Age of Adepts

To march from Ailovis–where the Crimson Clan was located–to Kerslin Castle required traveling through four different regions.

It was a journey that spanned six thousand and five hundred kilometers.

If one were to travel in a straight line without resting in-between, it would still take them over a month to reach Kerslin Castle. That didn’t take into consideration the various battles or ambushes that the army might encounter along the way. Otherwise, it would take even longer.

There were one big, seven intermediate, and twenty-three small adept clans across these four regions.

Among them, the single large clan was the Entom Clan of Fourth Grade Adept Nicolas. Naturally, due to Nicolas’ stance, the Entom Clan was also in a state of hostility with the Crimson Clan.

When the Crimson Clan’s Motherships slowly appeared on the distant horizon, all the adept clans along the way bunkered down and shut their doors. They did not dare cause any trouble and bring disaster upon themselves.

In particular, the Entom Clan was incredibly nervous.

All core members of the clan had returned to Oakwood City and had shut themselves in the clan tower. When the Motherships passed by Oakwood City a hundred kilometers away, the Entom Clan didn’t even risk sending out a sortie to assault them. They were terrified of the prospect of the Crimson Clan army changing their targets in a fury and unleashing their wrath upon Oakwood City.

The Crimson Clan’s air force did not just consist of seven Motherships. There was also a massive sky platform constructed upon the Motherships.

Of course, the air force’s scouts were the cheap-yet-efficient eyeball machines.

They wandered several kilometers ahead of the main army in the thousands, searching for any creature or trap that could threaten the fleet. A volley of heat rays would exterminate any individual that approached the fleet without warning.

Meanwhile, closer to the Motherships were the unique goblin airplanes, piloted by goblin pilots. These airplanes were approximately the size of a carriage and, therefore, the power of the magic energy weapons they carried was also much greater.

The Wild Charlie-II rapid-fire cannon.

The Model-773 enhanced magic-energy beam gun.

The Jubling-3 magic-energy torpedoes.

The ultra-modified magic-energy dome barrier.

Lotte’s multipurpose goggles.

Magic-energy combustion modules.

Triggered arcane-magic defensive shields.

……

One had to admit that after hundreds of years and dozens of generations of studious research and experimentation by the goblin engineers, the magic-energy weapons of the Crimson Clan’s goblins were much more advanced than before.

In particular, the offensive power of magic-energy weapons and the goblin mechanics’ security had peaked.

With the constant supply of Queyras alloy from Molten Fire City, they had managed to create many magic generator furnaces. That resolved the energy shortage problem that had always held the magical machines back. The magical machine army of today was utterly incomparable to the past. Their combat prowess has risen by several levels, turning them from a cannon fodder army to an elite army within the Crimson Clan.

However, the past few centuries of unrestrained excavation had also caused the Goblin Plane’s metal reserves to fall to a dangerously low level. The Crimson Clan had to search all over for similar resources planes to obtain more and better magical alloys to ensure the continuation of the magical machines’ development.

Nicolas stood on the highest balcony of the Oakwood City’s adept tower, a staff in his hand. He silently looked at the fleet as it flew across the sky.

Even though that person was not in view, he could still sense the overwhelming aura pressing against his face due to his Spirit as a Fourth Grade adept. In particular, Nicolas could sense that familiar and terrifying magical aura on the largest Mothership of the fleet.

Greem. Greem was actually in the fleet!

Nicolas gripped his staff tightly, so much so that the veins were showing on his scrawny left hand. His face was incredibly dark.

The people surrounding him were the Third Grade adepts of the Entom Clan.

They watched Nicolas with stern looks on their faces, fearful that their clan leader might do something terrible in his anger.

One person in the crowd–a muscular man in golden armor and a giant axe slung across his back–strode forward and spoke in a loud voice, “Clan leader, let me charge at them with the White Ghosts! At the very least, we can stop those mouthy fools from mocking the Entom Clan for our lack of courage!”

“Tiger, you can’t drag the whole clan into this affair just because of your own desires.” A middle-aged man with a wise but stern expression stepped forward and scolded him, “The opponents’ forces are overwhelming. If we are to launch an assault on them, we might draw their full wrath upon Oakwood City. If they give up on Kerslin Castle and chose first to attack Oakwood, we……”

The middle-aged adept left the sentence hanging.

However, everyone knew what he meant.

There was no way that Oakwood City would survive the rampage of the magical machine army. That was especially the case given the numerous powerful individuals in the enemy ranks: adepts like Bug Adept Billis, Red Dragon Adept Meryl, Mystique Emelia, and Blood Knight Soros. The odds of the Entom Clan’s victory were incredibly slim.

Meanwhile, it was evident that the enemy had no intention of attacking the Entom Clan right beside them. Instead, they marched on to assault Kerslin Castle. On the one hand, it was because Freed was the leader of the opposition forces. On the other, it was also because they did not take the Entom Clan’s power the least bit seriously.

Only three Motherships and a new magic golem dragon had been left in Ailovis. Yet, even these bare defenses were enough to discourage all the ambitious and malicious enemies out there.

The muscular man known as Tiger looked at the hesitating middle-aged adept and spoke in a cold voice, “Is the Crimson Clan not going to send forces after us if we keep ourselves shut in here and act like good, little boys? You bunch of cowards. If we are to fight with them, then we must not cling to any hope of luck. We should take advantage of their long march and of the fact that their army cannot remain stationary for too long. We should launch a quick sortie and retreat to our tower. What are they going to do, actually stay here and siege us?”

Another adept, this one looking much more elderly, couldn’t help but retort resentfully, “We are all cowards, and you alone are a hero, is it? If you’re so capable, why don’t you lead your forces and assault the Crimson headquarters? Let’s see the difference in our powers, shall we? The might our clan has accumulated over hundreds of years against their overwhelming military force!”

In the blink of an eye, a few more adepts had joined the argument. They made a total commotion on the balcony.

His subordinates’ arguments made Nicolas’ face turn even darker.

He tapped his staff firmly against the ground. A wave of energy rippled away, causing all the adepts to stumble backward.

“Silence, all of you!”

Nicolas looked around him at all the adepts; his face dripped with frost and frustration as he shouted, “The enemies haven’t arrived at our gates yet, and here you all are, fighting amongst yourselves! Hmph!”

“Clan leader…” The muscular man stepped forward as if he was about to say something more.

However, his words were interrupted by Nicolas.

“Alright, save it for later! We are not the enemy’s targets. There’s no need to put ourselves before their blade.” Nicolas’ expression was dark as he said, “We will observe how their fight with Freed proceeds before we decide on our future actions. Until then, all of you stay here in the tower quietly. Do not start any trouble that you cannot resolve yourself. Am I understood?”

“Yes, my lord!” The other adepts bowed in unison, relief on their faces.

The muscular adept let out a reluctant grunt, but he could only bow and acknowledge his orders.

After suppressing the clan’s disagreement, Nicolas turned and looked at the Crimson fleet in the distance. He couldn’t help but mutter to himself, “The world is about to change. The skies of Zhentarim are about to change!”

…………

Kerslin Castle.

Inside a magical room.

The magical mirror flickered several times before finally revealing the distant image.

Freed looked solemnly at the silhouette of the adept in the mirror as he bowed, “Lord Ulnak, you must help me this time!”

A short moment later, the blurry outline finally stabilized to reveal a young, handsome man with a cold expression on his face.

He yawned and shot a quick glance at Freed before coldly speaking, “You know my time is precious– do not waste it. Hurry up and say what you have to say!”

“My lord, my…my clan has made a troublesome enemy. If you do not offer us help now, we might not be able to meet again,” Freed might look like a wise and gentlemanly old man on most occasions, but he was like an obedient little apprentice before this person.

“Oh? I thought you were doing quite well for yourself in the Central Lands! How did things end up this way?” The young man paused for a moment, “Has the Adept’s Association launched a full-scale invasion?”

“It’s not the Adept’s Association, but…but—”

“I am eager to return to that experiment of mine. If you do not wish to speak, then there’s no need to do so!” The young man’s said with a severe tone.

“My lord, I’ll speak, I’ll speak. It’s not the Adept’s Association. It’s a newly risen clan of the Central Lands that has invaded my clan. Their clan leader is a fire adept. He has not yet reached peak Fourth Grade, but he already has the might of an ultra-powerhouse,” Freed hastily explained the situation.

“Central Lands…fire adept…” The young man caressed his chin as he thought to himself. These few words, put together, gave him a puzzling sense of familiarity.

Suddenly, he lifted his head and asked: “The fire adept you speak of isn’t called Greem, is he?”

It was Freed who was surprised now.

He had truly never expected that even Sixth Grade Great Adept Ulnak, who resided in the realms beyond, would know of Greem’s name.

For some reason, an ominous feeling rose in Freed’s heart!