Age of Adepts

The first wave of the magic surge finally ended.

When Kerala and the others returned to the Central Lands via the teleportation arrays, they immediately caused a commotion throughout the region.

Greem might have had the title of the legendary fire adept in the past, but he had never actually engaged the major organizations in a direct conflict. Thus, no one had a clear idea of whether he lived up to his reputation.

After this trip to the Adept’s Association, he had made his appearance alongside the other major organizations. The presence of Greem in the Central Lands allowed the region to be comparable to the three major organizations in every aspect.

This reality was not only an incredible surge of morale for all Central adepts but also allowed the Fourth Grade adepts to enjoy glory and reverence for the first time in their lives.

They had returned as six after leaving as eight, with Ariza dying in the battle and Greem having gone missing. Still, the Central Lands’ reputation had been elevated significantly, and there was an air of optimistic expectation for the future everywhere.

Upon hearing that Greem had fought a fire projection of Fire God Sinai and gone missing, Mary immediately abandoned her post beside the Ahlden spatial rift and hurried to Fire Throne.

When she and her party arrived there, they found Fire Throne razed by a mysterious force. Even Fire Cave had collapsed, reduced to a lava lake that was several kilometers in radius.

It wasn’t just Fire Cave that had fallen victim to the lava. The surrounding Black Forest, once home to countless lives, had turned to scorched earth. The only things in sight were rolling steam and thick black pillars of smoke everywhere.

Mary stood at the bow of the Versailles as she examined everything within sight.

Her brows furrowed as her face flushed white. She was clearly taken aback by the unusual scenery she was witnessing.

A dozen Crimson adepts were beholding the same scene behind her. They were all silent and obviously concerned.

“You are sure that Greem returned here?” Mary suddenly asked in a cold voice.

Emelia took a step forward and offered her calm analysis, “According to what Lady Kerala and the other Fourth Grades said, the clan leader left the battlefield alone three days ago. Meanwhile, the abnormality here also occurred three days ago. I asked the adepts stationed at Pinecone City regarding this matter. They had also sent people to investigate underground when all this happened with Fire Throne, but they were forced out by the fires here. It seems like……”

“Seems like what?”

“Seems like the intensity of the fire underground has exceeded a thousand points. Even Third Grade adepts will not be able to travel into the lava lake to investigate the situation.”

Everyone couldn’t help but be horrified when they heard that.

The intensity of the flames on the periphery already exceeded a thousand points. How fearsome were the fires inside Fire Throne? The clan leader’s adept tower didn’t get devoured by the lava, did it?

Fire Throne was the clan leader’s personal tower. Usually, Mary was the only one among the Crimson adepts who could enter and exit freely. However, with all this happening to Fire Throne, the teleportation array inside the tower no longer seemed to function as well.

The members of the Crimson Clan had actually lost all means of direct communication with Greem!

“No, I must find out what Greem’s current situation is. All of you stay here. I will go down there and investigate personally.” Having said that, Mary flared her wings and prepared to dive down.

Just then, a sweet female voice rang out from behind her.

“Wait, Mary, my little sister!”

Mary’s body trembled and froze in the air. She slowly turned around.

Three witches walked out of the cabin of the Versailles.

Upon seeing the young and pretty witch in the lead, the Crimson adepts hastily bowed and paid their respects.

“My greetings, Lady Alice!”

It was the leader of the Fate Witches, Alice, who had left the World of Adepts on an excursion awhile ago. Icelady Snowlotus and Berserk Witch Sofia accompanied her.

“I remember we agreed last time that whoever’s stronger gets to be the big sister. What is it? You think you can beat me for certain now?” For some reason, Mary could never calm down when she saw Alice. She slowly flew back onto the deck, staring at the witch with scowling eyes.

“Greem is still missing. Do you intend to challenge me at this time?” Alice smiled sweetly, her face relaxed and composed.

However, Snowlotus and Sofia were glaring at Mary in a much more hostile manner from behind.

Mary rolled her eyes and started chuckling as well.

The more ill-tempered Berserk Witch Sofia spat out coldly, “What are you laughing at? Your man’s almost dead, and you can still laugh?”

Mary started laughing even harder, so much so that she had to catch her breath. “Well said! Don’t you forget, my man is also your leader’s man…watch it! If you happen to push Greem into his grave with your curses, Alice might just be lunging at your throat!”

Alice blushed upon hearing this, and she shot an unamused glare at Sofia. She then recomposed herself and said solemnly, “Mary, you can’t go down there. None of us here can go down there.”

“What is it? Is Greem really down there?” Mary flew up to Alice and finally started asking sternly.

“Mm, he is indeed down there,” Alice nodded and said, “I performed a divination for him before I came here. He’s safe, with no risk to his life. There is a little danger, but things will turn for the better!”

“Then why won’t he come out here and see us?” Mary asked.

“You have an approximate idea of his situation. He’s already halfway to Fifth Grade, only held back by the fact that he doesn’t have enough Spirit. He seemed to have benefitted from this trip to the Association and has been forced into a deep slumber. This slumber will probably last for a very long time. He will probably be a Fifth Grade adept when he emerges once again,” For some reason, there was no trace of joy or happiness on Alice’s face when she talked about Greem’s advancement.

Mary felt a conflicted mix of joy and sorrow upon hearing this. She seemed to have been reminded of some difficult decision.

The other higher-ups of the Crimson Clan had no such concerns. They all seemed to be filled with envy and admiration for this news.

The clan leader’s pace was getting faster and faster, so fast that they could no longer keep up with him!

At the thought of this, everyone’s happy expressions turned more complicated. They sighed in resignation in their hearts but sincerely rejoiced for their clan leader at the same time.

A Great Adept was finally about to be born in the Crimson Clan!

Greem’s advancement to Fifth Grade was a tremendous glory for the Crimson Clan and the Crimson adepts. However, for Alice and Mary, it would mean a temporary parting from Greem.

They had spent most of the past hundreds of years on their own projects and business, only sometimes meeting up when they were free. However, they had all still been inside the same world. They could have met each other whenever they wanted. Naturally, they did not feel the same kind of concern and pining for their lover as if Greem had gone to the realms beyond.

Once Greem advanced to Fifth Grade, it would be time for him to leave!

When that happened, it would no longer be so easy to see him.

If the two girls couldn’t keep up with Greem, they would only be left further and further behind. When that happened, they would only be able to admire his radiance from the shadows, unable to approach him in the slightest.

The hostility between the two girls vanished without a trace at this thought.

Having obtained Alice’s word on the situation, Mary no longer insisted on going down for an investigation.

The two girls gathered and had a simple discussion. They then gave out a series of instructions.

With this lava lake at the center, a restricted zone twenty-five kilometers in radius was drawn out. No adepts outside of the Crimson Clan were allowed to enter this area. To ensure that Greem wasn’t disturbed by any external interference, a Mothership was kept stationed above the lava lake all year long, manned by high-grade adepts from the clan.

Meanwhile, Alice and Mary went to various places and began organizing the adepts of the Central Lands.

To their surprise, even though Greem remained absent, the Fourth Grades of the Central Lands did not show any hostility or resistance toward their instructions. In particular, the six veterans that had followed Greem to war genuinely revered the legendary fire adept.

Even Matthew and Nicolas, who had grudges with the Crimson Clan in the past, had changed their attitudes. They were eager and passionate about the unification and reorganization of the Central Lands.

All the Fourth Grades of the Central Lands agreed unanimously to reorganize the forces of the major clans around Horton Magic Academy to create the fourth major adept organization of the World of Adepts. Moreover, Horton Magic Academy would be a public adept organization with no restrictions on the nationality or species of the members who wished to join.

In doing so, many apprentices and adepts in the three major organizations’ territories would probably become eager to join.

However, it wasn’t so easy to accomplish such a colossal feat either!

There was the organization of the departments within Horton Magic Academy, the classification of subjects, staff hiring, workforce assignment, construction of resource sites, furnishing of laboratories, and internal allocation of resources. There were far too many tiny tasks that fell squarely on the shoulders of Mary, Alice, and the Crimson adepts.

The Central Lands had been known as Zhentarim in the past, a name that also represented the region’s loose organization where each prominent clan managed their own benefits and profits.

Now, they would all have to give up some of their territories, adept towers, and resources while also making sure the welfare of their clan members was still taken care of. Negotiations over these matters would not conclude so quickly.

The higher-ups of the Crimson Clan constantly traveled between the Fourth Grade organizations. Discussing, negotiating, compromising, trading- everyone was busy at work, giving their all for the establishment of the fourth major organization.

Finally, after five years of preparation and hard work, all of the negotiations came to an end. The Crimson Clan began to announce to the other three adept organizations that the Horton Magic Academy of the Central Lands was now officially the fourth major adept organization of the World of Adepts.

Its date of establishment? The fifth day of the eleventh month of the year 33,072.