Age of Adepts

Molten Fire City. The control center of the mine’s defensive arrays.

Several dozen adepts were strewn about the hall, their bodies covered in wounds of varying severity.

The array that had been carved into the center of the hall’s floor had now been destroyed beyond recognition and could no longer be activated.

Meanwhile, Array Master Dorian lay in a pool of blood aside a broken pillar, silent as he received treatment from Adept Freina.

Adept Karak’s face instantly turned dark when he stepped into the room.

“What’s the matter? Who attacked this place?” Karak shouted loudly.

“It’s…that flaming tiger.” Dorian stuttered through the pain.

His left leg appeared to have been smashed by something and was now completely flattened. Black streaks of blood flowed down all of his orifices. It was obvious that his internal injuries were severe as well.

“The flaming tiger?” The corner of Karak’s mouth twitched, and he spoke with a ghastly expression, almost as if he had seen a ghost, “How could it be the tiger? It…it was just fighting with the few of us in the underground mines!”

Dorian appeared to be extremely weakened from his wounds, but even he had to roar in anger when he heard Karak’s words.

“I’m the one that wants to ask you what’s happening! Why was I attacked by that tiger the moment I arrived here with my men? Moreover, that bastard summoned a molten giant again and smashed the central control hall to pieces.”

Karak’s face was full of disbelief. He then turned to Freina and asked sternly, “You saw it as well?”

“I saw it!” Freina hastily nodded her head before stuttering, “But…”

“But what?”

“I keep having a feeling that though this tiger appears the same as the previous one and emits the same aura, I have a feeling that it isn’t the same one.”

Dorian also moaned feebly, “I have the same feeling! It feels like this tiger’s power is a bit weaker than the original one. However, the molten giant it summoned was the same as last time!”

Karak drew in a cold breath of air.

There…there wasn’t just one tiger?

If there was more than one tiger, why was it that they never showed themselves prior to this?

While he was brooding, a faint red light suddenly shone on the snake-eye ring on Karak’s right index finger.

It was a communication ring he used when contacting some of his direct subordinates in Molten Fire City.

He reached out and rubbed the ring, bringing it to his mouth and frustratedly said, “Antok, don’t bother me if you don’t have anything important to say. Right now, I’m…”

“My lord, come here quickly, please! The lab and the warehouse are being attacked.” A desperate cry for help came from the other side of the ring the moment it connected. More screams and cries could be heard behind him; faintly, there was the familiar sound of a tiger’s roar.

Karak’s face instantly turned black.

Dorian and Freina, who had heard the message as well, showed the same expression.

It didn’t matter how heavy their losses in the underground mines were, or if the slave miners were to all die– they would not even bat an eyelid. As long as Molten Fire City was around, and as long as they were around, everything would return to normal eventually.

The worst that would happen would be a few weeks of the cities’ ore production would be lost!

Losses of this amount were still bearable for them as deputies of Molten Fire City.

However, the secret lab and resource warehouse were crucial locations!

Even the lord of the city would have to come out of his ten-year seclusion if something were to happen there. And the consequence of disturbing the lord; the three of them shivered just at the thought of it.

Dorian, who had intended to return to his room for further treatment, immediately pulled out a magical dagger from his belt. The cold light of the blade gleamed, and Freina’s left leg was severed perfectly.

Strangely enough, not a drop of blood flowed from the wound.

Freina let out a pained cry. Her face turned pale as her body trembled, but she dared not move at all.

Dorian pressed Freina’s severed leg against his own. He then took out a vial of purple potion and poured it over the disjointed part.

A light white cloud of smoke rose, and some translucent and adhesive liquid instantly appeared on the wound. It was a disgusting sight.

However, the next second, Dorian could stand and walk normally with both legs.

“Being Freina back for treatment!” Dorian waved a Molten Fire City adept over and handed Freina to him. He and Dorian hurried toward that secret location.

As the two of them quickly traveled through the tunnels, Dorian questioned softly:

“How many resources are stored there?”

Karak replied with a pale face, “We typically send the resources to the lord’s tower every three months. It’s been ten years since the lord’s tower has been opened, and all of the stock is in there.”

Dorian felt like the world was spinning around him when he heard this reply, and he almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

“Relax, don’t worry. The flaming tiger is just a beast, how big can its appetite be? How many of the resources can it take away with it even if it were to gorge on the stock? The missing share…if we grit our teeth, pool our resources together, and have the slaves work overtime in the mines, we might be able to make up for it.” Karak continued to console himself as they made their way to the warehouses.

However, when he and Dorian arrived at the secret lab through a path laid with tracks, it was already hell on earth.

Collapsed and broken experiment platforms and containers were everywhere in the massive alchemy lab. Yet, they couldn’t see a single one of the alchemists working here. Still, plenty of scorch marks could be seen on the clean floor of the laboratory.

Piles of black ash and dust could be seen in the center of these scorch marks.

These piles must have been the only things the alchemists left behind!

The magical statues guarding the laboratory had all been blown to pieces, their remains scattered across the room. The two Second Grade adepts stationed in this place were also missing, their fates probably a bleak one.

The two of them didn’t stay here for long. Instead, they quickly rushed toward the warehouse at the back of the lab.

The moment they charged into the lab, they saw a terrifying flaming tiger standing proudly in the middle of the room.

The beast was casually swallowing a storage ring into its stomach. The tiger’s lips curved when it saw the adepts arrive, betraying an almost human smile before vanishing in a blast of fire.

The control center of the underground arrays had been destroyed, causing this place to lose the ability to restrict long-ranged teleportation.

The two adepts could not stop the tiger from leaving, regardless of how furious and resentful they were.

The two adepts looked around the warehouse after the tiger had left. When they saw the utterly empty room, they couldn’t help but cough up blood at the same time.

It was big trouble now!

…………

In the depths of the lava sea. Cindral’s den.

A flaming tiger appeared in a burst of flames. A shining red positioning rune was on the floor of the cave.

The flaming tiger smiled and slowly shifted into Greem’s appearance amidst some twisting and contorting.

Over the past few days, the fire clone had been silently scanning Cindral’s attributes and body structure. For this purpose, it had even constructed a flaming tiger model with eighty percent likeness to the original thing.

Greem used his Fire Molding ability and the flaming tiger model to give himself Cindral’s appearance. With this appearance and his use of fire spells, it would be difficult for the average adept to differentiate between him and Cindral.

Moreover, before he committed to this line of action, he even made subtle contact with Alice in the Northern Lands and had her blur his Fate path. This way, even if someone discovered any evidence that he left behind, they would have difficulty pursuing the truth with divination spells!

Since they had managed to return safely, they would have to finish the performance they had started.

Greem closed his eyes and sensed for a moment before turning and charging out of the den. He hurried in a certain direction in the depths of the lava sea.

The ‘battle’ in the lava sea was still ongoing.

The ripples of shockwave churned the sea, but whenever Adept Yunid arrived at the scene of battle, the two fighters would already be at another spot, causing another wave of ripples.

Yunid had no choice but to grit her teeth and continue chasing.

Greem secretly snuck back to the battlefield and greeted Cindral. He then spat out a storage ring and threw it to the fire clone. The two swapped places and Greem continued ‘fighting’ hard against Cindral, while the Second Grade fire clone quickly escaped under cover of the shockwaves.

This time, the adept and the tiger did not continue teleporting away. Instead, they started to fight even more fiercely on the spot.

For the first time, Greem unleashed his full power.

As his soul flux rippled outward, several pieces of strange magical equipment slowly appeared on his body.

A fine, extravagant magical crown appeared on the head of the flame humanoid. At the same time, a pair of magical armbands with delicate carvings appeared around his arms. A flash of light appeared on his waist, while an intense magical aura appeared around his legs and neck.

Moreover, all this magical equipment appeared to be deeply connected to Greem’s soul, forming a perfect magic energy system with his consciousness core at the very center of the system.

A set. It was a magical equipment set!

Adept Yunid almost cried out in surprise, and deep envy could be seen when she gazed Greem’s towering body.

That wasn’t the end of it.

A strange wooden doll covered in runic lines appeared on Greem’s shoulder, letting out a strange and sinister smile at the flaming tiger before it.

More Soul Equipment!

Moreover, it had already gained intelligence and the ability to materialize a body.

At this point, Adept Yunid was no longer just envious, but blatantly jealous!

Dammit! Where did this young fire adept find so much Soul Equipment? Was he the bastard of some important Fourth Grade adept?