Age of Adepts

Greem waved the wooden box over toward him. He opened a corner of it and glanced at its contents expressionlessly before putting the lid back on.

Due to his forcefield, no one else could see the box’s contents through the distorted space around him.

Greem did not return the box to the young adept. Instead, he casually waved his hand and opened a spatial rift. He then put the box into a small fire dimension he had created. At Greem’s level, ordinary storage equipment could no longer be used.

Storage belts and rings were utterly unable to bear his fire principle powers. As such, he had to excavate small fire dimensions to store his more valuable possessions.

As long as he wasn’t in some unusual environment where space was distorted, these small dimensions marked with his brand could be opened and closed at any time. They were more convenient than ordinary storage equipment.

“This much will make me forget your transgressions in the past, at the very best. It isn’t enough to talk about reinforcements. You stay here for the moment,” Greem thought for a moment and said solemnly, “I still have some trivial matters to finish up here. Wait until the Fourth Grade adepts of the Central Lands have gathered together. I will discuss the matter of reinforcing the Association with them.”

“Lord Greem, forgive my impudence…but the Association cannot afford to wait any longer!” Adept Germaine pled anxiously, “Even before I left the Adept’s Association, Inkdeep Valley…was already on the verge of being overrun.”

“That can’t be!” Andrew, who had been standing to the side, couldn’t help but counter. “The disaster creatures might be ferocious, but the Association has always been powerful. They should have no problem fending off the invasion for at least a few more months.”

Adept Germaine put on a bitter smile when he heard this. He then said, “That is supposed to be the case, but…but……”

“Is there something you are not supposed to say? I should tell you that these are the Central Lands, not the subordinate territory of your Association. We have no duty or obligation to help you defend against an otherworldly invasion. So, it’s best if you tell us everything you haven’t told us yet,” Andrew had an ugly expression on his face. His clan was currently the one facing the most trouble in the Central Lands.

If Greem were to actually redirect forces to the Association’s aid, who was supposed to defend this mega-rift?

If it had been a few days ago, he would have had the confidence to push back the invaders using the clan’s accumulation of resources and power over the past few centuries. However, judging from the current situation, the invaders were all fearsome forces from places like the Abyssal World and the World of Disasters. A mere Fourth Grade adept like himself could not repel such terrifying enemies in such numbers.

That was why he would be the first to reject a proposition to reinforce the Association!

Adept Germaine hesitated when he heard Andrew’s question. In the end, he gritted his teeth and explained, “I’m not trying to hide anything…it’s just that the situation there is not looking good.

“Our Association wouldn’t be in such bad straits if there were only those three minor Scourge Lords. The problem is the appearance of a strange creature in the depths of Inkdeep Valley. It’s not very powerful, but it has an unusually fearsome corruption ability. Up to this point, a third of the voodoo beasts we sent to the battlefield has been corrupted into mutated beasts by that creature.”

“Directly corrupting your voodoo beasts on the battlefield and turning them into mutated beasts?” Greem suddenly interrupted to ask.

“Yes, my lord! It is because of that monster causing trouble that the situation has turned so terrible. If…if we cannot exterminate this monster within ten days, the Association will probably have to abandon Inkdeep Valley and retreat to headquarters to defend our core territories,” Adept Germaine’s fear was written all over his face. It was obvious that the monster had left a horrifying impression on him.

“The only ones that could possibly do such a thing are principle creatures,” Greem nodded and said, “Without similar principle powers to push back against it, ordinary creatures will be corrupted incredibly easily. Now I know why Domhnall sent you for me. He must be intending to borrow my principle powers!”

“Well said, my lord. That is indeed the case!” Adept Germaine no longer concealed the truth now that Greem had managed to figure it out anyway. He nodded and acknowledged Greem’s conjecture, “Lord Domhnall also said that if you, my lord, were willing to help personally, the Association would—”

Adept Germaine’s voice suddenly vanished at this point as he switched to magical voice transmission. It appeared as if he was promising some generous terms to Greem.

A short moment later, Adept Germaine returned alone to the Ahlden Clan’s adept tower, leaving Greem, Kanganas, and Andrew beside the mega-rift.

Kanganas might not be a native of the World of Adepts, but after some studying, he had gained a basic understanding of the Continent of Adepts.

Upon seeing the Association adept leave, he was the first to ask in a shady voice, “From what I know, your relationship in the Adept’s Association is not very good. I wonder; what exactly did they give you to change your mind? You could keep defending the Central Lands and watch havoc break out in their territories. Wouldn’t that be a better idea?”

“Origin substance……two-thousand siths of origin substance!” Greem replied calmly.

“Two-thousand siths of origin substance…hm, quite the generous gift indeed! That said,” A trace of disbelief appeared on Kanganas’ smooth crystalline skull, “If you are claiming that you agreed to help them over some origin substance, then I will be the first to doubt that! They are your enemies. If they were to be severely weakened during this invasion, I am sure that would be more compatible with the Central Lands’ interests!”

Andrew did not say anything, but judging from his expression, he agreed with the demigod lich’s view.

The Adept’s Association was simply too powerful- so powerful that they could fight against the rest of the organizations of the Continent of Adepts alone.

If it were possible to make them suffer losses due to the disaster creature invasion, then the Silver Union, Northern Witches, and the Central Lands would all be happy to see it happen.

Greem chuckled and said, “If this wasn’t a magic surge, but just an ordinary invasion, I would be happy to watch from the sidelines. However, given that the magic surge is ongoing, it will be challenging to banish the Scourge Lords once they’ve established a foothold in the World of Adepts. As a member of our world, I must naturally obey the call of our planar consciousness and repel the invaders!”

Greem suddenly changed the tune of the discussion to one of obligation. There was nothing Kanganas or Andrew could say to that. However, judging by how the lich was sneering, he didn’t believe a single word of what Greem had just said!

Greem wasn’t bothered. He secretly whispered a few words to the lich with magic.

“Now, that’s right! That’s appropriate for people of our stature. I knew you were planning something behind the scenes…kehkehkeh! Now I can rest easy.” The crimson soulfire in Kanganas’ eye sockets pulsed as he said excitedly, “Leave the task of relaying the information to me. I will make sure to get this news to that ‘esteemed person’ as quickly as possible. Kehkehkeh……”

Andrew was drawing a blank. He had no idea what the two of them were talking about. However, he was sure that any individual being plotted against by a principle adept and a demigod lich was an unfortunate individual. No, an extremely…horribly…terribly unfortunate individual!

“Andrew, don’t just stand around. Go tell all the Fourth Grades of the Central Lands to come here for a meeting. Two days is the limit. Anyone who doesn’t arrive in two days will have to bear the consequences!” Greem said nothing more after giving his orders. He shut his eyes and silently started recovering the strength he had lost in the battle earlier.

At his current level, he would be able to recover by exhausting energy, no matter what damage he sustained. If there were wounds on his body that could not be healed, it would mean that he was nearing his limits.

The mysterious enemy from earlier had clearly been a powerful principle adept. Compared to him, Greem’s application of the principle powers was akin to that of a toddler. They were not even remotely on the same level.

If it weren’t for the Chip’s extraordinary calculation abilities, Greem would not have qualified to drag the battle into one of attrition. After the mysterious fight, most of the planar feedback Greem had obtained by repelling the Abyssal invasion had been consumed by planar backlash.

That said, even though his losses were great, Greem didn’t come out of the battle empty-handed.

At the very least, he now understood the basic concept of principle battles.

He still would not be able to defeat the principle adept’s clone if they met again. However, if he combined with his starbeast bloodline, there was the slightest possibility Greem would be able to kill the clone.

Now, it was just a question of whether that adept would be foolish enough to try the same thing again!

…………

The Ahlden Clan tower.

Adept Germaine was maintaining communication with headquarters through a magical mirror in a room.

Domhnall’s elderly face appeared in the crystal.

“How did it go? Did Greem agree to act?”

“My lord, he has yet to promise anything other than gathering the Fourth Grades of the Central Lands for a discussion,” Adept Germaine looked dejected.

“Hmph! What’s there to be disappointed about? The fact that he would even react so favorably is already beyond our expectations. Isn’t he gathering the Fourth Grade adepts? You must make contact with all the Fourth Grade adepts before the meeting. Make any promises you must. Do it well, Germaine. I have already authorized the use of all our hidden resource sites for you. Do not hesitate to offer any resources or materials to the Fourth Grade adepts if it means being able to convince any of them.

“Remember; at any cost, by any means necessary!”