Still, after sympathizing with Keoghan, Adept Fügen started to be concerned for himself.
The same situation was fairly striking when it came to him as well.
He wasn't the only Second Grade adept in the clan. The rest had all requested stations in the lesser planes to use the harsh environments of a different world to train themselves. Fügen had instead chosen to stay in the resource-rich homeworld. Even though he had far more authority compared to them, it was evident that he now lagged behind them when it came to sheer strength.
Perhaps it was time for him to make some appropriate choices?
Adept Fügen silently thought to himself.
…………
Fire Throne.
The inside of the tower was currently a sea of joy!
Under the combined efforts of the tower adepts and staying adepts to drum up anticipation, the mysterious owner of the tower that always hid at the top of the tower had finally appeared before the apprentices once more. Moreover, it was a dramatic entrance with him being a Second Grade adept.
Even though Sir Greem still needed to stabilize his Spirit, and hadn't actually shown up at the celebration in the second floor's arcane hall, the atmosphere at the scene still ignited the emotions of every single adept.
The World of Adepts was a world that chased after powerful individuals!
What could be more exhilarating than following a prominently rising adept?
Every adept and apprentice that belonged to Fire Throne would receive two to three times more resources than they currently had in the foreseeable future. That was what they valued the most!
While everyone was rejoicing and celebrating, Billis had been summoned by Greem to the fifth level of the tower and disappeared into a teleportation array.
…………
The Tower of Fate.
When the brilliant white light dispersed from in front of him, Billis endured the immense pressure from the shift in space and opened his eyes to assess the strange tiny lifeform near the teleportation array.
It was a teenage human girl the size of a palm. She had thin wings that resembled those of dragonflies behind her back. Specks of light would drop from her body as she danced in the air.
An elementium fairy?
Billis couldn't help but lick his lips. His pale-green compound eyes lit up with a greedy green light from under the shadow of his hood.
"Follow me, big bug!" Elementium Fairy Helen, who was holding her magic wand in her hand, obviously didn't like this strange fellow shrouded in his cloak. Her tone when speaking was exceptionally sharp.
Helen beat her wings and flew away having said that.
"Damned bastard. I will eat you one day!" Billis cursed wickedly before stumbling after that foul-mouthed fairy.
A male and a female adept were already waiting inside the astrology platform at the top of the Tower of Fate.
The male adept was a strange humanoid made of flames. Judging by its brow, the silhouette, and the mental flux radiating from it, it was Billis' master– Second Grade Fire Adept Greem.
The female adept had a slender figure. She wore a purple starry robe as the ethereal radiance of stars shone down upon her, putting yet another intangible, mysterious, and beautiful coat on her shoulders.
She was young, and her face was gentle and soft. Her bright blue eyes, paired with their inclined corners, gave her a mysterious and seductive look.
Billis froze for an instant.
His master Greem had just sent him into the teleportation array back in Fire Throne. How did he run into another Greem here? He could tell from Greem's aura that it didn't possess that terrifying spiritual pressure that Second Grade adepts possessed.
"Come here, Billis!" The flame human seemed to have seen through Billis' doubts, "This isn't my actual body; it is only a spiritual projection. The matter we need to perform today is far too important. My true body can't leave Fire Throne, so I had no choice but to use my spiritual projection to talk with you."
After sensing the contract powers radiating from the depths of the flame being's soul, Billis obediently walked up to the two of them and waited for orders.
"My actual self has already explained to you what you need to know. I have something here. Keep it with you always!" The flame humanoid opened his hand. Two strange objects rested in his scarlet, fiery palm.
A black orb the size of a pigeon's egg.
A fist-sized metal ball radiating an intense spatial flux.
"The black orb is the Orb of Deception. Keep it with you once you reach the other side. It will hide your identity as an invader. The metal ball is a simplified teleportation array. It can only teleport two people at once and will take approximately five days for a complete charge of energy."
"The spatial energy within it has been emptied to avoid the spatial flux from affecting its teleportation precision during the interplanar teleportation. That means that you will have to survive alone for five days once you reach the other side. You will have to find a safe spot to activate the metal ball once it charges up with energy. Then you will be able to receive reinforcements from us!"
Billis listened respectfully to Greem's words, not daring to miss any critical information. Even though this was his first time experiencing a planar invasion, he knew very well the potential dangers in a different world.
Billis kept the two objects in his spatial ring, then swallowed the ring. He made a last careful check of everything he had on him before nodding at the flame being.
"Stand in the black circle!" The beautiful witch that had been bustling about the hall stopped everything she was doing and coldly spoke to Billis.
Billis stood in the circle as he was ordered.
The witch then started to perform an unusual dance around the array, chanting odd notes as she did so.
Immense magical energies surged continuously into the array under Alice's guidance. Brilliant light enveloped the astrology platform.
The light persisted for seven minutes or so.
When the light finally started to dim, and it became possible to see on the platform, Billis' silhouette had vanished entirely.
Only a solemn-looking flame humanoid and an exhausted Alice remained.
"Say, do you think we will succeed this time?" Greem sighed softly.
"There's only a twenty-three percent chance of this interplanar teleportation failing with my spacestone as a spatial anchor. If this fellow is truly that unfortunate, then we can try a second time one month from." Alice spoke in an unconcerned manner.
Er…
Greem's projection was speechless.
Try a second time? Where am I supposed to find another piece of spacestone?!
As for Billis' fate if he failed the teleportation... Greem hesitated for a moment and didn't ask.
He was afraid some more terrifying words would come out of Alice's mouth.
So, Billis; good luck!
Chapter 493 Goblin Plane
The endless road of stars extended in front of his eyes.
Billis felt as if he had been turned into a clump of dirt; a clump that anyone could mold and press.
The strange and unpredictable spatial energies assaulted him from every direction. Hundreds and thousands of gravitational pulls acted upon Billis' frail body of bugs, instantly tearing him into pieces. Billis' body disintegrated into tens of millions of tiny black beetles and barely managed to gather together as black smoke, preventing him from being dragged away by the gravitational forces.
If it weren't for the protection of the teleportation array, Billis would probably have been torn to pieces by the distortion in space. All those different parts of him would have been dragged into different shattered regions of space.
The reason Billis was under so much pressure was thanks to Alice, who had hosted the teleportation.
If Alice were at Fourth Grade, she would naturally have been able to handle spatial energy in a skilled fashion. The person being teleported would have been able to
complete his interplanar teleportation while only needing to endure a fraction of the spatial energy.
Unfortunately, Alice was only First Grade. Moreover, she had intentionally weakened the defensive strength of the teleportation array to prevent severe spatial backlash. Billis, who had been sent out as a scout, had no choice but to frantically use his immortal body of bugs to negate the tremendous pressure he was dealing with.
His body was stretched thin, or crushed flat, or twisted into knots as he swam through the continuously extending path of stars. Billis was like an undying cockroach, enduring all sorts of terrifying torture on his arduous journey to another plane.
He had no means of resistance. Billis could only passively endure the pain.
However, even the longest of journeys had a day when it ended.
A small rift finally appeared on the path of stars as a strange rune exploded. Through the spatial membrane formed by the plane barrier, obscured by faint shimmering lights, Billis could vaguely see the scenery of the unknown continent on the other side of the rift.
Before Billis could hesitate, the power of the stars that enveloped his body dragged him towards the rift and sent him all the way through.
…………
Green fields and blue skies.
The skies of Karlmek were always that sunny.
The gentle spring breeze blew through the wild grass. Red, blue, purple, yellow; flowers of various colors mixed in with the green and grassy field, presenting an exceptionally charming and beautiful view from a distance.
A two-meter-long spatial rift had been torn open in the middle of this beautiful and moving painting. The grass seemed to have been cleaved by an invisible razor as spatial gusts blew out from the rift. Countless grasses, flowers, plants, and roots were diced into powder before being blown far away.
Some strange black creatures were crawling in the midst of the powder.
The spatial rift only lasted for approximately three seconds before returning to its original state under the powerful regeneration ability of the planar space. However, just these mere three seconds of time had released such powerful spatial gusts and distortions that irreparable damage had been done to the land.
The field had been ravaged, and the ground had split. The strange distortions of space had even left the spacetime in this location somewhat twisted and bizarre. The spatial distortions might assault any creature that accidentally came to this place, dragging them into an interdimensional space.
Ordinary creatures could not possibly endure the changes in space without protection from a strong force. The second they were dragged into those spatial distortions would be the moment their bodies disintegrated, as well as the moment their lives came to an end.
Two and a half kilometers away from the point of teleportation, Billis was piecing together his consciousness with great difficulty. He sent out screeching bug commands to gather.
Finally, after fifteen minutes, Billis climbed up from the bushes with only a small half of his body. Clouds of smoke gathered towards him from the dense greenery around him. The smoke was merging with his body.
An unspeakable pressure and suppression filled Billis' heart. It made it hard for him to think. He could hardly use the magic within his body either. If it weren't for his immortal body of bugs that allowed him to depend less on oxygen for survival, even taking deep breaths might have been a problem.
Planar Suppression!
Billis instantly understood what he was experiencing.
He had arrived on another plane. That meant what he was currently experiencing had to be the constant planar suppression from the plane consciousness. Billis had already predicted this happening before he set off.
He opened his hideous mouthpart and spat out an antique spatial ring. He then put it on his thick left pinky.
Billis chanted the magic password and took five whole seconds before finally taking out the Orb of Deception and the metal ball from the ring. The same action would have taken him a single thought in the World of Adepts. However, it had taken five seconds of his time here.
Moreover, at the instant the spell was completed, Billis could feel the magic in his body diminishing significantly.
Such an insignificant magical act consumed very little magic. In the World of Adepts, Billis would have been able to recover from this exhaustion in a minute amount of time by absorbing wandering elementium energy in the air.
However, here he could only feel the loss of magic. He didn't sense any recovery of it.
Billis' face dropped. He closed his eyes and sensed deeply.
His adept-level Spirit still allowed him to sense the existence of ambient elementium energy in the air. However, his Spirit estimated that the concentration of elementium particles here was only sixteen percent that of the World of Adepts. In situations with such thin levels of elementium, an adept's passive absorption was no longer able to sustain their recovery.
If Billis wanted to recover his magic powers, he would probably have to enter a deep meditation.
Goddamned low-magic world.
Billis cursed furiously and picked up the Orb of Deception. The moment he touched the Orb, he could feel the planar suppression reduce by nearly half. Even his breathing became much more comfortable.
Billis thought for a moment before opening his mouth and swallowing the Orb.
In any case, this thing needed to be in contact with his body to take effect. Swallowing it both ensured its safety and allowed it full contact. Of course, it was the best measure to take!
Billis also used his brown insect-like appendage to pick up and assess the metal ball. The five crystals embedded in it were all dull and without light. Only the first one was evenly blinking as if it was breathing like a human.
He couldn't place this thing within the spatial ring. Otherwise, it would never be able to absorb the spatial energy that it needed to perform its function.
Billis hesitated for a moment. He then used his bug hands to tear apart the armor on his abdomen with much difficulty and buried the metal ball inside. Just then, the woods rustled with the strange sound of tunneling earth. Five sting scorpion, the size of mastiffs, broke out from the ground and crouched before Billis.
"I have you, and so, I have the entire world!"
Billis looked in satisfaction at this mighty army of bugs that belonged to him. He waved his arm and led them towards the depths of the forest.
…………
Half a day later.
The point of teleportation had just settled down when a strange noise broke the peace.
A strange black dot immediately flew towards this location, gliding right beneath the clouds.
It became increasingly clearer as the black dot got bigger. It was a strange flying device that was so crude and simple that it was almost terrifying.
It was a crude goblin helicopter made of light and sturdy wood, with core components made of mechanical gears.
The body of the helicopter was fashioned in the shape of a goblin's head and had been dyed yellow on the outside, and a rotor made of metal plates spun above the body of the helicopter. The terrifying noise heard earlier was the sound of this massive rotor rotating wildly in the air.
The size of the helicopter wasn't that large. Only a single human could fit in it.
However, when the helicopter landed on the ravaged land, two tiny goblins jumped out of the cockpit. They wore leather armor, pants, boots, and wore goggles on their heads.
Old Pa Tok lit up his pipe as he stepped upon the harsh, barren dirt. He took two rounds around the point of teleportation and cursed angrily, "Dammit, my eyelid has been jumping all day since yesterday. I knew something bad was going to happen today. Dammit, dammit, dammit. Mosaldin, go back to the village and inform everyone that there might be some interdimensional monster nearby. Have everyone be on alert."
The one speaking was an elderly goblin. Judging by his looks, Old Pa Tok was probably already forty years old. This age was about equal to an
eighty-year-old human.
On the other hand, Mosaldin, who had accompanied him to this spot was only a young goblin seven to eight years of age. His face was full of youth and childishness, without a speck of fear on it.
"Old Pa Tok, how can you tell there's a monster?"
Mosaldin had circled by Old Pa Tok's side several times, but he didn't find anything unusual. The fields in a quarter kilometer radius around the point of teleportation had been completely overturned. Fine debris had blown several kilometers away. Any evidence or proof would have been shredded to pieces by the violent spatial storms.
That was why Mosaldin was curious about Old Pa Tok's judgment.
Old Pa Tok struck Mosaldin's forehead with a big pipe.
"What other evidence do we need? Can't you tell that someone from the outside shattered the plane barrier? This isn't a weak space location. Natural spatial holes won't appear here. If that's the case, it has to be an intruder." The more he spoke, the more Old Tok got angry. He waved his pipe to strike again, but Mosaldin had already run away ahead of time.
"Maybe that monster has already been destroyed by the spatial winds!" Mosaldin furiously rebutted as he climbed onto the goblin helicopter with some difficulty, "Didn't you say that very few creatures could survive through spatial storms?"
Old Pa Tok hesitated for a moment. He placed his hand on his eyebrows and looked at the distant forest. He couldn't help but mumble, "It would be best if they actually did die in the spatial storm. What I'm worried about is if they survived. Then what comes next might be a disaster for us. Anyone that can enter our world through space is not going to be an easy enemy to deal with."
The two of them returned to the helicopter, which took off amid loud noises and flew back in the direction they came from.
Chapter 494 Beta Town
Billis was still wandering through the depths of the forest.
The existence of the planar suppression caused his fundamental abilities to weaken severely. It further caused the various side effects from the teleportation to persist until now.
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