Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  On the other hand, Greem was utterly different.

  With the pounding core of fire in his chest, nothing could stop Greem from taking fire energy from the fire elementium plane, even if this plane was void of any elementium. Consequently, Greem would almost never run out of power as long as he limited the intensity of the battle to a certain level.

  As Greem strode through the forest, he occasionally used fireballs to open a path ahead. Meanwhile, he kept a close eye on the magical machines circling the skies.

  These fearless fellows were like flies that had smelled the odor of rot; it was impossible to chase them away no matter what he tried. They maintained a tight tail on Greem, diving down and attacking him whenever they found a suitable opportunity.

  One could see a pile of smoking machine wreckage every three kilometers on this path that Greem had escaped through. The location of the crashes might be different, but all the machines shared the same trait. That was… none of the goblin mechanics in the magical machines had survived!

  Greem had already figured out the combat method and means of attack available to the machines after the previous battle. When he struck, his counterattacks were always sharp and brutal.

  A chain of three exploding Magma Fireballs would shatter the energy defenses, and then only a single piercing 'gaze of death' was needed.

  Greem was only firing Solar Rays. However, in the eyes of the goblins, they were undoubtedly terrifying 'gazes of death'!

  The moment the energy shield covering a machine broke, a thin beam of red light would shoot from the evil adept's blazing eyes, piercing right through the location of the cockpit. The ray of light wasn't even as thick as the little finger of a goblin, but it possessed fearsome fire energy.

  The Solar Rays would release terrifying fire energy the moment they came into contact with the body of a goblin mechanic.

  Thus, if one investigated all the machines that had been struck with the gaze of death, they would not find any corpses within, only a pile of ashes.

  The goblin mechanics flying in the sky faced an enemy that could easily kill them while being almost impossible to kill himself. They all felt a deep chill from the depths of their hearts.

  Greem's frightening strength had intimidated them and sent their morale crashing down into a valley.

  Just then, a rumbling roar came from the woods behind.

  Greem stopped running and teleported onto a tall cliff. He looked back at the forest behind him.

  Ancient trees along a path were snapping and falling. Even the trees near them trembled and shook. From a distance, it seemed like a horrifying monster was making its way through the sea of threes.

  Crack! The two ancient trees nearest to Greem fell, and a somewhat familiar metallic silhouette appeared in Greem's vision.

  So it was him!

  Chapter 506 Berserk Tigule

  Greem took this rampaging enemy seriously for the first time.

  Tigule, the captain of a magical machine squad.

  In Greem's eyes, Tigule had only been a First Grade goblin mechanic that had barely managed to display Second Grade strength by piloting a machine. However, while his identity as a First Grade goblin mechanic was roughly equal to the status of a First Grade adept, he couldn't translate his body's attributes into combat abilities of the same level.

  He was at First Grade, but he had neither the close combat techniques of body refining adepts, the violent spells of elementium adepts, and especially not any innate talents he had been born with. Under such circumstances, the only thing he could rely on was the magical machine he was piloting.

  The Tigule of before had been an individual of his own. The mechanic was the mechanic, and the machine was the machine. The two things sometimes overlapped, but there was still a clear distinction between the pilot and the piloted. There was nothing extraordinary about his performance.

  Yet at this moment, for some reason, Greem could sense the trace of a threat coming from Tigule as he looked at him.

  Was it a perfect union of man and machine?

  A strange sentence suddenly appeared in Greem's mind, and he couldn't help but laugh a little at the thought.

  However, reality left him no time to think anymore.

  Tigule's attack descended at almost the same moment he emerged from the forest.

  Phew, phew!

  Two goblin rockets blasting with orange flames at their tails drew strange paths across the sky and circled towards Greem. They were instantly detonated by the invisible Ring of Fire when they reached within fifty meters of Greem.

  The rockets filled with excessive amounts of gunpowder exploded in midair, sending shrapnel shooting in every direction. Such an attack would undoubtedly be lethal for an ordinary creature, but it was as insignificant as a casual breeze for a well-protected adept.

  In the instant that the flames of the explosion and the smoke obscured Greem's vision, a metallic claw smashed through the layers of defenses and appeared before Greem.

  Goblin rocket attack plus flying claw?

  Very creative. Very creative indeed...

  The expression on Greem's face seemed like a smile but wasn't really one. He couldn't help but start giving comments on the attack.

  Tricks like these might be useful against the low-grade creatures of this world that only relied on their eyes and noses to sense the world. However, adepts mostly used their spirits as a mode of observation. These little tricks that fooled the eye had no place before the all-seeing spiritual senses.

  Greem's body paused for a moment as his entire person leaped fifty meters backward through the use of Fire Teleportation.

  What surprised him was Tigule's Metal Goblin pivoting the moment he stepped out of the fire. The machine lunged until it was only twenty meters away from him.

  The Metal Goblin extended its arm backward and expelled dense flames from its palms. This counterforce propelled its body towards Greem at three to five times its usual speed. It didn't retract its other hand. Instead, the goblin brandished a twelve-meter-long metal chain and smashed its hand towards Greem like a meteor hammer.

  At the instant the 'meteor hammer' descended upon Greem, it had only been one second since his last Fire Teleportation. He required at least another two seconds cooldown to teleport again.

  Damn! An explosion of power!

  Greem was frantically cursing internally. He raised his right hand, and an equally massive hand of flame gathered in an instant.

  At the same time, the Metal Goblin opened its mouth to reveal a gun barrel emerging from within. A flurry of bullets tore the hand of fire into shreds. The dozen magical machines in the sky who were closest to the battle were encouraged by Tigule's performance. They dove downwards in a pincer attack.

  Dammit! If I don't show you a little color, you lot would really take a Second Grade adept for a herbivore!

  Greem, who had mostly been breezing through his encounters, was suddenly forced into a corner by the explosive performance of Tigule. His perpetually calm state of mind started to tremble.

  Killing intent surfaced within him. Greem extended his left hand and grasped; the Blaze of Destruction appeared in his grip. The next second, towering shrouds of fire surged out from his body, instantly arming him and turning him into a terrifying flame humanoid.

  The three-meter-tall metal machine with the appearance of a goblin clashed with a two-meter flame humanoid spewing wild flames. They engaged each other like two fearsome demonic gods and smashed each other with all they had.

  The other magical machines could only circle the two of them, with no ability to join the fight.

  The two demonic beings circled as they entangled in a melee. Raging flame streams and shrapnel continuously shot out, piercing holes clean through any object. The fires that clung to the pieces of metal would then turn it into unrecognizable charcoal in the shortest amount of time possible.

  For a while, the Second Grade Greem was tied with the Second Grade Metal Goblin.

 
Indeed, at this moment, Greem was no longer fighting with First Grade Tigule, but the Second Grade Metal Goblin that he had wholly assimilated with.

  Tigule's mastery and use of the attacks available to the Metal Goblin had reached the absolute apex of the machine. The various attacking movements that he utilized had reached their absolute limits as well. Boxing out, rhythm, pressing against the opponent; it was a combat style and tactic that was practically the same as gambling one's own life.

  Inside the Metal Goblin, blood was streaking down the corner of Tigule's mouth as he used all of his abilities to operate the metal goblin to avoid the adept's attacks. At the same time, he requested the floating vessel to fire its goblin cannon.

  Another seven minutes passed by, and the flying ship finally arrived at the most optimal location. The terrifying cannon at the bow of the vessel was once again revealed.

  The magical machines surrounding the battlefield silently retreated into the distance. They anxiously waited while engraving each and every combat maneuver of the Metal Goblin into their minds with feelings of admiration and respect.

  The goblin cannon started to charge.

  The black sun once again appeared.

  Greem was being kept to the spot by Tigule, with no easy way to escape.

  Fire Teleportation looked like an instantaneous move, but it still required preparation of approximately half a second. Greem had to painfully admit that he couldn't even spare that half a second under Tigule's interference. He had no choice but to accompany this suicidal Tigule in awaiting the descent of the black pillar of light.

  They didn't have to wait long. Forty-five seconds later, the fully charged flying ship shook as black light burst forth from the barrel of the goblin cannon. The black column of light two meters in diameter shot towards the battlefield.

  The black pillar of light increased in size as it made its way downwards. It quickly swelled from two meters to ten meters. Twenty meters. Fifty meters. By the time the pillar reached the ground, it had spread to a hundred meters in diameter.

  No being of flesh and blood could survive within the black light. At least, not the low-grade creatures that lived in this plane.

  As the goblin mechanics opened their cockpits and silently mourned for the great Tigule, a burst of fire suddenly appeared outside of the black pillar. Greem walked out of the flames with the limp Metal Goblin his grasp.

  What was happening? Had they failed?

  Countless questions appeared in the minds of the goblin mechanics. They silently looked upon the two individuals in the distance, unsure of how to respond.

  Greem loosened his grip and threw the Metal Goblin onto the ground. He wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead before summoning the hand of fire and tearing away the metal plate above the cockpit, revealing the limp goblin within.

  "Why did you save me?" Black blood flowed down Tigule's mouth as he yelled, "We are enemies! Why did you save me?"

  Greem put on a cold smile, "Because I wanted to!"

  Such a simple sentence instantly caused Tigule to choke on his words. It was a while later before he could curse furiously, "Don't get too pleased with yourself! If my machine hadn't just run out of energy at that moment, do you think you could have escaped the black light alive?"

  Greem laughed coldly, "You have seven sets of magic energy batteries in your Metal Goblin. Each set of batteries can sustain five minutes of basic combat. The sudden burst of power you initiated earlier caused the batteries to exhaust at a rate that was 37% faster than usual, while also causing the machine to take an additional 25% damage. In total, the duration you would be able to fight for was reduced by 46% or more. Did you think I would play with you for so long if it weren't for having perfectly gotten all the timings down?"

  Tigule's fierce look disappeared. He was fearful of the calm calculations of his opponent.

  He had been relying entirely on his burst of adrenaline in the battle earlier. He never had, and would never be able to calculate such precise numbers in the midst of battle.

  Out of respect for an equal opponent, Tigule could sense that every number that the opponent gave him was the exact statistic. But if all these were true, didn't it mean that the entire battle had always been within the control of the enemy?!

  What else could be a more significant blow to his confidence and will to fight!

  The bloodthirsty aura around Tigule instantly dispersed. The goblin was once again dejected.

  The opponent had come from the terrifying World of Adepts. That was a large-sized plane that was famous across the multiverse, and a place with plenty of evil and savage plane conquerors. The knowledge and strength that the opponent possessed were far superior to the goblins. Could the Goblin Empire truly succeed at defeating enemies like these?

  While Tigule was shaken and lost in his thoughts, Greem took a look at the circle of magical machines that were approaching him. His body once again turned into a cluster of fire and vanished from the spot.

  The enemy left…

  The enemy didn't kill him.

  For some reason, Tigule felt none of the joy of having survived. Instead, only sorrow and depression filled his heart.

  Perhaps I should have died in that pillar of black light!

  Tigule thought to himself.

  …………

  Greem met up with Mary and Billis six kilometers away from the battlefield.

  Of course, Greem couldn't avoid a bunch of nagging and complaints from Mary, telling him about how he shouldn't have so easily put himself in danger.

  "Let's go. We must escape their pursuit before the flying ship arrives." Greem gave a few simple instructions before escaping into the distance with the other two adepts.

  "Master, who will be coming over in the next teleportation once we get through the coming few days?" Bug adept Billis couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.

  "Sabrina and Endor! This is actually the place most suited for them." Greem answered as he traveled, without even looking back.

  Chapter 507 Goblin Civilization

  The adepts' strange spells made it impossible for the goblins to track them for extended periods of time.

  When Greem took out the Demon Alligator Hunter that he hadn't used in a long time and sank into the ground, the goblin mechanics were utterly dazed. Chasing an enemy that had burrowed underground? They hadn't come up with a tool for that yet!

  The only thing they could do was assign even more local garrisons to the location and scatter them across every corner of the area in hopes of discovering the enemy's tracks.

  In truth, they didn't need to go on a search. At a particular moment five days later, the goblins once again detected that strange spatial ripple. The origin of the spatial ripple was in another goblin province five hundred kilometers away.

  The Carai Area.

  Mechanical Girl Sabrina and Poison Hag Endor collapsed to the ground in a well-hidden underground room the moment they completed their interplanar travel. However, the planar suppression that Sabrina endured was inferior when compared to Endor's. Perhaps this had something to do with the fact that she was compatible with the planar laws here!

  Due to the racial traits of the Goblin Empire, the ones that ruled over every single piece of land could only be goblins.

  On the way here, they had only seen goblins. It didn't matter whether it was the goblin merchants who rode on huge Kodos, or the small villages and towns by the sides of the road; the ones that could become nobles and own large amounts of land, mansions, and mines were goblins. The other races could only take up lowly, dirty, and dangerous employment.

  They saw green goblins in luxurious clothing parading through the streets on palanquins while elven and human servants walked along in servitude. Massive trolls and minotaurs carried the palanquins on their shoulders one after another. The adepts couldn't help but feel their spirits grow confused!

  The trolls were resilient and possessed great strength. They had become the best miners and slaves of
the goblins. The native humans were weak, but their ability to learn and craft was fairly decent. As such, they turned into the goblins' butlers, tailors, and bakers. The wood elves were frail beings, but they possessed exceptional talent with plants and became the gardeners of goblin mansions.

  Countless native races had been beaten down by the firearms and artillery of the goblins. They had no choice but to obediently surrender and become slaves and prisoners to ensure the survival of their races.

  The goblins had tamed the massive kodos as long-distance transportation tools. They had also tamed the hawkstriders as land transportation, the hippogryphs as flying mounts, and tiger sharks as sea mounts, yet these were only auxiliary tools that were used to benefit the public.

  The real demonstration of the Empire's power was the construction and combat machines scattered across the continent.

  On their trips through villages and cities, Greem and his party could tell that the literacy rate of the goblins almost reached a hundred percent. Moreover, the goblin children were all tested for their innate talents at a very young age, before being cultivated in different disciplines tailored to their abilities.

  Currently, the most popular job in the Goblin Empire had to be the goblin mechanic!

  If one became a goblin mechanic, they would have taken a massive step forward and instantly turned into a noble among the goblins. They would then be able to come into contact with construction and engineering machines of various models. Only those who obtained excellent results while piloting engineering machines were qualified to go further and became the pilots of combat machines.

  In the past hundred years, more and more combat machine models had been manufactured as the Goblin Empire's utilization of magic energy significantly improved. The power of the machines was also vastly superior to previous versions. Consequently, every single goblin in the Goblin Empire took pride in being able to become a pilot of a combat machine!

  Apart from a goblin mechanic, there were many other branch professions in the Empire. For example, there was the goblin engineer, goblin alchemist, goblin blacksmith, goblin forgemaster, goblin jeweler, goblin musketeer, goblin cannoneer, goblin tank driver, goblin aviators, goblin technicians, etc.