Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  The magical energy of the environment could not compare to the World of Adepts or the realms beyond, at all. Meditation here could only barely recover their magical power. Trying to improve their Spirits was an impossible cause.

  It was akin to wasting five years for Natagu and the other hunter adepts!

  Moreover, being stuck at Gangsas Volcano meant that they could not gather any useful adept resources, nor embark on any magical experiments. As such, even while Greem was worn down by the five years, Natagu and the others experienced the same suffering.

  However, having accepted the commission by that Lady and resentful that they couldn’t take down this insignificant fire adept, the hunter adepts could only continue their work here.

  As time passed, the situation in Henvic underwent some unexpected changes.

  The reinvigorated and restored holy knights became more eager to fight!

  Over these past five years, the holy knights had destroyed the witch’s tower and hunted down the witch remnants across the plane.

  One could say that their hunt had been incredibly successful. Most of the fleeing Deceit Witches had either been caught or executed and cleanly dealt with. Even the occasional witch that slipped through their fingers went utterly silent and covert, hiding in some corner of the world, not daring to come out and cause trouble again.

  Once the pressure from the witches had been eliminated, the foreign adepts camping near Gangsas Volcano became a prick in their eyes.

  Though Natagu had a cooperative agreement with a Fourth Grade Holy Knight, that agreement seemed unnecessary now that the Deceit Witches had vanished. As such, more people had started appearing near Gangsas Volcano. Five adventurers first appeared here and died to Guinevere’s poison.

  One day, Benija returned to the camp from her shopping trip covered in blood. She brought bad news back with her.

  Due to the constant eruptions from Gangsas Volcano, all the towns in the vicinity had been abandoned. Benija had traveled eighty-five kilometers to a small city while disguised to purchase their daily supplies.

  However, there was a group of high-grade knights stationed in that small city with no more than seven thousand civilians. Moreover, they had strict checks and Spirit scans for all visitors.

  Benija would have had no problem tricking them with her mental magic if it was only a group of Iron Knights. However, she had never expected that there were Third Grade Gold Knights there!

  Chapter 981 - The Situation Changes

  The blood on Benija wasn’t her own.

  Regardless of how powerful her mental magic was and how easily she could enchant and fool the eyes, ears, and souls of the low-grade holy knights, she could not avoid examination from their holy light magic.

  Bless the world. Benija had traveled to many planes and seen countless native tribes and intelligent species, but she had never witnessed odd folks like these knights who would stop people on the street and cast Detect Evil over and over again. Exposed to this pure holy light, Benija’s body instantly glowed with blinding red light. Her magical disguise of a kitchen maid purchasing supplies instantly vanished without a trace.

  In all honesty, that middle-aged knight who had been casually casting out a beam of holy light to engulf Benija never expected to catch a big fish either.

  With their Detect Evil, they had already caught a dozen assassins and thugs who worked in the shadows over the past few days. However, even the leader of the assassins, who was responsible for a dozen murders, did not radiate a light one-tenth as bright as this strange woman.

  He froze on the spot when she saw the blinding red light emanating from Benija’s body; it was so deeply crimson that it was nearly black!

  “Catch…” the middle-aged Silver Knight had barely drawn his sword before he was knocked to the ground by a mental blast.

  By the time he crawled up from the ground, still dizzy from the blow, the woman was nowhere to be seen on the street anymore. At this point, the Iron Knights examining the pedestrians on the road finally came to their senses, and several blinding Holy Flares shot into the sky.

  The entire town flew into a massive commotion!

  “You said that there is a Gold Knight in that town?” Natagu narrowed his eyes and hissed, flickering his tongue as he did so.

  “Hmph! If it weren’t a Gold Knight, I wouldn’t have been in such an awkward condition!” Benija wiped away the blood on her body unamusedly, “The holy knights blockaded the city like mad dogs and started to search for me everywhere. They shined that damned holy light on everyone trying to exit the city.”

  “Then what happened?”

  “Then I fought with them at the city gates and killed a few.”

  “You killed someone?”

  “I killed someone! These bastards were all shouting ‘Holy Light be Justice’ and rushing at me! Did you expect me to bind my own hands and surrender?” Benija replied with a mocking tone.

  “And what about the Gold Knight?” The expression on Natagu’s face turned increasingly solemn.

  “I didn’t know there were Gold Knights in the city. I had planned to run after killing a few of the small fry, but two Gold Knights stopped me. I then found a way to escape and returned!”

  “Two.” Natagu’s emerald eyes shrank as his tone of voice turned cold.

  According to the past habits of the Zambez Empire, sending a single Silver Knight to be the abbot of a Holy Light Chapel in a small town like this one would already be a massive exception. It had a population of no more than ten thousand, after all. However, two Gold Knights had abruptly appeared in this town. It was clearly not a usual patrol or garrison for the holy knights.

  An ominous feeling rose in Natagu’s heart!

  It couldn’t be that the holy knights had gotten arrogant after ‘exterminating; the Deceit Witches and were now placing their sights on them, could it? With the sheltered, ignorant, and prideful nature of the holy knights, they might be attempting to take this chance to eliminate all adept remnants from the plane and retake the reins of Henvic Plane back into their own hands.

  It was indeed a good idea, but the holy knights were most definitely thinking too highly of themselves!

  The reason they had managed to ‘successfully’ raze the witch’s tower and exterminate the witch remnants had more to do with the internal conflict between the adepts than their own courage and self-sacrifice.

  Without the interference of the mysterious Lady they served, Witch Rena would not have ended up in such a tragic position. If it weren’t for the cooperation of Natagu and the Holy Knight, Greem would have already decimated Haisas’ Holy Light Chapel and fled with Rena and the materials for fixing the teleportation array.

  It was precisely due to the interference and effects of these many factors that the situation in Henvic Plane had become so chaotic and unpredictable. Even Greem had been forcefully contained within a volcano for five years with no chance of escape.

  However, now that the plane was starting to regain its peace, the holy knights had become eager once more. They wanted to remove the last tumor on this plane– their enemies at Gangsas Volcano. It infuriated Natagu tremendously!

  If the enemy were only a small group of weak knights, the four hunter adepts would have been able to slaughter hundreds or thousands of them. However, given Natagu’s understanding of the Empire, there were probably two incredibly powerful figures standing behind the knights. Two people that even he didn’t dare provoke.

  “What exactly are they thinking of doing? Do they want to start a war with us?” Natagu roared viciously.

  “You still don’t understand?” Guinevere was indeed an old poison hag whose eyes and mind were as toxic as herself. She pinpointed the knights’ intentions with a single sentence, “They resent us for staying here for such an extended period of time and are using this as a way to force us to leave!”

  “But, we still haven’t caught that damned fire adept.”

  “They won’t care about that,” The old w
itch coldly said, “They might have been able to suppress the news of our existence if our fight here had been brief and short. But once time passes, the news will eventually get out. News of outsiders fighting in the nation they ruled and even indirectly taking over a land of fifty square kilometers. The holy knights will not be able to endure the pressure coming from within the Empire!”

  “They walk a path of faith and worship. If they cannot prove that the Holy Light is Justice, that it is an existence that vanquishes all evil, then their citizens’ foundation of faith in the Empire will be shaken.” Blade Princess Katherine added coldly from the side.

  The four hunter adepts continued to discuss amongst themselves and almost immediately figured out the scheme lying behind the incident at the town. Who was the one that claimed holy knights were no good at using their brains? This incident was a perfectly executed plan.

  If the Fourth Grade Holy Knight used this incident as an excuse to tear apart their prior agreement, even Natagu would not be able to refute it.

  In the end, the cause of all this was the extended duration they had spent on this interplanar hunt!

  “How has the fire adept been doing recently?” A cold light gleamed in Natagu’s green eyes as he asked in a stern voice.

  He directed his question at Benija. Her spiritual senses were the most powerful among the four of them.

  “He is still hiding beneath the lava. It has been several weeks since we heard anything from him, and he appears to be conducting a special magical experiment. His spiritual flux is very intense!” Benija gave a quick and direct answer.

  “Very well then; we won’t wait any longer. We shall fight him head-on!”

  The other adepts expressed excitement, hesitation, and confusion upon hearing this, each with their own emotions.

  “Go into the lava?” The old poison witch hesitated for a moment, “That is the fire adept’s home ground. We will be at a severe disadvantage there!”

  “It can’t be helped. We will have to confront the fire adept directly, even if at a disadvantage.” At this point, Natagu had no choice but to abandon his past caution and wariness. He became vicious and straightforward in his plans, “If we wait any longer, it will be those two Fourth Grade Holy Knights who come hunting for us with an army. If we work together and take down the fire adept in a single fight while the holy knights are still mobilizing, we can leave this godforsaken plane as soon as possible. It is worth it, even if we have to pay the price for it!”

  Natagu glared at everyone with a cold and cutting gaze.

  Katherine was the first to nod in agreement.

  After letting her wounds fester for so many years, and lacking reconciling agent, much of her flesh had already been corrupted by the mechanical magic. They had turned black and were rotting with a stench. Among the four of them, she was the one who most urgently wanted to return to the realms beyond.

  The second to nod was surprisingly not Psionic Adept Benija, but the sly and wily old hag Guinevere.

  “Very well. It’s not impossible if you expect this old hag to join you on your journey into the lava. However, once we capture that fire adept, I want that Soul Equipment of his!”

  “Soul Equipment? Do you have your eyes set on his Spirit of Pestilence? Soul Equipment is always merged with the host’s soul. How do you intend to peel the equipment away?” Natagu narrowed his eyes and asked out of curiosity.

  “That’s not for you to worry about. Since this old hag has asked for it, I naturally have the means to strip the Soul Equipment from his soul. Though the process will greatly weaken the Soul Equipment, it will still function as an immensely powerful magical plague weapon. This old hag has plenty of plans in store for that Spirit of Pestilence!”

  Natagu hesitated for a moment but quickly agreed just to settle the matter as soon as possible.

  “And you? What request do you have?” Natagu stared at Benija.

  “I want that fire adept to spend a night with me. Just a single night will be fine!” Benija licked her red lips, her face filled with thirst and hunger.

  “You do not intend to do anything to that fire adept, do you?” Natagu said coldly, “Benija, don’t forget. The Lady specifically named the fire adept as someone to be retrieved. If he is dead by the time we bring him before her, our mission reward will be cut in half!”

  “Hmph! The Lady only said she wanted him alive. She didn’t say we couldn’t drain his Spirit. It shouldn’t be a problem if a drain a bit of his Spirit, will it?” Benija then giggled and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t drain him to death. I will leave him some Spirit seeds.”

  After some more thought and confirming that there were no problems with the plan, Natagu coldly said, “Then I will have his Third Grade metal golem then. It seems like a good minion!”

  The old witch and Benija secretly cursed at Natagu’s shamelessness, but they had all made their own requests. It wouldn’t be appropriate to fight with Natagu over the mighty metal golem now.

  Naturally, this division of loot was based on their power levels, as well. Katherine was currently the weakest of them all and had no right to fight for loot.

  However, given her familiarity with the fire adept, she was confident that he would not capitulate so easily. She looked at her companions’ vicious, joyful, and perhaps even eager expressions and felt genuine disdain in her heart.

  Hmph! Arrogant and prideful fools. If that fire adept was so easily done in, they wouldn’t have been stuck here for five years. Hmph! If she hadn’t been in a group with them, she would hope to see them bash themselves bloody against the obstacle that they were about to confront!

  Chapter 982 - Sudden Increase in Power

  Gangsas Volcano, beneath the lava.

  There was a lava cave deep within the volcano crater.

  If one stood in front of the crimson barrier of light at the entrance to the cave, they would see the thick, heavy sea of magma rumble past their eyes. The volcanic rock that had yet to melt completely had wrapped around the lava, along with some unusual ores glinting with metal.

  The elementium magical machine guarded the entrance like a loyal hound, its eyes occasionally gleaming with an odd light as it monitored all the movements in its surroundings. Various wavelengths of detection lights firmly protected this seemingly crude cave in layers, along with a variety of fire traps scattered across the pool of lava.

  Greem was lying down upon a stone bed in the cave. The soul-gathering crystal was on his chest, and he was performing a strange breathing exercise.

  The frequency of his breathing was unusually slow. He inhaled and exhaled an average of only five times a minute.

  He would inhale with his nose then exhale with his mouth, continuing to breathe at this odd frequency. Every time he inhaled, all the air in the cave would be instantly drawn empty. One could even faintly hear the hissing sound of the air as it traveled into his lungs. Meanwhile, every time he breathed out, a small stream of fire would come surging out of his mouth, scorching the ceiling above until it was black.

  It didn’t matter whether Greem inhaled or exhaled. It sounded like thunder in the cave, as if a fire dragon was crouching and sleeping in his den.

  While Greem was engaged in his deep meditation state, his mind was faintly connecting to the soul-gathering crystal. A small and gentle stream flowed into his mind, nourishing and strengthening his mental world.

  In all honesty, even Greem had never expected that devouring all the unowned holy light and pure power of faith within the crystal would have taken such a long time. Some completely unexpected changes even happened along the way.

  After such a long time trapped in the soul-gathering crystal, the souls of the holy knights that rested within the clusters of holy light had already been worn down to pure and unconscious spirit energy. That was why Greem’s split soul could devour all of them to its liking, like a tiger among a herd of sheep.

  However, its actions had unintentionally awakened the pure, holy light left behind
by that Third Grade Gold Knight.

  The Holy Light that the holy knights worshipped had one big feature- ‘inclusivity.’ This was also the ‘Purification’ that they so liked to talk about. Supposedly, when an ordinary holy knight died, their soul would find rest within the last cluster of pure holy light, where it would return to the origin and once again enter the system of the plane.

  However, when Greem intercepted the holy light, all of these things became trapped in the soul-gathering crystal. The souls of the other holy knights had already been ‘Purified’ by the holy light they were resting within. However, the soul of the Third Grade Gold Knight lived up to its grade. It had managed to endure the Purification of the holy light and managed to preserve part of itd consciousness.

  Without the stimulation from Greem’s split soul, this portion of his consciousness might never have awakened. It would have slowly exhausted its power over time until the holy light completely assimilated it. However, the appearance of the split soul activated the instinct for survival left in its remnant soul.

  The awakened soul of the Gold Knight started to instinctively retaliate against Greem’s split soul, having lost most of its memories and consciousness.

  Thus, an unusual battle broke out within the fist-sized crystal!

  Given the resilience of the soul of a Third Grade Gold Knight, Greem’s split soul was not a match at all, even though the Gold Knight’s soul had lost most of its power. After all, Greem’s split soul had not grown to its fullest strength yet. Avoiding it and hiding became the only possible course of action for the divided soul.

  Greem had no choice but to personally direct the split soul to aid it in its struggle against the Gold Knight’s soul. With the help of the Chip, he avoided the opponent’s pursuit while furiously devouring as much holy light and pure spirit energy as he could.

  After five long years, he finally managed to beat the soul of the Gold Knight and convert it into part of his own Spirit energy. Today was the day Greem would harvest his rewards.