Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  Rare resources and high-grade knowledge would still have to be obtained through life-risking ventures into the Black Forest or participation in interplanar wars. Otherwise, the high price of these things would be enough to crush any free adept without a clan to back them.

  If they didn't want to take risks, they would have to slowly collect the necessary knowledge and resources through long years of service. It undoubtedly took up an immense amount of time and energy.

  As such, when Greem looked at the basic equipment models provided by the Chip, he wasn't looking at magical equipment. He was looking at towering and unreachable mountains of magical crystals.

  Greem would have to squeeze every last bit of juice out of the Crimson Clan's reserves to even have a chance at completing this Fire Throne set. Consequently, he could not complete the set in a short amount of time!

  The more practical solution was to choose one or two pieces of the set and forge those first to increase his combat power. Once the clan's financial situation was in a better spot, he could consider creating the rest of the set pieces.

  If that was to be the case, then which pieces should he choose?

  Greem's passionate gaze roamed about the five magical pieces as he gritted his teeth and considered how he should make his choice.

  When compared to each other, the Burning Suncrown provided the highest resistance of the five set pieces. It was also clearly the core equipment of the set. However, the Ring of Fire it provided overlapped with Greem's mastery of the same spell. If the effect of the two spells couldn't be stacked, then the value and efficiency in picking it would be much lower.

  Meanwhile, The Fearless' most eye-catching skill was its ability to summon a group of fire creatures. Elementium golems could entirely replace this ability and could not complement or compensate Greem's current abilities.

  Now that these two pieces had been excluded, it was easier to make a choice. Greem only needed to choose between the Emblem of Fire, Ash, and the Fire Dragon's Breath pendant.

  Greem frowned and pondered the question for quite a while. Finally, he made up his mind and chose the Emblem of Fire and Ash, the boots. He already possessed plenty of offensive magic. A free Second Grade Dragon's Breath spell wasn't enough to attract his interest. Instead, the unique abilities of the other two magical equipment gave him something to look forward to.

  The initial cost estimate of creating the Emblem of Fire and Ash was four hundred and sixty thousand magical crystals. Moreover, he would also have to purchase some fire dragon's hide, fire agates of the highest quality, and a type of unique magical alloy known as Flameloathe Iron.

  Greem had plenty of high-quality fire agates.

  He had obtained these after scouring the nest of Second Grade Green Dragon Ohgu back in Faen Plane.

  Flameloathe Iron was a more troublesome material to obtain. It was a unique magical material formed from Pyrophobic Stones found deep in volcanoes after they had been soaked in the blood of fire creatures for a long time. It was very rare for such a material to appear naturally. Consequently, they only truly emerged in the laboratories of high-grade alchemists.

  If Greem needed it, his only choice was to send people to buy some from the forces scattered around Zhentarim. Of course, he could also find some in the shops and auctions that the Silver Union had set up in the central area. However, the price was proportional to its rarity.

  It was the last material–a fire dragon's hide–that troubled Greem the most!

  It was hard to find large dragon-type beasts in the World of Adepts nowadays, not to mention pureblood fire dragons.

  Since he was to forge a piece of Second Grade magical equipment, it was clear that a Second Grade fire dragon's hide would be the most suitable material.

  However, Greem might not be able to deal with a Second Grade fire dragon, even if he were to bring along all the Second Grade adepts in the clan. After all, dragons were universally known to be powerful beings. They had absolutely no problem fighting off multiple enemies.

  Moreover, the dragons weren't stupid either. If they were fighting a losing battle, they could just flap their wings and fly away. Greem and his adepts would have an immensely difficult time stopping them from escaping.

  The only ones in the Crimson Clan who had the endurance to take a Second Grade fire dragon head-on were Dragonborn Zacha and Tigule's Goblin Shredder. However, as a half-blood dragonborn, Zacha was very easily affected by a dragon's aura of might.

  It was likely that his legs would be trembling even before he started fighting.

  It wasn't his lack of courage, but his half-dragon bloodline being affected by the dragon's presence!

  The other tank, the Goblin Shredder, was agile on the ground despite its heavy metal body. However, it was no better than a clumsy bear when the battle took to the skies. Having it fly up into the air and intercept the dragon would be a comical sight.

  The only ones in the clan who could match the dragons in flight speed were Mary and her blood knights and blood elves. However, these people were all pseudo-Second Grade. They had the attributes of Second Grade creatures, but they didn't have the combat power to match.

  Moreover, vampires naturally had a weakness they could not compensate for– their weak defenses and frail bodies. A massive dragon's breath would be more than enough to exterminate the lot of them.

  That was why Greem had often resorted to schemes and geography to constrain the dragons' movements and flying abilities when facing them in the past. He would then fight as fast as he could and knock out the dragons with wild attacks in the shortest time possible, before they could even react.

  Otherwise, once the dragons realized the situation they were in, they could easily use the advantage of their resilient bodies to drag the Crimson adepts into a guerilla war. When that happened, the ones who would die wouldn't be the dragons, but Greem and his adepts!

  All these troublesome matters made the crafting process almost impossible. Any other adept would probably have to choose a replacement material with similar attributes to a fire dragon's hide. For example, the hide of a fire lizard, or the skin of a Blazebird.

  However, Greem happened to have a certain Plane of Lance in his hands. Since there was a female fire dragon like the Third Grade Star of Apocalypse Philipa, it shouldn't be a problem finding a suitable Second Grade fire dragon. It seemed there was one such Second Grade fire dragon in the dragonflight that had followed Philipa to assault the fortress.

  Greem fell silent in thought and started contacting Brain Monster Gazlowe, who was far away in Lance.

  Chapter 726 Dragonslaying Expedition

  As expected, Greem obtained information on the Second Grade fire dragon he wanted from Gazlowe.

  Bamler Borratec. Second Grade fire dragon. Dragon Lord of the Searing Canyon in the Burning Plains, ten thousand kilometers away from the Stonetalon Mountains where the metal fortress was.

  In all honesty, if it weren't for Philipa inviting the dragon, Greem's influence would not have extended to such a distant place, even in three to five years. Naturally, he would not have gotten in contact with this Second Grade fire dragon.

  Now that they had a clear target, Greem no longer hesitated. He started ordering Gazlowe to gather information on Second Grade Fire Dragon Bamler Borratec as quickly as possible.

  At the same time, Greem started to make the proper preparations for this dragonslaying expedition.

  Fire dragons like this often lived in extremely harsh environments, such as volcanos or underground lava seas. Neither area was a place that ordinary individuals could set foot.

  Greem's combat power would not be affected in such an environment and would, in fact, increase tremendously. However, the other adepts in the clan would not enjoy such a boon. Their strength would be significantly limited there.

  To prevent the clan adepts from being affected by the environment, they had to prepare things like fire-resistant equipment, magic-resistance potions, healing potions, and healing wa
nds ahead of time. Of course, if they could get a map of the Second Grade fire dragon's den before the fight started, their victory would be much more assured.

  Greem handed this reconnaissance task to Old Fox Vanlier and two blood knights.

  They would set off from the metal fortress and sneak all the way to the Second Grade fire dragon's base. They would then have to find a way to abduct a dragonborn servant and obtain a map of the fire dragon's palace through interrogation.

  The task of collecting fire-resistant equipment was left to Snorlax.

  As the future manager of the Crimson Clan's finances, such a minor task was his responsibility to complete!

  Meanwhile, anything related to potions was left to Gargamel. He was a potions master, after all. Fulfilling the needs of the Crimson Clan was no problem as long as he had sufficient materials.

  The few Second Grade blood elves that had joined the clan had just switched from nature affinity to blood affinity; they were still figuring out how to control their powers for use in combat. As such, they would not be participating in this dragonslaying expedition. Otherwise, they would definitely be the first casualties.

  Apart from internal preparations, Greem was also trying his best to recruit external help.

  Unfortunately, Third Grade Thunder Dragon Arms had no interest in victimizing his own kind. He firmly rejected Greem's invitation. However, Greem personally suspected that Arms' disinterest was purely due to his subordinates being emerald and green dragons. These two types of dragons were nature and forest dragons and wouldn't fancy staying in a blazing land of fire that had no trace of green.

  Even if he helped Greem obtain the Burning Plains and the Searing Canyon, both the spoils and territory would only belong to the adepts. Arms would get nothing.

  Though this was a somewhat uncharitable suspicion, Greem believed this to be the actual answer, especially given his understanding of Arms!

  After facing rejection from the thunder dragon, Greem could only place his hopes of reinforcement in the dragon-devouring female assassin– Oliven. He promised to retrieve only a suitable amount of dragon hide as well as the dragon crystal after killing the fire dragon. Oliven gladly agreed to this offer and hurried to the metal fortress.

  Oliven hadn't been idling about while Greem and the Crimson adepts were absent from Lance. She had been spending her days roaming near the dens of the various dragon lords. When she met Greem again, she immediately and very firmly requested to exchange this information for the Second Grade fire dragon's dragon crystal.

  After all, devouring the entirety of a dragon was the only way to provide Oliven with a noticeable increase in power. The evolution ability of a dragon devourer would be severely hampered if they couldn't devour the fairly significant dragon crystal.

  Trying to exchange a bunch of non-crucial information for a Second Grade dragon crystal they were bound to get? Greem was amused and almost laughed out loud at Oliven's naivety.

  It couldn't be helped. Oliven spent her days roaming about in the wild and rarely ever interacted with others. Even though she was talented and intelligent, she couldn't help but betray her low social skills.

  Greem once again smiled and offered his conditions to this dragon-devourer who possessed the title of Dragon Hunter.

  Join the Crimson Clan and become an official adept of the Crimson Clan!

  As long as she did this, Greem would be willing to offer a Second Grade fire dragon crystal as her pay. Moreover, Oliven would be able to enjoy the same privileges as the other clan adepts from now on.

  Oliven didn't reject this offer immediately like she had last time. Instead, she spent a whole two weeks to think about it. The ruin of her family and the extinction of her kind had made her distrustful of all other people.

  However, the temptation of a complete Second Grade fire dragon was too immense. Oliven had practically suffered through these two weeks with minimal amounts of sleep.

  In the end, Oliven could not resist the urge and desire to grow stronger and agreed to Greem's conditions.

  Unbeknownst to the outside world, the Crimson Clan had recruited yet another strange Second Grade– Dragon Devourer Oliven.

  In all seriousness, Oliven's Second Grade power was very much inflated!

  If she was fighting against a dragon, there was no doubt that she would be able to unleash the strength of an advanced Second Grade. However, if she weren't dealing with a dragon but a Second Grade adept, Oliven would be no more than a beginner Second Grade female assassin.

  Moreover, according to the employment agreement signed between the two parties, Oliven refused to leave Lance. She was only willing to provide the Crimson Clan with the necessary fighting power on that plane. Greem didn't push too hard on this matter. After all, the Crimson Clan was not facing an imminent threat of war in the World of Adepts. Currently, most of their efforts were still invested in Lance. As such, their goals were essentially the same.

  …………

  Burning Plains, Searing Canyon.

  It was a land that was perpetually burning.

  Everything on the ground that could ignite had already been burned to ashes. The only things left were a field of red-hot rocks and a thick layer of ash.

  Dense volcanic clouds floated two hundred meters above the ground, turning the sky dark and gray. The sun hanging in the sky was like a dark red fireball, slowly radiating heat and light without any of its usual warmth and gentleness.

  Walking on this scorching land that could catch fire at any moment was an intolerable experience. Even the air that one inhaled was unbearably hot and scalding. An ordinary person would probably have all of the water in their bodies drained away by the heat in less than half an hour, leaving only a dry and cracked corpse behind.

  The only things that could survive in this land were fire magical beasts or elementium creatures. All other living beings had either migrated or turned into someone's lunch.

  Either way, there was no point in living in a place like this without exceptional fire resistance!

  Newcomers to this land often thought of the Burning Plains as a dead zone where life could not bloom and where deathly silence reigned supreme.

  However, when they entered the Plains, they would be shocked to find countless creatures living in this harsh environment. There were large groups of intelligent lifeforms among them, like the Blackiron Dwarves, the Firethroat Dragonborn, Flamebelly Ogres, Blackstone Orcs, and countless other magical creatures such as Magma Beasts, Lava Beetles, Magma Elementals, and many other elementium creatures with limited intelligence.

  As the subordinates of the Second Grade Bamler Borratec, the Firethroat Dragonborn were the undisputed rulers of this place. Meanwhile, the Blackstone Orcs and the Blackiron Dwarves were only subordinate forces of the Firethroat Dragonborn, helping them maintain their rule over the Burning Plains.

  Meanwhile, Second Grade Fire Dragon Bamler Borratec hid deep within the Searing Canyon.

  The so-called Searing Canyon was just a fissure that had opened up in the center of the Burning Plains.

  A long and narrow fissure had been opened in the ground here. Looking down from above, one could still see the roiling lava a thousand meters below. Bamler's den was constructed in the side of a wall just one hundred meters above the sea of lava.

  Under the oversight of the dragon, the Blackiron Dwarves had only managed to dig out a winding labyrinth there after losing a hundred of their own. The bedroom of the fire dragon lord was located at the end of the labyrinth.

  In all truthfulness, Old Fox Vanlier had not been able to obtain a map of the fire dragon's labyrinth, even after he had tried his best. According to the dragonborn guard they had captured, the Second Grade fire dragon lord had devoured all Blackiron Dwarves and dragonborn guards in charge of constructing the labyrinth once it was completed.

  Moreover, Bamler had set up a fearsome number of magical traps and alarms inside the labyrinth.

  It was to completely prevent the possibility
of outsiders trying to get at his hoard!

  Sadly, regardless of how many traps and murder weapons Bamler had prepared, he could not extinguish Greem's determination and resolution to kill him and take his hide.

  However, the only flying ship they possessed been lost in Faen Plane. That caused the Crimson Clan to lose their ability to drop magical machine squads. Marching tens of thousands of kilometers to the Burning Plains with an army of magical machines and crossing through seven or eight dragon lord territories while they did so was an impossible task.

  That was why Greem quickly gave up on the idea of a war. He instead chose to carry out this dragonslaying expedition as a rapid execution with an elite group!

  The participating adepts were naturally the current Second Grade main force of the Crimson Clan.

  As the leader and commander of this operation, Greem was naturally taking part. The other participating adepts included Mary, Zacha, Tigule, Oliven, Bug Adept Billis, and the two blood knights.

  This group could be said to be the strongest force that the Crimson Clan could bring out!

  Chapter 727 Burning Plains

  One month later.

  After traversing many rough mountains and hills, Greem's party of six finally arrived at the Burning Plains they had heard so much about.

  The entire world changed before their eyes when they climbed across one steep mountain.

  The brilliant sun in the sky was covered beneath a layer of dark gray mist; only a sullen red wheel could vaguely be seen.

  However, the most eye-catching feature of the area wasn't its sky or the ever-present heat waves, but the geography.

  When one looked into the distance, they wouldn't be able to find any other color apart from red. There were dark red lands and the crimson rocks. A strange power had twisted this once beautiful mountain into a burning land with almost no life.