Age of Adepts

Pa Mazk was an old, hunched-over goblin with a wrinkled face.

In all honesty, the fact that he had managed to survive the planar suppression upon arriving in the World of Adepts was already well beyond Locke’s expectations.

If he were to stand beside Locke, outsiders would treat them as grandfather and grandson. However, no one could guess that Pa Mazk was actually a goblin companion that Locke had grown up with– his most intimate friend, in fact.

A smile immediately appeared on Pa Mazk’s wrinkled face when he saw the little goblin bring Locke over.

“Little Harold! Since you’ve come, why don’t you help me watch over my store for the moment? I have some things to talk about with Locke.” Pa Mazk took out a well-crafted mechanical chicken from the below the black countertop and tossed it to the little goblin. He then nodded at Locke, and the two walked into the storehouse behind the shop, one after the other.

The storehouse was crowded and dark. Tall metal shelves were everywhere, filled with strange constructions of various shapes and unknown purposes.

Pa Mazk did not take a light with him either. He simply stood there in the darkness, silently looking at this childhood companion of his, now completely different.

The basic lifespan of a green-skinned goblin was only thirty to forty years. Even proper healthcare could not extend their lives beyond sixty years.

However, ever since Locke had succesfully advanced to First Grade in the World of Adepts, the nourishment of magic energy meals and the magic energy in the surroundings had caused his life to go far beyond the lifespan of an ordinary goblin. If no accidents occurred, Locke had at least one hundred and twenty more years to live.

It was a much shorter lifespan than the average human adept, but it was still shocking when compared to the majority of his companions.

That was why, when this pair of childhood companions stood together, one looked like a young seven-year-old goblin at the peak of his youth, while the other looked like an ancient relic, mere steps from his grave.

The difference in their appearance was so vast that it made both the goblins lament at the passage of time!

“Did the princess send you?” Locke’s eyes glinted in the darkness.

“How…how did you know?” Pa Mazk opened his mouth wide in shock, his surprise completely genuine.

“Ha! if it had been Lord Tigule or Lord Snorlax who sent you, you would not have been so secretive about the whole affair.” Ever since he had advanced to become a magical mechanic, Locke’s drastically increased Spirit had made his mind and thought process entirely different from before, “No matter how I think about it, her Highness the princess is the only one who would go to such lengths!”

Pa Mazk finally broke free of his utter shock after a long while.

The young and ‘handsome’ goblin before him was so familiar, yet so foreign to him!

What was familiar was that young and youthful appearance, and what was foreign was that meaningful smile on the face of his childhood friend.

Pa Mazk finally composed himself and asked the question.

“Locke, her Highness asked me to ask you a single question. Do you still think of yourself as a goblin?”

Locke closed his eyes and thought for fifteen minutes before finally opening them once again.

“I have green skin. The blood that flows in me is goblin blood. Of course, I am still a goblin! That is an irrefutable truth!”

“As long as you still think of yourself a goblin,” Pa Mazk secretly let out a breath of relief, “Her Highness wants you to join the Magic Energy Association!”

What was to come had finally come now!

Locke let out a sigh and fell into deep thought once again.

Over the years, with the massive numbers of goblins that had assimilated with the Crimson Clan, many goblin organizations had sprung up in Fire Throne, White Tower, and all the various goblin outposts.

Groups like The Steam Kings, the Magical Machine Research Association, the Goblin Mutual Aid Association, Green Peace. Some of these organizations were attempts at renaissance, trying to bring back the glorious past of the goblins and their era of steam power. Others purely wanted to gather the goblins together and prevent them from being bullied by the other races.

However, the most famous of them all had to be this Magic Energy Association founded by Princess Vanessa herself!

Upon the foundation of the Magic Energy Association, Princess Vanessa called out to her people, attempting to gather all goblins with supernatural powers. She wanted them to conduct in-depth research on magic energy and gain greater mastery over the energy, making the goblin faction powerful and glorious once more.

It sounded like a brilliant intention and was an ideal worthy of praise.

Sadly, very few people responded to the call!

Disregarding a newly advanced adept like Locke, even the great goblin war god Lord Tigule had not joined the Magic Energy Association. Meanwhile, goblin sage Lord Snorlax directly refused Princess Vanessa’s invitation.

This incident even caused a fairly large commotion and argument amongst the goblins.

Some claimed that this was the result of the few leaders of the goblin race fighting for power, while other claimed that Princess Vanessa’s ambition was too great, such that no one dared to get close to her.

Regardless, the Magic Energy Association was still successfully founded at White Tower under the strong insistence of Princess Vanessa.

Some time earlier, Locke had even heard rumors that Princess Vanessa was attempting to get close to Dean Gonga in an attempt to drag all the goblin engineers in the magical alloy laboratory into her Association.

That caused Locke to have become increasingly confident about his suspicions.

Princess Vanessa had truly not given up on the past glory of the Goblin Empire yet. She was still trying to strive toward some degree of independence and freedom. Moreover, the one she most wanted to take after was probably Brain Monster Gazlowe, who had carved out his own land in Lance!

The Magic Energy Association. The princess had probably cast all her hopes on magic energy, believing that the goblins would be able to break free of the adept’s rule once they mastered it, thereby achieving true independence.

It was understandable for a goblin with a narrow worldview and limited experience to have such wild dreams and thoughts. However, as a goblin who had advanced, Locke’s worldview was on an entirely different plane.

What was magic energy?

No more than a mysterious power that filled the entirety of the universe, both inside and outside the planar worlds!

It was through magic energy that the humans gave birth to adepts, thereby developing their great adept civilization.

The World of Gods relied on the power of faith to create gods of various importance, gaining dominion over a part of the world.

Powerful races of the universe such as the Titans relied on the compatibility of their bodies with magic energy to take over and dominate the entirety of the multiverse.

So many races and worlds had managed to empower themselves through magic energy. Theoretically, this meant that the goblins could do so as well.

Unfortunately, the Goblin Plane was one of the rare low-magic planes!

The planar environment there was insufficient to provide for a systematic society of magic energy users. Consequently, this pushed the Goblin Plane onto a unique path of development– steam-powered machines.

Unfortunately, compared to magic energy, the power of steam machines was still too weak.

That was why the entire Goblin Plane had become the spoils of the Crimson Clan after one ‘unexpected’ adept invasion. The many goblins had then become lowly slaves and servants.

The entirety of their plane’s resources was free for the enemy to take, and the whole of the plane’s population was free for the enemy to command. This life might be bitter, but it was an unavoidable fate for the Goblin Plane.

Locke had read many books since he came to the World of Adepts and had gained tremendous and mysterious power. When he once again turned back and assessed his world and his nation, he felt a deep sense of pity, sadness at its misfortune, and anger at its inability to save itself.

The goblins were not a mighty race to begin with. When they were put into a low-magic world, it was only natural that they would appear to be weak across the board. The elites and the forces of the entire plane had gathered together and, yet, they still couldn’t fend off the invasion of a tiny adept clan. What could they complain about?

From another perspective, if the Goblin Plane was a high-magic plane, would the goblins have managed to gain the ruling position of the plane through their steam machines with their naturally weak and frail bodies?

If one were to take ten thousand steps back to look at the issue, it was clear that Adept Meryl of the Crimson Clan was already one of the very rare pacifists amongst the adepts. The policies and means by which she governed the Goblin were so gentle that even Locke felt like she indulged the goblins far too much. No other adept clan would possibly have given the goblins so much freedom and power!

Moreover, none of the many goblins that Locke knew had any idea. The Adept Meryl that they feared like a tiger and respected like a god was only an ‘insignificant’ First Grade adept in the Crimson Clan. Above her, there was the terrifying Second Grade Bug Adept Billis, the mysterious Second Grade Witch Alice, and the unimaginably powerful Third Grade legendary adept Greem and Bloody Queen Mary.

The very idea of resisting the rule of the Crimson Clan was undoubtedly dangerous. It even posed the risk of dragging the entirety of the goblin faction into a bottomless abyss!

When Princess Vanessa first gained control over magic powers, the vanity of becoming stronger had caused her ego to inflate. She was no longer able to recognize the irredeemable difference in ability between the goblins and adepts.

Resist…what were they supposed to resist with? Magic?

The adepts had researched magic energy for more than tens of thousands of years, and the goblins hoped to overtake them with their decades of research? It was a bet with stakes that were far, far too large. With a slight mistake, the entire Goblin Plane would be lost.

If the resistance failed and the goblins were branded as traitors, then every one of them would have to pay a heavy price.

The very thought of losing his current life and being branded as a slave to toil in a dark and dingy mine caused Locke’s heart to become restless.

“Locke…Locke; will…will you join us?” Pa Mazk asked fearfully.

“I will!” Locke suddenly gave a gentle and beaming smile, “Mazk, you are my best friend after all. I will help you, even if I don’t help anyone else!”

“That’s good. That’s good.” The anxious Mazk finally let out a breath of relief, “I will arrange for you to meet with the princess’ secret messenger now.”

“No hurry. I still need to go to the Black Forest for a few missions tomorrow. I will only return after about four days. It won’t be too late to meet with the messenger then!”

“Very well then, I will have the messenger wait here for you for a few days. Come back as soon as possible, alright!”

“Don’t worry, I will come back, for sure. We are all goblins. Goblins will help goblins!”

“Yes, goblins will help goblins!”

“That’s right, Mazk, fix up your goblin shop a bit, will you? The door of the shop is so narrow and small. It’s obvious that it’s not open for outside service. It’s gonna draw the suspicion of outsiders.”

The two goblins left the storehouse, with Pa Mazk repeatedly agreeing to the suggestion.