Age of Adepts

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"Lady Uzzah, I will not blame you if the Dark Witches wish to take a premature leave!"

Greem, in his bright red adept’s robe, frowned and calmly spoke. It was as if he hadn’t heard those increasingly loud rumblings.

"Greem, why should you chain yourself to a single tree until your death? Alice might be the leader of the Fate Witches, but she only has the pathetic strength of a First Grade. She barely has any authority or influence within the Council of the Northern Witches. If you are willing to join us Dark Witches, I can guarantee that our leader will provide you with more resources, larger territories, and better development opportunities. You..."

Uzzah was in a rush, but she was still willing to attempt to recruit a male adept as excellent as Greem for the sake of the clan.

The development of the Northern Witches in the center of the continent in recent years had not been smooth. If she could get such an ambitious and talented male adept to ally with the clan, it would undoubtedly be a massive help to them.

The faces of the deputy leaders of the Fate Witches, Sofia and Snowlotus, soured when they heard these words. Yet, they had no ability or qualification to argue against a Third Grade Dark Witch. They could only look at Greem with upset faces, wondering if Uzzah’s offer would move him.

"Three minutes left!"A gentle smile appeared on Greem’s young but determined face, "We will know the results in just three more minutes. Are you not willing to wait just a bit more?"

Uzzah opened her mouth to try and convince Greem again but was interrupted by a massive rock falling from above.

The rumbling sound was getting closer. The violent strikes of the Sword Saint had struck the nearby tunnels, causing the sound to reverberate within the tiny space of the dragon’s den and echoing and hurting the eardrums of every adept.

"I can’t wait here any longer," A savage expression flashed across Uzzah’s sinister face, "I won’t stay here and die with you. We Dark Witches will be going ahead!"

Under her orders, the three remaining Dark Witches quickly gathered at Uzzah’s side. A thick cloud of pitch-black darkness surged outward and enveloped their bodies, filling the corridor with strange and twisted gray shadows.

A few seconds later, the shadows dispersed and not a single Dark Witch remained.

It hadn’t been long since the last surviving Fate Witch advanced; it was clear that she had not gotten used to situations like this. An expression of envy couldn’t help but appear on her face when she saw the Dark Witches diving into the Shadow Plane.

Whenever she thought about the fact that she had to wait here for her leader that might or might not be alive, the young Fate Witch’s face filled with panic and anxiety.

"What about you people?" Greem took in the expression of everyone present and asked very solemnly, "I won’t force you to stay. Anyone that wishes to leave now may leave."

Wind Adept Deserra, Medusa Dana, Goblin Tigule, and Dragonborn Zacha bowed in unison beneath Greem’s burning stare, respectfully giving their reply, "We will follow our Lord to our deaths!"

Meanwhile, the blood knights, the blood elves, and Vanlier all silently stood behind Mary. Their expressions were cold and unaffected as if they would do whatever it was that Mary asked them to do.

"What are you looking at me for?" Mary rolled her eyes at Greem unamusedly, "Of course I’m staying with you!"

Greem’s tightly bound face finally relaxed a bit as he gravely said, "Two minutes!"

Time was slowly ticking away.

This insignificant time that no one usually took note of seemed so long and torturous at this moment!

Everyone held their breaths and silently listened for the rumbling coming from a place nearby.

The tunnel the Sword Saint was digging had made it through most of the mountain; it was piercing straight toward their location. Judging from the sound, it was only twenty to thirty meters away from where they were.

As the Sword Saint’s violent strikes continued to assault the mountain, it began to shudder even more violently. The dust falling from above was almost enough to bury the adepts.

To avoid the Sword Saint picking up any elementium fluctuations, none of the adepts erected magical shields and instead chose to use their bodies to endure the falling rocks from around them. The air in the tunnel was becoming increasingly dusty. The suffocating dust was everywhere, making it almost impossible to breathe.

Fortunately, none of the adepts were weaklings. A couple of hours without breathing wouldn’t kill them.

However, the anxious and uncertain wait made them feel even more pained. The adepts didn’t know what it was they were waiting for– a successful escape, or a tragic death. The more uncertain the future, the more panic they felt!

"One minute!" Greem had used mental messages to speak to everyone this time.

With a loud crack, one of the stone walls exploded into pieces. A single brilliant blade beam shot out of the stone. The blade light silently cut through the crowd, piercing the body of a blood knight and slashing past Snowlotus’ left arm.

The next second, blood was in the air.

The blood knight was instantly blasted into a mist of blood. Snowlotus’ left arm also fell off without a sound. A warm fountain of blood surged from the wound.

Snowlotus let out a pained gasp but swallowed the sound before she could complete it. However, the thick scent of blood still diffused in the air and was quickly picked up by the Sword Saint who was searching for them.

"Attack!"

Just as everyone’s scalps buzzed and they stood still at a loss, Greem shouted out loud. He was the first to gather a massive magma fireball in his hands and throw it at the wall where the blade radiance had come.

The next second, a barrage of spells landed on the stone wall in the distance.

The violent attacks had caused yet another series of rocks to fall from above. The adepts scurried in the narrow space, dodging the giant boulders falling from above. The process had been perilous, but they had finally managed to seal the Sword Saint outside.

Still, how many of the Sword Saint’s attacks could such a slight mound of stone endure?

Just as everyone worried and stewed in their anxiousness, the long-shut door to the hall suddenly opened. A slender and elegant silhouette stood behind it, silently looking at all the adepts.

"Thank you, everyone!" Alice’s familiar and cool voice rang out, "I have advanced! We can escape now!"

Greem stood forth and looked Alice in the eye. A smile of relief appeared on his tightly wound face when he saw her determined nod.

The next moment, Greem waved his large hand as six earth-yellow golem cores landed on the ground, quickly forming into six giant stone serpents.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry. All of you, get into the stone serpents. We will leave through the ground."

Greem had never really used these low-grade advanced apprentice level stone serpents after he advanced to an adept. Yet, at this moment, they were the most suitable choice as mounts to travel underground!

From the absolute despair of an impossible enemy to the joy of escaping their predicament, the adepts had absolutely no time to adjust their feelings before the stone serpents swallowed them.

The adepts still had some privilege and could have one serpent to themselves. Meanwhile, Mary’s vampire subordinates had no such luck. They could only share the same snake.

After devouring everyone, the stone serpents dove into the ground below at Greem’s command and started to tunnel wildly into the earth around the mountain. The last stone serpent remaining in the cave shook its massive body and slithered into the treasure hall. It greedily swallowed the piles of magical gemstones and glimmering magical weapons, one big mouthful at a time.

When an earthshaking explosion echoed from outside the cave, the stone serpent finally and reluctantly gave up on the rest of the dragon’s hoard. It dove into a stone wall and madly tunneled after the others.

A few seconds later, Elven Sword Saint Agassi strode into the cave, shrouded in blinding golden light.

When he saw the six holes one meter in diameter and the empty den left behind, he let out a furious roar at the sky.

He had no interest in even looking at the shining golden treasure hoard of the dragon.

For the first time, the Fourth Grade Elven Sword Saint Agassi was astounded by the cruel and ferocious tactics of these otherworldly adepts.

............

The stone serpents silently tunneled underground.

Through the cracks in its body, Greem could clearly see the harsh earth being smoothly parted to each side of its body. The stone serpents were like a fish in water, freely swimming between the rock layers.

Several large boulders would occasionally appear before being left far behind.

The stone serpents were only advanced apprentice golems after all, and they could not borrow too deep into the underground space. Otherwise, their earth elementium bodies would be crushed by the immense pressure.

After diving a certain distance along the rock layers, the stone serpents turned and moved diagonally toward the surface.

Greem and Alice were sharing a stone serpent.

Alice stood straight in front of Greem and silently watched the rocks, insects, roots, and other miscellaneous objects passing by.

"Endor is dead!" Greem finally spoke after a moment of hesitation.

"I know..." Alice’s reply was cold, yet calm.

"You know?" Greem was stunned and blurted out this question.

"I knew before I advanced." Alice didn’t turn back. Her tone was still as calm as before.

However, Greem knew Alice too well. He frowned, sensing the roaring rivers beneath the thick ice of Alice’s composure.

Greem extended a hand and grabbed Alice’s shoulder. He could feel her body trembling slightly.

"Just let it all out if you want to cry!" Greem said dejectedly.

Alice still didn’t turn back. However, Greem could faintly feel the immense pain she was holding in her heart.

The path of pursuing strength was a lonely one!

Most of the time, they had to make great sacrifices for even a sliver of strength. Such a price was not something that anyone could bear to take on!

"Greem, can I ask something of you?" After a long pause, Alice finally replied sorrowfully with a question.

"Tell me."

"If, one day, you obtain enough power, I hope...you can destroy this plane for me!"

"I will!"

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