Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  This crimson pseudo-adept was a young man with a sinister and savage look on his face. He had taken out a bubbling purple-red potion and pulled out the cork. The man hesitated for a moment before gritting his teeth and pouring the medicine over the hole created by the acid arrow.

  The wound sizzled as white smoke rose from the flesh. The young pseudo-adept let out a short cry as beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

  The intense pain finally subsided after he used some purification potion to clear out the rest of the acid in his wound. The pseudo-adept finally relaxed after using some ointments and healing potions to deal with the rest of his injuries.

  Even as beaten up and exhausted as he was, the ferocity and terror that radiated from within him intimidated the people hiding and watching from a distance. This man might not be an adept yet, but his impressive power that allowed him to crush the enemy and decide their fates turned him into a conqueror that stood above all else.

  He was like a kingly lion standing upon a cliff with immense satisfaction and pride that came from looking upon its land and subjects!

  If one were to call the merchants and bodyguards in the camp livestock, then he was a magnificent wolf watching over them! Moreover, he was a bloodied lone wolf who was even more ferocious because of it!

  No matter how severe his wounds, no livestock would dare come close as long as he was still standing!

  After quickly treating his wounds and waiting for them to cease being an issue, the young Crimson pseudo-adept walked toward the battered enemy corpses and started a thorough search for a special item.

  Unfortunately, even after a complete search that included sifting through the bloody scraps, he still didn’t find the objective of his mission.

  The face of the pseudo-adept turned dark, and he set his sights on the last surviving advanced apprentice.

  “Talk. Where did you place the storage ring you secretly snuck out with you? Hand it over and I can let you live. Or else…”

  The pseudo-adept stepped forward and waved his hand. A green blade of wind gathered between his palms.

  “Ptoo!” The golden-haired man knew he was destined for death and instead became exceedingly tight-lipped, “You scum of the Crimson Clan. I wouldn’t tell you anything, even if you killed me.”

  Before he could finish, a flash of green light whizzed past the golden-haired man. The right arm he had been using to support himself was severed at the elbow, and blood soaked the ground below.

  Aaaaaah!

  The man’s screams sounded especially tragic and dismal in the dark night!

  Chapter 802 - Might of the Bug Adept

  After a simple interrogation, the young pseudo-adept managed to pry out the location of that item from the mouth of the dying enemy.

  A few days earlier, Lady Mary had led a group of adepts to destroy a second-class resource site belonging to the Kamala Clan. The Kamala adepts stationed at the site had died, but nearly half of the resources stored in the warehouse were gone.

  Many Crimson apprentices were sent out to hunt down the Kamala remnants who got away.

  He was undoubtedly fortunate to have caught the apprentices that had snuck out of the resource site. According to the clan’s rules, he was entitled to one-third of the spoils from this fight. A strange cheerful-yet-pained smile appeared on the pseudo-adept’s face when he thought of the massive number of resources from the second class resource site.

  The storage ring stuffed full of resources had been hidden in the carriage of one of the apprentices. The young pseudo-adept cut off the golden-haired man’s head without any hesitation and strode toward the wagons. Just then, a sinister old man in white robes emerged from the darkness, leaning on a staff taller than himself and cackling as he showed himself.

  The maple leaf emblem of the Kamala Clan was pinned before his chest.

  “An adept. An official adept!”

  The Crimson pseudo-adept stepped backward in terror and mumbled as he looked at the emerging Kamala adept.

  The pseudo-adept screamed and turned to run toward the darkness as if he had just remembered the horror of an adept.

  However, a dark tentacle emerged from the ground and instantly bound him, causing him to fall into the puddle of blood on the ground.

  “Stay there. If I find you doing anything suspicious, you know what will happen!” The sinister old man coldly said to the pseudo-adept.

  The old adept walked toward one of the mules and pierced its stomach with his right hand. Naturally, there was no way a mule could endure such terrifying damage. It leaped about for a bit before twitching and falling to the ground dead.

  When the old man’s right hand emerged from the bloody mule’s stomach, all of the undigested substances fell out as well. A gleaming bronze ring rested amidst this waste.

  “Hahaha……thank god these kids were smart enough to bring out five years of resource reserves from the resource site. The magical materials shortage of the clan is mostly resolved now, hahaha.”

  The sinister old man reached forward to pick up the ring.

  Suddenly, the earth where the ring had been was broken apart as a swarm of black beetles emerged from below. A tide of insects instantly swallowed the ring!

  Dammit! It’s the bug adept.

  The old adept immediately understood the situation and tapped his staff against the ground. A strange wave rippled in every direction from beneath him. All the black beetles that entered within range of the wave exploded into pieces after a few seconds of painful struggle, turning the old man’s surroundings into a scene of carnage.

  The old man quickly took out a vial after halting the swarm’s advance and drank its contents. As green wings appeared behind his back and took him to the skies, an ear-piercing sound came from his surroundings.

  Silhouettes flashed in the darkness.

  Three or four invisible shadows dashed past the old man’s body.

  The sinister adept let out a pained cry before turning into diced flesh and falling from the sky.

  The black tentacles the old man had summoned dispersed with his death.

  The pseudo-adept climbed up from the ground, hurriedly showing his emblem without any care for the wounds on himself while shouting, “I greet you, Lord Billis! I am Andor, a disciple of Deserra. Thank you for your aid!”

  In truth, Bug Adept Billis still hadn’t shown himself yet. The swarm of insects was gathering around the pieces of flesh and bringing the storage ring to the crack in the ground. The next second, even more black beetles gathered together and formed a strange humanoid shape.

  “You are Deserra’s disciple? Mm, the reward for this mission will be yours then. Take this ring to Lady Mary and claim your reward!”

  The tens of thousands of squirming beetles formed a lifelike humanoid form. As the man made of insects opened its mouth, a hoarse hissing rang out, and the ring was tossed into the hands of the pseudo-adept.

  Andor couldn’t be happier to hear this. He carefully stashed the ring without any delay.

  “Have the people in the camp been cleared?” The humanoid formed of insects turned to look at the terrified crowd hiding in a corner of the camp.

  “Not yet!” Andor hurriedly took out a piece of paper and started reading loudly, “Lord Bug Adept, I have already made some investigations. Two parties in this camp belong to the Kamala Clan.”

  “Who are they?” The insect humanoid screeched.

  “The Red Leaf Trading Group and the Stag Trading Group! The Red Leaf Trading Group belongs to the territory of Kamala noble Count Vanrays, while the Stag Trading Group has over seventy percent capital investment from the Kamala Clan.”

  Like a declaration of death, Andor’s words caused the members of these two groups to shiver in fright. The people around them rapidly fled from them.

  “Kehkehkeh. You dare work with the people of the Kamala Clan? Die.”

  The bug adept hissed, and the swarm instantly engulfed these defenseless mortals. The tide of insects wea
ved through the crowd, not harming the irrelevant and only dragging the members of these two parties into the sea of insects.

  By the time the sound of crunching bones had vanished, and the black swarm retreated to the bug adept’s side, two dozen sets of white skeletons were left in the camp. No trace of flesh remained.

  After clearing up the camp, the bug adept split into tens of thousands of black beetles and dove underground once again. The victorious Crimson Pseudo-Adept Andor no longer dared to remain here. He leaped onto his magical horse and galloped into the darkness.

  The area regained its peace and quiet, and the people hiding in the woods finally dared to return to the camp. A chill struck their hearts when they saw the bloody, scattered corpses on the ground.

  As mortals with no supernatural power in a world ruled by adepts, they did not qualify to become involved in fights between adepts. Regardless of how intense the battle between two adept clans might be, there would always be a day when it came down to negotiations and compromise.

  However, there was no other possibility aside from death for mortals like themselves.

  Tonight’s circumstances were direct evidence that the newly established Crimson Clan had the distinct upper hand. They had not only conquered the Kamala’s resource site but were daring enough to pursue and hunt down the Kamala’s apprentices and adepts. That was a clear sign of the massive difference in power between both forces!

  It was said that the Crimson Clan didn’t even have a Third Grade adept, while the Kamala Clan at least had a Third Grade adept to defend them in the worst case scenario. Why was it that the fighting power of both parties appeared to be the inverse?!

  These people who barely knew anything about the secrets of the adepts could only sigh as they packed up their bags and prepared to leave this temporary camp, even if they had to travel at night.

  Now that the Kamala Clan had lost an adept here, they would be sure to send people to investigate this place.

  If they remained here, then there was no doubt that they would become targets of investigation and revenge for the Kamala Clan. As such, most of the travelers and merchants fled the camp and left this battle-ravaged land without any hesitation.

  …………

  Werning.

  This place was the location of the Northern Witches’ Witch Council.

  Alice was smiling as she talked with the few influential witch leaders in a magical room.

  Supposedly, those who appeared here were all Fourth Grade witch leaders. Someone with such meager power like Alice shouldn’t even be seen here.

  However, the strange ability of the Witch of Fate was far too significant. No witch leader dared to ignore or look down on any word that came out of Alice’s mouth.

  After all, the might of a Witch of Fate depended on her compatibility with the powers of Fate, rather than her own prowess. Of course, the higher her power, the more immense the power of Fate she could wield. It made her an existence that no witch leader could afford to offend, only befriend.

  In all seriousness, during the peak of the first Fate Witch’s reign, she could provide any witch leader with a powerful +3 Halo of Fate. That witch leader would become favored by the powers of Fate for the next year and remain in a state of extreme luck and fortune.

  How terrifying was the might of +3 Luck?

  With +1 Luck, you could find gold nuggets while eating rice, gold bars while you were drinking water, allies when you went outdoors, fox spirits that wished to repay your debt when you went into mountains, and powerful teachers desperate for a disciple when you tried to jump off a cliff and end your life.

  WIth +2 Luck, you could stroll through a mountain of knives and a sea of fire, sleep soundly in a rain of bullets and arrows, or discover yourself to be the descendant of a legendary adept when you looked at your family tree.

  And +3 Luck? You would win every gamble, regardless of how poor the chance to win. When you fought against powerful enemies, they would either bite their tongue while chanting or incite a magical backlash out of nowhere, causing them to be crippled for life.

  Either way, a witch that obtained a luck blessing would become uncontestably powerful!

  Though Second Grade Alice didn’t possess such terrifying blessing abilities yet, the witch leaders were willing to wait for her growth, given her immense potential for greatness.

  Meanwhile, today’s gathering was a result of Alice’s invitations. As such, when the powerful Fourth Grade Death Witch Leader Khesuna, Dark Witch Leader Circe, and Pale Witch Leader Silvia appeared in the secret room, the atmosphere suddenly tensed up.

  Chapter 803 - Opening the Plane

  “Alice, what are you planning this time?”

  After the first Witch Council with this girl, the witch leaders no longer dared to look down upon this young witch. As such, Death Witch Leader Khesuna only frowned and questioned impatiently.

  The expansion of planar worlds had not been going well for the Death Witches over the past few years. They were still engaged in deadly combat against the orcs of various worlds. Anyone would be impatient and frustrated if they were dragged from a bloody and tense battlefield to an old, rotting castle at such a crucial time, let alone Khesuna.

  The other two witch leaders hadn’t spoken yet, but their expressions were the same.

  “From what I understand, you, my elder sisters, have yet to catch suitable magical pets for yourself.” Alice’s age was insignificant in front of these witches. Naturally, she lowered herself and tried to win the witches’ favor by using a more gentle tone.

  “You have a suitable recommendation?” Khesuna appeared moved.

  “How about a Fourth Grade dragon pet?” Alice smiled, intentionally keeping things in the dark.

  “Where? Is there a flight protecting it? Of which element?”

  The three Fourth Grade witches couldn’t help but pursue the matter the moment Alice finished speaking. Even the eyes of Dark Witch Circe, who shared the worst relationship with Alice, lit up at the news of this.

  In all honesty, other Fourth Grade adepts would probably frown when talking about a dragon of the same grade as if they were about to face down a terrible enemy. However, this group of Fourth Grade witches was smiling and brimming with excitement when talking about Fourth Grade dragons. It was almost as if they would instantly go over to where they were and abduct them once Alice gave them the location.

  If Greem could see this sight, he would most definitely feel some slight sorrow over the tragic future fates of the Fourth Grade dragons of Lance.

  “As you know, the male adept that has always supported me from behind the scenes has a dragon plane in his hands.” Alice stuttered as she spoke, two red blushes appearing on her pretty face.

  “A dragon plane!”

  The three Fourth Grade witches let out moans of happiness. Even the Pale Witch Leader Silvia couldn’t help but tremble.

  Of course, it wasn’t out of fear, but out of extreme excitement!

  “I’ve long since heard of dragon planes. It’s said that those planes are filled with dragons, where their lairs are everywhere, and dragons of every element can be found.

  “We can catch whichever one we like. I have always dreamt of owning such a plane. If I did own a plane like that, I am certain I would faint from the pleasure.” Silvia licked her lips and expressed her elation with a dreamy voice.

  The other, older witch leaders weren’t as moved as Silvia, but their burning, glowing eyes still betrayed their inner thoughts.

  “Alice, you mean to say that the rights to the plane still remain in the hands of the male adept?” Khesuna answered with a question, calm and composed.

  Alice nodded silently.

  “I’ll go meet that male adept!” Circe stood up and spoke, “How could such a good thing stay in the hands of a weak male adept?! I’ll provide him with enough compensation and have him hand over the world coordinates of that dragon plane!”

  Alice’s eyes instantly turned wide with shoc
k!

  Khesuna laughed softly and said, “Alright, alright, stop scaring Alice. Tell us then, since the male adept contacted us through you, does he want us to deal with the Fourth Grade dragons there?”

  Alice put on a helpless and bitter smile before nodding in acknowledgment.

  She might have the ability to control the powers of Fate, but she was far from being able to scry on a Fourth Grade witch. Fourth Grade witches already possessed immensely destructive powers. Their understanding and hold over the planar laws were not something she could hope to match with her ‘amateurish’ ways.

  Moreover, all who managed to become witch leaders had all reached their positions after thousands of years of bloody battles and nasty plots. There was no way her little tricks and thoughts could escape the eyes and ears of these old foxes.

  As such, Alice stopped beating around the bush and started using promises of real benefits as bait. A shocking negotiation had begun between her and the Fourth Grade witch leaders.

  In the end, both parties reached a basic cooperative agreement.

  The Crimson Clan, led by Alice and Greem, would occasionally open up Lance to the witch branches and allow powerful witches to enter and capture the dragon pets they wanted.

  Correspondingly, the Death, Dark, and Pale Witch factions had to respect the Crimson Clan’s ownership of Lance. They had to enter Lance based strictly on the schedule of the Crimson Clan and were not allowed to destroy the natural ecosystem of Lance.

  In addition, for every dragon pet that they successfully captured, the witches had to pay a large additional sum of magical crystals or resources.

  After these series of agreements, it was as if the Crimson Clan had conditionally opened up Lance to the three witch factions while also pulling in some powerful help for themselves. Of course, the price that the Crimson Clan had to pay for this was several powerful pureblood dragons from Lance.