Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  Most of the bullets had been blocked by the large body of the silver pegasus. Hegus' flashing saber had also parried more than half of the remaining shots. However, there were still plenty of bullets that had made it past the flashing glimpses of the blade. They embedded themselves in his body.

  Hegus' lithe and fit body trembled wildly in the air. He was kept suspended in the air for a moment as large clusters of blood exploded into a bloody mist in the air alongside shards of flesh and skin.

  The metal bullets might not be large, but the kinetic energy contained within them was extraordinarily great. These bullets the size of finger bones would even pierce straight through the body of a mortal, leaving a large gaping wound in the part of the body that had been hit.

  Hegus was indeed an elite elven knight. His Physique and Strength were far above an ordinary person, allowing him to be a hundred times more resilient.

  Four bullets passed through his left shoulder, leaving a massive wound there. One pierced his right leg, practically blasting away the majority of the flesh on his calf. Another slashed past the left of his stomach, leaving a deep gash behind, while another embedded itself somewhere slightly beneath his right chest, snapping and shattering most of the surrounding bones.

  A mortal would have already died from such horrendous wounds. Yet, Hegus was still alive and quickly plummeting from high up in the skies. With his current injuries and his current altitude, he would die to the tremendous impact of landing, even if it was sea water beneath him.

  A light whinny.

  The familiar sound of hooves clopping in air rang out by his ear.

  Hegus felt his body tighten. Cidaris had successfully caught him and help avoid the fate of falling to his death.

  Cidaris' eyes swelled with tears as he held his bloody companion in one hand and drove the silver pegasus to the best of his abilities with the other. He dodged left and right, barely avoiding a dozen lasers shooting down from the metal ship above.

  The metal ship high in the sky didn't seem to be bothered by these two silver pegasus knights. They didn't change their course to continue pursuing the knights, despite seeing that their two rounds of barraging had failed to kill them. Instead, the boat turned slightly and pushed toward the two elven battleships in the distance.

  The elven battleships were already in disarray at this point. They turned around with much difficulty under the loud commands of the elven commanders and were desperately escaping toward Garan. A swarm of flying creatures rose from the battleships and charged in the direction of the metal battleship.

  These were the two hundred odd flower fairies that came to sea alongside the elven battleships.

  They weren't large, but they numbered many and had claws coated in plant poison. Moreover, their flight speed was remarkably swift. These fairies were perfectly qualified to be the short-ranged flying squad of the battleships.

  Sadly, their wings were too thin. They had plenty of speed, but insufficient strength.

  Consequently, they started to falter when they rose to a height of about a hundred meters.

  Over half of the previously intimidating swarm of flower fairies was instantly shot down by the metal ship's bombardment. The remaining fairies let out screeches and quickly scattered.

  Those flower fairies that turned around and tried in vain to return to the battleships were quickly caught up by the metal ship and easily exterminated. Only the slightly smarter flower fairies turned and flew toward the sea. That was the only way they managed to avoid the next round of energy attacks.

  After all, those who cruised along the sea couldn't possibly outrun that which flew in the sky!

  Seven minutes later, the flying ship caught up with the two battleships. Both ships were sunk amidst much creaking and groaning from three rounds of concentrated fire.

  For a moment, large amounts of debris and countless struggling elven warriors floated in the sea.

  The flying ship didn't seem to be concerned about these weak elves. Its large hull adjusted itself once again, giving up on exterminating these capsized elves, and turned around to fly toward the Echo Isles.

  There, the Dark Witches and Pale Witches had emerged from their stronghold and were standing before the main fortress of the main island. They were looking upon this massacre above the sea from a distance!

  "Disregarding the magical crystal exhaustion and cost, such metal fortresses that can fly in the skies would truly be undefeatable and powerful existences within all lesser planes." The Third Grade Dark Witch Uzzah couldn't help but nod and give her praise.

  Alice might only be of First Grade, but if she could offer up this flying ship, then she just barely had the right to cooperate with her.

  Uzzah, who had still been holding some doubts about this partnership, immediately became all smiles.

  The Fate Witches might have plenty of magical crystals and were extravagantly using the flying ship. However, in the end, they couldn't produce someone who could hold down the fort. Thus, Uzzah just might be able to obtain the dominant position in this operation and make Alice bow to her every whim and fancy!

  On the other hand, the Third Grade Pale Witch in charge of guarding this island didn't directly show herself. Instead, she hid within the strong fortress and used her Spirit to assess this strange flying ship silently.

  Even she couldn't help but treat it as the flying ships of the Silver Union when she first saw it– transportation vehicles that could only ferry passengers and goods. However, her Spirit was immediately arrested outside the ship by a peculiar energy field layer when she extended it toward the ship.

  Hmm? An energy field?

  The Third Grade Pale Witch was surprised once again.

  Could the Fate Witches be so wasteful as to put on an energy field for such a massive battleship?! How many magical crystals had this cost them!

  These unpredictable Fate Witches.

  The Third Grade Pale Witch sighed helplessly.

  Chapter 632 Their Respective Schemes

  A small welcoming party was held in the large guest hall on the flying ship.

  As the hosts, the adepts of the Fate Witches were surprisingly not too far behind the guests in terms of number and quality. There was a single Third Grade, one Second Grade, and nine First Grade among the eleven Dark Witches. Meanwhile, the Fate Witches had Greem and Zacha as their Second Grade attendees for this banquet. They had plenty of First Grade adepts as well.

  In general, disregarding the higher-grade adepts, the Fate Witches were more powerful compared to the Dark Witches.

  Of course, the main reason such an exciting situation had come to rise was that the Dark Witches sent to Faen were only a fraction of the branch's strength. On the other hand, the Fate Witches were already putting out all of their available manpower!

  Almost all of the Northern Witches already knew of the young Second Grade fire adept's relationship with Alice.

  Due to their usually low profile and distance from each other, no odd rumors had been spread about them. However, for this journey to Faen, an undeniable combination of powers had appeared between these two forces from the central region and the north.

  It had caused dissatisfaction among some of the Northern Witch leaders!

  Of course, these worrisome matters were things that concerned the higher-ups. It didn't affect the collaboration of the Dark Witches and the Fate WItches here in this other world.

  Still, with the usual pride and arrogance of the Northern Witches, they didn't assign too much importance to Greem, despite his identity as a Second Grade fire adept. The Second Grade Dark Witch prefer to talk to Snowlotus rather than exchange a single word with Greem.

  Greem couldn't help but sigh internally at this sort of arrogance.

  At the same time, the 'guilt' he felt over his deception and manipulation of them immediately faded!

  The flying ship turned back and flew off without any pause after fetching these Dark Witches from the Echo Isles.

  The three le
aders of their respective forces met up in a secret room for a discussion while the witches were gathered in the hall socializing.

  Uzzah, Alice, and Greem.

  Uzzah was upset with Greem's presence here. Her first words upon seeing Greem were an innuendo, "You are truly fit!" Having said that, she turned toward Alice and teased, "You truly know how to choose."

  For a moment, both Alice and Greem's face turned gray.

  Uzzah was a black-robed, middle-aged witch. She had a sinister face, a hooked nose, and thick, dark-colored lips; she looked somewhat insane. Still, the dense aura of darkness around her was unforgettable.

  As a Third Grade Witch, Uzzah had no need for reservations in front of the two of them. That was why Alice and Greem could only chuckle forcibly in response to her crazy comments. They could not break into conflict with Uzzah.

  Moreover, those two seemingly innocuous sentences had quite obviously placed the Second Grade Greem in the position of Alice's male concubine. She was obviously trying to force Greem out of the room before negotiations had even started!

  Fortunately, Greem and Alice had already established an understanding. Greem kept his mouth shut and sat silently to the side, leaving Alice to deal with Uzzah alone.

  Alice might only be of First Grade, but she had the wondrous magical and metaphorical halo of a witch leader over her head. That was why Uzzah wouldn't dare to push her too far, even if she was two entire grades above Alice.

  At the very least, Uzzah had to wait for Alice to sit before she could.

  The negotiations were direct and efficient!

  They were both Northern Witches, and because of that, they knew very well what they should do when fighting a third party.

  Working together against a common enemy was the best way to cooperate.

  Both of their factions had traveled to this distant plane from the World of Adepts, all for the sake of raiding and robbing enough resources to drive the further development of their clans. The only thing that currently stood in their way were the elves of Garan. They only had a chance at obtaining the richest prize if they could move this massive mountain away.

  However, with the information they currently possessed, it was only a pipe dream for the witches current numbers to be able to beat the elves, who had plenty of powerful fighters. Even the Pale Witches couldn't defeat the elves after mobilizing much of their available strength. It was even more impossible for them with their tiny bit of military force now.

  Furthermore, even if they could defeat the elves, the ones that benefitted the most would only be the Pale Witches. Their allied army would, at the very best, only gain some leftovers. Consequently, neither party had any interest in directly going against the elves.

  They easily settled the remaining issues now that they had agreed upon this important principle.

  Their entrance and exit from Garan would be much smoother than before with the flying ship. As long as they always had a clear target, accurate information, and maintained the basic principle of quick fights and running after the first strike, those dull elves with their stubborn mindsets would never have a simple time catching them.

  The several assaults from the Dark Witches before had always been able to deal decent damage to the elves. However, given the lack of a massive battle platform and logistical base like the flying ship, they could not maximize their profits from each fight.

  Not all the prisoners could be brought back. They could only pick the high-quality elves to bring along with them. The war resources were also far too much for them to take away and the remainder could only be put to the torch. Now that they had the flying ship, all these obstacles were no longer problems. The only difficult question now was how to choose the targets of their assaults!

  If they could successfully surround an elven town or city and abduct all the elves within, then the first mission of Uzzah and the Dark Witches would be immediately completed. That was why Uzzan instantly objected when Alice suggested that they assault the unprepared elven villages on the west coast.

  "We have the flying ship. Our greatest advantage is the unannounced and sudden nature of our attacks. The elven kingdom is sure to slip up without any preparations. Thus, the first strike will always be the one with the greatest chance of success. Rather than waste the first blow on those tiny elven villages that have neither resources nor elites, why don't we go for something bigger and try and swallow an entire elven town with a single bite?" Uzzah got increasingly excited as she spoke. By the end, her voice had practically turned into a scream.

  "But the defensive strength of elven towns is far higher than normal elven villages. From what I know, most elven towns have squads of treant warriors and are protected by powerful unicorns. These are all nature creatures that can compare to First Grade elite adepts. Moreover, there are sure to be plenty of Second Grade elven powerhouses in such towns. If…" Alice raised plenty of objections, but her tone didn't seem to be all that firm.

  Uzzah laughed coldly upon hearing this. She quickly concluded, "I have already seen it. You have quite a few metal golems upon this ship. With them, ordinary elves will no longer be a threat. Even the treants and unicorns would have trouble disposing of them quickly. With the metal golems as meat shields and the number of witches we have, we are more than equipped to sweep away what little defenses they have."

  Having said that and still seeing hesitation upon Alice's face, Uzzah couldn't help but roar, "If someone beyond Second Grade actually appears, you don't need to worry. Just leave them to me. However, I will first take away two-thirds of the prisoners that we gain after the battle."

  She was genuinely demanding a lot by requiring two-thirds of the elven prisoners. She treated her identity of a Third Grade Witch as a golden signature.

  Greem furiously grumbled internally, but he remained unfazed on the surface. He didn't seem to mind at all.

  Uzzah was in a hurry to complete her mission, while Greem and Alice were in a rush to push things into motion as well. They wanted to hitch this Third Grade Dark Witch to their metaphorical wagon as well. Sadly, any impatience and desperation before these sly old witches would draw their suspicion. That was why Greem decided to remain silent and leave everything to Alice's performance.

  Alice was more than agreeable to Uzzah's idea. However, to avoid the opponent's suspicion, she could only suppress her joy and slowly skirt around the issue.

  Finally, after much haggling, both parties agreed upon the target of their assault.

  Jintha'Alor!

  It was a small elven town located where the west and south shore met. It was one thousand seven hundred kilometers deep into Garan. It had a population of seven hundred citizens, with a garrison of as many as two hundred individuals. These two hundred soldiers were all proper elite warriors and nature creatures. They were not like the elven villages that used the flower fairies to pad their numbers.

  Apart from the one hundred and twenty blade dancers in their ranks, they also had twenty druids and fifty elven archers.

  Apart from that, the place also had seven treant warriors and three unicorns.

  According to the information compiled by the Dark Witches and the Fate Witches, the high-end combat force of the enemy consisted of seven Second Grade powerhouses. In particular, the captain of the garrison was a Second Grade weapons master, while the deputy was an elven Deadshot. Two of the druids were also Second Grade master shapeshifters.

  One of the seven treant warriors was also a Second Grade Deadwood Guard. Those were famous tank units among the elves. The three unicorns were a family formed by a male and a female and a foal. The couple was a pair of Second Grade creatures.

  If one were to make the calculations, the allied army of the Dark Witches and Fate Witches would have to formulate a plan if they wished to swallow this tough bone!

  For the next five days, the flying ship continued on its path silently, flying high above the cloud layer. They slowly approached their prey from beyond the senses of the elves.
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br />   The witches hadn't been idle for the past ten days either.

  Those skilled in poison brewed poisons while other witches prepared their curse staffs. Everyone appeared to be extremely busy.

  Finally, on the sixth day since the Dark Witches boarded the flying ship, they finally appeared near this small town known as Jintha'Alor.

  Chapter 633 Jintha'Alor

  This place was a peaceful and harmonious elven town.

  Unlike the human towns, which thrived on trade, elven towns were locations meant to provide warriors of nearby villages with opportunities for interaction and training.

  Unlike the humans, even a young elf would possess exceptional archery skills and decent close combat skills with a sword. However, most elves preferred the arts, favoring music, dance, flower arrangment and the like. As such, most refused to become combat professionals.

  As free and easygoing forest elves, they could develop in whichever direction they so chose. No one could interfere with their free will.

  However, the leaders of the elven kingdom wanted to avoid the elves being excessively self-absorbed. That would cause the military reserves of the entire elven race to be too relaxed. As such, they founded town-scale training facilities such as Jintha'Alor outside of the very common elven villages.

  Elven villages located around Jintha'Alor had to send their most excellent warriors and all elves that had come of age to this town for training on a yearly basis. The former would all advance to combat professions and be drafted into the armies of the elven kingdom. The latter was more of a militia training so as not to let these young elves completely abandon and waste the traditional archery skills with which the elves had established themselves.

  That was why Jintha'Alor was ten to a hundred times more powerful than the surrounding villages when it came to the elites they possessed.

  Some of the elites that finished their training would join the proud elven army, while some who couldn't give up on their hometowns would return and join their local garrisons. Both options strengthened and increased the pwoer of the elven kingdom.