Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  If she unleashed power beyond the limit that this broken body could bear, the life system that was barely being maintained would collapse in an instant. Given their current lack of medications, it would spell her death.

  As such, Tess Xinnaya’s heart became filled with sorrow and panic upon hearing this string of bad news.

  She finally managed to take hold of her emotions after a long pause. She then opened her mouth to ask, “And Tower Master Italil?”

  She might not be able to live up to her rank as a Third Grade now, but Witch Italil, who had been sent to reinforce them, was still a true Third Grade witch. Italil had met up with them while they were on the run.

  However, they resented her failure to save them. The loss of the magical array repair materials was the main reason for the fall of the witch’s tower. As such, the stationed witches became dissatisfied with Witch Italil and refused to listen to her orders.

  Upon hearing Witch Tess’ question, the other witches looked at each other. It seemed like none of them had any clue about the whereabouts of Witch Italil.

  Only the white-haired witch hesitated for a moment before speaking, “Adept Italil seemed to have received a magical message yesterday. She only explained that she was going to meet a friend before leaving in a hurry. She did not relay her specific destination.”

  The faces of the witches immediately turned.

  “Ilya, have you gone senile? Italil couldn’t possibly have any friends here!” The one-armed witch said furiously, concern and worry written all over her face.

  The white-haired witch was surprised for a moment but immediately understood the situation, “Are you are worried that she will betray us? That’s not possible, is it? She is a witch! Those natives will never let her go.”

  “Hmph! Look at where we are now, and yet, you are still so childish. If she really intended to save us, she would never have left those crucial materials with that bitch Rena!”

  The words of the one-armed witch instantly drew the agreement of the other witches. They couldn’t help but start cursing angrily.

  “Lady Tess, we cannot hesitate any longer. Let us move now! Otherwise…”

  Just as they were talking amongst themselves, the witches’ expressions changed as they all turned to look at the entrance of the cave.

  The defensive arrays they had placed outside Witherwood Valley had been triggered by someone. Judging from how quickly the person had passed through the arrays, it could only be Witch Italil, who held the same authority over the arrays as the rest of them.

  They might not be concerned if Italil was the only one returning. More importantly, the feedback from the arrays revealed that a stranger had followed Italil into Witherwood Valley.

  A stranger? In this accursed plane where only pursuers and hostiles roamed the land, strangers only meant enemies and enemies meant fighting and sacrifice. How many sisters had they sacrificed in Henvic Plane over all these years?

  All the witches couldn’t help but get nervous when they sensed a familiar life aura heading straight for the cave.

  Who was it that Italil had brought with her? Was it a friend or a foe?

  Chapter 996 - Teleportation Quota

  The stranger who stepped into the cave with Italil was exceptionally tall.

  A thick black cloak with a hood hid most of the stranger’s body. Not a trace of skin was even exposed.

  A pair of eyes containing a strange ‘power’ stared out from under the shadow of the hood, singing and burning all who looked upon them. All the witches looking at the stranger’s eyes had no choice but to look away. Some of the weaker witches even felt their eyeballs hurt as tears welled up and blurred their vision.

  Though the witches were somewhat intimidated by this, their reactions were calm and composed. There was even a trace of joy on their faces.

  The identity of the stranger might be unknown, but the power they used clearly belonged to the system of adepts.

  That was the main reason why the witches felt a trace of relief!

  “Sisters, put your staffs away! Allow me to introduce an esteemed guest.” Italil was a composed middle-aged witch, but even she had a trace of excitement on her face now.

  However, before she could continue, the tall and scrawny Witch Tess had already stood out from the crowd and said, “This must be Sir Greem from the Crimson Clan!”

  A strange smile appeared on the stranger’s face beneath the shadow of the hood. He said with a jovial voice, “I’m very honored to meet you, Lady Tess!”

  The stranger took off his hood, and a handsome male face appeared before the witches.

  Well-defined facial lines, the corners of the mouth curled slightly upwards, thick eyebrows, majestic and unusual black eyes, along with that dark red hair running down his back. The guest’s face couldn’t be considered handsome; it was only ordinary, at best.

  However, his eyes had a commanding and powerful force in them. Tremendous confidence also radiated from the corners of his eyes. All this caused his face to carry a different sense of beauty to it.

  As a Third Grade witch, Tess naturally saw and sensed far more than the other witches did.

  She could very clearly ‘see’ that Greem had a pair of powerful black eyes. Small crimson specks could be seen around the black pupil, like tiny, beautiful diamonds of fire. Even with her spiritual resistance, Tess felt traces of burning pain in her Spirit when she looked into Greem’s eyes. That meant the powers of fire within Greem’s body were powerful enough to transmit power through consciousness alone.

  Moreover, his dark red hair wasn’t his original hair color, either. It was an unintentional result from the overflowing fire energy within his body radiating outwards. If he could cross the threshold of elementium and step into the level of planar laws, all of these external changes would gradually vanish.

  However, those who could manipulate the power of laws freely were all Great Adepts that had exceeded the limits of the plane. One would have to be at least Fifth Grade to gain total control over the planar laws’ power. The extremely well-respected Fourth Grade adepts of the World of Adept had only just barely come into contact with the most surface-level applications of the planar laws. They still had a long journey to travel before they reach true mastery of the laws.

  The witches immediately realized who the mysterious guest was upon seeing his face and hearing Witch Tess call out his name.

  Five years ago, when Rena traveled through the planar rift, she was accompanied by another person, aside from Witch Italil. It was an adept hired from outside the clan. It seemed to have been this legendary adept.

  According to Witch Tess’ analysis, the reason that the reinforcement mission had failed was likely because of legendary fire adept. That was especially the case after Witch Italil described the great battle that broke out in Haisas City in detail. The witches were certain that Greem was the cause of the mission’s failure.

  The witches had also heard of the unusual circumstances at Gangsas Volcano during their escape.

  Unfortunately, due to the intense pursuit of the holy knights and the tight perimeter enforced by the Zambez Empire around Gangsas Volcano, the witches had no chance of sneaking through to investigate or obtain more information.

  However, the Deceit Witches still managed to figure out what was happening at Gangsas Volcano through the holy knights they had managed to capture and enchant. Several adepts from another world were battling at Gangsas Volcano, though neither party could defeat the other, miring both in a stalemate.

  The Deceit Witches had felt incredibly frustrated when they heard of this news.

  Even though they didn’t know the true cause-and-effect behind the whole event, they could still figure out that this ‘uninvited disaster’ probably had something to do with these mysterious adepts. Naturally, this meant that the legendary fire adept, who was the target of all these hunter adepts to begin with, became a target of the witches’ resentment.

  That was why the faces of the D
eceit Witches all turned dark upon meeting the culprit behind their defeat.

  “Sir Greem, don’t you have something you need to say now that you’ve seen the current circumstances of us Deceit Witches?” Witch Tess coldly said, her face turning dark as she did so.

  Greem rubbed his nose awkwardly and put on a bitter smile, “Lady Tess, I am also a victim in this incident, you know!”

  Tess was furious and was about to retort, but Italil stopped her.

  “Tess, let the pass go. Now is the time we need to work together. Sir Greem has brought some good news back for us. I suggest you listen to him first!”

  “What news is it?”

  “…” Greem looked around the room and hesitated for a moment.

  “Just speak. Everyone here is a sister in arms willing to lay down their lives for each other. There is no reason to hide anything!” Tess said in a chilling tone.

  Italil once again betrayed an expression of humiliation and frustration.

  Greem wasn’t particularly bothered by the request. He looked at the witches in the room and softly said, “I have a way to leave Henvic Plane. However, there is only enough space for four people!”

  The air in the cave froze.

  Surprise and joy appeared on the faces of all the witches when they heard the first half of Greem’s sentence. However, when they heard that only four people could leave, sorrow and disappointment returned to their faces.

  “You have a one-use interplanar teleportation array?” Witch Tess was an extremely experienced veteran witch. She had managed to guess the truth based on Greem’s words alone.

  “Indeed! There is only a quota of four for the teleportation, and I will need two of them!” There was no need to hide this fact, so Greem simply stated the truth.

  He needed one slot of the quota to return to the World of Adepts, while the other was left for Remi’s old witch subordinate.

  Remi was a part of Greem’s Soul Equipment. He could return to Greem’s body during the teleportation and would not take up a slot in the quota for the process. However, the modified old poison witch was a genuine Third Grade plague creature. She couldn’t do the same as Remi.

  Greem could only bring as many as two Deceit Witches with him when he left.

  Seeing how passionate Italil was, she had obviously concluded that one of the quota slots was hers, given her identity as a Third Grade witch. After all these subtractions, there was one quota slot left for the witches in front of them!

  Moreover, given the selfishness of the adepts, Greem would never just hand over the chance to save two lives to the Deceit Witches without a proper reward.

  Naturally, Greem’s original intentions were to bring the two Third Grade witches back with him. That was the best way to minimize the damage and losses that the Deceit Witches would suffer in losing this planar war.

  The rest of the witches that remained only needed to scatter, hide, and wait for the next rescue team to arrive to be able to return to the World of Adepts. However, the most powerful witches amongst those who remained would only be at Second Grade. It was unknown whether the clan was willing to pay a heavy price just to bring back a bunch of First and Second Grade adepts.

  As such, if they missed this opportunity, the witches who remained here would face the risk of permanently being stuck in Henvic Plane.

  No rescue from their homeworld, no one to talk to, pursued and hounded by the holy knights for all eternity; that was the terrifying future that they could foresee!

  “Rena is there.” Tess lifted her hand and pointed to the distance in the east.

  “Rena?” Greem asked curiously. He had never expected that the first Second Grade witch to fall into the hands of the Zambez Empire had yet to die.

  Italil whispered a few words of explanation to him.

  It seemed like Rena was now being imprisoned in Blackmountain City, to the east.

  She had become the most vicious traitor in the hands of the holy knights. All the information and secrets of the Deceit Witches were being provided to the holy knights. It was the information she provided that allowed the holy knights to so accurately pursue and hunt down the Deceit Witches.

  Moreover, the holy knights had brought Rena from the capital to Blackmountain City to catch the witch remnants hiding nearby. They used her familiarity with the habits of the Deceit Witches and their methods of interaction to slowly clamp down on and restrict the witches’ living space.

  It could be said that the witches’ contempt for Rena was only second to their hatred for the holy knights pursuing them now!

  After a furious discussion between the witches, they finally came to an agreement with Greem.

  Greem would provide the Deceit Witches with two spaces for teleportation, while the Deceit Witches would have to help him strike a vicious assault on the holy knights. However, to Greem’s absolute surprise, the two people due for teleportation decided by the witches were Witch Italil and a First Grade witch with decent talent.

  Witch Tess was actually refusing to leave!

  Moreover, she suggested that the witches combine forces with Greem to rescue Witch Rena from Blackmountain City.

  Naturally, the witches all opposed the suggestion, but they all fell silent once Tess explained her reasoning.

  The reason Tess refused to leave was to increase the weight of the witch forces remaining in Henvic Plane.

  Otherwise, if only a group of First and Second Grade witches remained in Henvic Plane, they would have a difficult time surviving the pursuit of the holy knights. More importantly, it would make it incredibly unlikely for the clan to pay a heavy price to rescue them!

  If Tess remained in the plane, then considering the value of a Third Grade witch, the chances of a clan rescue would significantly increase. Of course, if Witch Italil were also willing to stay behind, the witches would be even more confident in a rescue mission from the clan.

  That said, everyone here knew that that would never happen!

  Of course, rescuing Rena was out of the same consideration as well.

  Chapter 997 - Prisoner Rena

  Blackmountain City.

  It was a majestic city built against a mountain.

  All the buildings inside the city were built with local blacksteel stones, which were pitch-black and harder than steel. Black city walls, black buildings, black castle. The entirety of Blackmountain City was as harsh and tough as the people were.

  The natives living near Blackmountain City were all diligent and honest people who had adapted to become exceedingly brave and ferocious in this harsh environment. They typically tilled the fields, barely harvesting enough food to fill their stomachs. When the farming season was over, they would form groups and go to the mountain to hunt. The prey they killed became the main source of meat for the mountain people.

  It was this unusual life of both farming and hunting that forged the sturdy bodies and incredible will of the mountain people. Every person that walked out of this mountain was an excellent warrior. As such, they were also the most welcome group of individuals in the imperial army.

  Perhaps, when it was constructed, the architects of Blackmountain City had never meant for it to be a beautiful mountain city with scenic views. Perhaps they only wanted to make it the most hardened and impenetrable fortress in the world. Consequently, the buildings within the town had none of the softness or extravagance of other cities. They were all castles, forts, and watchtowers that could be used for military purposes.

  Rena’s ‘room’ was located on the highest level of a stone tower at the back of the main castle.

  The room was not only spacious but also had an excellent view of the outside world. Tall but narrow slits could be seen on all four walls. As there weren’t any windows, the howling mountain winds could rush into the hall freely, whisking away any unsecured objects before escaping from the slit on the other side.

  Of course, they would always take the last trace of warmth in the room away with them as well!

 
When night fell, the hall would become unusually cold. Even the hardy mountain people would freeze to death in a single night if they didn’t have the proper gear.

  Yet, at this moment, Rena was curled up on the icy floor in the center of the hall. She was dressed in rags, and her unkempt face was buried between her knees as her frail body shivered uncontrollably. Every time she tried to move, the cold alloy cuffs on her legs rattled.

  The alloy cuffs connected to a thick silver chain the size of a baby’s arm. The chain wound about the room and went deep down into the building through a small hole in the center of the floor. If the chain were to be pulled taut, it would be just enough distance for Rena to reach the stone slits of the hall.

  Rena also wore an iron mask on her face to prevent her from spitting out the rock in her mouth. There were a pair of fingerless iron gauntlets on her hands. The countless sharp and cold spikes inside the gauntlet were already embedded within her flesh. Any slightly large movements Rena made would cause the spikes to tear open her wounds and cause the blood to flow.

  Rena only wore an incredibly ragged black cloak despite how cold and open of a space she was in. Without the ability to gather magical power to warm her body, the only thing keeping her alive was the extraordinary Physique of an adept.

  Rena might not be a body-refining adept, but even she had 11 points of Physique after advancing to Second Grade.

  Her body might not look like much, but it contained a vigorous life force and regenerative power comparable to wild beasts in the woods. An ordinary, weak woman would have died countless times if subjected to the same torture Rena had endured. Apart from her pitiful appearance, the fire of life still burned hot inside Rena’s frail body.

  There was never a moment in her life that Rena had ever wanted power and influence more!

  A flame blazed in her chest, constantly burning her soul.

  Rena’s previous life had been incredibly indulgent and hedonistic, and she had risen to her position by way of her mother. She had enjoyed all the luxuries of the world, from sweet wines to handsome men. Yet, at this point, all that she had done in the past had only become sins upon her shoulders.