Age of Adepts

A small lake deep in a forest.

It was only two to three hundred square meters in surface area, but it was the favorite resting spot for the nearby forest creatures.

Even the most savage and ferocious of predators became tame and gentle here. They came to the lake quietly and left quietly after they had had their fill. The lake was crowded with all sorts of animals that had come here to have a drink.

Night fell, and the curtain of darkness hung thick in the air.

The calm surface of the lake appeared even quieter as it reflected the beautiful moonlight.

Two black forms suddenly landed on top of a boulder sticking out of the lake. Their arrival also caused the bright moon in the skies to be obscured by a layer of crimson mist.

Puff! Puff!

Two muffled puffs could be heard as the two silhouettes turned into humanoid forms.

“Soros, what’s the situation on your side? Did you manage to find that fellow’s tracks?” It was a gentle and elegant nobleman who asked the question, his carefully-groomed mustache gleaming in the moonlight. The clothes he wore were intricate and exquisite.

He was Marquis Rothers, who had submitted to Mary with his entire clan of vampires. In return, he had become an important subordinate that Mary frequently relied on.

Rothers had brought nearly all of his subordinates on this hunt for the Third Grade psionic. It was obvious he had his eyes set on that promotion to Fourth Grade. Naturally, he was Soros’ strongest competitor, who held the highest reputation amongst the vampires apart from Mary herself.

“Hmph! Do you think I’d be loitering around here if we found her already?” Soros grunted. “These damned adepts. They aren’t much good at fighting, but they are very good at hiding and concealing. We’ve managed to hunt down most of the psionic’s subordinates, but we haven’t seen any sign of her yet. Hmph! A bastard that is willing to cast aside her subordinates to escape alone; she had best pray she doesn’t run into me!”

Rothers caressed his mustache with his fingers as he stared at the quiet forest around him. He said casually, “Us vampires have all come out this time. We’ve destroyed two enemy outposts. It is almost certain that their retaliation will arrive soon. We don’t have much time left. Why don’t we cooperate, Lord Soros!”

“Cooperate? How so?”

“If we thoroughly surround these woods and seal off all possible paths of escape, the only thing left would be a narrowing of the circle and the search of the remaining area. If we work individually, our net will be full of gaps, leaving her with plenty of room to dance around and evade our searches. If we work together, with one person on the outside watching for any gaps in the encirclement, and the other dedicated to searching for the psionic, we will be much more efficient!” Rothers still had the same gentle smile on his face.

Soros’ gaze focused as he replied in a deep voice, “And who would be in charge of laying down the encirclement, while the other searches?”

In the end, this was the most crucial question for the both of them!

Rothers fell silent for a moment before speaking up, “Lord Soros, you are a talented individual. You have an excellent chance of advancing to Fourth Grade even if you don’t rely on our blood master’s ability to promote us through the Embrace. Since that is the case, why don’t you leave this opportunity to me? Of course, I won’t disappoint you. I can—”

At this point, Rothers’ voice turned hushed as he silently sent a voice transmission to Soros instead.

The promises Rothers’ made moved Soros tremendously. However, even if Soros were confident in advancing by his own power, he wasn’t willing to so easily give up on the path with a higher chance of success.

Moreover, if Rothers were to advance to Fourth Grade ahead of him, he would have to treat him as a superior for the foreseeable future. Soros felt incredibly upset at the thought of that awkward situation.

Moreover, the vampires were very particular about seniority. If Rothers were to advance before him, Rothers would always remain his senior by a little bit, even if Soros were to advance to Fourth Grade after. Didn’t that mean he would always be one step inferior to Rothers then?

Rothers seemed to have perceived Soros wavering, but still hesitating. Thus, he spoke again, this time promising greater and even richer benefits to Soros for him to bow out of this competition.

His efforts were rewarded by Soros’ silent nod.

“If that’s settled, then let us start now! If things drag on for too long, I’m worried that reinforcements from the Dener Clan will mess things up for us.” Rothers was overjoyed and impatiently suggested that they get to work.

“Don’t worry. Only some intermediate or low-grade small fry can get here. As for their Fourth Grade adept? She had best stay obediently in her tower!” Soros chuckled coldly.

He didn’t explain anything, and Rothers knew better than to pursue the question.

After all, he already understood something from what Soros said. Their blood master must have divulged something to these direct subordinate vampires of hers. Otherwise, Soros would not be so confident in their operation.

In the end, their blood master still treated her people with more importance.

Rothers reflected resentfully before turning into a bat and flying toward the edges of the forest.

It was undoubtedly the most dangerous and helpless point in Marilyn Mona’s life as an adept.

She hid carefully within the hollow of a big tree, several dozen meters above the ground.

The entrance to the hollow was only the size of a fist. This place was once the home of some squirrels.

However, that family of squirrels was now lying in the corner of the hollow, utterly unmoving. Strange runes spun deep in their eyes.

Marilyn Mona, who once had a pretty and slender figure, had now shrunk to a squirrel’s size. She was nervously hiding in the tree hollow as she awaited news from a distance.

It was so quiet outside in the forest that she could even hear the squirrels’ breathing and the beating of their hearts. Every so often, she could hear an odd sound of beating wings outside the tree.

These vampires had arrived so quickly and in such haste that Mona had no opportunity to make more preparations.

If she had not discovered this tree hollow unexpectedly and subdued the squirrels to serve as her cover, the enemy would have already found the faint magic aura of Shrinking Size.

She did not kill the squirrels.

That was because she still needed their weak life auras to conceal her own aura.

However, at that moment, the snake-eye ring on her right little finger flashed slightly.

Mona quickly rubbed her ring, and an elderly female voice appeared in her mind.

“Mona, where are you now? Why have you not returned to the clan?”

It was the voice of Adept Kerala.

Mona almost started tearing up when she heard that familiar voice.

“My lady, I have been surrounded by the enemy. I cannot escape anymore. The enemy is searching everywhere for me. I expect them to find me in a few more hours.”

“Hmph! You were too reckless. How could you have killed an enemy Third Grade adept just like that?!” Kerala reprimanded solemnly.

“My lady, it was my mistake. I will not repeat it again in the future!”

“Hmph! As long as you understand where you went wrong.” Kerala remained silent for a moment before speaking again, “You’ve been following me for five hundred years. I won’t abandon you. Stay where you are, and remain hidden. I will depart from my tower to rescue you. You must hang in there until I arrive!”

“I understand! I will hang in there!” Upon hearing that the clan leader had not abandoned her, Mona was so happy she almost shouted out loud.

The light from the snake-eye ring slowly faded. It was evident that Adept Kerala had cut off their communications now.

Mona hesitated for a moment. She couldn’t help but write the runes for Visual Avoidance and Suggestion in her palm before sending them to surround the tree hollow.

This way, even if any vampires discovered this tree hollow, they would subconsciously turn away under the Rune of Suggestion’s effects. As long as it wasn’t a Third Grade vampire that found the tree hollow, the vampires would not even realize what had happened to them.

The City of Musta.

Dener Clan Territory, Berkley Province.

The tower at the center of the city glowed brightly, the entire structure engulfed in brilliant elementium light. It looked like blooming fireworks in the night, making for an impressive sight from a distance.

A short moment later, the light faded away from the tower.

The doors opened abruptly as a group of adepts flew out from within.

They had just stepped out of the doors when a particularly old female adept instructed the rest of them, “Hurry over as soon as possible. I will go ahead of you all!”

Having said that, this terrifying adept who had no nose or ears and only several holes in their place, immediately took to the air, flying rapidly towards the forest.

Kerala was a Fourth Grade bloodline adept and one of the more famous powerhouses of the Central Lands.

At the moment, she had no choice but to emerge from clan headquarters to save that subordinates of hers that had poked the hornet’s nest. She had teleported to the adept tower closest to Mona’s location and was preparing to rescue here.

However, before she had even flown a kilometer across the land, Kerala stopped in her tracks and looked at the sky’s big, bright moon.

She didn’t know when it had happened, but the silver moon had been stained with a trace of red.

A thin layer of red mist obscured the moon’s light, tinging the whole world scarlet as if it had been covered in blood.

Kerala smelled the familiar scent of blood. Her expression instantly turned into a ferocious scowl.

“Mary, to think it’s you! Show yourself, since you’re here already!”

Giggles that sounded like silver bells could be heard. Mary descended from high above the sky with her crimson wings and crimson armor. The blood moon behind her hung high in the sky, completely engulfing her profile in the night.