There was no need to scan with his Chip. From the intense pain shooting through his arm, Greem could tell that most of his bones in his hand were now fractured. The flesh and tendons acting as a buffer to his bones had also been crushed into a bloody, pulpy mess now.
Surprisingly, despite the tremendous force that Tito was exerting, the skin on Greem’s right hand was still perfectly untouched. It made it look like everything was perfectly normal, even though the internals were already crushed and destroyed beyond recognition.
However, Greem was not the kind of person who would sit by without retaliating!
The translucent fire forcefield wrapped around his right hand had increased to a speechless degree. While Tito was overwhelming him with Strength, Greem’s fire forcefield had already seeped into Tito’s skin, cooking, burning, and reducing to cinders his right hand in an unimaginable fashion.
Of course, for the sake of maintaining etiquette in their appearances, Greem also made sure not to hurt Tito’s skin in the slightest. However, the flesh, tendons, and blood vessels beneath the surface were quickly turning from red to dark red from the vicious heat, before turning into dark purple-black.
Their hands were still firmly gripped with pleasant smiles fixed on their faces.
However, one of their right hands was creaking and cracking with the sound of breaking finger bones, while the other person’s right hand was rapidly turning black while giving off a faint smell of cooked meat.
Both of them were bracing with all they had, while still having to maintain surface friendliness in their behavior. As such, their expressions gradually started to distort and turn weird.
“Alright, alright. Don’t be so passionate when it’s the first time you’re meeting. I still have to bring Lord Greem on a tour around the entire castle. Stop now, won’t you!” Laurent, who had been watching the whole thing from the side with a smile on his face, stepped forward to wrap up the showdown.
Greem was the Association’s guest, after all. Preparing an opening gambit for him that didn’t really hurt anyone’s feelings or reputation was no problem. However, if they were to crush his right hand upon arrival, it would appear as if the Association was far too severe and underhanded.
Both adepts laughed awkwardly and let go of their opponent’s hand.
Greem subtly slipped his right hand into his robe and turned to nod at the other Third Grade adepts around them.
“How is it? How’s the fire adept’s Strength?” Laurent secretly sent a voice transmission to Tito without betraying any expression on his face.
“His Strength is at 27 points. That’s incredibly high for an elementium adept. I wrecked his right hand. He won’t be able to recover completely and use his hand without three to five days of rest.”
“Haha! Buddy, great jo…”
“But my right hand’s wrecked as well!”
“Er…”
“That guy’s fire is overbearing. It almost cooked all of the flesh and bones in my hand.”
“Alright, then. Go back and treat your wounds. I’ll show him around!”
Naturally, knowledge of such a thing happening upon meeting couldn’t be allowed to get out. It was only spread amongst a tiny circle consisting of the Association’s higher-ups.
According to Tito’s estimation, this legendary fire adept had 27 points of Strength and 24 points of Physique. That was undoubtedly far too high for an elementium adept.
After all, elementium adepts relied on their Spirit. Wasting large amounts of time on Physique and Strength was undoubtedly a colossal waste of resources.
An ordinary Third Grade elementium adept would be able to deal with most dangerous environments with more than 10 points of Strength and Physique. Only top-tier adepts cultivated by the major forces would be able to raise all of their secondary attributes to such heights, due to their plentiful resources and efficient cultivation system.
It wasn’t surprising that someone like Greem could defend against the violent power of a Fourth Grade adept and exhaust all of his stamina. Even though he was clearly an elementium adept, he had a powerful Physique that did not lose to bloodline adepts.
Of course, the Fourth Grade magical golem dragon was still the main determining factor in his victory.
That said, if Greem wasn’t sustained by such an unbelievable Physique, he would not be able to control the golem dragon and keep fighting for such an extended period!
After greeting all the Association adepts who had specially come here to receive him, Greem walked into the Kerslin Castle he had heard so much about while in Launrent’s company.
Chapter 1026 - Animated Castle
Kerslin Castle was a castle in name, but in truth, it was a massive living area stretching for thousands of kilometers.
Many beautiful villas and exquisite mansions were everywhere.
Farmers in linen garments could be seen everywhere, with their heads lowered as they worked in the fields. Happy and satisfied smiles could also be seen on the faces of the cart-drivers as they rode down the road with their wagons full of cargo.
It was a land that had not experienced the fires of war in several thousand years after all. Any adept clan war that broke out would make sure to steer clear of Kerslin Castle, making sure that they would not affect the civilians of this land. Most of the time, life here was bliss!
The black carriage that Greem and Laurent rode appeared to have the insignia of the Zhentarim Association. As such, all carts and carriages along the way moved aside and let them pass by before returning to the road.
The pedestrians that saw the black carriage bowed and paid their respects and admiration, with reverence written all over their faces.
Judging from the longbows on their backs and the longswords at their waists, these were mercenaries that made a living through adventure. Some apprentice adepts in gray robes could also be seen amongst these mercenaries, holding magic tomes or short wands in their hands.
They walked together in groups of three to five other apprentices, signs of battle all over their faces, bodies, and hands. The bags and pouches on them appeared to be full to the point of bursting. It seemed they had come back with plenty of loot.
Their destination was the scattered cities on the outskirts of Kerslin Castle.
Plenty of arcane shops and some small adept towers were waiting there for their business.
Even though Greem and Laurent had many means by which to travel to the massive castle in the distance instantly, they did not do so. Now that they were here, they could only sit in the black carriage and slowly proceed at the speed of ordinary people.
Qiu!
A strange screech suddenly came from the skies above.
Greem pulled apart the curtains and looked outside, only to see three exceedingly strong and handsome two-headed eagles cutting through the sky. Sitting on the back of the eagles were several adepts in black or white robes.
They appeared to be supervising adepts sent out from the central castle on patrol. They were continually bending over to look at everything beneath them. When they saw the strange black carriage, they couldn’t help but have their eagles circle in the sky.
However, after taking out a translucent crystal and exchanging a few words with the headquarters, their queries were solved. They turned the eagles about and flew in another direction.
“Those are the enforcer adepts from the supervising division! They are in charge of monitoring all movements around Kerslin Castle.” Upon hearing that strange screech, Laurent didn’t even need to look out to know who it was. He quickly explained the identities of the adepts to Greem.
Greem nodded wordlessly.
He had already seen it clearly when the adepts soared past him on their eagles. All of them had the symbol of an open eye on their chest. That should be the emblem of the supervising division.
The environment here was undoubtedly very well protected.
Apart from the few human cities, villages, and settlements, the land was sim
ply vast stretches of cultivated fields and massive forests that filled the spaces in-between. However, compared to the Black Forest, the woods here had been cleaned up already. There were only some small animals like wolves, foxes, goats, or rabbits. Large and ferocious beasts rarely appeared here, let alone those terrifying magical creatures.
From this aspect, the rise of the adepts had truly brought shelter and peace for the humans of their world.
The people that lived in such a peaceful and quiet environment were undoubtedly happy and content!
The steed pulling the black carriage along appeared to be some sort of magical beast. It was tame and silent while also being incredibly fast. It brought Greem and Laurent through the dark green forest, drove on a stone bridge built over a small stream, and passed by several villas and mansions before finally gently drawing close to a towering castle standing upon a tiny hill.
Tall walls surrounded the castle along with a moat, the water of which was as clear as a mirror.
When they passed by the gates of the outer wall, the black-armored guards stationed there simply took a look at the carriage and let it pass through.
Past the walls was a large, gray plaza. There were massive stone buildings everywhere, while the main structure of the castle faced the entrance. It appeared towering and intimidating, like a gigantic beast lying in slumber.
No mercenaries or apprentice adepts could be seen here now. Those who walked in and out of the area were all Association adepts in a standard uniform with various strange emblems and badges on their chests. Most of these were First Grade adepts. There were also quite a few Second Grade adepts, but there were hardly any Third Grade adepts.
When Laurent accompanied Greem off the black carriage, the Association adepts that saw them hastily hurried forward to give their greetings.
Greem lingered at the massive gates of the castle for a short moment, taking a good look at this gigantic five-story building made entirely out of stone. Greem’s heart trembled slightly.
The entire structure of the castle was built with a strange, light golden stone, a material unknown to Greem. In his senses, these golden stones contained traces of sophisticated magical aura. It was like a river flowed within the stones, sketching an exceptionally large magical array through the multiple streams of strange surging magic.
Every inch of space here seemed immersed in an indescribable and mysterious force.
It was unlike any elementium energy. Yet, it wasn’t pure magic energy either. Instead, it was a strange energy that existed entirely independent of the current system of magic in the World of Adepts.
The strange energy suppressed Greem, and his spiritual senses were restricted to within three meters of himself. It caused Greem to become incredibly uncomfortable, as he typically relied heavily on his spiritual senses. Fortunately, his eyes were not affected; looking at things normally was not a problem.
Upon entering the hall of the castle, Greem suddenly felt as if he had entered another plane!
“Don’t be surprised. This is the defensive mechanism of Kerslin Castle. All foreign adepts will be suppressed when they come here. It will be better after a while.” Laurent explained simply with a smile on his face.
However, Greem’s questions were not answered even after listening to Laurent’s explanation. Rather, he became even more confused.
Not a single magical rune or pattern could be seen on the surface of the castle through his powerful Elementium Sight. Yet, the castle could still freely guide the magic energy to traverse through the stone of the walls. Most importantly of all, Greem could faintly sense an elementium rhythm unique to lifeforms in the mysterious energy around him.
“An alchemical lifeform. You’ve animated the entirety of Kerslin Castle?” Greem let out a muffled gasp.
Upon hearing Greem’s words, Laurent’s mouth grew wider and wider in shock. He answered with a question, his tone one of utter disbelief, “How…how do you know?”
In all honesty, the fact that Kerslin Castle had been awakened into an alchemical lifeform two thousand years ago was something that had gone completely unnoticed by the ordinary Association adepts. Only certain higher-ups within the Association knew some details about it.
There had been plenty of high-grade adepts that had stepped into Kerslin Castle over the past thousands of years. However, there had never been any of them who could assess the condition of Kerslin Castle upon entering as Greem just had. It was no wonder that Laurent was surprised!
What Laurent didn’t know was that Greem was even more shocked and stunned at the moment.
This place was not an ordinary noble’s castle, after all! It was a massive structure several square kilometers in size, which contained tons of massive stones. To animate a gigantic structure such as this and make it awaken to thought and intelligence akin to that of humans– this was far beyond Greem’s expectations.
He had been slightly suspicious even after seeing the conclusion provided by the Chip’s scan and analysis, but he was certain of the truth when he saw Laurent’s expression.
What a bold move, what a strange trick; those Fourth Grade adepts truly couldn’t be underestimated!
Perhaps because the identity of the castle had been seen through, the calm and mysterious energy around Greem suddenly started resonating. The energy then spoke with a humming voice that only Greem could hear, “Welcome, human adept. You are the 3,276th visitor I have had since my consciousness was born. Yet, you are also the only person who managed to see through my identity. I seem to smell the scent of a compatriot similar to myself on you!”
The voice was deep and clamorous, almost like the sound that would be created from the vibrations of two stones rubbing against each other.
“Setting aside any external factors, I like you very much, human adept. To express my favor, I have decided to give you First Class status authority. Said directive has been opposed by 27 people and approved by 0 people. Kerslin’s directive has been rejected. Kerslin has decided to give you Second Class status authority. There are 119 people opposed, 0 people have approved. However, Second Class status authority bestowal is within Kerslin’s autonomy. Opposition ineffective. Directive will be executed immediately!”
The mysterious energy surrounding Greem started to boil like water as this strange animated lifeform spoke to itself.
[Beep. Detecting foreign energy connection. Said connection is an open, no-attribute energy channel. No Spirit attachments or safety hazards have been detected upon examination. Requesting instructions from host. Connect?]
“Connect!”
Upon sending the order to connect, Greem’s Spirit that had been suppressed within three meters of himself abruptly loosened. His spiritual senses could once again freely take in everything within a hundred meters of himself.
There was also some scattered information contained within the strange energy. Some of this information seemed to contain the internal magical messages of the Association.
“…has Kerslin gone mad? Why is he giving an outsider Third Class status authority?”
“I am making an emergency call to Master Klinsmann. He will give us an explanation.”
“Stop using the low-density channel already. That guy already has Third Class authority. He might be able to hear what we are saying.”
“Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! If that’s the case, then that bastard’s authority is already higher than my own!”
Chapter 1027 - Stealing Information
This sudden action from Kerslin not only caught the Association by surprise but Greem as well. He had a confused expression stuck on his face.
He was a compatriot similar to it? That Kerslin could sense the Chip’s existence?
Greem suddenly started panicking when he heard the various frustrated shouts from around him. He couldn’t help but cut off the mental connection with this strange lifeform.
[Detecting unknown data source. Given the current Second Class authority, host can immediately browse, read, and d
ownload some of the public content and information. Requesting instructions from host. Copy information?]
While Greem was panicking, the Chip suddenly spoke up, and his attention immediately snapped back to focus.
Unknown data source? Public content and data?
The data source couldn’t be referring to the Zhentarim Association’s internal database, could it?
“Immediately download all data and copy all information. Move faster.”
Greem knew very well that the consequences of this little ‘incident’ could vary tremendously based on the Association’s reaction. Once the old fogeys behind the Association reacted to what was happening, they would most definitely seal off this breach in their database. As such, any information he could steal from it before they could react would be a win for him.
Greem could sense his mind empty the moment he gave the order. Much of his Spirit silently flowed into the Chip, turning into a mysterious power that sustained the Chip as it went into overdrive.
The Chip had now connected with the mysterious data source in the distance. It started using its newly obtained Second Class authority to copy and download all sorts of data and information wildly. Although most of the information was basic knowledge that was available to all adepts belonging to the Zhentarim Association, there was simply far too much information that spanned many aspects of the magical system.
There were six classes of authorities in total: Special Class, First Class, Second Class, Third Class, Fourth Class, and Fifth Class.
Chairman Freed was the only person to have Special Class authority, while First Class authority belonged to all Fourth Grade adepts of the Association. Second Class was for internal Third Grade adepts, Third Class for Second Grades, Fourth Class for First Grades, and Fifth Class for apprentices.
With this level of authority, Greem, as an outsider, could enjoy as much power as Laurent, despite having just stepped into the Zhentarim Association. He could freely browse the Association’s data library; it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
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