Age of Adepts

The master of the Diviners’ Tower lifted his head calmly and said, “I humbly request that my lord turn back and refrain from interfering with the affairs in the World of Adepts this time.”

“You’re chasing me away just as soon as I returned to the World of Adepts?” Douglas opened his eyes wide in fury.

“Not chasing you away, but requesting you leave! As old friends, I do not wish to see you embroiled in the vortex of Fate once again. So, please, give up. Go back to space and let them settle the matter of the Central Lands on their own.”

“You…did you see something?” Douglas asked solemnly.

The elderly tower master shook his head silently but said nothing. He then turned and walked back into the portal he had come from.

Douglas could see, very clearly, several deep wrinkles crawl across his old friend’s forehead with what few words he had just said. Even his back seemed more hunched over when he turned around.

Fate backlash.

His old friend had suffered such severe Fate backlash with just those few words. The implication behind this caused even Douglas, the clone of a Sixth Grade adept, to tremble in fear.

Perhaps he truly shouldn’t have returned this time!

…………

Fire Throne.

Like all adepts, Greem was standing silently in the hall, sensing the tremors in space with the tower’s aid.

The magical tides had just erupted, and the waves had yet to reach the World of Adepts. Consequently, nothing unusual had occurred yet. However, this peace will not last too long. The instant the tide washed over the World of Adepts, everything would change.

The world would eliminate those who could not adjust to the changes!

There were undoubtedly countless adepts like himself at this moment, observing every change in the depths of space as they waited silently for the expected calamity to arrive.

Greem was almost overwhelmed with emotion at what was to come. His body trembled slightly, and he almost fell.

Greem lifted his head and looked around him.

The tower wasn’t shaking, nor was the ground.

What had trembled earlier wasn’t the outside world, but his mind.

When his spiritual consciousness melded with the formless fire principles that existed everywhere in the world around him, the tremors and ripples coming from the World of Adepts’ power system became even more apparent.

The first wave of the magical tides had swept over the World of Adepts.

An overwhelming torrent of magical energy was surging out of the depths of empty space, roaring as it charged forward and knocked the material planes around as they hovered within their planar barriers.

Due to the protection of the planar barriers, the magic tides could not seep into the planar worlds. However, as each wave of violent energy washed against the barriers and eroded them, cracks started to appear.

If a planar barrier was the size of a watermelon, then these cracks were as fine as a hair. They didn’t look significant at all, but strands of space energy could seep into the planar world through these cracks, creating horrifying energy storms within.

The skies of the World of Adepts abruptly turned crimson.

It was almost as if a red-hot poker had been stabbed through the sky, poking a massive hole in the world and causing seas of fire and wild energy storms to appear on the horizon.

A strange cracking sound could be heard throughout the world. The clouds were stained red and rumbled restlessly, as if they were boiling in a cauldron.

Countless forest beasts and critters emerged from their lairs, disturbed and nervous. They looked at the blazing horizon and the slowly expanding shadow in the sky in silence.

Finally, a spot in the sky caved to the pressure of the tides. There was a loud tearing sound as a spatial rift measuring several dozens of meters were torn open. Just like that, spacestorms from the realms beyond rushed into the World of Adepts.

The formless spacestorms blew across the land and over several towering mountains. Like a rotting cake, the green quickly faded from these mountains before the rocks themselves were gradually worn down. The soft dirt and everything above it was shredded to unrecognizable pieces, blown away into the distance.

The greenery of the earth vanished quickly.

Plants, trees, bushes, moss, grass, and the tens of thousands of beasts, birds, and insects that lived on this land disappeared instantly without a trace.

It was almost as if somebody was running an invisible razor over the earth, again and again.

The animals and plants disappeared, the dirt disappeared, the sand and pebbles disappeared. Soon, the mountain’s very base was exposed and giving off sparks before the devastation of the spacestorm.

The World of Adepts was one of the largest planar worlds in the universe. The strength of its planar barrier was naturally far superior to the average plane. Thus, most of these spatial rifts were closed in just a few seconds, preventing further corrosion from the magical tides.

However, just these few seconds of corrosion had brought about a terrifying calamity to the world’s interior.

The planar barrier stood firm, resisting the erosion of the magical tides. The first half of the tide washed over soon. The rest of the wave continued to surge forward endlessly, but it could not inflict any further damage to the planar barrier.

However, all the past weaknesses and spatial rifts in the planar barrier were now open due to the magical tide’s surging.

…………

The Central Lands, the Ahlden mega-rift.

The dark shadow in the sky continued to twist and struggle, now measuring an entire kilometer in length.

Three adept towers were spread across the land, massive pillars of light glowing from their tops, forcibly containing the spread of the dark shadow.

Numerous war towers around the adept towers glowed with magical light. Together, they erected a massive barrier that protected the entire place.

The light pillars of the adept towers were battling against the dark shadow.

Finally, as the magical tides washed over and over, the dark shadow tore wide open, transforming into a crimson rift. A spacestorm of horrifying intensity blew into the World of Adepts.

The spacestorm instantly surrounded the Ahlden Clan’s fortified stronghold. Fortunately, the area protected by the barrier held firm and remained undamaged, but the ground past the barrier’s reach was shaved away at a visible pace.

Sparks flew off of the energy barrier, and flames burned everywhere.

Ahlden Clan adepts were running around and shouting inside the towers. They shut off one auxiliary defensive array after another, redirecting all the magic energy to the barrier.

With the three adept towers clinging on with all their might, the Ahlden Clan’s fortified stronghold was able to survive the first wave of the magical tides!

When the barrier finally stabilized under the intensity of the spacestorms, the adepts exhaled in relief. Passionate cheering rang out all over the towers.

Andrew, whose hands were gripped tight in anxiety, let out a long breath of relief.

He calmed himself down and rubbed the snake-eye ring on his right little finger. He then spoke in a solemn voice, “We have survived the first wave of the magical tides. All clan members are to remain at their stations until further notice. Furthermore, I—”

Andrew had not managed to finish his sentence. He stopped abruptly.

His eyes opened wide as he stared at the screen of light in front of him. A strange creature resembling a swordfish had appeared on the screen, having entered the World of Adepts alongside the spacestorm.

The spacestorm that could shred and tear most substances to pieces was utterly harmless to the creature. It shook its black, shiny body and quickly weaved through the sky, propelled by the spacestorms.

Given its fearsome speed, most spells wouldn’t even be able to catch up to it!

“Starbeast…it’s a starbeast! Prepare to attack immediately!”

Andrew immediately shouted out loud.

As he shouted furiously, the three adept towers simultaneously glowed brilliantly. Bolts of magical lightning cut across the sky and blasted the fish-shaped starbeast.

However, what happened next stunned them to their very core.

The countless bolts of lightning that appeared as if they could tear the world asunder were wholly absorbed by the starbeast, then concentrated into a single golden lightning bolt which it fired at the barrier.

It was fighting alone against three powerful adept towers, yet the lightning bolt was able to cause the barrier to shudder. If it weren’t for the three towers all sharing some of the damage between them, the barrier would have been pierced with a single strike, creating a passage for the starbeast to enter.

Andrew could not help but frown deeply.

He could clearly sense that this was no more than a beginner Fourth Grade starbeast.

However, the starbeast was actually able to square off against three adept towers through its powerful racial ability. That…was clearly beyond the limits of Andrew’s imagination!

“Use elementium magic of another attribute!” Andrew immediately gave a new order.

Since lightning magic had not been able to harm it in the slightest, perhaps something else would. He didn’t believe that this beginner Fourth Grade starbeast could be utterly immune to all elementium attributes.

The next second, a crimson torrent of flames engulfed the starbeast.

However, just like last time, the starbeast stood still and absorbed all the flames before opening its maw and firing a golden fireball.

“Next one!”

“Keep switching the attacks.”

“Continue.”

Andrew felt his head buzz. This starbeast that had broken into the World of Adepts by accident was actually immune to all elementium magic. Not only was it immune, but it was fully capable of absorbing the elementium and retaliating with the elementium energy.

Long-ranged spells were clearly not the best way to fight against a starbeast like this!

While Andrew hesitated on what to do next, a seductive voice rang in his mind. “Have the towers stop for the moment! This starbeast is quite interesting. I will go and play with it.”.