Age of Adepts

“Gree…Greem? No, you’re not him…you’re…his clone.”

Cerveris opened his eyes wide as he stared at the Greem sitting high on the throne. He was so shocked he even started stuttering.

Greem’s current state was bizarre. He was glowing translucently, his entire body formed of pure, gentle light elementium. Numerous mysterious patterns of searing white light also flowed across his body.

His aura was profound and mysterious, making it difficult to tell the extent of his true power!

Greem lifted his head and smiled at Cerveris, who was embarrassing himself like a fool. He then chuckled and said, “It’s only been five years, and here you are jumping about so spiritedly. It seems like you didn’t get burned enough the last time!”

Upon hearing Greem say the word ‘burned,’ the typically eccentric and neurotic Cerveris instantly lost his cool and slippery demeanor, revealing the other side of his personality.

The fire at Inkdeep Valley had almost melted his very soul and his entire person. If the Association had not used a top-class treasure to help him remove the fire principles, he would probably still be struggling bitterly in a pocket dimension in his tower.

Cerveris opened his eyes wide; his expression was twisted and ugly. He pointed a trembling finger at Greem as he croaked in his hoarse voice, “You—”

“‘You,’ what? You were defeated by my hands, yet you still dare throw your weight around at my place. What gave you the courage? Could it be…did Domhnall send you here to declare war against our Central Lands?” Greem’s voice instantly turned cold and stern.

Cerveris’ chapped, dry lips fluttered like a butterfly in the cold winter winds. His finger continued to tremble. After a long pause, he finally put the hand down helplessly.

Declaring war on behalf of the Adept’s Association? He didn’t dare do that. Rush forward and challenge Greem to a battle? He didn’t dare do that either.

For a moment, this adept who stood at the top of the pyramid of adepts wasn’t sure how he should respond to this fire adept. It seemed like…it was almost as if…as if he had never ended up well every time he ran into Greem!

Seeing as Cerveris’ ‘mad-dog’ persona had fallen apart and things were turning against them, Gloria narrowed her eyes and stood forward. She said in a cold voice, “Greem, we are here to offer congratulations as representatives of the Association. Is this how you treat your guests?”

Greem laughed upon hearing that. “Congratulations? My, I thought you were here to find trouble!” His gaze swept across the Association adepts. He couldn’t help but let out a strange chuckle. “I thought it would be Ainley who would be coming here. I didn’t think it would be you…what is it? Did the old fellows of the Association decide to set you aside and sponsor Ainley instead? Those Fifth Grade resources couldn’t have all fallen into Ainley’s hands, could they?”

Gloria’s expression turned exceptionally ugly upon hearing this.

She really wanted to rebuke Greem…but that tiny thorn in her heart was aching badly from his provocation. It was so bad that she couldn’t even find the proper words to retaliate with!

Greem was far too clever and mischievous. The words he had said were only meant partially in jest, but they had hurt Gloria deeply. Indeed, after the last battle, the Association had managed to harvest a batch of rare Fifth Grade resources, though they had also suffered significant losses in the process.

If used properly, the resources would be enough to push an ultra-powerhouse on the threshold of Fifth Grade– like Ainley or Gloria–past that threshold. They could become Great Adepts. Given the number of resources, however, the Association could only guarantee the successful advancement of one Great Adept.

If Gloria had been this fortunate person, the Association should be taking steps to protect her and keep her safe so that she could focus solely on tackling the advancement. A ‘menial’ task like coming to the Central Lands to intimidate an opponent would never fall on a prized ‘seed’ and future Great Adept.

Thus, even with no reports to support his claim, Greem was able to guess the matter of fact with ease. He instantly managed to pour a cold bucket of water on Gloria before she could muster her words.

Fifth Grade resources…Ainley.

These secrets quickly incited a small commotion inside the banquet hall.

The adepts or organizations that did not know the complete picture began whispering amongst themselves, secretly trying to learn more. Meanwhile, major organizations like the Silver Union and the Northern Witches already knew the basic workings of what was happening. They did not express the same shock or surprise.

“Adept Ainley has gone into seclusion! Perhaps, the next time we meet him, he will already be a high and mighty Fifth Grade Great Adept!” Vice-Senate Head of the Silver Union raised his wineglass and said in a loud voice. “Come, let us raise our glasses and toast to Adept Ainley’s advancement. Let us hope he will be the next Great Adept of our World of Adepts to step out into the realms beyond! Cheers!”

Having said that, Melone finished the contents of his glass in a single gulp.

The next moment, the guests also raised their glasses and cheered, offering their praises and blessings.

However, no one knew what they were truly thinking in their heads!

With this series of events, the oppressive and arrogant aura that the Adept’s Association’s representatives brought with them collapsed in an instant. Even Gloria appeared subdued. She could only resentfully lead the Association adepts to their seats.

As for the gift that Gloria brought? It was a batch of thirty thousand slaves from other worlds, with species such as minotaurs, ursas, trolls, and kobolds. They were a decent workforce to be used in mines or sent in as cannon fodder.

Greem gladly accepted the gift.

It was rare to see Greem since he had gone into seclusion. Vice-Senate Head Melone instantly capitalized on the opportunity. He narrowed his eyes and chuckled as he said, “Lord Greem, I have come with a question for you on orders of a certain old man. Does your word still hold true?”

He was being quite vague, but Greem instantly understood what he meant.

Greem, the light-person, abruptly thrust his right hand into his chest. When he took his hand out of his chest, there was a ring of Antediluvian design in his palm. The next second, the ring floated over to Melone, carried by an invisible force.

Melone picked up the ring and examined its contents with his Spirit. A quick moment later, he smiled and carefully put it away.

“Lord Greem, this is an important matter, so I shall not be staying any longer. They are still waiting for me to get back over there! Point being, our Silver Union won’t be interfering in the affairs of the Central Lands moving forward.”

After hastily leaving behind these words, Vice-Senate Head Melone left the venue with his subordinates. He immediately returned to Union territory through the teleportation arrays.

Several guests who had been waiting for Greem promptly sent communications to him upon seeing him appear. For a moment, a dozen different communication requests appeared in Greem’s mind all at once.

Mary could only sigh when she saw how busy Greem was.

She knew that this was an insane world that greatly valued individual power!

She might have the power of a pseudo-ultra-powerhouse, but she was still too green and inexperienced compared to these truly powerful individuals from all over the world. If it weren’t for Greem, powerful individuals like the lich, the Medusa, and the insectfolk leader would never appear here.

Mary might have made a name for herself inside the World of Adepts over the past. Compared to Greem, her worldview was still too constrained.

Even though she quite disliked the label of ‘housekeeper’ that had been put on her, Mary had no choice but to accept the circumstances as they were. She started to help Greem network with these influential individuals from all over.

The founding ceremony had officially begun!

As the tower shimmered with prismatic light, Ironwood City became engulfed in a sea of joy.

Colorful elementium spells flew into the skies and erupted into beautiful fireworks everywhere within fifty kilometers of the city. Packs of flying horses, chimeras, firebirds, and other flying magical creatures soared in the air, casting down pretty petals as they flew.

Squads of strange magical machines appeared on the streets, dancing to the music and making all sorts of weird poses to the jolly tune, making the adepts and apprentices break out in laughter.

The Darkmoon Faire, composed of numerous strange creatures from other worlds, also started performing on the streets, using their wondrous racial abilities to put on all sorts of strange performances, making many adepts stop and watch.

A large table was placed at every street corner, piled full of unusual food from alien worlds. There were so many different kinds of food with various appearances, making it hard for one to decide what they should pick.

These were the places where the low-grade adepts and apprentices celebrated. Meanwhile, the truly important individuals and high-grade adepts gathered in the banquet hall, clustered in groups of two or three as they talked passionately amongst themselves.

Every member of the Crimson Clan was present, ensuring these foreign guests felt welcome. Greem wasn’t without his own affairs either. He dealt with one group of individuals after another, all of them ‘allies’ and ‘companions’ with their own little schemes in mind.

The first person he granted an audience to was naturally Lich Kanganas, as well as Resas, the messenger from the Alliance of Liches. The messenger’s purpose in coming surprised Greem. He was being invited to excavate the Death God’s tomb.

However, given his current situation’s unique circumstances, Greem could only politely reject the offer after some thought.

He knew his own affairs better than anyone else. It was quite inadvisable for him to go exploring at this juncture.

He had turned into the Devouring Fish and bit off the head of Sinai’s fire projection, which contained a fragment of his divine authority of fire within.

Such a powerful item, supported by a small sliver of Sinai’s soul, had been at odds with Greem for several years now. That was why Greem’s actual body remained hidden under the collapsed Fire Throne to this day, battling fervently against the sliver of Sinai’s soul.

That was why Greem would never step out of his hiding spot until he made the divine authority fragment submit completely!