Age of Adepts

“Arbitration?”

Greem immediately heard this shocking news when he reached Fire Throne.

“Yes!” Gargamel replied respectfully, “The news came from the Zhentarim Association. It’s said that the Third Grade clan leader of the Kamala Clan has put forward a request for arbitration to the Association. He requests a scheduled match to settle the difference between the two clans. The old fogeys of the Association have already agreed to this request.”

“Where were these old fellows when those five clans united to attack Fire Throne. Now they think about arbitration?” Greem’s thick brows scrunched together as a hint of solemnity appeared on his young and handsome face.

Greem had not sworn or cursed in the slightest, but that contained, imposing aura of his was enough to cause Gargamel to shudder. The degree of his bow slanted even further.

“What did they say?” Greem casually said.

“The Kamala Clan seems to have gotten the Association elders to apply pressure on us. Two Association elders have already approached us and request that we stop the attacks on the Kamala. The arbitrating elder has already arrived at Rhein. He has summoned the two clan leaders to receive his arbitration there on the ninth day of the sixth month!”

The ninth day of the sixth month?

It was already the fourth day of the month today. Didn’t this mean that he only had five days left to prepare? Moreover, the public city of Rhein was over a thousand kilometers from Fire Throne. If he hadn’t returned from Strongwoods Plane in time, there might not have been a person of authority within the clan of sufficient bearing to represent himself in this meeting!

Greem smiled coldly.

It seemed like the opponents already knew that he wasn’t in the World of Adepts. That was why they had chosen to take this course of action. If Greem was to be absent from this arbitration, they were likely to use more despicable methods to rob the Crimson Clan of their spoils in battle.

“How is the war going on the frontlines?” Greem’s mind turned, and he couldn’t help but ask.

The enemies had a powerful Third Grade adept, after all. How was it that he was willing to set aside his own face and reputation and request for a forced intervention and arbitration when challenged by the Second Grade Billis? Could something have happened on the battlefield?

The sensitive Greem immediately thought of Billis.

Even Gargamel, who managed the clan behind the scenes, immediately gave his praise when the bug adept was mentioned.

“My lord, Lord Billis is amazing! You have no idea. During the days you were gone, Lord Billis wreaked absolute havoc upon the Kamala. It’s said…it’s said that,” Gargamel swallowed his spit, licked his dry lips and continued with a face of surprise and shock, “Lord Billis visited every resource site and worldly territory of the Kamala Clan, and planted a sort of puppet insect inside all of the apprentices and adepts.”

“Puppet insect?”

“I don’t know what it is actually called either. I have only heard of this through the clan’s intelligence network. Either way, the Kamala Clan abruptly lost all connection and contact with all of their resource sites. So, they sent some people to investigate these sites; all the apprentices and adepts had died, turned into insect nests by Lord Billis. It’s said that the state of their death was extremely horrifying. Extremely so.”

“And what about the Kamala’s Third Grade?”

“Third Grade Yurga’s come out of hiding to intercept Lord Billis a few times. Unfortunately for him, Lord Billis can scatter into tens of thousands of tiny insects and easily evade his pursuit. That is why Yurga has no choice other than to grit his teeth and request for Association arbitration. If he were any slower, Lord Billis would probably have ended up knocking on the front doors of their headquarters!” It seemed like Bug Adept Billis’ performance in the clan war this time not only intimidated the enemy clan members but even the Crimson Majordomo Gargamel himself.

Greem thought for a moment with a frown on his face, before finally speaking up.

“Find a way to contact Billis. Have him stop the attack against the Kamala Clan! Since the Association has already sent out Fourth Grade adepts, we might invite the fury of the old fogeys if we overdo it. The current Crimson Clan cannot yet afford to anger those Fourth Grade adepts!”

“Understood! I will go to contact Lord Billis now.”

Gargamel turned and left in a hurry.

Mary, who was listening from the side, giggled and said, “Who would have thought that the little bug who shuddered at the sight of me has turned into such an important character now. He has so many of those swarms under him that even losing tens of thousands of them at once wouldn’t be a blow to him. Any clan having to deal with the invasion of such a monster would probably have a head-splitting headache. Hehe. I really do pity that Adept Yurga now!”

Greem couldn’t help but shake his head and smile bitterly as well.

Someone like Billis was tough to put down once you let him develop and grow. His personal combat power was not as powerful as a Second Grade adept. In fact, he probably hadn’t mastered all that many offensive spells. However, while defeating a person like him was easy, killing him was impossibly difficult.

As long as Billis was willing to cast aside the pawns to save himself when he ran into a powerful enemy, he could easily escape. However, if he were to run into anyone weaker than himself, his newly-formed insect general squad and his endless swarms of insects were his trump cards.

Bug Adept Billis was a near undefeated existence when the enemy didn’t have the means to counter him!

At the very least, that was the case among Second Grade adepts.

If Greem hadn’t left a unique mark on the assimilated bug mother ahead of time, even he wouldn’t dare to say he would be able to suppress such a powerful Second Grade adept.

It was fortunate that Greem had the means to keep Billis in check. Otherwise, there was no doubt that the bug adept would have run far and wide, living a life of freedom for himself alone.

That was why Greem intentionally contacted Billis through by proxy of Gargamel. He wanted to see what attitude Billis would hold toward his orders. If he were to reject the command or do something else under the guise of subservience, Greem would have no choice but to consider the matter of suppressing Bug Adept Billis!

“Let me go! Gargamel is only First Grade. Billis might not ever obey his orders.” Mary chuckled and said, “That little bug used to be terrified of me in the past. I will go and bring him back from the battlefield.”

The Crimson Clan was crucially lacking powerful fighting force at the moment. Obviously, Mary didn’t want to detonate the deeper conflicts within the clan over some ‘small issues.’ That was why she had volunteered herself to recall Bug Adept Billis.

Greem smiled at Mary and nodded slightly. He had clearly understood Mary’s intentions as well.

Mary laughed and got up from her chair. She swayed her hips and loudly ordered as she walked out of the room, “Go, summon Soros and Windsor for me. I want to see them in front of me in seven minutes!”

“Understood!”

“Understood!”

The few vampires standing behind her immediately bowed in acknowledgment before vanishing in a puff of blood mist.

The trip to Strongwoods Plane had been short, but it had been a bountiful harvest for Mary.

In all seriousness, the one that had the most plentiful feast in Strongwoods had to be Bloody Queen Mary!

All the Third Grade orcs that Thunder Dragon Arms and Greem had taken down had turned into her blood treats. If it weren’t for her Spirit being insufficient to Embrace Third Grade entities, she would probably have two more Third Grade vampires subordinate under her.

Even so, Mary’s powers had improved by leaps and bounds. From a certain perspective, her combat ability was already equal to Greem’s.

Of course, this was referring to Greem before he obtained the Fire Throne set.

…………

The City of Rhein.

It was a beautiful city located near Crystal Lake.

The bright sun of the sixth month was when it was at its mildest. The golden sunlight shone upon the surface of the crystalline lake, providing the place with gentle warmth.

Greem, Mary, and Billis were all riding on a manticore of their own. They swooped across the surface of the lake, attracting the attention of the many nobles on the lake.

“Father; father, I want to fly in the sky like those sir adepts when I grow up.” A noble boy, seven or eight years of age, looked on in envy at the ferocious manticores flying over his head. He became especially excited when he saw the silhouettes of the adepts riding on them.

The father of the noble boy, a man in his middle ages, revealed a bitter smile.

“My boy, that requires talent. Not everyone can become an adept!”

“Talent? What kind of talent?” The boy asked, somewhat confused and curious.

“The talent to become an adept!” The nobleman rubbed the soft, golden-curled hair of his son and smiled bitterly, “Without such talent, it doesn’t matter how hard you work or how smart you are. It will never matter!”

His deep sigh floated across the pretty surface of the lake.

Greem and the two others didn’t pick up on the small occurrence beneath them, nor did they care.

In just two days, they had managed to arrive in Rhein from Fire Throne.

The three manticores beat their large leather wings and rose high into the skies. They flew over the towering city walls, rows of beautiful architecture, and quickly approached the adept’s tower rising into the clouds.

It was a massive fifteen-level tower. The top of it was a take-off and landing platform. Currently, quite a few adepts were landing there with their magical beasts.

The three manticores carrying Greem, Mary, and Billis raised their heads and let out a deafening roar. They then abruptly accelerated and landed on a wooden platform that had been temporarily constructed on the spot. The air currents from the manticores’ wings almost blew away the apprentice waiting there. The young apprentice hugged a wooden pillar and persisted through the blast of air before jogging up to the adepts.

“We will be staying here for a few days. You must remember to feed these manticores.” Greem explained and tossed a bag of magical crystals at the apprentice. He then turned and left for the entrance without turning back.

The young apprentice hurriedly caught the crystals, repeatedly bowing after doing so.

When he accidentally stared in the eyes of the black-robed man at the back of the group, his heart trembled and he almost lost grip of the crystals in his hand.

What a terrifying look in his eyes.

It wasn’t until the three foreign adepts had vanished that the young apprentice’s mind became active once again.

Black robes, green eyes.

Could he be that one? Was he the person that had turned the Kamala Clan upside down over the past few months. Bug Adept Billis?

The young apprentice couldn’t help but draw in a breath of cold air. Even the magical crystals in his hands started to feel like hot potatoes now!