Age of Adepts

Smoke rose from the massive crater.

A burnt and grimy claw dug into the edge of the crater as a vicious and battered dragon’s head appeared above it.

The elegance and nobility from before the fight had vanished without a trace. Toril stared at that massive metal dragon with red eyes filled with hatred and anger.

The golem dragon was quickly adjusting its posture and pointing its head toward him once again. Two towering figures still stood above its back. The odd smirk on that human adept’s face felt like daggers in Toril’s heart.

God could be the witness that Greem had no intention of mocking or making fun of a Fourth Grade dragon. However, at this moment, having been so badly beaten, Toril’s inner mentality was sensitive and fragile. Any change in expression on his enemy’s face would be perceived as an insult and humiliation directed at him.

Toril let out a silent roar and grabbed the edge of the crater with all his strength. His massive body once again lunged at the enemy as a beam of light.

If the battle earlier had consisted of kiting and harassment, then now he was putting his very life on the line!

The cannon blast from earlier had hit Toril on the left of his back, leaving a half-meter-large wound there. A short crystallizing breath had stopped the spurting blood. The growth of crystal clusters inside his wounds was agonizing, but what truly hurt Toril was the very fact that he had been injured.

He, a proper Fourth Grade amethyst dragon, leader of hundreds of other dragons, was a powerful leader in Lance. Today, he had not only failed to save his subordinates, but he had also allowed an ant-like Third Grade adept to harm his noble and perfect body.

It was an unbearable humiliation to Toril!

At this moment, Toril had forgotten all about the benefit of dragonkind or any thoughts of compromise. He had even forgotten about pain, danger, and superficial glory. For the first time ever, he fought with the enemy with all his solemnity and cruelty.

As Toril faced the situation seriously, the golem dragon’s flaws were quickly exposed.

It could not fly, and its movements were slow. These weaknesses could be somewhat concealed through proper defensive techniques and relying on a more retaliatory strategy as opposed to taking the offensive.

However, once the Fourth Grade dragon abandoned his superficial vanity and all useless performances, he became exponentially more dangerous. Again and again, Toril pushed Greem and the golem dragon toward the edge of death.

If it weren’t for his wariness of the two terrifying cannons, Toril would have leaped on top of the golem dragon’s back and started tearing into its body with his sharp fangs and claws.

It was like a giant buffalo was battling with an agile raccoon. It didn’t matter how Gonga yelled and shouted, or how the golem dragon lunged and thrashed about; they still could not even touch the amethyst dragon. Toril used his dragon breath, his tail, and his magical gemstones to attack the golem dragon as he rapidly moved about and dodged.

Greem and the elementium magical machine were controlling the giant goblin cannons and firing as fast as they could, all while trying their best to dodge the dragon breaths that Toril occasionally blew in their direction.

Meanwhile, Mary chose to circle about the perimeter of the battlefield.

She also found a chance to assault the amethyst dragon, but she only managed to cast Boiling Blood on one of his wounds before she was forced away by a massive dragon’s breath. It was unknown if her attack had any effect on the amethyst dragon, but the crystallizing breath turned half of her body into clear crystals.

If she hadn’t escaped fast enough and drank all the blood of a Second Grade dragonborn prisoner on the Mothership, the corroding crystal clusters would have turned her into a human-shaped crystal sculpture.

The frailty of a Third Grade adept before a Fourth Grade dragon was no more evident than this!

In all honesty, if it wasn’t for the golem dragon’s forcefield and the elementium magical machine’s selfless protection, Greem might not have lasted as long as Mary did.

The two parties fought against each other, tearing up the ground and sending tremors into the air. It wasn’t until they had ravaged all the land within fifteen kilometers that there was finally some sort of outcome.

After this six-hour long battle, Greem had finally obtained the fundamental attributes that he needed.

Toril. Fourth Grade Amethyst Dragon (Gem Dragon). Male.

Dragon breath is the more uncommon Crystallizing Breath. Size is relatively light compared to the average dragon. Prefers powerful magical gemstones. Possesses Light Refraction, Visual Avoidance, Attack Deflection, and other combat abilities.

Bodily Attributes: Strength 44 | Physique 42 | Agility 33 | Spirit 42.

In comparison, the golem dragon’s attributes were: Strength 48 | Physique 46 | Agility 17 | Spirit 21

The golem dragon clearly possessed a certain degree of advantage in a contest of Strength and Physique. However, it did not possess the conditions to obtain victory. Moreover, it was outclassed by the amethyst dragon in terms of speed. If it weren’t for the artillery of cannons protecting it, the golem dragon would have long since been torn to scrap by the amethyst dragon.

As such, the true key to winning this battle was whether the amethyst dragon could tear apart the magic energy cannons and the two giant cannons on the golem dragon while the barrage was restricting its movements.

Unfortunately, under the full cooperation of Greem and the magical goblins, the Fourth Grade amethyst dragon failed to break the golem dragon’s thick right limb, even after exhausting all of his stamina and consuming all of his dragon’s breath.

Toril had no choice but to give up on the fight. He resentfully took to the skies, flared his wings, and flew northwest.

Greem hesitated for a moment but gave up on his thoughts of pursuing the amethyst dragon with the Mothership.

He might have been greatly weakened, but he was still a Fourth Grade dragon.

The Mothership could not outspeed the dragon, making it very susceptible to kiting. Moreover, the Mothership’s defenses were not as impenetrable as the golem dragon’s. If the amethyst dragon found a chance to bring down the ship, then all of their efforts for the past month would have been for nothing!

After chasing away this uninvited guest, the adept expedition army reorganized themselves and returned to the Capital of Eternity.

The return of the army and the massive quantities of spoils they brought with them caused this cold city forged of steel to become a lively place once again. The limping magical machine golem dragon was immediately sent into a workshop upon returning. A large group of construction machines swarmed forward and started a comprehensive condition check and maintenance run.

The badly battered right leg became the main focus of the checks and maintenance. Many goblins and machines climbed all over the golem dragon’s body to conduct repairs. Deafening hammering could be heard everywhere, while the blinding light of welding beams lit up the area.

However, Gazlowe was upset. The magical goblin leader, Gonga, with his rough green hair, thick skin, and vicious appearance, refused to let any of the construction machines of the Capital enter the golem for maintenance.

The only tasks that the construction robots of the Capital were allowed to perform were external maintenance. All the internal checks were done solely by the magical goblins.

It made the Third Grade brain monster extremely dissatisfied.

He had observed the battle of dragons from start to end, more focused and concentrated than any person or goblin. The might of the golem dragon enticed Gazlowe immensely and made his heart ache to no end.

To think that such a powerful war machine had landed in the hands of those useless and cowardly goblins. How could they, with their crude, lowly, and uncreative minds, ever possibly unleash the true might of the golem dragon?

Gazlowe was confident that with his unstoppable mental powers, the golem dragon would be able to pin the Fourth Grade amethyst dragon to the ground and forever keep it captive.

Unfortunately, with his relationship with his human master, such a killing machine would never fall into his hands.

Gazlowe knew very well what would happen if his master gave him this golem dragon. It would be an instant rebellion.

With the Capital of Eternity as an unmoving outpost and a war machine as powerful as this golem dragon, Gazlowe could deal with the might of any dragon or dragonflight in Lance alone. If he didn’t rebel then, he would be putting his name as a Third Grade brain monster to shame!

Perhaps because of direct orders from Greem, the damned magical goblin not only refused to let any construction machine into the golem dragon, but even forbade all of the goblins from leaving the golem dragon.

That cut off any possibility of Gazlowe using his mental powers to charm or possess the goblin technicians.

Moreover, Greem did not stay for long after the checks on the golem dragon were finished. He immediately brought the army and the dragon back to the World of Adepts.

These decisive actions caught Gazlowe entirely by surprise.

He aborted some terrible thoughts of immediately rebelling, sieging the dragon, and killing all the Crimson adepts before he could even put them into action. It was a real shame.

Gazlowe had thoughts of obstructing their return to the World of Adepts, but he couldn’t help but hesitate when he reflected on the power they possessed.

At this moment, the Crimson Clan had two Third Grade adepts, two Third Grade dragons, and a shocking number of adepts at their command. Even if the two forces were to break out into a fight within the Capital of Eternity, where he had the home ground advantage and an endless magical machine army, he still had no confidence in winning the battle against the calm and composed adept.

If he failed to obtain the golem dragon during the fight and lost his Capital in the process, he would be in grave trouble. After all, the Crimson adepts could get up and leave for the World of Adepts, while he had to stay here.

The reason the Capital of Eternity had been unbroken for the past few decades was due to its steel walls and countless magical machines. If anything were to happen to the Capital, the vengeful dragons would not sit still for it to rebuild.

When that happened, Gazlowe would be facing a long and arduous life of wandering and hiding once more!