Age of Adepts

Greem and Billis soon settled down in this castle of steel after their long journey.

The steel castle was the Goblin Chamber of Commerce’s outpost here.

As befitted the goblin traders, the front of the castle was a row of shops, while the main body of the building served as a living area and warehouse.

A squad of twenty magical machines managed the safety of the castle.

Apart from these steel soldiers, five goblin machinist-sorcerers had also been stationed in the castle. These goblin machinist-sorcerers were the true guardians of the castle, responsible for the goblin leadership’s safety in the outpost.

The Goblin Chamber of Commerce had been working diligently over the past few decades and had finally managed to extend their influence into the Adept Association’s territory. They had a total of eleven goblin shops of various sizes and this metal castle, which served as their headquarters; it was the fruit of the goblins’ hard work.

The Crimson Clan might be a household name in the Central Lands, but far away here in the east, the Goblin Chamber of Commerce could only expand and survive as best they could like any other trading company. Fortunately, they were backed by a fairly powerful clan. The goblins themselves were passionate and experienced traders. At long last, the Chamber of Commerce was able to establish itself here and was slowly expanding.

A while ago, Tor had even requested for one or more high-grade adepts to be assigned and stationed here.

The World of Adepts was a world ruled by human adepts, after all. If the Chamber of Commerce consisted solely of goblins and were not backed by a single high-grade human adept, they would face all sorts of covert and overt discrimination in their transactions.

The goblins had suffered greatly from such incidents over the years!

That was why Tor was genuinely happy and excited to hear that the infamous Third Grade Bug Adept Billis of the clan had arrived from clan headquarters.

It wasn’t until they entered a secret room that Tor found out that the mysterious adept following Billis was the clan leader himself. The sudden and tremendous amount of passion he displayed upon realizing this was too much to bear, even for Greem.

After sending Tor away with some difficulty, Greem finally had time to look at the authority framework of the Adept’s Association.

The Adept’s Association was one of the three major adept organizations of the World of Adepts. It controlled a vast land to the east of the Continent of Adepts with a total area of over seven million square kilometers. They had three hundred and seventy million citizens, thirty thousand adepts, and over a thousand conquered lesser planes.

The assessment of an adept organization’s might came down to a few key indicators– wealth, power, resources, authority, and number of adepts!

The Silver Union had always been famous for their overwhelming wealth amongst the three major adept organizations. They possessed incredible wealth and resources. The Adept’s Association, on the other hand, was supported and recognized by the majority of adepts. They had the largest number of adepts and the most complete system of adept development. They also had the most powerful adepts in the entire World of Adepts.

Thus, when it came to overall power, the Adept’s Association was undoubtedly first amongst the three adept organizations.

Meanwhile, though the Northern Witches were weaker than the other two factions, they were remarkably united against outside forces, making them vicious enemies to those who would threaten them. If they kept to their own side of the continent in the Northern Lands, they were equals to the Adept’s Association and the Silver Union.

Greem came from Zhentarim. That place was famous for being a land of freedom and a lack of central governance. The adept organizations there developed with the clan as the core and the axle. The development and welfare of their clan were paramount!

Meanwhile, the Adept’s Association was a classic meritocratic, academic gathering. The influence of adept clans had been minimized. The true forces behind progress in the Association were powerful, individual adepts, not the clans that stood behind them.

In the Central Lands, adepts were subordinate to their clans. Trying to grow stronger without the support of a clan was nearly impossible. However, in the Adept’s Association, the numerous adept clans had instead become attachments to individual prodigies. These clans could only grow stronger if the adept they invested in rose in position and authority within the Association.

The status of adept and clan was completely reversed!

Adepts who developed in Zhentarim were fated to be servants and stepping stones for their clans as long as they had not advanced to Fourth Grade, regardless of how powerful they were as individuals. They would have to endure hundreds of years of back-breaking labor. Such an atmosphere was naturally burdensome and kept many elite adepts without clans outside of the mainstream.

The Adept’s Association did not have such strict restrictions or bias. Their cultivation of adepts was based solely on individual talent and merit. It was a highly complete and perfect system. Thus, the Association became the first choice for many grassroots adepts who had no background to speak of.

However, Greem knew very well that what truly decided the status of an adept organization was the number of top-class adepts!

In this aspect, the Adept’s Association was uncontested.

According to an incomplete census, the Adept’s Association had over forty Fourth Grade adepts. That was three times the number of Zhentarim. As for what other forces they had kept hidden away from the public eye? Those were classified secrets of the Adept’s Association that no one knew.

Compared to the gargantuan Adept’s Association, Zhentarim was like a tiny human standing beside a giant. If it weren’t for the power struggle between the three major adept organizations that kept them individually in check, Zhentarim would have succumbed to an invasion.

Naturally, Greem and the Crimson Clan he had founded had no means to be arrogant in front of the massive organization known as the Adept’s Association. If it weren’t for his absolute confidence in himself, Greem would never have dared to come into ‘enemy’ territory to search for a chance at ‘cooperation’!

Olivia. The powerful adept who now possessed the Lightfire stone. Greem had already reviewed her information several times.

Olivia. Fourth Grade. Elementium Adept.

Gender: Female. Age: Unknown.

Eldest daughter of the Armstrong family. Has a brother who is currently only First Grade.

Exceptional adept talent since birth. Advanced to Fourth Grade in just three hundred years. Such terrifying advancement speed made her the fastest improving and most talented young adept of the Adept’s Association in the past thousand years.

……

The report was wordy and filled with information. However, there were only two words that described her powers: Gravity Control.

It seemed like Adept Olivia’s expertise was in the more niche field of gravity control.

The manipulation of gravity also belonged to elementium magic, though in a specialized branch of its own. It was categorized as a branch of the already rare magnetism magic. It required that adepts who learned this magic also possess the necessary elementium physique. That was why very few adepts studied this magic in the World of Adepts, and almost next to none had reached Fourth Grade.

Olivia was probably the only adept in the entire World of Adepts who had reached Fourth Grade with gravity magic!

Fourth Grade adepts were treasured in every organization. They were the most powerful fighting force of the world and propped up the individual organizations. Young adepts like Olivia, who had tremendous potential, were particularly favored by the Adept’s Association. They were treated like pearls and enjoyed access to all sorts of resources and knowledge.

Olivia’s performance in the past had been stellar as well. She demonstrated shocking combat prowess and had personally led a dozen invasions against otherworld civilizations. She was not only a talented adept but also a powerful one with plenty of combat experience.

……

Greem couldn’t help but frown after reading Olivia’s report.

Powerful. It would be difficult to make contact and come to friendly terms with such a powerful adept. Olivia probably wouldn’t even bother to talk to Greem if he didn’t have enough leverage on his side. If that were the case, obtaining the Lightfire stone from her would be even more difficult!

Thus, less than half an hour after chasing Tor out of the room, Greem summoned him again.

“You have been stationed here in the east for seventeen years now. Have you heard of the Fourth Grade adept known as Olivia?”

Tor’s face turned into a frown when he heard Greem’s question.

“The Adept of Torture– Olivia. There are probably very few people who have not heard of that name here in the east.”

“The Adept of Torture…that’s an interesting title. Why has she been given this title? Is she powerful?”

“The reason she’s known as the Adept of Torture is that all her victims have been crushed to meat paste by her terrifying magic. You can’t even find a trace of a proper corpse. It’s because of how extreme and cruel her magic is that most people are terrified of her,” Tor couldn’t help but lift his head and glance at Greem when he said this. “My lord, you are not thinking of finding trouble with this Adept of Torture, are you?”

“What nonsense are you thinking about,” Greem reprimanded unamusedly. “This is Adept’s Association territory. Do you think I can return to the Central Lands alive if I tried anything on Olivia?”

“As long as you understand!” Tor wiped the sweat away from his forehead.

“However, I might need to contact this Adept Olivia because of certain matters. Do you have any means of putting me in contact with her?”

Tor shivered in fright when he heard Greem’s words. He smiled and said, “My lord, the Goblin Chamber of Commerce has only been established in the east for no more than seventy years. Our foundations are still weak. There’s no way we could have come into contact with a Fourth Grade adept already.”

“Then tell me everything you know about this Adept Olivia.”

“Yes!” Tor gulped and started to slowly explain what he knew.

The gist of it matched the information that Greem had. The only part that stood out about Tor’s explanation was that Olivia was a decisive, determined, and vicious individual. She was exceptionally ferocious and merciless towards her enemies. However, she did care for one person– her brother, First Grade Adept Wills, who was born of the same mother.

Olivia might have shocking potential as an adept, but her brother, on the other hand, had absolutely no talent. If Olivia had not invested a mountain of resources on him, he would not even have made it to First Grade.

If Olivia had any weakness to speak of, it would have to be this brother of hers!

Greem raised an eyebrow when he heard this. He started to have some thoughts on how to approach this problem.