Age of Adepts

Most swamp creatures had probably never expected that the true ruler of the sporepeople of Marsh Wetlands wasn’t Fahssn, but this podling of unusual power.

The sporepeople, at their core, were only servants split off from the podling for the sake of taking care of it.

Upon sensing the potent threat approaching its home, the podling shook its green branches, and its dozens of green mouths snapped loudly. It was calling for its servants with its unique mental flux.

As for the fact that those servants were currently trapped in a bitter battle far away from here? That was not within the podling’s considerations!

As the podling’s odd, screeching cries rang out, a portal suddenly opened in the cave. Fahssn scrambled out of the opening in a hurry, enduring a barrage of attacks from the enemies as he retreated.

Fahssn turned around and fired a green beam at the portal after he exited. He was trying his best to sustain the gate to allow his two allies to return as well.

Unfortunately, Krach only managed to set a single foot through it before he was dragged back by a green tentacle that had appeared out of nowhere. The portal shimmered and disintegrated into countless sparks in front of Fahssn’s pained gaze.

“O’ great master, why have you summoned me back in such a hurry?” Since there was no turning back now, Fahssn stopped worrying about the two puppets that were lost among enemies. He knelt before the podling and asked.

“Enemy…invader. Exterminate invaders quickly!”

Podlings were unusually frightening magical plants.

Their mental activity wasn’t as effective as a human’s, but that didn’t mean that they were unintelligent. On the contrary, this fearsome podling possessed incredible might and viciousness. It had reached advanced Fourth Grade.

The advanced Fourth Grade podling and the beginner Fourth Grade Fahssn; it was the greatest force that the sporepeople could produce!

Swamp Sage Moat knew certain details about this, but he had never revealed anything to Greem. Instead, he simply pushed Greem down along the river and made Greem compliantly travel to the Podling Cave.

Meanwhile, Emelia did not know much either. She had been the spore princess for a very brief duration. She had never been powerful enough to be favored by the podling, which resulted in her not knowing anything about its real power.

Utterly oblivious to what awaited him, Greem charged into the Spore Hall with Emelia, Remi, and Shadow Demon in tow.

…………

The one-meter-thick hidden door quickly turned into magma beneath the blazing fire. Greem strode into the Spore Hall with Emelia in his arms.

Judging by the Chip’s scans, this was the most crucial location of the sporepeople’s sacred land. Before he entered, Greem had wondered about what could have existed in this room. Mountains of resources, materials, treasures, and magical crystals?

It was only when he finally set foot in here that he realized what awaited him. He was shocked and surprised by the fearsome magical plant before him.

Emelia might not be able to appraise the grade and power of this plant, but Greem could. The Chip’s robust scanning and analysis abilities meant that no high-gade creature could escape Greem’s notice without tremendously powerful means of concealing their energy aura.

Advanced Fourth Grade!

Greem’s face paled upon sensing the fearsome energy reaction of the podling. In the Chip’s scans, it appeared as a blinding bright-red like that of a sun.

When it picked up on a foreign presence, the podling’s hundred-meter-tall body abruptly twisted and bent down. All the green mouths pointed straight at Greem. Fahssn stood at the feet of the podling, upon the head of a Fungal Giant. His limbs were merged with the Giant’s head, controlling the colossal creature to advance towards Greem.

There had to be a change in the plans. The enemy’s power was far beyond his expectations.

Greem casually opened a portal of fire in front of him and stuffed Emelia into the rift.

There was no room for a lower-grade individual on a Fourth Grade battlefield.

That was why Greem had put Emelia into a temporary dimension and left Remi outside the hall when the fighting started. He then cautiously evaluated the two enemies he was about to face.

Terrifying…truly terrifying.

Both enemies radiated green energy, indicating the fact that they used plant magic. Greem had the advantage here. After all, fire was the enemy of all plants: their bane and their doom!

However, the intensity of their energy emission was so blinding that Greem couldn’t help but be concerned.

“Damned intruder. I will devour you!” The podling, in particular, appeared to be very vicious and savage. It seemed to go berserk upon seeing the enemy.

The podling’s thick stem swept across, and three large green mouths opened as wide as they could, snapping ferociously at Greem.

[Evade…evade…evade…detecting imminent danger. Suggesting host take evasive measures immediately!] The Chip’s warnings blared in his mind, but the enemy’s attack was too fast. There was no time to dodge now.

Greem tapped his staff, and three layers of Lava Shields appeared in the path of the podling’s strike. Unfortunately, all the Lava Shields were smashed to pieces by the green vine, and three green mouths appeared next to Greem.

In the blink of an eye, a dome-shaped fire forcefield appeared in front of Greem, preventing the three mouths from biting him.

Dong!

Greem was instantly blown away into the air like a top sent flying by a naughty child. He crashed into a wall and became embedded in the rock.

The three mouths seemed to have been dazed for a moment before regaining their senses. The effects of an unusual power silently extinguished the magical flames that had spread to the podling’s branch.

Fahssn charged forward with the Fungal Giant with this opportunity, intent on beating Greem while he was down.

What incredible power!

Greem recovered after shaking his head a little. The Chip projected a fearsome number in his mind.

Forty-six points of Strength.

That was the Strength demonstrated by the podling in its first strike!

Greem spat out a mouthful of blood. The blood landed on the crushed rocks by his feet, and a purple fire started burning on the ground. He pulled himself out of the stone wall with considerable difficulty. His muscular chest had caved inwards, and cracks covered his blazing body.

Some of the cracks were so large that lava was flowing out.

The enemy was scary. Even with a plant’s slender body, the podling had as much as 46 points of Strength. That was more than enough to crush Greem, with his mere 27 points.

Greem had only been so severely injured earlier because he had been caught unaware, which allowed the enemy to shatter his defenses.

Greem looked at Fahssn as the Giant charged at him. He waved his staff, and three torrents of fire blasted forward, stopping the Fungal Giant from advancing any further. Meanwhile, white light appeared around Greem as he used the pure, holy light to heal himself.

His caved chest started to swell up as his damaged body recovered with the surge of fire energy from the Heart of Principles.

However, this healing only persisted for a while before Greem had no choice but to leap away with Fire Teleportation.

His tall outline had just vanished when another thick branch from the podling smashed the ground where he had just been.

Those thin, slender branches were actually as sturdy as rods forged of steel. A single strike from these iron whips was enough to pulverize the ground and shake the earth. Web-like cracks spread out from the point of impact.

Greem had just appeared in another corner of the hall three hundred meters away when the podling immediately detected his presence. Its terrifying body that took up nearly half the space in the hall twisted slightly, and the branches whipped at the adept at howling speed.

The green mouths on the ends of the branches also lashed out viciously as the branches struck.

Greem had a feeling that he would end up much worse off being bit by the branches than being struck by the branches.

Dammit! Where did such a terrifying monster appear from?

No! I must force out its true power, slowly, bit by bit.

Greem grit his teeth and grunted, once again teleporting away.

He had prepared to dodge this time. The moment his body rematerialized, he hurled a fearsome Scarlet Firestorm at the podling’s stationary roots.

The dozens of green mouths on the podling hissed simultaneously and spewed out green smoke to resist the flames. The green smoke clashed with and neutralized the explosive tide of fire in midair.

A Firestorm of eight hundred and ninety points of power was neutralized, just like that!

Greem frowned slightly.

What tremendous poison.

Such incredible Strength and such ferocious poison attacks. This enemy was not going to be an easy opponent!

However, Greem was no ordinary fire adept either. The power he possessed was beyond the imagination of the average person.

Greem teleported away once again, dodging the combined attacks of Fahssn and the podling. He planted his staff in the ground upon appearing, waving his hands around. In a single breath, he had summoned several fireballs and shot them at the podling’s stem.

The podling screeched and whipped the fireballs to shards with its branches.

However, just as the podling twisted its body in a gloating fashion and prepared to lunge at Greem again, a terrifying tide of fire erupted on the pile of skeletons where its roots grew.