
She was in a simple and neat apprentice’s residence. She couldn’t find a magnificent and comfortable bed, no luxurious furniture, and no glittering magical crystal lamps. The only thing she saw was a simple wooden bed, a wooden table, a chair, and some experimental equipment, like jars and bottles that were commonly seen among apprentices.
In front of the bed stood a man holding a water-skin and staring at her silently. Of course, the man was none other than the man she hated with gnashing teeth, Greem.
Right at this moment, Alice finally realized that she was completely naked!
Her princess dress had been badly burned, it had become rubbish not better than a pile of ashes, and all her magical equipment was placed on top of the wooden table. As for herself, she was now stripped naked and all of her various burn wounds of all sizes had been covered with a thick layer of pungent black medicinal paste.
Originally, her body had been covered with a thin sheet, but following her sudden movements of sitting up and drinking water, the blanket had slipped off, exposing her delicate, budding body.
Alice was twenty-six years old this year, but her body had been locked forever at the stage she had been at when she was seven years old, the moment she had awakened her innate spatial talent!
There was no screaming, no bursting into tears; Alice just kept staring at Greem’s face, emotionless. She didn’t even pull up the blanket to cover her naked body.
“Why can you control an Adept level element golem?” She asked with a hollow and faint voice, as if she was a puppet who had no soul.
There was no need for her to verify the fact she had been defeated by the rascal in front of her, she could feel it vividly. Because… because the magical contract she had personally drafted was currently tightly tying her to this rascal. She was now a possession of this guy!
Hmph. You didn’t kill me because you don’t want to lose a precious fighter, eh? Also, I suppose you don’t want to offend those frightening Northern Witches! Alice thought pensively. At this moment, her thoughts and mind had become unprecedentedly clear and incisive. Looking back at what she had done during this period, she looked at an arrogant girl who was courting for her own death, a fool who ran further into the path of her own peril.
Since when had she become so stupid? Damn it, I pushed myself to a dead end!
From the moment she had been defeated, it was like Alice had changed into someone else. She had become totally different from the crazy, extreme, and treacherous little loli in the past.
Starting from the moment she had woken up, Alice had begun to walk on the dark path of self-salvation.
Alice’s eyes stared straight into Greem’s pupils, which were black with shades of dark red. She didn’t find any lust in them. When she looked out of the corner of her eyes, she didn’t find any trace of that female vampire.
What is this? Stripped me naked and personally applied medicine on me? Is he trying to soften my grudge and pull me into his camp? If he really wanted me to serve him, why didn’t he ask that Mary to apply medicine? Isn’t that a better way to win my heart?
Could it be… could it be he had an improper desire for the body of a loli?
Chapter 143
Right as Alice was staring expressionlessly at Greem, her mind filled with various fancies and conjectures, a green-skinned goblin suddenly poked its head from behind the man, throwing a puzzled and alert glance over at her.
“Alright, Snorlax, this is the Alice I told you about. From today onwards, she will be an exclusive servant-girl for me. Your task is to teach her the proper manner of a servant-girl, I hope I can see her carrying her duty as soon as possible. Now, bring her with you!”
What he said was like a sudden thunderbolt out of a clear sky that struck right into Alice’s mind and caused her to feel giddy, as sparks flew before her eyes. Was this guy serious? He really planned to make a Pseudo-Adept who possessed a rare innate talent of spatial his servant-girl?
A
moment ago, Alice had tried her best to keep a calm exterior, yet her face was blushing right now, as she fiercely gazed at this bumptious… master.
“What’s wrong? Do you have any opinions of your own, Alice?” The smile on Greem’s face becoming weirder and weirder. “Before we agreed to our bet, you had said it clearly that you’ll make me your master. So, don’t tell me you can’t even carry out the duties of a servant-girl?”
“You… fine…” Alice spewed out a few words from her tightly clenched teeth, furiously pulling the blanket and covering her body, before stepping down from the bed.
When her feet touched the floor, Alice felt a severe pain coming from every part of her body. This had made her lose her balance and stagger her steps, nearly falling to the ground. However, though she was a little loli with the pretty face of an angel, Greem wasn’t moved a tiny bit at all and didn’t show any signs that he was going to stretch his arms out and help her stabilize herself.
After all, Alice was a Pseudo-Adept who took the element path, thus her Physique was far weaker than that of Greem, who had his body transformed into Elementium. So far, Alice’s Physique hadn’t reached more than 10, and this had even caused her ability of body recovery to be inferior than those of Advanced Apprentices who had a high Physique.
Gnashing her teeth and holding the severe pain, Alice left Greem’s residence, and came to Snorlax’s room located next to Greem’s.
Upon entering Snorlax’s room, all her expressions of pain, resentment, and mortification immediately disappeared from her face. They were replaced by the same old arrogant and overbearing look. Even her frail and weak appearance was gone, as if the injuries and pain all over her body couldn’t even affect her a tiny bit.
“I need some better healing medicines and Asun Water which can remove scars. Also, I’m hungry, get someone prepare me a set of mushroom trout fish rolls, golden roasted goose and Schiffman tea. Remember, the trout fish must be those devil trouts caught from the Abyss of Darkness, and can only have three whiskers below its jaw… also, the honey applied on the skin of golden roasted goose must be from the Snow Bee’s honey from the East Coast, in addition to that…”
As the true owner of the room, Snorlax had its mouth opened wider and wider. In the end, it was so angry that it simply jumped to its feet, waved its fists and let out a furious roar. “You’re dreaming! You wildly arrogant little human! This place is the territory of the great Snorlax, and you’re just a servant-girl newly recruited by the master! I came here before you, and you must…”
Snorlax hadn’t finished its lecturing, because Alice had ripped open a tiny spatial crack and kicked it inside.
Nearly ten minutes later, when Alice reopened the spatial crack and let Snorlax out, the robe clad on its body had turned ripped like those wore by street beggars, and its skin was covered with scratch marks as a result of being attacked by some sharp fangs and claws. From the other side of the spatial crack, one could even hear the savage howls of wolves.
Just looking at the wounds that were only found on the Snorlax’s back, Alice had instantly drawn a conclusion to its character. She casually dismissed the spatial crack and with a cold voice, she said, “Now you should know who the boss in this room is, eh? If the pack of Carnassial Tooth Wolves just now can’t satisfy you, I can always send you into the nest of Two-legged Flying Dragons!”
Though Carnassial Tooth Wolves could only be considered as Beginner Apprentice level demon beasts and didn’t possess formidable offensive strength, but for Snorlax, a goblin who didn’t own any offensive ability and could only escape by relying on a handful of disguising abilities, they were no doubt dreadful monsters. If thrown into the nest of Two-legged Flying Dragons, a type of demon beasts who had an incredible sense of smell, it would be impossible for it to make its return!
In next second, Snorlax simply went down on its knee, hugging Alice’s silky smooth legs and crying out loudly, “Boss! Boss! Boss! You’re the boss here… I’ll obey everything you tell me to in future…”
Alice gave it a kick in disgust, furrowed her brows and said, “Go now! Prepare me some clothes, foods, and healing medicines. When I’m having my meal later, I want you to tell me everything between you and that ras… that guy!”
The backlash coming from the magical contract imprinted in her soul made Alice halt for a brief second, she had no choice but to change the way she addressed that ‘rascal’ into ‘guy’, a rather neutral way of addressing him. If she didn’t do that, even if she was a Pseudo-Witch, she too couldn’t be immune from the severe pricking she felt at the depths of her soul.
Only the heaven or ghost might know why it happened. In order to have a better control over that ‘guy’, she specifically picked a magical contract with the best binding force from the private treasures of her granny. But now… she had actually trapped herself into this awful situation, and it simply made Alice feel frustrated and furious!
Only by gaining a better understanding of the enemy, could one defeat the enemy with the minimum cost!
Alice had made up her mind, from now onwards, she would never underestimate that hateful rasca… ouch… guy. She would take her time in patiently and meticulously understanding everything about that guy, after that… hmph, he better not has the wishful thinking of using a rubbish contract to confine a great… ouch, ouch! Pain, it was really painful!
As the loser of the bet, every word and action of Alice was restricted and bounded by the powerful magical contract. Once a disrespectful thought or intentions of hurting her ‘master’ arose in her mind, her soul would have to suffer from different degrees of backlash by the magical contract. If such backlash occurred too rapidly, it could cause a frightening and irreversible damage to her soul.
At that point in time, her future path as a Witch would have to come to a premature end!
…………
Unavoidably, the spiritual ripple happened on the other side of the contract had also affected Greem.
It had been less than fifteen minutes since that little girl left his residence, yet he had sensed seventeen strange ripples coming from the magical contract. Most of them were mere ripples of curses or disrespect, so Greem had simply handed over the executive right of the contract to the Chip, then he had just cut off the spiritual connection between him and the contract.
With the arrogance and wild pride of that little girl, if she wasn’t taught a hard lesson, she would never stop from continuing to do what she did. Therefore, the order Greem gave the Chip was to have a full feedback to all the spiritual ripples, any disrespectful thoughts would be punished through the contract, no delay was allowed, and no indulgence would be given as well.
Right when he finished settling that nasty little girl, a fragrant scent wafted from behind, before a warm, soft body cuddled onto his back.
“Greem, why don’t you hand me that Alice and let me teach her? I promise I’ll make her into an obedient servant-girl and guarantee it’ll be more effective than that magical contract.” The seductive and charming voice of Mary resounded beside his ears, it was even mixed in with a subtle nasal voice of moaning.
Aww, here came another one!
Greem nearly couldn’t hold onto himself and rubbed his forehead.
“Mary, let me give you a grave warning, you better give up the idea of turning Alice into your blood slave!” Greem said solemnly. “The true identity of Alice is still a mystery, but I’m certainly sure that she is connected with those witches from the North. Although you can have a strong binding force to those blood slaves created after you ’embrace’ them, but it doesn’t mean there is no weakness at all. As long as the source of the bloodlines is killed, which is you, your control over Alice’s soul would vanish. So, if this Alice does have a serious background, then you’re just asking to get killed!”
“I Understand, I understand! I’ll not be that silly and fight a girl with you. But…” Mary licked her red lips excitedly, continuing to say, “I don’t think it will be a big problem
if I suck a little bit of her blood?”
Greem sighed softly.
“Don’t tell me you can’t see it? This Alice must have just become a Pseudo-Adept, and she couldn’t wait any longer so she came straight to fight with me. She didn’t even nurse her body and Spirit to the best condition. If you suck her blood now, perhaps she would drop back to the level of Advanced Apprentice immediately. Don’t be silly, we need to cultivate her properly! Her abilities play a very vital role in my plans!”
“You just don’t let me suck anyone’s blood! Then how am I going to improve my overall strength? No way, I need to find a suitable apprentice mission, I have more freedom outside than I do in this place!” With Mary’s hot-temper, she meant what she said. She turned around and left Greem’s residence, rushing to the Mission Hall.
Greem sighed again, turned around and took out a magical spell book, placed it on the table and started to read it quietly.
…………
On the fifth floor of the Swampy Tower.
Inside of a dark and gruesome secret room, Anderson waved his hand and dispelled the magical mirror in front of him. A pondering and hesitant expression was on his face.
“Adept level element golem? How did that kid do it? In my memory, there is never an Apprentice Adept that could bypass the threshold and control an Adept level golem or magical beast. If anyone tried to do it by force, perhaps just the requirement of summoning would instantly draw all his Spirit to the last drop, turning him into an idiot who had all his brain power depleted. Yet, that kid had done it with ease! Maybe, I should find an Automata Master and get him to verify if there is anything special on his summoning cores?”
After pondering for some moments, Anderson waved his hands again in front of his face, revealing a mirror that showed him the image of another secret room.
It was a magical secret room that was nearly isolated from the outside world. Countless complicated runes and secret magical arrays were carved on the floor at the center of the room. They consisted of numerous strange symbols and characters which looked like tadpoles, and many of them were in the mysterious knowledge that never appeared in the outside world.
Age of Adepts c1-1513 Page 97