Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  The World of Adepts had always been a world where power decided status. Now that Mary was enhanced by the entire castle’s power, she was heads and shoulders above Declan. He was an easygoing person and immediately shifted attitudes, even changing the way he referred to Mary.

  Mary immediately smiled and waved her hand. A black-and-red rug appeared abruptly, extending all the way from Declan’s feet to the doors of the hall.

  This ability to instantly materialize energy into solid objects caused the other adepts to gasp in awe.

  Declan sighed silently and stepped onto the soft rug, slowly walking toward the two hosts.

  Even though they were ‘allies’ now, Declan still didn’t want to step within ten meters of Greem and Mary. In fact, for Fourth Grade adepts like themselves, ten meters was already far too close. Most people would be anxious to be within such distances.

  For some reason, the closer he got to Mary, the more severely Declan’s spiritual senses were suppressed. Once he was within ten meters of Greem and Mary, Declan refused to take a single step forward.

  It couldn’t be helped. Declan had a feeling that an unpredictable and terrifying retaliation would occur if he took even one more step.

  While the three of them were ‘intimately’ exchanging greetings, Mary turned her head and cast her gaze into the darkness beyond the doors of the hall.

  “We have another guest!”

  Greem and Declan couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

  After all, as long as they were within range of the Nightmare Castle, their spiritual senses would be severely affected and disrupted by the powerful forcefields. They did not have as much of a sensory range as Mary while in this castle.

  “Hehehe, I’m not late this time, am I? Who would’ve thought you would appear before me, Declan?” A hoarse female voice rang out as Adept Kerala slowly stepped out of the shadows and approached them.

  “You are truly beautiful!” Kerala examined Mary carefully, her face full of envy and reminiscence as she exclaimed, “How I miss the days after I had just advanced to Fourth Grade. That was probably the most memorable and beloved period of my entire life!”

  Mary was clearly an amiable and sociable person as well. Seeing as Kerala was humbling herself and speaking kindly of her, Mary had no reason to put on and an arrogant and hostile front.

  The forcefield fluctuations that were suppressing Declan and Kerala lightened by half.

  Mary even took Kerala by her arm and started chatting happily with her at her side.

  It was undoubtedly a show of attitude from Mary as well!

  It was an evident demonstration that Kerala was far more important to her than Declan.

  This move undoubtedly caused Kerala to be relieved as well, having been anxious at how their past hostilities should be resolved.

  “How could I miss out on all this if all of you are here!”

  A red light flickered in the darkness, and a towering figure appeared before the crowd.

  “Castellan Alfred! Welcome, welcome,” Greem’s expression relaxed, and a gentle smile spread over his face.

  Due to practical needs and requirements, Molten Fire City and the Crimson Clan had formed a very intimate relationship over the past two hundred years. The personal friendship between Alfred and Greem had also improved with each passing day.

  Of course, in the face of tremendous benefit, that kind of personal friendship was no more than a performance both of them were taking part in!

  Even so, Greem still welcomed Alfred very warmly. After all, his appearance meant that another heavy weight had been placed onto the scales on the Crimson Clan’s side.

  Five Fourth Grade adepts were a fearsome group, no matter where they were situated. In particular, in the disjointed Central Lands, this alliance already had more than sufficient influence to quash any voice of opposition.

  If those who opposed them had the courage to retaliate, then Freed wouldn’t have been the only person standing within Kerslin Castle when the Crimson Fleet arrived.

  Spineless scheming, endless calculations, inaction, hesitation, fear.

  Zhentarim was just as the three major organizations expected it to be, a bowl of loose sand. Even when Greem had pushed them to the wall, they remained watching from the fence, wondering and thinking about their best move. Consequently, they watched as the Crimson Clan forcibly conquered Kerslin Castle.

  In truth, Greem had already prepared himself for the eventuality of an invasion of Ailovis and for the headquarters to be under siege the moment the Crimson Fleet set off. He had only brought seven of the Motherships with him, leaving behind three of them to defend the headquarters against any enemy offensives.

  Freed had to be dealt with regardless of the cost. He was the leader of the voices of opposition, after all. Greem was willing to let Ailovis burn if it meant that Freed was defeated.

  As long as the Crimson Clan could defend the clan’s few key locations, it would be fine if they lost all of their other territories. The moment the Crimson Fleet returned, victorious, all the territory that their enemies had stolen would have to be returned with interest.

  The Crimson Clan would finally settle the debt between them when that happened!

  To Greem’s utter surprise, Mirva, who had been intentionally left behind in the Crimson Fleet’s path, did not make any movements at all. He did not take the opportunity to attack the Crimson Clan’s headquarters, nor did he attempt to reinforce Freed. It was almost as if the entire battle had nothing to do with him at all.

  That was what surprised Greem the most!

  However, upon reviewing the information on this former vice-chairman of the Zhentarim Association, Greem had a vague understanding about the motivations behind his actions.

  Mirva did not have long to live!

  If Freed had two hundred more years of lifespan left, then Mirva only had a hundred years left.

  A hundred years. That might sound like a long time, but it was nothing to high-grade adepts. They couldn’t conduct more than one or two significant experiments in that amount of time. Once Mirva had passed away, the Annemdor Academy that he managed would become the target of all his rivals and enemies.

  At the very least, Greem had never heard of any particularly exceptional successors in Annemdor Academy. Medium Adept Dante also seemed to have suffered tremendous injuries in the battle between the four Third Grade adepts back then. Ever since then, no news of him had appeared again. Who knew if Mirva would be able to help him reach Fourth Grade before Mirva died himself.

  If Dante could not advance to Fourth Grade, then Annmedor Academy would likely be demoted to a Third Grade organization soon.

  It was a common state of affairs in Zhentarim!

  The Central Lands might be rich in resources, population, and land, but it was ultimately a hierarchy dictated by clans and bloodlines. Too many resources had been provided to the main family adepts who had insufficient talent.

  Meanwhile, even adepts who were known as prodigies from a young age had tremendous difficulty collecting knowledge and gathering resources if they did not have a formidable background or clan to rely on.

  These prodigies could only survive between the cracks of the various clans, toiling hard day after day to obtain resources and knowledge. They even had to face oppression and exploitation from the adept clans regularly.

  Chapter 1331 - Secret Gathering

  Chapter 1331 Secret Gathering

  The people here today could all be considered allies of the Crimson Clan.

  The arrival of Declan, Kerala, and Alfred undoubtedly boosted the Crimson Clan’s reputation tremendously. Greem and Mary gave them a warm welcome, and the five of them prepared to walk into the hall and begin the festivities.

  However, before they started moving, all five of them paused and turned to look into the distance.

  Who would’ve thought that there would still be guests arriving at this time?

  A crystal flying ship resembling a stingray flew out
of the darkness and came to a hovering stop at the plaza in front of the Nightmare Castle. Two strange silhouettes of the same height appeared before everyone, slowly drifting to the ground.

  “Tartas and Monari. They are members of the Silver Union’s senate. Tartas, in particular, has quite the authority. He might look like a simple half-blood gnome, but his uncle is one of the few ultra-powerhouses of the Union,” Kerala was clearly acquainted with the newcomers and quickly introduced Greem and Mary with a voice transmission.

  Two Fourth Grades.

  Greem’s heart couldn’t help but skip a beat.

  Even if the Silver Union viewed the Central Lands’ matters with great significance, sending a single Fourth Grade would have been enough to express their attitude. However, two Fourth Grades had appeared together today. Greem was confident that the Silver Union wanted to make moves on Zhentarim for themselves.

  Moreover, Alice had informed him that Freed had contacted one of the three major organizations before the war. Even though she had been vague, it was most likely that Freed had chosen to talk with the Silver Union, given an analysis of the situation.

  Two Fourth Grades of the Silver Union had appeared soon after the Crimson Clan defeated the Entom Clan. Even a fool would not believe it if you told them that there were no schemes behind this.

  Greem thought to himself. As the leader of the Crimson Clan, hosting his guests was part of his responsibility.

  Greem smiled gently and walked forward with both hands spread out.

  “Welcome! Welcome! Everyone who makes it to Nightmare Castle tonight will be the friends of our Crimson Clan. Why don’t the two of you come in with us and have a talk since you are already here!”

  Tartas was a half-blood gnome, no more than 1.3 meters in height. He was so short that his robe dragged on the ground, making him look like a sly and wretched man. Meanwhile, Monari was also not a human. He had the body of a human male but possessed an eagle’s head.

  Tartas was a golem master, while Monari was a puppet master.

  Golem masters often possessed an incredibly powerful magical armor that they could equip to do combat with their enemies. Meanwhile, puppet masters excelled at manipulating puppets. They often carried a ridiculous number of combat puppets with them.

  These two professions were also the most popular professions within the Silver Union!

  Tartas glared with his beady green eyes and spoke in response to Greem’s warm invitation.

  “Our original intent in coming here was to meet Freed. Who would’ve expected you to move so fast and deal with him already? So, we have no choice but to come to see you instead.”

  The other adept, Monari, was visibly more composed and used to dealing with such social situations. He spoke casually in a thick foreign accent, “We have also heard much about your feats in recent times, Sir Greem. In all honesty, I admire you quite a lot, Sir Greem. However, since you have defeated Freed, we will need you to give us some explanation on certain matters.”

  As expected of senate members from the Silver Union, the arrogance and pride in their tones were unconcealable, despite them being in the Central Lands.

  “You’ve made a long journey here, and I insist that you must be treated as guests. There’s no reason we should talk out here in the cold! Why don’t we sit down and have a good discussion on these matters inside…please!” Cold light gleamed in Greem’s eyes, but he warmly led all his guests into the Nightmare Castle.

  The moment they stepped into the castle, everyone’s expressions changed.

  The reason for it was simple. The castle possessed shockingly powerful forcefield defenses.

  The moment they stepped in here, the adepts all felt their spiritual senses forced back into their bodies. All extended Spirits were severed here, and all means of magical probing restricted. They had been reduced to ordinary humans who could only feel with their physical senses.

  The lack of spiritual senses meant that they could no longer sense everything within their range. Without their spiritual senses, they would lose the advantage if something unexpected happened.

  This terrifying state of blindness made everyone nervous.

  After all, as Fourth Grade adepts, they had never put their lives in the hands of strangers!

  Tartas and Monari exchanged looks, a hint of understanding in their eyes.

  This place seemed to be Bloody Queen Mary’s home field.

  If they were to fight here, their spiritual senses would be suppressed immensely, while Mary’s abilities would be enhanced. The advantage brought about by this was horrifying.

  Before they came here, the only one they had honestly perceived to be a threat was Legendary Fire Adept Greem. The rest of the Fourth Grade adepts were no more than mediocre fools!

  However, upon stepping into Mary’s home field, the two Union senate members’ faces turned dark. For the first time, they felt worried about their mission.

  After the Fourth Grade adepts walked into the third floor of the Nightmare Castle together, the other adepts finally let out a breath of relief. They started to gather together and talk again.

  The gathering of seven Fourth Grade adepts was undoubtedly a rare occasion in the Central Lands!

  The fact that they had gathered indicated that a significant event would soon occur in the Central Lands.

  What would it be?

  The appearance of a fourth major organization…or something else?

  Wasn’t that the reason that all these messengers from various clans had gathered here? It was to obtain an advantageous position in this revolution of the Central Lands! Now that all the key actors had gathered together, what would they talk about? Would the talks go well?

  All of these questions lingered in the hearts of the adepts.

  Unfortunately, even though they were many and often came from large clans, the adepts could only wait patiently. They had to wait until the key actors had come to a conclusion and for them to announce it.

  …………

  The meeting in the Nightmare Castle had already begun.

  When the seven adepts took their seats on the third level, an unusually majestic and gigantic eagle circled in the night sky above the castle.

  The eagle was massive, about six to seven times the size of an ordinary eagle.

  Their feathers were tough yet firm and glowed with a metallic gleam. Their crimson eyes scanned the ground and betrayed the light of intelligence.

  Seeing as the people it was tracking had already gone into the castle and that there was no way of peeking inside due to the strong disruptions from the forcefields, the eagle let out a cry. It then beat its wings and flew southwest.

  While it was beating its wings, one of its feathers fell off and drifted leisurely across the sky, riding on the cold winter winds.

  The feather was only an ordinary object with no magic in it, after all. As such, it did not draw the attention of the many adepts below.

  Finally, it drifted to the ground, landing on a small hill about two kilometers west of the castle.

  The moment the feather landed, a strange figure dressed in a robe appeared out of nowhere and pinched the feather between his fingers.

  It was a middle-aged man with stern features. He wore an emblem with a scroll and a quill on his robe. A strange tattoo of an eye was drawn on his forehead.

  He stroked the feather, put it before his nose, and sniffed. An unusual stream of information that only an Archivist could decode flowed into his mind.

  Gathering at the Central Lands…forbidden lifeform…enter the castle to investigate.

  It was an investigation mission personally passed down by the tower master. He was to immediately sneak into the castle and figure out the secret agreement being brokered between the adepts. In the meantime, he was also to learn more about the forbidden lifeform.

  Archivists always adhered to the fundamental principle of never getting involved, never intervening, and never explaining anything of what they knew. They were o
nly servants of Fate. They were like an eye that existed beyond humankind, solely responsible for observing and recording all major events happening in the World of Adepts while staying uninvolved.

  It was because of their principles that the other adept organizations never suppressed Archivists.

  However, this didn’t mean that high-grade adepts would like their presence!

  No one liked a person standing in the shadows recording everything they were doing with their quill. Even if these people were harmless, it was still very annoying!

  This infiltration mission was also an extreme course of action.

  The confidential agreement and the forbidden lifeform were both classified secrets of the Crimson Clan. They would never easily reveal them. However, the tower master wanted him to sneak in there and figure it all out.

  Even though he knew this mission was incredibly difficult, the Archivist showed no signs of fear on his face. After reading all the information on the feather, he waved his hand as it quickly burned away.

  Once the feather had turned entirely to ash, the Archivist shook his robe and seemingly vanished into thin air as he turned invisible.

  There were no magical fluctuations or life signs detected. This invisible man quickly sprinted toward the tower like a ghost.

  Two and a half kilometers…two kilometers…one and a half kilometers……

  Chapter 1332 - Mary’s Prowess

  Chapter 1332 Mary’s Prowess

  Mary frowned abruptly in the meeting room.

  “What is it?” Greem asked softly. He had been mentally connected with Mary and could sense her displeasure.

  “A little bug seems to have broken into the castle. It seems he’s quite hard to deal with.”

  “Be careful! Just kill him if he’s a spy from another adept organization. If it’s one of those Archivists, then just expel them from the castle.”

  Mysterious strangers had been trying to sneak into the castle these past few days. Mary was extremely annoyed at this point.