As both of them were exchanging glances and puzzled over the quietness surrounding this place, light and shadow suddenly flashed through their eyes and their heads started to feel dizzy. In just a brief moment, they actually reappeared back inside the fifth floor of the Swampy Tower. In front of them was an old man, clad in a black robe, who had a cold and arrogant expression.
“Both of you have made the breakthrough and become Adepts? Where is that Anderson?”
Though he didn’t say much, the terrifying pressure of a high-grade Adept instantly startled Greem and Mary, and Snorlax simply laid flat on its stomach on the floor, trembling violently without being able to stop.
He was a Second… Second Grade Adept!
Chapter 160
The three adepts stood silently by each other in the magic hall. With suspecting eyes, they assessed Greem and Mary, both of whom had been bound in place. In a corner of the hall, Alice, whose connection with Greem had been broken, was lying peacefully on the ground. It seemed like she was unconscious.
Greem only recognised the adept named Keoghan amongst the three people. Obviously, the other two were also adepts belonging to the Sarubo clan. In particular, every time Greem cast his vision on the elderly man in his black robe and grim expression, he felt a bone-chilling cold that seemed to freeze his vision, despite the man not radiating a particularly strong mental flux.
"Is Anderson dead? " The elderly man in the black robe asked coldly.
The other two adepts kept their mouths shut when he spoke, almost as if they didn't dare to speak.
Greem really wanted to give an answer to the question. But unsure of how the Sarubo adepts would deal with him, Greem didn't want to misspeak. So he only nodded silently.
"Fools will always be fools! A weakling like him that didn't even dare to go onto the battlefield was killed by the apprentice adepts he groomed himself. What a fool! " The elderly man turned to his side and ordered: "You, go and see what's left of that Anderson! "
Keoghan bowed and then left to carry out the order.
If the secret space had been destroyed, it would have been difficult to find it. But given that Greem had just melted a huge hole on the spatial barrier, it was easily found.
After a short moment, Keoghan returned with Anderson's corpse in his hands. To everyone's disgust, the broken body had been completely devoured and turned into a human skin sack. Countless black scorpions were crawling in and out of the body.
"What a thorough death! " The black-robed elderly said coldly: "It seems all his preparations benefitted the few of you instead! Good! Good! Good! Three adepts for a fool. This was not a loss! "
Greem lowered his head, hiding the shock in his eyes.
From the words of this Second Grade Adept, it wasn't hard to tell that the Sarubo clan knew of Anderson's every action, including the blood sacrifice ritual he had arranged in secret. If Anderson's plan had succeeded and he had advanced to a Second Grade Adept, then these people would be congratulating him and signing a new adept contract with him.
The cold reality reminded Greem of a horrifying truth. In the eyes of adepts, the lives of apprentice adepts were only a resource to be taken at any time. It didn't matter to all the adept families that the leaders of the major adept forces prohibited such happenings. As long as it increased the strength of the family, all they had to do was to be secretive about their actions.
If even the Sarubo clan had been expecting Anderson's success……how would they deal with him and Mary? Damn it! He should have thoroughly checked the secret space. The evil bug Acteon hadn't died! It seemed he had advanced to an adept using the remaining adept powers in Anderson's body!
Despite all the thoughts in his mind, Greem didn't waste any time sorting them out. He held his breath and waited for the Second Grade Adept's decision.
Adepts were precious assets of any clan. There was no possibility they were going to abandon or waste such resources. Killing them as revenge for Anderson was out of the question. Most possibly, they were going to face an adept contract way stricter than the usual agreement. This was all within the realm of Greem's expectations.
"Why are you still hiding? Come out and let me see who you are, to be able to devour Anderson so thoroughly! "
Countless scorpions surged out of Anderson's orifices in response to the cold commands of the Second Grade Adept, before reforming into the horrifying half-bug body that was Acteon.
Even the gloomy Acteon had to be cautious when put before a Second Grade Adept. He bowed and waited silently for the elderly's judgment.
Keoghan's cold eyes stopped for a moment on what was left of Anderson, then on Greem and the others, before turning to ask: "Sir Fügen, what should we do with them? "
"Hmph! What is there to consider? Throw them all into the plane battlefield once their contracts are signed. This was to be Anderson's job. And if Anderson is no longer around, then let the three of them do it. Live, and they can enjoy their status as an adept of the clan. Die, then that's just their luck. "
Upon hearing this, Greem and the others were relieved. But simultaneously, their hearts sank.
What's a plane battlefield? Why have they never heard of it? Was it really that dangerous there?
A bunch of questions surfaced in Greem's mind. Although Greem had organised and arranged most of the adept knowledge and mythology that an apprentice could access with the help of the chip, he still knew next to nothing about plane wars. Even in the books that touched on plane wars, there were only brief mentions with no detailed descriptions.
The fact that this is the case was most likely due to the adepts restricting information about them.
It seems all information about plane wars was not something ordinary apprentice adepts should have access to!
After Adept Anderson's actions, all the apprentice adepts will be eternally resting beneath the ground. The magic swamp resource site was completely crippled. Of the three adepts that came from the clan, with the exception of Second Grade Adept Sir Fügen and Adept Keoghan, the other adept was here to take over Anderson's tower.
This place would once again be populated in a couple of years with an official adept here to manage it. But Greem, Mary, and Acteon could only follow Sir Fügen back to the clan's outpost and wait there for the start of the plane war.
In the blink of an eye, Greem's 7 years in the magic swamp had now become a mere memory in the long journey of his life.
…………
Sarubo clan outpost, Feidnan City.
Greem walked through the crowded streets with a serious expression. Silently, he walked into an arcane shop.
This was a goblin shop that specialised in selling all sorts of odd alchemical items. Snorlax, the shop owner, was standing on a wooden bench, diligently promoting the amazing pieces of alchemical equipment he bought from a certain sly goblin merchant to three apprentice adepts. Two were girls and one was a guy.
Rocket boots that could instantly accelerate its owner forward (Note: Ensure there are no obstacles such as rocks or drains before activating)……
Alchemical bombs that could create terrifying noise disturbances (Note: Sometimes……only sometimes, it explodes for no real reason, so……)
A magic core than could create a dome-shaped energy shield (Note: Crack it once on the ground and the energy shield will activate. If you don't see a shield……please crack it a few more times!)
A goblin aircraft that can allow you free movement amongst the clouds (Of course, your direction and trajectory will be entirely "free" as well!)
Parachute capes for you to safely return to the ground (This seems like an accessory for the previous item. How else will you get back down once you are in the skies? Hmm, free fall seems like a good option!)
……
……
Greem frowned as he looked upon the assorted goblin alchemical equipment. All he felt was disdain for these toys, but he didn't speak.
These items were useless for him now, but for the
apprentice adepts that so lack means to save themselves, they were pretty decent options. Although the merchandise sold in this goblin shop might have some problems, they could save their lives in a pinch if they worked!
There hasn't been a single apprentice asking for a refund in the one month Snorlax started his business.
That is, of course, if they were still alive to ask for a refund!
The goblin Snorlax immediately abandoned the three apprentices when he saw Greem arriving. Immediately, he leaped off the bench and went to greet his master. The three apprentices were initially upset, but after seeing Greem's dark red adept robe, they offered their respects nervously and slowly left the goblin's shop.
They had long heard that the person behind this inconspicuous shop was a newly advanced adept, but this was the first time they saw him with their own eyes. The three held their breaths until they were a distance away before finally breathing.
"That adept was so handsome! He's so fit! He's an entire head taller than Hans……"
"Yes! Yes! Especially his long red hair and his face. He's so handsome! "
Listening to his two female companions loudly fangirling, the male apprentice couldn't help but complain: “You guys are way too bold. That's a real adept! Did you not listen to the senior apprentices? Never stare at a real adept when you meet one. If they take any offense, it's possible for them to punish you right there and then. Not to mention, you can't trust how adepts look. Even if they looked young, they may be a hundred-year-old old geezer underneath. "
One of the female apprentices pouted in disdain: "Hans, stop being jealous. This is Sir Greem. We've already asked around. He's a young adept that's not even 20. What's more, he advanced to an adept in some rural area you probably haven't even heard of. "
"Yea, I also heard! " The other female apprentice couldn't help but interrupt: "I heard he arrived at the clan with two other adepts. In particular, Adept Mary……is totally an idol for all us female apprentices. Not only is she really pretty, she's really strong as well. I heard she beat Sir Kiel shortly after she arrived. Sir Kiel's been an adept for several hundreds of years, you know! "
"What? She beat Sir Kiel? How is that possible……Sir Kiel is a Body Refining Adept famous throughout the clan……"
"Oh right, have any of you seen Sir Evil Bug? I heard he looks terrifying……"
The three chattered as they slowly walked away.
Chapter 161
At this instant, Greem and Snorlax were secretly conversing in a room behind the goblin's shop.
"Sir, these are the crystal cores and information you asked for. " Snorlax respectfully offered up a leather sack. The inside was filled with the things Greem needed. There was also a knowledge crystal inside the sack. This was information Greem specially requested to be collected.
Greem lifted the knowledge crystal and put it on his forehead. The chip's voice rang in his mind.
"Beep, detecting external data port. Requesting instructions from host. Allow data transfer? "
"Allow! "
"Beep, instruction received. Now beginning data transfer……"
A blue light flashed at the bottom of Greem's black pupils. In just several dozens of seconds, Greem had engraved all the contents of the knowledge crystal into his mind. The follow-up organisation and processing of the content was left to the chip.
Having dealt with the knowledge crystal, Greem opened the sack. All sorts of crystal cores of various attributes and grades were contained within. From the most common earth, wind, water and fire cores, to the rarer attributes such as dark, nature, poison and light, they were all there……The grade of the crystal cores also varied from Beginners to Pseudo-Adepts. Almost every single grade of crystal cores could be found inside.
Sadly, the only thing not within were Adept grade crystal cores.
Greem already expected this result. Not surprised, he did a quick count before putting them into his bag.
Apprentice grade golems were no longer as useful to him as before ever since he became a Flame Adept. However, in certain special occasions, these low level golems can still be extremely powerful. That is why Greem is slowly collecting the knowledge he needs, all while slowly crafting his army of golems.
His understanding of adepts when he was still an apprentice was way too narrow and simple. In his mind, pseudo-adepts were apprentice adepts whose Spirit had reached 20 points, and newly advanced adepts were only casters with 21 points in Spirit!
But now, after that risky and dangerous advancement, he was also an adept himself. Greem only felt the despairing difference between an adept and an apprentice now.
Becoming an adept was not just a simple increase of Spirit from 20 points to 21 points. It was a process of completely altering the nature of the spirit origin. Before his advancement, he had 20 points in Spirit. After the advancement, the Spirit points displayed for him had reduced drastically to 0.9 points.
This wasn't to say that his Spirits had reduced. Rather, it meant that the fundamental means of calculating status between an adept and apprentice was completely different. The character template and status of an apprentice was based on the bodily data of an average adult, and used that as a point of comparison for an apprentice's combat strength. But adepts, on the other hand, are pseudo-magical beings.
Magical beasts and monsters in nature would form a crystalline substance at the core of their bodies based on their inborn casting talents. This allows them to control the Elementium floating about around them with more ease. Adepts were in a way mimicking such a process, but with some clear distinctions.
The crystal cores were physical material objects that existed within the creatures. After killing them, they could be found inside their bodies. But an adept's consciousness core existed in a spiritual realm. The core was like a virtual, abstract form of the Elementium crystal cores.
Even if one managed to kill an adept, they could not obtain a crystal core. However, the consciousness core was something that definitely existed. All adepts relied on it to be able to control Elementium more quickly and with more ease.
If the standard of Spirit for newly advanced adepts was 1, the Greem right now still hadn't met it. His Spirit was only at 0.9! This had to do with the fact that he hadn't advanced through the usual advancement ceremony. Given enough time to let his volatile Spirits settle down, Greem would eventually reach this standard of 1.
Greem has repeatedly compared the difference between adepts and pseudo-adepts in the one month he's been in Feidnan City. If the limit for a pseudo-adept's Spirit was 20 points, 1 point of Spirit for an adept was about equal to 100 points of a pseudo-adept.
Putting aside factors such as spiritual intimidation, adept equipment, adept knowledge and casting techniques, this meant that a single adept would be a match for 5 pseudo-adepts in terms of Spirit strength. Without any limitations, an experienced adept could easily beat 7 to 8 pseudo-adepts.
Adepts will always be adepts!
You will only be nothing more than an inferior species in the eyes of adepts as long as you have yet to reach the rank of adept. Most adepts would carefully train and care for apprentices with potential out of the principle of protecting the source of adepts. But deep in their hearts, they would never consider the apprentices as their own kind or on the same level!
Having gotten what he wanted, Greem didn't stay at the shop for too long. Instead, he went all they way back to the Adept's tower at the northern outskirts of the city.
The Adept's tower of Feidnan city was unlike the simplified tower in the swamp. This was a true Adept's tower. The entire tower was 17 floors high. Each floor used a special method to expand the space within. The facilities within were also complete and advanced. This was a tower that was way better than the tower at the swamp.
Despite the quality of the Adept's tower, very few adepts lived in it.
Besides the Second Grade Sir Fügen, there were three other First Grade clan adepts. Greem could count all the times he had me
t another adept in his one month of stay because of how few of them there were.
All of these adepts had stubborn and bizarre personalities. If they weren't hiding in their labs performing dangerous experiments, they were out collecting necessary knowledge and resources. It was rare to see them walking around leisurely. Moreover, the Sarubo clan would start a plane war in half a year. Even experienced adepts were at risk of dying if they didn't make enough preparations.
Thus all of the clan's adepts were exceptionally busy!
Greem was no longer foreign to the concept of plane wars after this period of settling down and accumulation. From what he gathered, plane wars were an unavoidable choice for any Adept clan.
How do you let an Adept clan expand quickly? Plane wars!
How do you let an Adept clan fail quickly? Plane wars!
Plane wars were both a path to heaven and quick riches for adepts, but also a nightmare that could drag clans into the swamps of war.
A correct target and the successful invasion of another world. If these were done right, the mountains of rare resources and precious arcane knowledge of another plane would allow a weak Adept clan to quickly climb its way to the top. The clan could easily use the resources and knowledge transported back to train and cultivate more and better adepts.
The new adepts resulting from the resources of a plane war would then become the opportunity and possibility of starting a plane war on a bigger plane. Only through this can an Adept clan begin a beneficial and enviable cycle and gradually grow and strengthen.
But just as success lies in plane wars, so does failure.
If an Adept clan is trapped in a plane war, if large amounts of adepts died with nothing to show for it, then it would be a huge blow for even the greatest of clans. Falling into a cycle of sluggish development was the least of it. Should any opposing or opportunistic clans take the opportunity to invade, the entire Adept clan could face total annihilation.
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