Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  After seeing Schreiber off, Greem activated all the arrays in the room and sealed himself inside.

  This place was Adept’s Association territory, after all. It wasn’t the best place to attend to some more sensitive and private matters. However, with Shadow Demon as his guard, his safety was basically assured.

  The first thing Greem did upon entering the room was to conduct a comprehensive self-examination.

  He lay on his luxurious bed, his consciousness instantly sinking into the depths of his mind.

  Greem’s affinity was fire elementium. As such, his mind took the form of a boundless sea of flames. The fires burned silently, the entire world a stretch of crimson red.

  A red crystal hovered above the flames at the center of this world. It remained unmoving regardless of how the flames beneath raged and burned. It simply stood there, silent and peaceful.

  However, when you approached the crystal, you could see turmoil within its structure through its countless smooth faces. It seemed as if a terrifying world of fire was contained within.

  At this moment, three law runes, still burning with golden flames, descended from the sky. They stopped near the red crystal and started to circle it wildly as if searching for their proper position.

  When Greem’s mental consciousness descended on this strange world, the entire world began to bubble with liveliness.

  The consciousness core wasn’t a physical place that existed. Instead, it was a mental projection formed from the amalgamation of the soul, flesh, and consciousness of highly intelligent lifeforms. Its existence was incredibly significant for an intelligent being!

  If the most important thing for a body-refining adept was the assimilation of flesh with their mental consciousness, then the most important thing for an elementium adept was to assimilate their soul with their mental consciousness.

  That was why body-refining adepts sought an immortal body, using all sorts of means to repeatedly refine their physical form, ultimately forging their very consciousness into their flesh. They were creating a unified self through a powerful and immortal body to reach a higher level of existence.

  Meanwhile, most elementium adepts couldn’t care less about their physical bodies. They focused solely on strengthening their soul and mental consciousness to achieve an undying soul free from the physical body’s limitations. However, the soul and mental consciousness were immaterial things, after all. They still required a medium or a container of sorts.

  The consciousness core projected with the mind of an elementium adept was this special container with which to hold one’s soul and consciousness.

  Thus, even if their physical body were to be completely destroyed, they could continue existing in a state of pure energy!

  In particular, after advancing into principle adepts, the projected consciousness core would no longer need to be the container of their soul and consciousness. Instead, it would be replaced by the planar laws they had mastered.

  They divided their mental consciousness into countless consciousness fragments and embedded them into the planar world’s law system. In doing so, their souls would become truly immortal as long as the law system still existed!

  Even if their enemies utterly destroyed the adept’s body, and the adept’s descendants were hunted down and killed, the adept would eventually regain consciousness as the consciousness fragments in the planar laws gathered together.

  Take Alice, for example. The First Witch of Fate had left the World of Adepts tens of thousands of years ago, yet her powers continued to influence the will of the World of Adepts.

  There was a thousand-year-period where her legacy had been severed. However, as long as the law system remained, the consciousness fragments that Maysa left within the system would spread throughout the world.

  Once these consciousness fragments gathered in sufficient quantity and conformed with specific planar laws, a new Battle of Fate would begin.

  Anyone who unintentionally assimilated a consciousness fragment belonging to Maysa would become a host of her consciousness. They would gather together, guided by the mysterious power of Fate, where they would viciously devour each other. In the end, a new Maysa would be born!

  The moment this new Maysa was born, she would inherit all the Fate power that the Fate Witches had accumulated in their absence. Furthermore, once she advanced to Fifth Grade and stepped out into the World of Adepts, it would finally be time for the new and old Maysas to merge.

  Through such a process of accumulation and assimilation, Maysa was able to continuously leech off of the World of Adept’s Fate power, even after having left this world tens of thousands of years ago.

  Being parasitized by an insect that it had exiled from this planar world long ago…was obviously not something that the world consciousness could permit!

  Thus, after several cycles, it finally retaliated.

  It retaliated through Alice’s hands, intending to cut Maysa out of this never-ending Battle of Fate, rearrange the laws of Fate, and dispose of the illogical parts that threatened the World of Adepts.

  The world consciousness had no limbs to speak of. Naturally, it had no means of completing such a task on its own.

  That was why it chose to shelter Alice and Greem, who stood opposed to Maysa. It was relying on them to achieve this monumental task for itself!

  If Greem had only been somewhat aware of this, he now better understood this mission entrusted to him now that he had advanced to Fourth Grade. His connection to the world consciousness had become stronger as he advanced.

  As Greem completely immersed himself in his consciousness core, he could clearly sense the world consciousness’ emotions. Its joy, anger, anxiety, and its expectations.

  The World of Adepts was too large, after all. Its planar consciousness could not be as sensitive, sharp, or responsive as an ordinary lifeform. It was mostly like a giant infant, relaying its emotions through instinct, incapable of expressing its thoughts coherently.

  However, in the subconscious of the World of Adepts, Greem was classified as one of its own. It was incredibly obvious in the path of growth and development that Greem had experienced so far.

  When Greem’s consciousness descended to the core, this projected space seemed to take on a life of its own. Waves of fire lashed out from the sea of flames. The entire space blazed furiously, preparing for the arrival of Greem’s soul.

  Greem’s consciousness body appeared above the crystal. He looked at this rowdy world of fire and started to materialize the rest of the law runes without any hesitation.

  Increased Fire Range, Increased Fire Effectiveness, Fire Penetration, Invisible Flames, Fire’s Blast, Critical Fires, Fire’s Fragility, and Fire’s Resilience.

  Eight unusual runes that contained refined fire laws started to circle the red crystal incessantly, occasionally clashing with it and causing sparks to appear. Their movements caused the consciousness core to tremble slightly, resulting in the world of fire itself becoming destabilized.

  If the law runes were allowed to collide with the consciousness core in this manner, the consciousness space would start to fall apart. Even as talented as he was, Greem would suffer from such an occurrence.

  Naturally, he would not just stand by and watch this happen. He extended his mental appendage forward, attempting to guide these law runes into the consciousness core.

  Unfortunately, it was incredibly difficult to have them quietly assimilate with the consciousness core. It was almost as if there was powerful repulsion between each of these runes.

  “Chip, what is happening? Why are they repelling each other so strongly? Aren’t they fire laws that I materialized?” Greem could not understand what was happening.

  [Beep. Host has missed the best opportunity to assimilate the law runes.]

  “Best opportunity; when would that be?”

  [When you mastered your first law rune. Other elementium adepts are unable to master multiple law runes in a short time. They are able to merge the
ir law runes with their consciousness in a timely manner every time they master a new one. Then, they condition their consciousness core to accept the next rune through a long period of adjustment, aided with potions.

  [The assimilation of law runes is much easier and safer this way as well.

  [Host obtained a large amount of law runes through calculations. By choosing to assimilate eight law runes all at once, the difficulty is eight times that of the average adept.]

  Damn! Greem finally understood where he went wrong once he heard the Chip’s explanation!

  Chapter 1253 - Future Direction

  What people typically did in eight separate instances, Greem was trying to do all at once.

  No wonder the assimilation of these law runes seemed so difficult!

  Greem sighed. He could only place his hopes on the Chip.

  “Chip, perform a search to see if there’s any solution to the problem at hand. This opportunity for a soul migration is precious. I do not want to waste it because of a stupid mistake!”

  [Beep. The difficulty of assimilation stems from Host’s soul. It is not at peak Fourth Grade level and is insufficiently powerful to bind eight law runes. There are two solutions. One: Abandon most law runes and assimilate only some of them.

  [Given the Host’s current Spirit, the limit of assimilation is four law runes.]

  Greem listened silently.

  He knew very well that he only had 44 points of Spirit at the moment. Every point increase in his Spirit after Fourth Grade would allow him to host another law rune. By the time he reached peak Fourth Grade and gathered ten law runes, he would have the opportunity to assimilate all of them and forge his own fire law.

  When that happened, Greem would successfully advance to Fifth Grade!

  It also meant that the laws that Greem would control at Fifth Grade would not be fire laws belonging to any particular plane. Rather, those laws would be principles belonging to him alone. It allowed Fifth Grade adepts to break free of the limits of material planes and unleash devastating power far beyond what a material plane could bear.

  “Abandon some of the law runes? That isn’t going to have an adverse effect on me, is it?” Greem asked cautiously.

  [Beep. Abandoned law runes will vanish, and the Host will forget them!

  [In addition, there is a limit to how many times the consciousness core can be modified. This limit strongly correlates with the strength of the soul and the resilience of the mental consciousness. If these factors are below average, the number of times that the consciousness can endure modification will be reduced.]

  Greem was shocked. He couldn’t help but ask, “The tomes repeatedly mention a limit in development potential. Is that limit related to the number of times that the consciousness core can be modified?”

  [Judging from the information currently held in the database, the Host’s prediction has a 97.36% possibility of being correct! Adepts whose potential limits are judged to be intermediate Fourth Grade are very likely limited because their consciousness core can only accept five to six modifications. That is a far cry from the ten modifications required for advancement to Fifth Grade.]

  “I understand! Now, I finally know what exactly the so-called limit of potential means!” Greem let out a sigh, “An individual’s attributes, the strength of their soul, and innate talent. These factors decide the strength of the consciousness core, which in turn limits how far they can go. It seems like the Fourth Grade adepts who had the consciousness to actively strengthen their body and soul were right to do so!”

  [Beep. Innate conditions are the main factor deciding the strength of the consciousness core. Optimization and adjustment later in life can only improve talent slightly. It cannot reverse someone’s fate at its core!]

  “What about me, then? Chip, can you identify the limit of my potential?”

  [Beep. Due to the Chip’s limits, scans can only estimate Host’s limit as above Fifth Grade. More detailed analysis requires the Host to sustain calculations with more Spirit!]

  “Speaking of which, you mentioned that there were two solutions to our current predicament. What’s the second one?”

  [Beep. If Host is unwilling to give up on the law runes at hand, Host will require a powerful core to endure the backlash of the law assimilation in Host’s place. The only item that meets this condition in the Host’s possession is—]

  “The Orb of the Fire God!” Greem exclaimed.

  At the same time, he instantly understood the significance of the Chip’s notification.

  It had simply been too soon since his advancement.

  Eighty years of accumulation and adjustment was a very long time for an ordinary mortal, but it was still too short for a Fourth Grade adept whose lifespan could last for a thousand years. Greem had made five to six hundred years of progress in just eighty years. At this point, his Spirit had instead become the limiting factor holding him back.

  This process was something he simply couldn’t rush!

  Since his Spirit was insufficient to sustain the assimilation of eight law runes, then he would just use the Orb of the Fire God to replace him. A Fifth Grade Orb of the Fire God to replace an intermediate Fourth Grade fire adept. It was more than enough.

  Greem couldn’t help but hesitate with both options placed before him.

  The first was to assimilate the runes with his own power, giving up on four of the runes in the process. The second was to replace himself with the Orb of the Fire God and assimilate all eight law runes into the Orb.

  “Chip, which option is best?”

  [Beep. Out of consideration of Host’s future development, it is suggested that the first option be taken.]

  “Give up four fire laws? As you said, if I give up on those laws, I will forget them forever! That’s four fire laws! An ordinary adept would have a difficult time obtaining even a single law, and you want me to give up four of them. Why should I?”

  [Judging from the data currently held, the precondition for advancing to Fifth Grade is possessing a sufficient number of planar laws, then melding them into a principle power held by the adept themselves. Consequently, the base fire laws that the Host chooses to assimilate will decide the final power level of the principle fires after assimilation and advancement!”

  Greem drew in a breath of cold air and said, “So, you mean to say that I can’t just assimilate any fire law. I have to prepare for my future advancement and tailor my laws, choosing only those that match my specifications?”

  [Yes! The accuracy of this theory is as high as 86.93%. The principle fire that the Host will be able to materialize in the future directly correlates to the fire laws that the Host chooses to assimilate now. If the fire laws that are assimilated are contradictory on a fundamental level, they will weaken the principle fire’s power in the future!]

  After hearing the Chip’s theories, Greem instantly understood why the three major adept organizations were always more powerful than independent adepts and organizations. The most fundamental reason was probably the difference in legacy and accumulation.

  If a Fourth Grade adept like Greem had been born in the three major adept organizations, he would have obtained an investment of resources and proper guidance the moment he advanced. There would never be an incident caused by a simple matter like this, where Greem had obtained seven fire laws and yet had not even tried to assimilate a single law rune into his consciousness core!

  Such a thing could only happen in a chaotic place like Zhentarim. The major clans had monopolized high-grade knowledge and casting techniques. Ordinary adepts had no one to guide them through their advancement. They were like blind men riding horses, purely surviving on luck.

  Even Greem had made such an expensive blunder due to the lack of guidance and help!

  “Chip, how should I choose between these eight fire laws? Is there no way to lay out a systematic plan for the future?”

  [Beep. Host has to make a choice now. Choose between the eight law runes, based on the
Host’s future path of development.]

  “Be more specific!”

  [Fire is an exceedingly lively and violent elementium. It is one of the four basic elementium and has tremendous potential and power. However, there are different paths of development for fire as well. For instance: an explosive style centered around fire’s explosive power, a destructive style focused on continuous fire damage, a guerilla style taking advantage of the mobility of fire, or a control style making use of the special effects of fire elementium.

  [There are many possible paths to be taken. It is suggested that the Host choose a primary direction of advancement based on Host’s preference and practical conditions. The development of other peripheral powers and skills can be delayed until after the advancement to Fifth Grade!]

  Greem nodded silently.

  Up until this point, he had been unsure of how he should approach his advancement to Fifth Grade. However, after hearing the Chip’s analysis, Greem finally saw the future path clearly.

  He now possessed eight fire laws. Amongst them, Increased Fire Range, Increased Fire Effectiveness and Fire Penetration were basic fire laws, suited for any system.

  Invisible Flames and Fire’s Blast were special effects that aided with controlling the enemy. Meanwhile, Fire’s Fragility and Critical Fires were suited for the explosive style of inflicting massive damage in a single instance. Fire’s Resilience was good for continuous offense.

  Judging by the fire laws that he currently possessed, Greem had a decent foundation to go for either a control style or an explosive style. What he chose was entirely up to his preference now!

  Control, or explosive power.

  Greem shut his eyes and thought silently.

  In truth, being able to have such frustrations was a privilege that only Greem could enjoy. Other Fourth Grade elementium adepts would be overjoyed to even be able to grasp a single elementium law. Not many could be as picky as he was, planning for his future development past Fifth Grade.

  Other elementium adepts would take whatever they could get and assimilate whatever law they managed to grasp. No one would look as far to the future as Greem. As for what they could obtain after advancing to Fifth Grade? That was all up to Fate.