Age of Adepts

The Spirit World.

The forest during the night was quiet.

Tall, towering trees were everywhere.

Beneath the trees were wild, verdant growths of bushes and vegetation, as well as massive, colorful mushrooms whose caps were the size of umbrellas.

Thick vines wrapped around ancient trees like serpents, layer upon layer, extending all the way into the broad canopy above. Looking up from within the forest, the sky seemed to be filled with entangled green vines tied together in a three-dimensional array that connected every tree.

It wasn’t dark in the woods.

Apart from the faint pillars of blue light that pierced through the canopy from the moon, the moss and mushrooms on the ground were also glowing with colorful light, illuminating the forest and turning it into a strange, unusual wonderland.

Here, three unusual visitors appeared in this remote corner of the world, shattering the peace and quiet.

A spatial singularity slowly opened in the green clearing. Terrifying, dense red mist spilled forth from the singularity, instantly taking up all space within ten meters of it.

The red mist shimmered, as though there was some strange beast within struggling and roaring ferociously.

A short moment later, the red mist faded, revealing three unusual figures.

The first was a woman.

She appeared human from the waist up, with a butt, bosom, slender figure, and a pretty face. Yet strangely enough, everything from the legs down was very obviously not human. Countless soft vines extended from her waist, supporting her body as an octopus’ tentacles would.

However, even more shockingly, her skin appeared almost semi-translucent. You could see the green and viscous liquid that ran beneath it.

As the party’s guide, Emelia was the first member of the group to awake from the teleportation.

She stretched her body and got used to the planar environment while she assessed their surroundings.

The space inside the Spirit World was vast. After such a long time away from this place, she couldn’t be sure that the teleportation she had conducted wouldn’t deviate from her ideal location.

Most of the red mist had dispersed already. Still, some of it gathered together into a strange fire humanoid that was still struggling to adjust to the local conditions.

“My lord, this is the Spirit World! I can sense the unique planar aura here.” Emelia respectfully reported to the fire humanoid after completing her assessment.

“The planar laws here seem entirely different from a normal plane. They resemble the laws of the elementium planes more. Also, what’s with my body. Why is it in such a weird state?” Greem’s voice rang from the flame humanoid.

It seemed he had not fully broken free from the planar teleportation sickness.

“My lord, the Spirit World is a strange world utterly different from any other plane. Non-native creatures will not be able to come here with their corporeal forms. Consequently, only your mental consciousness was teleported here. If you control your body using your past experience and habits, you will feel a little not used to it!”

“Mental consciousness?” Greem gasped. “You mean my body is still in the Tower of Fate? That only my mental consciousness has traveled here with you?”

“Yes!”

“Then what is this little guy?” Greem casually grabbed a green ball of light from beside him as he spoke.

“Master, it’s me! It’s Remi!” Remi’s voice came from within the ball of light.

“Remi, how did you travel here with me?”

“It’s not surprising, my lord. Lord Remi is your contracted spirit. Since you are bound by the soul, you coming to the Spirit World would naturally drag Remi along with you. That is because your form in the Spirit World is the true form of your soul origin!”

“I see!”

Greem continued to talk with Emelia while silently calling for the Chip in the depths of his mind.

After a dozen seconds, the Chip’s distorted voice appeared in his mind.

[Bzzz. Detecting severe mental disruption…zzz…currently in a foreign plane with a different flow of time than the host body…bzzz…mental communication severely delayed.]

“Chip, can you still provide me with aid even though my body is not present with me?”

[Bzz…trying to eliminate communication delay. Estimated time until solution: 28 hours, 37 minutes, 21 seconds.]

The Chip had been embedded in Greem’s very DNA. His Spirit was able to function as the medium with his body providing the energy required for its functions.

Now that Greem’s mental consciousness and body were separated, only a part of the Chip had traveled with him. To maintain a connection with its main body in the Tower of Fate, the Chip would have to be affected by the different time flows of the two plane worlds.

It was obvious that the Chip would not be able to provide further assistance in the next twenty-eight hours.

Greem sighed. He knew he only had himself to rely upon now.

He stood up slowly, repeatedly recalling his original appearance in his mind.

Strangely enough, as he recalled his appearance, the crude humanoid form of fire started to twist and distort. The obscure face of the humanoid form started to sink and rise, forming into proper facial features.

A short moment later, a bright flash of fire shone as the flames around Greem faded away, revealing his young, handsome face and tall, muscular body.

He was a Fourth Grade adept, after all. In just a few seconds, he had managed to figure out some basic uses of energy-shaping. Even though he was only a shapeless ball of mental consciousness, he had managed to create a perfect, almost solid body for himself.

A gentle breeze blew past, and Greem felt a slight chill.

Dammit! He was too focused on shaping his body and forgot to create clothes for himself!

Greem ignored the girl who had turned her face away and was blushing bright red. A thought flowed through his mind, a bit of his Spirit was exhausted, and a perfectly fitting adept’s robe appeared out of thin air, covering his muscular body.

Energy materialization was a small trick that posed no problem for a Fourth Grade adept like himself.

After all, it was challenging for the Fourth Grade adepts to procure supplies in the places they tended to go to. The conversion of energy into some simple living supplies was a handy thing to learn. However, enchanted items or magical equipment with their own magic systems could not be created through simple energy-shaping.

Clothes alone were not enough.

Greem waved with his left hand, and a fire coral staff of intricate design appeared in his hand. He lifted his right hand. White light glowed on his little finger as a delicate ring formed from coiled rose branches appeared.

The Fire Coral Staff and Sodden’s Holy Ring.

As expected of Fourth Grade items, they could transmit part of their power through energy projection. That saved Greem from using his own Spirit to sustain their existence while also maintaining a certain degree of their actual strength.

Meanwhile, the Fire Throne set was composed of Second Grade equipment, and its combined effect was no more than Third Grade. Consequently, the items could not conduct energy projection with their power. That meant they could not help Greem in the slightest while he was in the Spirit World.

Of course, if Greem were willing to exhaust a large amount of Spirit to project and manifest their power, these low-grade items could appear as well. However, every second of their presence would be a drain on Greem’s Spirit.

It was now that Greem truly understood.

Why did so many high-grade adepts refuse to equip low-grade magical equipment, even if it meant going without any gear on their person? The real reason was that low-grade equipment was not of any use in most situations. Rather than leave this low-grade equipment on, it was better to reduce their spiritual load and leave the energy to useful equipment.

Greem possessed two pieces of Fourth Grade equipment despite only advancing less than a hundred years ago. Such a wealthy and fortunate individual was very rare amongst Fourth Grade adepts.

That was why Emelia’s gaze towards Greem was filled with unconcealable envy and admiration.

Of course, there was no way that Emelia could know that Greem had hidden away two Fifth Grade artifacts in his tower. Otherwise, she would surely curse the planar consciousness for its blatant favoritism.

“Master, master, I want a body too!” Remi was only Third Grade, and he did not specialize in Spirit control. Thus, after a few failed attempts at forming a body, he could only call out to Greem for help.

Greem casually started rubbing the green ball of light that was Remi’s consciousness in his hands. A brief moment later, a life-like version of Peppa the pig appeared before everyone.

“Don’t make me a pig!” Remi created a mirror and saw his appearance. He almost broke down when he saw it and started whining and pleading with all he had.

Unfortunately, here in the Spirit World, he could not create a body for himself. After some ineffectual whining, he had no choice but to accept his new body.

Even though Remi didn’t like his new body, judging from the way that Emelia was continually eyeing him and the little stars in her eyes, Peppa the pig was a real ladykiller!

After some messing around, the three of them finally got used to the new planar environment. They could start exploring the Spirit World now. Meanwhile, their bodies in the Tower of Fate were protected by Shadow Demon. No harm should come to them.

After packing everything up, Greem looked at Emelia.

“This was once your home. You should lead the way. So, which direction should we head in to go to the Spore Forest?”

Emelia closed her eyes and sensed for a moment before pointing in a direction.

“There!”