Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  A high-temperature concentrated light beam of one hundred points of power was known as a Scorching Ray. Two hundred points of power, and it would be known as a Solar Ray. Meanwhile, a high-temperature concentrated beam with an energy class of eight to nine hundred points like the one that the dragon had fired already possessed elementary destructive traits. These beams possessed a trace of destruction energy within them.

  Most magical shields in the world could not endure concentrated beams of such high intensity, let alone when the attacks were so focused and fast. Even Greem would have been disintegrated if those two Destruction Beams had hit him.

  No number of magical shields would be effective against an attack of such intensity!

  As such, much like a heart-pounding fantasy show, the gigantic metal dragon roared and advanced through the towering valleys, forcefully creating a wide path between the two mountains.

  However, this wide road had been covered beneath the collapsing cliff walls. The forceful manner of the dragon’s passage had caused even more debris to rain down, making the path even more difficult to travel.

  It was awkward!

  The magical golem dragon had managed to make it across by sheer force, but the path behind it was now covered by tens of thousands of tons of rocks. The goblin chariots could not traverse terrain like this, nor could they change the geography like the golem dragon.

  Thus, under the command of the Mothership, the goblin skyships descended and used alloy wires to suspend the chariots, using over half a day to transport all of the chariots to the other side.

  With this battle as an example, the dragon lords that came after learned their lesson.

  They no longer gathered armies to clash with these adept forces. They came up with different ideas.

  If a frontal conflict didn’t work, then they would turn to more subtle means!

  The Dragon Cultists took off their robes and scattered, blending into the ranks of native creatures and launching ambushes at the enemy when the goblin chariots stopped to rest. They acted as suicide squads to launch death charges at the adepts, hid near the camps to poison the water sources, or destroyed the roads ahead of time to slow down the enemy’s march.

  Some of these operations succeeded and killed goblins in the army, but most of them failed.

  After all, with the eyeball machines scanning from the sky, any lifeform that attempted to approach the army paid with their lives.

  Of course, not all dragon lords were so ‘wise’!

  The fourth dragon lord territory that the adepts passed through was the land of a First Grade dragon. This idealistic and passionate First Grade dragon refused to submit before the might of the adepts. He risked his own life and attempted to assault the adepts with his fast flight speed and mighty dragon’s breath.

  As such, he came, and he stayed, successfully turning into the first valuable spoil of the adept expedition army!

  This First Grade dragon was beaten black and blue, then pinned to the deck of the Mothership with steel tools dozens of tons in weight. He cried day and night, but no rescue came for him.

  Finally, the arrogance of the adept expedition army attracted their first formidable enemy!

  …………

  The army avoided most swamps, hills, and deserts under Gru’s lead, always traveling on plains or wastelands.

  Today, the army of metal were camped and resting by a lake. Several loud dragon cries could be heard on the distant horizon.

  The goblins that had been bathing or retrieving water from the lakeside quickly dressed and got into their goblin chariots. Meanwhile, the golem dragon also adjusted its stance and pointed its head toward the black dot on the horizon that was growing larger.

  A short moment later, a wild gust of wind swept across the camp. A completely silver dragon with a prideful and elegant stance stopped above the golem dragon.

  It was obvious that he was exceptionally fearful of the golem dragon, as he stopped half a kilometer away from the adepts.

  This silver dragon beat his slender wings and hovered in the air pridefully as he silently assessed the giant metal dragon and the First Grade dragon now bound to the collosal machine. After a while, the silver dragon lifted his head and looked at the Mothership above the clouds. It was then that he broke the silence with his thunderous roar.

  “Outsiders, what are you trying to do, exactly? Why are you invading the plane of us dragons? Do you want to torture our kind?”

  Greem smiled from within the Mothership.

  It was a Third Grade silver dragon!

  It was probably because the might of the expedition army had exceeded the limits of the dragon lords’ ability to respond that they had sent this silver dragon to find out their intentions. The dragons would not be interested in the motives of any other weakling. They would simply wipe them out of existence with a dragon’s breath. Who would ever want to come out to such a rural place to ask a question if it wasn’t necessary?

  The roar of flames rang out in the air as the tall silhouette of a human adept appeared on the head of the golem dragon.

  Chapter 923 - Otherworld Poison Battles

  The silver dragon couldn’t help but narrow his eyes and stare at the newcomer.

  “Who are you, sir, and what should I call you?”

  After the fire dispersed, Greem landed steadily on the head of the magical golem dragon.

  The dragon had two long metal horns on its head, with a small twenty-meter square platform in front of them. Greem landed firmly on that platform and looked at the silver dragon with a smile on his face

  A Third Grade human adept.

  The silver dragon didn’t require any detection spells to know the identity of the adept. He quickly determined the opponent’s power and attributes based on the intensity of the flames created by the teleportation spell.

  Moreover, he also smelled the stench of a dragonsoul curse on the adept. Many dragons had fallen victim to his hands. Otherwise, the dragonsoul curse lingering around him wouldn’t be so thick and repulsive.

  The silver dragon barely suppressed the anger rising within him and narrowed his eyes to speak, “I am Aldres of the silver dragons. You are now stepping upon my territory and slaying my subjects. As such, I have the right to ask you, what is it that you intend to do?”

  “So it was Lord Aldres!” The smile on Greem’s face was even wider now, “I am known as Greem, and I come from the World of Adepts. We are here today for…”

  Greem’s voice suddenly turned quiet at this point of the sentence, the rest of his words becoming as soft as the beat of a mosquito’s wings.

  The silver dragon was befuddled for an instant. However, his expression abruptly changed before he could voice his confusion.

  “Bastards. You damned adepts!”

  No one knew when, but a crimson silhouette had snuck beneath Aldres’ shadow. It had smashed through the ground and was charging toward him at a thunderous speed.

  Though the sudden assault caught him by surprise, was there any way a Third Grade silver dragon would have come here wholly unprepared? Silver light flashed in the air, and the Aldres’ body vanished from the spot, reappearing a hundred meters to the side.

  However, just as Aldres completed his teleportation, he sensed elementium turbulence above his head. A massive fireball crashed squarely onto his back, exploding into a massive cloud of flames.

  Scorching jets of flame surged out of the fireball, almost instantly roasting the scales white-hot. Even the flesh beneath Aldres’ scales had started sizzling.

  Aldres could not care for his reputation or dignity any longer. He beat his slender silver wings rapidly as his entire body cut across the sky in an elegant arc like a silver thread, just barely dodging a white beam that the golem dragon had fired at him.

  With his rapid speed and impeccable flying technique, Silver Dragon Aldres managed to avoid the combined attacks of Mary and Greem once again, finally escaping from his predicament.

  “You bast
ards. You have none of an adept’s dignity nor pride. Just wait to be exterminated upon this land.” The silver dragon furiously cursed as he fled into the distance with all he had. His roar could be heard from dozens of kilometers away.

  A cluster of flames erupted in the sky, and Greem’s tall silhouette slowly appeared. Mary beat her wings and approached him.

  “Silver dragons are truly the speedsters among the dragons. They are just as bothersome to deal with as the wind dragons. It will be difficult to make that fellow stay with just the two of us.” Greem shook his head and sighed as he looked at the vanishing figure of the silver dragon.

  Mary lifted her right arm and looked at the hand that had now turned into a blood-red claw. She chuckled slightly, “You gave him a fireball, and I gave him a claw. That’s probably more than he can swallow for now. Did you really intend to keep him here?!”

  It was as expected!

  The dragons’ robust Physique and powerful elementium powers made them excellent fighters among creatures of the same grade. Under ordinary circumstances, a Third Grade dragon could easily deal with two to three human adepts of the same level.

  The reason Greem and Mary’s attacks so badly beat Aldres was mostly due to the involvement of the Fourth Grade golem dragon.

  The golem dragon might not be able to fly or even move about quickly, but its attacks were far too powerful!

  Even Fourth Grade elementium adepts could not compare to the magical golem dragon in terms of the intensity of their attacks.

  It couldn’t be helped. Regardless of how tough a human’s body was and how excellent their elementium affinity, there was no exceeding the mighty magic generator furnace. It didn’t matter how broad a human’s blood vessels were. They would not be a match for the energy pipes of the golem dragon, which were so wide they were basically corridors that chariots could run across.

  As such, the Third Grade silver dragon had to keep most of its attention on the golem dragon even when tussling with Greem and Mary. That was why Greem and Mary’s combined attacks injured him and forced him to retreat so hastily.

  Mary might have been able to catch up with the silver dragon, but she would not be able to make him stay. Greem might have been able to keep the dragon here, but it was almost impossible for him to catch up.

  The two of them could only watch with pity as the Third Grade Aldres left in front of their eyes.

  However, the two of them weren’t bothered by Aldres’ escape.

  They were about to arrive at his lair anyway. They just had to strike straight at his den and see if he would stay and defend his home!

  …………

  Silver Dragon Aldres’ lair was located at a place known as Storm’s Peak.

  It was a dangerous mountain peak that rose into the clouds.

  The geography around the mountain wasn’t dangerous in the slightest. It was strange because the mountain existed in the middle of a stretch of plains.

  The peak was exceedingly tall, the path there dangerous and steep. There were almost no means by which a person could climb to the top.

  Silver Dragon Aldres’ lair was built at the very top of the peak, completely isolated from the rest of the world.

  Naturally, this terrain kept out the magical golem dragon and the goblin chariots, but it could not stop the Mothership.

  Greem and the Crimson adepts left the army stationed at the bottom of the mountain while they boarded the Mothership and ascended to the top. The air was thin at the peak, and the winds were cold. Mist and clouds could be seen everywhere. Ordinary humans would have difficulty surviving in such an environment.

  Greem frowned slightly upon reaching the peak.

  It was too quiet here. Clearly, the silver dragon had already taken off.

  Greem gazed at the giant cave nearby and turned to look at Billis, who was standing behind him.

  Billis understood his intentions immediately. He stepped forward, and tens of thousands of black beetles swarmed out of his robe and charged into the cave in a black tide.

  A short moment later, the black cave trembled and shook, the sounds of elementium explosions echoing outward.

  Billis let out a grunt and said, “There’s nothing left in the dragon’s cave save for plenty of elementium traps and magical contraptions. It seems like that fellow intended for us to have a bad time here.”

  Billis had lost nearly twenty percent of the bugs he had sent out, cloaking his face in a dark gloom.

  “Hmph! Does he think he can make us retreat with just some traps? Contact Gonga and tell him to raze this mountain!”

  A short moment later, after Greem and his adepts had boarded the Mothership and left the mountain, the lone peak in the clouds shook furiously. Then, it slowly collapsed amidst a thunderous, earth-splitting roar.

  News of Storm’s Peak being forcefully destroyed by the adepts quickly spread out.

  This time, those who were still ignorant of the might of the adept expedition were finally jolted awake.

  Even a Third Grade dragon lord had to flee in fear of the enemy and lose his lair in the process. It wasn’t hard to imagine how powerful the enemy was!

  For the rest of the journey, there were no more incompetent fools who dared to disrupt the adept’s army.

  Moreover, the dragons weren’t fools either. Based on the adepts’ marching route, they quickly figured that their target was the territory of Fourth Grade Dragon Lord Toril.

  That was what shocked and confused them tremendously!

  What were they counting on? A group of human adepts with no more than Second and Third Grade abilities dare challenge a Fourth Grade dragon lord?

  It was simply unbelievable!

  Were they counting on that strange metal dragon?

  The dragons that had been evicted from their homes quickly gathered together, believing they had found the heart of the issue. They started using all the means available to them to investigate the power of the metal dragon.

  Of course, no dragon would be willing to risk their own lives for such an investigation, but they were more than happy to send some dragonborn guards and high-grade Dragon Cultists for the job!

  Thus, a good half of Lance was stirred into action by the orders of the dragon lords, along with a massive bounty. Powerful dragonborn warriors and native creatures with unique skills swarmed toward the adept expedition army and started to assault their forces.

  And who would have known? There were indeed some unique individuals amongst these talents that had been gathered from all over Lance.

  Some of these individuals excelled at hiding their life signs. They would hide near the goblin camps and ambush the goblins when they left to fetch water. It caused decent casualties to the goblins.

  However, the frequent patrols of the goblin chariots also inflicted substantial damage to the enemy. The native elites had to pay the price of a dozen lives on average to kill a single goblin.

  Some individuals who were skilled at poison also attempted to poison the goblin’s water source. Unfortunately, the army possessed a comprehensive testing system and quickly discovered their plot. With the potion masters in the army, there was no chance of any goblins being poisoned to death.

  After all, the poisoners of Lance were more like voodoo doctors when compared to the potion masters that had been systematically trained in the World of Adepts!

  Their knowledge and abilities were not even on the same level. After a single round of exchanges between the two parties, the potion masters successfully drove out the Lance natives and foiled their attempts at poisoning.

  It also reminded Greem that now was the adepts’ turn to spread their poison!

  Chapter 924 - Blow to the Face

  A dragon’s power was not to be underestimated!

  In particular, once the prideful dragons learned to engage in guerrilla warfare themselves, the expedition army’s casualties began to skyrocket.

  Upon learning that the ordinary dragonborn and locals were incapable of threa
tening the fully-armed magical machines, the First Grade dragons let go of their dignity, put away their pride, and turned themselves into guerrilla soldiers. These dragons started to harass the scouts of the army frequently.

  They soared toward the adepts in flights of three to five and left soaring just as quickly. They never tried to approach the magical machine army, only ever keeping a close eye on the eyeball machines. They used the native tribes to draw out the eyeball machines before they took to the skies and use their sharp claws and boiling breath to destroy the machines.

  They didn’t linger either when the army sent chariots after them. They scattered and escaped with their superior speed, never getting drawn into a fight with the goblin chariots.

  If any of the goblin commanders became impulsive and dared to chase after them with a goblin skyship; hehehe, these scattered dragons would immediately converge upon them the moment they left the reinforcement range of the army, teaching the goblins a vicious lesson with their powerful might.

  Even with an adept defending the skyship, these ordinary goblin planes could not endure the attacks of two or three First Grade dragons!

  Moreover, there were often some Second Grade dragons hidden amid these First Grade dragons.

  After losing two goblin skyships and three clan adepts, the higher-ups in the Mothership finally prohibited the adepts from pursuing ‘fleeing’ dragons.

  After tasting the sweetness of victory and seeing that the adepts were no longer taking the bait, the dragons became even more daring with their actions.

  Some Second Grade dragons also gathered together in flights and repeatedly attacked the magical machine army.

  They didn’t try and charge into the army but instead flew along with the goblin machines, waiting for a chance. If the chariots dared to move out and create any space within their formation, the dragons would rush down and raze their ranks with their terrifying breath. Occasionally, the dragons would also play a game of cat-and-mouse with the skyships in the air.

  Though these actions didn’t cause too much damage to the enemy, they effectively delayed the marching speed of the army.