Age of Adepts

“What was the conclusion of your investigation then? Was it something that Mangus brought on himself, or was he the victim of unexpected malicious intent?” Speaker Lawyes pushed his glasses upwards and frowned as he asked.

The adepts listening in the seats could no longer sit still when they heard the Speaker’s words. They stood up and protested, “Our Lord Mangus was most certainly an innocent victim. Sir Speaker, there must be justice for him!”

Speaker Lawyes’ face turned dark when he looked at the chaotic commotion from the audience. He exhaled loudly from his nose, and an overwhelming aura of might pressed down from above.

“I hope no one interrupts me again during the investigation trial! If anyone is unable to stay silent, I will personally escort them out of the room. Hmph.”

The adepts from the same clan as Mangus and Cherisha sat down quietly when they felt the terrifying aura of the Fourth Grade Speaker. They suppressed their emotions and patiently listened to the rest of the trial.

The Third Grade adept sent by the Association on the investigation gulped and spoke up with some difficulty, “We have no means of obtaining any information on the things that happened in Morrian Plane. We are currently requesting permission from the leaders of the Association to conduct a direct investigation on Adept Greem. However, given his status as a Zhentarim Association Elder, we cannot easily approach him without direct evidence.”

“What about circumstantial evidence, then?”

“About that…we do seem to have some circumstantial evidence!” The Third Grade adept stuttered a little as he replied.

“What is it?” The Fourth Grade Speaker pursued the issue.

“Seventh Grade Great Adept Lord Erlendwald, who’s responsible for the Arcane Empire mission, was also present at the time of the crime. Judging from his manner of speech, it seemed as if he knew who the mastermind behind Lord Mangus’ death was. However, at our level, we can’t really……”

Seventh Grade Great Adept.

Even if Lord Erlendwald did know anything, there would probably be no one in the Adept’s Association who would dare to approach him with their questions! No wonder the Third Grade adept in charge of the investigation was so hesitant when speaking.

“Alright, I have a basic understanding of everything that transpired.” Having said that, Speaker Lawyes lifted his head and looked at the adepts from Mangus’ clan. They looked anxious and impatient, but Lawyes coldly said. “With regards to your plan for revenge, this Speaker will now officially issue a rejection. I will continue to report on this case to the higher-ups of the Association and have them send adepts of higher grades to contact the two survivors of the victim’s party. Before this, this Speaker will not come to a conclusion on the cause of Adept Mangus’ death.”

These adepts could only dejectedly accept reality as Speaker Lawyes glanced down at them with his cold and authoritative stare.

“Very well, you may all leave now! The next case on trial is Adept Hannah’s death by curse. The defendant and investigators may enter now!”

The adepts walked out in an orderly fashion, and a new group of adepts walked in. A different story had begun in the adjudication hall.

…………

Fire Throne.

Once the Crimson adepts had left the tower, it was once again a world shared only by Greem, Alice, and Mary.

Alice still had the same casual smile on her face, but the anxiety in her eyes betrayed her concern.

“Your soul origin…how is it? Is the injury serious?”

Mary fell silent and looked upon Greem with eyes of concern as well.

Greem had already completed the elementiumization of his body and Spirit. Any damage should theoretically be recoverable through the replenishment or replacement of elementium energy. Severe, lasting injuries should no longer occur to his person. If they did happen, it could only mean that the damage had already reached his soul origin. The symptoms of injury he displayed were only a projection of the damage to his soul consciousness!

Injuries of this type were tough to heal.

“My soul origin was damaged by the self-destruction from that Adept’s Association guy. It will probably require a long rest for it to recover.” After a simple explanation of his injury, Greem curiously asked of Alice, “Rather than my injury, I’m more interested in how Great Witch Maysa was able to control that adept! Could it be…is Great Witch Maysa capable of possessing any Fourth Grade adept she wishes?”

Horror and fear appeared on Mary’s face as well.

Compared to adepts living inside a plane, Great Adepts could already be considered a completely different and highly unusual species. Due to extreme mutations or modifications, Great Adepts were starkly different from ordinary adepts, be it in terms of appearance, bloodline, or the nature of their souls.

That was why even someone as fearless as Mary couldn’t help but respect and revere the Great Adepts!

A Great Witch who could freely manipulate the life and death of a Fourth Grade adept. That was an absolutely terrifying thought.

“You overestimate Maysa’s powers!” Alice chuckled. “She’s not that powerful that she would be able to control a Fourth Grade adept from an entirely different plane. The reason she could control that adept and make him self-destruct was because of the Seed of Fate she planted hundreds of years ago.”

“Seed of Fate? Hundreds of years ago?” Greem shouted in disbelief.

“A Fate Witch is an extremely unique adept profession. We abandon all our offensive and defensive magic, concentrating all our power solely on divination and sensing Fate’s flow. However, this does not mean that Fate Witches have no offensive capabilities. Rather, our means of attack is simply too strange and unbelievable!

“Our most common means of offense is to manipulate Fate and use its power to destroy our enemies.

“The method they use to manipulate Fate is to plant Seeds of Fate with their soul brand in key characters who will affect critical turning points in the flow of the river.”

“This means that Great Witch Maysa had already planted a Seed of Fate branded with a weak soul consciousness in Mangus’ mind while he was still a mere mortal. However, the Seed of Fate did not devour his soul consciousness as he grew and instead simply lay dormant in the depths of his soul.

“When Maysa deems it necessary, she can activate the Seed at any time and temporarily take control of everything at the Fate node. However, the more powerful the Fate node, the weaker her control and the shorter the time she can do anything. That is why she chose self-destruction, a process that cannot be stopped or reversed once begun!”

“Planting her soul consciousness as a seed in another person. Can the victim never realize that there’s such a seed in themselves?” Mary asked in shock.

“If the Seed of Fate is activated, it would naturally be detected by the adept it is a parasite to. However, Maysa is powerful precisely because she can keep the Seed of Fate sealed and dormant throughout. Without any activity from the seed, the host will not even realize its presence! It is only at the moment of activation that the Seed of Fate will erupt with its full power and take complete control of the host.” Alice couldn’t help but sigh.

“You mean, this dormant Seed of Fate cannot be detected by any means. Even you cannot detect its presence. Every single person around us could suddenly become our enemy at a terrifying and vital moment?” Greem asked, gritting his teeth in anger as he did so.

It was no wonder he was so furious. He had invested quite a lot of resources and effort into Mangus and Cherisha during the mission in the Arcane Empire. He had been hoping to find a perfect window into the Adept’s Association through his acquaintance with them. It would have allowed him to make connections with a major adept organization.

And this was what he got in return! Constantly protecting them, helping them survive multiple crises, and all he got in return was a terrifying explosion!

If it weren’t for his power that allowed him to survive that explosion, things would have turned out very differently.

“The Seed of Fate is not entirely undetectable. It only requires the victim to completely let down all of their mental defenses for an examination. Do you think I have the time and authority to make everyone around us lower their mental defenses for an investigation?” Alice couldn’t help but put on a bitter smile.

“So, we have no ability to defend against Maysa’s attacks at all? I mean, we can’t always be on guard against everybody around us with everything we do from now on, can we?” Greem’s expression was solemn.

“Don’t worry!” Alice consoled him. “Such a technique is a great strain even on a Great Witch. If the power of the Fate node in which the seed is planted is too weak, it will not be able to threaten us at all. On the other hand, if it is planted in an incredibly powerful adept, the chances of her being discovered are fairly high as well. The Adept Mangus who attacked you must have been a pseudo-Fourth Grade that had not perfectly completed his advancement. Otherwise, the Seed of Fate would not have been able to achieve that level of control over him.”

Greem relaxed slightly after listening to Alice’s explanation.

“Alright, alright, let’s stop talking about such depressing things. Speaking of which, Greem, you didn’t only just get those scattered bits and pieces of trash on your journey this time, did you?” Mary couldn’t help but become excited at the mention of treasure. Curiosity and excitement were written all over her face.

Those were precious arcane tomes and magical equipment that couldn’t be found in the World of Adepts. Yet, in Mary’s eyes, they had become pieces of trash and garbage. Greem was speechless.

Greem had indeed made quite a haul from his trip to the Arcane Empire. He wanted to show it off to his two partners as well.

Greem chuckled and revealed the real treasures he had obtained!

A dozen crimson bubbles appeared in the hall, each containing a mysterious object. From books, to materials, to treasures, to weapons, there were all sorts of items of every type.

Several of them even radiated significant energy auras.

They were elementium auras unique to Fourth Grade items.

Two crimson bubbles, in particular, were shining with a unique light, even above that of the Fourth Grade items. They gave off an oppressive feeling.

“Artifacts. Those are artifacts!” Alice shouted in surprise, her mouth slightly agape in awe.