Age of Adepts

A wide stretch of earth spikes rose from the ground, quickly covering the entire area where the three Fourth Ring arcanists stood.

The long, tragic scream of an arcanist could be heard within all the dust and smoke.

When it all settled, only two arcanists remained untouched around the ravaged spell pool. A thick earth spike had pierced through the body of the other arcanist, leaving him hanging limply in the air.

The radiance of arcane shields shimmered around the two other adepts. Their shields had just withstood a tremendous beating from the ferocious attack from earlier and were, consequently, dimmer. It almost felt like they were on the verge of breaking.

The Fourth Ring arcanist hanging on the earth spike did not have a very trained and refined body. His Physique was speechlessly low. That was why he was already on the brink of death before his companions could save him.

It was the consequence of arcanists focusing too much on the accumulation of arcane knowledge while ignoring their Physique.

If it were adepts in their place, they would never be so easily killed by Illhoof, even if they were only Third Grade.

The earth nearby shimmered, and Illhoof emerged from the ground as if it was water. Large patches of scorch marks could be seen on his dark scales, seemingly as if he had just walked out of a terrifying energy explosion.

The two remaining adepts immediately understood what had happened when they saw Illhoof’s condition and the manner in which he appeared.

“You…you destroyed the underground energy core.”

They yelled furiously and waved the arcane staffs in their hands before pointing them at Illhoof.

Strangely enough, nothing happened apart from a coincidental breeze of cold air.

No energy beams, no energy bolts, nor even a trace of arcane energy appeared.

The faces of the two Fourth Ring arcanists soured again. It was then that they remembered that the explosion of the energy core had also caused the spell pool to become defunct.

The arcanists had been far too used to relying on arcane facilities in battle over the thousands of years.

If they ran out of arcane energy, they could draw from the energy pool. If they ran out of spells, they could draw from the spell pool.

It didn’t matter who the enemy was. As long as the arcanists still had functioning arcane facilities supporting them from behind, they would be able to torture the enemy to death with an endless barrage of spells.

However, now that their spell pools and energy pools had been destroyed, these arcanists were at a loss!

While the two arcanists hesitated, Illhoof’s figure flickered and appeared beside one of them.

Dirt-yellow mist ate through the arcane shield, and a Petrification Beam hit the arcanist. Illhoof then quickly backed off, dodging the arcanist’s desperate torrent of arcane spells.

The arcanist was still roaring in anger, waving his staff and trying to chase after Illhoof.

Unfortunately, as the powers of petrification spread through his body, he was paralyzed and turned into a human statue in less than three seconds.

That was also the consequence of the arcanist’s frail Physique.

If he had slightly higher Physique and slightly higher magic resistance, he could have delayed the petrification power and bought some time for him to escape and save himself.

But now……

The last remaining Fourth Ring arcanist had lost his confidence against such a stealthy Scourge Lord. If the energy core were untouched, he would be supported by an endless amount of arcane energy and spells, as well as a powerful personal barrier. He would not be afraid of facing off against an enemy of the same grade.

Unfortunately, there was no if in this world.

After losing the external support of the arcane facilities, the arcanist’s lack of combat techniques, Physique, and combat will were all exposed, one by one.

The vicious Illhoof tore the body of the arcanist off the earth spike and started tearing into the flesh, bite by bite. He then pulled out a ghostly blue soul from within the corpse with a strong sniff and inhaled it as if it were a drug. He let out an unusual sigh of satisfaction.

Those who died at Illhoof’s hands would not just become his food. Even their souls would not find resting peace.

At the sight of this, the will of the final arcanist quickly collapsed.

He took out a bunch of strange arcane tools and threw them towards Illhoof. It was then that he started to chant the words for his teleportation spell with a shaky, crying voice.

Without the support of the spell pool, all of the instant cast spells once available to him were no longer usable. He had to rely on his own power to cast spells now. A portal that would have taken him a wave of his hand to open now took him seven entire seconds to finishing conjuring.

However, Illhoof already thought of the arcanist as a sumptuous meal on his plate. He would never let the arcanist escape like this.

He stood up tall, and his hideous mouthpieces began to vibrate rapidly in the direction of the portal. A strange spatial rippling spread out the portal, and the black, mirror-like opening started shaking uncontrollably.

The arcanist was shocked and hastily invested even more of his Spirit into the portal. He barely managed to stop it from being dispelled.

Meanwhile, all sorts of things were springing up from the pile of arcane tools he had thrown at Illhoof. Ornate silver statues that could transform into arcane golems, arcane scrolls that unleashed their power in a flash of silver light, strange fruits that quickly turned into mental shockwaves……

Either way, this pile of assorted arcane tools successfully delayed Illhoof for three seconds. The arcanist himself was fortunate enough to escape and return to an arcane tower elsewhere.

Illhoof felt much more invigorated after killing two Fourth Ring arcanists and devouring their flesh and souls. He even recovered slightly from the intense energy shock he had suffered earlier.

Thus, under his orders, a vast horde of mutated beasts charged past the tattered spell pool and lunged at the arcane palace beyond it.

He could sense the aura of the Fifth Ring Great Arcanist there!

…………

After secretly watching Illhoof’s battle with the arcanists from aside, Greem was disturbed and concerned.

When it came to Physique and combat ability alone, Illhoof was far superior to him.

Defeating an opponent like this was nearly impossible, even if he were to use all of his abilities. On the contrary, he risked a 39% chance of dying in battle.

However, if Greem were intent on escaping, Illhoof would have difficulty stopping him.

The information that the Chip had collected from the aftershocks of the battle appeared to be so concerningly high.

[Illhoof. Minor Scourge Lord.

Advanced Fourth Grade. Earth attribute affinity.

Bodily Attributes: Strength 31 | Physique 46 | Agility 36 | Spirit 42.

Skills: All intermediate and advanced earth spells. Earth Mist Corrosion (Fourth Grade), Petrification Beam (Fourth Grade), Halo of Gravity (Fourth Grade).

[Arcanist.

Fourth Ring. Affinity unknown.

Bodily Attributes: Strength 8 | Physique 14 | Agility 6 | Spirit 42.

Basic Abilities: Arcane Mastery, Golem Creation, Arcane Affinity.]

The difference in fundamental attributes was like heaven and earth.

With such a difference in attributes, it was not a surprise that the arcanists were as frail as paper in front of Illhoof, having lost the support of their arcane facilities.

Greem disapproved of alternative spellcasters who relied excessively on the use of external items, like the arcanists.

As spellcasters, magic research and experimentation were necessary. However, one could not give up the refinement of the physical body and the training of battle consciousness solely for the sake of research.

All adepts in the World of Adepts had to place the improvement of their combat power as their first and highest priority. It was only when they were powerful enough to guarantee their safety that they would divert some of their attention and resources to research that interested them. After all, what was the point of researching if you were dead?

That was why it was often said that these arcanists of Morrian Plane were far more thorough in their belief of pursuing the ultimate truth when compared to the adepts. Sadly, while they were exceptional at research, they were terrible at protecting themselves. That was why not a single champion powerful enough to save the Arcane Empire could be found in such a moment of crisis.

Greem could only express his deepest sympathy for their fate.

After all, the multiverse was a violent world of conflicts. Trying to crush the enemy by steadily scaling the technological tree and obtaining overwhelming technical prowess might be a good idea, but it was not viable or practical in the least!

They were unlike the adepts, who held practicality above idealism, and individual might above collective good. The adepts had concentrated the vast majority of resources in the hands of very few adepts. In doing so, they had managed to create several extremely powerful entities that terrified their enemies. It was the only way to keep their enemies’ thoughts of invasion in check, providing their own faction and successors with the opportunity to grow and develop.

The reason the World of Adepts could remain standing in this universe filled with powerful races had everything to do with their three Ninth Grade Great Adepts!

Sadly, the Arcane Empire’s Arcane Emperors had only reached Eighth Grade.

It was not enough power to scare away their cruel and greedy enemies!

Greem slowly stepped forward. He jumped into the ruined spell pool and had the Chip scan all of the strange runes carved on the walls. After confirming that he had not left anything behind, he emerged from the pool. He took a look at the arcane palace in the distance before turning and walking in a different direction.

There were far too many places worth visiting in the floating city. There was no need for him to go to the same site as Illhoof. If he wasn’t wrong, Illhoof was heading for the Fifth Ring Great Arcanist.

Even though they had agreed on the distribution of spoils after killing the Fifth Ring arcanist, such an agreement was ridiculous to begin with.

If the three adepts really helped Illhoof defeat the Fifth Ring Great Arcanist, what came next would not be the splitting of spoils, but the start of a new battle.

After all, no one liked to spit out meat they had already put in their mouth!