Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  A massive flame giant stood tall as he strode into the knowledge hall.

  What a looming and towering flame giant this was!

  A body shrouded in flames, the sight of fire fairies fluttering joyously everywhere around him, the burning sensation of scorching flames that never ended. The giant’s hulking figure radiated endless heat and light. Even a glance from the flame giant was enough to blind Lucia and cause her body to melt like a candle.

  It wasn’t just her. Even the Second Ring Brown could not endure the might of the flame giant at such a close distance. His clothes were the first things that ignited. Blisters began appearing all over his face, his hands, and his skin, miring him in extreme agony.

  If he were an ordinary person, he might have turned to dust the moment the Burning Domain engulfed him. However, his powers as a Second Ring arcanist allowed him to struggle for another dozen seconds in the Burning Domain, suffering immeasurable torment in the process.

  However, despite his agony, Brown chose not to protect himself. Instead, he poured all of his arcane energy into the barrier around Lucia. He quickly turned to ashes beneath the blazing fire, reduced to a horrifying burnt corpse.

  Unfortunately, even all of the powers of a Second Ring arcanist could not allow another person to survive inside Greem’s Burning Domain. Lucia, who had been protected by Brown’s sacrifice, only lived a few seconds longer than he had. The powers of the arcane barrier were quickly exhausted after his death, and Lucia followed in his steps.

  “Power. So this is the power they speak about!” Lucia’s eyes had already been completely burned. She faced towards the flame giant aimlessly as she muttered to herself.

  At the moment the arcane barrier was burned through, her body was instantly turned to ashes. Even her soul was slowly being consumed by the strange flames.

  In the final moment before her soul was completely extinguished, a loud and unfamiliar voice suddenly rang out in the depths of her soul.

  “Mm? What a pure soul.”

  A strange portal seemed to appear within the flames abruptly. Lucia’s soul was uncontrollably sucked into the portal, and all her sensations ceased right then and there.

  Greem weighed the Orb of Shadows in his hands. He nodded in satisfaction when he sensed the weak soul standing still within and put the orb away.

  That was a bizarre moment for Greem. He had only casually killed two insignificant people, but the Chip had somehow sensed an aura projected by the planar consciousness on one of them. Moreover, that person was the weaker of the two. They had most likely just been an arcane apprentice.

  Supposedly, an individual like that should not have been able to draw the attention of the planar consciousness. Yet, when Greem waved his hand and turned them into dust, the Chip had very firmly sensed the planar consciousness stir, ever so slightly.

  It was a strange, indescribable feeling!

  It was like Morrian Plane’s planar consciousness had been silently paying attention to this weak arcane apprentice all along. When Greem unintentionally killed them, he had drawn the ire and hatred of the planar consciousness.

  Out of curiosity, Greem had taken out the Fifth Grade Orb of Shadows and used its shadow powers to trap the soul within.

  Having done all this, Greem shook his body and slowly reverted out of his flame giant state.

  There had not been a conclusion to his battle with Lich Kanganas.

  When the terrifying fighting between Illhoof and the Fifth Ring Great Arcanist broke out at the arcane palace, Lich Kanganas finally gave up on his battle against Greem. Instead, he turned and hurried towards a battlefield in the distance with his Fourth Grade Iceghost in tow.

  It seemed like the lich intended to be the fisherman and wanted to find a battlefield where he could take advantage of the situation to profit greatly.

  Greem might not be afraid of this lich in the slightest, but out of consideration of his own abilities, he decided to just look for loot on the outskirts of the inner circle. Meanwhile, Mangus and Cherisha had endured fairly heavy injuries in the fight against the Iceghost. They had no choice but to find someplace else to treat their wounds.

  As such, Greem decided to remain in this arcane academy and roam around.

  After passing through several collapsed corridors and turning a few corners, Greem found a black wooden door at the end of a hallway. It was a door that faintly radiated elementium flux.

  Greem pushed the door with his hand, but it did not budge.

  A strange human face carved out of copper was attached to the black wooden door. Yellow light flickered, and the human face opened its eyes.

  “Password…password. This is the secret library of Dorndale Arcane Academy. Outsiders are not allowed. Please provide the password if you wish to enter!”

  A sharp look of impatience appeared in Greem’s eyes as he listened to the strange mechanical voice. Golden flames surged forth, burning a large hole in the wooden door, enough for him to pass through.

  It was just an arcane door. It couldn’t possibly stop a Fourth Grade adept from breaking and entering.

  [Beep. Detecting unusual alert message.] The Chip quickly provided feedback.

  Obviously, Greem’s forceful entry had triggered some sort of defense mechanism in the library. Under ordinary circumstances, large armies of arcanists would be marching over to arrest him already.

  Sadly, at this moment, the floating city was an absolute mess.

  Even the arcane palace at the very center of the city was under attack by Illhoof. Any arcanist with the ability to fight would be doing something else. No one would be here in such a rural place to find trouble with Greem.

  As such, Greem ignored the alarms and stepped into the library. He silently looked around him at everything.

  It was an extensive and brightly lit library. Golden bookshelves with row upon row of books were everywhere. These books were all thick tomes that glowed with a faint arcane light. Judging from the ornate design of their covers and the soft arcane light they radiated, these tomes were not ordinary books.

  Greem couldn’t help but frown at the sight of all this.

  Seals. Too many seals!

  Clearly, all of the arcane tomes had been sealed to prevent anyone from reading them without being authorized to do so. They were all protected under their own powerful, individual, and independent arcane arrays.

  Even though arcane energy supply had been cut off throughout the floating city, these arrays were still untouched. This library was most certainly powered by a small elementium pool beneath the ground.

  However, Greem had no interest in destroying that elementium pool.

  He slowly browsed the titles of these books, shelf by shelf. Whenever he found a tome he was interested in, he would fire two red beams from his eyes and forcefully shatter the arcane array. He would then reach into the shelf, grab the book, and put them in his Elder’s Ring.

  Due to the urgency of the situation, Greem had no time to slowly decipher every arcane array. As such, he had to deal with the seals in the most clumsy way possible.

  Of course, if Greem did not care for the damage to the tomes, he could have tossed out a Scarlet Firestorm, and most of the arrays would burn to a crisp. However, in the same vein, most of the arcane tomes would be damaged as well.

  With all the elementium explosions that could be heard outside and all the intense tremors that spread through the city, it was easy to imagine how chaotic and devastated the city was.

  Greem had given up his plans on all the other things. He started to concentrate solely on scouring and collecting the arcane tomes here.

  In contrast to Greem’s casual stroll, two unusual figures hurried to the arcane academy by tracking the fire aura he had left in the air. They soon arrived at the completely collapsed and molten knowledge hall.

  In the place of the hall was a terrifying pool of lava. All of the stone in the walls, pillars, and the debris had vanished. Only fearsome, bubbling, liquid lava could be seen.<
br />
  “I have already sensed that bastard’s aura. He’s inside a secret room not far behind us. Let’s go and kill him!” The one who was speaking was a mysterious black shadow standing at the front.

  Even though it was still bright outside, no amount of light could dispel the shadows over this person’s body. One could only faintly make out that it was a woman, and an unusually powerful woman at that.

  Meanwhile, the individual following behind had anger and dejectedness written all over his face. Yet, he obviously couldn’t do anything to the person in front of him.

  “You will keep your word? I help you kill Greem, and you will let me free?” Judging by the voice, it was Adept Holly who had disappeared from the battlefield prior to this.

  At this moment, he was in a silver adept’s robe. However, a strange black rune had been branded onto his exposed forehead, throbbing with an unusual magical flux.

  “Hehehe. A Seed of Darkness has already been planted in you. Ordinary magic cannot dispel that Seed. As long as you obediently help me kill Greem, I swear in the name of Origin Darkness to remove the restriction on your person.” Naturally, the shadowy figure was the newly revived Dark Witch Shani.

  Even though she had revived, and her powers had returned to Fourth Grade, all of her magical equipment had been lost to Greem’s hands. As such, she could only try her best to find accomplices to deal with that damned fire adept. Otherwise, she no longer had confidence in killing Greem alone.

  Chapter 1123 - Beat at Every Point

  “But I’m still bound by an Oath Contract. If……”

  Adept Holly was still hesitating.

  After all the difficulties he had been through, Holly had finally realized the terrifying might of that legendary fire adept. In all honesty, if it weren’t for his life being in the hands of another, he would never want to make an enemy out of Greem.

  Before Adept Holly could finish speaking, he abruptly bent over and started coughing violently. A fountain of purple and black blood came spewing forth from his mouth. The blood appeared to be thick and viscous when it hit the floor, almost as if there were a large number of broken organ pieces and tissues mixed within.

  His adept’s robe swayed as he convulsed, revealing his shockingly tattered body covered in wounds.

  The werewolf and the foxgirl had left him with injuries that could not be healed in a short amount of time. Now that he was also beholden to Shani’s power, his condition was incredibly weak and pathetic.

  Sadly, his life or death did not seem to be a concern of Dark Witch Shani.

  Shani furiously argued when she heard Adept Holly’s mumbling. “Holly, you are a Fourth Grade adept that advanced a hundred years ago. Are you really unable to survive a little backlash from an Oath Contract? Here you go; with this Life Talisman, you won’t have to worry about the Oath Contract any longer!”

  Shani took out a cross-shaped copper figure and tossed it to Holly.

  Holly quickly caught the figure and carefully put in on his neck, close against his chest.

  After being taken captive by Shani, his storage ring had also fallen into her hands. Most of the magical equipment he carried with him also, naturally, became her spoils. Shani also managed to arm herself once again by robbing Holly.

  Though their attributes were not compatible, they would have to do. Shani had absolutely no possessions to her name, after all. Naturally, she had no right to be picky.

  A few simple modifications to make the equipment barely functional would do!

  In fact, the Life Talisman that Shani had passed to him was Holly’s talisman, to begin with. She had simply returned it to its ‘rightful owner.’

  “Let’s go! That Greem seems to be busy with something right now. It’s the perfect time for us to strike in unison. I will strike first, and you will follow up with all you have. Tear him a nasty one. If everything works out well, I will return your freedom to you! If you still have this attitude when the fighting starts…hmph! You know how it will end for you!”

  Adept Holly became dejected when he heard Shani’s threat.

  His condition was already as terrible as it could be. The combination of external and internal wounds was on the brink of causing his body to fall apart. If it weren’t for all the magical potions he had consumed and all the magical equipment he was using, he would likely already be dead.

  His body was like a rundown hut; it was barely standing. If the Seed of Darkness that Shani implanted in his body started causing problems again, it would be lethal for him. As reluctant as he was, Holly’s only choice was to obey Shani’s instructions.

  …………

  Inside the library.

  Greem quickly broke through one arcane array after another, putting multiple arcane tomes into his Elder’s Ring.

  While he eagerly collected the books, the Fire Eyes he had set up outside ahead of time seemed to have picked up something unusual. Several moving images were projected into Greem’s mind.

  Holly and Shani.

  It seemed like they had come for him after all.

  A trace of killing intent appeared on Greem’s face when he saw the newly revived Dark Witch Shani.

  Her foolishness and stubbornness had clearly angered him deeply.

  This time, if he had the opportunity, he would not let Shani’s soul return to the soul energy pool again.

  Greem didn’t know when it had happened, but the vast library had suddenly turned dim.

  Several black vortices abruptly appeared in various corners of the library, slowly roaming.

  Where they went, it was as if the light itself was sucked away, causing the space to turn darker and dimmer.

  The arcane crystals embedded in the hall had initially been projecting bright and gentle light that illuminated the entire library. However, all of these crystals had turned lightless as the black vortices wrapped around them.

  Greem had barely gone through one-hundredth of the entire library. He looked at the remaining tomes and frowned. In the end, he gave up on them all. It was such a shame.

  The enemy had already arrived. The searching for loot had to stop.

  In a while, this place would become a battlefield for multiple Fourth Grade adepts. Not many tomes would be able to survive the carnage!

  Greem’s hatred for Shani grew exponentially at the thought of this.

  In just a dozen seconds, the once bright library had turned completely dark, filled with a strange, thick shadow substance.

  This strange substance pressed against Greem from every direction, lashing wildly like tens of thousands of monsters and ghosts.

  “Hmph! Show yourself if you’ve come! What’s the point in all these theatrics?”

  Greem let out a snort and lifted his right hand. A cluster of blindingly bright golden flames slowly rose from his palm, illuminating a few dozen meters around him.

  When it entered his area, the shadow substance let out a strange sizzling sound resembling that of a fish dropped into boiling oil. Screeching could be heard from the shadows as the material quickly retreated beyond the reach of the golden fire’s light.

  Judging from the behavior of the substance, these were many individual lifeforms!

  Perhaps sensing that Greem had already prepared himself for combat, Dark Witch Shani simply chose to reveal her tall and slender body at the edge of the light. Her dark, black eyes stared unflinchingly at Greem, indescribable hatred contained within them.

  “Good…simply too good. I truly never expected that a rookie that only advanced twenty to thirty years ago could beat me so badly. Me, Dark Witch Shani! You are very good. Today, I will wash away the hatred between us with your blood!”

  Her voice landed, and all the shadows in the library went berserk.

  Countless shadow arrows appeared out of thin air and shot towards Greem like heavy rain.

  The golden fire floating above Greem’s palm released a blinding halo of light that burned away all the shadow arrows. However, there was still far too lit
tle power of laws contained within that small flame. It could not fend off a shadow assault of such magnitude.

  The shadow arrows that exploded on contact with the light turned into black ink, quickly eroding the bright dome and forcing it to retract. The shadow arrows that managed to penetrate deeper almost came into contact with Greem’s defensive forcefield.

  Greem did not panic at all in the face of this overwhelming offense.

  He casually waved his hand and cast out several waves of fire that burned the shadows around him to a crisp. He then took out an unusual black stone.

  Strangely enough, as the black stone appeared, all the shadow substance in the hall abruptly halted. All the shadow arrows exploded out of nowhere, reduced to chaotic, unordered shadow substance.

  “The Orb of Shadows. You…how could you possibly be able to control the power of the Orb of Shadows?”

  Dark Witch Shani couldn’t help but scream out in surprise when she saw the scene before her and felt the shadow powers break free of her authority.

  To her understanding, a dark sacred relic like the Orb of Shadows would only obey the will of the Dark Witches. An outsider could not possibly control it.

  Unfortunately, she did not know, nor could she understand, the power of the Chip in Greem’s mind.

  It didn’t matter what power or attribute an item possessed. The Chip would always find a way to manipulate and use it!

  Power was power. There was no elementium power in the world that belonged solely to an individual or a group.

  Except for divine power, of course.

  With the assistance of the Chip, Greem could use the Orb of Shadows for himself. Though he couldn’t use it as proficiently or as easily as the Dark Witches, merely controlling the power inside was still well within his ability.

  Greem didn’t have to do anything against Shani’s attacks. All he had to do was use the Orb of Shadows to dispel Shani’s control over the surrounding shadows. With a single order from Greem, all of the shadow substance in the library surged towards the Orb of Shadows, like birds returned to their nest. The library once again returned to its normal state.