Age of Adepts

According to the control crystal, the core array resided on the fourth level.

There were five surface levels to the tower and two underground levels, making for a total of seven levels.

The two underground levels were the energy room and the resource warehouse respectively. This layout was typical for most adept’s towers.

The first level functioned as the dwellings of the apprentices, the arcane hall, the library, the academic hall, and the dining area.

The second level had a magical garden, a breeding room, an incubation chamber, a small laboratory, and a magic practice range.

The third level contained the sealing room, the book storage, the golem factory, the alchemy lab, and the scroll crafting chamber.

The fourth level was where the adept’s rooms, the study room, the meeting room, and the core array were.

The fifth level had the teleportation room, private labs, and the workshops.

That was only a basic layout that Greem had requested. Most of the required magical facilities were still missing. He would have to invest a lot more before he could have the place functioning as he wanted.

In ordinary circumstances, the apprentice adepts only had access to the first and second levels. The pseudo-adepts and the advanced apprentices would be able to borrow the use of certain facilities on the third level by submitting requests. Fourth level and above was restricted to only adepts. Moreover, they had to be a trusted adept that belonged to the tower itself; outsider adepts could only stay on the third level.

As the tower had not undergone spatial expansion, there wasn’t too much space to move around. Still, it would be no problem to sustain the lives of nearly a hundred adepts and apprentices.

Greem swiftly walked into the bright central control hall. There were white marble floors and rich elementium energy faintly radiating from the walls. Embedded in the array at the center of the room was a large crystal. An odd rune was flashing and wavering at the center of this massive cluster of crystal, continuously letting out magical energy.

Greem bent his body to examine the crystal in detail. Soon, the chip had completed a quick scan of the crystal’s internal structure and its composition. Weirdly enough, even the chip didn’t manage to glean any information!

”Beep. Discovered unknown energy crystal substance. No matching substance type found in the data library. No signs of artificial synthesis either. Initial estimates suggest crystal to be a substance from beyond this world.”

Was it a substance from beyond this world?

That meant that this crystal wasn’t a product from the World of Adepts or a synthetic gem created by a high-grade adept. Instead, this was a unique crystal taken from another plane. Or even the depths of the sea of stars!

Greem took out the control crystal that the silver-robed adept had given him and realized that it was made of the same material as the large crystal before him. Moreover, when the rune within the giant crystal pulsed, the small one in his hand vibrated at the same frequency. It was almost as if the two crystals were breathing in sync.

Greem did as was instructed by the silver-robed adept. He placed the small crystal on the indentation above the big one. He then cut his palm and pressed his bleeding hand against the crystal.

”Beep. Detecting data connection passage. Construct connection?”

”Construct!”

Greem felt his sensory world expand infinitely as his Spirit connected with the massive crystal. His Spirit had instantly extended to every single corner of the tower. An enormous screen of light suddenly appeared in his mental space. The screen listed a wide variety of complicated commands.

And the first emergency command to be listed at the top was:

Activate the Tower!

Activating the tower wasn’t just starting up its functions. What it meant was that Greem would now possess the highest authority over the adept’s tower. Unless he conducted a special magical ceremony and willingly wiped away the soul brand he had left in the crystal, he would forever possess the highest authority over this tower.

”Chip, have you discovered any safety issues?”

”Beep. Initial scans of control crystal complete. No backdoor programs or traps discovered. More comprehensive scanning will begin once the tower has been activated. Recommend host immediately activate the tower!”

Greem solemnly gave the order to activate the tower, and the entire structure trembled. An elementium brilliance with a trace of holiness and divinity suddenly lit up in the energy room.

A black hole the size of a fist slowly opened above the elementium altar. Traces of prismatic mist drifted out of the hole. They were immediately guided towards the elementium pool the moment they exited the black hole. The fog then settled at the bottom of the pool. In less than seven minutes, the rich magical energy had become thick and heavy. More and more rainbow mist gathered at the bottom of the elementium pool, causing it to become moist and damp.

Soon, a transparent yet viscous layer of water appeared at the bottom of the pool!

It was not water extracted from the elementium world; it was liquid elementium that had been extracted from the air! Elementium energy usually existed in a gaseous state. However, the elementium pool compressed the elementium energies and caused their unit concentration to increase dramatically, causing them to exist in this liquid state.

If the energy room continued to function for an even more extended period, this liquid elementium would be further compressed and forced into solid state magical crystals. And that would be the most stable currency in the World of Adepts!

With the activation of the energy room, surge after surge of magical energy was drawn from the surroundings. These energies were slowly circulated into the tower’s systems. From the second underground level to the first underground level, and then across the entire tower, the radiance of energy started to glow wherever the runic arrays extended.

Gargamel and the three Silver Union adepts silently watched as a trace of light shone at the bottom of the tower and slowly spread across every corner of the building.

This tower that had been a dull crimson color now burned brightly like a beautiful fire coral, displaying itself to the adepts in all its beauty and wonder!

”Please come in, my guests. Welcome to my adept’s tower!”

The air boomed with Greem’s boisterous voice. The closed doors immediately opened at the sound of his voice.

Greem once again met up with the three Silver Union adepts in a guest hall on the third level to discuss other matters. Gargamel, on the other hand, had been given partial authority by Greem. He was wandering the tower, eagerly exploring every bit of the building.

”Sir Greem, if you have no other requests, we will be on our way!” The one responsible for coordination was still Adept Eugene.

It was apparent that the three spoiled Silver Union adepts wanted to leave as soon as possible now that they had completed their task. This place was unpopulated and had none of the luxuries they were accustomed to. They didn’t even want to extend their stay by a single second.

”No need to rush!” Greem quickly spoke to persuade them to stay, ”The foundation of this tower has been constructed, but there are far too many magical facilities that I still need to be built. May I ask about your price when it comes to this?”

Adept Eugene was incredibly straightforward. He handed a piece of parchment over to Greem.

Teleportation Array: One hundred thousand magical crystals.

Detection Room: Seventy thousand magical crystals.

Greater Magic Practice Range: Eighty thousand magical crystals.

Room of Bindings: (Small) Four thousand magical crystals | (Medium) Twenty thousand magical crystals | (Large) Fifty thousand magical crystals.

Sealing Room: Thirty thousand magical crystals.

Pool of Purification: Twenty thousand magical crystals.

Large Omnipurpose Alchemy Lab: One hundred and thirty thousand magical crystals. (Includes a complete set of tools and facilities)

Golem Factory: Forty thousand magical crystals. (Can only be used for the creation and repair of adept-level magical statue constructs)

Scroll Crafting Chamber: Three thousand magical crystals. (Includes all tools)

Enchantment Lab: Seven thousand magical crystals.

Alchemical Slave: (Adept-level) Twenty thousand magical crystals | (Apprentice-level) Eight hundred magical crystals.

Voodoo Beast: (Adept-level) Sixteen thousand magical crystals | (Apprentice-level) Six hundred magical crystals.

Magical Garden Servant: Flower Fairy (Two hundred magical crystals/creature) | Genie (One hundred and seventy magical crystals/creature).

Tower Slave (Strength-type): Minotaur (Twenty magical crystals/creature) | Quilboar (Eight magical crystals/creature) | Ogre (Twenty-five magical crystals/creature) | Dragonspawn (Forty magical crystals/creature).

Tower Slave (Specialized): Halfling Gourmet (Three hundred magical crystals/creature) | Dwarven Smith (One hundred and twenty magical crystals/creature) | Grass Fairy ([Female] Seven hundred magical crystals/creature | [Male] Six hundred magical crystals/creature) | Siren Apprentice (One thousand seven hundred magical crystals/creature).

The parchment wasn’t large, but its contents were plentiful. Most of the things listed here were necessary for the operation of an adept’s tower. However, Greem felt his head ache when he read through the prices listed behind each item.

If he were a veteran adept that had lived for a hundred years, he would at least have some capital on hand. Unfortunately, he was not. He was just an ordinary adept that had been fighting tooth and claw to make his bucket of gold. In fact, it hadn’t been that long since he had bid farewell to his label as a newly advanced adept.

As for savings; He had spent most of the resources and magical crystals he had obtained during the last planar on Alice and her Battle of Fate. He could barely squeeze out thirty to forty thousand magical crystals if he counted everything he had. This amount was clearly insufficient if he wanted to complete the tower’s functions. It was barely enough for Greem to get the tower running.

It wasn’t as if Greem had no valuable items on hand. As long as he was willing to part with his last spacestone, every financial problem he had would be solved.

The problem was that he just wasn’t willing to!

Thus, after a lengthy negotiation with Adept Eugene, Greem paid for a small fire altar in the hall on the first floor. He then bought some tools and facilities for the alchemy lab, the golem factory, the scroll creation chamber, and several other places. He also purchased some magical seeds for the garden.

Apart from these basic amenities, Greem also bought two halfling gourmets, two dwarven smiths, and two fairies.

He had no choice! He and Gargamel had to live here from now on. They couldn’t possibly be expected to go out hunting on their own for every meal! That was why purchasing food and daily consumables and leaving them to these slaves to manage was the best course of action!

Meanwhile, the role of the tower guards fell upon the eleven manticores.

Once the Silver Union adepts had swiftly constructed the fire altar, Greem immediately placed the Fire Lord’s Scepter that he had no use for on the platform. This way, he could summon up to five fire elementals from the altar on a daily basis. These elementals could serve as his servants that helped in the operation of the tower.

Over time, this labyrinthine underground tunnel network would become dominated by fire elementium. This development would substantially increase the security of the tower. Greem would also be able to summon even more fire elementals to serve as free labor. Of course he chose to construct a fire altar first!