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Age of Adepts c1-1513

Page 227

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼


  Matters between adepts were not something that mortals and inconsequential individuals like herself could interfere. If their actions angered the adepts, it would be a simple matter for the adepts to slaughter this camp of people.

  Three bright lights appeared in the sky while everyone was anxiously waiting for a conclusion. Three witches flew towards them on their flying brooms and stopped in the air above the camp.

  The old witch in the lead had sharp eyes. She detected the existence of the apprentice witch in an instant. She completely ignored the repeatedly bowing leader of the merchant group and directed her question at Naia.

  "Which clan are you from? What happened here earlier?"

  "My greetings, Lady Hakkar!" Naia bowed in respect and said, "I am Apprentice Witch Naia of Black Crow Cottage. Earlier… "

  Naia was a reasonably good oratorical talent. She described everything that had happened in a mere matter of sentences.

  The three witches nodded after hearing Naia's explanation.

  One of the younger middle-aged witches couldn't help but speak, "Sister Hakkar, let us go and check it out for ourselves!"

  "Mm! Let's go!" The leader, Hakkar, nodded in agreement before turning towards Naia and saying, "Since you've seen those two, come with us!"

  A strange black rope that was neither wood nor metal shot out from the end of the flying broom. The line tied itself around Naia and brought her along into the sky as the witches flew towards the battlefield.

  They flew past a stretch of forest with an uneven sparsity of trees. The further they went, the hotter the temperature of the air. The looked to their feet and saw several massive trees had fallen in the same direction. Burn marks remained on their trunks.

  A little further and they couldn't see any shred of evidence that indicated a tree had existed in the place.

  They had yet even to step foot on the actual battlefield, but already all sorts of scars and marks were scattered across the scorched earth beneath their feet. At the core of these burn marks was a one-meter-deep and two-meter wide crater. Liquid magma that had yet to solidify filled the crater. Spiderweb-like cracks had spread in every direction from these burn marks.

  The witches looked across the field under the night sky and found hundreds of these terrifying craters. They were spread all across the five hundred kilometer battlefield.

  The walked a little further and felt as if they had just stepped foot upon a world of magma and fire!

  There was no longer any dirt beneath their feet, only black and red magma. Some of it had hardened, while other places were still glowing red hot. Some had solidified into black rocks of various shapes, while only the surface had set in the others. The insides of such stones still contained viscous lava.

  A soft, gentle blue flame would erupt and burst into the air every time a layer of the magma broke apart to reveal the slowly flowing lava beneath it.

  The air here already couldn't be directly inhaled.

  A pungent odor of sulfur and smoke filled the air. The temperature had also reached a thousand degrees.

  The currents of cold and hot air at this temperature had utterly distorted their vision.

  Another hundred meters and they were right in the heart of the battlefield.

  Here, the roiling pools of magma and the slowly flowing lava were still very much active. It was almost as if a violent volcano had just erupted on the spot and ravaged the entire place.

  It was evident that no plant life could grow in this place anymore, even after the effects of the spells vanished entirely. The ferocious fire elementium had utterly changed the elementium balance of this place. It would probably take one or two months for nature to help this area recover.

  The two middle-aged witches looked at the shocking sight before them. They started to calculate and deduce the possible amount of damage that the adept could have caused with his spells, and their faces began to turn green as they got their answers.

  Witch Hakkar extended a black finger and drew a red rune in the air. A blinding light flashed in the night as the red rune disappeared. Instead, a semi-translucent wrinkled face appeared.

  It was a simple spell of Spirit Assembly. It had extracted what traces of spirituality the earth had and temporarily concentrated and assembled it into intelligent life. The witches would be able to get some simple answers through interacting with this spirit.

  "O respected Spirit of the Earth, I wish to know what transpired in this location." Witch Hakkar took out a yellow crystal from her pouch and tossed it into the mouth of the old and wrinkled face.

  Adepts. Battle. Death.

  A mental flux utterly different from those of humans reverberated in the forest. Even Hakkar, with all her knowledge, could barely understand some of the more familiar syllables.

  However, the crystal had done the job. A severely lacking and unstable image appeared in the air.

  In the image was a scarlet and onyx world of magma. A towering man of flame gripped a black panther in its hand. The giant breathed out a trace of translucent fire, which instantly blew the panther's head to pieces.

  Hakkar summoned a flash of black light and paused the image at that moment. The Spirit of the Earth also dissipated then.

  "How is it? Are you able to recognize anything?" Witch Hakkar asked.

  "Yes! It is enough!" A middle-aged witch nodded and said, "The black panther should be an adept known as Bill. He just arrived in the Northern Lands three days ago, after following the Dark Witches merchants here. A witch known as Amanda traveled with him. She has been confirmed as a candidate for the Witch of Fate."

  "Then the flame giant?" Hakkar stared at the mighty giant in the image.

  "He should be a fire adept known as Greem. He came here with the same merchant group as Bill and Amanda. One of the favorite candidates, Alice, travels with him!"

  "These damned outsiders! What do they take the Northern Lands for? How dare they do as they like in our lands! It seems it's time for us to find the time to teach them a lesson," Hakkar spat out curses and continued, "Have Naia confirm their faces."

  "Understood!"

  The middle-aged witch cast a spell, and a three-dimensional projection of two adepts appeared before Naia. It was Greem and Alice.

  "That's them. They were the ones who visited the camp," Naia nodded in confirmation.

  "Very well. It's good that we got some confirmation," A wicked smile appeared on Hakkar's wrinkled old face, "According to the instructions of the Witch Council, no outsiders are to intervene in the battles of the Witches of Fate. We can overlook Alice's and Amanda's actions. However, this Greem can't be let off easy."

  "You mean... "

  "List him as wanted! Immediately put out warrants for arrests once we get back to the city! Make sure to send the message to all the witch cities!" Hakkar's sharp voice rang out across the night sky, "Let him taste a little pain! How dare he murder someone in the Northern Witches' land!"

  …………

  Greem and Alice were already ten kilometers away when the witches sent out warrants for his arrest.

  "What happened? Didn't we agree not to expose the existence of the spider golem if possible? Why did you suddenly release it?" It appeared to be Greem's thick and clear voice.

  "You can't blame me for that! You should know that Amanda purchased a sealing stone from god-knows-where and sealed the Infernal Tyrant. You can't possibly expect me to expose the power of the spacestone, can you?" Alice defended herself resentfully.

  "A sealing stone? Bastards! These guys have started to prepare measures against you! It seems it's about time for us to prepare a couple more trump cards of our own!" Greem shook his head and sighed, "Remember, do not ever expose the existence of the spacestone, regardless of what happens. Otherwise, you will have no secrets left. With the personalities of those candidates, they will probably be able to find some specialized and targeted measure against you if you even use it once."

  "Then what if I'm truly in danger?"
<
br />   "Hmph! No such thing will happen. I will protect you!"

  "Then you didn't manage to protect me this time properly!"

  "An accident. It was only an accident! If it weren't for that annoying Doris, I would already have crushed that black panther. The battle wouldn't possibly have lasted that long!"

  "Fine, I'll believe you for now. Oh right, where are we going next?"

  "The apprentice witch gave us pretty detailed and complete information. Witch cottages, Spring of Fortune, obelisks; all these places seem to be quite interesting!"

  "Witch cottages. We must visit the witch cottages! I have a feeling that the witch cottage in the northeast will greatly benefit us. Let's go there!"

  "Sure, as you say. We will head there."

  Chapter 354 The Essence of the Adepts

  The witch that Alice wanted to visit lived in the northeast.

  It was right on the border between the territories of the Witches of Deceit and the Death Witches. Neither Greem nor Alice had any idea which side the person they were visiting belonged.

  It would be pleasant if the witch belonged to the Death Witches, but if she was a Witch of Deceit, then Greem had no choice but to start formulating an escape plan.

  That said, this was Alice's suggestion. Her intuition from fate wouldn't lead her to her death. As such, Greem chose to treat it as if they were visiting a Death Witch.

  The two rested beneath a tree for a moment and dealt with the spoils of war from the earlier fight.

  Bill had reverted from his panther form into his human form after death, turning into a headless male adept. It was thanks to Alice's reminder that Greem found a storage ring on Bill's right pinky toe.

  Even Greem couldn't help but smile when he saw the rewards within the ring.

  There was a magic crystal card worth five thousand magical crystals, and another card worth one thousand three hundred crystals.

  Four or five books and notes on magic. Most of the content was related to the dissection, removal, and transplantation of magical organs.

  One fire-dragon herb estimated to be worth two hundred magical crystals.

  A ghost talisman that dispelled debuffs once a day. Bill had probably prepared this as a precaution against Doris' spiritual attacks.

  A low-level sealing stone. It could forcefully banish a summoned being from the planar dimension if thrown at the target. Amanda had used this to deal with the Tyrant in the battle earlier. While a sealing stone of this level could only banish the Tyrant for no more than three minutes, it was still a handy tool against the 'unarmed' Alice.

  Four or five jars the size of human heads, filled with a strange liquid. All sorts of shriveled and discolored human organs were preserved within. The chip's analysis indicated that these were most likely to be Bill's original organs that he had taken out of his body.

  The rest of the items were bits and pieces of spell materials and daily necessities. They weren't worth much. It meant that not even a total of ten thousand crystals could be found even after scouring Bill's body. He was truly poor, despite being a strong adept that could rival veteran adepts.

  However, Greem went utterly speechless when he received further information from the chip.

  "Beep. One high-energy magic-infused heart has been discovered. Suspected to have been extracted from a Frostsaber Panther (Peak of First Grade). Estimated basic price is 2,600 magical crystals. Note: This magic-infused heart has already been transplanted once. Energy loss of 23% has been detected. The cost is estimated to fall by one-third if transplanted again.

  "Beep. Discovered one high-energy magic-infused gastric pouch. Suspected to have been extracted from a Devourer (First Grade). Estimated basic price is 1,400 magical crystals.

  "Beep. Discovered one high-energy magic-infused poison gland. Suspected to have been extracted from a wyvern (First Grade). Estimated basic price is 1,100 magical crystals.

  "Beep. Discovered one high-energy magic-infused liver. Suspected to have been extracted from an Earth Mauler (First Grade). Estimated basic price is one thousand and seven hundred magical crystals……"

  "Beep. As the host has died, all magical organs are estimated to start deteriorating within three hours. This process cannot be reversed. It is recommended that the host extracts the organs and preserves them as soon as possible to maximize potential profit."

  Several notifications rang out in Greem's mind consecutively. He couldn't help but frown.

  If this were a magical creature in front of him, he would have dissected it into pieces without any hesitation. After all, he was one of those adepts who only thought in rational and practical terms. But now.

  The corner of Greem's mouth twitched when he saw Bill's pale corpse. In the end, he shook his head and gave up on the idea.

  Adepts were adepts after all. They were not creatures for Greem to butcher. Even though he had killed him due to the difference in their standpoints, he didn't have it in him to butcher the corpse as he would a wild beast.

  That said, while mutilating the corpse was impossible for Greem, it wasn't all that objectionable to examine the technique used in the transplantation of the magical organs.

  Greem immediately started scanning Bill's entire body with the chip.

  This time, without any external energy fields to interrupt him, Greem was able to complete his scan without a hitch. The entire process had yielded extremely detailed results. Almost every secret kept in this corpse was laid bare before him in his mind.

  Honestly, Greem utterly despised Bill's 'ideals' of indiscriminate acceptance.

  According to the chip's scans, Bill's original talents were for wind elementium. However, the magical heart he had transplanted came from the Frostsaber Panther, a creature of ice attribute. This organ barely complemented his innate wind talent. Even worse still, the gastric pouch he had transplanted had originated from the Devourer, a creature with only earth for its attribute. Earth had absolutely nothing to do with wind elementium.

  The wyvern's poison gland and the Earth Mauler's liver also clearly went against his innate talents. A patchwork body fitted together like this couldn't possibly produce any outstanding effects. In fact, just the neutralization of all the clashing attributes would take up large amounts of his time and efforts.

  Energy loss and organs weakening became unavoidable!

  It was only now that Greem understood why Bill kept so many organ reconciling agents in his storage tool. This fellow had never solved the issue of the tension between his organs. Instead, he had been forcefully maintaining his condition through the use of potions.

  Bloody hell! The path of bloodline modification was a harsh path to tread upon, just as he had expected! A slight mishap and you could turn yourself into a monster that was neither human nor beast!

  A large cluster of elementium flames ignited in his palm once he completed the inspection. He pressed it onto Bill's headless body. The fire grew in size and ferocity in the very next instant, immediately swallowing and devouring the body in a blaze of heat and smoke!

  "Whoa, what are you doing? Don't you find that a massive waste?" Alice couldn't help but speak, "This body is still worth a lot. There are so many good things inside."

  "Alice," Greem shook his head at her, "Remember, adepts are adepts, not magical creatures. Skinning them, devouring their bones, and drinking their blood might make us stronger. But can we still call ourselves adepts if we did that? Then what difference is there between the wise adepts and the mindless beasts that only know how to slaughter and feast to empower themselves?"

  "There wasn't a difference in the first place!" Alice pouted and said, "Isn't the ultimate goal of those bloodline adepts to turn into true and powerful magical beasts? To match their minds, behaviors, and their habits with those ancient monsters?!"

  Greem threw the question back at her, "Then according to what you just said, what is a bloodline adept once they walk their path to completion. Will it be a powerful adept that stands before us or a powerful magi
cal creature?"

  "Of course it has to be a magical creature!"

  "Then what is the meaning behind our pursuit and continuation of the legacy of adepts? If all the powerful adepts turned into magical beasts, what is the source of all adepts? Did we come from humanity, or from magical creatures?"

  Alice tilted her head as she thought. She fell into complete silence.

  All the adepts she had come into contact with throughout her life had been individuals that put their personal benefit first as the utmost priority. The witches were slightly better. Their willingness to cooperate was far greater than the adepts of other clans and organizations.

  But even the witches behaved more like wolves with assignments and duties of their own within an organized pack. Cooperation's only purpose was to form a stronger power to obtain even more resources.

  If we were to get into it, bloodline adepts honestly didn't seem to be the essence of adepts. Instead, it was the elementium adepts who could claim that title.

  Of the three existing Ninth Grade adepts, one was the founder of the Northern Witches. Salem, who bears the crown of Witch Queen, Monarch of the Witches and leader of the Ancient Witches. The other was Ignaz, first President of the Adept's Association, who had mastered the Laws of Earth. And the last was an esoteric adept; Saint Patrick, known as the 'Creator,' and as the founder of the Silver Union.

  One could discern something about the true path of adepts from observing the most powerful of them. One was an ancient witch that possessed a legacy of her own. One was a principle adept. One was an esoteric adept. Only the bloodline adepts and the body-refining adepts were missing. That meant that these two types of adepts would never be able to become mainstream in the World of Adepts. They could only exist in various forms and structures within the clans and organizations of the adepts, never to become a dominating force of their own.

  The bloodline adepts possessed their unique bloodline legacy. This power saved them from the pain of accumulating knowledge at the mid and low adept levels, as compared to the agony their peers had to endure. The bloodline adepts also possessed advantages far superior to adepts of the same Grade. This advantage was why they were very well-regarded by large organizations and clans.

 

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