Age of Adepts

Greem was no longer the same nameless pawn when he returned to Boulder Fortress again!

It seemed like news of his last battle had reached the fortress and had somehow spread among the people. It was said that he and Antuso had managed to kill the clone of a mid-ranked god.

For a while, plenty of Great Adepts came to visit him and become acquaintances. In the end, Greem had no choice but to use the treatment of his wounds as an excuse to go into seclusion. It was the only way to stop the tide of ‘passion’ greeting him.

Initially, Greem had been somewhat confused about it. It wasn’t until he asked around a little later that he understood why people were so excited around him!

The adepts and the orc gods had been fighting for a long time. You could say they knew each other very well at this point.

You attack my resource planes, and I will send someone to defend. I send someone to attack your faith worlds, and you defend.

The two forces went back and forth in this fashion, locked in complicated battles throughout the galaxies.

Under ordinary circumstances, the amount of military power that both forces deployed into any particular region was approximately the same. Most of the time, individual ability and cooperation among the combatants decided victory and defeat.

Generally, the adepts were more agile and flexible, with a myriad of strange spells and unexpected abilities. More crucially, the adepts always fought in person, allowing them to utilize the power of their equipment and spells to their fullest.

Even though it was likely for gods to join the fray in their true forms as well, they often had no choice but to deploy god clones due to their lack of numbers.

While these were only god clones, they were still quite powerful!

Apart from the divinity domains they controlled, each god clone could also use the common spells available to all divine beings, including Divine Shield, Divine Shockwave, and Energy Blast.

The adepts also knew Divine Shield as ‘mini-invulnerability.’ All magic and physical attacks were useless against the gods themselves while it was activated. It was only by wearing out the Divine Shield through constant attacks that it was possible to harm the gods themselves.

Because of this powerful defensive ability, the god clones always had the upper hand in their fights against the Great Adepts.

If things turned south, they would activate their Divine Shield and flee. The adepts would be like dogs trying to bite down on a tortoise; they wouldn’t know where to start. If the god clones had the advantage in battle, they could rely on the Divine Shield to endure a wave of attacks and convert that advantage into victory.

It was precisely because of the gods’ overwhelming advantage that the war dragged on for so long. These powerhouses of Fifth Grade and above were reduced deterrents. The true pivots of the war shifted to the various battles and conflicts within the planeworlds.

The adepts would become weaker if their resources planes continued to be destroyed. On the other hand, if the orc gods’ faith worlds were ravaged and their believers massacred in great numbers, then they would be weakened.

The orc pantheon could hold back a hundred Great Adepts with only twenty gods, precisely because of their tremendous individual power and clones.

Due to this, the adepts could only use their numerical superiority to level out the orc gods’ strength advantage. Under such circumstances, it was almost impossible to trap and kill a god clone in battle.

If Greem did not have the unusual ability provided by the Devouring Fish, he probably would have had a tough time capturing Horr’s clone, even if he could defeat him.

The adepts and the orc pantheon had been at war for a long time, but fewer than ten god clones had been killed. Even in the worst situation, the doomed clone would choose to detonate their divine body and cover the escape of their divine authority fragments. They would never allow an enemy the opportunity to take the fragments with them.

Greem’s victory could be attributed to none other than that terrifying stomach of his!

Many Great Adepts who had arrived to visit him upon hearing news of his achievement clearly had their eyes set upon Greem’s Devouring Fish ability as well. They were prepared to work with him and hunt down isolated god clones on the battlefield.

However, Greem knew that such unexpected ambushes were only effective the first time. Once the orcs were prepared, it would be challenging to achieve something like that again.

Either way, Greem’s fame was spreading. He was one of the more well-known Fifth Grade Great Adepts of Boulder Fortress now.

…………

Half a year later.

A ten-meter tall flame giant sat quietly on the floor inside a magical room.

A strange orb burning with golden flames hovered before him. Thin strands of red fire shot from the orb into his head.

Two entirely different powers were flowing parallel to each other along that chain of fire.

An incredibly gentle golden power was surging out of the Orb of the Fire God. It contained an infernal heat that threatened to burn the world to ashes, yet also a holiness that seemed as if it would purify everything. If you looked at its form and appearance, it looked similar to fire divine-power.

Meanwhile, what surged out of Greem’s body were violent and invisible flames. These flames were fierce and furious, filled with an aura of destruction. These were the two fire principles that he now possessed.

The two powers merged and melded along the fire chain, often clashing and neutralizing each other due to their different natures. Fine cracks appeared and disappeared around the chain of fire. The energy shockwaves created by this conflict in powers were absorbed into outer space, preventing any lasting damage to the surrounding area.

However, as the conflicts and neutralization persisted, traces of mutated fire energy began to be left behind. This fire energy possessed the characteristics of both the fire principles and the fire divine-power. It appeared unusual.

Greem continued chanting, guiding the mutated fire into his right eye. He then successfully cast a spell and sealed the mutated fire in there.

Greem’s right eye grew brighter and more blinding as more and more mutated fire gathered within. From a distance, it looked almost as if a miniature sun had been stuffed into his eye. The golden light seared the eyes of anyone who looked upon it, and the heat was oppressive.

Five thousand points…ten thousand points…twenty thousand points…thirty thousand points.

When the energy level reached thirty-two thousand points in intensity, Greem finally received a notification from the Chip. He stopped his incantations and cut off the absorption of the mutated fire.

[Beep. The Berserk Eye has been created. Energy intensity: 32,000 points. Capable of inflicting severe damage to beginner Fifth Grades and moderate damage to intermediate Fifth Grades if unleashed all at once. Can pose a minor threat to advanced Fifth Grades.

[Unleashing the mutated fire stored within the Berserk Eye at a rapid rate will inflict damage on the medium. Fifteen days of recovery will be required with every use.

[The Berserk Eye will remain sealed under most circumstances, preventing the use of normal sight.]

Greem finally relaxed after receiving the Chip’s notification.

As he completed the final seal, the abnormality in Greem’s right eye gradually faded away. Only a small fire rune, almost imperceptible to the naked eye, spun slowly in his black pupil.

He had sacrificed his right eye and obtained a powerful fire attack that could be unleashed at any time in battle. That was worth it, no matter how Greem looked at it. After all, those orc god clones all possessed shocking combat prowess in battle.

Without a hidden ace, fighting against them was no less than torture!

Greem’s fire magic was powerful, but he lacked trusted companions on the battlefield. If a battle ended up being difficult, Greem was often the first target of a god’s pursuit.

To put it nicely, Greem would have no choice but to teleport around and kite them. To put it bluntly, Greem was the one being chased around like a homeless dog.

Even though he had Fifth Grade Remi to aid him in battle, Remi’s attribute was poison; being a tank didn’t suit him. That was why Greem would have to find some way to deal with this weakness of his, at least until the intermediate Fifth Grade voodoo beast was completed.

Continuing his research on teleportation via assimilation with the principles was one option. Another option was to simply prepare more aces for combat use.

After the past six months of preparation and putting aside research on all other fire spells, the Chip had managed to focus its calculation abilities and complete Fiery Refraction.

Apart from Critical Wildfire and Halo of Rot, Greem now also possessed a Fifth Grade fire spell that actually belonged to him. The spell was also an offensive one.

In addition to the Berserk Eye, Greem now had four hidden aces that could decide a battle!

Moreover, the improved Orb of the Fire God was not just mighty support equipment. It also had the unusual function of being able to collect faith power.

Ordinarily, collecting faith power was a mysterious ability exclusive to the gods. Having assimilated a fire divine authority fragment, the Orb of the Fire God also possessed a similar ability. However, the faith power it collected had to come from intelligent beings that devotedly worshipped Greem.

It was through the Orb of the Fire God that Greem discovered, to his surprise, that he had a few devoted believers in several planes, along with several thousand loose believers.

These people might not worship Greem religiously as an idol. Rather, they admired and respected him as a sort of standard in life. It was a different mentality from religious worship, but the faith power they gathered was not much different.

Moreover, Greem shockingly discovered that he had a true believer that worshipped him faithfully in the World of Adepts.

That was what was most unimaginable to him!