Age of Adepts

Silver Union, the Diviner’s Tower.

Ever since the magic surge erupted, the elderly tower master had locked himself on the top floor of the tower, restlessly reading all the secret archives stored in there for the past tens of thousands of years.

As he flipped through the scrolls, he continually muttered a series of mysterious words, things like ‘the Three Rulers,’ ‘revival,’ and many other words.

On this day, the young archivist apprentice Sonke walked into the room carefully with a wooden tray carrying a few simple dishes. He said softly, “Teacher, it’s about time you eat!”

“No, no, I’m not eating…take it away. Don’t disrupt my train of thought,” The tower master was utterly unlike his usual wise and composed self. He appeared easily angered and temperamental as he waved his hand to chase Sonke away. “Dammit…I keep feeling like I’ve missed something. Why is it that I’m starting to understand the things happening there less and less!? Alice…Alice must have done something. These damned Fate Witches, why do they always like to stir up Fate and turn it into a damned mess?”

As he smacked the tower furiously, the Omniscient Eye above them suddenly let out a blinding flash of golden light. It rumbled as it turned, casting the golden beam at a certain place to the northwest.

“The wheel of Fate is turning. Another Great Adept has appeared in the World of Adepts…hurry, Sonke! Help me up there. Who’s the lucky fellow? Let’s see. Is it the one from the Adept’s Association or the one from the Central Lands?” Urged by the old tower master’s ramblings, Sonke hastily put down the food tray and helped his teacher up the narrow spiral staircase leading to the Omniscient Eye.

Upon arriving here, the old tower master seemed to gain a burst of strength. He pushed Sonke away and lunged onto the altar, projecting all his Spirit into the Omniscient Eye that was rapidly working away like a precise machine.

The Omniscient Eye looked like a giant, hollow metal ball. It was two meters in diameter and floated above the altar, and a strange eye sat in the center of the metal ball. It had a white sclera, a pupil, and streaks of red nerves that ran throughout the eyeball itself. It darted around as it looked, appearing exceedingly intelligent.

It wasn’t a magical eye. Rather, it was the eyeball of an actual ultra-grade being.

It was with the aid of this eyeball that the Diviner’s Tower could observe anything they wanted, regardless of distance or magical obstruction. However, even the most powerful of eyes could not see through the mists gathered by the powers of Fate.

The people that diviners hated the most were none other than other diviners!

“The mists of Fate…annoying! As expected, there’s Alice aura on them. Still, judging from the environment, this should be the Central Lands. That means the one who advanced must be that legendary fire adept. Hahaha…even Douglas couldn’t do anything about this fire adept. Could he possibly replicate the legend of the Three Ancient Rulers?”

One had to admit that anyone who had anything to do with Fate and divination was more than a little eccentric. This elderly tower master who had lived for nearly a thousand years was so off his rocker that his ramblings hardly made sense. As he continued to peek into the distance with the aid of the Omniscient Eye, he continued to babble along, spouting words and names that no one could understand.

The Three Ancient Rulers.

Sonke didn’t quite understand what his teacher was saying, but this ancient name drew his attention. This particular name had appeared the most frequently in the records of the ancient times when he was browsing the archives.

The Three Ancient Rulers referred to the three powerful individuals who had established the three major organizations of the World of Adepts in ancient times.

First, you had the founder of the Northern Witches. She was the one known as the Witch Queen, Monarch of the Witches, and the Ancient Witch– Salem. Then you had Ignaz, he who had mastered the earth principles and was first Chairman of the Adept’s Association. Lastly, Saint Patrick, the esoteric adept known as the Creator and founder of the Silver Union.

They were the only three Ninth Grade Great Adepts of the adept faction at the moment. As such, they were also respectfully referred to as the Three Ancient Rulers!

The fact that his teacher had just compared a Fifth Grade ‘rookie’ to the Three Ancient Rulers was completely beyond Sonke’s comprehension.

After all, Ninth Grade represented the very pinnacle of power in the multiverse. These people reigned far above the principles of the universe. They were almighty beings that ordinary adepts could never hope to reach.

As such, his teacher’s very act of comparing the Three Ancient Rulers to this man was already sacrilege. If news of this was heard by the three major organizations, trouble was certain to arise.

However, this was the Diviner’s Tower- the domain of the old tower master. No one dared challenge his authority under the gaze of the Omniscient Eye.

After all, being able to live as long as he had was a symbol of power as well!

…………

Adept’s Association, the Tower of Observation.

The seven hundred and seventy-seventh floor.

The typically quiet top floor of the tower was now crowded with people. Fourth Grade adepts who were typically absent and busy with their work were now all gathered around the new Chief Diviner Nostran, impatiently awaiting news.

Seven hours ago, a surge in principle fluctuation from the depths of the planar system had alarmed everyone. They were not aware of the disturbance’s source, but they could faintly sense that a groundbreaking event was about to happen in the World of Adepts.

Adepts below Fourth Grade were not too tightly connected with the planar system. Even if some of them also felt something unsettling, they couldn’t verify it in any way. However, these Fourth Grade adepts were all able to pick up on something through the law powers they had grasped.

For the sake of clarifying their doubts, all of them had put aside their work and gathered on the top floor of the Tower of Observation, seeking counsel with this newly assigned Chief Diviner Nostran.

Maztan, his predecessor, had used up the last of his life force on a divination seventy-eight years ago and died on the astrology platform. Meanwhile, Nostran was an elite who had been selected by Domhnall from the diviners in reserve and promoted to his current position.

The brilliant light on the astrology platform persisted for two hours before Diviner Nostran finally stepped down, supported by a few female apprentices.

“How was it? Did you manage to confirm it?” As the leader of the Association, Domhnall was the first to step forward and ask solemnly.

Nostran didn’t dare offend this elderly adept who held absolute authority and control over him. He shook aside the female apprentices and stepped before Domhnall. He bowed and said, “I’ve confirmed it. It’s him!”

Domhnall took in a deep breath of air.

The crowd behind him fell utterly silent.

A Fifth Grade Great Adept couldn’t quite threaten the Adept’s Association, which had a firm foundation. However, a Great Adept remained in the World of Adepts was very scary indeed.

If Greem took the risk of enduring planar backlash in order to wreak destruction in the east, the entirety of the Adept’s Association would probably quake beneath his boots.

Cerveris’ expression was particularly ugly among the crowd of Fourth Grade adepts.

Gloria appeared much more composed than him, but the quickly flickering light in her purple eyes betrayed her real emotions.

She and Cerveris were probably Greem’s most hated people within the Association. Even though they belonged to their own factions and served their own ends, the hostility had escalated to the level of a personal grudge after two fights.

Now that Greem had become a Great Adept, he would most definitely be banished from the planar world eventually. However, what little time he had left would be more than enough to do whatever he wanted.

If……

While everyone was talking amongst themselves and trying to digest this information, the Tower of Observation trembled as alarms started blaring.

“Warning…warning. Enemy assault: target creature has been locked on!” Tower Spirit Rafatus’ sharp voice echoed in the hall.

“Who? Who is it? I need an image of what’s happening outside,” Domhnall roared and tapped his staff heavily.

The wall of the hall suddenly turned into a mirror and revealed what was happening out there.

The Tower of Observation was now fully armed for battle.

Layers of forcefields and barriers covered every entrance, window, and balcony. An even larger dome-shaped barrier protected all the magical facilities surrounding the tower.

The attack from outside had also triggered the Tower of Observation’s defense mechanism.

The runic stones that continually circled the tower had been activated. The defensive and offensive arrays carved on them lit up and started to move toward the enemy along certain profound orbits.

A hidden door somewhere in the tower opened, and a hundred apprentice adepts took to the skies on high-grade voodoo beasts. They were all wearing specially crafted runic armor and held runic crossbows in their hands. The magical glow of their equipment was bright enough to see in daylight.

Meanwhile, something was happening on the ground as well. Bunkers hidden all around the tower opened up, and thousands of armored rhinos charged out, runic riders riding upon their backs equipped with special javelins.

Meanwhile, the other Association adepts also hurried to the closest magical facility after hearing the alarms.

In the blink of an eye, the area around the Tower of Observation had become empty.

All the Association adepts who had gone into hiding commenced looking around the skies, hoping to see who it was that dared to knock on the doors of the holy land of all adepts.

To their surprise, it wasn’t a raging army nor a giant beast. There was only a single young male adept in a red robe hovering in the air.

No other enemies could be seen apart from him!

While the numerous low-grade Association adepts felt relief, the Fourth Grade adepts crowded on the top floor couldn’t help but feel their hearts tighten at the sight.

This was bad…it was actually him!