Age of Adepts c1-1513
Page 524
While Greem was in seclusion, Mary, Zacha, and Tigule had been leading a dragonslaying party around. They robbed quite a lot of dragons, slaughtering and capturing the First and Second Grade dragons that were alone. Dragon Devourer Oliven had also come after hearing the news. She became the most hidden dagger in the group.
In these eight years, two Third Grade witches had also taken magical crystals out of their pouches to come to the Capital of Eternity and use the most violent methods possible to abduct two Third Grade dragons. The Crimson Clan had gotten a million and two hundred thousand magical crystals from this trade, along with two dragon lairs containing all sorts of treasures and resources.
Of course, the increasingly rampant activity of the Crimson Clan once again drew the alarm of the dragon lords. Three years after the Capital of Eternity was constructed, a large dragonflight led by five Third Grade dragons once again attacked en masse.
The result of this battle shocked the dragons immensely!
Two of the five Third Grade dragons were injured and forced to escape. Meanwhile, the other dragons either ran or were captured by the enemy. It was an utter defeat for the dragons.
The presence of the two magic generator furnaces provided an unlimited supply of magical energy to the one thousand magic energy cannons, turning the skies of the Capital into a no-fly zone. Meanwhile, the giant magic energy cannons that were practically a full-force attack from a Third Grade powerhouse heavily injured the attacking dragons.
The two wounded Third Grade dragons had been injured by these giant cannons!
As these magic energy cannons took a long time to charge up–and an even longer time to cool down–Gazlowe had no choice but to create five of them. When the dragonflight invaded, he used the magic energy cannons to bombard from a distance. The giant magic energy cannons could be reserved for continuous attacks at a close range.
A wild flurry of untrained yet powerful blows could even kill a trained master of the martial arts!
Such an indestructible metal city combined with the overwhelming firepower defense immediately caused the dragonflight to run into a wall and face defeat in front of the giant cannons.
In this battle, the Crimson Clan obtained seven dragons, one of which was a Second Grade!
No one knew if it was the goddess of fortune possessing her or the Second Grade dragon being extremely unfortunate, but Mary managed to Embrace the Second Grade dragon on the very first try. She had turned it into a Blood Dragon.
This way, apart from two Second Grade blood knights and three Second Grade blood elves beneath Mary, she now also had a Second Grade blood dragon. It turned her vampire army into the largest force in the Crimson Clan!
In all honesty, if it weren’t for Greem and Mary’s intimate relationship, even he would have to start feeling concern over such an overly powerful subordinate.
Mary had just led her underlings into the magical hall, and the shouts and screams of the apprentices rang out from behind like a tidal wave. With the combined strength of two blood knights and the blood dragon, a Second Grade dragon completely wrapped in magical chains was lifted through the tower gates.
These days, Lady Mary always reaped rewards when she went on excursions in Lance. Still, most of her spoils were small First Grade dragons. A living Second Grade like today’s was pretty rare. It meant that the Crimson Clan would now have an additional million magical crystals of income!
“You, you, and you; throw this earth dragon into a prison and make sure it is properly locked up. See which foolish client might fancy it. You, send the gems and materials in the sack to Lana and have her work harder to appraise all of the stuff. Remember, tell her that if she dares to mistake another Third Grade Morningstar Gem for a glowstone and send it to Snorlax’s place, I will personally hang her from the wall and teach her a lesson.”
Mary opened her broad bat wings and floated to the top of the hall. Here, she could see all the members gathered here.
The ones she had appointed to lift the dragon to the prison were all body-refining apprentices that the clan was cultivating. They all had the power of an advanced apprentice or pseudo-adept. Only muscle monsters like them could lift such a heavy Second Grade earth dragon.
The clan appraiser, Lana, rushed into the hall and happened to hear Mary’s criticism of her. Her face immediately turned red as fire. However, when her eyes shifted to the multiple sacks on the blood dragon’s back, a cold sweat rolled down her face. She couldn’t help but scream out loud, “So…so many.”
It would have been alright if they were everyday items. With Lana’s adept-level Spirit, an apprentice-level Identify would deal with the issue. However, if they were magical items, every one of them had to be appraised with an adept-level Identify or Magic Item Discovery to obtain a vague answer of what it was.
However, there was so much of the dragon’s treasure here. How many adept-level Identifies would she need to use to appraise all of them?
When the first few dragon hoards were brought back, Gargamel the Crimson majordomo had to specially open up a fountain of magic energy from the energy room to Lana’s room. She had to drink magic energy potions whenever she ran out of power and drink a Spirit activity potion whenever she ran out of Spirit. Even then, it took her fifteen days and nights of continuous work to complete her mission.
However, the dragon hoard this time was two to three times larger than the last. The quality of the magical items was also much higher than in the past. This…Lana would probably have to appraise to her very death to finish the mission, wouldn’t she?!
The next instant, this adept-level appraiser that the Crimson Clan had specially trained and cultivated betrayed an expression of tragic sorrow as if life was more painful than death.
Chapter 848 - Spring in the Showers
Mary, who bore the title of the Bloody Queen, had always been a hands-free leader.
The matters of fighting were hers to deal with, but all the logistics that came after were left to her subordinates.
She hovered in the air, using a series of crisp and fast orders to command the adepts and apprentices around. She finally returned to her room on the fourth floor after everything had been arranged.
The members of the Rouge Corps also scattered and went to attend to their personal matters.
A short moment later, Mary arrived in her room.
Her crimson eyes looked about the familiar room, and she stretched lazily before quickly kicking away the soft buckskin boots on her feet. She then took off her clothes and yawned as she walked toward the bathroom.
A pool made of white marble was in the corner of the room, with steam coming out of the water. Countless brilliant rose petals floated on the top of the warm pool water. The delicate, stone-carved faucets on corners of the pool were letting hot water flow out, and the fresh smell of flower and grass filled the air.
Two blood elf maids in light dresses knelt by the pool, their heads tilted downward. They didn’t dare lift their heads to look at Mary’s moving and seductive figure.
Mary laughed softly, and her soft and delicate feet swept across the cool floor as she walked toward the pool naked.
However, just as she arrived in front of the two blood elves, her body froze. She turned around as her crimson eyes stared coldly at an empty spot in the hall.
“Who is it? Get out here.”
As she shouted, Mary’s slender and pretty fingers grabbed forward. A sizzling crimson hand appeared in midair and grabbed at that suspicious spot in the air.
“It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other and your temper is still as hot as ever!” The clear voice of a male rang out in the air as the crimson hand dispersed while it was still flying forward.
Mary’s body trembled when she heard this familiar voice. Blinding red light shot out of her crimson eyes.
A tall, muscular figure slowly appeared in the air.
That perfectly proportionate body, those well-built muscles, that crimson and radiant skin, and
those strange tattoos that covered his entire body.
Mary couldn’t help but cry out in surprise.
“Greem, it’s you. Are you finally out?”
Greem’s crimson hair flowed down his back. He was only wearing a red robe on him. As he stood there and smiled, his entire being radiated a wicked, mysterious, and wise aura.
Mary’s Spirit slowly extended toward him, but when it reached near him, it was stopped by a blurry and transparent layer of flames. Her Spirit could not get any closer.
Mary could also vaguely feel the powerful and fearsome magic within Greem’s body through the life forcefield.
“You are already Third Grade?!” With a bit of a sense of loss and a bit of joyfulness, Mary narrowed her eyes and looked at Greem as she resentfully spoke.
“Still worrying about who’s stronger and who’s weaker?” Greem couldn’t help but chuckle, “It seems you have improved quite a lot over this period of time as well. You can probably consider advancing to Third Grade soon!”
“So what? Won’t I still get left behind by you again?” Mary couldn’t help but complain again.
However, she immediately thought of something, and her crimson eyes glowed.
“Eight years…. It’s been eight years you’ve hidden in your secret room, and apart from the elementium golems sending you food consistently, you didn’t even send out a single message.”
“A little bit of a problem came up during the advancement. Fortunately, it has been perfectly resolved!” Greem hurriedly explained when he saw the dangerous glint of light in Mary’s eyes.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t that easy to coax a resentful Mary. She leaped onto Greem with a single step and used her shockingly springy thighs to wrap around Greem’s waist. She leaned toward Greem’s ears and said, “You are so mean. You didn’t even come out once in eight years. Tell me, how do you intend to compensate me now?”
Greem did not say anything else in response to the deep passion of his lover. He immediately found her full lips and gave her a passionate kiss.
Red blushes immediately appeared on the pale faces of the two blood elf maids. Their lowered heads became even lower.
The two figures in an embrace jumped into the pool and immediately started wrapping about each other wildly.
Seductive moans quickly rang out from within the steam and water.
…………
News of Greem’s successful advancement quickly spread throughout the Crimson Clan.
No one was amazed at this result. They only thought of it as natural.
The appearance of a Third Grade adept could allow the name of the Crimson Clan to rise even further. They would become like a sun at noon in Ailovis, uncontested and unchallenged. With Greem as the Third Grade adept of the clan, the Crimson Clan no longer had any significant concerns. The foundation of their clan was becoming ever stronger.
It was only with a Third Grade adept behind the scenes that the Crimson Clan could indeed live up to their name as a large adept clan!
Of course, it was impossible for the Crimson Clan to become a super clan without a Fourth Grade adept.
[Greem. Beginner Third Grade.
Profession: Elementium Adept (Fire Specialization)
Bodily Attributes: Strength 18+2 | Physique 21+1 | Agility 11+1 | Spirit 32+4.
Profession Skills: Body of Flames, Flame Fiend’s Body…
After this advancement, Greem had broken free of his reliance on the Flame Fiend Transformation. He had wholly assimilated the power of the magical tattoos into himself. The enhancement to his attributes that required the transformation was now part of the Flame Fiend’s body. Moreover, there was no longer a time limit to it.
The five set pieces of Fire Throne were Second Grade magical equipment. However, together, they could reach the level of Third Grade magical equipment. That was especially the case once Greem had risen to become a Third Grade fire adept. He was now capable of unleashing their true power.
After peeling away all unnecessary soul contracts, Greem’s only remaining Soul Equipment, the Spirit of Pestilence, also improved tremendously. It had now become a strange existence of peak Second Grade. When Greem needed to fight, the Spirit of Pestilence could apply a Poison Aura on him, increasing his poison resistance while allowing all of his attacks to possess some degree of poison damage.
However, Greem had only just advanced and had yet to master a single Third Grade spell.
Currently, he would need one or two years to analyze and calculate the Second Grade spells to turn them into Third Grade spells. It wasn’t a good time for him to fight veteran Third Grade adepts during this period.
Fortunately, with the Chip doing most of the deduction and computation, Greem was free to pursue any other thing that he liked. Once the Chip finished with its calculations, Greem could receive the completed models of the Third Grade spells and rapidly turn them into his own strength.
Thus, the first calculation of a Second Grade spell that Greem had the Chip perform was the Magma Fireball.
It was the Second Grade spell that Greem was most familiar with and the one he used most frequently.
“Chip, prepare to conduct re-analysis and calculation of the Second Grade Magma Fireball and expand it into a Third Grade spell.”
[Beep. Order received. Prerequisite knowledge is available, data calculation in progress…estimated time required: 36 days, 15 hours, 29 minutes, and 35 seconds.]
Greem couldn’t help but narrow his eyes when he heard the Chip’s feedback.
In the World of Adepts, spells that suited oneself were the most potent spells.
Though the various major adept clans and organizations stored knowledge about a certain number of high-grade spells within their organizations, the ones released to the public were always those with basic models. These spell models either brought along heavy side-effects or had tremendously strict pre-conditions.
As such, every high-grade adept would have to perform adjustment and optimization of their spells for their own purpose to better suit their soul attributes and magic characteristics.
If he had the Chip and still needed so much time to create a new Third Grade spell, how did the other Third Grade adepts manage to tide over this period of power vacuum?
…………
White Tower.
White snow danced as it descended from the skies.
Three consecutive days of heavy snowfall had covered the entirety of Icewind in a thick layer of snow.
From both a distance and up close, everything in the world had become wrapped in silver. It was stunning.
A group of apprentices was carefully and diligently clearing away the snow at the teleportation plaza in front of White Tower under the command of an adept.
Just then, the teleportation array beneath the snow let out a milky-white light. The light quickly extended to every magic energy node and the core of the massive array.
As the runes lit up in succession, the snow on the array started to be pushed outward by the defensive arrays. Several apprentices who didn’t make it out of the way in time were covered in snow.
“Hurry, hurry. All of you leave the teleportation array; someone’s teleporting over!” The adept hasty voice rang out as the apprentices rushed out of the array. They cleaned up their appearance a little and frantically stood behind the adept.
Just then, the white light in the teleportation array turned into an entire stretch of light. The transparent protection barrier now wholly covered the array. This barrier of light could prevent spatial fluctuations from reaching outward, while also protecting the teleporting adepts. That was why a defensive array was often a most carefully maintained part of a teleportation array.
A muffled boom rang out. White light flashed, and spatial power rippled through the air. Two towering figures appeared in the array, one male and one female.
Adept Uka quickly bowed when he saw that familiar figure and those familiar bat wings, “Welcome to White Tower, Lady Mary!”
It was due to such a debt that Uka had always felt indescribable gratitude to the Crimson Clan. That was why he had actively accepted the difficult task of maintaining and managing the teleportation array.
As a head figure of the Crimson Clan, Mary had frequently traveled between the two towers over these years. That was why Uka knew her very well. However, when Uka tilted his head and secretly looked a the tall male adept beside her, his eyes immediately ran into a pair of burning eyes radiating powerful might.
Uka immediately felt his eyes hurt in that momentary exchange of looks. A strange burning sensation even surrounded his entire body.
He quickly bowed down even further, shutting his eyes tight. Tears flowed down his cheeks, traces of blood seemingly flowing along with the tears.
Chapter Notes:
For those who would like to kick in a couple of bucks and aren’t looking for advance chapters, we also have a Ko-Fi for one time donations and support. It doesn’t see much use (hell, if you have a few bucks, you might as well be a Patron and get a few extra chapters ahead), but people still occasionally help us through that, and every bit of support helps.
As always, more than anything, thank you everyone for your continued readership and support of Age of Adepts!
-Ryu
Chapter 849 - The Changes in White Tower
“You are a new adept that just advanced two years ago?” Greem assessed Uka and asked softly.
Uka barely managed to open his tearing eyes. He felt his eyeballs hurt, and he knew they had received actual damage. When he heard the question, he had to open his eyes forcefully and bow while replying. “My lord, it hasn’t yet been two years since I advanced. I am responsible for guarding the teleportation array here!”