Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  As always, more than anything, thank you everyone for your continued readership and support of Age of Adepts!

  -Ryu

  Chapter 769 - The Adept Tower's Trouble

  Inside the main tent at the camp.

  The various leaders and representatives of the adept clans were gathered together and silently watched everything happening on the light screen.

  Sinister and chilling smiles appeared on their faces when they saw Third Grade Haines bogged down by Mary and the other two Second Grades. Some adepts who didn’t get along with the old vampire even let out cold snorts.

  “Lord Yurga, what do you think? Do we need to send reinforcements to Lord Haines?” Some adepts suggested.

  Everyone here could clearly see that the enemies were only able to square off with the old vampire due to the tower’s blessing. Once the camp sent out enough manpower, the Crimson adepts would not have enough power to threaten the many Second Grade adepts here.

  Just as everyone got excited, the sinister adept sitting at the very front coldly said, “Everyone, have you forgotten how the Vik Family lost last time?”

  Everyone’s heart sank, and the volunteering for battle quickly quietened down.

  Indeed, last time, Old Vampire Haines had charged into the Magma Hall before him and his family members had established themselves. In the end, the sly Crimson Clan guided boiling lava into the tunnels, sealing their exit before summoning a Third Grade thunder dragon to defeat them all.

  The strategy was a simple one, but there was no easy solution with the geography being what it was here!

  Fire Throne was hidden deep underground. It was impossible to invade the tower unless they went down there. However, if they were to bring their armies down into the underground world, they could quickly have their exit path cut off by the Crimson Clan due to the environmental advantage. Judging from this aspect, that fire adept had done quite a lot of thinking when he chose this place to build his tower.

  “Then what should we do?” The adepts couldn’t help but be troubled now, “Even if we wait until the army arrives, how are we supposed to attack their tower if we don’t dare to go underground? We can’t possibly wait for them to starve to death, could we?!”

  Adept Yurga cackled chillingly, “You people are getting worried too early. I have already sent men into the underground lava sea by another route. They are to create an eruption there. When that happens, the opponent will be facing a much bigger problem than us, given that they are situated right by the edge of the lava sea. Also, every day that the lava sea is in chaos is a day that they will not be able to obtain magical energy from the underground successfully. That’s more advantageous to our attack as well, isn’t it?”

  The adepts were glad to hear this.

  They looked around the tent and quickly realized that they were indeed missing a few familiar faces, particularly those of fire adepts. As such, they knew well enough to sit back down in their seats.

  Meanwhile, the bloody battle was still going on in the underground tunnels!

  Mary, Zacha, and Tigule were retreating as they fought. The battlefield had already extended near the Magma Hall. Fire Throne could provide them with five Fire Shields every one minute, and every Fire Shield could resist around two hundred points of elementium damage.

  When taking into consideration their magic resistance and defensive forcefield, such a defense was already very shocking.

  Unfortunately, they were currently dealing with a Third Grade adept.

  Though vampires were not known for their offensive power, their extremely high Agility gave them stunning attack sped and frequency, not to mention their fearsome ability to regenerate by sucking blood. The three-person group’s Fire Shields never lasted for more than twenty seconds before they were slashed to pieces by the old vampire’s sharp claws.

  For the remaining forty seconds, the three of them had to rely on each other’s cover and counterattacks to force back the phantasmal crimson silhouette of Haines.

  Meanwhile, the wounds that they had risked their lives to inflict upon him would quickly vanish without a trace amid some crimson light. The slow Dragonborn Zacha, in particular, became the focus of the vampire’s attacks and a moving blood bank for him to infinitely regenerate.

  Mary’s speed was not as quick, her attacks were not as powerful, and the enemy entirely suppressed her bloodsucking abilities. For the first time, Mary felt the pain and helplessness that her past opponents had experienced!

  In the past, Mary had always relied on the various advantages of vampire adepts to stick to the enemy and ferociously trade blow for blow before taking in blood and healing her wounds. The old vampire was perfectly replicating this hated style of combat of hers and using it on her. One could easily imagine how angry and upset she was.

  From the start of the battle, Mary had been roaring in anger and trying to find ways to trade wounds with Haines.

  Unfortunately, even with the blessing of the tower, the difference in combat power between her and Haines could not be offset. However, as the three of them approached the tower, the power being transmitted to them increased.

  By the time the three of them were fighting Haines in the Magma Hall, the tower was glowing with red light and consistently applying Fire Shields on the three of them.

  Break one, and there would still be another behind it. Break two, and four would be applied to them.

  With the full force of the tower behind them, Mary and the others were surrounded continuously by multiple Fire Shields that helped them block the wild attacks of the vampire.

  At this point, Haines finally stopped his attack with much resentment. He turned and fled without another word.

  Trying to kill these three enemies while the tower still existed was no more than fantasy. Moreover, the deeper they penetrated into the radius of the tower, the easier it was for the enemy to focus their firepower on him.

  The offensive power that could come out of a small adept’s tower was not something that even a Third Grade adept would want to try for themselves!

  Mary, Zacha, and Tigule hesitated for a moment, but they did not go forth to intercept Haines.

  They had thoroughly understood the might of a Third Grade adept after the bloody battle earlier. If they were to put their lives on the line, their chance of victory would still be no more than twenty percent, even with the tower protecting them.

  If the clan’s military force suffered severe losses, how were they supposed to conduct the drawn-out defense that came after?!

  As such, Mary didn’t dare to provoke Haines any further, regardless of how impulsive and battle-hungry she was. Otherwise, even if they were to wound Haines severely, the few of them would not escape unscathed.

  With the retreat of the leading forces on both sides, this first contact before the great battle ended without a hitch!

  ………

  Fire Elementium Plane.

  Greem furiously took off the Black Qiraji Resonating Crystal and ended his conversation with Alice.

  Though he was far away in the Elementium Plane, he still knew very well of what had happened recently in Fire Throne back in the World of Adepts.

  If it weren’t for the repeated guarantees from Alice, Greem would not have been able to stop himself from returning.

  “Do you want a group of teammates who can fight with you, or do you want a group of servants and subordinates that can only cheer you on? If you take the lead against everything that comes at you, and always place yourself in the most dangerous spot, do you think that Mary and the others have a chance to grow? Believe me, though they will encounter ‘certain’ levels of danger, this danger will be worth it in the long term. In fact, I would say it is necessary.”

  Greem had no choice but to extinguish the idea to immediately return to Fire Throne when he thought of Alice’s well-meaning advice. He continued to carry out his exploration of the other plane carefully.

  During this past month, he had successfully t
raveled several tens of thousands of kilometers and visited many strange lands of fire. More importantly, he had obtained a whole storage ring’s worth of fire treasures.

  He had also run into some native Fire Lords of the Fire Elementium Plane during this period.

  In a place as vast as the Fire Elementium Plane, any powerful fire creature could call themselves a Fire Lord. The land they ruled over could be a small fire pool that took up several dozen square kilometers, a remote fire valley, or even a massive stretch of volcanoes.

  As for their power? They ranged from anywhere between First Grade to Third Grade.

  Thus, along the way, Greem exterminated all First Grade Fire Lords that he encountered, adding more fire cores to his pouch. When he ran into Second Grades, he would test out their abilities and find ways to trap them and kill them if they were reasonably weak. After all, fire elementium creatures had simple and impulsive minds. They were easily baited with a bit of provocation.

  Greem himself was also a powerful fire adept. When aided by the Flame Fiend of Terror, there was no powerful Fire Lord that could endure their combined devastation, especially if they prepared some hidden magical arrays ahead of time. Greem’s pouch had three Second Grade fire cores added to them during this journey.

  Still, if you always go up the mountain, you will eventually run into a tiger. These killings eventually brought unnecessary trouble upon Greem!

  Just a while ago, Greem had messed up and drew the ire of a Third Grade Flaming Tiger. Ever since then, he had been caught in endless pursuit.

  He ran for over three thousand kilometers and crossed through the territories of seven or eight Fire Lords before he finally tricked the flaming tiger in another direction with an adept’s cunning and a fire clone. It was only then that he got the chance to find a fire cave to hide in and use his Black Qiraji Resonating Crystal to communicate with Alice for a moment.

  It was only with Alice’s reassurance that Greem decided to let go of his worries of home and cast all his attention to the research and analysis of this strange world.

  He had no choice but to admit that the Fire Elementium Plane was truly a higher plane that was worth dedicating time and effort to understand and master.

  Firstly, the size of the plane was no smaller than the World of Adepts. It was also a large plane.

  Secondly, the upper limit of energy it could endure within the plane was also much higher than the World of Adepts and most other material planes. After this period of analysis and research, Greem discovered that the Fire Elementium Plane could host elementium creatures as high as the Seventh Grade.

  That meant Greem had to be extremely careful and cautious when exploring this plane. Otherwise, a small Second Grade fire adept like himself would not even be able to endure a single slap from a high-grade elementium. Even a Fourth Grade fire elementium could exterminate Greem without a chance for him to escape, let alone a Seventh Grade.

  For a high-grade fire elemental, killing him was no more difficult than killing a fly!

  Chapter 770 - Strange Flaming Tiger

  Greem was on a wild run!

  For some reason, the Third Grade Flaming Tiger had been pursuing Greem closely ever since it had laid eyes on him. If it weren’t for some special tricks by Greem, it would probably have caught up.

  He had used a fire clone to misdirect the flaming tiger last time, but he didn’t make it a hundred kilometers away before the flaming tiger appeared on his tail again. Of course, the flaming tiger only discovered a temporary camp that Greem had set up to rest in. With the fire rune he left behind, Greem instantly knew that it was the tiger that had found his camp.

  A Third Grade flaming tiger was not a target he could defeat!

  Thus, Greem had no choice but to start running with everything he had again.

  In all honesty, the Fire Elementium Plane was an excellent place to train and cultivate, but it was definitely not suited for a vacation.

  The scenery here was so repetitive that it was miserable!

  There were either stretches of magma pools, an endless sea of fire, or some strange plains, hills, and volcanoes shrouded in smoke.

  The scenery was repetitive, dry, and the creatures were dull and stiff. The powerful fire elementium creatures might be intelligent, but they didn’t seem to have anything resembling entertainment. Four seasons a year, year after year, the only thing that the fire elementium creatures seemed to do was endlessly wander the plane until they found a place with sufficient flame energy for them to settle in.

  Even Greem couldn’t help but feel as if he was turning into a dull person after living for so long in this world. All the conspiring and deceiving in the past was like a dream from a past life. The memories of those times had been shattered by the monotonous life that he was currently leading.

  However, Greem’s understanding of the fire elementium creatures had deepened after spending so long in this world.

  Throughout his endless wandering in the Fire Elementium Plane, Greem had witnessed the process of a fire elemental’s birth more than once.

  In all honesty, fire elementium creatures were born in the manner described in books– born of fire, die in fire!

  A strange fire flux would appear in an empty place. Then, a bright-red fist-sized flame would emerge. After absorbing some of the wandering fire elementium, the fire would form a vague face.

  It was the most commonly seen low-grade elementium creature of the Fire Elementium Plane– a Fire Spirit.

  Fire spirits possessed the strength of a beginner apprentice the moment they were born. They could spit low-intensity elementium fireballs with an offensive power of between five to ten points.

  If these low-grade fire spirits were allowed to absorb fire energy freely, they could grow into powerful fire elementals and flame spirits within a hundred years. Their power then would be approximately equal to an advanced apprentice!

  After becoming a fire elemental or a flame spirit, it meant that they had started to possess a complete body and soul consciousness. Though this soul consciousness was fragile, it was enough for them to use explosive fireballs and area-of-effect fire spells with offensive power of up to thirty points.

  If the Fire Kings ever waged war against another plane, they could be considered the most fundamental fighting forces of the Fire Elementium Plane!

  They might not amount to much in the Fire Elementium Plane, but in any other plane, an individual that could casually toss out massive fireballs of thirty points could easily be considered a decent spellcaster. Yet, there were just so many such individuals in the Fire Elementium Plane. The Fire Kings could go to any random spot and immediately recruit a whole army of them. There was no need to cultivate or train them specially.

  It was this peculiar trait of the Fire Elementium Plane that caused this place never to lack soldiers.

  If it wasn’t because most other planes were not suited for fire creatures to reside in, and because most Fire Kings had no interest in taking trips to other worlds, even a large plane like the World of Adepts would not have much chance of winning against the Fire Elementium Plane.

  After all, the massive group of fire creatures born and nurtured in the Fire Elementium Plane was not something that other material planes could hope to emulate.

  Out of curiosity, Greem had also caught some newly born fire spirits and thoroughly dissected them. Though he did not have a well-equipped laboratory, the Chip’s detailed scans and x-ray vision allowed Greem to discover some things.

  Fire spirits could entirely be said to be the combination of fire energy and a consciousness brand. The fire energy of a newly born fire spirit naturally came from the ubiquitous energy field all over the Fire Elementium Plane. However, where did the consciousness brand come from?

  Greem had checked the fire spirits. Most of their consciousness brands were pure, but fragile, and there were no memories or consciousness shards within them. That was why newly born fire spirits were so dull and stiff. However, the attent
ion-oriented Greem still discovered some soul shard remnants on individual consciousness brands.

  Most fire spirits were a bundle of shapeless flames with no consciousness at birth. However, those fire spirits that preserved pieces of consciousness would shape the flames that formed their bodies into weird shapes based on the memory fragments in their consciousness brands.

  These could be beasts, humans, things, or even wind.

  At any rate, the broken past consciousness in the soul shards, as well as the memories in them, drove the actions of the newly born fire spirits, causing them to simulate their forms from their ‘previous lives.’ As such, it could be deduced that the flaming tiger that was tracking Greem belonged to such a situation.

  As it possessed parts of its memory and experience from its previous life, it walked on a road completely different from native fire creatures in their own process of growth. At the very least, the flaming tiger was vastly superior to the other fire creatures Greem had met in terms of soul activity and curiosity.

  If he had the chance, Greem would naturally want to capture the flaming tiger and dissect its body to thoroughly understand the birth process of an elementium creature’s soul consciousness. However, considering the difference in their power, Greem could only avoid the tiger and find ways to evade its relentless pursuit.

  In all seriousness, this flaming tiger was really entirely different from the other fire creatures that Greem had encountered.

  The Blazefire flamespirits that Greem had first encountered gave up on pursuing him after five hundred kilometers, even though he had killed so many of their people. Yet, this Third Grade flaming tiger had chased him for over five thousand kilometers. It was almost as if it wouldn’t stop until it had caught Greem.