Age of Adepts

[Beep. Detecting template of a Fifth Grade fire creature.

[Grade stable, energy level stable, spiritual template stable.

[Conducting data comparison; correcting and optimizing the base model template of host.

[Beep. Data comparison complete. Discovered 31 deviations, 17 incorrect categorizations, 164 inefficiencies, and 6 major data mistakes in host’s template.. Requesting instructions from host. Proceed with correction based on new model of Fifth Grade fire creature?]

The moment Greem saw the flame giant, the Chip had started drawing wildly upon Greem’s Spirit as if it had just discovered a new continent. It was utilizing all that Spirit to drive its calculations. Even with Greem’s Fourth Grade Spirit, it was hard to sustain the insane speed at which the Chip was functioning.

It was like a black hole had appeared in Greem’s mind, wildly devouring all of his Spirit without mercy.

Fortunately, his power was no longer comparable to what it was in the past. He gritted his teeth and managed to endure the Chip’s insane requirements, gradually stabilizing the Chip’s calculations.

[Template of Fifth Grade creature has been constructed and optimized. Correction of host’s own template will be conducted in the future!] Greem finally managed to reign in the Chip’s madness after a while. He regained control of his body.

However, that one instant of calculations had drained him of nearly seventy percent of his Spirit. His mind was incredibly exhausted and fatigued at the moment.

It was only when he finally managed to direct a portion of his Spirit outwards and came to his senses that he realized that something was wrong. Shadow Demon, who should have been in hiding and guarding over him, had been revealed. He was standing in front of him, desperately trying to break free of the flame shackles wrapped around him.

Seemingly sensing Greem coming to his senses, the flame giant sitting high atop his throne finally spoke up.

“You’ve finally woken up. Little guy, you are quite interesting. If you had taken a little longer to wake up, I was prepared to capture this doll and dissect it!”

His voice wasn’t exactly loud, but it appeared tremendously commanding and domineering in this hall of flames. Moreover, when his voice traveled through the room, it seemed able to trigger resonance with the fire elementium in the air, making his voice even more intimidating and commanding.

Greem tried his best to ignore the splitting headache from exhausting his Spirit and calmed down. He then bowed and paid his respects to the unusual giant in front of him.

“I am honored for this audience with you, my lord, and honored to have received your guidance. I, Greem, express my heartfelt gratitude towards the great King Groms!”

“Don’t be in a hurry to thank me, kid. There are some old debts to be settled between the two of us still!” The flame giant let out a muffled grunt, his gaze at Greem hiding a hint of hostility.

“May I know what Your Majesty is referring to?”

“Two hundred years ago, you came to the Fire Elementium Plane and killed one of my Fire Lords. How should we settle this blood debt?”

Two hundred years ago…Fire Lord……

Greem’s mind spun rapidly, and he quickly managed to match the description to an event in his memory.

“I was foolish and ignorant as a young man. For besmirching your dignity, I sincerely plead for Your Majesty’s forgiveness!” Greem hurriedly apologized, seemingly in utter sincerity.

As a Fifth Grade Fire King, there was no way Groms would have gone to such lengths to summon him to the Fire Elementium Plane just over the death of a mere Second Grade two hundred years ago. The reason Groms was doing this was clearly to lay the groundwork for the conversation to come.

Greem knew this very well and could only lower himself for the discussion to proceed.

“I have plenty of Second Grade Fire Lords under my command; it isn’t a big deal. Still, your act of killing my subordinate has made me the laughing-stock of the other Fire Kings. I can’t exactly look past that now, can I!” The flame giant looked relaxed on his throne, and it was hard to discern what expression he had on his face.

“Greem is willing to do his very best to compensate for his past mistakes. If there is anything Your Majesty requires, Greem will dedicate his very being to its completion!”

A smile broke on the giant’s face as if he was delighted by Greem’s understanding.

“I am looking for something! I had planned to find it through Maysa, but that plan has fallen through. Now, that thing I was looking for must have fallen in Maysa’s hands. So, I need you to help me retrieve it!”

Greem leaped up in surprise and said, “Steal from Maysa? My lord, Maysa is a Seventh Grade Great Witch!”

The flame giant chuckled loudly, “I’m not that foolish as to have you go head-to-head with a Seventh Grade Great Witch. Maysa has been relying on her being sheltered by Fate to peek at the secrets of powerful beings all over the universe. She then uses these secrets to coerce people into serving her. Her actions are vile, disagreeable, and they have long since drawn the ire of many people.

“But don’t worry, her actual person is hidden in a mysterious space known as the Domain of Fate. She hardly ever takes a single step out of there. The ones running around on the outside pulling strings for her are either her Fate clones or individuals that have been forced into her service. You won’t run into her actual person on this mission!

“A while ago, she sent a Fate clone to meet me, hoping to borrow my power against you. And what she threatened me with was that thing I was looking for. That bitch knew very well that I was searching for that thing, and she sent someone to snatch it away ahead of time. That is why I don’t plan to help her this time and summoned you instead.”

Greem took a deep breath and asked calmly, “What do you want me to do?”

“According to my most recent information, that item is now in the World of Adepts! That’s a place where even I can’t easily go. That is why……”

“So, you want me to help you get that item back?”

“Indeed! If you can do this, then I will stand by your side for all of your fights with that bitch in the future! Hehehe. I, Groms, might not be the most powerful individual in the Fire Elementium Plane, but I command respect even amongst the seven Fire Kings. With my support, it will be entirely possible for you to become a Fire Lord in this world. I can carve a piece of land out for you, and you will be a Lord of the Fire Elementium Plane. How about that! Very generous conditions, aren’t they?”

Greem frowned and thought for a moment before speaking up, “Compared to land, I am more interested in fire laws. What I want to know is how you are able to purify and concentrate such a tremendous number of law fires.”

The air in the hall suddenly froze!

Fire King Groms stared at Greem silently. After a long while, he finally smiled.

“Law fire? A good name for it. However, for fire elementium creatures like ourselves, fire is fire. There is no need to give it such a wordy name. The law fire you speak of, we call it origin fire. If you want to know the secrets of origin fire, then earn it with that thing I want!”

Groms was a Fire King, after all. With his power and identity, he could be a deity of fire if he were to descend on an ordinary planar world. Every word and action of his moved the laws of the Fire Elementium Plane and contained a binding power of their own.

That was why Greem didn’t hesitate to nod and come to an agreement with him.

Finally, when Greem left, he couldn’t help but turn and ask.

“Lord Groms, may I know what that item you seek is?”

The flame giant remained silent and threw a fire crystal at Greem instead. His voice boomed, “Don’t look at it here. Don’t ask and don’t talk about it. Go look for that new Fate Witch! She will give you the answers you need.”

Greem nodded, bowed, and turned to leave.

Shadow Demon followed silently behind him. It wasn’t until they left the hall that he merged into Greem’s shadow once more.

“Chip, what do you have?”

[Beep. Fifth Grade fire creature template 22% completed. Understanding of fire laws increased to 71%. Mastered two new fire laws: Fire’s Fragility and Fire’s Resilience.

[Fire’s Fragility: Host can reduce a target’s fire resistance beyond negative at the cost of nullifying all of the host’s defenses.

[Fire’s Resilience: Flames that affect the host’s target will not extinguish on their own.]

Two decent fire laws, Greem noted to himself as he hurried back to his tower.

Two months later, Greem finished his lengthy journey and returned to Fire Throne.

…………

The Tower of Fate.

The enchanting and brilliant river of stars slowly faded away as Alice’s slender figure appeared once again.

“How is it? Was the divination too much of a burden on you?” Greem stepped forward and put his hand on Alice’s arms worriedly.

Alice brushed her hair behind her ear and rolled her eyes. “I’m a Fourth Grade witch now. Why is it that your impression of me is someone fragile as glass?”

“True, true…men are all so fake! Even though he wants to ask whether the divination succeeded, he’s still trying to paint himself as a good man. Hmph,” Helen scolded as she circled the two of them and left behind a trail of magic dust.

“Where did she learn all this from? Why’s she so mean with her words now?” Greem rolled her eyes and tried to grab the little fairy, but the tiny creature deftly weaved between his hands.

“Who else…other than that increasingly rebellious arcane apprentice. No, I can’t call her an arcane apprentice anymore. She actually managed to advance without any guidance. She…is an arcanist now!”

“An arcane apprentice advanced in the World of Adepts?” Greem’s face twitched. He couldn’t believe his ears.

It seemed like the World of Adepts had obtained the corresponding arcane knowledge system from the destruction of the Arcane Empire. At the very least, the fundamentals of the arcane system were complete. That was why the world could now sustain the advancement of arcanists.

A foreign arcane-apprentices like her was only the first one. From now on, as long as one’s powers matched the laws of advancement for an arcanist, there would be a second arcanist and a third.

Soon, it was likely that a unique branch of adepts would appear in the World of Adepts!