Age of Adepts

Naturally, Greem couldn’t leave the matter of constructing a personal adept tower to some outsider!

Should the tower’s location be leaked, Greem’s almighty enemies would be able to locate him at any time. As such, he could only leave this task to Sock. The split-brain was responsible for organizing all matters related to the tower’s construction.

However, the environment in the Fire Elementium Plane was too poor. Ordinary creatures couldn’t survive there at all. Most of the construction work could only be left to the construction magical-machines. These construction machines would have to undergo special modifications to increase their fire resistance in order to adapt to the harsh environment of the Fire Elementium Plane.

Moreover, given Greem’s current identity as a Fifth Grade Great Adept, an ordinary small or mid-sized tower would not allow him to unleash his full power. It was a given that this would have to be a large adept tower.

After handing over the coordinates to Sock, Greem hesitated for a moment but finally decided to pay a visit to Great Adept Sarubo.

It was time to settle his ties and grudges with the Sarubo Clan!

…………

Fifteen minutes later, Greem appeared in front of a tall adept tower in Camp Exodar.

All sorts of people were entering and exiting from the entryway on the first floor. These were all adepts, wearing robes and armor of various designs. They might be of different grades and classes, but they all wore a strange metal emblem on their chest.

Whenever they passed through the defensive barrier, a flash of blue light would shine on the emblem. It seemed to be some sort of identification system.

Meanwhile, two seven-meter-tall mithril statues stood silently on both sides of the door. A series of magical gemstones were embedded in the center of their humanoid heads. These gemstones continually scanned the adepts that passed through the entrance.

With their indestructible bodies and violent metal fists, one could imagine how these two Fourth Grade mithril statues would give an invader an unforgettable memory should anyone try to enter without an emblem.

Mithril statues were large metal magical statues made mostly out of powerful magical alloy and coated with a layer of mithril. They could endure any elementium magic below Fourth Grade and only took half damage from Fourth Grade magical attacks.

Such powerful metal golems were practically invincible against adepts below Fourth Grade. Even Fourth Grade adepts would have a hard time against these constructs.

These two mithril golems might only appear to be beginner Fourth Grade, but they were far superior to Shadow Demon when it came to charging on the frontlines and taking enemy attacks.

If one were to be brutally honest, even two intermediate Fourth Grade Shadow Demons put together would not be a match for a single one of these mithril statues. The reason for it was simple. They were designed for different purposes.

These tough-skinned giant magical statues with potent magic immunity were the natural enemies of spellcasters. Therefore, an assassin-type magical-machine like Shadow Demon was even less of a match for them.

However, Shadow Demon was superior to these mithril statues when it came to stealth and assassination.

At the very least, spellcasters like Greem were always more fearful of golems like Shadow Demon and less concerned about mithril statues. The fundamental reason for this was that the mithril statues were too large and clumsy. They were often unable to be used to their full effectiveness in many situations.

As such, giant golems like the mithril statues could only be used as guards for critical magical facilities. It wasn’t easy to bring them along for expeditions.

The numerous magical gemstone eyes of the two mithril golems locked on to Greem when he approached the entrance. They creaked and started moving.

“Halt! Report your identity,” The mithril statue on the left moved into Greem’s path. A booming mechanical voice came from within it.

The movements of the mithril statues immediately drew the attention of the adepts. Their bodies trembled when their gaze fell upon Greem. Shock and surprise flashed over their faces.

“It’s the legendary fire adept!”

“It’s him…it’s him.”

At that moment, a mental fluctuation rippled over the mithril statues, and a low and hoarse voice spoke up.

“Just as I expected, it’s you, Greem. Very well, you can come in now. I will be waiting for you in Hall Nine!”

Judging from the voice, it was Fifth Grade Adept Sainz, whom Greem had met once before.

As an adept, they could remember anything they had set eyes upon and recall anything they had heard. If it was needed, some adepts could even etch certain especially important scenes deep in their consciousness so that they could repeatedly recall them for appreciation and examination.

It was one of the many benefits of adepts having powerful Spirits!

The mithril statue stepped aside, and the barrier in front of the tower opened.

Greem looked at the crowd around him and walked in calmly.

A group of adepts hastily ran over the moment he entered the tower.

The leader of the group was a familiar acquaintance of Greem’s as well. It was Fourth Grade Adept Martin.

A group of high-grade adepts wearing executor robes followed behind him.

“Greem…Lord Greem, very glad to see you. I’m here to show you the way on orders of Lord Sainz!” Two hundred years had passed, but Martin was still as tall and handsome as ever. However, Martin appeared a little awkward and at a loss, having so abruptly run into an ‘old friend’ who he now had to refer to as ‘Lord.’

“I appreciate Sainz’s consideration!” Greem smiled and said. “Since that’s the case, let us talk while we walk!”

“Yes!”

Greem ignored the Second and Third Grade executors of the tower and walked into the building under Martin’s lead.

“Have you been staying in the tower all these years? Why not go back to the Central Lands for a look?” Greem asked curiously.

“I can’t go back, nor would I want to!” Martin sighed. “People like me are not good at managing affairs and can’t be bothered to deal with those Zhentarim bastards. So, I might as well hide in this camp in space where no one can tell me what to do. It’s a pretty unrestrained life I have here.”

“Then your family and friends…?”

“I might look young, but I am already over seven hundred years old. The only direct descendants I left behind in Zhentarim died out three hundred years ago. The other branch descendants use my name as a banner, but if you were to really go into it, they aren’t all that related to me anymore.” Having said that, Martin couldn’t help but let out a resentful sigh. “I can’t be bothered to deal with them either. Just let them be!”

“And the others in this tower?”

“Their situations are similar to mine. Some have lost their bloodline, others have conflicts with those in Zhentarim, and some others prefer the quiet here. The situations differ slightly, but after all this time out here, no one exactly has a mind to return to that small and narrow world.”

Greem nodded when he heard this. He could somewhat understand their plight.

“However, we know perfectly well of your exploits in Zhentarim, my lord. We are genuinely in awe that you were able to shatter the isolationist shackles of Zhentarim in just a hundred years and pull the region back on the proper path!” Martin couldn’t help but talk on for a few more sentences. “You are truly the great bringer of change that the Central Lands has been waiting for! The Central Lands will rise in power as well from now on!”

Greem responded to the praise with a few neutral comments and continued speaking normally to Martin.

After passing through countless corridors and passages and riding on several floating discs, they finally arrived at Hall Nine.

Sainz was already waiting here.

The same dirty robe, the same scruffy short hair, and the same scrawny figure with a red nose. Sainz stood silently there, evaluating Greem with calm eyes.

As a Great Adept, he had thousands of ways and means by which to make himself look more handsome and young. However, these methods would hardly deceive an adept of the same power. Moreover, as a Great Adept, their value had never been dependent on their appearance.

That was why many Great Adepts didn’t care much for their appearances and looked very eccentric indeed.

Today, upon setting eyes on Greem, Sainz felt envy and jealousy for the first time.

It was good to be young!

Compared to how old Sainz looked, Greem was indeed enviably young.

At first glance, Greem was simply a good-looking young man, with eyes that glowed like stars and shapely facial features. He wasn’t exactly outstandingly handsome. However, his figure was unexpectedly muscular with well-defined lines of the perfect ratio.

When he simply stood there, he gave off the impression of being an ordinary person. He did not have the same suffocating presence of other adept powerhouses.

However, horror and shock flashed across Sainz’s eyes when he looked upon Greem.

As a Fourth Grade adept, Martin might not be able to sense the principle aura that Greem radiated. However, a veteran Great Adept like Sainz had advanced 1,900 years ago and could see it very clearly. Four principle auras. This newly advanced Greem was shrouded in four principle auras.

Two of the red fire halos had a mystical principle resonance with Greem’s soul. These were probably the fire principle powers he had mastered. Meanwhile, the other two–one dark red and the other bright yellow–appeared to be provided by some powerful treasures.

The four unique principle auras mingled together and protected Greem firmly. The occasional principle fluctuation that rippled out made Sainz’s expression change.

Being able to grasp two principle powers just shortly after advancement was enough to demonstrate Greem’s unbelievable talent with fire. Moreover, apart from his outstanding ability, this young Great Adept also possessed valuable artifacts. That was what Sainz couldn’t understand at all.

Where did he find so many Fifth Grade artifacts?

Was he the bastard child of some high-ranking individual within the adept faction?

For a moment, even Sainz was rendered completely speechless!