Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  The same techniques and similar abilities were displayed as the two masters of darkness chased after each other in close quarters. An incredibly dangerous melee was unfolding.

  The claws clashed continuously with the daggers.

  Sinister, unusual shadow energy would disperse as quickly as it appeared. As the two fighters continued to unleash their abilities, more and more attacks began landing on their opponents, always inflicting some degree of damage in the process.

  The greatest strength of shadow energy was its ability to ignore defense and its incredible corrosive power.

  However, when both fighters were experts at using shadows, these advantages no longer existed. On the contrary, physical attacks were what inflicted the most damage now.

  There was no doubt that Shadow Demon held the absolute advantage in this!

  In the blink of an eye, the two of them had traded over a thousand strikes. They both realized how difficult of an opponent they were up against. They each leaped towards a different shadow, standing still as they stared coldly at each other.

  Circe and Shadow Demon took full advantage of this breathing room. Shadow energy quickly gathered around them and healed their wounds.

  Both of them were rulers of the shadows. They both had tremendous resistance against shadow damage.

  Shadow Demon was also a magical machine, making it immune to some physical attacks. Its physical defense was incredibly formidable. It was also protected by the Orb of Shadows, rendering all shadow magic ineffective against it.

  The fact that Circe could still be on equal standing against Shadow Demon despite these advantages was more than enough evidence of her own tremendous mastery over shadow magic.

  Shadow Demon had been fighting by its instincts all along. Greem might have an abundant wealth of combat experience, but in this environment of shadows, where everything flickered by so fast without any sound, he could not see any of Circe’s movements at all. Naturally, he could not instruct Shadow Demon on how to fight within the shadows!

  As they were thinking about their next step, Shadow Demon felt something unusual beneath it. It looked down, only to realize several strands of gray smoke were radiating from the shadow beneath it. They silently circled and wrapped around its legs like a rope.

  Rope?

  The thought had just entered Greem’s mind when the gray smoke turned solid and firmly bound Shadow Demon’s legs.

  At the same time, Circe screeched, and five unusual runes glowing with purple and black light appeared behind her. As Circe raised her daggers, the five runes rushed into her weapons, causing them to glow with blinding light.

  “Seal of Darkness: Annihilation!”

  The three pieces of magical equipment on Circe’s body glowed at the same time, quickly projecting power onto her.

  Circe’s face flushed white as her right hand vanished into thin air along with the dagger she was holding.

  Naturally, with how bold Circe’s movements had been, Shadow Demon had noticed what she was doing.

  However, by the time it drew upon the Orb of Shadows’ power to absorb the shadow energy of the ropes and turn them back into smoke, it was already too late!

  A pair of daggers emerged from empty air and stabbed into Shadow Demon back. They sunk all the way to the hilt.

  At the same time, surging shadow energy flooded into Shadow Demon’s body, exploding and producing a bloody hole the size of a fist.

  There was no blood.

  Shadow substance, as thick as black goo, flowed out from the gash, mixed with several glowing pieces of metal. Through the hole, one could see the fine mechanical gears and axles spinning in Shadow Demon’s body.

  This severe damage caused the orderly gears to malfunction. They creaked as several components burst out of the hole.

  What a terrifying attack.

  This compound strike had at least 5000 points of power!

  An attack of this intensity would be very likely to injure even a Fourth Grade dragon severely!

  If it weren’t for Shadow Demon’s exceptional physical and shadow resistance, it would not have survived. An ordinary Fourth Grade adept would have died on the spot.

  Even Greem felt cold sweat run down his face, despite only his consciousness being attached to Shadow Demon. He hastily ordered for Shadow Demon to retreat. Shadow Demon was very decisive in its escape. It hurled all the high-grade shadow magic it was capable of using at Circe in an instant before flickering away into the distance.

  The Fourth Grade shadow assassin and the lightless dagger might not be able to do anything to the Dark Witch leader, but they could still stall her for a few seconds.

  While Circe was busy defending herself, Shadow Demon flickered and escaped several kilometers away. It then fled towards the distance without turning back.

  Chapter 1186 - Clan’s Future Plans

  World of Adepts, Fire Throne.

  Inside the same hidden room.

  Greem let out a long sigh and slowly pulled his consciousness back from Seawoods.

  The battle in the distance had only just begun. It wasn’t going to be easy for Shadow Demon to escape Circe’s pursuit. Unfortunately, with his field of knowledge and experience, he would not be able to help in this battle between these two monarchs of the shadows.

  Thus, he decided just to stop thinking about it and hand over all decisions to Shadow Demon.

  Surely, with how large Seawoods Plane was, their battle would not conclude any time soon!

  After letting go of his concerns over Shadow Demon, Greem calmed down and started thinking about the future developments of the Crimson Clan. More worries began to appear in his heart.

  It wasn’t hard to imagine that with the major victory in Seawoods Plane, the vampires would be welcoming a period of rapid advancement. The vampires would rapidly grow in power compared to the other major factions of the Crimson Clan. They were very likely to outshine the other factions and become the heart of the Crimson Clan’s power.

  That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it would undoubtedly cause the clan to skew in a single direction.

  The only faction left that could keep the vampires in check would be Gazlowe’s faction.

  Having established himself in space and being bolstered by the magical golem dragon, the Capital of Steel’s influence had increased massively. They were comparable to the vampires. However, Gazlowe wasn’t exactly the most loyal member of the clan. It was fine to leave some important tasks to him, but Greem could not rely entirely on him.

  If it weren’t for the emergency in space and the Crimson Clan finally having a chance at creating the Titan, Greem would never have handed the golem dragon over to Gazlowe, even if it meant the loss of the Capital of Steel.

  With the rise of these two factions, the goblins and the human adepts appeared inferior in power. Meanwhile, the veterans that had followed Greem in his conquest of other planes in the early days of the Crimson Clan had now fallen behind and reduced to second and third-rate members of the clan.

  That was also something that Greem couldn’t help but think about!

  As the leader of the Crimson Clan, Greem had to think about the future of the clan.

  At this time, he was the only one, as the clan leader, who had the qualifications and experience to suppress the two growing factions. He had to be the one to ensure that the resources of the clan were still evenly distributed to the weaker factions as well.

  It was the only thing he could do.

  After all, the adepts had always worshipped the mighty.

  All resources and power would naturally gather in the hands of the powerful.

  The stronger the Vampires and the Capital of Steel were, the more the resources, materials, knowledge, and talent of the clan would lean towards them. It was only the result of the process of ‘elimination’ within the clan.

  The weak had no rights, authority, or status!

  As such, if Greem wanted the clan to develop in a balanced fashion, he would
have to promote capable individuals amongst the goblins and human adepts and successfully introduce them into the clan’s core management.

  Greem had a few candidates in mind for such a plan.

  Of the goblin faction, the ones that stood out were Snorlax, Locke, Drusilla, and Gonga.

  Amongst them, Snorlax was the most veteran of them all. He had followed Greem since his early days and was also incredibly loyal.

  However, Snorlax’s potential was average. Despite all the high-grade herbs and treasures he had consumed over the years, he had only barely pushed himself to advanced Second Grade. Without the intervention of an external force, he would not be able to advance to Third Grade within his lifetime.

  Magical Mechanic Locke, on the other hand, was a goblin of legends that had risen to power in recent years!

  With his extraordinary talents, he had already become an advanced Second Grade magical mechanic. Moreover, the Chip estimated that the limit of his potential was intermediate Third Grade. With some serious cultivation, Locke could very easily become a Third Grade adept.

  A Third Grade adept was not much to Greem as he was right now. He could kill them with a flick of his finger or a wave of his hand! However, Third Grade adepts were the core and backbone of any adept clan!

  The ones who made up the main military force in adept wars were the powerful Third Grade adepts. Fourth Grade adepts, on the other hand, were nuclear powers. If they were drawn into a battle, it would often mean a struggle to the death. There would only be one clan left standing after that war!

  As such, the addition of a Third Grade adept was a significant event for any adept clan!

  As for the other two goblins? Brutalblood Army Commander Drusilla La Salle and Dean of the Goblin Research Institute Gonga. Their talent was insignificant, in all honesty.

  The commander was only peak First Grade, even at the moment. Advancing to Second Grade seemed like such a colossal task for him.

  After all, the goblin machinist-sorcerers were no more than goblins with slight elementium talent and the ability to pilot magical machines. They had insufficient talent and could only win through numbers. It was a profession designed to be cannon fodder.

  Consequently, there were truly none amongst them that had a talent that could attract Greem’s attention!

  Meanwhile, Magical Goblin Leader Gonga was a scholar. He did not excel at combat or management; he was only advanced First Grade. Moreover, this seemed to be the limit of his potential.

  Thus, after much consideration and out of a desire for optimization, Greem decided to cultivate Snorlax and Locke.

  After deciding on the matters on the goblin faction, Greem started considering the human adepts instead.

  In all seriousness, the cultivation of native adepts in the Crimson clan was both a success and a failure.

  There were many excellent individuals among them, three of whom were core members of the clan. These three people were Meryl, Gargamel, and Billis. However, of the three of them, only Billis was a combat adept. The other two were more focused on managing the clan’s affairs.

  Apart from the three of them, most of the native human adepts of the Crimson Clan were still stuck at First Grade. Hardly any of them were Second Grade. Consequently, they barely had any voice in the ruling structure. They were always subordinates, never the leaders.

  However, in all honesty, these lowly human adepts of the clan were supposed to be the mainstream.

  If the number of non-humans continued to increase in the Crimson Clan and the human adepts decreased in number, then the Crimson Clan would begin to be perceived as an outside force in the eyes of the other clans.

  That was not beneficial to the long-term development of the Crimson Clan!

  This problem might not have been all that obvious while Greem remained within the clan. However, should Greem ever leave the clan, its future would be very precarious.

  Other non-human organizations on the continent could serve as a study for this matter. All of these organizations were distrusted by the adept clans, whether it was the small kingdom of Storm Giants or the few vampire clans throughout the region.

  Their clans would always be repelled and driven away by the surrounding adept clans when they tried to expand their worldly territory. Even a single step forward was difficult for them.

  The Crimson Clan that Greem had established could soon face the same problem.

  The solution was naturally to increase the support and cultivation of native adepts within the clan.

  Greem quickly selected a few decent candidates for this.

  Fire Dragon Adept Meryl, Bug Adept Billis, and Mystique Emelia.

  Meryl was his disciple and was absolutely loyal. Her potential had also increased tremendously after obtaining the fire dragon’s bloodline. As long as the Crimson Clan tilted some resources obtained from Lance in her direction, there would be no problem cultivating Meryl into a Third Grade adept.

  Meanwhile, Mystique Emelia was the best candidate to replace Gargamel.

  Gargamel’s talent was simply too terrible. Even after receiving favor from Greem, he was still limited to Second Grade, with no chance of ever reaching Third Grade.

  In comparison, his daughter Emelia had excellent potential. She was young, but she was already an advanced Second Grade adept of the plant attribute.

  As for the shadow of the spore princess that loomed over Emelia? After confirmation from Alice, Greem was certain that it would be no threat to the Crimson Clan. That was why Greem was more than willing to develop a genius like herself.

  Billis was a veteran of the clan that Greem intentionally considered last.

  He was too cruel and bloodthirsty. His actions were unusually evil, and he walked a bloodline path that was unbearably brutal and bloody.

  Even Greem was often worried that Billis would not be able to control the Queen Bug and become assimilated into a non-human insect creature.

  Perhaps sensing Greem’s worry and bottom line, the Queen Mother never dared to thoroughly devour Billis’ soul, no matter how much of an advantage it held. It left Billis’ human soul in a constant state of battle and compatibility with the Queen Mother.

  It was the fundamental reason for Billis’ inability to advance!

  Thus, to help Billis advance, Greem would have to find a way to fully merge the souls of Billis and the Queen Mother. Moreover, the assimilation would have to be centered around Billis’ soul, rather than allowing the Queen Mother to devour it.

  It was undoubtedly complicated to achieve such a feat!

  Even though Billis had requested Greem’s help in this matter many times in the past, Greem had set it aside due to the many things he was busy with. Now that he was injured and had to recuperate, he had more time and energy to deal with the clan’s affairs.

  Thus, all the things he had put aside had to be resolved now.

  His clan had worked hard and freed him from the burden of dealing with the clan’s troubles. They had also gathered an incredible amount of wealth and resources for him.

  It was now time for Greem to pay the clan back for their achievements!

  Chapter 1187 - Mary’s Pride

  Shadow Demon returned to Fire Throne eleven days after separating from Greem.

  Even though it managed to return with the Orb of Shadows, it had received horrifying damage.

  It was fortunate that Greem had used plenty of memory alloy when he forged Shadow Demon’s body. Shadow Demon was able to repair the damage to its body just by drawing upon the endless amount of shadow energy available to it.

  Meanwhile, the vampires in Seawoods Plane returned to the clan headquarters six days after Shadow Demon.

  The entire Crimson Clan burst out in commotion the moment they returned!

  After all, many of them had returned after advancing to a higher grade.

  Mary had undoubtedly advanced to Fourth Grade, allowing the Crimson Clan to truly become a powerhouse in Zhentarim. If Alice was also counted as a member of
the clan, then the Crimson Clan already had the power required to declare themselves independent of the Zhentarim Association.

  News of this had yet to spread, but once it spread all over Zhentarim, a new series of political changes would most certainly happen!

  Of course, apart from Mary successfully reaching Fourth Grade, two other blood elves had also advanced to Third Grade. They were Blood Elf Mage Isa and Blood Elf Shapeshifter Spalla.

  Meanwhile, the other vampires also improved to varying degrees, though none of them managed to advance to Third Grade!

  As Seawoods Plane was the personal property of the vampires, Mary was in charge of all the decisions. She enslaved the native trolls and put them to work, turning their former capital into a massive castle meant as an outpost for the vampires.

  A massive blood pool had also been created in the divine domain of the Feathered God.

  As long as the vampires worked hard, they could turn the castle into a holy land of vampires. The blood pool could also become the source of power for other high-grade vampires in the future.

  However, these were all future plans that had yet to be put in motion. Mary and her vampires would have to toil hard to make this vision come true.

  The more immediate benefits were the large number of spoils that Mary had brought back with her. Some of these items were excellent resources that even Greem was impressed by.

  Mary left her subordinates alone immediately upon returning. She marched straight to Greem’s Fire Throne.

  Mary arrived at a laboratory. She grabbed Greem by the collar and pulled him before her eyes for a close inspection.

  “Have you…gone out…on an excursion of any sort recently?”

  Greem frowned, somewhat confused by what was happening.

  “What are you talking about? An excursion?”

  “I’m asking you whether you went to Seawoods Plane.” Mary flared her incisors and threatened Greem ‘viciously.’

  “Seawoods Plane? Why would I go there?” Greem had a ‘confused’ look on his face. “As you know, the injury to my soul hasn’t healed yet. Why would I be running around now?”