Age of Adepts

Fire Throne, dragons, vampires.

These words that usually had nothing to do with each other instantly became the hottest buzzwords in the region, immediately attracting the attention of countless people.

Head of a vampire family to the southwest of Zhentarim, Third Grade Haines Vik had raised the flags of revenge and led his family in a determined invasion against Greem’s Fire Throne. The Zhentarim Association had consented to this attack due to the incident in Rose Manor and the silent consent of the Sarubo leaders.

A Third Grade vampire led the group, with two more Second Grade vampires and dozens of First Grades in the group. Power of this level was more than enough to raze an ordinary small-sized clan. It was a powerful army that couldn’t be underestimated, even for some mid-sized clans with insufficient accumulation.

Yet it was an army like this that broke their heads upon the adept’s tower of a lesser known Second Grade adept.

A mighty Second Grade dragonborn, and a terrifying Third Grade thunder dragon.

These wholly unexpected and strange creatures had all appeared in that rural adept’s tower. The psychological impact was immense.

In particular, all the staying adepts who had impatiently declared their departure from Fire Throne before the battle had started were green with regret.

The name of Flame Demon might have been widely spread for a period in the past, but that was mostly temporary fame in the areas around the Sarubo Clan’s territory. The decades of silence when Greem hid in Fire Throne to work toward Second Grade had caused the title of Flame Demon to fade from the minds of the people.

With this ’clan war,’ and the frantic escape of the Third Grade vampire, the title of Flame Demon became a widespread name once again. For a moment, Greem had become an influential figure that no one didn’t know of.

As a large number of ex-members of the tower fled from the scene, the process and outcome of the battle between Greem and the vampires, as well as some of the insider information and intricacies leading to the conflict, started to be passed around the entire Zhentarim area.

Since the Sarubo higher-ups had declared that Greem was no longer a part of their clan before the battle, a new adept clan had now been born in the center of the Continent of Adepts with their victory.

Hordes of wandering adepts would rally to Greem’s call as long as he was willing to step forth in this moment of might and glory to recruit followers.

After all, the resources and benefits that one would get from following a quickly rising adept powerhouse were immense.

However, what truly unnerved the adept clans was the appearance of the dragon. How did Greem, a mere Second Grade adept, manage to summon a Third Grade thunder dragon to do his bidding? This event had utterly subverted all their previous understanding of dragons as greedy and prideful creatures!

Of course, a small rumor had been spreading among the adepts– Greem had most likely discovered a small dragon’s plane. The allies that he had found for his cause were his collaborators back in the dragon’s plane.

This particular rumor appeared to be baseless and a lot more ridiculous compared to other ones. Unexpectedly, it was the one that most adepts endorsed. It was the only reasonable ’reality’ that could explain away their doubts and questions.

For a moment, Fire Throne, Flame Demon, Greem, Dragon– these words were bundled together and became the hottest topic of the Zhentarim area.

Ordinary nobles and wealthy merchants naturally turned these into teatime conversational topics and passionately discussed the details amongst themselves. However, for the adepts who possessed power and knowledge, the entire incident oozed with a great deal of interesting information.

The dragons had been extinct in the World of Adepts for over ten thousand years!

The large-sized clans and organizations all held world coordinates of some dragon planes in their hands, but they chose to keep the wealth to themselves and would never easily let the resources reach the public. The other adepts could do nothing but watch, even if they wanted a so-called ’dragon pet.’

Many adepts who lacked strong magical pets or mounts were immediately intrigued when they caught wind of clues leading to dragons in the hands of a Second Grade adept.

Many powerful adepts turned their eyes toward the rural Black Forest after the conclusion of the battle at Fire Throne. However, the fight from earlier had already destroyed all paths leading to Fire Throne. The adepts had no choice but to suppress their impatient emotions and silently wait for the moment Greem showed himself once again.

They would purchase with magical crystals and throw mountains of resources at Greem. They didn’t believe he would be able to remain unmoved in the face of such benefits.

Many adepts didn’t mind using up their hundreds of years of savings if they could obtain a satisfactory dragon pet.

Power. In the World of Adepts, power was the fundamental force that decided everything else!

A mighty dragon pet would undoubtedly be a part of an adept’s power.

…………

Fire Throne.

The tower itself was extremely lively, even as they ignored the commotion of the public outside.

Those that had been able to muster the determination to stay in the tower and face the challenge of fate alongside Greem when the vampires descended were going to become the future backbone of Greem’s faction.

Gargamel did a count after the battle. No more than fifty-four people remained in the tower after the fight. Of these fifty-four, there were five adepts, twenty-nine apprentices, and twenty servants.

However, what moved Greem the most weren’t the adepts or the apprentices. Instead, it was Medusa Dana, who he had recruited in the Black Forest.

Dana had led her snakefiend subordinates to reinforce Fire Throne without any hesitation when she had heard of the tower being attacked by another powerful force of adepts. Moreover, she had no prior knowledge of the existence of the dragonborn and the thunder dragon.

On the other hand, the other two subordinate forces of Fire Throne–the manticore family and the fiendhound tribe–were slow to act and behaved dubiously.

Fortunately, the manticore leader had done his duty in the battle within Fire Cave. He significantly delayed the assault of the First Grade vampires, and thus was considered by Greem as a hero who had contributed to the success of the battle. Three-headed Demonhound Unguja of the fiendhound tribe appeared to be a lot more indecisive.

He had already received his orders before the battle, yet he dragged his feet and only barely arrived at Fire Throne once the battle was well underway. It was only when the wind started to shift in Greem’s favor, and success tilted toward them, that Unguja had hastily jumped out to clean up the battlefield.

Of course, Greem saw all of this as it happened.

Greem didn’t say much on the surface, but he had already sentenced Unguja to a death sentence in his mind. The next time an opportunity presented itself, the risky and suicidal jobs of scouting and the like would certainly fall upon Unguja’s shoulders.

The tower was a lot quieter after the victorious battle, but it was still lively and filled with a triumphant atmosphere.

Gargamel waved his hands, and the doors of the warehouse were turned wide open. Many wines and delicacies were taken out of the storage and used to reward these future backbone members of the clan that had resolutely stood on their side.

Gargamel was already utterly loyal to Greem now.

Gargamel had thought the lives of all within Fire Throne to be foregone when faced with this tremendous crisis. He had already prepared himself for the death of his body and the extermination of his soul. Yet, who had expected his fantastic master Greem to convince the dragonborn and the thunder dragon? Greem’s actions turned them into the shock troops and powerful reinforcements of the tower at the most pivotal moment.

A Third Grade vampire couldn’t possibly beat a Third Grade thunder dragon, no matter how strong he was.

Casually dispatching multiple human adepts of the same grade was no problem for a dragon, with the renowned individual strength of their species. In fact, the more powerful dragons could even challenge individuals of superior grades. It seemed to be an unbelievable feat that only powerful creatures like the dragons were capable of, even throughout the entire high-magic multiverse.

The crisis today had helped Fire Throne get rid of a spy among their ranks. That was unquestionably beneficial for the development of Greem’s faction from here on out.

Rewards were naturally due after a victory. During the banquet, Greem personally declared that he would form a new adept clan and that everyone present was going to be core members of this new clan. That included Medusa Dana and the manticore leader.

They would cast away their identities as magical creatures and become official members of an adept clan. As long as the Zhentarim Association acknowledged this adept clan, they would also be granted the status of adepts.

Greem announced the name of this new clan before the eager and anticipative crowd– Crimson!

Greem was a fire adept and excelled at fire spells. Crimson was a fitting name.

Thus, Greem’s name would be updated to the new Greem Crimson.

And he would become the powerful Crimson Adept!

…………

A secret room on the fifth floor of Fire Throne.

Greem had arranged the room into a proper scene for a mysterious ritual.

While the happy adepts and apprentices were still celebrating in the hall on the second level, Greem brought Mary and Leicester here. Waiting inside for awhile were Alice and her fairy Helen, who had specially teleported over from the Tower of Fate.

”It’s you again, you heart robber. Can’t you be satisfied with having Alice? To think you went and seduced another female vampire. Do you not know that all vampires are twisted and sick?” Helen immediately flew up to Greem when she saw him, drawing a ribbon light across the air as she did so. The fairy put her hands on her hips, pointed at Greem’s nose, and started reprimanding him.

This sudden accusation caught Greem by complete surprise.

Right now, he was cradling the unconscious Mary in one hand, while dragging the bound Leicester in the other. He opened his mouth several times and had no idea how to defend himself against this righteous fairy.

”Helen, don’t go flaunting your unreasonable theories! It’s not your place to intervene in our relationship,” The smiling Alice slowly stepped forward and took Mary from Greem’s arm. She asked curiously, ”What’s happened to her?”

”She drank too much blood from the thunder dragon half a month ago. She’s been sleeping like this ever since. I can’t get her to wake up no matter how I shout at her.” Greem awkwardly explained.

”The bloodline of the vampires courses through her body, and we still need some magical facilities unique to the vampires. Fortunately, I brought a Blood Coffin with me. Otherwise, most of the power would simply disperse. It would have been a great loss for her.” In public, Alice still appeared to be as domineering as before she advanced to Witch of Fate. However, her behavior in private interactions was far more gentle and thoughtful than before.

Blood coffins were magical items unique to the vampires. They could help vampires concentrate and purify their bloodline. The only drawback was their high price, making it such that only high-grade vampires had the privilege of using them.

As the leader of the Witches of Fate, there was no doubt that the Blood Coffin she brought with her was of the highest quality!