Age of Adepts

Nightfall.

The Marsh Wetlands at night was a unique sight of its own.

Emelia had started a fire on a clearing by a lake, and she used a pot to cook a stew. She had picked some fresh mushrooms along the way, and the stew was smelling very nice.

Remi had vanished somewhere when the sun went down.

Greem wasn’t worried about him at all.

After all, he wasn’t a Third Grade Spirit of Pestilence for nothing. If Remi were to go berserk, he alone would be enough to turn an entire area into a land of death instantly.

Meanwhile, Greem had arrived at the top of one of those colossal mushrooms when night fell. He sat at the edge of the mushroom cap and looked down at this uniquely different planar environment. His heart was filled with awe and respect for the wondrous work of nature.

Dense and humid mist hung in the air of the marshes, causing the stars above to appear blurred and faint.

Massive mushrooms of varying sizes lay spread out within Greem’s sight, looking like an unusual forest. Greem was impressed. While you were here, you would get the impression that it wasn’t the mushrooms that were large, but that you had shrunk in size.

All of a sudden, it was as if humans had turned into ants. The wild mushrooms by the roadside that could be crushed with a press of a finger had now turned into giant trees, and your power was insignificant and tiny.

The fluttering, glowing spores hovering in the air between the mushrooms were almost like fireflies.

They were everywhere, all at once. They took root where they landed and grew into new mushrooms.

Some of these mushrooms would be fortunate enough to grow to massive sizes, becoming a member of this forest of mushrooms. Others would be eaten by the wandering Fungus Giants and swamp creatures the moment they sprouted.

Apart from these glowing spores, there were also many giant sporebats flying around in the sky. They fed on the bright spores, circling the giant mushrooms and devouring these drifting lights.

These sporebats resembled stingrays, beating their flat wings as they glided in the air. They had a black stinger at the tip of their tails, vaguely letting off a poisonous aura.

Naturally, ordinary sporebats didn’t dare find any trouble with Greem.

However, there would always be some ignorant fool who came knocking on the door.

While Greem was admiring the unique night scene from the top of this fifty-meter tall mushroom, a Third Grade sporebat found him and lunged at him.

It was a sporebat with an unusual knack for fighting– a combat spirit. Its wings were black and covered with hard, brown bristles. Its kin also had decent magical resistance.

However, its offensive options were more limited. It could only spit acid or strike with its poison stinger. Naturally, none of these attacks were any threat to Greem at all. If it wasn’t to experience the might of a so-called combat spirit, Greem could have ended this battle in mere seconds.

Greem’s fireballs evaporated the acid spit by the Blackwing. Meanwhile, every time it tried to approach Greem, it would be forced away by his flames.

After a few fruitless attempts, the angered Blackwing finally used its combat spirit powers.

An unusual mental shockwave blasted against Greem. It wasn’t very powerful, but its strange paralyzing powers caused Greem to freeze on the spot.

To think, the powers of a Third Grade creature could altogether bypass Greem’s magical resistances and affect him directly! For a reasonably long duration as well! This unusual ability instantly drew Greem’s attention!

The Blackwing took advantage of Greem’s momentary paralysis to glide forward. The poison stinger on its tail immediately stabbed at his neck.

However, that was the limit of its attack!

The next second, a giant blazing hand grabbed the Blackwing by its tail, firmly anchoring it to the spot. The next second, the flames flared and quickly spread all over the Blackwing’s body.

The searing pain put the Blackwing in tremendous agony. It struggled with all it had, but it could not break free of the blazing hand’s grasp.

The Chip had finally recovered now. It was sending out several notifications in Greem’s mind.

[Spirit Paralysis. Unique species ability of elite Sporebats. During combat, the creature is able to shed scale powder to be silently inhaled by the opponent. When required, the scale powder can be activated with Spirit to paralyze the opponent’s mind and render them defenseless.]

“So it wasn’t a pure mental power, but a sort of technique combining Spirit and an unusual substance.” Greem couldn’t help but start brooding in silence.

He had slightly underestimated the opponent today.

If he had treated the Blackwing as a worthy opponent, he would have at least protected himself with a Ring of Fire, even if he did not simply just summon the Burning Domain. In that case, the Blackwing’s scale powder would have been burned to ashes the moment it approached him. It would never have been a threat.

However, the fact that its scale powder could paralyze a Fourth Grade’s mind for even a brief moment made it worth examining.

Just as the thought of killing appeared in Greem’s mind, an oddly elderly voice appeared in his mind as well.

“Visitor from afar, let this ignorant child go! I apologize sincerely to you in his name and the name of the Marsh Wetlands.”

Greem turned around. A one-meter-tall creature was looking calmly at him not far in the distance.

If it weren’t for the pure nature’s aura in his body, Greem would have thought of him as an ordinary swamp corruptor. Its one-meter stature was indeed too small. It was also covered in brown seaweed and pungent mud. Even its face was covered by the tangle of seaweeds, making it hard to see its actual appearance.

However, its powerful spiritual pressure as a Fourth Grade creature could not be overlooked!

“You are…” A name shot through Greem’s mind as he instantly extinguished the flames burning on the Blackwing.

However, after such a terrible burning, the Blackwing was on its last legs. It hung limply from Greem’s hand by its tail.

“Greetings, guest from afar. I am Moat, the Sage of these marshes!”

“So you are Moat! Honestly, we were on the way to look for you!” Greem was somewhat shocked. He became warier of the uncanny omniscience of these Sages.

“Guest from afar, before we find a place to talk, don’t you think…you could save Blackwing first?” Moat might look small in size, but there was no fear or humility in his voice. Instead, his voice was filled with a commanding confidence.

Greem raised his right hand and looked at the charred creature in his grasp. He chuckled slightly.

“I’m only good at setting fires, not so much at saving people. If you, sir, have some way of healing him, I will be more than willing to witness your powers!”

“Very well, since you have no objections, just hand him over to me.” Moat’s face was still hidden beneath the seaweeds, making it hard to see the changes to his expression.

He was leaning on a black staff that was slightly taller than himself. He tapped the staff against the ground, and a green beam of light landed on the Blackwing.

The charred skin on its body crackled and fell off, revealing a new layer of skin beneath. Even though it was on death’s door earlier, the Blackwing instantly became lively once more. However, out of fear of Greem’s might, it remained limp on the ground, not daring to move a single inch.

Since a Fourth Grade Sage was asking for mercy for this creature, Greem had no choice but to relent.

He snorted lightly and waved his right hand, cutting off the Blackwing’s poison stinger.

The stinger fell onto the mushroom cap and bounced slightly. The Blackwing trembled in pain, but it didn’t dare to struggle too much.

“Go. Next time, use your eyes and don’t make an enemy of someone stronger than you!” Greem cast the Blackwing aside and kept the poison stinger for himself.

There were some scales on the poison stinger as well. That was more than enough for him to examines the scale powder!

The Third Grade Blackwing instantly flew away without turning back once it was released. Its unreasonable, barbaric aura of ferocity was also gone.

Moat did not object to any of this and watched on calmly.

Greem smiled when he smelled the fragrant smell of stew from beneath the mushroom. He invited Moat graciously, “Emelia’s meat stew is done. Sir Moat, why don’t you grace us with your presence and join us for dinner!”

Moat smiled.

“I hope I won’t be a bother!”

Emelia wasn’t at all surprised at the sudden appearance of Moat, the Sage of the Marshes. They had come into contact with a Sage of another region before this, after all. These Sages seemed to have an unusual way of communicating amongst themselves.

Thus, Emelia had predicted that Moat would find them a day after they entered the Wetland Marshes.

She diligently helped the two Fourth Grades sit by the fire and filled a large bowl of stew for each of them. The three of them then feasted on it, along with a helping of bread and cheese.

Greem glanced at this Sage of the Marshes with his unusual appearance as they ate. Finally, he couldn’t help but ask, “Sir Moat, may I know what species you are exactly?”

In all honesty, Greem had been trying to guess at Moat’s species from the moment he saw him. Unfortunately, every one of his guesses didn’t quite fit the mark.

“Hahaha. My species might be somewhat out of your expectations,” Moat chuckled and said, “I am a Swamp Giant!”

A Swamp Giant. A one-meter-tall Swamp Giant.

Greem was utterly stunned in confusion when he heard Moat’s reply.