Age of Adepts

After casually exterminating an escaping goblin, Mary put down the crimson longbow in her hands.

All thirty-one goblin guards by the platform had been murdered in the short time that had passed. Their bodies were piled up inside the carriage and buried underneath all the fruits.

In truth, the strike team had no more need to hide their identities from this point on.

The tunnels from here on sprawled in every direction. Gazlowe would be hard-pressed to stop them in all of the tunnels, even if he knew they were coming.

On the other hand, a trace of seriousness appeared on Alice’s pretty face as she smelled the strange and unique odor in the tunnel.

”I smell a trace of an otherworldly aura here!”

”Otherworldly aura? You mean?” Greem paused for a moment and asked softly.

”I suspect the information the goblin royal family obtained is not accurate. It’s very likely that the planar door has already been constructed!” Alice replied softly.

The two of them were communicating using mental fluxes, but they weren’t exactly hiding it from the other adepts. The goblins, on the other hand, had no idea about the conversation that was happening due to their ignorance of such a use for Spirit.

”I understand!” Greem nodded and said, ”It’s very likely that Gazlowe’s magical machine army won’t be the only enemies we run into in the Steel Capital. There will be some soldiers from the other plane as well. Everyone be careful!”

The adepts looked each other in the eyes and silently turned to enter the tunnels after mentally preparing themselves.

The group immediately split into a dozen smaller parties, making their way toward different areas of the Steel Capital through the sprawling network of underground tunnels.

Greem, Alice, Sofia, and Mary made their way to the belly of the mountain; that was where the old goblin should be hiding. Billis headed to the lower city area. He would then create massive chaos there to cover for the operations happening in the other places. Sabrina and Endor went to the inner city area to see if they could find anything of value.

The goblins, on the other hand, snuck into various areas of the city to look for Princess Vanessa. Tigule was an exception. He led ten magical machines and followed Greem to seek out Gazlowe.

…………

A massive cave deep in the belly of the mountain.

The cave was artificially created and didn’t possess the usual feature of natural caves. Its ground was flat, and there were no pillars or stalactites within.

It was approximately one kilometer beneath the mountain range, yet there was absolutely no feeling of darkness or humidity. Small holes of various sizes had been dug into the walls of the cave, and white steam lingered in the air.

A humongous capsule-shaped metal cylinder stood in the center of the empty cave. Ferocious and violent magic energy bubbled inside the metal can. A dense network of metallic pipes was connected to the metal cylinder, directing filtering pure magic energy to various areas in an orderly fashion.

With the continuous energy output of this massive space furnace, the Steel Capital had turned into a large soldier manufactory, working without stop. More than twenty-five magical machines, and a hundred goblin tanks and chariots walked off the assembly line on a daily basis.

On the other hand, other goblin firearms and magic energy cannons were only limited by the production capacity of special alloys.

As long as the outside could provide them with the metals and rare resources needed for the weapons, the Steel Capital would be entirely capable of turning them into offensive magic weaponry. They could then arm Gazlowe’s private army that had been assembling in this place.

An arched door, forged of pure metal and mechanical parts, was radiating bright sky-blue energy in a newly excavated underground hall right beside the cave where the space furnace resided. More and more spatial fluctuations were appearing in the air.

At the moment, several mysterious runes on the metallic arched door were lighting up in sequential order. A surge of strange energy would gather towards the spatial singularity in the center of the door every time one of the runes was lit up. As more and more magic energy gathered around the door, the spatial singularity started to expand outwards, turning into a massive portal of light that covered the arched metal door behind it.

Several goblin engineers gathered around the door with eyes of wonder and amazement. They carefully controlled the input of magic energy while diligently recording each of those mysterious runes that had appeared.

The barely conscious and frail Gazlowe slumped on a soft chair upon a platform across from the door of light. He wore a well-crafted dress suit, and many tubes stuck out of his body. All of these tubes connected to containers full of colorful nutrient solutions attached to the back of the chair.

”Watch the stability of the Door of Light. Maintain the energy output threshold at 1.77 Hertos.” Even though his internal organs showed signs of failing, Gazlowe still calmly directed everything that was happening.

The goblin engineers and alchemists were utterly subservient to this dying old goblin. Here in the Steel Capital, Gazlowe possessed immense influence that even the Goblin Emperor couldn’t hope to match.

He could even have one of the goblins here commit suicide. Not only would they execute his order without hesitation, but they would also gladly do so.

These people would be extremely proud to be able to do anything for the spiritual leader of the goblins. Even death would become something honorable!

The massive door of light maintained its stability for fifteen minutes under Gazlowe’s guidance. Ripples suddenly appeared in the middle of the sky-blue door as a large, mighty figure emerged.

It was a strange creature that was half human and half beast!

It was three meters tall, two meters wide, and had a tail that was five meters long.

It had a tough and muscular humanoid body, but its lower half was more like a beast. Four hooves and a flat, long, and thick tail behind it. It had a blunt nose on its face, a hard forehead, and layers of wrinkles around its face and ears. Its hands and feet were those of a dragon’s, with sharp, hard claws as well.

Large, dark-green scales covered its body. Its muscles were clearly defined as well. It didn’t matter whether it was the arms, neck, or its four stubby legs; they all seemed muscular, intense, and packed with power.

It was a pure half-dragon person, also known as a Dragonborn. They were strange beings that were created by the mixing of human and dragon bloodlines. They weren’t that intelligent, but they had powerful bodies and equally powerful magical abilities. Their magic resistance was also excellent thanks to their dragon bloodline.

If it weren’t for their inability to fly, they could even be considered one of the most powerful branches of dragon descendants!

The Dragonborn that stepped out of the planar door was an individual that possessed First Grade power.

Even though the grade wasn’t all that significant or excellent on his own plane, it was more than enough to crush these frail goblins.

That was why all the goblin engineers frantically stumbled backward when the Dragonborn shook its massive body and stomped upon the metallic floor with its sturdy hooves. The goblins looked upon this terrifying demon with anxious and fearful eyes.

The magical resistances and bodily strength of the Dragonborn were just as powerful as suggested by the books. He only shook his head slightly after stepping through the planar door, and he had recovered from the ill feelings of planar suppression. Of course, this also had something to do with the faint red light radiating through the planar door.

The Dragonborn shook his head, and his unfocused eyes quickly returned to normal. His reptilian pupils contracted in his amber-like eyes and quickly shot towards Gazlowe.

The old goblin was still sitting on the platform, but when the Dragonborn arrived in front of him, they were practically at the same eye level.

”You are that tiny goblin?” The Dragonborn’s voice was as loud as a bell. The other goblins on the platform couldn’t help but cover their ears.

”You’ve done very well! We will greatly reward you once we have established a foothold here.”

The Dragonborn took a quick sweeping look at the planar door. It was evident that he was delighted with the work of the goblins. However, the tone he used to praise Gazlowe was stiff and forced. Its voice held the disdain and mockery used when rewarding a traitorous dog with a bone.

”Lord Ashendrake, why is it only you? Didn’t we agree on a squad of thirty individuals?” Gazlowe asked with a soft voice and an expression of incomprehension.

”Hmph. The planar door you built has cut out too many important materials. Too many things are missing. It is utterly incapable of sustaining the descent of the Third Grade Duke. Now that I have arrived have your men remove themselves from this place. They are not to enter without being summoned. The matters of us dragonborn need not your interference.”

Perhaps because he sensed the frailty of the goblins present here, Dragonborn Ashendrake Thunderlight’s tone turned impatient. From his point of view, these weaklings that couldn’t even survive a single dragon’s breath had no right to talk to him, a Dragonborn Marquis.

He would have turned them all into ash and dust with his power of lightning if it weren’t for the energy sustainment of the door still hinging upon this ’trash.’

The goblins’ faces turned various colors when they heard the caustic words of the Dragonborn.

Some goblin engineers even secretly took out walkie-talkies and prepared to summon the magical machine army waiting outside the hall.

”Very well, very well, it is understood.” Who knew? Gazlowe didn’t seem to be even the least bit frustrated by the Dragonborn’s harsh words. Instead, he ordered his subordinates to lift his chair and bring him out of the hall, his face still wearing a fawning smile.

”Lord Prince, you mean to… ” Those goblin engineers swarmed around Gazlowe once they were sufficiently far away. They asked in soft voices.

”Hmph! These dragonborn are all idiots that think in one dimension. We’ll let them have their way for the moment. Once all of that dragonborn squad teleports over here, we will cut off the energy supply to the planar door and capture them all. Then, the life force of three dozen dragonborn will be more than enough for us to complete Project Immortality!” Gazlowe coughed intensely, maniacally laughing as he did so. His dark green skin and black age spots shook as he laughed. It was a hideous, wicked sight.