Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  Flaming Tigers were fire-attribute magical creatures that had tails blazing with golden flames. Their claws and fangs possessed secondary fire damage when they attacked. Their powerful tails were also no different from a flame whip. Their advantage was their speed, agility, and the ferocity of their attacks. Their only downfall was their lack of long-range attacks.

  The gigant brutelephants were terrifying creatures that were several times the size of an ordinary elephant. Mature brutelephants had tremendous Physique and horrifying Strength. However, they had no other magical means of attack. They were like the body refining adepts of the magical creature world. All of their magical powers were used to strengthen their bodies and strength.

  That was also why the brutelephants were considered an exceptionally savage and robust creature!

  They were always the vanguards of vicious charges against humans whenever a stampede occurred near a human settlement. The human guards could do nothing about them. The human's defenses and walls were no match for their violent and brutal ramming.

  They only needed to create a single opening in the defensive line, and the ensuing stampede would become even harder to fend off!

  Two-Headed Ogres were mutants among ogres.

  Ordinary ogres were tall, mighty, and had superior strength. However, they were still considered ordinary woodland creatures, and not a part of the magical creatures. However, once the number of ogres reached a hundred men, there was an extremely high likelihood of a mutant ogre with two heads being born.

  Ordinary ogres had no affinity for magic and were dumb as a brick. The average intelligence of an entire tribe would be approximately equal to a three-year-old human child. However, these two-headed ogres were naturally born with enviable supernatural powers. They were able to gain access to the necessary knowledge and skill by tapping into their bloodline legacy. That was how they came into possession of their strange casting abilities.

  However, the magic powers that they wielded were elementary and limited in scope. They were either enhancement and auxiliary spells that boosted attributes, or violent and savage lightning spells.

  In truth, an isolated two-headed ogre was an easy target. However, this was not the case for a two-headed ogre sorcerer with many subordinates. They only needed to cast a simple 'Bloodthirsting Berserk' on their subordinates, and there would soon be over a hundred muscular monsters chasing you with stone hammers and stone sticks to the ends of the earth.

  If you ever wanted to cross a two-headed ogre sorcerer, you had best possess a sturdy body that could endure the beating that would come!

  The Aba Beemen were even worse. You wouldn't want to make enemies out of them. Ever.

  They weren't challenging opponents because of their prowess. Instead, the Aba Beemen simply reproduced at an unnatural rate.

  As long as there were enough ordinary lifeforms in the Black Forest, the Aba Beemen would be able to produce offspring at a phenomenal rate. It was like they were operating on cheats. The numbers of the Aba Beemen were often proportional to the 'food' in the place they lived.

  If they ended up in a situation where there were more beemen than food, they would quickly split up and establish new nests. A split nest would often only start off with a single Aba Queen and twenty beemen foot-soldiers.

  However, once the Aba Beemen established themselves in their new homes, their numbers would explode at an exponential rate.

  The individual fighting prowess of an Aba Beeman was no more than a human beginner apprentice. They looked like a mix between an elf and a bee, and they had decent intelligence.

  Aba Beemen had four limbs in a humanoid fashion, but each of their appendages only had four digits. Harsh, steel-like hair covered their entire body, with black or yellow spots at the edges. Their faces were as delicate and pretty as the elves, but with black compound eyes and long antennae at the top of their heads.

  Of course, like bees, they possessed semi-translucent wings, but their flight speed and height were far inferior to the actual flying insects.

  Their main combat tactic was flying in midair while bombarding the enemy with poison spears and arrows. If they got even closer, they shot out poisonous stingers from their tails. At a narrow range, the bombardment of their stingers was no weaker than enchanted weapons.

  Their most significant advantage was still their terrifying numbers.

  Even though individually they were only as powerful as a beginner apprentice, they still posed a threat to an adept if their numbers were high enough.

  These scary magical creature tribes were all problematic enemies. Consequently, the adepts training near the Fire Throne had to limit their activity range to a twenty-five-kilometer range.

  After all, this was the radius covered by the tower. The rate at which elementium was absorbed was also several times quicker than other places. The magical creatures would never settle anywhere near this place.

  That was how a relatively safe vacuum of space formed!

  The apprentices of the tower frequently went out hunting with this safe zone as their barrier. They dove deep into the hunting areas of the magical creatures to harass, or even stalk, isolated beasts and magical creatures.

  Of course, the exchange of lives went both ways!

  The activity of the human apprentices attracted plenty of carnivorous beasts. Both parties fought with all their intelligence and strength in the depths of the Black Forest. One or two planned ambushes always happened within a single day, and both sides suffered tremendous losses during this process.

  However, the human apprentices still had the upper hand when all was said and done.

  After all, what stood behind them was a terrifying adept's tower that could fend off the attacks of tens of thousands of magical creatures– Fire Throne!

  Fire Throne had formed a group of tower guardians composed of manticores, bird demons, and snake fiends to defend against the attacks of magical creatures from the north. This group continuously patrolled the surroundings of Fire Cave. The moment any apprentice faced danger, they only needed to send out a signal, and the nearest tower guard team would immediately head over to reinforce them.

  The cooperation of the guards and the apprentices caused the magical creatures gathering in the north to be ambushed and slaughtered, bit by bit. The new tribes in the area had faced severe casualties over time. Meanwhile, the apprentices successfully avoided many of the ambushes set up by the magical creatures, as if God himself was aiding them.

  Many apprentices gained the training they sought in these endless battles, all while obtaining plenty of rare resources. If this situation persisted, Fire Throne would be able to quickly obtain a mature and weathered group of apprentice in a short time.

  These apprentices would never suspect the hidden secrets behind the scenes of the battlefield they so busily fought on. The terrifying Gargamel, who was always smiling sinisterly on the second floor of the tower, was the real mastermind who orchestrated everything.

  Gargamel was the one who issued most of the assault and investigation missions to the apprentices, while he also obtained detailed information from the side of the magical creatures.

  He was like a strange old man playing chess with himself, trying his best to move about and assign the resources of the tower to the optimal positions. The dangerous missions fell upon the outsiders, while the bountiful and less risky missions would go to the apprentices of their tower.

  The target of the apprentice's attacks were almost always the new magical creature tribes. Unguja and Dana, who were secretly loyal to Greem, had become spies. Even though they feigned conflicts with the apprentices at times, they were quietly taking over the lands of the new tribes.

  The numbers of their tribe members were also steadily rising and becoming stronger as they relied on this sneaky strategy of exploitation on both ends.

  On the other hand, the true owner of Fire Throne, the almighty Flame Demon Greem, had entirely given up on the 'games' of managing the tower's fo
rces. He had left everything to Gargamel's discretion. He had fully committed to the long and arduous journey of tempering his Spirit and improving his powers.

  That was because he saw the truth of the world as it was. The World of Adepts was a cruel world where individual power reigned supreme! The first and foremost factor that decided the position of an adept was his own strength; the influence of an adept only came after.

  If a rookie adept like himself that came from nothing wanted to establish himself, the only way was to crush any competitors with a superior grade and power.

  Managing a force of his own was only to facilitate and make more accessible the process of obtaining resources!

  Chapter 436 Slaughter

  The expected boot finally dropped after a month's long wait.

  Greem's contract of service with the Sarubo Clan was for a hundred years. He was now in his tenth year of service, and his protection period as a newly advanced adept had finally worn off. He was now an official adept of the clan, and as such the clan's compulsory missions quickly arrived.

  Just like Meryl had leaked to him, Greem would be sent to Gilneas, the closest city to the area of conflict. There was a Sarubo mine there known as Iron Ring Mine, famous for producing high-quality azure moonstones and noble topaz.

  Of course, one of the clan's Second Class resource sites was also nearby. That was one of the targets of protection for the stationed adept.

  According to past conventions, Greem, as the stationed adept sent by the clan, would have to ensure the safety of these two places. Another specialized group of pseudo-adepts and advanced apprentices would be responsible for their daily production. Greem didn't need to stay on-site to guard those locations.

  However, if the resource site and mine faced a severe problem that the apprentices couldn't handle, Greem, as the stationed adept, would have to come out to expel or murder those adept-level opponents that had threatened the collection of resources.

  Therefore, Greem would usually be able to enjoy his days within the lively and bustling city of Gilneas. The everyday troubles would be dealt with by the apprentices in charge of security. They would only ask him over if they were dealing with adept-level opponents.

  That was why adepts often considered station missions like this an enjoyable errand, apart from the relative lack of freedom.

  After all, the managers and local nobles near the resource sites would try their best to entertain a stationed adept like Greem. As long as he wanted, Greem could indulge in pools of wine and forests of carnal pleasure on a daily basis. Every so often, the supervisors of the resource sites and mines would also provide him with offerings of additional resources. These were unspoken rules and were considered part of the basic welfare of the stationed adept.

  However, all of these were what happened usually; the current circumstances were unusual.

  Not long ago, the apprentice captain of Iron Ring Mine, a pseudo-adept by the name of Sak, had a confrontation with a pseudo-adept of the Aki Clan when he went out collecting resources. Sak had 'accidentally' killed his opponent.

  This incident set off all the accumulated grievances between the Sarubo and the Aki!

  Of course, the leaders of both clans would have started secret communications away from the eyes of the public. They were probably discussing matters of 'vengeance,' 'compensation,' and the like. However, given Sanazar's temper, how could she easily cave-in to the Aki's conditions to hand over Sak and compensate them with resources?

  This forward area of the clan's turned into a powder keg while the two clans argued. It was likely going to be the target of the Aki's revenge.

  Even though the Zhentarim Association strictly forbade murder between adepts, the elders of the Association were willing to turn a blind eye if someone had a good excuse to commit murder. They wouldn't so readily interfere in the affairs between two adept clans.

  Given the tense situation near Gilneas City, they needed a great combat adept for keeping control of things. Greem, the thorn in the clan's side, was naturally assigned here.

  The Sarubo Clan only gave Greem twenty days to prepare.

  If Greem still hadn't arrived in Gilneas City after twenty days, the manager of the Sarubo Clan, Second Grade Sir Fügen, would have to come looking for him for a 'heart-to-heart talk.'

  The subject of the safety of Greem's tower had never been brought up.

  The Sarubo Clan territory was so vast, yet Greem had still chosen a primal piece of the Black Forest as the site of his tower. This action had caused dissatisfaction among the higher-ups of the clan. The compulsory mission this time was clearly meant as a warning of sorts.

  An ordinary adept would usually have two to three options for their compulsory mission. They could freely choose the task they preferred based on their liking and schedule.

  These station missions usually took two years to complete. After that, the adepts were free to arrange their own time for the remaining three years until the next compulsory mission.

  Unfortunately, this was a compulsory mission that Lady Sanazar had personally assigned to Greem. He didn't have the guts to complain even if he was upset about the whole thing.

  After he received the mission orders from the clan, Greem could only try his best to make arrangements for the internal matters of his tower.

  He would probably be leaving for a fairly extended period. He would have to discuss and settle the security and internal development of the tower beforehand. Moreover, he would have to clear out all the potential threats to the tower before he left!

  …………

  Gigant Brutelephants were extremely territorial magical creatures.

  They continuously patrolled their territory once they decided on it. Any dominant lifeforms that entered their area would have to face the mad and relentless attacks of the brutelephant horde.

  In comparison, weaker lifeforms did not even catch their attention.

  That was why it was nearly impossible to find other magical creatures within the living areas of the brutelephants!

  The Black Forest was shrouded by the curtain of night, its ancient and massive trees spread out through the land like a boundless sea.

  Every single tree was several dozen meters tall, their dense spread of leaves completely covering the ground. Anything flying from above would not be able to see what was happening below.

  Greem rapidly glided towards the brutelephant's territory under cover of night. He rode on the back of the manticore leader and made his way there based on the information provided by Unguja.

  As the canopy obscured the ground, even Greem had trouble seeing and sensing what was beneath the leaves. However, while above the black sea of trees, Greem could still capture odd trembling motions in the treetops with his sharp eyesight.

  Night winds blew past his side.

  The manticore leader opened its wings wide and relied on the winds to glide above the trees.

  Greem looked around at his surroundings and quickly discovered some odd occurrences in the mountainous forest. It seemed there was some massive beast running through the woods, knocking into trees and causing them to tremble and shake.

  Greem lightly patted the manticore leader. It immediately understood and turned around to fly towards that direction.

  When they were almost there, the manticore leader folded its wings and angled its body downwards. Its tough body crashed through the leaves and dove right into the pitch-black forest.

  The manticore leader only unfurled its wings once again after it had entered the forest. It wove between the ancient trees with agile movements. Once in a while, it stopped on a thick tree branch and surveyed this mysterious forest with its sharp eyes.

  Dong.

  A massive hill-sized brutelephant slowly patrolled within their territory, and the ground quaked with every step it took.

  Suddenly, it raised its long trunk. Its enormous body turned with incredible agility as its bloodshot eyes fixated upon a spot in the darkness beyond.

/>   There, it could faintly sense a dangerous aura that it hated!

  Roar.

  The brutelephant lifted its thick front leg and stomped the earth beneath its feet. Its thick trunk swayed from left to right, smacking the trees nearby and causing them to shake and tremble. The brutelephant's two sharply curved tusks chafed on the ancient trees. Bark flew everywhere, and the white wood beneath was exposed.

  As a territorial creature, the brutelephant let out a threatening roar as it raised its trunk. It was trying to intimidate the enemy. If the creature in the darkness knew well enough to leave, it would pretend it hadn't seen anything and would continue to patrol the territory.

  After all, this terrifying sense of danger allowed it to understand that this was no ordinary enemy. However, the opponent cared not for its goodwill. Not only did the creature not leave, but it also even walked towards the brutelephant.

  Rumble.

  The angered brutelephant launched a death charge without hesitation. It lowered its head and pointed its tusks at the opponent before rumbling towards the humanoid creature walking out of the darkness.

  The opponent was a human in a black robe. Intense elementium fluctuations surrounded him.

  These details allowed the brutelephant to recognize the intruder as a human adept!

  The brutelephant leader knew that an adept's tower had been erected in the vicinity when it migrated here. However, it clung on stubbornly to the idea that neither parties would come into conflict as long as they didn't start one. As such, the brutelephant leader chose to set up his home here.

  Many of the surrounding magical creatures had come over to win it to their side during this time. However, the brutelephant leader had kept a strict hold on his subordinates and prevented them from stepping out of their territories for no reason. Sadly, all its efforts had been for nothing. It hadn't gone looking for trouble with the human adept, yet the adept had come looking for trouble with it!