Age of Adepts

After giving out most of the top-class resources, Greem could finally let out a breath of relief.

He intended to take this opportunity to slow down and accumulate power.

The growth of the Crimson Clan required time, and so did his personal growth.

Time was always on his side!

Thus, Greem went into hiding in Fire Throne and vanished from the public eye once again. This period of seclusion lasted for a long, eighty years.

…………

Fire Throne, fifth level.

After several magical expansions, the inside of this small tower had changed drastically.

As a base of development for the Crimson Clan, Fire Throne would still be too small of a space. It could no longer house the forces of the clan, now growing daily. However, as a private, sealed space reserved for Greem’s exclusive use, the tower’s area was frightfully large.

Apart from a dozen security and maintenance magical machines, Greem and Shadow Demon were the only ones who could access the fifth level and its tens of thousands of square meters of space. Even Mary, who had extremely high access levels, only came here to ‘visit’ every so often. She spent most of her time visiting on the fourth level, where Greem’s room was.

Meanwhile, Alice, who had similar levels of access, hardly ever set foot in Fire Throne. She was always busy with the cultivation and development of the Fate Witches in her Tower of Fate. Even when Greem wanted to get intimate, he was the one who had to run over to the Tower of Fate to find her.

The door to Greem’s room burst open in the morning.

Greem stretched his aching waist and rubbed his slightly trembling legs as he shambled past the steel doors, tired and yawning.

The luxurious room behind him was a complete mess now.

The lavish bedframe carved out of purpleheart timber was now a wreck. It hardly looked like a bed anymore. It was as if a terrifying typhoon had ravaged the room. Pieces of broken furniture lay everywhere.

Mary lay amidst this wreckage, her naked body as white and smooth as ever. Even though she was asleep, her unimaginable curves, radiant cheeks, and glowing skin were still incredibly seductive.

The ‘fight’ last night had been a little too intense. Neither of them had managed to hold back their strength. It was a fairly common thing. Their time together always ended up in a brutal ‘battle.’

Their excess powers and energy would radiate into the surroundings while they tussled together. This ordinary furniture didn’t stand a chance against the ‘might’ of two Fourth Grade adepts!

Greem’s base Physique had remained at 30 points ever since he advanced to Fourth Grade. Improving his Physique by even a single point was incredibly difficult. If it weren’t for the mushrooms he had brought back from the Spirit World, his Physique would still be at 28 points!

Meanwhile, Mary’s Physique had been rapidly increasing ever since she advanced to Fourth Grade. Her Physique was now at 24 points.

Those 24 points were a tremendous level of Physique. Only demon lords and legendary monsters spoken of by the mortals could have such incredible Physique.

It was this rapid increase in their Physique that caused the two adepts’ ‘battle’ to reach such intensity and last for so long.

Finally, after seventeen hours and thirty-six minutes of bitter ‘fighting’ and ‘melee combat,’ Greem won by a slight margin with his superior Physique and techniques!

However, by the time he walked out of the room, he was already stumbling and could barely straighten his back.

Greem dragged his aching body across the corridor and arrived at a bright hall. A large and long table had been placed at the center of the room above its shiny floor. All sorts of delicious delicacies and drinks had been placed here.

A strange, stone chair had sat at the end of the table. Four pretty and slender women waited on him at each side of the table. These women had dark skin that glowed with a healthy radiance. Their slim waists and figures might make them seem weak, but their bodies contained explosive power in truth.

The faint marks of magical brands could be seen through their loose, thin clothes.

They were members of the diverse elf race. They belonged to a strange branch of the higher elves known as night elves.

Greem’s muscular body was only covered by a light robe. The end of the robe dragged along the ground as he walked barefoot across the hall with his long, crimson hair rolling down his shoulders. His entire being was the very incarnation of pride and arrogance.

The night elves waiting on both sides of the table hurriedly pulled the heavy stone chair out when they saw Greem arrive. They helped him sit down and proceeded to carry the plates to him.

The night elves who could serve Greem here were all at least of the Second Grade. On the outside, they all could have been reputed fighters of their own. Here, they could only play the role of a weak maid, serving their one and only master to the best of their abilities.

Ever since they were sold to this tower, they had become eternal prisoners to this giant cell.

The secrets of the tower, the personal habits of the adept, and the defensive mechanisms of the tower were classified secrets that could never be leaked. As servants belonging to this tower, they would no longer be able to leave this place until their deaths.

Greem had purchased these servants because they were pretty, but also because he needed someone to take care of his daily life.

As a high-grade adept, Greem spent most of his time in the laboratories and on breaking in the artifacts sealed in the isolated dimensions. He had no time to deal with the trivial matters of daily life, such as eating or showering.

Naturally, these servants would help him with those things instead!

Greem was a Fourth Grade adept, after all. His every movement and breath carried with them an indescribable power. Terrifying elementium radiation would be left behind where he walked.

Ordinary human maids would have died a painful death from the overwhelming amount of elementium radiation if they stayed in such an environment for an extended period. Only servants like these, who had some degree of power, could last longer.

As such, the personal towers of most high-grade adepts would purchase or kidnap high-quality servants like these to serve them. Moreover, they were often treated as disposable.

In contrast, Greem gave all of them Talismans of Fire Resistance. He also created a living environment for the servants on the second level that resembled their former homes.

Such ‘acts of kindness’ were rare for high-grade adepts like himself!

Greem sat upon the stone chair, quickly cutting up a fire dragon steak with his utensils before putting it in his mouth, chewing, and finally swallowing it.

Even though the maids prepared many dishes for Greem of great variety, he still preferred such fire dragon steaks that were lightly flavored and simply prepared. Dragon meat, dragon tendons, dragon bones, and dragon marrow were either incredibly tough or contained an unimaginable amount of fire elementium.

Any other adept who attempted to eat fire dragon steak would find, to their agony, that the meat was so incredibly tough it could rival enchanted leather armor. They wouldn’t be able to tear off even a strip of flesh, even if they ground their teeth to pieces.

The dragon tendons in the meat were even more miserable. It was impossible to bite through the tendons if you did not have sufficient jaw strength.

Meanwhile, the bones themselves could not be cracked or damaged without at least a Sharpening Spell of Second Grade and above.

Only high-grade adepts like Greem, with sufficient Physique and Strength–along with the aid of certain spells–could so easily tear and devour a dragon steak.

As for the other dishes? They might be well-prepared and more delicious than fire dragon steak, but the energy contained within them was comparatively lacking. After such a hard ‘fight,’ Greem would not be able to replenish his energy even if he ate a hundred kilograms of ordinary food.

At his level, the primal digestive system of humans appeared inefficient and troublesome. Eating as humans did was vastly inferior and ineffective compared to directly devouring energy crystals.

However, maintaining the loose connection between humans and adepts, keeping the form of a human, and some of their customs was something that high-grade adepts should strive to do.

While Greem dealt with the dragon steak with all his might and attention, a slender night elf with perfect etiquette reported the tower’s resource situation.

“There are only five tons of fire dragon meat left. I have already informed Lord Gargamel to hunt another Third Grade fire dragon.

“There are only three sets of furniture left in the tower. I have been meaning to ask you if all the furniture in your room should be changed out for obsidian furniture. Otherwise, the turnover rate is a little too high.

“Lady Meryl has sent an abyssal succubus over. She is only three hundred years old, a lifespan equivalent to a seven-year-old human girl. She’s waiting on the lower levels at the moment. When will you be appraising her?”

Greem’s mouth was stuffed full of dragon meat. His jaw ached slightly from all the chewing. He was only listening somewhat to the maid’s report.

Finally, he swallowed the meat with some difficulty and washed it all down with the wine on the table. He then patted his chest and exhaled.

“A succubus…I haven’t seen these abyssal creatures since I was an apprentice. They are truly rare beauties. Where did Meryl manage to get her hands on one of them?”

“Lady Meryl mentioned that this succubus came from the Capital of Steel in space. She has been asking to see you, my lord, and seems to have a certain purpose in mind!”

Space…an abyssal succubus…

Greem paused for a moment. He couldn’t help but frown and think.