Age of Adepts

The Forest of Darkness.

Compared to the World of Adepts, the Zambez Empire’s excavation of the plane’s resources was still at a primitive stage. Most of the plane’s remaineed unexcavated as forests and lands. The range of human activity was still significantly limited by the many dangerous creatures in the wild.

The Forest of Darkness on the western border of the Empire was one such area.

There were many primal creatures and terrifying magical beasts inside the forest. They gathered there, breeding and living, forming a unique outland world that rejected the very existence of humans. It was a harsh problem that most plane worlds had to deal with.

Natural selection, where only the strong may live!

The powerful magical creatures had become the actual rulers of most regions in the plane with their powerful physiques and ferocious fighting styles. They fought for themselves, their families, or their tribes, ruling over the most resource-rich regions of the continent.

Compared to them, an intelligent species like humans had almost no means of competing.

Humans had no powerful physical prowess, natural magical talent, or sharp claws and fangs at birth. It forced humans to gather in groups, trying their best to survive in the gaps between the primal beasts and barbaric magical creatures.

If it weren’t for humanity’s excellent ability to learn, create, and study from the magical creatures to obtain strange and powerful skills to pass onto the next generation, humans would have absolutely no chance of being the rulers of their planes!

The first adepts of the World of Adepts had obtained their mysterious powers through the imitation of the natural magical patterns on the bodies of powerful magical creatures. Then, after tens of thousands of years of constant accumulation, perfection, and enhancement, they had finally created an effective system of cultivating adepts.

It was through the adepts that stood out within humanity that people managed to stand victorious above the magical creatures in the World of Adepts, becoming the ruling species of the plane. However, as the adept grew stronger with each passing day, they gradually became a new ‘race’ that was entirely distinct from ordinary humans!

The path of development for most planes followed a similar trajectory!

Henvic Plane was clearly on a similar path as well, but the power system its people had discovered was one similar to that of deity worship– a belief in the Holy Light.

Most humans of Henvic believed in the Holy Light, pushing a non-living, unconscious, natural phenomenon onto the pedestal of divinity. Belief was a form of power as well!

It was the persistent belief of millions of life forms in Henvic that allowed the Holy Light to become an incomparably powerful force. At the very least, such power had become ingrained within Henvic’s planar laws, becoming an important pillar that supported the continued development of the planar consciousness.

With the backing of the planar consciousness itself, the Holy Light could reciprocate its faith, pushing its most devout believers to the peak of power within the plane.

As long as Henvic Plane continued down its current path, Fourth Grade Holy Knights would continue to be rise over thousands and thousands of years. One of them would eventually break through the limits of the plane, advancing to Fifth Grade and making history there.

At the moment that knight advanced to Fifth Grade, he would naturally become the first powerful god of Henvic, with the Holy Light as his source of strength. When that happened, Henvic would finally have the foundation it needed to establish itself in the multiverse and start expanding outwards into other worlds!

Unfortunately, the Deceit Witches had discovered Henvic Plane before it could give birth to a guardian deity of its own. The Witches broke in and established a tower at Dabyrie Highlands.

From that moment onwards, Henvic had been placed on a countdown timer toward its inevitable enslavement!

If Holy Knight Ad Carrhae had not placed his life on the line to destroy the interplanar teleportation array within the witch’s tower, the Deceit Witches would have been able to swallow the plane whole within a maximum of four or five decades. Henvic would then have become a lesser plane ruled over by the Deceit Witches.

Now, with the change in circumstances, the holy knights seemed to have regained an advantage. They now had the chance to defeat all the Deceit Witches in a single assault and expel the evil forces out of Henvic Plane.

That was why the local Holy Light Chapel had immediately mobilized all members for an extermination when they spotted signs of witch activity in the west. They had successfully trapped the witch inside the Forest of Darkness.

However, the witch’s magical ability was far too strong. She could transform herself into any form, thereby obtaining the trust of an unsuspecting individual and turning them into her guardian.

A Second Grade Silver Knight was caught unaware in this manner and tempted to betray the Holy Light. In doing so, he became a Dark Knight. The witch successfully escaped into the Forest of Darkness under the protection of this Dark Knight, and there she hid from the pursuit of the holy knights.

As time passed, two Third Grade Gold Knights and twenty-one Silver Knights had gathered in the army of holy knights surrounding the Forest of Darkness. Yet, the target of their pursuit was only an ordinary Second Grade witch.

…………

Devon carefully searched as he walked through the dark and damp forest.

He had taken off his heavy metal armor to make it easier to move and fight in this environment. He was only wearing silver chainmail on his body, with a thick cloak wrapped around him. The longsword he was used to using had also been swapped for a rapier. He also carried a round and polished steel shield. That was all his equipment.

The Forest of Darkness lived up to its name. A massive canopy covered the skies and obscured most of the light cast down from above, causing the woods to be a dark and lightless place. The forest was just as dark in the day, and the sun could hardly be seen.

All sorts of terrifying magical plants lived in such a dark place.

They were mixed in with the other ordinary green plants. Anyone who wasn’t a scholar or an experienced hunter would have difficulty recognizing them. Ordinary people would be dragged into living bramble bushes by berserk vines if they got close to these plants without any preparations. They would then be stabbed by sharp branches and stakes before their blood was absorbed and their flesh eaten.

To avoid alerting the enemy, the Second Grade Silver Knight Decon did not enhance himself with any holy light protections. He simply relied on his sensitive reactions and fast slashes to deal with any magical plants that tried to strike at him.

The Holy Light of the knights excelled at enhancement, healing, and purification, but not searching and tracking. Decon had to rely more on his swordsmanship more than his eye-catching holy light magic in this Forest of Darkness.

The forest was very silent.

Magical creatures and beasts that lived in this forest had learned to stay silent when they were not yet the most powerful beings that lived here. They would hunt, feast, mate, and rest in silence, remaining as quiet as they could up until the last moments of their death.

Noise would attract enemies, as would the brilliant holy light.

The last few holy knight squads that had entered the forest to search for the witch had many men and were even led by high-grade knights. However, they had all suffered heavy casualties due to their brazen manner of action. The beasts and magical creatures that hid in the Forest of Darkness seemed to hold tremendous contempt for outsiders. They were easily drawn to noise and light, where they would strike at the holy knights from the shadows.

In the end, the holy knights were just a group of human warriors that had been enhanced by the Holy Light.

With their enhanced Strength and Physique, they could easily crush magical creatures of the same grade while fighting on level ground. However, here in the Forest of Darkness, where it was hard to see clearly, the combat prowess of the holy knights was significantly weakened.

The long marches, rivers, and streams made it impossible for them to wear bulky metal armor. As such, they had no way of protecting themselves from sudden acid attacks that came from magical vines and plants. The bushes and brambles that grew everywhere made it difficult for them to swing the longswords they were so used to wielding. Yet, the rapiers and shortswords they had swapped for their weapons had trouble slicing through the necks of powerful magical creatures.

The few knight squads that made it deep into the Forest of Darkness all returned in failure. Many Iron Knights had died in the process.

The two Gold Knights had no choice but to scatter the Silver Knights into the forest and have them carefully search for the location of the evil witch and the traitor knight. They were to send a message back to the camp as soon as they discovered their tracks. The two Gold Knights would then be able to rush straight for the enemy and end this hunt with the smallest number of casualties possible.

Nightfall.

As the sunlight faded, the Forest of Darkness became even more mysterious and scary.

Devon silently wandered in the depths of the forest, his feet stepping upon the moist and sticky dirt.

He took immense care in where he stepped for every movement he made. It was either exposed dirt or rotting piles of leaves, but never where the thorns and branches were the densest.

It was possible that such places were traps that had been disguised by the magical plans. Furthermore, stepping on dry branches could easily create unnecessary sound and draw the attention of the creatures in the darkness.

Apart from his feet, Devon also had to keep a constant eye out for the green vines hanging down from the trees above. Many of them were bloodsucking vines in disguise. All sorts of poisonous snakes and insects also liked to crouch against the vines where they could silently fall onto an unsuspecting victim when they walked past.

Devon advanced carefully, quickly waving the rapier in his hand.

The bloodsucking vines in his way were all cut to pieces by his rapid slashes, and purple-black liquid scattered everywhere. Snakes and serpents with severed heads fell to the ground, their bodies twitching violently and making a mess out of the leaves.

However, Devon suddenly stopped moving. He lifted his nose and sniffed the air.

The faint scent of a woman was mixed into the damp, heavy, and rotting air, along with the strange sound of flowing water.

Devon narrowed his eyes, held his breath, and followed after the smell.