Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  It was through such a process that all those sudden and unstable factors, as well as the unknown variables, were absorbed and eliminated. Only the most dominant and stable mutations could survive and become a new species as part of the Black Forest.

  And the cause of this cycle was this eternally incomprehensible forest! The Black Forest!

  While everyone was busy gathering firewood, setting up tents, finding water, and hunting for dinner at the base of the cliff, Gargamel dragged Greem to the top of the cliff. He then took out a magical tool that resembled a compass and silently started measuring something.

  "Are you certain that the forest spirit you mentioned is nearby? We're fairly close to the edge of the Black Forest. If it did possess intelligence, it would never choose such a place for its territory!" Greem asked doubtfully.

  Forest Spirits.

  What kind of magical creatures were these beings?

  The question had just popped up in Greem's mind, and the data stored in the chip instantly flowed into his mind.

  Forest spirits. Nature-attribute magical creatures that possessed intelligence. A sort of magical plant that came into existence when an ordinary magical creature's soul consciousness, upon death, blended with a tree spirit. This form of life was similar to that of the Demon Flower that Greem had met in the Underground Cave. However, one was the coincidental creation of nature, while the other was a magical creation of a wicked adept.

  Still, their evil natures were the same!

  Chapter 392 The First Day

  In truth, forest spirits were similar to undead spirits.

  They came into existence through the merging of a magical creature's soul and the essence of magical plants. Depending on what soul and what essence they sprang from, the forest spirit would possess different magical abilities.

  The prowess of an adept-level magical creature had much to do with the abilities they possessed. The difference between strong and weak skills could be massive!

  For example, some forest spirits that possessed revival abilities were considered invincible within the domain of the woods. Any damage they sustained would be able to be restored by absorbing the magical energies of nearby plants. It was a powerful ability when you considered the dense reserves of magical energy present in the Black Forest.

  It was virtually impossible to capture a forest spirit like this one if you weren't able to cripple it in a single strike!

  The peculiar calls of magical creatures came from the distant horizon.

  "Magical creatures are coming this way! We had better hide for now!" Gargamel opened a pouch and took out a handful of yellow powder, sprinkling it all over the two of them.

  The outlines of the two adepts quickly vanished as they turned transparent. They had disappeared entirely by the time the magical creature in the distance flew past their heads. Not a single trace of their aura was left.

  The other people beneath the cliff didn't have such amazing tricks up their sleeves, but they still had something as simple as Scent-Elimination Powder. The cover of the trees also kept them from being discovered by the gigantic monster in the sky.

  Greem raised his head for a better look.

  It was a wyvern with green and gray scales all over its body!

  Based on the crown on its skull, and its short tail, this dragon's innate magic was likely of the acid attribute. It also appeared to be one of the more commonly seen flying magical creatures in the Black Forest.

  "Beep. Detecting high-energy magic being. Green-Footed Wyvern. Acid-attribute hybrid dragon. It is rumored to possess the bloodline of dragons and griffins in its body. It possesses leather wings and can fly. Bodily attributes have been detected to be as follows: Strength 7 | Agility 4 | Physique 5 | Spirit 2. Overall evaluation: Adept-level."

  The wyvern's Strength and Agility were two times his own. The creature's Physique was also slightly higher than his. The only department that Greem was superior in was his Spirit. He had seven points of Spirit, but the wyvern only had two. It was perhaps his only consolation.

  Greem tried to calculate the real prowess of the wyvern while he looked at the statistics the chip provided him. After all, the chip's scan only gave him theoretical data. This data was not an accurate representation of an entity's real skill in combat.

  If one were to single out the traits of the wyvern, they would find that it had no specialties apart from its tough hide and resilient life force. It was one of the hybrid dragons, but the bloodline of the dragons in its body was far too thin. Even the griffins of its ancestral lineage had thicker dragon blood.

  That was why most adept clans that possessed dragon bloodlines were prone to exclude wyverns from the likes of hybrid dragons. They might look like dragons, but the dragon bloodline in them was so thin that any random creature might be better. They were useless monsters with only looks and no power to back their appearance!

  One wouldn't consider them fearsome creatures. They might have the ability to fly and technically have a strength that could rival adepts. However, in an actual fight between the two, an adept would have way too many tricks they could employ to crush a wyvern such as this one.

  These creatures were deserving of the contempt of adepts! Their intelligence was just far too low!

  For a hybrid dragon creature to only possess the instinct to fight and eat was humiliating. They didn't even possess elementary intelligence. It was easy for an adept to kill them by setting out traps and luring the idiotic monsters into them.

  That said, wyverns lived in groups and communities. Usually, they survived in flocks of a dozen. That was also why adepts tended to be reluctant when it came to provoking these idiotic yet rash and vengeful beasts.

  This wyvern had apparently come out here to hunt for food.

  It unfurled its wings covered with thin scales and soared above the canopy with its massive body. Gusts of wind blew across the forest as it passed by.

  The unique stench of hybrid dragons filled the entire area!

  The continuous sound of snapping tree branches and rustling leaves echoed out in the woods. All the animals in the area were frantically evacuating. For one moment, the creatures of the forest fell into a frenzy, panicking as if the end of the world had arrived.

  The wyvern circled above the forest with its wings extended before suddenly diving headfirst into the trees.

  The forest trembled. All sorts of animal cried and howled. Even the tall and ancient trees shook from the commotion stirred up by the wyvern.

  A short moment later, a mighty gale blasted into the air as the wyvern returned to the sky. It held a boar as large as a bull in its powerful hind legs.

  It let out an excited screech and quickly flew away, disappearing into the depths of the forest.

  "Are magical creatures of this level common in the Black Forest?" Greem couldn't help but ask.

  "Not just common. The beasts are literally everywhere!" A sinister smile appeared on Gargamel's face, "We are only at the edge of the Black Forest right now. You will know how many magical creatures there are in this place once we go past the fifty-kilometer mark! It won't matter how powerful you are in this place. The endless horde of magical creatures will be enough to send you to your grave just by throwing body after body at you. Do you want to survive in this place? Subtlety and silence is the best way to go about it!"

  "No wonder those adepts like to form groups when they venture into the Black Forest. Traveling alone would be unwise."

  "Kehkehkeh. It's suicidal to try venturing into here alone! Those Second Grade magical creatures have territories and very rarely walk beyond them. But still, who knows what might happen!? Nothing's for certain here in the Black Forest. A lone adept wouldn't even have a chance to escape if they ran into a wandering Second Grade creature here!"

  "It isn't that easy to run into one, is it?"

  "Kehkehkh. The chance of running into a Second Grade magical creature around the two hundred and fifty-kilometer edge line of the forest is minuscule. O
nly those who have lost their territories to new challengers would travel this far out of the forest. But once you make it five hundred kilometers into the Black Forest, you will see nothing but Second Grade magical creatures. Every piece of territory there belongs to one of those monsters."

  "How intelligent are they?"

  "Hmph! Don't underestimate them. Those magical creatures won't lose to us adepts when it comes to smarts. Their only disadvantage is their lack of knowledge and legacy systems. That's the only reason we have managed to keep them locked up here in this Black Forest."

  "Why can't the magical creatures gather together and form a massive organization to fight back against us? They should be able to accomplish that with their intelligence!"

  "Kehkehkeh. Of course, they could accomplish something like that with their intelligence. However, when you add their ambition and desires into the equation, things become far more complicated. After all, there are far too many different races of magical creatures. They don't have the same ancestral roots as we humans do. Moreover, magical creatures have always respected power. The only way to get someone to obey your orders would be to make them submit through raw strength. Even if there were one or two powerful magical creatures with the thought of forming a united front, they wouldn't possess the power needed to make everyone else kneel before them."

  The two adepts started a conversation on the cliff while the mercenaries were busy preparing dinner.

  Greem might have collected a lot of data through the chip, but he still needed to talk and communicate with other adepts to turn this knowledge into experience. It was the only way that academic knowledge could be turned into primary sources of information to increase his understanding of the World of Adepts.

  Dinner was roasted rabbit.

  The meat probably came from those ferocious rabbits that had attacked them earlier. Those things were as large as hound dogs.

  These ordinary magic-infused beasts had absorbed plenty of magical energy. Not only was their meat soft and sweet, but a warm feeling would also surge through your body when you ate it. The faint traces of magical energy emanating from the pieces of meat could nourish those who ate it. It had beneficial properties for the body.

  Greem's Physique had already reached four points. He also had three points in Strength. These attributes were superior even to the swordsman Love, who had dedicated his life to training his body. Why was this the case? Precisely because of the nourishment from Greem's daily magical energy meals.

  With how powerful his Physique was at the moment, the meat of such low-level magical lifeforms was no longer capable of bringing him any improvements. The best it could do was help replenish the energy he had exhausted on the trip here.

  If he wanted to continue strengthening his body through food, he would have to find ways to capture higher-grade magical beings such as wyverns. Otherwise, he would have no other option. The price of the magical energy meals served within the adept's tower back in Feidnan City was exorbitant, even for an 'elite' adept like himself.

  Setting up his future adept's tower near the Black Forest would make it very convenient to hunt magical creatures!

  After they had settled dinner, the two adepts entered their tents and sealed them with simple spells. It was only then that they started their daily required meditations.

  As they were still out in the wild, neither of them dared to go into a state of deep meditation. Naturally, this meant that the effects of their meditation were minimal. Still, however minuscule the improvement was, it was still an improvement. This constant and arduous grind was necessary precisely because of how hard it was for them to improve their Spirits any further at this point. Thus, meditation would always be an essential and fundamental daily activity for all adepts.

  An adept's meditation required absolute silence. Thus, everyone else stopped all other activities that could disturb the two adepts. They silently moved around and packed their bags.

  Rhodes the Rogue slipped out of camp without a word and started to place traps around the place. Rogues like himself might not be much in a fight, but they were very good at setting traps and hiding.

  Sabrina sat by the campfire and stared into the flames after dinner. Anthony, the intermediate apprentice, could only shrug and hurry to the perimeter of the camp to set up alarm arrays.

  He might be a potions apprentice, but he was at the intermediate level. Ordinary arrays like this were no big problem. At the moment, he was the weakest person in the camp. Naturally, he had to be the one to do all the dirty and tiresome chores!

  Three hours later, when the darkness of night had utterly swallowed the land, Greem and Gargamel ended their meditation sessions and emerged from their tents.

  "Sir Greem and I have some business to attend to. The few of you stay here and keep guard. Don't go wandering anywhere." Gargamel tossed a small pouch to Anthony, "Scatter some powder into the campfire every other hour. This will keep the low-Grade magical creatures away. You, come with us!"

  Gargamel pointed at Sabrina.

  A pseudo-adept might not be much help in capturing an adept-level magical creature, but she could still qualify as a meat shield!

  Sabrina's body trembled, but she obediently stood up and followed the two adepts into the pitch-black woods.

  Chapter 393 Tracking Down

  The Black Forest was still a wondrous place of magic, even at night.

  The silver moonlight from the large, brilliant moon shined down through the leaves of the trees, forming mesmerizing pillars of light in the pitch-black forest. Plants shimmering with magical energy started to glow with iridescent colors under the moonlight.

  In the eyes of an ordinary person, the Black Forest appeared to be submerged in eternal darkness. However, for adepts who had mastered elementium powers, this place was as bright as day. Strange glowing lights floated everywhere in the air.

  Greem was amazed by the wonders of the World of Adepts as he walked past the ancient trees.

  Every one of them was nearly a hundred meters tall, and so wide they needed three men to embrace them completely. Scattered on the ground beneath the massive trees were mushrooms of all kinds. Ther were matsutakes, black fungi, bright shrooms, whitehead shrooms, fluorescent moss. All the fungi and moss glowed in the dark. Red, green, purple, blue, gray– their lights came in a variety of colors.

  Layers of vines coiled around the branches like stalking snakes. The ends of the vines disappeared into the canopy, preventing anyone from seeing where they led.

  It was indeed a bright, fantastical world filled with life!

  Sabrina cautiously walked behind the two adepts. She tried her best to maintain a certain distance between them. One that was neither too far nor too close. Too far away, and they wouldn't be able to save her if something unexpected happened. Too close, and…

  A subtle forcefield that was virtually invisible to the naked eye surrounded the two adepts' bodies. The forcefields weren't usually visible, but if any creature dared to come to close, they would trigger all sorts of magical effects.

  The effect of Gargamel's forcefield was poison. Both plants and animals instantly died when they came into contact with it. Sabrina had already witnessed several glowing bugs get too close to the sinister adept. Their lights immediately extinguished as they crashed to the ground.

  Sir Greem's forcefield was the Ring of Fire.

  Any substance, both organic and inorganic, would suddenly combust when it entered the Ring of Fire. They were then reduced to ashes in a flash and fell to the ground.

  A path of ash trailed behind him wherever he went!

  Sabrina didn't dare take even one step too close to these adepts. Even with her pseudo-adept level abilities, she would not come out unharmed if she accidentally entered their forcefields.

  Adept Gargamel held a magical tool in his hands that resembled a compass. He led the group forward into the forest. Once in a while, he would lower his head to check the tool before correcting his trajectory. It a
ppeared that he was tracking something.

  Danger lurked everywhere in the Black Forest of the night!

  The three of them had already run into strange magical creatures several times.

  These creatures were like phantoms in the night. They passed through the bushes and vines without so much as a sound. They would immediately hide in the shadows and observe the party of three when they found them.

  The smarter creatures quickly left after sensing the power of the three humans. Only bloodthirsty or unintelligent ones failed to resist the allure of flesh and blood, charging at the adepts.

  These foolish beings were all done in by Sabrina alone.

  The power of a pseudo-adept might not be much to an adept, but it was more than enough to crush these creatures. They were usually no stronger than an advanced apprentice.

  Greem stood silently in the darkness and observed the way Sabrina fought every time monsters ambushed them.

  Having replaced part of her limbs and organs with robotics, Sabrina possessed an extraordinarily unique and efficient combat style.

  The robotic eye covered by her silver mask also seemed to have some unusual ability that granted her superhuman vision. She was completely unaffected by the darkness of the forest. The robotic left hand hidden underneath her cloak wasn't just her weapon; it was also her shield.

  A nightsaber leopard lunged at her from a tree branch ten meters above by using Shadowstalker Stealth, but Sabrina's left hand, hard as steel, immediately struck it. The leopard's heavy body was blown away, snapping countless vines as it crashed through the vegetation. It landed on the ground with a massive rumble. Greem couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

  Three points of Strength!

  Sabrina might have been an apprentice, but she was already as strong as him when it came to Strength. In fact, Greem was reasonably sure that he was not her match in terms of Strength if he didn't transform into the Flame Fiend.