Age of Adepts

World of Adepts. The territory of the Northern Witches.

Neo Valley.

The land where the origin tower of the Dark Witches was located– where the Black Mystery could be found.

Everything inside the valley was still as dark and sinister as before. All creatures and plants were engulfed by a faintly dim shadow, gray and lifeless.

Meanwhile, a heated argument was transpiring in the looming tower above.

Three black silhouettes coldly faced each other in a dark and lightless room. It seemed almost as if a fight would break out at any time.

“Circe, you might be the leader of the clan, but it does not mean that you hold all authority within it!” An unusually old and hoarse voice came from the shadow on the left. “What exactly happened to Shani? Where is the Orb of Shadows? These things…you have to give us an explanation, or us sisters of the Shadow will never obey the orders of headquarters again!”

An equally raspy voice rang out from the figure on the right as well.

“She’s right, Circe. We lost a Fourth Grade sister, just like that. You at least have to give us an explanation!”

The individual standing between the two was tall and slender, but her tone was cold and harsh.

“Elders, I was the one that gave Shani the order. I was also the one that made her participate in the mission in the Arcane Empire. Just ask me if you have any questions!”

The two aged Dark Witch elders couldn’t help but soften their tone when they saw Circe’s response.

Finally, the Shadow elder on the left spoke once again.

“You are our leader. Naturally, that means you have the right to mobilize all resources and witches in Black Mystery. However, what we want to know is how Shani could have died in Morrian Plane with her powers? Did you really send her on a simple infiltration mission?”

Circe fell silent for a moment.

“I sent Shani on this mission publicly to infiltrate the Arcane Empire, but in truth…it was to take advantage of the chaos to assassinate one of the participants of the mission.”

“Who?”

“Greem, a Fourth Grade fire adept from Zhentarim!”

The two witch elders exchanged looks and nodded in silence. It was obvious that they were not unacquainted with Greem’s name.

“Greem is only a newly advanced fire adept. Shani was already intermediate Fourth Grade. She even has the Orb of Shadows, which you handed to her. How could she have still failed her mission? Did she die at the hands of the arcanists, or did she die at the hands of Greem?”

Circe was quiet again. After a momentary pause, she spoke in a dejected tone, “Morrian Plane is completely ruined now. Even if we sent Sage Elsa to Morrian to search for the cause of Shani’s death, we wouldn’t be able to find anything.”

“Then, are we supposed to let Shani die in vain? Moreover, the loss of the Orb of Shadows is incredibly detrimental to the assimilation of Black Mystery with the Realm of Shadows. What do you intend to do?”

“Shani’s death is most certainly related to Greem. I will exact vengeance on him. The Orb of Shadows is also definitely in his hands. I will take it back when I hunt him down!” Circe coldly replied.

“With what justification? Don’t you forget, Greem is now an elder of the Zhentarim Association. It will be difficult for us to do anything to him without substantial evidence. You don’t want to start a war between the Zhentarim Association and the Dark Witches, do you?” The elder from the shadows interrupted her.

“Let’s search for evidence first then!” The other elder said. “Wasn’t there an adept from the Silver Union in their party that came back alive? We will start with him and see if we can find direct evidence of Greem killing Shani. With that evidence, we would be able to raise a proposal at the Witch Council to mobilize all of the Northern Witches’ power to kill Greem. When that happens, even the old foxes of Zhentarim Association won’t dare to stand up against the Northern Witches, will they?”

“I understand! I will arrange for someone to make contact with the Silver Union adept.” Circe thought for a moment and nodded her head in agreement.

“That said, you were too rash with your actions this time!” The witch elder couldn’t help but vent her frustrations. “To think you would send out a sister without proper knowledge of the opponent’s power, and even lose the clan’s sacred artifact in the process. If you do not retrieve the Orb of Shadows by the next clan meeting, I will personally propose to Lady Malvina that you be stripped of your status as leader!”

“Seconded! I agree with Elder Ekador. Circe, you’ve stayed in the position of clan leader for too long. It’s time for a change of leadership. Otherwise, wouldn’t the entire headquarters of Dark Witches be bent to the will of the Ankharas alone?”

As a Fourth Grade Dark Witch and leader of the Dark Witches, Circe naturally possessed the highest authority over the witches and resources of the branch.

Meanwhile, Shadow Elder Claudina was the leader of the assassination group. The adepts of the group were all elites selected from headquarters, experts at assassinations and ambushes. As the leader of Shadow, Claudina’s authority was no less than Circe’s own.

Meanwhile, Beast Elder Ekador was responsible for the creation of shadow servants. Her job was to create a powerful shadow army for the Dark Witches. Naturally, this gave her tremendous authority as well.

The dead Shani had been the Elder of Magic. She was responsible for research in shadow magic and the cultivation of new witches. As Shani had also been born into the Ankhara family and was a descendant of Circe’s family, she obeyed every order from her clan leader. It was what led to this unexpected disaster.

Meanwhile, the Lady Malvina that Elder Ekador had mentioned was a Sixth Grade Dark Witch. As she usually stayed somewhere in space, she could only manage the affairs of the Dark Witches remotely through a clan meeting held every hundred years.

Circe’s face turned dark when she heard the naked threats of the two elders. However, there was nothing she could do about it.

As all of them were Fourth Grades, she did not have that much authority over them, even as the leader of the clan and the Dark Witches. The death of a Fourth Grade witch could be a major or minor event depending on how you spun it. Still, Circe would not be too affected by this incident, even if it was raised during the clan meeting.

However, the Orb of Shadows was different!

The Fifth Grade Orb of Shadows was a sacred artifact personally handed down by the Great Witch of the clan. It was irreplaceably important to the Dark Witches. Should the orb be lost by her hands, Circe would no longer be able to maintain her status as a clan leader, no matter how much Lady Malvina favored her.

The next clan meeting would be held in seven years. Circe only had seven years left to deal with this troublesome affair!

“I understand what I have to do. Don’t worry. All the problems will be solved before the meeting!”

Having said that, Circe turned into black mist and merged into the shadows, vanishing from the room without a trace.

The two witch elders looked at each other and sighed before leaving as well.

…………

The World of Adepts. The east coast of the continent.

It was where the great Adept’s Association could be found. It was the ideal land for tens of thousands of adepts.

There was a forest of adept towers here, along with wealthy and vast adept kingdoms, plenty of adepts, and an innumerable amount of adept resources.

Compared to the other organizations, the Adept’s Association could be considered the only true adept’s organization in the World of Adepts. The Silver Union was more like a federation of esoteric adepts and mechanical adepts with a talent for business. The Northern Witches were more of a witch organization with the legacy of an ancient bloodline, unwelcoming to other adepts.

The Zhentarim Association, on the other hand, was too loose to be an effective organization. They had no actual authority over their high-grade adepts. It could barely be considered a second-rate organization and was not at the level of the three major organizations.

The most famous landmarks of the Adept’s Association were their Seven-Ring Towers.

Seven top-tier towers constructed according to a mysterious array, connected through numerous altars and smaller buildings to form an unusually large system of arrays.

With the towers serving as nodes in the array and the vast land between them as the base, it was a colossal project of unbelievable proportions. Only the Great Adepts, with their unbound worldview, broad strokes, and destructive power could achieve such a feat.

At the moment, an unfamiliar hearing was underway in a hall in one of those Seven-Ring Towers.

Speaker Lawyes sat behind an old redwood roundtable. He listened to an adept report on the investigation of Adept Mangus’ death, all while asking questions on details that interested him in a calm and composed voice.

Speaker Lawyes was a Fourth Grade adept as well. His face was covered in wrinkles, and his hair was white. The black-framed glasses he wore above his nose gave him the flair of elegance, wisdom, and knowledge that all high-grade adepts possessed.

On the other end of the hall sitting behind tall wooden grates were a few dozen nervous adepts waiting for the Speaker’s final decision.

“You mean to say that Adept Mangus is dead beyond doubt, with not even a single shard of his soul being recoverable?” Speaker Lawyes slowly asked of the Third Grade adept sent out on the investigation.

“Yes, your honor.”

“How, exactly, did he die?”

“I have personally visited some of the adepts who returned with Lord Mangus. According to them, Lord Mangus was perfectly normal prior to the return from Morrian Plane. However, he suddenly went insane during the teleportation and seemed to attempt to kill one of their companions through self-destruction. More than three Fourth Grade adepts have verified this.”

“Who was it that he attempted to kill?”

“A newly advanced adept named Greem. He belongs to the Zhentarim Association and was assigned to the same party as Lord Mangus.”

“Was there a grudge between them?”

“According to our investigations, no! Moreover, judging from the information that we have, Lord Mangus seemed to have signed an oath contract with all his companions. If there were a grudge between the two of them, they would not have made a contract like that.” The Third Grade adept had clearly fulfilled his duty. The information he had gathered was comprehensive, detailed, and irrefutable.