Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  The red light swerved and passed by the bat with millimeters to spare. Mary passed straight by Zac's right ribs in a single flash.

  Scarlet light flashed again, and Mary's seductive body appeared in an empty spot thirty meters away. Everyone only realized that Zac had been wounded when she raised her hand and started licking the blood on her sharp claws.

  Ten scratches of varying depths appeared on the right of Zac's torso. His tough skin couldn't deflect the claws that possessed blood energies. Ten mediocre wounds had been left on him.

  Such wounds weren't much against the powerful Physique of a two-headed ogre. Under normal circumstances, the wounds would close in three to five seconds, and all signs of injury would vanish with less than another three minutes.

  Yet strangely enough, traces of blood energy had now appeared around Zac's wounds. It didn't matter how much Zac tried to draw upon his powers; the wounds would split apart moments after they healed due to the corrosion of the blood energy.

  "Dammit! What is this?!" Zac shouted angrily. He waved the wooden bat in his hands with all his might, and one brilliant red aura after another flared up around him.

  Bloodthirst!

  Attack Speed Increase!

  Brute Force!

  Two-Headed Ogre Mage Zac's strength was increasing exponentially under the effects of these enhancement spells. He once again roared and charged towards this enemy that angered him to no ends!

  However, the one to clash with him this time wasn't Mary. Instead, it was a Blood Knight clad in full armor– Soros.

  His title of Second Grade Knight no longer held true when compared to his actual power now, but his robust body was still there. That was why Zac was quickly defeated in the area he was most proficient in after a round of close combat.

  The three Second Grade knights from the other plane could only bring out the power of a First Grade elite-class here in the World of Adepts. However, that was more than enough to deal with these wild magical creatures!

  Billis was hiding in the shadows, watching Mary and her Blood Knights sow discord in the battlefield like powerful whirlwinds. The terror in his heart grew even stronger as he witnessed one mighty ogre warrior after another fall to the ground like small fry.

  Perhaps it is time for me to leave!

  Billis secretly thought to himself.

  The moment he turned, Old Fox Vanlier's sly smile appeared before his eyes.

  Chapter 480 The Poor Billis

  It was a completely one-sided slaughter.

  In terms of pure numbers, the Aba Beemen and the ogres were two of the largest tribes in this area. Their power also allowed them to crush the other magical creature tribes. Even great beings like wyverns couldn't easily break into their territories.

  Unfortunately for them, these two unchallenged magical creature tribes had now run into the overwhelming, crushing might of the Bloody Queen.

  Yes, it was indeed a crushing!

  The three blood knights that stood in a triangle formation were undefeated on the battlefield of carnage. The runic longswords in their hands could strike near and far. Every time their powerful blood-attribute sword techniques erupted, a corresponding number of ogres would suddenly collapse to the ground.

  One could see that the main enemies of the blood knights were these muscular and towering ogres. That was why they threw most of their powerful sword techniques into the areas where the ogres were most concentrated. However, their attacks were remarkably measured; all the ogres were injured, but not dead. Even though the ogres' wounds were grievous and severe, they wouldn't threaten their lives yet.

  The Aba Beemen, on the other hand, didn't have such luck.

  Faced with the annoying poison arrows from the canopy and the waves of beemen that dove down at them with spears, the blood knights struck with merciless and savage blows.

  The beeman soldiers struck by the sword blasts would instantly be corroded beyond recognition by the blood energies. They turned into shriveled corpses and fell from the skies. Most of the blood within their bodies was forced out and concentrated into a crimson ball of blood the size of a fist. These spheres of blood would orbit around the blood knights.

  Every time they were wounded, a portion of a blood sphere would split off and enter their body, replenishing their blood energy. When dealing with long-ranged attacks, the blood spheres could even transform into crimson shields of various shapes. These shields could help them deflect part of the attacks.

  The number of blood spheres gathered around them signified their strength as well. The two blood knights only had two blood spheres orbiting them, while the most powerful, Soros, had four around him.

  Ever since they had been modified into blood knights by Mary, Soros and the others were no longer afraid of ordinary poison. Apart from the rare one or two vital spots on their bodies, they were no longer as fearful of wounds like humans were. They took the fresh blood of the enemy to heal their own body. This strange talent provided the blood knights with unimaginable sustainability in fights.

  Faced with these wild magical creatures with weak attacks and power far inferior to theirs, the three blood knights were like iron chariots plowing through the battlefield. They madly slaughtered the Aba Beemen with overwhelming prowess.

  In the meantime, they had also been the recipients of sneak attacks from the two bloodlocust bees.

  Sadly, the damage that the bloodlocust bees dealt the knights' bodies wasn't even enough to reduce their combat ability. The counter-attacks of violent blood-attribute sword techniques forced the two bloodlocust bees to retreat while howling in pain.

  Compared to the blood knights, the two bloodlocust bees were like unarmed farmers. Their arrogant attacks couldn't particularly affect the enemy, while the enemy's attacks could wound them badly.

  There was already a decent disparity between the power of the bloodlocust bees and the blood knights. However, the blood knights also had a full set of runic equipment and a system of blood-attribute battle techniques. In comparison, the bloodlocust bees had nothing. They could only rely on their bodies and natural talents to fight.

  These push and pull factors caused a difference in combat prowess that prevented the adept-level bloodlocust bees from reproducing their previous victory against the ogres. Before the blood knights had arrived, the bloodlocust bees had been easily able to slaughter the ogres. Yet, they were completely beaten and driven away the moment they clashed with the blood knights.

  By the time the three blood knights had successfully taken down all the ogre warriors, the battle between Mary and Two-Headed Ogre Mage Zac had also reached its conclusion.

  Two-Headed Ogre Zac was now bathed in blood!

  The terrifying wounds all over his body were shrouded in sinister blood energies. They had reduced the powerful regenerative ability that he took pride in to nothing. If he even so much as moved a single muscle in his massive body, blood would flow and spray everywhere.

  His incomparably savage strength had no use in front of a stealthy and agile assassin.

  It didn't matter how much he smashed and lunged. The red mist that Mary had turned into constantly lingered at his side. Mary had never even engaged in a direct confrontation with the ogre from the start of the battle to the very end.

  It wasn't until the end, when his throat had gone dry from roaring, and his blood had practically all flowed out, that Mage Zac was no longer able to keep up his effort.

  He put his hands on his head as he squatted on the ground. Zac didn't even dare to resist. He didn't dare to make the slightest of movements for fear of the last drop of blood in his body flowing away.

  The blood mist gathered, and Mary's tall and slender figure once again appeared by Zac's side.

  When her crystalline crimson shoes stepped upon Zac's head, the two-headed ogre only grunted softly. He no longer had the savagery and pride that he previously held.

  The three blood knights walked with steady steps and arrived at Mary's side. The ogre warriors
were strewn across the battlefield behind them, howling and screaming in pain. As for those wounded Aba Beemen? Not a single one of them remained alive.

  "And Vanlier?" Mary took a look around her and couldn't help but ask.

  Vanlier was undoubtedly the weakest among her four subordinates. That was why Mary never made Vanlier participate in ordinary battles. After all, in Mary's eyes, Vanlier's most significant value was his mind. His ability to fight was secondary and unnecessary.

  "Master, I'm here!" Vanlier's voice rang out from the forest nearby, "Take a look, master, at what I've brought you."

  Soft footsteps sounded as Vanlier led a black-robed individual and appeared before Mary in his middle-aged noble appearance.

  For some reason, the black-robed person curled up when they saw Mary. Pieces of black things were continuously falling off from their hidden body. These dark pieces seemed to be black shell-shards. However, they quickly split into countless crawling black beetles when they hit the ground. These beetles dispersed and made their way back into the robe.

  "You are terrified of me?" Mary tilted her head and looked at this strange black-robed person.

  Before Mary had left to come here, Greem had only vaguely told her that Fire Throne had assigned an agent in this location to restrain the magical creatures. He hadn't told her any details. It was only when she started to recall the strange smile that Greem showed when talking about Billis that Mary sensed something was off.

  Mary could vaguely smell a trace of the familiar on this Apprentice Billis.

  That mutated Queen Bug…

  Mary's gaze froze. The spiritual pressure that fell upon Billis suddenly possessed killing intent.

  Back then, the annoying Evil Bugs Acteon had clashed with Mary for an entire year before they drew it to a conclusion. The victor had lived, and the defeated had died!

  The brutal history of their fights had filled Mary with disgust for all bug-like lifeforms. Not to mention Billis, who possessed faints shadows of Evil Bugs himself. If it wasn't because Mary had thought of Greem at that moment, she might have been unable to help herself from tearing Billis into pieces and chop him into a paste.

  For Greem's sake, Mary suppressed the feelings of disgust that surged up in her heart. She coldly ordered, "You are Billis? I've heard Greem talk about you. How is it? Have you completely assimilated with the Queen Bug? Take off your shirt to let me see..”

  Billis could clearly sense the cold killing intent spilling out of Mary. Of course, this wasn't because Billis' spiritual senses were sharp enough to use against an adept. Rather, it was because Mary had never tried to hide her disdain for Billis.

  However, the hostility that Adept Mary displayed wasn't what concerned Billis the most. What truly worried him was the mutated Queen Bug that had assimilated with him. It was as if the Queen Bug feared Adept Mary from the depths of her soul.

  Through the assimilated soul origin, the fear and nervousness that the Queen Bug felt had been etched into Billis' natural reactions as well. That was what caused him to appear too anxious and frantic near this female adept.

  Even though he had never seen this powerful and beautiful female adept in his life, and even though they both belonged to the same faction, his soul origin was continually warning him; a single mistake, and he would very likely be killed on the spot.

  Billis was reluctant to reveal his 'true face' to anyone after he had completely transformed into a bug. Billis would treat any magical creature or human as an enemy if they expressed disdain when they saw his face. He would think of the cruelest ways to kill the opponent.

  Yet, at this moment, under Mary's chilling killing intent, Billis had no choice but to take off his black robe and expose his black and shiny bug body beneath the sunlight.

  One had to acknowledge that Billis was far more committed and far deeper down the path of Bug Transformation compared to Acteon.

  Most of the time, Acteon had only treated his bug transformation as an auxiliary means to help him grow stronger. He had still wished to preserve a trace of humanity in the depths of his heart. Billis, on the other hand, had entirely given up on his human identity. He only weighed things in terms of pure power. That was why one could see absolutely no signs of a human on his exposed body.

  This... this was just a strange bug that stood straight and who knew how to speak like people!

  Mary was delighted with Billis' obedience.

  She had been hoping for Greem to increase the strength of his subordinates when she handed him the Queen Bug. Now that things were going perfectly, Mary had nothing to complain about.

  Her killing intent from earlier was mostly just an instinctual reaction to difficult memories from her soul. Now that Mary had managed to adjust herself, the memories were no longer able to affect her emotions.

  "Two red bugs escaped from the battlefield. I need to know their current position." Mary commanded coldly.

  "They fled there!" Billis quickly point towards a direction with his finger, "They have already escaped towards the bee's nest, along with the remaining Aba Beemen. If you would like to, Billis can help show the way!"

  Even Billis became unusually obedient and friendly under the pressure of death. He was trying to use every opportunity he had to get on equal terms with Adept Mary.

  "Call out all your entire army of bugs!" Mary instructed, "Watch over the ogres here. I'll come back to deal with the prisoners once I have cleared out that bee's nest. Do it diligently, and you can get six of the corpses after the whole thing."

  "Understood! Billis will try his best to complete Lady Mary's orders!" Billis' body of bugs trembled slightly.

  This Adept Mary had a pretty clear grasp of his power. Billis only needed six more ogres to gather enough life energy to raise himself to pseudo-adept. When that happened, he would no longer be as weak as he was now.

  Vanlier leaned close to Mary and whispered after they had left the battlefield, "My Lady, are you that unconcerned about that bug man? What shall we do if he takes all the blood treats and takes off?"

  Mary continued flying forward without even looking back. She tossed out a sentence coldly.

  "Isn't that even better?! He had best not give me a reason to kill him. Otherwise…"

  Several red silhouettes quickly flew into the distance before she could finish speaking.

  Chapter 481 Growth of the Adept's Tower

  Mary had already changed drastically after undergoing the bloody fights of the planar wars. She was no longer the insignificant and reckless vampire from the past.

  Compared to the vast scale of a planar war, the extermination of the native magical creatures in the Black Forest was utterly uneventful. It was bland and boring. Mary would never have found the motivation to take up this mundane job of sweeping away small fry had it not been for the sake of clearing a safe territory around Fire Throne.

  The treaty that Fire Throne signed with the native magical creatures could still last for three months. Yet the human adepts had shown their wicked and greedy faces.

  Mary led her three great subordinate generals, and one military advisor, to embark on her quest. She dragged along the reluctant and helpless Billis, gathered together the two chess pieces Greem had planted in advance, and swept through a radius of five hundred kilometers to the north of the tower in a matter of a single month.

  Mary and her troops visited all magical creatures whose population exceeded a certain level. They could either submit or die; there was no third way out. Those magical creatures that didn't yield to Fire Throne's rule would be dealt with, and those with value would be dragged back to the tower to be used as slaves. Those who were worthless were cast aside and given to Billis. These creatures became the source of blood and flesh for Billis to hatch combat insects on a massive scale.

  The initially upset Billis immediately turned happy after receiving so many benefits consecutively. He started sincerely and honestly doing the work that Mary assigned to him. This much food would have taken him two
to three years to gather slowly. He would never have been able to do it like Mary– crushing everything in her way in a month and slightly more.

  That undoubtedly made Billis grateful to Mary. He even started silently cursing the petty nature of the Queen Bug that had assimilated with him. The Queen Bug fell into a period of prolonged silence. She couldn't be bothered to refute the thoughts of the ignorant Billis.

  Only the Queen Bug who had clashed with Mary for an entire year knew the full extent of Mary's savagery and fearlessness. Others might be tricked by Mary's beautiful and seductive appearance, but matter when the Queen Bug thought about it, she was filled with deep agony and endless sorrow!

  The territories became far emptier after clearing away those obstructive and annoying individuals.

  Consequently, the magical creatures that were the quickest to surrender all received the biggest and best lands. They also became the scouts and watchmen of Fire Throne, scattered around the adept's tower to watch for threats. The magical creatures that were neither willing to submit to Fire Throne or be exterminated had no choice but to migrate to distant lands under cover of night.

  For a moment, the name of Fire Throne spread far and wide. Even many adept clans in the center of the continent decided on this place as a land of trials for their apprentices.

  According to the treaty between Fire Throne and the Zhentarim Association, a small human's settlement was quickly developed, with Pinecone Town at its center. Every day, large amounts of resources surged into Pinecone Town. Many farmers were also gathered together to expand and build more living spaces.

  The shape of a small city had appeared in just a little over a month.

  The sudden boost in human activity undoubtedly created a substantial flow of human traffic for Fire Throne. With the original Plaguewood at its center, another small town composed of only mercenaries, adventurers, and apprentices on trials started to form rapidly. It attracted many tanners, herbalists, arcane merchants, and other fringe professions.

  Gargamel, who managed the daily matters of Fire Throne, had been a wandering adept himself. That was why he deeply understood the pain and troubles of wandering adepts. As such, he completely deviated from the oppression and disdain that most adept clans cast upon the wandering adepts. Fire Throne announced many policies that were generous to staying adepts.