Age of Adepts

Gazlowe practically used up all his power to emerge from the spatial rift.

What came after was an endless stream of metal, seemingly without end.

Under Gazlowe’s control, all this magical alloy continued to swarm from the rift and started to gather around the camp area selected by Greem. The metal quickly started assembling into unusual metal buildings.

The magical alloy continued emerging from the rift.

Some of the metal pieces joined with the existing buildings and rose into the air, turning into looming factories. Others dug into the ground and started creating underground bases.

In just half an hour, a fearsome city forged of steel had appeared before Greem!

Greem took a look at the giant brain floating before him. He couldn’t help but let out a sigh, “Every time I see you freely shaping and molding magical alloys like mud, I can’t help but marvel at the wonders and mysteries of the multiverse. If I provided you with an endless supply of energy and metal, I am certain you would be the ultimate ruler of the multiverse!”

The monstrous brain trembled slightly and replied with a mental message.

“Rule the multiverse? Only immature brats who have yet to take a step out of their homeworld would have such thoughts. When they finally see the might of the Titans and the horror of the Scourge Lords, they would probably be embarrassed by their simple minds!”

“Tell me, what gave you all this courage all of a sudden?” Greem smiled and said, “I thought you would only send your split-brain, Sock, over. I didn’t think you would be here in person.”

“I am learning from you, my lord!”

“Learning from me?”

“Yes! When we first met, I believe you were only a First Grade adept, weren’t you?” Gazlowe couldn’t help but pause for a moment at the mention of this, seemingly recalling a distant past. However, he quickly recovered.

“When I joined your faction, you were already a Second Grade adept. And I…was a Third Grade brain monster. This difference in power let me see a chance to break free of your control. However, even though I hardly let a single opportunity slip past me, the rate at which your power improved far exceeded my expectations.

“When you reached Third Grade, I still refused to acknowledge your authority. I still had hope of success in my heart! However, a while ago, I heard that you advanced to become a Fourth Grade adept. It was then that I realized for the first time that I might never be able to break free of your control, and everything that caused this was my own conservative, fearful stance.

“There were so many opportunities in front of me. Yet, every time something even remotely threatened my actual being, I would instinctively choose to step back and give way. It was my personality that left me with no paths of escape. As such, I plan to take a risk and chase after you. At the very least, I can’t let you leave me stranded in the dust!”

“This is space, beyond the realms!” Greem looked at the brain monster with a look of surprise. “The risk you will have to endure here is far higher than what you would face inside a material plane. Are you sure it’s fine to place your actual brain here?”

“Don’t worry, master! I have already sealed a portion of my brain in the Capital of Eternity. If my actual body is destroyed, that split-brain will naturally grow and become a new ‘me’.”

A brain monster was a monster, after all. It was an unusual lifeform incomparable to humans, with its own method of recovery and resurrection!

Greem did not ask any more questions. Instead, he silently observed this new capital of steel rise from the ground before his very eyes.

Due to the nature of space, ordinary creatures could not survive here.

Even Second or Third Grade beings were no more than cannon fodder.

As such, when Greem wanted to establish a base in space, his first thought was to recruit Gazlowe for the task.

Only the brain monster, with his mega magic-generator furnace, could so quickly construct a shelter out of nothing with his endless supply of magic energy and Greem’s stockpile of magical alloys.

The magical alloys used to construct the first foundations of the steel capital were more than enough. What came from the spatial rift after were various sorts of resources and materials.

After all, it didn’t matter how powerful the brain monster was; he couldn’t convert magical alloy into food or magical machines.

Greem used his authority as the clan leader to relocate a good half of the clan’s resources here and started making warehouses beneath the capital.

After two hours of constant operation, the teleportation array finally deactivated.

It had been completely exhausted!

The magical nodes on the array shattered, one after another, causing considerable quakes to ripple across space and dissipate.

During the final moments of the portal, a hundred high-grade magical machine warriors emerged from the portal and lined up neatly in the plaza at the entrance to the city.

It was a personal magical machine guard that Gazlowe had made for himself. Even an ordinary machine had the might of an intermediate Second Grade. Meanwhile, the five magical machine captains of the army were all at beginner Third Grade.

“Master, the Capital of Steel has been constructed. I will begin the activation immediately!”

Gazlowe informed Greem and floated into the Capital of Steel under the protection of the hundred magical machines.

As the brain monster entered the Capital of Steel with his mega magic generator furnace, the massive lifeless lump of steel immediately came to life.

Countless metal refineries and workshops began operation.

The rubble dug from underground was transported to ore crushing workshops, where they were reduced to smaller, fist-sized ores. They were then sent to the ore filtering center, where ore particles with metal composition would be selected and sent for smelting. The useless pieces of ore were compressed into stone bricks and used for the construction of buildings outside of the Capital of Steel.

In just half an hour, the first batch of metals had been refined into ingots and was sent to the metal warehouses on conveyor belts.

Greem also received an inventory from Gazlowe.

One had to admit that there were no useless metals in the ores found in space!

Even a seemingly insignificant rock could be broken down and refined into as many as thirty-seven rare metals and one hundred and sixty-four magical alloys, all of which possessed unknown magical features!

That was predictable.

After all, ordinary material substances from ruined planes would already have been eroded by the vicious energy tides in space. Only the true essence of the material planes could survive the spacestorms and be blown into this peaceful eye of the storm.

Moreover, after spending such a long time in the eye of a spacestorm, they would naturally have been transformed.

Even an ordinary piece of metal would have turned into a rare magical alloy after such a long time exposed to space energy!

Forging ordinary magical machines with such rare metals would be a waste.

The newly refined metals were stored in the warehouse. Gazlowe instead placed the conventional alloys he had brought from the Capital of Eternity onto the production line and started churning out batch after batch of magical machines.

The first batch of machines to walk down from the conveyor belt was three hundred construction machines. They were the arms with which Gazlowe would manage everything in the Capital of Steel.

With the addition of these machines, the Capital could finally be put to full use.

All the factories, refineries, conveyor belts, and all the workshops began operating at full capacity.

The loud rumbling of metal instantly filled the land.

It was a region ruled by human adepts, after all!

Five hours after the appearance of the Capital of Steel, a standard party of adepts appeared in the shadows near the rock.

They were clad in energy shields of various colors, the shields flickering amidst the ‘gentle’ energy tide.

The Fourth Grade adept in the lead took off his hood and frowned as he looked upon the happenings above the rock. He couldn’t help but take out a magical crystal and communicate with headquarters.

“My lord, are they foreigners?” A Third Grade woman in white robes standing behind him asked.

A small, jade-white staff was stuck to her belt, gleaming with pretty snowflakes.

“Mm. Seems like it.” The Fourth Grade adept frowned and replied. “I seem to have heard of these metal lifeforms somewhere. They feed on metal and roam the galaxy in search of metal ore veins.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a metal lifeform. It’s infringed upon the territory of us adepts. We just have to expel it from this land!” Another Third Grade body-refining adept shouted out arrogantly.

The other five Second Grade adepts in the party looked around them at this shocking sight, not daring to participate in the discussion between the high-grade adepts.

While the adepts were still talking amongst themselves, a red flash erupted above the rock. An obscure silhouette appeared not far in front of them.

The members of the party immediately prepared themselves for battle.

Lights flickered around the Fourth Grade adept as seven energy shields of various attributes enveloped him.

However, when they saw the unusual man standing in flames with the golden plate in his hands, they let out a breath of relief.

The leader of the group was a Fourth Grade man. His face was tan and long, without any particular features of note.

When he saw the wooden plate in Greem’s hands, he took out a magic wand and waved it over the plate. The image of a burning first appeared on the plate, along with a long series of golden runes.

“Greem. Fourth Grade Fire Adept. Zhentarim Association Elder. Leader of the Crimson Clan.”

The adept mumbled as he read the runes. The look in his eyes shifted as he read.

“So, you are Adept Greem!”

The members of the entire party reacted oddly at the mention of Greem’s name.