Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

There was a broad, flat stone base, the silver body of the tower that slowly rose from the bottom, and the glowing arcane rings that surrounded the tower itself. It was obviously a small security tower specialized for aerial combat.

  Unlike an ordinary arcane tower, this security tower was devoid of most living and research facilities. Instead, a tremendous amount of lightning towers, flame towers, storm towers, and tidal towers had been added within. These strange elementium towers, one-meter in diameter and five meters in height, were scattered all over the security tower.

  Whenever the arcane rings rose from the bottom of the tower to the very top, a blinding radiance would radiate from these elementium towers.

  The security tower had been hovering above a quiet and unpopulated valley. It used its strange lightwaves to scan the land below when it detected a weak magical fluctuation in the forest five kilometers away.

  Like a hound that had smelled blood, light shimmered on the tower’s wall. It quickly flew to the location of the signal, leaving behind a trail of light.

  The arcanist in the second level of the security tower in charge of scanning activated the arcane crystal with experienced movements. He began to search for the source of the abnormal flux.

  He subconsciously believed the magical flux to be an aftershock from a fight between magical creatures. However, the moment he activated the arcane crystal, a crimson spot of light abruptly appeared in the air, taking up all of his vision.

  “Enemy assault.”

  The arcanist’s panicked roar instantly rang out throughout the security tower. In the next second, the arcane barrier around the security tower thickened by over three times.

  The tower’s defense had just been adjusted to the highest level when a colossal metallic figure crashed into the barrier.

  A deep, muffled boom rang out.

  The security tower trembled violently and spun as it fell backward through the air.

  A human-shaped dent appeared on the five-meter-thick arcane barrier. Cracks could be seen at the bottom of that dent. Pieces of arcane light peeled off from the barrier, scattering into the air and slowly dissipating away.

  The astral construct in which Holly was hiding was also quickly falling backward. He had been stunned by that reckless charge from earlier as well, and stars were flying in front of his eyes.

  While the security tower and the metallic golem were knocked away from each other on impact, the small elementium towers on the surface of the security tower started charging up magical energy for the four elements.

  The next second, countless lightning bolts, swerving fireballs, giant boulders, and clusters of frost enveloped the astral construct even as it continued to spin wildly across the sky. These elementium attacks turned into a torrent of arcane magic, repeatedly assaulting every part of the construct’s body.

  The astral construct that Adept Holly was piloting was also rapidly melting away from the attacks.

  It was a primary characteristic of the arcanists’ attacks!

  They did not like to chant spells as the adepts did, nor use powerful high-grade magic to overwhelm and kill the enemy. Instead, they preferred to compound a large number of weaker, smaller spells to penetrate the opponent’s defense.

  It wasn’t a particularly fancy method of attack, but it was just as terrifying!

  After all, there were over a hundred elementium towers scattered all over the security tower. The arcane torrent formed from the combined might of all these elementium towers was definitely not something an ordinary person could hope to survive.

  Adept Holly was slightly surprised at this. He started to move and dodge in the air rapidly, all while mentally requesting help from Greem.

  Holly raised his hands, and beams of starlight fell from the sky, quickly assimilating with the astral construct. The astral construct that had been somewhat worn down by the attacks thickened once again.

  Meanwhile, the security tower had just stabilized itself and was about to turn around to pursue the astral construct. A loud explosion rang out as a series of Blazing Fireballs erupted against the security tower.

  The vicious flame shockwaves knocked the security tower around, making it difficult for the tower to stabilize itself. Seven or eight arcane guards that had been circling the security tower were caught in the sea of flames. They were blown to countless tiny pieces and fell from the skies as a rain of broken parts.

  “Enemy assault…enemy assault. Discovered second target!”

  The tower spirit of the security tower quickly locked onto the new opponent, revealing the two enemies to the arcanists of the tower.

  No one knew when, but a gigantic flame giant had appeared in the forest below.

  It was this giant that had flung a series of fireballs and bombarded the security tower while it was trying to pursue the other enemy.

  “Dammit! Just as we expected! Those adepts are here. Hurry up and contact Security Towers 27 and 35 to hurry over!” The Fourth Ring arcanist stationed in Security Tower 22 started shouting upon seeing the two fearsome adepts appear one after another.

  “We have sent the message. The security towers are on the way. Estimated time until arrival is 127 nasos.”

  Naso was a unit of time in the Arcane Empire that translated to approximately thirty-two minutes!

  A trace of joy finally appeared on the face of the Fourth Ring arcanist when he heard his subordinate’s reply.

  The enemy might be powerful, but the sturdy security tower protected them. They should have no problem defending for 127 nasos. As such, the Fourth Ring arcanist’s concern wasn’t whether the security tower could hold out, but whether they could keep the enemy occupied here until their companions arrived.

  The Fourth Ring arcanist quickly looked at the two adepts that had appeared and chose the fire giant as their target without any hesitation.

  That astral construct could summon starlight to repair its damage. An enemy like that could not be defeated quickly. Meanwhile, the fire giant was over a dozen meters tall. Even the tall, ancient trees only reached its waist while it stood in the forest.

  However, the Fourth Ring arcanist felt no fear of this massive creature.

  Elementiumized body, gigantified body. These were not techniques unique to the adepts. Almost every single high-grade caster could master such abilities. That said, very rarely did people use these abilities in battles against enemies of the same level.

  There was a simple reason for that. A gigantified body might seem majestic and domineering, but without a large amount of elementium energy to sustain that form, it was no more than cotton candy. A few attacks would break the body, making it a wholly unintimidating paper tiger.

  Moreover, one’s defense would also be stretched thin due to the massive increase in size. There would be weaknesses and gaps all over the place.

  Gigantification might be incredibly effective when used to crush weaker planar natives, but it was little more than arrogance against a Fourth Ring arcanist protected by a security tower!

  The Fourth Ring arcanist instantly assumed the opponent to be an inexperienced rookie. He smiled wickedly and drove the security tower straight at the flame giant. Meanwhile, the arcane guards around the tower swarmed at the astral construct in an attempt to stall it.

  The Fourth Ring arcanist intended to defeat the adepts one by one, starting from the weakest first!

  Greem stood tall above the forest.

  Blazing fire shrouded his massive body, and rivers of flames coiled around him. Every tree within a kilometer of himself had ignited the moment he appeared, and the fire quickly spread outwards.

  Fire burning upon flames, flames growing upon fire!

  Every substance within sight was quickly ignited.

  A strange Heart of Principles beat fiercely and rhythmically inside the fire giant’s thick and firm chest. A golden fire of surprising heat would spew forth every time it pumped, and tiny golden vortices of flame would be left behind in core locations all over the giant’s bo
dy where the golden fire spread.

  These golden flame vortices were like miniature elementium portals. They directly connected to the Fire Elementium Plane and drew an endless supply of fire energy from there to replenish the consumed energy. There were over a hundred of these elementium channels simultaneously refreshing Greem’s body with fire energy. It left him with no possibility of ever running out!

  A very human smile appeared on Greem’s fiery face as he looked at the approaching tower. He lifted his left hand, creating a massive Lava Shield over it. He then raised his right hand, causing the fire coral staff to manifest in his grasp.

  The first was naturally a magical creation, while the latter was magical equipment that had been converted into an energy form: half material and half ethereal.

  It was a new way of using magical equipment that Greem had recently discovered.

  After all, most magical equipment was crafted with an adept’s human form in mind. Upon elementiumization and gigantification, the original staff would become as tiny as a beanstalk. Even pinching it with his fingers would be difficult.

  However, if he placed the magical equipment inside his gigantified elementium body and supplied it with a constant amount of fire energy, he could materialize energy equipment of the right proportion, with all its original traits.

  As Greem’s Heart of Principles operated at full capacity, the Fire Throne Set and Sodden’s Holy Ring also started to appear on his colossal body.

  Greem looked at the approaching tower and chuckled. He lifted his staff, and a massive meteor crashed down from the skies, swerving unnaturally towards the enemy.

  Chapter 1089 - Adept’s Cunning

  Meteor Bombardment!

  It was one of the few single-target Fourth Grade spells that the Chip had managed to produce after Greem’s advancement to Fourth Grade.

  The meteor formed by magic was over five meters in diameter. It had a gray stone exterior enveloped in fierce and violent magical flames. Through the cracks in the stone, you could vaguely see the slowly flowing lava within.

  Even the Fourth Ring arcanist in the tower couldn’t help but lift his head and look at the approaching fireball with a solemn expression as this terrifying meteor crashed down towards the security tower.

  Several semi-translucent force shields appeared in the trajectory of the meteor, and every one of them was crushed to pieces. Even though the barriers couldn’t thoroughly stop the meteor, they had effectively neutralized the fearsome kinetic energy behind the meteor’s crash.

  Then, as a half-meter thick lightning bolt blasted against the meteor, the rock finally exploded, turning into a massive cloud of fire. Endless amounts of lava and fire splashed across the sky.

  Everything in their way ignited and started burning. Blistering heat and waves of fire appeared wherever the cloud of fire was.

  Having successfully defended against the enemy’s attack, the security tower soared through the flames, all while gathering a fearsome torrent of arcane magic and unleashing it upon the fire giant.

  The security tower had elementium towers of four elements. As long as the enemy was not wholly immune to all elements, they would be able to find the attribute that the enemy was most vulnerable to and unleash a devastating attack upon them.

  As such, when dealing with the Fourth Grade fire adept, the security tower’s elementium attacks were primarily based around the water element. Lightning bolts and harsh gales were used as secondary attacks. Rapid and ferocious spells repeatedly ravaged the giant.

  Naturally, with how big Greem’s body was, he was much less agile than usual. He lifted the lava shield to block most of the arcane attacks. Meanwhile, his other arm waved the fire coral staff and retaliated with a barrage of Blazing Fireballs.

  With over two thousand meters between the two combatants, they viciously assaulted each other with spells as they rapidly approached each other.

  A violent and ferocious arcane torrent crashed against the lava shield, shattering the magma on the surface and sending lava splashing across the ground. If the fire giant had not been supplying the shield with a constant stream of pure fire energy to repair its surface, he would already be defenseless now.

  The occasional arcane spell would land on the fire giant’s body, leaving a small, dark spot on its crimson body. However, as the overwhelming energy surged through the fire giant’s body, the dark spots would quickly vanish before they could cover a significant area.

  The Fourth Ring arcanist couldn’t help but draw in a cold breath of air at the sight of this.

  He was a high-grade arcanist himself. Naturally, he knew how terrifying the security tower was when it was firing at full capacity! If he were the one on the receiving end of its attack, he would barely last for seven to eight seconds, even with his most potent defenses.

  An individual’s might was limited, after all!

  How could an individual confront a gigantic security tower alone? It was impossible unless it wasn’t a human that was doing the fighting, but…a monster!

  It was a stubborn and ingrained belief that had been etched into the souls of every arcanist. They had, at a very young age, understood the meager power of the individual and the might of the collective.

  However, on this tiny, irrelevant battlefield, he had personally witnessed a fearsome Fourth Grade adept directly confronting a security tower. Moreover, that adept was not yielding a single inch!

  How was this possible?

  “Fine. Your elementium magic might indeed be terrifying. Now let me see if your body is as formidable as your magic.”

  The Fourth Ring arcanist screamed wildly in his heart as he drove the security tower fearlessly at the opponent.

  Upon seeing this, Greem let out an earthshaking roar and tossed aside his staff. He lifted his lava shield with both hands and started sprinting towards the security tower.

  “Dammit! It is the barest of provocations! Hmph! Victory or defeat, your courage is admirable. Still, it’s better if you just die.”

  The veins on the temples of the Fourth Ring arcanist swelled in anger. His body leaned forward as he grabbed the arcane crystal firmly with both hands. The security tower descended a little more and started spinning with its thick and sturdy base pointed towards the enemy.

  On one side was a stone tower built of tough rock, and on the other, you had a fire giant of elementium flames. Both the giant and the tower were of approximately the same size. The two colossal entities crashed towards each other.

  Every spectator and participant of the battle watched with wide-open eyes and beating hearts, gazing intently at the two approaching figures.

  Magnus, who had been hiding near the battlefield, hastily added more elementium shields around him in preparation for the massive collision that was about to occur. On the other side of the battlefield, a pair of confused eyes appeared in the shadow of a towering thousand-year-old tree. The eyes stared unblinkingly at the charging giant.

  That’s not right! Judging from the information that they had collected from all over, Greem was an exceptionally cunning and sinister individual. Why would he commit to such a ‘foolish’ and ‘impulsive’ act?

  Regardless of the thoughts of the spectators, the two gigantic constructs, one made of flames and the other of rock, finally clashed!

  However, a small incident seemed to have occurred at the instant of collision.

  An ordinary person might not even be able to figure out what had happened during that tiny moment in time. However, everyone here was a Fourth Grade powerhouse. They had all perfectly seen what went down.

  Greem had cheated!

  One second before clashing with the security tower, the sprinting fire giant’s silhouette had flickered and appeared behind the tower. Thus, when the fire giant reappeared out of thin air, it was no longer a mutual impact. Instead, it was the fire giant tackling the security tower from behind.

  “You cheat…” The movement had been far too instantaneous. The Fourth Ring arcanist
only managed to mutter half a sentence before the tower was blown away as if a hill had struck it.

  It was such a tremendous and violent force. It didn’t matter how the Fourth Ring arcanist tried to control the tower; he still could not undo the complete loss of control of the tower’s motion!

  An earthshaking thud rang out. The security tower crashed through countless trees and cliffs, razing a wide path through the forest like a rampaging tank.

  A pillar of dust rose to the sky along with a loud rumbling sound, both of which started to spread outwards in every direction. Dirt and pebbles flew across the air, with broken logs, roots, grass, and panicking insects mixed within.

  A few thousand meters away, Adept Holly quickly dealt with the last arcane guard with his astral construct. He turned to look at the grounded security tower, a wicked smile of approval uncontrollably appearing on his face.

  Indeed! That was a trick that adepts should be using!

  The arcanists were like babies walking out of a kindergarten when it came to fighting techniques. They were far too rigid and stiff. An adept who didn’t know how to fully utilize their advantage had no right to set foot upon the planar battlefields.

  It was only now that Adept Holly started having confidence in this fire adept known as Greem!

  The eyes floating in the shadows of the ancient tree couldn’t help but betray a trace of disappointment. Her eyes gleamed with a cold light when she looked at the fire giant, the way a tiger looked upon a prey.

  If the fire adept had been foolish enough to crash directly with the security tower back then, if he had revealed any sort of weakness in defense, then she would take the opportunity to strike and murder him on the spot.

  However, now that the fire adept had successfully tricked the arcanist, her chance to strike was gone. The eyes in the darkness blinked a few times before slowly vanishing into thin air.