Age of Adepts

This Dark Witch clearly had hostile intentions towards him!

Moreover, if Greem wasn’t wrong, her main objective in participating in this mission was none other than to kill him.

Greem had only been suspicious of this possibility initially, but his opinion had changed after the last battle. Even though the Dark Witch had not shown herself during the battle at all, Greem had distinctly picked up on her restrained, but intense, killing intent.

Perhaps even Dark Witch Shani would never know that the reason Greem had placed himself in the danger of battle was to tease out and gauge her true intentions.

In that one instant where Greem was in danger, her unconcealable and overwhelming killing intent was like a volcano in the dead of night. No one could ignore it even if they wanted to.

Thus, Greem didn’t mind taking a little detour.

He brought the party to Maple Forest Town with the intent of using the rural and remote geography to deal with some private matters!

At the thought of this, Greem lightly pushed away his dinner tray. He smiled as he said, “I’m finished with dinner. Gentlemen, take your time! I want to go and take a rest.”

Cherisha smiled.

“Should I lend you these two servants of mine for a night? They might not have much in the way of magical talent, but they are still decently pretty!”

As she spoke, the twin noble sisters walked to Greem’s side and simultaneously smiled sweetly at him.

However, their eyes were shut tight even when they smiled, making for an uncannily uncomfortable sight.

Greem shook his head lightly and said as he left, “I hate toys.”

Cherisha let out a sigh and said with a helpless tone to herself, “You’re right. These toys might look nice, but they are so fragile, like bubbles in the wind…cough. Speaking of which, Sir Holly, are you interested in taking one of them with you?”

Adept Holly frowned and replied meanly, “Cherisha, stop with your boring antics. Everyone knows these people have already become your puppets. Bringing them into our rooms is basically having you…hmph! Don’t bother me. We are just business acquaintances. No one would want to be associated with a monster like you if we were not in this plane!”

Adept Holly also furiously pushed aside his dinner tray and went to the second floor to look for a room to rest.

Cherisha was the only one left in the dining room once everyone had left. It was then that a sinister and vicious expression appeared on her face. She mumbled to herself as she furiously sliced at the lamb ribs in front of her. Judging from her expression, she was treating the food as someone she hated and despised.

A dozen servants worked busily in the kitchen, the living room, and the dining room, sending a steady stream of food to the table and serving her devotedly as if she was an emperor.

However, it didn’t matter how hard they worked or how busy they were; their shut eyes never opened once!

Upon reaching the second floor, two corridors stretched out in front of Greem, one to the left and one to the right.

The corridor to the left was dark and lightless, while the corridor to the right was brightly lit, with every corner clearly illuminated.

Greem could tell that Dark Witch Shani had gone to the second room to the left by tracing the nearly imperceptible energy aura in the air. She was also the one that put out the candles in the left corridor. Obviously, she didn’t like being disturbed by whoever came after her.

Greem turned to the left without any hesitation. He went to the room on the other side of the second room, lightly pushed open the door, and entered.

This place was the house of a small noble down in a rural area. The decorations and furniture of the house couldn’t be all that classy.

Simple tables, a luxurious bed, and furniture of vulgar tastes befitting that of the upstart rich.

Greem strode into the room, took a look around him, and lay down on the bed. He shut his eyes and went to rest.

The night winds were particularly strong due to the town’s proximity to the mountains.

The gale screeched in the night, tearing apart the mist and causing it to shroud the town in a veil of white. The whole place appeared all the more silent and desolate.

The residents of the town would not typically have gone to sleep so early in the past, which would have filled the place with a bit of more life.

However, today, the entire town had fallen into darkness, apart from a small two-story house. Warmth and life could hardly be felt in the town, striking fear into the hearts of any who might wander across it at this time.

Meanwhile, a dark cluster of shadow levitated in the center of a wooden house at the edge of the town. The shadow was slowly growing in size.

When the shadow first appeared, it was only the size of a thumb. However, as time passed, the shadow started to grow larger as well. It then caved inwards, forming a strange shadow portal that was two meters in diameter.

Upon seeing the strange vortex spinning counter-clockwise in the shadow, and the oppressive aura of darkness seeping out from the depths of the portal, one couldn’t help but wonder what terrifying place the entrance would lead toward!

As the aura of darkness grew heavier in the wooden house, the place started to appear darker and murkier.

Finally, as the shadows gathered together, a panther-like creature formed out of thin air.

The creature had smooth skin and felt almost unreal. Traces of black mist continued to dissipate where the creature’s body touched the air. It was as if this creature of darkness was formed of immaterial shadows to begin with.

All of a sudden, two dark red lights glowed in the creature’s eyes, causing the light in the wooden house to dim even further.

Shadow Panther. It was a typical shadow creature. They usually existed only in the Shadow World, and it was hard to see them in a planar world.

Their power was only at the level of beginner Second Grade, but their strange and unexpected ability to travel between shadows made them a formidable foe. Even advanced Second Grade adepts did not wish to face them in battle.

Even more terrifying was the fact that these shadow panthers lived in packs!

The shadow portal did not stop after the first panther appeared. Instead, it continued to spew dense dark energy. Soon, the second shadow panther formed, then the third and the fourth.

The wooden house wasn’t big at all. In fact, it was somewhat cramped for these shadow panthers that were each individually the size of a tiger.

When the later shadow panthers materialized, conflicts started to break out amongst themselves. A few of the panthers started growling and intimidating each other. Fortunately, they also knew their place. They all tried their best to restrain their power, not letting the shadow aura spread anywhere out of the house.

When ten panthers appeared, the spinning of the portal started to slow. The vortex trembled slightly and spat out a humanoid shadow creature.

A panic broke out within the panther pack when the humanoid shadow creature appeared.

The shadow panthers could no longer care for personal space. They squeezed together and made enough space for the humanoid creature.

No eyes or features could be seen on the humanoid shadow creature’s face. It was only black. When the creature stood in the house, the shadow substance in the air around him bubbled like boiling water and soon formed a strange armor as shiny and solid as black diamond.

Unlike the shadow panthers, whose bodies were somewhere between immateriality and materiality, the humanoid appeared to be fully solid. In fact, his body was tougher than most steel that could be found in a material plane.

More importantly, when this humanoid shadow creature opened his eyes, it wasn’t the light of chaos and confusion, but the light of intelligence and brilliance.

It was a light that only intelligent creatures possessed!

The humanoid shadow creature strode to the simple wooden window the moment he materialized. He stared through the narrow window at the brightly lit building in the darkness.

His target was there, but his master’s orders were to remain in hiding.

This humanoid shadow creature grabbed his long, thin blade out of the shadows and plunged it into the ground. He started to wait in silence.

The energy aura he radiated was Third Grade now!

Maple Town Forest was silent and brooding in the darkness.

However, over a hundred other shadow portals similar to this one were opening in countless hidden places across town. Moreover, the entrances were still operating, sending over a shadow army of shocking proportions from the Shadow World.

The weakest of these shadow creatures were still Second Grade. They all cautiously and carefully went into hiding all across town, quietly waiting for their master’s orders. As time passed, the Third Grade elites in the shadow army started to grow in number.

In fact, fearsome spirit shadows of Fourth Grade even appeared from one or two of these portals.

These spirit shadows were once tragic undead creatures. However, after ending up in the Shadow World for some reason, they were forcefully modified by the nearly solid shadow substance and turned into these unusual creatures that were half-undead, half-shadow.

The town at night was still as silent as before.

However, an impending storm of death was hidden beneath this silence!

Countless shadowy eyes peeked in and out of the darkness as a terrifying killing intent filled the town. It was almost as if the village itself had been moved into the Shadow World. Not only did moonlight not shine down from above, but the only lights in town turned dark and dim, like will-o-wisps from a dead man’s body.

Not only did they give off no warmth at all, they even caused one to feel a chill from their very bones!

Adept Holly stepped on the creaking stairs and arrived on the second floor. He looked at the two paths before him and shook his head with a bitter smile. Finally, he walked to the right, found the closest room, and shut the door firmly behind him.

“Dammit! This is the bad thing about going out on errands. It’s hard just to find a place to sleep in peace. Hmph! I don’t care who you are. You can do as you please, but if you disturb me, I won’t hold back!”

Holly shouted at the roof before throwing himself into bed.

Cherisha, who was still enjoying her feast in the dining hall, suddenly shivered. She felt a mysterious chill throughout her body.

“Hurry, hurry, hurry…why do you have to be in such a hurry? Can’t I just eat in peace!”

Cherisha mumbled through her mouth full of food as she waved a hand and put out the candle on the table.

As the last light in town vanished into the darkness, the whole land came to life.