Age of Adepts

The silver Mothership Chiwa casually glided across the sky.

It was not yet afternoon, and cotton-like clouds filled the sky.

As a fierce current shot out of the bottom of the Mothership, the white clouds were shredded to pieces, leaving behind a trail of tattered clouds that stretched for several kilometers.

Only half of the setting sun remained above the forest on the horizon. The gentle and refreshing winds were soothing to the face.

The Mothership was far larger than the flying ships of the past. Just the deck alone was twice the size of a football field. However, only ten or so people were allowed to move around on it. Most of them were apprentices on board the ship, while the remainder were mercenaries and merchants heading to Doverand City for work.

A small machine that was slightly more than a meter tall spun around Little Locke like a clumsy metal golem, even occasionally using its pincer-like hand to poke at Locke. Its name was Wreck-it Wrath. It also let out a rumbling sound from its mouth. Combined with all the metal gears, axels, and levers clanging about its insides, it gave off an exceedingly boisterous impression.

One couldn’t look down on Wreck-it Wrath simply because of its shoddy appearance; tattered and with much of its insides exposed. It was the goblin magical-mechanic Locke’s most important companion in battle.

Wrath could rapidly transform during battle under Locke’s control, switching into its real combat mode. In that form, Wrath was three meters tall with wildly revolving knives and energy blades all around its body. It was not at all weak at charging the enemy lines, even when compared to the other close-ranged magical mechanics.

When needed, Wrath could also change into a long-range sniping mode, using a large magic energy ray gun and improved goblin rockets to bombard the enemy with firepower.

As such, at least seventy percent of Locke’s total combat power came from this seemingly insane and run-down machine.

A floating disc, half a meter in diameter, also silently floated above Locke.

As it was not in its combat mode right now, the blades around the floating disc had been retracted. Only a metal eyeball extended from beneath the disc, looking all around at its surroundings.

As the Mothership had been installed with a magic generator furnace and had a plentiful supply of energy, there was more than enough to sustain a transparent forcefield around the ship to keep out the cutting winds. Otherwise, ordinary humans like the mercenaries and merchants would not be able to set foot on the deck.

Ignoring the high-altitude winds, whose strength was enough to rival actual typhoons, just the heat loss caused by the air current would be enough to freeze a person over.

However, these human mercenaries and merchants could now casually walk on the deck and look down upon the forest beneath them. Such leisure and casual pleasantness could hardly be found elsewhere!

While Adept Locke put up a deck chair and a coffee table to enjoy his afternoon tea, a slender and beautiful silhouette blocked his view.

“Hi, Little Locke; you’re slacking off here again.”

Locke didn’t need to open his eyes; the sweet voice alone told him who had arrived. It was his newly made companion– Magical Archer Sandor.

It was due to Little Locke’s reckless attempts to save her that Sandor had not been injured at the hands of the ferocious magical creatures back at the battle of Doverand Basin. Consequently, Sandor had invited Little Locke to the bar after the campaign and the two had drunk until they couldn’t anymore.

Just like that, the two of them turned into friends and companions that crossed the races.

Little Locke pushed up his jade-green goggles and revealed his handsome little eyes, waving his tiny fists unamusedly as he did so.

“Stand aside, Miss Tall. You’re blocking my sunshine!”

“Tch! With how rough your skin is, there’s no use in sunbathing.”

“Leave me alone,” Little Locke turned over his body in satisfaction and let the gentle, warm sunlight evenly shower down upon his back, “Instead of taking care of your skin with some facial care along with your sisters, you came here to look for me all of a sudden. You are definitely up to no good. Tell me, what do you want to do?”

“You do know me best. Hehe…shortie, did you hear? A herd of Catoblepones appeared near Doverand City.”

“What? Catoblepones?” Little Locke immediately climbed up from the deck chair in his excitement, “Where? Where?”

The Catoblepas was a type of magical creature. They were hideous, with the head of a boar, yet the antlers of deer. Their tough skin was covered in spikes, while their stumpy yet sturdy limbs had horse hooves at the end.

Usually, an adolescent catoblepas was only a First Grade magical creature. If it weren’t for their preference for living in groups, they would hardly be considered as powerful magical creatures.

Little Locke had constantly been improving his combat magical machines recently, and the antlers of the catoblepas was a material that he urgently sought. White Tower’s goblin shops had these antlers in stock, but the price made him scratch his head. If he could hunt down a herd of catoblepones himself, he could save the thousand magical crystals he would have spent otherwise.

Little Locke immediately became impatient when he heard Sandor’s news.

“Quickly, tell me, where are those guys hiding? I’ve already hired two explorer teams, and I still haven’t managed to track any of them down. Where did you get your news? Is the source reliable?”

Sandor stretched her pretty body in the sun when faced with Little Locke’s barrage of questions. She laughed as she said, “Don’t care how I got my new. Just tell me whether you are going.”

Little Locke hesitated for a moment, “Do you have some other conditions? Tell me.”

“Naturally, those idiots are all hiding in the stinky swamps. If you want me to accompany you to that gross place, you will have to help me catch a mandrake first.”

Little Locke instantly understood, “No wonder you came to look for me. Mandrakes are highly poisonous and are skilled at manipulated vines as well as plant roots. Only a metal golem such as Wrath can deal with them. Very well, it’s a deal then!”

Sandor immediately smiled when Little Locke agreed to her proposal.

Mandrakes might be exceedingly poisonous and were filled with sticky, sap-like blood, but they were also highly valuable alchemy materials. A liquid made from mandrakes could be used as a material in scrying spells. It would go for a reasonable price if it were sold to the Fate Witches.

After settling on the conditions, Sandor lifted Little Locke and spun him around in her moment of happiness. She then kissed him on the cheek before elegantly walking away.

Two blushes immediately appeared on Locke’s green face.

The Mothership was now above Doverand Basin.

Its massive hull covered a small half of the sky, startling some vultures and a flock of white birds, sending them flying into the distance. The sound of fleeing beasts faintly came from the dark Black Forest. The nearby forest started to become restless.

The Mothership was too big to actually land. Once it slowly descended and hovered a hundred meters above Doverand Basin, a few dozen flying goblin ships with various shapes and forms took off from the deck. They landed in the basin below in puffs of steam and smoke.

Over a hundred human mercenaries and merchants sat on these ships, along with a shocking number of construction materials.

Doverand Basin had now become a massive construction site.

As many as two hundred construction machines were diligently flattening the ground and chopping down trees under the commands of the goblins. Large logs the radius of two to three humans had been piled in a small hill by a corner of the basin, while several steampunk-fashioned buildings rose from the ground.

As the overseers, the goblins had safety helmets on and were ordering the construction machines in and out of the construction site. Dust was everywhere with lots of loud noises. The entirety of Doverand Basin was bubbling with activity.

Mothership Chiwa traveled twice a day between White Tower and the soon-to-be Doverand City, transporting a large amount of construction material and daily goods. Thus, their arrival only made Doverand Basin all the more lively.

Adept Locke had just stepped off of a goblin shuttle with Wrath and Quickwit when a goblin stopped him. It was General Manager Zixil, dressed in a neat and well-pressed uniform.

“Lord Locke, if you have the time, I hope you can go to Pa Mazk’s place. It seems like he’s looking for you about some business. Also, Supervisor Zorbin of the Risk Investment Company is looking for you. He said that the mithril ingots you ordered have arrived.”

Sandor had no interest in these petty goblin matters. She poked Locke.

“It seems like you are going to be busy for a while. Remember, look for me at seven in the morning tomorrow. As for the location, you should know it.” Having said that, Magical Archer Sandor promptly left.

As they disliked how noisy the construction site was, the blood elves stationed in the basin had made their own little camp to the west, in the Black Forest. Sandor naturally went to meet up with her sisters after arriving.

In all honesty, having some clanspeople that took the same side as you was extremely convenient in a major organization. At the very least, it meant that Sandor had a much better information network compared to LIttle Locke.

After waving farewell to Sandor, Locke casually grabbed a little goblin that barely reached his chest to show him the way. With his current reputation, there were almost no goblins in the goblin faction that did not recognize him.

This little goblin was also one of the many youths that had been chosen from the Goblin Plane to study here. Adept Locke was undoubtedly his idol. Thus, the little goblin skipped and hopped, bringing Adept Locke to Pa Mazk’s goblin shop.

Locke hesitated in front of the low and narrow doors of the shop for a moment before finally setting foot inside.