Age of Adepts

Ice Dragon Nax was very mighty indeed.

However, its power was still insufficient to deal with a party of five powerful Fourth Grades.

The main reason the battle seemed so ‘intense’ was simply because the members of the party were all holding back. They were cautious around each other and could not cooperate to the fullest extent.

In all honesty, in individual power alone, Kanganas, Tulas, and Greem were just as powerful as the skeletal ice dragon.

However, this was only a ‘fun’ little hunting game for them. It would be nice to return victorious and with loot in their possession, but they could simply escape and return another day if they lost. That was why they consciously avoided all the opportunities to inflict grievous injuries upon the dragon that required them to be injured in some capacity.

It was a party of strangers put together on a whim, after all. They even had to endure suppression from the planar consciousness of the Chillfrost world as they fought. No one would be willing to risk their lives in this battle. That was why this fight had dragged out for so long.

However, the party’s members were still powerful, after all. It didn’t matter how the dragon struggled or fought with its life on the line. It could not escape its fate of defeat!

However, what made Greem the most curious was the fact that Nax showed no signs of leaving its palace, regardless of how intense the fighting had become or how injured it was. The dragon remained rooted in the palace as it fought against the members of the party.

Greem couldn’t help but become suspicious of its behavior.

“Sand King, you don’t have to keep fighting the dragon anymore. Dig your way to the heart of this place, and see if there’s anything strange there.” Greem teleported around repeatedly, avoiding the dragon’s tackle and tail strikes as he shouted, “I suspect the Ancient Reliquary isn’t with the dragon, but……”

Greem wasn’t communicating with mental messages. He was shouting these words.

Upon hearing this, the members of the party paused for an instant. Even the skeletal dragon was stunned. The soulfire burning in his eye sockets jumped slightly.

So there was something wrong with it.

The members of the party immediately understood the situation when they saw the dragon’s reaction.

No wonder the palace had such an unusually cold aura. This aura wasn’t the dragon’s aura, but the aura of the Ancient Reliquary of Deep Winter.

The Ancient Reliquary might possess powerful ice laws, but it also contained dreadful death laws. In truth, the Reliquary was not a suitable origin artifact for Nax.

However, for the sake of advancing to Fifth Grade, Nax had absorbed the ice laws in the Ancient Reliquary at the cost of its own body. That made its ice powers grow in power and devastation. However, the accompanying death laws converted it into an undead dragon, hated and despised by all living creation.

The intense modification to its soul had made it much more powerful, but it also bound the dragon to this location. Before Nax fully completed its soul modification, it would not be able to take a single step away from the ice palace, much less fly freely in the skies like a proper dragon.

As for why Nax didn’t simply bring the Reliquary with it? The reason was simple!

It couldn’t endure the terrifying and powerful principle powers within the Reliquary at all.

The evolution from law to principle wasn’t just a change of terms.

Laws were fundamental rules that a rule abided and functioned by. They were typically a small branch of a greater principle power.

Take the fire principles, for example. They were an exceedingly large and complete system of power. Meanwhile, the fire laws that Greem had grasped were only a small extension of this massive tree of principle powers.

It wasn’t until he gathered sufficient law powers that Greem could peer into the principles’ secrets through his law powers.

As for completely grasping a single principle power in its entirety…that was not something that a low-grade lifeform could possibly hope to accomplish! Their bodies would not be able to endure the strain.

Fourth Grad. These beings might be akin to ‘gods’ or ‘demigods’ in their own worlds. However, at their essence, they were no more than mortal beings. Their bodies and souls were all composed of material, planar substance.

Since they had not broken free of the planar consciousness’s limitations, they naturally could not ascend beyond the plane and execute the planar principles in place of the planar consciousness.

The planar consciousness controlled all the principle powers within a plane; they would never hand over their authority to an outsider. Even those who were powerful enough to come into contact with the law powers could easily invite backlash from the planar consciousness if they crossed the line.

As such, an ancient artifact containing two principle powers was of unimaginable significance to both Nax and Kanganas!

That was why Nax became utterly horrified and furious when he realized that the enemy had become aware of the Reliquary’s true location.

There was no need for any sounding of horns. With a simple sentence, Greem had pushed the dragon into a corner! It had no choice but to fight to the death now.

Kanganas also had to put in some effort now if he wanted the Reliquary. Playing it safe was not an option. Should the skeletal ice dragon force his companions back with desperate, reckless attacks, Kanganas would have trouble dealing with the dragon’s ferocious attacks and frost breaths alone.

Thus, the battle instantly began to reach a crescendo!

The dragon no longer cared about the devastation of the Reliquary’s power to himself. He started to draw recklessly from the principle powers within the Reliquary of Deep Winter. It converted that energy into an all-engulfing blizzard that devoured every inch of space in the palace.

The battle had finally begun now!

The party could no longer pool their powers in such a harsh environment. They could only fight on their own and await the moment when the Reliquary’s backlash struck the dragon.

Either the dragon would cripple and kill them with this burst of power, or they survived until the dragon ran out of power and was consumed by the Reliquary’s backlash. It was a contest of their stamina and true power.

No one could see or sense anything in the ice palace now!

Everyone’s spiritual senses had been suppressed to the limit by this chilling power. Even with their Spirits as Fourth Grades, their spiritual appendages could not extend beyond fifty meters away from them.

Such narrow ‘vision’ pushed them to a precipice in this dangerous battle. A single mistake, and their bodies could be shredded to pieces and their souls torn to bits.

However, even as dangerous as it was, no party member chose to flee from the palace. It was simple; they didn’t want to lose their chance to obtain the Ancient Reliquary of Deep Winter!

Even though the Ancient Reliquary might not be compatible with their soul origin, and even though they had already promised Kanganas that they would help him obtain the dual-attribute artifact, when the opportunity presented itself in front of them, everyone could have a chance to obtain the Reliquary in a chaotic skirmish.

Truly, who would give up on an opportunity to obtain an artifact?

At least Greem wasn’t one who would give up on such an opportunity!

At this point, it was everyone for themselves. No one could care less about the others.

Greem held the Tome of Corruption in his left hand and the fire coral staff in his right. His entire body was shrouded in the crimson Burning Domain. Shadow Demon flickered in an out of sight beneath him, constantly on the watch for danger.

Greem walked forward without any hesitation, his skin-tight leather armor making him appear taller than usual. He pursed his lips and looked around him with cold eyes. The skin on his smooth forehead split apart as a strange, diamond-shaped crystal appeared.

Greem’s Spirit became incredibly concentrated as it was fed through the focusing crystal. Tremendous fire energy surged out of the Orb of the Fire God and his Heart of Principles, gathering around him, blazing and eager. The moment he sensed the enemy’s aura, Greem would be able to unleash a devastating and unforgettable attack on them!

As for injuring his party members…hehehe, at this point, there probably wasn’t such a thing as a party member anymore!

Anyone that dared to approach him was someone with bad intentions. Greem would not hesitate to strike.

A violent shockwave rippled out from about three hundred and seventy-five meters to Greem’s left. He could feel the energy aura of the dragon and Sand King through the shockwaves.

Sand King’s muffled grunt of pain could be heard through the mist and snow. Judging by the power erupting from the conflict, Sand King had been badly injured. He would probably be forced out of this competition for the Reliquary.

Just as expected, a sky rending roar could be heard, and Sand King’s unique aura quickly fled from the ice palace.

Sand King was out of the equation now!

Greem searched the palace in the mist, wondering to himself who the dragon’s next target would be.

Sshina, Tulas, or himself?

Kanganas was a lich infamous throughout the universe. He would not have earned such infamy if this was the limit of his power. It was almost certain he had concealed his real power.

Under such circumstances, if the dragon wanted a level playing field against Kanganas alone, getting rid of the other people was the best choice.

If that were the case, then the dragon would either choose the weakest, Sshina, or……

Before Greem could finish his thought, the mist parted as the badly injured dragon roared and charged towards him.

A Frost Breath was the first thing to greet him. A bright blue cloud of energy surged towards Greem. The radius was so large and the temperature so cold that it was beyond Greem’s capabilities to detect the specific numbers.

The Chip’s alarms started blaring in Greem’s mind!