Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  The next second, they appeared a thousand meters underground.

  What floated before them was the magic spring that had now almost concentrated into a stone ball.

  After two months of 'nourishment,' the magic energy within the magic spring had reached such density that it was almost solid. A light magic mist lingered around the stone ball, allowing all nearby magical lifeforms to feel the plentiful aura of energy that pressed against their faces.

  Brain Monster Gazlowe no longer hid his existence once they reached here.

  The magic generator furnace trembled slightly as Gazlowe's Spirit poured out from within like a tsunami. His Spirit quickly scattered the stone ball like a whale swallowing the world itself. It then extended into the slowly spinning space vortex of the magic spring.

  Brain Monster Gazlowe was a mysterious lifeform that had undergone mutation, after all. It had no combat ability apart from some simple mental powers. The magic generator furnace and the space vortex started trembling intensely at the same time when his Spirit started to tangle with the energy.

  "It's done. You can start now." Gazlow had projected most of his mental powers into resisting the energy space. He barely managed to split off a trace of his mind to maintain a mental connection with Greem.

  Gazlowe would never have been able to move this energy space a single inch with only his own knowledge and ability. One could even say that most native creatures of the various planar worlds could not move these wild magic springs. Only the powerful World of Adepts possessed the necessary magical knowledge and technique from their countless invasions and conquering of lower planes.

  That was why Brain Monster Gazlowe had to ask for help from Second Grade Greem when he wanted to transfer the magic spring into his new body, even though he possessed Third Grade power himself.

  As such, Brain Monster Greem tried his best to seep his Spirit into the energy space while silently waiting for Greem to make his move.

  As the strange mumbling of chants completed, a massive and mysterious array appeared on the ground beneath the magic spring. Countless magical lines and magical runes appeared one after another. In almost a single instant, they had turned this massive pit into a sea of light and radiance.

  The singularity fixed at the core of the energy space suddenly spurted out numerous energy particles under the effects of the runic array. These particles turned into a violent stream that corroded everything in their path, causing the already large cave to become even broader.

  Gazlowe was hiding within the magic generator furnace. He was protected on the outside by a special magical alloy with tremendous toughness and magical malleability. Naturally, he wouldn't be damaged at all. Greem had also propped up layers of Fire Shields. It was like a fireworks performance when the energy particles crashed against his shields.

  Singularities had no substance. They were only a mysterious spatial node that connected the plane space with the outer space. Ordinary creatures couldn't even touch them, much less pluck them away as if they were gemstones.

  However, as an adept, Greem was able to purchase an expensively priced mysterious array related to magic springs from the Silver Union. The magic principles and techniques within the array were too difficult to properly analyze, even with Greem's current reserve of knowledge. He could only act according to the instructions and use his Spirit to push the mysterious array into functioning.

  Still, this expensive array had an effect.

  The unmoving singularity started to slowly float toward the magic generator furnace under the guidance of the array, as the energy particles continued to spew out of it.

  As expected! It worked!

  Both Greem and Gazlowe let out a silent sigh of relief.

  Greem's Spirit suddenly spiked when he saw the singularity close in on the furnace. He instantly transformed into the Flame Fiend.

  A fearsome Flame Fiend seven meters in height and forged of fire and magma appeared in the cave.

  The next second, a fire rune that concentrated part of Greem's soul brand suddenly appeared. It floated toward Gazlowe's central brain along with the singularity.

  "What…what are you doing?"

  Gazlowe couldn't help but start shouting when he saw Greem do this at this crucial moment of the assimilation of the furnace and the singularity.

  "You are Third Grade. I am Second Grade. You will have assimilated both the magic generator furnace and the singularity by the time this is over. Your power is sure to rise exponentially. I can't guarantee that the soul contract I've placed within you before this can still bind you. So," The transformed Greem bent his body and put on a 'gentle' smile on his blazing face, "Either you accept this new soul brand, or you die here; you choose!"

  Brain Monster Gazlowe fell silent.

  The Second Grade fire adept wasn't just threatening him here. Gazlowe could sense a few 'guests' forcibly boarding the flying vessel above. Included among them was that Second Grade Dragonborn Zacha.

  Given the circumstances, it was obvious that both sides would start attacking him if he didn't agree to Greem's request. The adepts would try to exterminate him.

  He might have a become a high grade when he turned into the Third Grade brain monster. However, he possessed no combat ability. He needed to rely on an assimilated metal body and magical machines to fight with anyone.

  The fire adept had instilled continuously within him the various benefits of possessing the magic generator furnace before this. He had even advised Gazlowe to maintain his mental powers at their peak state before assimilating the magic generator furnace and the singularity, and avoid owning too many magical machine bodies.

  It was only at this moment that Gazlow understood the opponent's intentions.

  Even if he wanted to resist at this moment, he didn't pose much of a threat with that flying ship outside. That ship had been stripped of most of its magic energy weapons.

  Moreso, the opponent had wholly understood all of his weakness and strengths during this period of interaction. They would exterminate him with a blitzing strike if they ever needed to. They wouldn't leave him with any chance of splitting his brain and escaping.

  Gazlowe felt even more furious and humiliated when he understood all this.

  He was a Third Grade lifeform, yet he had so utterly fallen into the scheme of a group of small Second Grade adepts. He could only close his eyes and wait to be enslaved now. This…this upsetting feeling made him want to go berserk!

  Gazlowe's feelings became even more complicated as he saw the quickly approaching singularity and fire rune.

  One was something that he couldn't wait to possess, and another was something he couldn't want even more to destroy.

  He could instantly destroy a magic rune like this that imprinted directly upon the soul. All he needed was a beam of mental power. Yet, he could only watch as the rune slowly floated toward him and merged with the soul consciousness of his central brain.

  Every time Gazlowe mustered the courage to resist his fate of enslavement and started to gather his mental powers, the thought of his own body being torn to pieces by the violent spells of the adept would appear in his mind.

  He might be a true Third Grade brain monster now, but in the end, he still inherited the origin of his soul from a cowardly and weak goblin.

  Neither of the two choices of extreme power and the loss of freedom could compete with Gazlowe's fear of death, even when they had arrived before him.

  He had tried countless times to gather the courage and had imagined many plans of escape. However, the 93% death rate made Gazlowe only capable of watching time pass by until the fire rune and the singularity completely merged with himself.

  When the singularity merged with his mental consciousness, and the core area of the magic generator furnace finally started to stabilize, a surge of space energy more violent and more powerful than the last blasted outward, repeatedly eroding the rock walls of the underground cave.

  Countless specks of energy particles
corrupted and turned everything around the cave into glowing energy crystals. The thickness and density of these energy crystal layers were quickly increasing as the particle stream intensified.

  Greem scanned with his Spirit, and the notifications from the Chip shocked him.

  The massive cave had only been affected by the magic generator furnace for a single minute, yet the rock layers and earth around it had started to show signs of turning into magical stones. According to the Chip's calculations, this magic generator furnace could produce three hundred magical crystals on a daily basis, even if it wasn't used for any other purpose.

  That meant three thousand magical stones!

  In comparison, Greem's Fire Throne could only manage eight magical crystals or fifteen fire crystals a day, even if most of the magical facilities had been shut down. The elementium altar in the energy room of Fire Throne was disposable trash when compared to the magic generator furnace. Its returns were so meager they were hardly worth mentioning.

  Gazlow could feel the boundless energy coursing through his 'body'. However, he couldn't feel happy when he sensed the contract of slavery that had utterly assimilated with his soul.

  "Go up!" Greem's attitude toward Gazlowe improved tremendously when he saw how obedient the brain monster was being, "There's still plenty of food left up there for you."

  Perhaps because Gazlowe wanted to vent the anger growing within him with a violent and forceful act, the magic generator furnace trembled and shot upward without Greem's help.

  It continued to shoot out energy as it floated up.

  After all, Gazlowe only had a magic generator furnace heart right now. He didn't have a body that belonged to him yet. As such, 99% of the energy had nowhere to go and could only shoot outward in a disorderly fashion in the form of energy particle streams.

  Finally, Brain Monster Gazlowe descended upon the crowd with his own unique way as the adepts and goblins on the surface looked on!

  Chapter 570 Metal Giant

  A terrifying cluster of energy storms rose from underground before the eyes of everyone.

  Even though the adepts already knew Gazlowe was hiding within that storm, they couldn't sense his exact position through that layer of chaotic and violent energy, even after using all the means at their disposal.

  While the adepts were silently marveling at the wonder of Gazlowe after assimilating with the magic generator furnace, the goblins on the outside were watching this former greatest goblin of the world with a zealous fervor.

  He was the smartest goblin in the world and the 'god' of the goblins!

  He had stepped past the grade threshold that no goblin had ever succeeded overcoming, becoming the first Third Grade 'goblin' of the multiverse. It was true that Gazlowe looked far too different from a goblin now, but he had still been a goblin once upon a time, hadn't he?

  All the goblins kneeled on the ground with complicated emotions in their hearts. They kowtowed and paid their respects to this God of the Goblins that had brought them both endless suffering and endless hope!

  The power of 'god' continued to increase, and the god's will was starting to move.

  Hopefully, the strengthened Goblin God could come back and protect the poor goblins from the cruel enslavement of the adepts.

  Gazlowe could accurately sense the spiritual and emotional change in every lifeform present with his enhanced mental powers, except for the adepts, who were shielded by their life forcefield.

  The anger in Gazlowe's heart started burning intensely when he remembered that his power had been obtained at the price of forever losing his freedom.

  His mental consciousness was attached to the stream of energy particles and started to corrupt every inch of space and every piece of land in this world along with it. His mental consciousness could practically pierce through all substance, both tangible and intangible, thanks to the highly penetrative effect of the energy particles.

  Neither dirt, stone, wood, or metal could stop Gazlowe's mental consciousness from infiltrating and sensing.

  At this moment, everything in this world was transparent before his eyes. No secret in the world could hide from his spiritual senses.

  The violent energy that the magic generator furnace continually extracted from outer space became his greatest weapon, as well as the best carrier for his mental consciousness.

  A blindingly bright light shone in the eye of the energy storm that was continuing to spread outwards. The next moment, tens of thousands of energy particles with Gazlowe's will attached to them shot out in every direction like gusts of violent winds.

  They pierced through earth, stone, metal, and wood; no substance could stop their furious advance, and no lifeform could stop the particles from penetrating through their body.

  Even the Crimson adepts felt an unknown pressure on their souls. They had no choice but to gather together and prop up layers of strange spells that defended against soul and mental attacks.

  The spirit was supposed to be intangible, and the soul had no fixed shape.

  Yet individuals like Gazlowe, who could merge their intangible mental consciousness with the tangible energy particles, could create their own unique Spirit Light.

  The Spirit Lights were like beams of pure white radiance. They freely turned and twisted about in the air, constantly seeping into every metal ingot and every machine in the excavation site. Gazlowe's mental consciousness started to become omnipresent and omnipotent as the energy particle streams continued to bombard and infiltrate into various substances.

  These formerly dead and inorganic metal ingots became as soft and moldable as clay when controlled by a powerful force. The giant hills of metal by the side of the camp were mostly bits of the Steel Capital that had been dug out from underground. Some of them were also metal ingots that had been transported here from the outside.

  It didn't matter where the metal came from now. All of it started to distort and twist into a metal dough. The pieces twisted into each other and blended, forming into multiple larger and heavier pieces of shapeable metal. Strange components that resembled tentacles and robotic legs started to extend from within the masses of metal. These metal pieces slowly closed in and became stuck to each other.

  Like a drop of liquid merging into a more substantial drop of liquid, these balls of metal started to meet with each other, joining together to form an even more humongous and fearsome metallic creation.

  It wasn't just the mountain of metal that was being affected. Even the construction machines and magical machines of the excavation site were starting to activate under the control of Gazlowe's mental consciousness. Plenty of goblin technicians also suddenly ran out of the alchemy factories, the engineering factories, and the magical machine assembly lines at the edge of the camp.

  Those massive metal factories abruptly grew robotic legs and climbed towards the pit like giant beasts.

  For a moment, the twisted and morphing bodies of metallic creations could be seen all over the camp.

  They twisted and morphed as they slowly gathered together using all sorts of strange means. They pieced together to form even more bizarre and unique metal creations.

  Metal spiders, metal beetles, metal wolves, metal slimes, and many other strange creations whose actual forms couldn't be identified.

  The lifeless metal pieces would bend and shift into odd objects that no one recognized. However, the construction machines and combat machines, as well as the large factories, all had fixed shapes already. They couldn't be wasted in such a manner. They kept their original form as, bit by bit, the other metal creations started to merge with them.

  A small drop of water became a large drop of water, which turned into a stream, and the stream ultimately became a towering metal giant. It had a head, a body, and four limbs. The surface of its body was uneven, and one could see the signs of the metal spliced into its body.

  Still, this two hundred and seventeen-meter tall metal giant finally appeared before everyone.

  O
nce the metal giant had formed, Gazlowe drove the magic generator furnace toward its broad chest. As the furnace got closer, a black hole appeared in the chest that drew the furnace into the metal giant.

  A short moment later, the magic generator furnace had been connected to the internal energy circulation system of the metal giant. The dead colossus promptly sprang to life.

  Violent magic energy coursed through the body of the metal giant, activating one goblin factory after another located within it. COnstruction and combat machines repeatedly lit up. The entire surface of the giant gleamed with a ghostly light unique to magical metals and an intangible soul forcefield formed around it.

  As that immense energy flowed through the metal giant, its rough body that had been cobbled together from pieces of metal started to turn even finer. Bumps began to appear on its rough round head. Distinct facial features could now be seen on it.

  Even though these things were only appearances and had no impact on the metal giant's functions or powers, it made it looked a lot better on the eyes.

  One couldn't be certain if it were an intentional or unintentional act, but the face of the metal giant was fairly similar to Greem's.

  However, the metal giant was just too big. Even Greem was no taller than its lips if the two were compared.

  The Crimson adepts gathered together and started talking amongst themselves.

  The giant before them was large enough. The question was– how were its defense and offense?

  Greem had also flown out of the ground now. He slowly landed by the other adepts.

  "Deserra, you try attacking it!" Greem gave an order.

  As the disciple of Meryl and the grand-disciple of Greem, Deserra was an elementium adept with wind affinity. It had been no more than seven years since he had advanced to adept level.

  Deserra was a quiet person that didn't enjoy too much social interaction. As such, he didn't stand out amongst Greem's faction and didn't have too much of a presence. However, his existence represented the legacy of the Crimson Clan. That was why Greem had also started paying attention to him recently.