"Over there, Lady Sanazar!" Greem hadn't come along with his physical body. His form was a fire projection and had no offensive abilities whatsoever.
However, this didn't stop him from using his elementium sight to gain perfect control over the situation of the battle.
Pupupu.
Six acid arrows shot out consecutively, all of them aimed at the same corner of the ruins.
The concentrated acid instantly dyed the stone and rubble a green color. A thievish grey mouse peered out from within the cracks.
Its black eyes turned around humanly, and it quickly started running without another word.
"I have already locked on to your scent, and you still try to run? Stay!" Sanazar knew that this was the real form of the female illusionist when she saw this.
The Flying Venom Dragon roared and dove towards the ground.
Its massive body collided with the unstable remains of the castle, rupturing an enormous hole in the side of the ruined architecture. A terrible howl rang out from within the dust. All the smoke started to disperse.
The battle didn't last more than three seconds!
Soon, only pained cries of agony came from inside the cloud of dust.
The Flying Venom Dragon's massive body parted through the smoke and appeared before Greem. An old hag, her leg almost entirely bitten through, hung from Sanazar's devilish mouth. She was barely breathing.
A witch?
Greem couldn't help but narrow his eyes.
Chapter 315 Backlash
The enemy being a witch was outside of his expectations, but entirely within the bounds of reason!
Greem almost mistook the old witch for Witch Liana from the Castle in the Sky, with her crooked spine, old face, and muddy eyeballs.
After all, all the old witches seemed to look exactly this way!
So ugly it was hard to even look straight at them.
The pretty illusionist from earlier must have been a disguise of this old hag.
Who knew that it was such an ugly and evil hag that hid underneath that beautiful appearance. Greem couldn't help but be disgusted by the thought.
They had caught the culprit. What came next was Alice.
It was evident that the danger from earlier had caused her to go berserk.
Her eyes had rolled into her head, and she was still screaming in the sky. It seemed as if her Spirit was in a state of extreme chaos.
The spatial energy within the spacestone continuously released, with her as the medium. If they forcefully stopped the channeling process, Alice would have to endure the tremendous backlash from the spacestone. There was no way she could survive such a backlash with her power.
The spatial ripples were also a headache for Greem. He couldn't even get close this way!
The only thing he could do was close his eyes and focus. He tried to call on Alice through their soul contract. Perhaps because their mental connection had been disconnected for an extended period, the reconnection process was exceedingly slow as well. The link was choppy and unstable. It seemed the spatial ripples were also a huge obstacle to their mental communication.
"……Ma……ster……I feel…… awful……"
"You are safe now, Alice. Stop using the power within the spacestone!"
"……Master……I……really want……to……possess……such……power……”
"There's a proper process to accumulating strength and power. A power that you can manage is the only true power! Backlash is the only thing waiting for you if you try and climb all the way to the top in a single step!"
"I……understa……nd"
Silently, the spatial ripples weakened and disappeared.
Alice's body trembled in midair when the ripples finally vanished. Her thin frame started to descend like a withered leaf in autumn.
But a warm hand caught hers.
"Come, let us return!"
A brilliant magic array appeared in the air. Countless glowing runes surrounded the three of them. The white light grew even brighter until it was impossible to look at directly. A sharp explosion rang out, but the individuals had already disappeared from the ruins of the castle.
…………
Feidnan City, Adept's Tower.
In a hidden room on the tenth floor.
Dong. An explosion rang out. White light flashed, and Sanazar, Greem, and Alice appeared in the middle of the room.
The blinding white light slowly faded from the magic array at their feet. The spillover spatial energies crashed against the stone walls of the room, but the defensive arrays that surfaced quickly neutralized them.
A Teleportation Array was a necessary facility for all adept's towers, especially with the rigidity and power of runic knowledge in the World of Adepts. It wasn't all that hard to make one. The downside was its cost. Every usage of the array would cost at least a thousand magic crystals. The further the teleportation distance, the more exponential an increase in the crystal consumption. Very few adepts used it to travel.
Moreover, the authority over the controls of the Teleportation Array in an adept's tower remained in the hands of trusted adepts. First Grade adepts like Greem would never have a chance of coming into contact with it. If it weren't for Alice's unique situation that could provide the Sarubo Clan with yet another incredible adept, even Sanazar wouldn't have been in as much of a hurry to rush back by using the Teleportation Array.
"Bring her down to treat her condition. I will arrange an advancement ceremony as soon as possible." Sanazar raised the golden birdcage to her eye and laughed sinisterly, "Leave these two rodents with me! I'll be able to get something from their minds."
The shrunken hybrid dragon and the old hag had been knocked unconscious and were lying within the birdcage. All sorts of strange and mysterious runes circled their bodies.
Greem's fire projection bowed to Sanazar before leaving with Alice in his arms.
In his dwelling on the seventh floor.
The fire projection careful placed Alice on her bed before handing over the Decayer's core back to Greem. The projection then carefully merged with Greem himself.
The fire projection was an alternative way of using fire spells that Greem had managed to discover recently. It was thanks to the sizeable amount of golem knowledge from the Silver Union that he had been able to do so.
Sadly, the amount of energy that the fire projection could store was insufficient. It did not possess any combat ability like a golem, and could only serve as a weak fire clone of Greem himself. Still, some aspects of it were far superior to golems.
Golems were, truthfully speaking, elementium lifeforms imbued with certain traits of golems. They might have possessed instincts, but not complete intelligence. They had to listen to their summoner's orders and could not act on their own initiative.
The fire projection was more like Greem summoning a fire elementium and projecting part of his soul consciousness into the fire elementium. This spell allowed him to control it like he would a golem.
Sadly, once the initial fire projection formed, it would create a self-sustaining cycle that was shut off from the outside world. It would no longer be able to draw upon the energies of the outside world to replenish its powers. Thus, the fire energy generated during the summoning of the fire projection determined the length of time that it could last.
The chip's data demonstrated that consuming one point of Spirit during the summoning of a fire projection could maintain its existence for ten hours. Of course, this calculation did not include combat exhaustion. Greem's current Spirit was not precisely at seven points yet. If he used all of his powers, he could summon a clone that could replace him for up to three days.
Greem believed that the continuous development of the Fire Projection spell would eventually allow him to create a fire clone that was as powerful as himself. Then, he would be able to fight two against one and fully gain an advantage in any battle he was involved in!
Greem immediately started a full body check of Al
ice once he dissolved the fire projection. The results shocked him.
Alice's condition was very odd. It seemed like she was merging with the spacestone sealed in her body.
However, given the difference in their powers, the current situation didn't seem to be Alice actively merging with the spacestone; the spacestone was actively assimilating Alice into itself.
That was not a good thing!
If Alice's Spirit was powerful enough to control the spacestone, she could have easily been the one to guide and host this merging process. She would then have been able to turn the strange spatial powers of the spacestone to her use. However, Alice was apparently at a disadvantage in the merging right now. She was the spacestone's target of assimilation.
If this situation continued unchecked, the assimilated Alice would probably lose her independent will and turn into some kind of strange space creature.
"Chip, reflect the results of Alice's scan!" Greem frowned as he ordered.
"Beep, instructions received."
A soft beep rang in his mind, and a three-dimensional scan of Alice appeared in Greem's mind. Her abdomen was where the spacestone had been sealed. Strands and threads of foreign silver energy were spilling from that location and were quickly merging into Alice's bloodline.
"Chip, can you analyze the components and effects of this foreign energy?"
"Beep. Foreign energy composition: Active spatial material.
Effects are as analyzed:
Toughness: 217(Comparable substance: Underground Wrought Gold: 167)
Flexibility: 98(Comparable substance: Mithril: 139)
Magic Conduction Rate: 82%(Comparable substance: Mithril: 91%)
Attribute: Space (No comparable material)"
Greem silently read through the results of the analysis. He couldn't help but be surprised by the power of the spacestone. No wonder this unique treasure could hardly be found within planes. Only trace amounts of it existed in the depths of the boundless universe.
Disregarding everything else, just its ability to absorb and manipulate spatial powers was a unique trait that belonged to it alone. It was such an unfathomable trait.
What kind of power was spatial power?
Most adepts only had a vague understanding on this point. They just knew how to utilize it, but it was hard for them to organize and come up with a proper knowledge system on space. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so few space adepts in the World of Adepts. Only those with the affinity and talent could manipulate space.
If this spacestone had been in Greem's hands, there was nothing much he could do other than record a bunch of tiresome statistics than he didn't know what to do with. Only a person with spatial affinity like Alice could cause such a remarkable change to occur in the spacestone.
It was way too hard for Greem to judge whether this mutation was benign or malign with what knowledge he currently had. He thought for a bit longer and decided to wake Alice up first.
A rune glowing with a faint red light appeared in the air as Greem drew with his fingers. The rune slowly descended into Alice's head.
A short moment later, Alice's body started to move. Her eyes began to open.
"What happened to me?" Alice quickly got up from the bed and looked around the room in confusion.
"You accidentally absorbed the powers within the spacestone back in Wylick Castle. Now…" Greem caressed his chin as he tried to think of a way to explain the situation.
"What now? Is there a problem?" Alice closed her eyes to sense. She felt an indescribable power coursing through her body. She was getting more and more powerful with every passing moment, "My condition right now seems to be very good!"
Greem shook his head and helplessly said, "Don't get too excited. You should look at your stomach first!"
Alice lifted her head doubtfully. She assessed Greem's expression but couldn't find anything false about it. A sick feeling rose in her heart.
Rip.
She tore her robe apart. She looked down and cried out in shock.
Her stomach had become almost transparent!
Chapter 316 Alice's Choice
Alice trembled as she extended her hand towards her stomach.
It was almost as if there was a strange light source within it. Odd silver energy continuously flowed out from that part of her body. The silvery power seeped into her skin, flesh, bones, and tendons, dyeing every part of her body a silver-white.
Alice could see through her semi-translucent stomach. Her intestines and stomach were exposed to the naked eye. There was also the liver, the gallbladder, and several other organs she couldn't name. These internal organs also started to turn transparent under the effect of this mysterious energy. Even her blood vessels and the blood surrounding her body parts had begun to become translucent.
Alice's hand landed on her stomach. She trembled in shock.
Her hand went right into her stomach as if there was nothing there to stop it. She didn't feel anything.
Her skin, her stomach, her flesh; everything was visible to her eyes, but she couldn't touch them. It was like those parts of her body were in a different dimension from the rest of her body.
"I…what's happening to me?" Alice's face was flushed white. She turned and stammered a question at Greem.
"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that question?" Greem frowned, "After all, spatial energy is your area of proficiency."
Honestly, there was far too little reference knowledge when it came to time and space magic.
Greem could only tell that this was a backlash from Alice drawing upon the spacestone's power. However, it was hard for him to understand, describe, or explain the reasons and mechanisms behind the occurrence.
"What happens if this spatial energy completely pollutes me?" Alice quickly calmed down and asked the most pressing question.
"According to my evaluation, you would most likely be turned into a sort of space creature or spatial being!"
"Then we must stop this merging process. I'll use my spells to remove the spacestone now!"
"Don't be in too much of a hurry, Alice. I already checked your body for you earlier. Merging with the spacestone isn't necessarily a bad thing. With how much power you have accumulated, it would ordinarily take you another three to five years to advance to an adept. However, if you took proper advantage of this assimilation, you don't need to wait for that long! Advancement should happen soon!"
"Really?"
Alice immediately went from upset to excited after hearing Greem's words.
Alice was finally unable to tolerate the puny fragility and weakness of an apprentice after all that had happened in the past couple of weeks!
Adepts ruled this world. If Alice wanted to earn the necessary respect of those who roamed this world and protect her interests, she would have to advance to an adept.
It was foolish to assume how influential Alice might have been from her position and status among the apprentice adepts. She received envious looks from everyone wherever she went. However, as long as she had yet to advance to an adept, she would not be able to enjoy real freedom and liberty.
The massive difference in status between her and an adept was enough to cause her to stop breathing when she faced one. That was why there was no need to discuss dignity in a fight against an adept.
That was also why she so desperately wanted to advance to an adept!
"What do I need to do?" Alice's small face was agitated, but a passionate glow gleamed in her eyes.
"Adjust your physical condition." Greem thought for a moment, "Don't interrupt the assimilation process with the spacestone. Try to take hold and gain control over this power. I will arrange your advancement ceremony as soon as possible. When that happens, you will take advantage of this spatial power to complete your advancement to an adept."
"What about the side-effects of merging with the spacestone?"
"An insignificant issue. As long as you can advance to an adept, there are plenty of ways to make up for it r
etroactively!"
Alice gave it a little more thought before nodding in acknowledgment.
Greem left the room to Alice and went to a small lab he had built.
Many long tables and wooden boxes had been arranged in a row in the middle of the hall, along with several experiment platforms and a small alchemical platform.
Greem no longer needed to head to the alchemical lab to create his lower-grade golems. He could quickly craft them right here in his room. This arrangement prevented schemers and enemies from being able to see the process and secrets of his golem creation!
Greem walked to a stone platform and took off the black cloth covering it. A fifty-centimeter tall glass bottle laid before him. A mysterious blue solution filled the container. A pair of unique magical gemstones floated and bobbed about in the liquid.
These were a pair of amber-colored magical gemstones the size of an egg. Dirt-yellow clusters of energy circled around the center of the of the gems and looked just like the eyes of a peerless wild beast that had just been opened wide.
A numbing and paralyzing sensation would overwhelm the body even when looking through the solution and the container.
A substantial and oppressive force of earth energy weighed down on Greem.
The Eyes of Petrification!
These eyes were the most significant spoils that Greem gained from killing Sak.
Of course, Greem had also managed to discover some books and notes relating to bloodline evolutions in the opponent's storage ring. However, with the lack of a sample of the giant serpent bloodline, he had no means of investigating or researching it, despite his desire for the strength of a bloodline power. Greem was much like a skilled cook without the necessary ingredients right now.
These bloodlines were extremely important to the bloodline clans, and they kept a close guard on them. Any individuals that possessed bloodline powers were written down in the clan's records the moment they were discovered. It didn't matter whether these people died in an ordinary fashion or an accident. Their clan would always send people out to investigate and ensure that the clan's bloodline wasn't leaked to outsiders.
Age of Adepts c1-1513 Page 204