Age of Adepts

Fahssn showed up to the battlefield on the shoulders of an exceptionally colossal Fungal Giant.

It was a terrifying Fungal Giant who had reached beginner Fourth Grade.

His entire body was covered in furry green fungi, and several squid-like tentacles split off from his two upper limbs. These appendages constantly squirmed and stretched, making for an unsettling sight. A half-meter tall sporeperson covered in strange tattoos stood quietly on the Fungal Giant’s shoulder. His hands and legs had assimilated with the Giant’s body.

From a distance, anyone would have treated this sporeperson as an accessory on the Fourth Grade Fungal Giant’s body. It was hard to imagine that such an insignificant and tiny person was controlling such a massive creature.

Another equally massive giant stood at the Fungal Giant’s side.

This Giant’s body was covered in green moss, parasitic seaweed, and many bulbs and sores. At a glance, the Swamp Giant didn’t look too different from the other Swamp Giants that Greem had seen so far. However, upon sensing carefully, Greem could pick up on the violent and vicious aura of strength within the Swamp Giant’s body.

The few powerhouses of the Marsh Wetlands that stood before Greem were all glowing bright red underneath the Chip’s scan. Greem could fall at any one of their hands if he were not careful.

Even the ogre chieftain, who Greem had already defeated, had the ability and power to kill him if he had the opportunity.

No one should ever let down their guard in front of a Fourth Grade opponent before they were truly and utterly defeated!

Rauluns no longer held back when he saw that the enemy’s reinforcements had arrived.

Almost at the same instant that Fahssn and Krach appeared, thousands of water arrows howled and shot towards Gorefist.

Gorefist panicked at the sight of this. The thick block of stone in his hands immediately started swinging around, knocking, crushing, and smashing most of the water arrows. However, the rain of water arrows still hit him all over his body, making him look like a boar with bristled fur. It was a terrible sight to behold.

However, the Physique of a Fourth Grade ogre was formidable. Even after sustaining so many wounds, he was injured but not dead. In fact, these were only light injuries for him.

Gorefist protected his vital points with his weapon and struggled out of the range of the arrows’ attacks. He panted in exhaustion and finally stopped swinging the stone stick. He looked at his body covered in water arrows and let out a furious snort. Violent shockwaves rippled through his body as all the arrows disintegrated instantly, blown away along with drops of his violet blood.

Gorefist endured the injuries with no more than a frown. All the muscles across his body tightened, and the hundreds of wounds were sealed simultaneously, preventing any further loss of his blood and stamina.

Gorefist finally stabilized himself after doing all this. He strolled to his companions’ side and glared angrily at his enemies.

Water Diviner Rauluns wanted to continue pursuing the ogre chieftain, but Sage Moat called him back to his side. Both parties stepped forward and glared at each other across a hundred-meter-wide pond.

On one side, there was Swamp Sage Moat, Water Diviner Rauluns, and the legendary fire adept, Greem. On the other, you had the leader of the magical sporepeople, Fahssn, Swamp Lord Krach, and Ogre Chieftain Gorefist.

To think that there were six Fourth Grades present upon such a small battlefield.

If anyone were to witness this scene, news of it would certainly shock every native creature in the Marsh Wetlands.

Sich an event had rarely 0ccured in the tens of thousands of years of history of the Marsh Wetlands. In fact, it might be unprecedented.

After all, the lifespans of the creatures in the Spirit World were a dozen times longer than the average animals of an ordinary plane. Consequently, the way they looked at problems and solutions was very different. Responses were often very slow. If Greem had not intervened in this matter, the conflict would have taken another one or two hundred years before it erupted.

“Lord Moat, this situation isn’t quite right, is it? Three against three, with both sides having relatively equal power. It doesn’t seem like we have the upper hand in a situation like this. You don’t intend to use an outsider like me as the main combatant, do you?” Greem endured the ogre chieftain’s death stare without a word, all while casually communicating mentally with the Swamp Sage.

The implication in his words was already obvious. He was only a passerby who happened to be walking by. He had only been involved because of Sage Moat’s request. Now that he had already completed that request, he had no more obligation in helping Moat fight his wars.

Swamp Sage Moat continued staring across the river, his face stern and cold. Meanwhile, he was secretly communicating with Greem.

“Sir Greem is a respected guest of ours from the World of Adepts. Of course, I would never treat you improperly! I have already given over all the good stuff I collected over the years as your reward earlier. What else are you looking to get from me?”

“Those were just a few mushroom seeds. I’m sure it’s not much to you, Sir Moat. Moreover, cultivating magical mushrooms like these are going to be reasonably troublesome as well. Who knows if I will succeed in growing them once I’ve brought them out of this place. If the mushrooms can’t grow outside of this place, all the work I’ve put in for you would have been for nothing!”

“Hehehe. Sir Greem, why is there any need to try and deceive you. You have the spore princess as your subordinate, after all. Surely you will bring some of her sporepeople with her when you go back? The sporepeople have always been the best at cultivating magical plants. They won’t have any problem growing a few special mushrooms.”

“Haha, I’d never truly considered that angle. However, now that you have reminded me, I will certainly give it some thought.”

“Also, Sir Greem, the Hydra King and Lightwing will arrive soon. Even though we will have a numerical advantage, it won’t be an easy matter winning this battle.”

“And what about it? Do you want to hire me to help you?”

“There’s no need for that! It is an internal conflict of our Marsh Wetlands, after all. If you are too deeply involved, it will probably make the others unhappy.”

“Then what would you have me do?”

“May I know what you, sir, are planning behind the scenes?”

“I’m just an outsider. What could I possibly be planning?”

“Hehehe. Sir Greem, we are both smart people. There’s no need to hide anything from each other. Since you’ve worked so hard to draw Fahssn out of his base, and the spore princess is missing right now, you aren’t thinking of inciting a war and leave us trapped here in battle while you sneak into their sacred land, are you?”

The elderly were often the sharpest people. Everyone here was over a thousand years old and a ruler of the Marsh Wetlands for centuries. It was too much to expect Greem’s actions to have evaded their eyes.

Greem still had a smile on his face after Moat revealed his intentions, but the light in his eyes had turned dangerous.

“What is it? Do you intend to stop me now?”

“No, no, no, sir. I believe you misunderstand. It’s not exactly polite that you’ve arranged all this behind our backs, but you have not broken any agreements between us. As such, I am happy to see you succeed. However…”

“However, what?”

“I hope you can do us a little favor when you execute your plan?”

“What favor?”

“I hope you can help us draw Fahssn away from the battle temporarily when the fighting reaches a climax.”

Greem finally understood something when he heard this. He whispered back, “You want me to create trouble at the sporepeople’s sacred land and lure Fahssn back. That way, the enemy will be missing an important individual in the fight. The other two will no longer be threats to you!”

“Indeed, that is my intention!”

Greem couldn’t help but shake his head after he mulled over the idea for a moment. “I don’t like this suggestion. Fahssn is very obviously a difficult opponent. If I lure him back, it could cause disastrous consequences for my own plan. I don’t want to fight a Fourth Grade on his home territory.”

“Your actions will gain you the goodwill of all the leaders of the Marsh Wetlands.”

“Who knows if I will come to this place for a second time. Your goodwill isn’t exactly worth much!”

“The heart of a thousand-year treant.”

“Treants live for an average of four thousand years. A thousand-year treant heart is worth a Third Grade item at the very best.”

“And a Starfell gem.”

Starfell gems weren’t products from material planes. Instead, they came from deep between the boundless space.

These gems naturally possessed unique powers that could not be found in material planes.

However, the power of each starfell gem could only be confirmed after appraisal. Prior to the evaluation, their powers were unknown and mysterious!

As such, starfell gems were often strange items of indeterminate grade in the World of Adepts’ value system. If the appraised gem has sufficient power, it could be a true Fourth Grade item. However, if its attributes were weak and inconsequential, then it would only be a Third Grade item.

Greem couldn’t help but hesitate.

An item that could possibly be at Fourth Grade was enough value to move him.

However, this mission concerned Alice’s life. Greem might be moved, but his rational mind still made him shake his head.

They had not been hiding their conversation from Rauluns.

All of a sudden, he interrupted, “I have a Watersoul Jade in my hands. It can provide its contractor with two full-power attacks. There should be no problem if we throw this Watersoul Jade into the deal, is there?”

The Watersoul Jade. Two full-power attacks from Rauluns.

It was important to know that Rauluns was an advanced Fourth Grade powerhouse. If Greem could summon a full-power attack from Rauluns, he could easily kill any opponent of beginner Fourth Grade if they were caught unaware!

Having this Watersoul Jade on his person was like having two extra lives.

Any intelligent person would not reject this deal.

Greem agreed without any hesitation!