Age of Adepts

”Agatha is right!”

A crisp and commanding voice suddenly interrupted, shocking both witches in the cottage.

The wooden door creaked as a slim figure wrapped in a royal dress appeared before the two.

”Mother!”

”Welcome to my humble abode!”

The two witches quickly bowed and paid their respects. They couldn’t help but feel nervous in front of this person.

After all, the newcomer was none other than the leader and of the Witches of Deceit– the Fourth Grade Lady Angelina.

Angelina was over seven hundred years old, but if one were only to judge her by appearance, she seemed to be even younger than her daughter Rena. Anyone who wasn’t privy to the truth would mistake Rena for the mother and Angelina for the daughter when they stood side by side.

The haunted cottage fell silent with the arrival of the Fourth Grade witch.

All the strange magical creatures reared within the bottles and wooden cages shivered in their confines. They didn’t even dare breathe for fear of drawing the attention of this higher being.

All the various secrets in the wooden hut were visible to Angelina with a single sweep of her Spirit.

Her Spirit even paused for a moment when they passed through the hidden laboratory in the basement of the wooden hut.

”I completely agree with what Agatha has said!” Angelina walked to the bed and sighed when she saw the unconscious Snowlotus, ”I already called off all the assassination orders before I came here.”

”Mother… ” Witch Rena couldn’t help but take a step forward.

”Say no more.” Angelina immediately stopped her, ”Both you and I must share some responsibility for how things have unfolded. A mistake is a mistake. We must correct them before things develop beyond the point of no return.”

”Understood, mother!” Witch Rena lowered her head dejectedly.

Rena knew her mother very well. Her mother would never change her mind once she made a decision. She never let anyone get in her way.

”You should settle down for the next couple of years as well! You don’t need to concern yourself with matters in the clan. Concentrate your efforts on helping Snowlotus. You must elevate and improve her powers as much as possible before the Battle of Fate. The return of the Witches of Fate is most likely an omen. The other extinct witch branches should return one after another soon. So… ”

Angelina paused for a moment.

It was a complicated matter and could involve all the vendettas and relationships of all thirteen ancient witch branches. The more actions one took during this time, the more mistakes they would make. These complications were also why Angelina decisively called off the assassinations!

Rena’s face flushed white when she heard that her authority had been stripped from her.

”When will she wake up?” Angelina directed her question to Agatha.

Cold sweat instantly covered Agatha’s body when she felt the intense gaze of the Fourth Grade witch on her. She barely maintained her composure as she spoke, ”Miss Snowlotus didn’t suffer any physical injuries. It is only her mental consciousness that has received a severe blow. Her spirit origin should only need a little bit of time to recover if she can break free of the nightmares with her ability. However, if we were to awaken her forcefully, I fear… ”

”Then let her stay here at your place for the moment. You can withdraw any resources you need from the clan during this period. Make sure that no harm comes to Snowlotus’ talents and potential. Do you understand?”

”Understood… understood.” Agatha nodded frantically.

”Also, keep a close eye on your lab. If I hear anything about it outside of the Muttering Forest, you know what I’ll do to you?” Angelina stopped when she reached the door. She coldly spat out one last sentence before she left.

Witch Agatha also seemed to understand what her clan leader was referring to. She nodded her head repeatedly in agreement.

”Indeed… indeed. I’ll be cautious.”

Witch Rena stared at Agatha suspiciously once her mother had left, ”What sort of taboo experiments are you doing in the shadows? Even my mother couldn’t help but intimidate you over it.”

”It’s nothing… it’s truly nothing.” Agatha put on another false smile with her ugly face and did her best to gloss over the issue.

”Hmph! You had best not cause something terrible to happen. Otherwise, my mother won’t be needed. I’ll personally take care of you. ”Agatha could feel her troubles increase with what Rena’s next words: ”Very well. Snowlotus will be resting here, so the small room on the second floor will be my temporary dwelling! You take good care of Snowlotus. Don’t come up and annoy me if you don’t have good reason to! ”

Rena waved her hand, and the few apprentice witches she had brought with her surged into the cottage. The apprentices immediately began to clean up and tidy the entire place.

Agatha’s wrinkled face was finally unable to keep up the facade. Her eyes and mouth started twitching in frustration.

…………

Seven years later.

Feidnan City, Adept’s Tower.

Seven years wasn’t quite a long time, but it wasn’t short either.

Seven years for a high-grade adept was barely enough to complete a large-scale magical experiment. However, seven years was more than enough time for apprentice adepts to pass through heaven and hell.

Adept Meryl walked out of the classroom with a thick book in her arms.

The gray-robed apprentices put on expressions of respect and fear when they saw her. They made way and split to both sides of the corridor as they bowed in respect.

Adept Meryl had a faint smile on her face. She passed through the crowd and walked towards the floating disc.

She was surprised to find a familiar face at the door to her room on the sixth floor.

”Am, is that you? When did you get back?” Meryl asked in surprise. There was a trace of closeness and intimacy to her words.

”I just returned. Lady Alice sent me to invite you over to her place.” Am appeared to be a little formal.

He was fortunate enough to advance to pseudo-adept five years ago. Still, his achievements could not be compared to Meryl, who had already improved to adept two years ago.

They had both been apprentice adepts. There was a little difference in their abilities and strength, but they had still belonged in the apprentice-level. There hadn’t been too sizeable a gulf between them when they interacted. However, the dynamic between the five apprentices had changed now that Meryl had advanced to an adept.

Kodar, as the veteran pseudo-adept of the group, wasn’t resigned to lag behind Meryl. Thus, he had forcefully attempted an advancement last year. The results were regretful. He had failed! While his life was not at risk, the damage to his mental space was still in the process of recovery, even after all this time.

Of the remaining three advanced apprentices, Am and Toril had successfully made it to pseudo-adept level. Only Lena continued to struggle at the advanced level.

Moreover, the Sarubo Clan had designated yet another batch of apprentice adepts three years ago. Three more advanced apprentices had been put under Greem’s care, and five new apprentices under Alice’s direction.

Meryl, on the other hand, was spared from the task as she had only just advanced. Her main priority was still the stabilization of her mental space. Still, she accepted the responsibility of teaching within the tower of her own initiative. She enjoyed widespread, good reputation amongst the apprentices of the clan because of this.

For the past seven years, resources from the conquered planes continued to pour into the Sarubo Clan. Several clan adepts had also returned to the headquarters with the de-escalation of conflict and tension in the lesser planes. All this caused Feidnan’s adept’s tower to become lively once again.

Second Grade Sir Fügen and First Grade Gaya had brought back plenty of rare resources from other planes with their return. Three pseudo-adepts had advanced to adept under the clan’s support. This pushed the numbers of the adepts stationed in the headquarters to nearly a dozen men.

There was Third Grade Adept Sanazar, the Second Grade Adept Fügen, and nine First Grade adepts!

Seven years time had passed, and the Sarubo Clan had finally managed to recover from their losses and damage from the last planar war! As long as things continued the way they were going, the clan’s power would rise steadily.

If the just two Third Grade adepts of the clan could successfully advance to Fourth Grade, then they would even have a chance at rising to the pedestal of a large-size clan.

After all, the only strength that was acknowledged to be the peak in the World of Adepts was the Fourth Grade!

A brilliant smile appeared on Meryl’s face when she heard that Alice invited her. She quickly followed Am and arrived at the seventh floor of the tower.

She already possessed the capital and capability to form an independent faction now that she had advanced to an adept. However, the friendship and bonds she had forged during this time caused Meryl to remain part of Greem’s faction. In particular, she was very close to Alice.

There were two reasons for this:

The first was naturally because of their identity as women.

Alice might have been sealed in her eight-year-old girl form, but if someone honestly did the math, they would find her to be a twenty-three-year-old lady. At least from a mental perspective!

Meryl was about her age in that regard. Moreover, one was a subordinate of Greem, and the other a disciple of his. The similarity of their status caused them to become best friends.

The second reason was privy to the two of them.

Alice had once used her divination to help Meryl out with a problem that had been plaguing her for a long time. It was before Meryl had advanced. Furthermore, it was Greem that paid for the substantial costs of her advancement ceremony. Thus, the broke and poor Adept Meryl naturally became closer with Greem and Alice after she succeeded in her advancement.

Alice had firmly tied a massive wind eagle to the floor of Alice’s room. Its badly charred feathers were an indicator of the terrible ’abuse’ it had endured.

”Alice, you actually brought it back?” Meryl couldn’t help but exclaim in joy when she saw the prey that Alice had brought back this time.

”How is it, Meryl? Do you like it?” Alice stood beside the immobile wind eagle and stepped on its head. She bragged proudly, ”I specially brought it back for you. You haven’t gotten a suitable flying pet ever since you became an adept. How is it? Do you think it suits you?”