Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  The witcher-knights had no hope of organizing into a proper formation with these three human-shaped slaughter machines before them. They were tossed and scattered about like loose sand. Meanwhile, the swarm of vampire knights had found an opportunity to kill more enemies. They formed a second line of defense, along with Acteon’s carcass beetles, continuously exterminating the witcher-knights that sprinted forward recklessly.

  Don't judge the body refining adepts by their muscular and barbaric appearance. They were as sly and crafty as any other adept. The moment they met a radiant knight they couldn't deal with, they would instantly retreat back towards the gates. Then it would be the adepts' turn to bombard the knights with a furious storm of spells.

  Radiant Knights might be a whole grade higher than the lot of them, but even they had to avoid the rain of spells. Their bodies and armor could only endure elementium damage below 100 points.

  Once all these spells stacked together, the damage they could wreak was extremely shocking!

  In this world, the only ones that could endure a bombardment from a dozen First Grade adepts, and make it through to slaughter them, were probably those Third Grade dragon knights. In comparison, the Second Grade radiant knights were still incapable of doing this.

  As the three Third Grade dragon knights stepped onto the battlefield, the situation quickly took a turn for the worse. The gates were now at risk.

  The tower gates weren't very large. Their width of five meters might be enough for three or four witcher-knights to charge forward simultaneously, but it was only enough for a single dragon.

  As a result, the battle quickly intensified when a dragon and a man appeared before the gates.

  The Second Grade Green Dragon Ysondre shattered the barrier in front of the gate with a single green breath, and Third Grade Dragon Knight Jefferson walked in with firm steps.

  The first to charge at him was Kiel.

  He had obviously activated some sort of special magic, allowing him to temporarily transform into a three-meter tall giant. Unique black armor appeared around his almost naked body, with a terrifying horn on the spaulders.

  Kiel moved forward with brutally heavy steps that sent tremors across the ground. He bent his body and ran towards Jefferson. Behind him, countless magic halos were falling towards the dragon knight like an unending rain. Most of these were single-target spells, with the occasional crowd control magic.

  Dong! A muffled boom rang out.

  The horn on Kiel's shoulder had clashed with Jefferson's longsword. The violent energy ripples caused terrifying creases to appear in the surrounding space.

  Jefferson stood still on the spot, not taking even a single step backwards. Kiel, on the other hand, was like a ball that had just been smacked hard, flipping about as he flew across the room. For one moment, no one knew how badly wounded he was. The adepts could only see that there were large pools of blood left everywhere he went, along with pieces of shattered armor.

  Kiel's body was still tumbling in the air when two green magic halos sunk into his body, greatly easing the injuries he had. Three more supporting magic halos flashed, and his physical body was reinforced once more.

  Kiel was able to stand up right as he landed, and he began to down bottle after bottle of healing potions. Sadly, as a body refining adept, his resistance to potions had also increased exponentially. Even if he drank a gallon of potions that had once been effective in the past, the effect was still insignificant.

  That said, insignificant help was still better than none. Kiel could only drink as much potion as he could in order to recover from his wounds.

  As Kiel was trying his best to recover, the second body-refining adept Munro had charged forward!

  Once again, he was defeated in a single blow!

  First Grade Body-Refining Adepts were still too frail when pit against a Third Grade dragon knight. If it hadn't been the massive enhancements to their bodies that shortened the gap in power, just that brief contact with the knight might have caused them to die.

  The spells continued to fall on Jefferson's body like rain.

  They turned into bloodsucking vines that grew rapidly and binding him to the spot, or turned into strange clouds of mist, crackling as they corroded the forcefield of life around him. Some were even terrifying elementium spells that engulfed everything nearby in a savage elementium tide…

  Yet all of this could not stop the dragon knight’s advance.

  The bloodsucking vines were like spiderwebs caught in a wheel. As Jefferson walked forward, the thick and ghastly vines snapped in pieces, sending green sap flying everywhere. The poison mist and elementium spells might be immensely powerful, but they were unable to quickly wear away the thin layer of life forcefield around him.

  This life forcefield formed, from the merging of runic and life energies, might be intangible, but it most definitely existed. It had powerful defense that vastly outclassed the elementium barriers the adepts used. Be it elementium spells, curses, illusions, or soul spells, none of them were able to break through this life forcefield and damage the knight’s body.

  The only way to stop the dragon knight's advance was to engage in a frontal physical assault.

  Even though every adept that charged at Dragon Knight Jefferson was immediately knocked away, they could only continue to do their best to slow his advance.

  After the three body-refining adepts had become casualties at Jefferson’s hands, it was the bloodline adepts' turn.

  Once they turned into magical creatures themselves, they also possessed powerful physical strength. The only difference was that they had not learned many melee battle techniques like the body refining adepts did.

  Once Hyde with his robotic body of tentacles and Mary with her crimson shadows had been severely wounded, the only ones left were the Esoteric Adepts.

  However, when compared to the trash-like stone golems and earth elementium that crumbled in a single hit, the strange, massive shape formed by Acteon's carcass beetles exhibited surprising strength.

  The carcass beetles' tough shells, along with their odd ability to share damage amongst themselves, allowed them to constantly scatter and reassemble, weaving about the Third Grade dragon knight and buying the adepts a lot of time.

  However, Jefferson soon ran out of patience. With a single ferocious Inferno Whirlwind Slash, he suddenly turned into a storm of slicing blades, and disaster fell upon Acteon's swarm of bugs.

  Chapter 230

  The brutal battle was still ongoing.

  The powerful Dragon Knight Jefferson was finally pushed back by the adepts.

  The severe injuries inflicted on every one of them was the price they had to pay in exchange. Even Second Grade Adept Fügen was no exception.

  With the adepts’ help, Fügen was finally able to find a chance to wound his opponent with an explosion of his ice crystals, forcing the knight out of the tower. But when yet another dragon knight walked steadily into the gates of the tower, everyone despaired!

  Goddammit!

  The adepts had lost their will to hang on and were starting to consider their escape plans. Just then, the entire war tower suddenly shook.

  Complicated and intricate magical patterns and runes simultaneously appeared all over the walls, floors, and ceiling of the hall. A long awaited elementium aura surged forth, putting the adepts at ease. It was almost as if… as if they had suddenly returned to the World of Adepts!

  Had the war tower been activated?!

  Expressions of surprise and joy appeared on the adepts' faces.

  A translucent dome of light radiating a rich elementium aura shielded the gates of the tower, trapping the shocked Dragon Knight Kalyk within the tower. A savage green dragon was furiously tackling and tearing at the dome of light from outside. Sadly, all of his attacks were futile.

  Its sharp dragon claws and corrosive breath could not do anything to that thin dome!

  Kalyk's heart was filled with fear. He turned around and slashed at the dome
with all his strength. He stopped his pointless actions after realizing it was all a waste of time. Instead he turned and glared at the weakened adepts.

  "Little fellows, this is your misfortune!" The expression on Kalyk's face became unusually wicked, "Since I can't get out, I guess it's time for you to die! Cry! Scream! Then you can go to your deaths… "

  The adepts did not appear to be afraid at all, even in the face of Kalyk's threat. Rather, a strange smile appeared on all of their faces. Kalyk could no longer bear the strange atmosphere in the hall. He was about to step forward and start his slaughter when a soft and wicked voice rang out.

  "Cry? Scream? Those sound like what you are about to do right now! Little bug of an inferior plane, don't act arrogant because you have dragons backing you. Now I, Lord Violeteye, will face you!"

  As the voice rang out, a mysterious adept in a purple rope appeared in a corner of the hall. Strange purple eyes were everywhere on his body, coldly staring at the Third Grade Dragon Knight Kalyk.

  A Third Grade Adept!

  The mental flux radiating from his body was one that truly belonged to a Third Grade being. This… this was a Third Grade adept!

  The adept’s appearance caused Kalyk to feel an indescribable discomfort. It was as if intangible shackles had cropped up and chained him. Even breathing became difficult. Moreover, a ferocious aura emanated from his body like a violent tide, continually dissipating under the restraint of these intangible shackles. Every single one of his actions now felt feeble and weak.

  Dammit, what is this?

  Kalyk was no longer able to hide the shock on his face. His eyes started to dart about the room, looking about for the source for his weakening. However, the very next second, the Third Grade adept before him had completed a terrifying bloodline transformation. With a twist of his body, he had turned into a monstrous seven-meter tall purple-eyed giant.

  Its massive and bloated body. Its indigo-coloured skin. Its ferocious and wicked appearance… yet its most eye-catching feature was still the purple eyes spread across its entire body.

  As the Evil-Eyed Giant charged towards Dragon Knight Kalyk with a thunderous bellow, Adept Fügen rushed up to the second floor of the tower. The other adepts quickly recovered from the magnificent sight before them and rapidly left the hall.

  This was a battle between Third Grade powerhouses!

  With their powers being as weak as they were, this group of First Grade adepts didn't even have the chance to observe the two battle. Participating in the fight was out of the question. Even the shockwaves from the fight would easily crush the adepts. The adepts quickly followed after Fügen and ran.

  The adepts felt greatly at home when they ran through the crude stone tunnels, like a sort of coziness from having returned to their source plane. Even though they had managed to get used to the planar laws here in the knights' plane, it was only 'getting used to'. It was much different compared to actually assimilating with the planar laws here.

  Thus, when the familiar aura of their homeworld appeared in the adept tower, these First Grade adepts who had just formed their core of laws were the ones who were most sensitive to its effects.

  The core of laws was both an enhancement and evolution for them, as well as an indirect form of restriction. Without the core of laws, they wouldn't be able to easily command the planar laws of the World of Adepts. Moreover, the improvement of their powers from then onwards only required them to continuously strengthen their core of laws. All they needed to do was strengthen the connection between their soul’s consciousness and the planar consciousness and help the two to assimilate further.

  That said, it was precisely the core of laws’ existence that placed a powerful brand on their bodies and within their soul’s consciousness. A soul brand from the World of Adepts.

  Regardless of how many planes they conquered, or how many worlds they had travelled to, or even the location they were at within the multiverse, their bodies, minds, and souls would always belong to that great World of Adepts!

  This was determined from the day they were born in the World of Adepts!

  It was only when they were in the World of Adepts that their souls, bodies, and minds could truly be liberated. Only in the World of Adepts could their soul be at peace and serene. If the World of Adepts ever faced a catastrophe, the adepts relying on the world would also find their paths forward shattered. Progress would be difficult.

  This was the fundamental reason for the existence of the adept faction!

  Adepts were always evil and selfish. They worshipped the accumulation of knowledge and resources, but preferred to use their intelligence and vast knowledge to defeat enemies. When adepts became sufficiently powerful, they would have the ability to leave the plane and survive and grow independently.

  Yet no matter how powerful they became, the World of Adepts would always be their roots. It would always be where the source of their souls were. As such, the powerful adepts that had extended their reach to numerous worlds formed a loose faction of adepts to fight and resist the invasion of other powerful races and planes in the multiverse, in order to protect their roots and their home.

  Greem and the others had all advanced to First Grade adepts in the World of Adepts. They were chained the moment they formed a core of laws within their spiritual consciousness’ space. Their soul consciousness had already been bound together to the World of Adepts’ planar consciousness. Be it fortune or failure, their fates were bound together!

  Thus, even the breaths of the adepts became smoother when they were suddenly basked in the World of Adepts’ aura. One could see with the naked eye countless elementium particles spreading out across the tower from the stone walls. Particles of all colors gathered around the walls, making it look like they had all put on radiant and colorful clothing.

  Greem was a fire elementium adept so the particles surrounding him were all rich fire elementium particles. As he inhaled the surging fire elementium, Greem could feel an incomparable sense of comfort spread throughout his body and mind. It was like every single pore of his body was desperately taking in these long-awaited particles.

  This was just a vague feeling he had, but in his mind, the chip was able to give him the most objective data report on what was happening.

  "Beep, environment monitor report. Fire elementium density quickly rising…

  “11%…

  “12%…

  “13%…

  “…"

  The adepts had long gotten used to the cruel and limiting environment of this small, elementium-sparse plane. Now that this world’s planar chains had suddenly been severed, all of the adepts were overjoyed. In the depths of their hearts, the sense of approval and belonging they had for the World of Adepts was quickly becoming stronger.

  They were only guests in this world. Their roots still belonged to the World of Adepts!

  At this one moment, almost all of the adepts were thinking something similar.

  Violent and turbulent explosions rang out from the other end of the long corridor. Even the tower started to shake slightly. This had to do with the massive battle on the first floor, but was also caused by the ferocious attacks of the witcher-knights outside the tower.

  This war tower was a crude and simplified version, after all. Its defense could not be compared to a proper tower. Thus, the adepts could not allow the ants outside to so freely continue their attacks.

  "My companions, the war tower has been activated!" Adept Fügen raised his arms and yelled loudly, "Now get back to your own positions, and we will let those ignorant native reptiles know our power!"

  As Fügen gave an impassioned declaration of war, the sound of the chip rang out in Greem's mind.

  "Detecting mental connection request. Requesting instructions from host. Connect?"

  "Connect!"

  Greem had just given his order to the chip when that uniquely cool and chilly mental flux belonging to Fügen sent a set of coordinates to him.

  The adepts
present didn't say any more. All of them ran to their positions.

  Greem's battle position was in a hidden magic room on the third floor.

  The inside was heartbreakingly crude and simple. With the exception of a mysterious array in the middle of the room, there was absolutely nothing else in here. No decorations or furniture at all. Several magical arrays flowing with powerful elementium energies were exposed on the tough walls of the room. Just looking from here, Greem could see the energy circuits, the energy nodes, the runic arrays, the converter arrays… all of these things, both familiar and unfamiliar, were exposed to him.

  If this was an actual adepts' tower, all of these arrays would be hidden behind a wall. Why would they ever be exposed without any protection? Greem could be sure that even a single simple fireball to the wall would be enough to cause a massive flaw to open up in the tower's defensive system.

  Just from this, one could infer how much of a rush the adepts constructing the tower had been in!

  The simple array before Greem was no problem for him, even though it had only been awhile since he became an adept.

  Greem stepped into the array and stood in the magic circle at the very center. A stiff, robotic voice with a strange accent spoke in his mind.

  "Welcome, Adept Greem! You have been given access to this array. You may now control this offensive array. Activate array now?" This was the voice of the spirit of this war tower. However, it seemed that it was still in its most crude and primitive stage of intelligence, which was why the offensive arrays required actual adepts to function. Without the adepts, the arrays would not be able to function at their fullest capacity.

  "Activate!"

  With Greem’s words, a whole new scene of the battlefield slowly appeared before his eyes.

  Chapter 231

  The entire room disappeared from Greem's vision when he activated the array.