Age of Adepts

World of Adepts, Fire Throne.

With the opening up of Fire Cave, Fire Throne was once again presented before the public after a being shut away for over a month.

The teleportation device inside the metal fortress had also been connected to the teleportation arrays in the Goblin Plane and Fire Throne, with Gazlowe’s magic energy furnace as the energy source. This way, the Crimson Clan had managed to break through two plane barriers in a matter of six months.

In particular, the Goblin Plane had become a lesser plane of the Crimson Clan, and the numerous goblins within had become a satellite force of the clan. Lance, on the other hand, only had a nail hammered into it. Further attempts at the excavation of its resources required a constant investment of power.

That was why Greem could only list Lance as a contested territory.

A plane like this was not within the ability of the Crimson Clan to devour. The only choice left was to spend over a hundred years to chip away at its power slowly!

Now that the Goblin Plane had become the property of the Crimson Clan and the forward base in Lance was secure, Greem could finally take the time out to deal with the hidden concerns of the clan.

The Crimson Clan’s roots were still in the World of Adepts, after all. It would be exceedingly difficult for the clan to grow in size and power if they didn’t properly deal with the interpersonal relations in the World of Adepts. The first problem that required attention concerning the establishment of the Crimson Clan was, naturally, the Sarubo Clan.

On the third day after Fire Cave was fully excavated, Greem’s messenger arrived in Feidnan City. The messenger delivered a delicate handmade invitation to the hands of Third Grade female adept Lady Sanazar. Along with the invitation came a whole batch of valuable magical gemstones, magical materials, and rare treasures of other worlds. An initial estimate of the gift put it at three hundred thousand magical crystals worth.

Adept Keoghan hurriedly arrived at Lady Sanazar’s quarters after settling the messenger within the adept’s tower. To his surprise, he found Adept Fügen there. The Second Grade adept had been gone for quite a while.

Fügen had hidden within his room after the battle of Fire Throne and refused to see anyone. It seemed he had been affected by the whole event. The fact that he had appeared here meant that he had heard news of the arrival of the messenger.

”Have you helped the messenger settle down?” Lady Sanazar was still cloaked in a strange cloud of purple mist.

”He has been settled!” Keoghan bowed and paid his respects.

In the time that Adept Fügen had been in hiding, Keoghan had been responsible for the various matters of the clan.

”That fellow has been hiding for an entire month. Now he’s come up with some damned banquet the moment he shows himself. He even sent someone here with such valuable gifts. What is he planning?” Lady Sanazar’s voice floated out from within the purple mist, seemingly lazy and disdainful.

Adept Fügen remained silent but cast his gaze upon Adept Keoghan.

Keoghan wasn’t young anymore. All these years of experience had turned him into a calm and collected man who knew how to compose himself and hide his thoughts. Thus, he hesitated for a moment before finally speaking, ”My lady, if I am not mistaken… Greem probably intends to establish his own clan!”

The room suddenly fell silent.

A short moment later, Sanazar finally asked with a chilling tone, ”You mean to say that Greem will directly announce the establishment of his clan at this banquet? What incredible guts he has.”

Adept Keoghan had a solemn expression on his face. He smiled bitterly and said, ”This is only my guess! However, judging from how valuable the gifts he has sent us are, there is a very real possibility that my guess is correct.”

”Kehkehkeh,” Sanazar suddenly let out a piercing and cold laugh, ”Gifts worth three hundred thousand magical crystals; how generous of Greem. He intends to use these as his ransom?”

The nearly middle-aged Keoghan could only lower his head when he sensed that overwhelming killing intent. He didn’t dare to meet the chilling gaze within the purple mist.

The adepts might be wise and knowledgeable individuals, but the strengths and weaknesses of one’s personality would also be magnified tens of thousands of times as their power reached a certain height.

As the leader stationed within the World of Adepts by Lord Sarubo himself, Lady Sanazar could have avoided the intensification of conflict between the Sarubo Clan and Greem if she had been gentler in her approach and softer in her method of dealing with things.

Perhaps a First Grade adept was no different from a Second Grade adept in Lady Sanazar’s eyes. These adepts were always insignificant ants before a Third Grade adept. A simple slap would crush and kill them. It didn’t matter how much stronger Greem was. There was no chance of him threatening her, a superior Third Grade adept.

However, her arrogance and pride might have caused her to forget an important fact. Greem had taken no more than a hundred years to climb from his lowly position as an apprentice adept to his current Second Grade. That was indirect proof of his astounding potential and talent!

In all seriousness, the Sarubo had already lost their best chance and timing to suppress Greem’s growth.

Now, if they failed to acknowledge Greem’s growth and give him the recognition he deserved, then the conflict and tension between them could never be resolved again!

The fact that he had sent an invitation and such valuable gifts to his old clan when he intended to establish his own clan was already extremely benevolent and kind of him. If Sanazar didn’t take back the initiative with this kind act of Greem’s, their relationship would only get worse.

It meant that Greem’s new adept clan was very likely to become a rival clan to the Sarubo. That was not a wise decision for the Sarubo Clan!

If Greem was someone that was easily dealt with, then the pressure from the clan and the mass invasion of the vampire clan should have been enough to topple him.

Sadly, the development of events was completely different from everyone’s expectations!

Not only did Greem not collapse under such pressure, but he had also successfully crushed the Vik family led by a Third Grade vampire. In doing so, he had left a heavy slap upon Adept Fügen’s face.

Second Grade Adept Fügen had slowly phased himself out of the management matters of the clan ever since the battle at Fire Throne. One had to acknowledge that this was the effect of that battle.

Greem was now impatiently stirring up trouble immediately after his wounds from the previous battle had healed. After all, Greem was an adept raised in the Sarubo Clan. His standing forward in public to establish his own clan would mean a separation of the Sarubo Clan.

It would have an entirely negative impact upon the reputation of the Sarubo Clan!

Adept Keoghan could understand Lady Sanazar’s anger, but he had always been a practical man and believed that worsening tensions was not a solution to the problem.

Firstly, the Sarubo Clan had to acknowledge a single truth– they had let the time and ability to suppress Greem’s continual growth slip away.

If Lady Sanazar had the ability to rewind time and could return to before Greem had advanced to Second Grade, simply killing him would be the cleanest and most direct solution. It might have some adverse effects within the clan, but the clan could still endure such insignificant shockwaves.

However, with the point things had now developed to, Greem had successfully advanced to Second Grade. Even a veteran Third Grade adept like Sanazar couldn’t do anything to him as long as he was cautious and hid within his adept’s tower.

Perhaps this was the main reason why Greem dared to provoke Lady Sanazar’s fury and chose to clash with a Third Grade vampire!

Secondly, Keoghan himself had to acknowledge that Greem had made it to where he was all through his personal efforts and hard work. The help of the Sarubo Clan was much more minimal than what outsiders thought.

For a new adept that had barely advanced for six months, Greem’s debut performance in the planar war of the Knight’s Plane had been nothing short of stellar. It could have been described as stunning.

Heartless slaughtering, ferocious and efficient battles, appropriate strategic moves, bold yet careful.

Even a veteran adept like Keoghan, who had advanced over a hundred years ago, couldn’t help but be impressed by Greem. His decisions were always correct and efficient. He seemed to have overcome the various flaws of human nature and allowed himself to always remain in his calmest and wisest state of mind.

Fear, doubt, confusion– these emotions seemed to have never appeared in Greem.

He was like a cold golem, unaffected by these human emotions, always placing himself in the most advantageous position.

However, if you thought of Greem as a cold and purely rational adept that placed his own benefit before everything else, you would also be mistaken. He’d possessed reasonably good relationships with the various adepts around him during the battles in the Knight’s Plane, especially with Adept Mary. In fact, there were many times where he displayed a sort of courage and generosity in action.

That was what truly confused Adept Keoghan!

Greem was simply too excellent. He displayed all the necessary traits of a an adept leader. Yet, he had only been a newly advanced First Grade adept back then!

Could Greem already have thought of developing independently and establishing his own adept clan even back in the Knight’s Plane?

The thought was almost absurd, but for some reason, Keoghan felt like his conjecture had stumbled upon a terrifying reality.

If one were to be brutally honest, Greem had pretty much advanced from an apprentice to a First Grade before pulling ahead of Keoghan and advancing to Second Grade, all under Keoghan’s eyes.

That might not be much to Greem, but it was a heavy psychological burden for the proud Keoghan. Every night before he slept, Adept Keoghan always doubted whether the path he chose was the right one.

That was why Adept Keoghan felt a certain sense of pleasure at Lady Sanazar’s hostility toward Greem, even as he worried deeply for the clan.

Perhaps taking this opportunity and reconciling with Greem was the best choice?

Adept Keoghan silently thought to himself.