Age of Adepts

Vast rivers of stars shot by, forming pretty ribbons of light in the background.

From a distance, the entire universe appeared filled with color.

The shining stars seemed within grasp as if all one needed to do was reach forward to touch them.

However, this was only an illusion.

Even the closest star was billions of kilometers away. Without the ability to cut through space, you could spend hundreds of years flying and never get close to them.

Space was infinitely vast and filled with many, many things!

The vastness and majesty of space weren’t within the realm of imagination for ordinary planar creatures. Moreover, the depths of space were filled with fluctuating energy tides and spacestorms.

It was impossible to survive in such a harsh and horrifying environment without a robust Physique and extraordinary magic resistance.

At this moment, a humanoid figure radiating purple light emerged from the depths of space, rushing forward through a spacestorm with the might of countless Second Grade spells.

The place that the figure was heading toward was what appeared to be a large mountain range drifting in the endless space.

The entire mountain range stretched for five hundred kilometers, a collection of pitch-black rocks covered in plenty of glittering metal particles. The presence of its amazing metal content allowed these mountains to survive the destruction of the spacestorms and remain in space.

It was apparent that this mountain range had drifted into space after the destruction of a continent in a broken world. Due to its mostly metallic composition, it had managed to exist until now. However, as the spacestorm continued to erode the mountains, the edges were starting to fall apart.

The boulders and steelrock that peeled off of the mountains would instantly be tossed far away into the depths of space by sparks of energy.

The mountain range was crumbling and shrinking at a visible rate.

In perhaps another hundred years, this five-hundred-kilometer-long mountain range might vanish without a trace, devoured completely by space.

As long as you were diligent enough, you could find all sorts of strange items that drifted from the planar worlds. Moreover, anything that could remain intact despite the energy tides would certainly carry a value of its own!

There would always be intelligent people who knew best how to take full advantage of the remaining utility in such space ‘trash.’

Since the mountain range had another hundred years to go until its disintegration, a small tavern had popped up in a small, flat ridge in the middle of the mountain range.

It was obvious that this mysterious figure in purple light was heading for that tavern.

The purple figure dodged some spatial turbulence slicing towards them, avoided a few boulders peeled off the mountains, endured the cold, howling winds, and landed on the ridge.

In front of the figure was some strange architecture dug into the belly of a mountain. The doors were exceptionally large, so much so that they could allow a whale to enter. The doors of the building appeared to be made out of wood. You could still see the delicate, intricate patterns of wood on it.

However, a strange magical rune had been carved on the surface of the doors.

The magical rune glowed and dimmed, uniformly radiating energy and propping up a thin barrier of energy. This incredibly thin and intricate energy layer kept the endless spacestorms at bay, allowing the two wooden doors to remain untouched.

The image of a beer mug with foam at the top was carved into the sign above the doors.

The purple figure landed in front of the tavern, passed through the barrier, and pushed apart the doors to enter.

The world inside the doors was utterly different from the world outside!

It was a harsh, cruel, and desolate world outside, while this interior room was filled with boisterous chatter and lively talk.

Those two seemingly simple doors had an incredible magical power that separated space and cut off energy auras.

Inside the tavern was a round space, with a few massive stone pillars that ran all the way to the ceiling. Several humans stood behind a wooden counter. Judging by their appearance and uniform, they were the bartenders and servers of this tavern.

A dozen stone tables had been placed all over the tavern, each with several patrons gathered around it, talking as they ate and drank.

There weren’t many humans among these patrons. They all had strange skin colors, features, clothes, and spoke unknown languages. There were even a few otherworldly patrons of prodigious size in the corner of the hall.

The tavern doors had been built so large as to accommodate patrons like them.

Moreover, the food placed on the stone tables were all very different as well. There were raw meat, green vegetables, and many other wholly mysterious and unusual dishes.

These patrons might come from different planes, belong to different races, and look entirely different. However, without exception, all of them radiated fearsome and overwhelming power.

Anyone who could cross the vast stretches of space to arrive here would have to be a Fourth Grade at the very least. In fact, it wasn’t rare to see Fifth or Sixth Grade individuals here.

Everyone was welcome here as long as they were willing to abide by the tavern’s rules.

The reason why so many otherworldly powerhouses were willing to obediently abide by the rules of human adepts in this tavern was that the owner behind this tavern was a Great Adept of Seventh Grade.

That was more than enough reason for the patrons to behave!

The purple figure dispelled the energy defenses around them upon entering the tavern, revealing the outline of a young female adept.

She was bald and without eyebrows. She had purple eyes and purple leather armor. She was quite pretty as well, though her expression appeared a little too cold.

She walked to the bar upon entering and tossed two star diamonds onto the counter as she grunted, “One fiendfish, and get me a room.”

The bartender behind the counter was as round he was big. The manner in which he moved and spoke befitted his role as a bartender. He waved his big, fleshy hand over the counter, and the two star diamonds vanished without a trace.

“One fiendfish for Lady Gloria and prepare our best guest room. Annie, go and clean the room yourself. Best not bother Lady Gloria with any things left behind by the last guest,” Bartender Tom’s loud and gruff voice rang out in the tavern.

The succubus, Annie, who worked as a tavern girl here, quickly made her way into a tunnel behind the tavern.

Traveling through space was no easy matter!

The constant energy tides and spacestorm wore away at a travelers’ stamina and spirit. There were very few species that could recover their strength and energy while enduring the storms. That was why this tavern was less of a place of entertainment and leisure, and more of a resting stop for people to relax and recover.

Soon, a large plate of fiendfish was served.

Compared to food from the planar worlds, this serving of fiendfish was clearly far too large.

The fiendfish alone was already larger than Adept Gloria. Moreover, the fiendfish appeared extremely ugly and vicious. Its body was covered with bone spikes and even a gray carapace. Sparks flew when you tapped the fish with silverware.

That was more than enough evidence of the fiendfish’s toughness!

Moreover, the fiendfish was still alive when it was placed on the stone table. It wriggled its body and shot sharp water arrows at all living things around it.

The water arrows howled as they cut through the air with the might of Second Grade spells.

Lady Gloria lifted a finger and flicked it. A purple bolt shot through the fiendfish’s head, and dark-green brain sap started to leak out. She immediately bent over and started sucking the brain sap loudly.

Fiendfish were unusual hybrids of starbeasts and planar creatures. Their brain sap and flesh contained overwhelming magic energy and were excellent food for recovering lost stamina.

It did not look aesthetic for a dish, and its flesh was far too stringy and pungent. However, in the depths of space where resources were hard to come by, there weren’t many high-energy foods like this that were not only cheap but cost-effective.

Fourth Grade Gloria might be a powerful individual in the World of Adepts, but here in the chaotic wildlands of space, a Fourth Grade could only barely survive between the cracks.

As such, there was nothing she could complain about!

Bartender Tom watched as Lady Gloria devoured the fiendfish and walked up to her side. He spoke in a low, mysterious voice, “Lady Gloria, there’s news from headquarters.”

Lady Gloria didn’t care about her image; she was still wolfing down everything on her plate. As she continued to eat, she glanced at the fat man beside her and frowned, “Do they not know I’m tracking down that Spiritsprite? I spent seventeen years and just managed to find its tracks. What do they want me for right now?”

Tom chuckled and said, “I heard the idiots at headquarters suffered a significant loss. Even Cerveris has been severely injured and is hiding out in his room. That is why Domnhall has been hastily calling for you to return!”

“Cerveris has been injured? Who? Who is it? Are there still people in the World of Adepts that dare publicly oppose the Association?”

“The news we got was very vague. Apparently, an elementium adept has appeared in the Central Lands. Supposedly, he’s quite a powerful one. He even went to Association headquarters and defeated Olivia. He’s been preparing to unify the Central Lands recently and has fought quite a few battles there!”

“Hmph! Someone powerful could actually emerge from those spineless fools in the Central Lands?” Gloria scoffed, “Let them keep fighting. My mission over here should be almost completed by the time they beat each other’s brains out. It’s not too late for me to return then.”

Tom smiled bitterly as he said, “But those aren’t the orders from headquarters. Domnhall has been really pressing down on us. He wants you to return to headquarters as soon as you received this news. According to him, the situation over at the Central Lands will have settled if you return too late.”

Gloria’s face instantly soured upon hearing the order. She had gone through so much trouble, and her mission was finally looking up.

“Why didn’t he go look for Ainley, but me?”

“Sir Ainley just entered an ancient ruin. He’s unlikely to come out for another ten to twenty years, so……”

Gloria’s expression turned even darker.

“Hmph! The losses over this Spiritsprite will be on Domnhall’s tab. Just wait and see what I will do to those idiots who can’t even keep watch over their home base once I’m back.”

Having said that, Gloria got up and angrily marched toward the teleportation array at the back of the tavern.