Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  Greem listened silently, his eyes narrowing into smiling arcs.

  The more mysterious Greem’s attitude was, the more concerned Gazlowe became.

  “Lord Greem, you must see the truth! I…I am truly innocent! If…if you don’t believe me, you can examine Gru’s brain. He…he appeared to have been enchanted by a witch known as Maysa.”

  Witch Maysa?

  Greem believed that Gazlowe wasn’t entirely lying when he heard this name. However, Gazlowe mentioned examining Gru’s brain. That meant that he would have to dissect the brain thoroughly. Only the two of them could fully understand what this truly implied.

  Split-Brain Gru could do something behind the main brain’s back without his knowledge?

  Greem might have been tricked by this ‘lie’ if he was still a beginner apprentice. However, the more he understood about brain monsters, the more he laughable Greem found the lie he had just been fed.

  Split-Brain Gru might appear to have an independent consciousness and thought, with a personality very distinct from the main brain, but the two brains were connected to each other. Even across vast distances, in entirely different planes, there was an inseverable, intangible connection between the two of them.

  The main brain was the primary stem, and the split-brain was only a branch that was created for ease of movement and activity.

  If the split-brain died, the main brain would have only lost a capable puppet on strings. It wouldn’t suffer any loss personally. However, if the main brain died, the consciousness of all split-brains would be exterminated in a single instant. Not one of them would survive.

  It was the existence of this trait that ensured that split-brains would never do anything to hurt the main brain.

  Greem couldn’t help but choke up with anger when he heard Gazlowe use such a terrible lie as an excuse so that he could live. However, just as Gazlowe expected, Greem held no actual killing intent towards him. Greem only wanted to take this opportunity to give him a stern warning.

  After all, he was a Third Grade brain monster. hH was a Third Grade brain monster capable of controlling a massive capital of steel. No one could bear to kill him!

  All Gazlowe required at the moment was an excuse with which he could fool the outside world.

  As long as Greem didn’t intend to kill him, he would accept the excuse, regardless of how terrible it actually was.

  Greem was thinking silently.

  He couldn’t help but feel a fire blaze in his heart when he saw Gazlowe’s submissive waving of the flag. It only got worse when he sensed how cautious and careful the mental appendage had been when establishing the connection.

  Gazlowe might seem fearful and submissive, but Greem knew very well that he had calculated all this. He knew Gazlowe was just waiting for him to play his part in this facade!

  All of his atrocities in the past could just be looked over with Gru’s sacrifice.

  This plotting mind, this little trickery and pulling of the strings, was what disgusted and infuriated Greem the most!

  Greem was deep in thought when his gaze ‘unintentionally’ landed on Gazlowe’s massive brain.

  As dense fire elementium gathered around his eyes, two red dots appeared on the soft, jelly-like gray brain matter. Two small fires quickly ignited.

  The fires were small, but they had the strange power of piercing straight to the soul!

  Gazlowe’s mental flux trembled as his mental appendages started to curl. However, he sensed no danger coming from the aura that Greem was radiating.

  He could not understand the intentions behind Greem’s actions in the slightest. He could only put out a mental barrier in an attempt to shield himself from the power projecting from Greem’s eyes. Meanwhile, he sent a fawning message to Greem, “Lord Greem, Lord Greem, your power is too immense. Could you restrain it a little bit? This humble one, this humble one…can hardly endure your power any longer!”

  Unfortunately, Greem seemed far too deep in thought. His gaze started to wander about. The two red dots fixed on Gazlowe’s brain also started to roam all over.

  The fire elementium power gathered in the red dots was far too intense. They sizzled when they landed on Gazlowe’s brain, easily leaving deep scorch marks upon the brain matter. These marks were all one meter deep and half a meter in width. All the brain matter along the path of the red dots was charred black, devoid of all life force.

  Gazlowe was also screaming in agony from the burning sensation that pierced straight to his soul. He was suffering immensely, but there was no one he could speak to. The mental barrier he had put up couldn’t stop the fire elementium either, for some reason.

  It was almost…almost as if Greem wasn’t actually projecting the fire energy with his vision. Instead, he was directly gathering the fire elementium on Gazlowe’s brain through some method unknown to Gazlowe, resulting in this effect similar to that of scorching fire.

  It appeared to be some sort of strange principle power!

  Could Greem have mastered and grasped a certain fire principle right after he advanced to Fourth Grade? That was unbelievable!

  The red dots continued wandering all over the brain.

  Messy, crisscrossing scorch marks akin to the random sketching of a child were left behind as the red dots moved. Gazlowe shuddered and shivered from the pain as wave after wave of mental ripples radiating outwards from his wrinkled brain.

  Gazlowe’s cries for mercy became louder and louder.

  After seven minutes, Greem seemed to have woken up from his deep brooding. His unfocused eyes suddenly became concentrated and animated once more.

  “Ah…look at this. I was just thinking about the whole Witch Maysa affair, and I zoned out. To think, I unintentionally hurt your whole body. You wouldn’t blame me for this, would you?” Greem’s expression was lively and greatly exaggerated. His tone was sincere, but his eyes were filled with malice and ridicule. Anyone could see the very intentional facade he was putting on.

  However, just as Greem didn’t want to tear down Gazlowe’s lies, Gazlowe didn’t want to shred this layer of a facade that the two of them were keeping up. Faced with Greem’s sincere ‘apologetic’ attitude, Gazlowe once again demonstrated his ‘generosity.’

  “It’s nothing, nothing at all. Lord Greem, this couldn’t possibly be your fault. It is only…only my body that is lacking in training, which is why I couldn’t endure that slightly ‘hot’ power of yours!”

  “I see, so that’s how it was! It seems I was overthinking the issue. Still, Gazlowe, you can’t just focus on expanding your mind and neglect improving your brain’s elementium defenses! That isn’t good. It makes you very likely to get injured on accident, you know.”

  Gazlowe felt as bitter as he could be when he heard Greem’s mocking response, but there was no one he could tell it to.

  His elementium defenses were weak? His Physique was frail?

  In all honesty, even a Second Grade dragon couldn’t compare to Gazlowe’s elementium defenses! His mental powers could put up a special distorted space around his brain. Ordinary elementium magic and physical attacks could almost never reach his brain through this defense as long as his mental powers were not exhausted.

  Only a strange technique similar to what Greem had used that contained a trace of the principle powers could have injured him so terribly. No other person could have survived the thousands of magic energy cannons installed in the Capital of Eternity. No other person could have shredded through tens of thousands of magical machines and hundreds of Second Grade machines. No other person could be unfazed in front of the dominant mental attacks of a Third Grade brain monster.

  Talk not about injuring Gazlowe himself. There were probably less than five beings throughout Lance who could even get to Gazlowe with their own power.

  As such, Gazlowe’s only response to Greem’s extremely malicious ridicule was silence. He could only swallow all his broken teeth and blood, lower his head, acknowledge his faults, and demonstrate his hum
ility and servility.

  The burning from earlier might have hurt Gazlowe badly, but it did not inflict substantial damage on him. His brain was far too large, after all. That amount of loss to his brain matter was nothing at all.

  This whole performance had only been a show of attitude and intentions!

  Greem had expressed what he felt, and Gazlowe had acknowledged these feelings.

  It was a happy ending, and both of them were a loving family once again.

  However, a new fire control-rune was unavoidable!

  Gazlowe thought for a long while before finally and reluctantly releasing his mental defenses. He let Greem leave his brand on his soul origin.

  The soul brand from before had been left there when Greem was Second Grade, after all. Gazlowe had already done away with the brand through some means long ago. The new fire control-rune might not be able to guarantee absolute loyalty from Gazlowe, but it was still an effective, short-term means of binding him to Greem’s service.

  For the sake of his own life, Gazlowe had no choice but to grit his teeth and endure it!

  Chapter 1071 - Banquet Celebration

  Greem has successfully advanced to Fourth Grade.

  Even though no one intentionally spread the news, this information still dispersed throughout Zhentarim like a plague.

  For a moment, the Crimson Clan’s status rose uncontrollably, its position within Zhentarim slowly improving. The low and intermediate-grade adepts that came to join the clan, as well as worldly merchant groups and nobles, were endless. They nearly wore down the hinges of the Crimson Clan’s door.

  The clan higher-ups also took the opportunity to start several adept wars, as hinted at by Greem. In doing so, they obtained several territories around Ailovis that were rich in resources. Not only did the Zhentarim Association completely ignore this aggressive expansion by the Crimson Clan, they even sent representatives led by Vice-Chairman Adept Mirva to congratulate the Crimson Clan.

  The Crimson Wing.

  Ever since the Crimson Clan rose to power, they had built this large adept’s tower in the very heart of Ailovis. Naturally, the grand celebration they hosted in honor of their clan master’s advancement to Fourth Grade could only be held here.

  Adept clans and organizations all over Zhentarim sent out representatives of their own to Ailovis to congratulate the birth of the new Fourth Grade adept in Zhentarim. Meanwhile, the adept clans who were standing right in front of the Crimson Clan’s eager blade sent out the powerhouses of their clans to begin constructive, though difficult, ‘negotiations’ with the Crimson Clan’s leaders.

  They either became subordinate forces to the Crimson Clan, traded resource sites and treasures for a temporary truce, or invited the Crimson Clan to cooperate in the development of a lesser plane. To avoid being yet another sacrificial victim to the prodigious rise of the Crimson Clan, these other clans had no choice but to grit their teeth and offer humiliating ‘terms of cooperation.’ It was only through this method that they could protect the foundations of their group and prevent it from being devoured by the Crimson Clan.

  The Third Grade clan leaders that arrived even had to lower themselves in front of Second Grade Gargamel and Meryl. They didn’t dare to offend these two individuals, who held much of the authority of the Crimson Clan.

  If their attitude was unsatisfactory, or the resources, treasures, and lesser planes they offered were too little for the Crimson Clan’s appetite, what awaited them would be an unending army of magical machines marching through their lands.

  In all honesty, some adept clans were unfortunate even in this regard. It didn’t matter how humble or cooperative they were. If they possessed something that the Crimson Clan desired above all else, then they would undoubtedly be the first sacrifices in the next wave of expansion.

  It was not something that could be decided by their attitudes or efforts. Their fate was determined based on the Crimson Clan’s own needs and their plans for short and long term development!

  The appearance of a Fourth Grade adept would necessarily bring about a change and shift in political circumstances, regardless of which region of the World of Adepts this Fourth Grade adept had appeared.

  Greem had been a famous legendary fire adept even before advancement, and he had been the most powerful Third Grade adept of Zhentarim, acknowledged by all. Now that someone like him had advanced to Fourth Grade, his glory and power would probably overshadow even the veteran Fourth Grades.

  At the very least, Zhentarim would experience unprecedented political turbulence for the next hundred years. Adept clans and organizations that were protected by Fourth Grade adepts were not in much danger, but those without protection would experience a crisis of survival far harsher than ever before.

  The big fish would eat the small fish, the little fish would eat the shrimp, while the shrimp would have to eat the dirt.

  When a new Fourth Grade arose in the Central Region, they would most certainly obtain a space large enough for them in the crowded realm of Zhentarim. The clashing and compression between the territories of the larger clans would always first affect the weaker organizations that existed in the gaps between them.

  When this happened, every single group would have to keep their eyes open, making or breaking alliances as they saw fit. They had to both protect their adept legacy that had existed for the past hundred years, while also trying to tear off pieces of flesh from the others to further develop themselves.

  For the foreseeable future, Zhentarim would be engulfed in conflict. It would be trapped in a fearsome tide of war, disagreements, and mutual consumption.

  It was only a battle for survival as harsh and heartless as this one that could eliminate the irrelevant and hopeless adept legacies. It would allow the strong adepts to become stronger and the large adept clans to further stretch and expand.

  As the source of this turbulence, the Crimson celebration was undoubtedly the best place to make and unmake alliances. Many large and intermediate forces who smelled the blood in the water hurried to the Crimson Wing, along with many smaller organizations desperate to protect themselves. They were all here to look for the so-called ‘opportunity!’

  An adept’s celebration was far less grandiose and luxurious as a worldly banquet, but they often had an incomparable sense of ‘humble extravagance.’

  The banquet hall was a wide hall of over ten thousand square meters.

  There was a large fountain of delicate design in the center of the hall. The best musicians of the sea folk were playing their hearts out, accompanied by the singing of a deep-sea mermaid.

  Their instruments were made from strange sea objects, such as shells, corals, and seaweed; each had their own uniquely beautiful sound. The mermaid was an unparalleled beauty with a pretty face. She had the body of a human female and a golden fishtail.

  She wore a diamond tiara on her head, with two strands of long, wet hair flowing down her smooth face to cover her chest. Her two-meter-long tail was wrapped around a rock protruding from the water as her beautiful voice spread through the hall.

  That wonderful singing almost felt like it could reach one’s very soul and sway one’s heart at the very core.

  Deep sea mermaids were a species with innate principle powers. Their singing voices naturally carried a slight seduction effect in them. Creatures who heard their singing would unknowingly be absorbed in the music, incapable of freeing themselves from its grip regardless of whether they understood the lyrics.

  However, just as they were powerful because of the trace of principle power they possessed, their fall was also for the same reason.

  The deep-sea mermaids became nobles and monarchs of the deep-sea world with this unusual talent of theirs. However, this ability of theirs made them the best singers that adepts enjoyed hunting and adding to their collections.

  However, most adepts hunted them for their mermaid blood and tears. These ingredients allowed them to enchant their magical equipment with a powerful i
llusion spell. Only adept clans of great wealth could look past their value as magical ingredients and extravagantly train them as singers instead.

  Greem even borrowed the five elementium fairies from Alice for the sake of this banquet. They served as waitresses during the event.

  The appearance of elementium fairies was so unique that all adepts recognized them at first sight.

  They beat their thin, nearly translucent wings and pinched their tiny, match-like wands as they flew about the banquet. They were continually waving their hands and casting brilliant and pretty stardust into the air.

  Adepts who were caught by the stardust quickly found that they had been enchanted with multiple beneficial spells. For instance, Replenish Stamina, Energized, and Unending Stream either increased stamina or aided with the regeneration of strength and energy. All of them were incredibly practical magical spells.

  It was important to note that most adepts easily spent weeks in their labs when they began significant projects. During this time, they could not move, nor did they have the time to eat and drink. They could only sustain themselves with magical potions. The exhaustion of stamina and Spirit in doing so was massive.

  If they had such an elementium fairy in their own labs, the difficulty and amount of work they would have to deal with would be reduced drastically. They would have a much easier time.

  Most of the adepts looked at these little fairies with envy and desire in their eyes.

  Some adepts who were interested in these fairies even waved their hands and asked for some wine or dessert. The fairies only needed to wave their wands. A small shower of lights would fly out, and what the adepts wanted would automatically fly towards them.

  Apart from the elementium fairies, there were also many handsome or pretty apprentices in the banquet hall, waiting on the adepts in formal attire. There were many forest elves, blood elves, grass elves, and succubi amongst these waiters.

  Meanwhile, the Crimson adepts wore all sorts of different clothes, depending on their professions and preferences. However, they all wore a clan emblem with the symbol of a burning fist on their chest. Magical aura lingered on these emblems, a visible sign that they had been enchanted with some powerful magic.