Age of Adepts

“Speak. Why did you want to meet me?” Greem asked unamusedly.

“My lord, I heard you promised the goblins on Goblin Plane some Queyras alloy?” The air in the steel hall vibrated slightly. Gazlowe had to create a voice by vibrating the air with his mental powers to accommodate Greem.

“News spreads fast for you!” Greem smiled faintly, “It hasn’t been long since I said those words in the Goblin Plane and you’ve already heard them here in Lance!”

“Of course. The Goblin Plane was my homeworld, after all. I still have some connections there.” The brain monster chuckled.

“I warn you, the priority of your current development is Lance. You must defend this forward outpost with your life. The dragons must not expel you from this plane. You had best not interfere with whatever is happening over at the Goblin Plane and affect the clan’s development.” The brain monster’s performance in recent years had been excellent, but Greem couldn’t help but remind him to stay in line again.

Gazlowe feared the strong but went after the weak. If Greem didn’t keep a tight grip over him, it was very likely that it would result in backlash from him.

As for loyalty? Greem wasn’t as foolish as to believe in the loyalty of a Third Grade brain monster!

He and Gazlowe might appear to be master and subordinate, but they were, in truth, more like allies. Gazlowe had long since been capable of wiping away the brand that he had placed in his soul in the past.

If it weren’t for some tricks Greem had left in the ultra-magic generator furnace and Gazlowe’s lack of confidence in surviving the backlash from the Crimson Clan, he would have broken free of Greem’s soul bindings a long time ago!

As such, Greem had to be extremely careful and cautious whenever he dealt with this Third Grade brain monster who was flying higher and higher, always at risk of snapping off the strings that kept him bound.

“Understood! Don’t worry, my lord. The dragons have tried many times already. They might be able to damage my Capital of Eternity badly, but removing it entirely is no more than a fantasy. If they dare to come again, I will make them regret it!”

“Good.”

“My lord, you see…the development of the Capital of Eternity has reached a bottleneck. In the short term, the dragons won’t be able to break into the capital, but neither will we be able to break out; the main problem being Queyras alloy! My lord, don’t you think you should assign a bit of Queyras alloy to the Capital of Eternity as well?” The brain monster probed cautiously.

Greem laughed coldly and said, “Those goblins made a promise to me. They will make me a magical machine golem dragon with Fourth Grade powers within one or two years. That is why I was willing to provide them with Queyras alloy. What about you? What can you give me? You do not intend to take away such a treasure from me with nothing in return, do you?”

Greem’s tone might not be friendly, but Gazlowe was suddenly excited.

He was petrified that Greem only had that much Queyras alloy in his hands. If that were the case, he would never have been able to obtain a single scrap of Queyras alloy even if he were to be unbelievably persuasive. After all, the value of a Fourth Grade golem dragon was shockingly high. He could not provide anything of equal value to pry the Queyras alloy from the hands of the goblins.

“My lord, I can provide you with yet another magical machine army, consisting of a thousand magical machines.”

“I have no need for a magical machine army for the moment. The development of the Crimson Clan is fairly stable, and we have no urgent pressure of war. Keep the magical machines for yourself!”

“My lord, I can help you attack dragon lords.”

“Truly, with the magical machine army you currently possess, it should be no problem for you to conquer a few dragon territories. However,” Greem couldn’t help but narrow his eyes and smile, “How many dragons can you catch for me?”

“…” Gazlowe fell into an awkward silence.

It couldn’t be helped. That was where his power was most lacking!

The tens of thousands of magical machine soldiers were like a flood of steel, capable of razing the lands and dens of any dragon lord below Fourth Grade. However, Gazlowe could not capture any of the dragons. He was utterly helpless in that regard.

He might be Third Grade himself, but he was not skilled at battle.

Even with his mental powers as means of offense, his cowardly personality meant that he was unwilling to set foot on the battlefield unless absolutely necessary. Meanwhile, of the many machines he had created, none could take to the skies.

However, which dragon lord of Lance couldn’t fly?

The dragons wouldn’t just be waiting to die in their dens when they see the unstoppable magical machine army coming for them. They would probably have packed their bags and fled before the army even reached their homes.

That was why it was easy for the magical machine army to defeat a dragon lord, but capturing them as they flew freely in the skies was nothing short of fantasy.

If Greem were willing to provide him with some magic generator furnaces, he would be able to create a fleet of flying ships, and the problem would be solved!

That was why Gazlowe couldn’t help but want to request for an advance payment of Queyras alloy, even if he knew it was a bit embarrassing to do so.

Seeing that Gazlowe had fallen completely silent, Greem shifted the topic of conversation.

“Where’s Thunder Dragon Arms? What has he been doing during these past few years?”

The one who replied to his question was Gru.

“Lord Arms has taken up residence in a wide territory a hundred and fifty kilometers to the southwest of the Capital of Eternity. He’s living the good life there! The female dragon’s mating with him once again.”

“Mm, have him watch out and be careful! At this moment, most of the dragon lords of Lance probably already know of his connection to us. Make sure he doesn’t get lured into a trap of the dragons.” Greem frowned as he said.

“I will ensure the safety of Lord Arms’ territory!” Gru still had a fawning expression on his brain-face, “My lord, I heard you already have lands in both the Central and Northern Regions of the World of Adepts. You must be lacking a large aerial force right now. Why not you let me forge an undefeatable aerial fleet for you!?”

“Oh? What do you mean, specifically?” Gru’s proposition piqued Greem’s interest.

“We of the Capital of Eternity are swimming in metals, but lack magic generator furnaces. If you can provide us with two magic generator furnaces, we will create a Sky Patrol Mothership for you, free of cost. Don’t you forget, the magical machine blueprints in the hands of the little goblins all came from my original self while he was still a goblin.”

Gazlowe remained silent throughout, seemingly assenting to Gru’s suggestion.

Greem couldn’t help but narrow his eyes.

“Give you two magic generator furnaces, you keep one for yourself and use the other to create a Mothership for me? Is that what you mean?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Hehehe, this proposition sounds good. But those little goblins seem to be able to do this as well. Moreover, if I gave them two magic generator furnaces, they would be able to provide me with two Sky Patrol Motherships!”

Gru’s squid-like brain subtly communicated with his main self.

Without any hesitation, Gru increased his offer.

“Two magic generators, we provide you with a Mothership along with a three-hundred strong magical machine army, all of them high-quality advanced First Grade fighters.”

“I provide you with three magic generator furnaces, you make me two Motherships and give me five hundred magical machines.”

“This…”

“Moreover, the Mothership you make for yourself will have to be beholden to orders when the clan requires its service. Of course, if any damages were to happen to the ship, the clan will reimburse you and compensate for the losses!”

Gru silently discussed with this main body for quite a while before ‘reluctantly’ agreeing.

In truth, this was only a strategy of the brain monster!

It sounded as if this deal would force the brain monster to pay a considerable sum. However, at its core, it did not hurt any of Gazlowe’s real benefits. What did he lose in creating Motherships and magical machines for Greem?

Just some magical alloy and time!

He could make up for the magical alloy by finding metal veins in Lance to mine. The factories and magical energy used to create the machines all belonged to himself. With enough time and effort, he could produce as much magical alloy as he wanted.

That was why Gazlowe believed the deal to be worthwhile, even if Greem’s conditions appeared to be extremely ‘strict.’

“Then, my lord, how many magic generator furnaces do you intend to provide us with initially?” Gru finally couldn’t suppress the urge to prove at Greem’s bottom line.

“Let’s proceed with six magic generator furnaces! When you show me four Motherships, I will hand over the six magic generator furnaces.”

Gru couldn’t help but be overjoyed.

Six Motherships; this was no big problem for the Capital of Eternity. It would take them a month at best to successfully create all of them. However, that would be straining the metal reserves of the city.

It seemed like they had to increase the number of mine scouting parties on the outside to find all available metal veins near the city.

Both parties quickly reached an agreement, one that satisfied and pleased them both!

Greem did not stay in the Capital for much longer. Instead, he returned to the teleportation array and went back to the World of Adepts.

…………

World of Adepts, Tower of Fate.

When the blinding white light of the array faded, Greem saw Alice, who was waiting there to greet him.

Berserk Witch Sofia and a newly advanced Fate Witch followed behind her.

Her face looked even paler than the last time he had seen her, but her mental condition didn’t seem too bad.

“How are you? I heard you exhausted quite a lot of Fate power during this war. You didn’t damage your soul origin, did you?” Greem strode out of the array and held Alice by her waist.

Even though they had already consummated their relationship, Alice was still not used to Greem’s public displays of affection. Her face blushed when she felt Greem’s warm and large hand wrap around her waist. She glanced at him angrily but did not push away the hand.

“It’s been a few days since our victory and you only just came after I called for you so many times. Hmph! It seems I have no place in your heart.” Alice couldn’t help but complain.

“Don’t change the topic of conversation. Tell me, how much Fate power did you lose during this war?” Greem once again asked softly.

Alice couldn’t help but let out a sigh, “We Fate Witches do not have much combat power to speak of; all we can rely upon is the blessing of Fate. Thank the stars that we won in the end. Otherwise, I would have suffered a huge loss!”