Age of Adepts

The artifacts that Alice referred to were ultra-grade items.

In other words, powerful magical equipment beyond Fourth Grade.

Their powers were already beyond the limit of the material planes. Consequently, it was difficult to forge them within a material plane. Typically, they could only be created or crafted by gods or Great Adepts through particular methods.

Naturally, such an item could not possibly appear in the hands of mortal beings!

Alice was in a slightly better position when it came to ultra-grade items. At the very least, the Cards of Fate and the Hourglass of Time that she owned were both powerful equipment of this kind. Meanwhile, Mary was utterly new to this. She had never seen an item of such power.

Driven by uncontrollable desire, she slowly walked towards the two crimson bubbles with wide-open eyes. They almost appeared glazed over as she reached towards the bubbles and attempted to grab them with her hands.

However, she was stopped by another pair of hands before she could reach the items.

Mary couldn’t help but glare angrily at Alice, who had stopped her. However, when her eyes met Alice’s blindingly brilliant eyes, she shivered and recovered from her trance.

“I…what happened just now?”

Alice smiled, her pretty, silk-like hair spread behind her shoulders. Her expression was unusually gentle, soft, and her entire person radiated mystery and enchantment.

“You were charmed! These are artifacts. Artifacts with owners. That’s why they will be trying their very best to escape, going so far as to charm you and attempt to borrow your power to escape.”

“I was charmed? How…how could this be possible! How could I have been charmed by a mere item with no sentience or consciousness of its own? Are you lying to me?” Mary was in disbelief as she looked at Alice with suspicious eyes. Finally, she turned to look at Greem.

“Don’t be surprised or disbelieve, Mary! These are artifacts, sacred items, legendary ultra-grade items. It’s not surprising at all that they have such incredible power,” Greem smiled bitterly. “You should know that I have been constantly harassed and corrupted by these artifacts ever since I got my hands on them. I’ve had a much harder time than you!”

Alice’s bright eyes swept past the two artifacts, and she couldn’t help but sigh.

“The Orb of Shadows. I truly didn’t expect that the Dark Witches’ Orb of Shadows would fall into your hands. They are probably scrambling around right now! Speaking of which, what’s that other tome-like artifact? Why can I feel a faint divine aura from it?”

Since both the girls were interested, Greem described everything that happened in Morrian Plane without concealing anything. The oath contract, party members, the internal conflict, Shani’s death, obtaining the Orb of Shadows. He spoke of Illhoof, the floating city, the lich, the believers of the God of Wisdom, and the believers of the Beast God.

This series of mysterious affairs and terrifying battles frightened the two girls as they listened. They could finally take a deep breath when Greem finished describing the incident that had transpired during the teleportation. They couldn’t help but be relieved that Greem had come back safely.

The mission to the Arcane Empire was indeed a mission of death that even Fourth Grade adepts sought to avoid. The death rate was shockingly high. In all seriousness, had Greem not be in his party, the death rate would have been as high as seventy percent.

Perhaps only Dark Witch Shani could have survived due to her unusual profession abilities. The other two would have had no chance of escaping the moment any of those formidable otherworldly powerhouses intercepted them.

Those who died in a foreign plane would not only have their corpse and equipment turned over to the enemy as spoils of war. Even their tattered souls would not escape a fate of imprisonment, becoming a toy or curiosity for the enemy.

In particular, unfortunate victims whose souls landed in the hands of liches would suffer perpetual torture. Neither death nor life was possible for them, only a thousand years of pain until their souls were finally worn away!

Alice might have the power to sense Fate, but she could not accurately predict anything that was happening to Greem while he was in Morrian Plane, where the planar laws were in utter chaos. Alice’s eyebrows scrunched together when she finished listening to Greem’s story. It seemed like she was deep in thought.

“That Shani bitch deserved to die!” Mary shouted angrily. “Dying once at your hands wasn’t enough for her, apparently. To think she would run over and die again. Hmph! Thank god she died, or I would find a way to kill her if she had returned!”

Even after reaching peak Third Grade, Mary still retained her brash, impulsive personality. For Mary, action would always come faster than thought.

However, Greem could still pick up on her love and concern for him in her words!

Greem rubbed Mary lovingly on her stubborn head, ignoring her bared fangs and threats.

Alice ignored their flirting and seemed to be engulfed in her thoughts still.

“What is it? Will there be trouble?” Greem turned and asked.

“Mm, big trouble!”

“You don’t have to worry, regardless of how big the trouble will be. I will deal with everything. I am already sick of playing games with those bastards. If they still don’t know when to stop, I will chop off all the hands that they stick out of line!” Greem might be injured, but his fiery personality was still as fierce as before.

There was a trace of unquestionable dominance in his tone as he spoke! It was a note of confidence that had not been there before this.

“I’m not afraid of actions taken on the surface either! As long as I’m around, the Dark Witches will not be able to work around me and push the Northern Witches towards war against you. After all, all the actions they have taken have been in the shadows. They have no direct evidence to prove that you killed Shani, either. However, what I’m worried about is private action taken against you or members of the clan. Even I can’t stop them from moving behind the scenes!”

“Hmph! Let them come!” Greem’s eyes turned red as flame. “For every Crimson adept they dare kill, I will kill two Dark Witches. At any rate, the only ones I truly care about in the clan are the two of you. As long as nothing happens to the two of you, I am more than willing to duke it out against them, a life for a life.”

Alice and Mary were both moved and concerned when they heard Greem’s unusual profession of love. They couldn’t help but lean on Greem’s shoulder, silently planning and scheming for his future.

“Greem, you still aren’t vicious enough in the way you handle things. If I were in your position, I would have killed Mangus and Holly during the trip back. That would have eliminated all witnesses and potential flaws in their testaments. Hmph! If that had happened, we’d see how the Dark Witches could have ever investigated the cause of Shani’s death.” Mary was the one to speak now.

As expected, her thoughts still centered around killing and fighting.

That said, after proper considerations, her words did make sense!

“It’s fine to have let them go! If Adept Holly and Adept Mangus had both died at the same time in the other world, the organizations behind them would undoubtedly set out for an investigation. It would be a whole new set of problems to deal with then. Holly owes you a life debt now. I’m sure he knows very well how he should react to any probes!” Alice regained her composure and slowly analyzed the situation for all of them.

“Oh right, there’s actually something here that I need you to take a look at. I have a feeling that this thing is unique, but I can’t tell why that’s the case. Take a look for me!” Greem suddenly remembered something and looked towards Alice. He patted her on her waist, and his hand started roaming around her body.

Alice hurriedly grabbed his naughty hand and blushed as she replied, “What’s this thing that even you have no idea about?”

“Her!”

Greem lifted his hand and tapped the Orb of Shadows lightly.

The Orb trembled, spewing out dense shadow substance and flooding the entire hall, turning it dark and lightless. A strange silhouette appeared above the Orb, bound by shadow energy. The shape resembled that of a young girl, who was silently floating with her eyes shut.

A soul projection…an incredibly frail soul projection!

Alice straightened her back the instant she saw the soul. The light of surprise and joy burst forth from her eyes.

“Heir of a plane. Greem, why…why do you have the heir of a plane in your hands?”

“Heir of a plane?”

Greem instantly knew that this soul was unique when he saw Alice’s overjoyed expression. However, he had never heard of the term ‘heir of the plane.’ That said, it was definitely something amazing.

After listening to Alice’s explanation, Greem finally understood what the heir of a plane was.

The so-called heir of a plane was also known as a child of Fate. They were individuals whose soul and bloodline was the most compatible with the planar consciousness. Their birth ultimately inherited the will of the planar consciousness. They were a means by which the planar consciousness could directly intervene in the affairs of the plane.

Typically, when a planar consciousness sensed danger arriving, they would push the planar laws towards the birth of an individual whose body, soul, and bloodline were incredibly compatible with the highest law of the plane. They would then cast their attention on this individual, guiding them down a supernatural path of glory and power.

This individual favored by the plane would have everything go their way upon birth. The heroes they met would bow in respect, the beggars they showed kindness to would end up being ministers fallen from grace, the bushes they randomly walked into would somehow contain an artifact, and the land they tilled would have treasure buried beneath.

When these heirs grew to power, they would naturally inherit the will of the planar consciousness and push the plane’s development in its desired direction!

Unfortunately, the heir of Morrian Plane had not been able to develop sufficiently. She had died because of the fall of the Arcane Empire before maturity. At the very best, she was only a half-finished product.

Meanwhile, Greem had known nothing of plane heirs when he captured this soul. He had only perceived that this one was unusually pure and clean, unlike the typical human soul.

Thus, the soul of this arcane apprentice known as Lucia had somehow wandered to the distant World of Adepts and fallen into Alice’s hands!