Age of Adepts

The Tower of Fate.

The building was a unique tower that had been sealed for a long time.

This place was in Dragonblight, a land far more barren and rural than even the wasteland known as Desolace.

Any outsider that entered the Northern Lands would have to go north of Dian City, through the territories of the Death Witches and the Coldwinter Witches, and then through the dangerous area of the Chittering Hunting Grounds before they could step foot on Dragonblight.

The Tower of Fate stood tall in the center of Dragonblight.

The only reason why this area was known as Dragonblight was due to the actions of the First Witch of Fate when she had built the Tower of Fate. Nine mighty dragons had been sacrificed here. If one was lucky enough to tour Dragonblight, they might dig out the shattered bone remains of ancient dragons in the hills nearby.

This event was why this place was also a land cursed by the dragons that no outsiders dared to enter without good reason!

At the peak of the era of the Witches of Fate, the radiance of the Tower of Fate was what illuminated the path forward for all Northern Witches. Moreover, the territory that the Witches of Fate owned included five large cities, countless followers, and a million citizens.

Sadly, all of this had vanished and turned into the past as the light of the Tower slowly dimmed!

The Witches of Fate had been extinct for a thousand years due to internal conflict. With their leaders gone, the followers and citizens of the Witches of Fate had died, one by one. What remained of those who survived were absorbed by the witches of the other branches. The territory of the Witches of Fate had also been split up and turned into the property of the other branches.

Year 32,767 of the Era of Adepts. The twelfth day of the second month of the year.

On the day rumored to be the birth date of the First Witch of Fate, a thunderous rumbling rang out from the lonely Tower of Fate that had slept for a thousand years. The light of the gray Tower of Fate once again lit up, despite the thick dust that clung to its walls. Its doors opened and invited the candidates and Northern Witches from all across the Northern Lands.

Most of the witch branches had prevented their subordinates from coming to this area in the past. Consequently, after a thousand years, a place such as Dragonblight, where fate gathered together, had naturally attracted countless powerful monsters and magical beasts. They lived here in this place and had, surprisingly enough, formed several dominant tribes.

That said, they knew well enough never to touch the Tower of Fate that stood at the depths of Dragonblight.

Thus, these creatures and the ancient security systems of the Tower of Fate kept out most thieving witches that harbored any thoughts of breaking into the silent Tower.

However, today, with the opening of the tower gates, liveliness once again returned to Dragonblight!

Today was the day the Tower of Fate activated, and today was the day the Battle of Fate came to an end. There were over a hundred candidates, but only one could step out of the Tower alive.

As such, countless candidates immediately rushed towards Dragonblight when they felt the Tower of Fate activating. They dreamed of being the first to enter the Tower and being the one to obtain the initiative.

Sadly, the wild monsters around Dragonblight were massive trouble for most of the apprentice-level candidates. It was virtually impossible to reach the Tower without slaying a bloody path through the hordes of magical creatures!

Meanwhile, all seven witch branches had sent their representatives to observe the ceremony and its results. They wanted to know the identity of the new Witch of Fate as soon as possible. Of course, more importantly, they wanted to know which of the seven witch branches’ side she would take.

…………

The Tower of Fate.

Nobody knew what material it was made of, but the body of the tower was a gray-white color. It was three hundred and twenty-seven meters tall. Not exactly the largest of the adept towers, but definitely the most mysterious.

With the rejuvenation of the powers of Fate, and the reactivation of the energy pool and the defense system, all the dust, cobwebs, and dirt fell off the tower due to the revival of the defensive forcefield.

Blinding magical lights started to appear around the body of the Tower. Mysterious magical runes flashed within the sea of radiance. The altar lamp atop the Tower let out a beam of light that stretched into the distant horizon. The beam of light pierced through the clouds and dispelled the gray darkness that had hung over Dragonblight for the past thousand years. The Tower of Fate once again appeared before everyone with its magnificent and perfect architecture.

Several powerful witches sat on their glowing brooms and magical carpets, hovering in the sky. They looked down at the slowly opening gates.

The gates might be open, but there was still a thin layer of light covering the outside of the tower.

Before the Witch of Fate came to be, no visitors were allowed in the Tower of Fate. Only the candidates could enter through their resonance with Fate.

Countless visitors had appeared in Dragonblight since dawn.

The candidates for the Witch of Fate fought their way towards the gates as they deflected the attacks of monsters. Some traveled in groups, and others alone. The weaker ones died before they even made it to the Tower. Several spots of light would exit their body when they died. These lights would brightly glow as they soared through the sky and plunged into the gray walls of the Tower of Fate.

Most of the candidates still managed to make it through the trial on the outside and arrived at the light barrier. They hesitated for a moment before extending a hand towards the boundary. They were then sucked into the Tower.

By noon, a total of seventy-two candidates had already made it into the tower, including the odd witch known as Sofia, the Berserk Witch!

She was a mighty witch with a large build and a pirate’s eye patch over one of her eyes. She wore green leather armor and carried a thick wooden staff behind her shoulders. If it weren’t for how recently she had advanced, she could probably have made it to the rank of an elite group leader within most witch clans.

It was evident that the brutal battle that had happened two months earlier had left permanent scars on her body.

Her blind eye had been turned to stone by an enemy using a strange spell. Moreover, this effect was permanent. Sofia wasn’t able to reverse the change to her eye, regardless of what potions she used. She couldn’t even regain her sight in that eye through the use of a transplanted one.

The scars on her body were countless. Still, these scars did not weaken her will or ability to fight. In fact, they made her seem all the more intimidating.

Sofia had walked to the gates of the Tower of Fate with the head of a Winged Nightshade placed on the top of her wooden staff. It was clear that she had just plucked the head of the Winged Nightshade off of its dead body. There was still purple blood dripping out of the wound where its head was severed.

Moreover, she didn’t seem to like the high-grade witches in the air either. She glared at them with a fierce look in her eyes as she walked by. Her eyes flashed with provocation.

The witches wanted to teach her a lesson, but given the strict orders of their leaders, they could only suppress their anger.

Berserk Witch Sofia stood before the barrier of light. She turned to look at the witches with contempt in her eyes before finally touching the gate and disappearing into the Tower.

”Isn’t that brat way too arrogant?” One of the witches growled silently. The flames of anger burned brightly in her eyes.

”Well, she does have the right to be arrogant,” Another witch shook her head and explained, ”It is either death or survival once she enters the Tower! If she dies, then everything is over. Would she be concerned about us torturing her soul over something like a provocation? If she lives, she becomes the leader of the Witches of Fate in the blink of an eye. She might not be all that powerful still, but her status would be equal to our leaders. Then, it’s probably us who will have to bow and pay respects.”

”Bowing to her? A Second Grade witch like me having to bow to a First Grade like her?” A high-Grade witch that had only advanced for two hundred years yelled.

”There’s nothing odd about that!” A senior witch shook her head and sighed, ”As long as she obtains the acknowledge of the Tower of Fate, she will be the leader of the Witches of Fate. Even Third Grade witches would have to pay their respects to her as they do to their own branch leaders. Even if the new Witch of Fate is only First Grade, she will have equal authority as the Fourth Grade witch leaders in the Witch Council. She will have the power to decide the future of the Northern Lands. These are the rules left behind by Her Majesty, the Queen Witch! No one dares to go against them!”

The witches who were unfamiliar with the ancient rules gasped. It was only now that they vaguely grasped the significance of the Tower of Fate’s activation.

A prolonged, desolate howl by a magical wolf came from the ground as the witches continued their conversation. Mixed between the howls and the cries of the wolves was a hell of blades of ice and swords of snow.

All the witches looked at the representatives of the Witches of Deceit when they felt the cold aura on the ground.

Witch Rena was among these representatives. She was the mother of the approaching witch. Snowlotus, the Dancer of Ice and Frost.

Pride and relief rose on Rena’s face when everyone looked towards her.

She had brought up such a powerful witch that could lead the Northern Lands in the future. It was natural that she was happy and joyous about this. Her mother was the leader of the Witches of Deceit. If her daughter became the leader of the Witches of Fate, wouldn’t this herald the rise of a new and powerful clan of witches?

And she, as the link between these two powerful witches, would undoubtedly go down in history as the witch with the most power in the history of the Northern Lands!

Rena couldn’t help but smile in confidence whenever she imagined this glorious future.

Snowlotus, who had not appeared for some time, appeared before the Tower, wrapped in a cloud of chilling aura under everyone’s gaze.

Not a single trace of fear or panic could be seen on her face, even as several dozen wolves attacked her with strength rivaling that of adepts.

An armor of ice hung upon her body as she casually strolled through the pack of wolves. Whenever a wolf charged to a side, an ice crystal one meter in width and height would appear. The wolves would be frozen on the spot if they even touched the cube.

Even though the duration of the freezing effect was extremely short, it was more than enough for Snowlotus to kill it with a cone of ice. Or, she could slide away from the attacking wolf.

It was thanks to these little tricks that Snowlotus had made it through the pack of wolves without taking any damage. She reached the gates of the Tower.

Snowlotus lifted her head and looked at the witches from the various branches. A faint smile appeared on her snow-white face as she bowed respectfully.

She locked eyes with her mother. Witch Rena subtly nodded her head.

Snowlotus raised one of her beautiful eyebrows before slowly walking into the Tower as if something was on her mind.

”Time should be almost up!”

”Mm, another fifteen minutes and the Tower of Fate closes! Then those late fellows won’t have any chance to get in anymore!”

Some of the witches started whispering to each other. Meanwhile, their eyes turned towards the Death Witches.

A massive rumbling came from the outer edge of Dragonblight as they were still wondering about the situation.

Just then, a gigantic spider-shaped golem arrived in front of everyone’s eyes.

It crushed and stormed through all the magical beasts of Dragonblight without stopping. The spider golem continued with its clanging footsteps, dragging with it the blood and severed limbs of magical creatures as it marched towards the Tower.

A muscular male adept leaped off from the back of the golem. Alice then poked out of the abdomen of the golem and used a small talisman to stow the massive machine.

”I’ll see you guys later, aunties and grannies!”

The petite, eight year-old-sized Alice waved at the witches before diving through the barrier.

The atmosphere suddenly turned awkward and solemn!