Age of Adepts

Ailovis, the Stoney Wilderness.

Located between River Venlo and the Cedrac Mountains was an empty wilderness that measured approximately twenty square kilometers in area.

For some reason, no trees, vegetation, or grass could be seen here. Instead, there were only boulders and rocks of various shapes and sizes.

These green, gray, and hard rocks filled the wilderness. There were no signs of any life or plants besides these rocks.

It was slightly past noon when a small caravan of wagons slowly made their way down the narrow path that had been made through the wilderness. The caravan wasn’t large. There were only three wagons, three of which were carrying food and other goods, and a carriage that belonged to Adept Ragu.

The caravan turned onto an even smaller road halfway through the wilderness. The road was somewhat bumpy, and the wagons’ wheels were occasionally damaged by rocks hidden in the earth. Fortunately, the mercenaries protecting the caravan were experts at surviving in the wild. Repairing and replacing a broken wheel was well within their expertise.

Finally, the caravan stopped near a pile of rocks.

Jack, the captain of the mercenaries, cautiously approached the black carriage at the center of the caravan. He knocked on the carriage lightly as he said,  “Lord Ragu, we have arrived at the Stoney Wilderness!”

A deep and hoarse man’s voice came from within the carriage.

“I understand. Wait for me out there.”

Jack respectfully stepped away and waited in silence.

Seven minutes passed before Adept Ragu finally emerged from the carriage, having completed his routine meditation. He stood on the steps as he looked around at this unusual place around him.

He sensed the environment’s magic intensity quietly before waving a single hand and drawing a rune in the air. The rune was then allowed to dissipate and vanish slowly.

All of a sudden, Ragu’s vision was filled with prismatic lights. Several balls of magic light bobbed in the air, each of a different color, ranging from yellow, green, golden, and many others.

Even without Elementium Sight, it was obvious that yellow was the most dominant color among the lights. The other balls of light had been forced to the edge of the region.

“As we expected, there is an imbalance of elementium. To think it could let the earth elementium suppress the other elementium to such an extent. The clan’s assumptions were correct.

“It seems like there are indeed some minor spatial rifts here. The earth elementium is unnaturally active. Could it be that the rift here is connected to the Earth Elementium Plane?” Adept Ragu mumbled to himself as he examined the test results of his spell.

He was the only person in the caravan that was an adept. The rest of them were all mortals, specially hired to take care of his lifestyle.

It couldn’t be helped. Ragu had gotten used to a luxurious lifestyle in an adept tower. The difficulties of traveling around outside presented too many discomforts for him. In the past, when Adept Ragu did go out on errands, he would always be accompanied by two or three apprentices who could serve and attend him.

However, the clan was facing a shortage of manpower. All adepts and apprentices had been assigned many tasks and were busy traveling all over the Central Lands. Thus, he could only hire mortals and mercenaries to serve him instead.

The mortals and mercenaries kept a healthy distance away from Ragu. They watched as the tall and scrawny adept dressed in an intricate robe cast his spells, envy and respect in their eyes.

Adepts were the true rulers of this world that they lived in. Ordinary people like themselves were little more than sniveling bugs before the adepts.

It was because they understood their position and status perfectly that these human mercenaries behaved so respectfully in front of Adept Ragu. They didn’t even dare to breathe too heavily before him, fearing that their crass and crude behaviors would disturb the adept’s spellcasting.

After confirming his purpose here, Adept Ragu turned to Jack and said, “Set up camp here! We might need to remain here for two more days.” Having said that, Ragu lifted his head and looked at the sky. He then continued, “It’s still early. Have the rest of the people work on the camp. You bring along a few people and follow me to investigate this place.”

Having said that, he ignored the mercenary captain and activated the ‘Fly’ spell contained in his belt. He slowly took to the air and flew into the distance.

“Hurry, hurry, hurry…all you lazy bums. Did you not hear Lord Adept’s orders? Hurry up and get off of the wagon and clean up the area. If the camp isn’t done by the time I return, then you can forget about dinner tonight,” The muscular captain, with his face full of scars, shouted out before singling out a few individuals, “Tol, Ironhead, One-Eye; the three of you, follow me. Don’t forget your tools! Let’s go.”

The four mercenaries hastily collected their equipment before leaping onto their horses and chasing after the black dot on the horizon.

Adept Ragu hovered ten meters above the ground, holding a semi-translucent black crystal in his hand. He would cast a spell and verify the energy intensity of the wandering elementium particles in the environment after flying out some distance. He was attempting to confirm the exact location of the spatial weakpoint through this information.

After changing directions four or five times, Adept Ragu finally landed beside a rough pile of rocks. When he pointed the black crystal ball at the rocks, a strange yellow light appeared in the center of the crystal.

“It should be here!”

Adept Ragu circled around the rocks one time and confirmed that there was no mistake. A short moment later, Jack and his three mercenaries arrived on horseback, their saddles filled with all sorts of digging tools.

“Dig…dig through this pile of rocks for me!”

The mercenaries immediately went to work without another word.

In just fifteen minutes, they had dug a hole into this approximately thirty-meter-wide pile of rocks. A strange ball of light the size of a bean could be seen inside.

This ball of light wandered slowly in the crevices, occasionally letting out strands of yellow mist. These mists were quickly absorbed by the rocks. The rocks close to the light visibly became more crystalline, as if they had been charged with energy.

“So it was indeed a miniature spatial singularity,” Adept Ragu chased the mercenaries away when he saw this. He moved closer and examined the ball of light. He then took out a parchment and started recording something.

However, while he was busy at work, the pile of rocks suddenly started shaking violently. Even the ground itself seemed to be quaking.

“Hm? Why is there an earth elementium creature here?” Adept Ragu took a few steps backward and looked at the mid-sized earth elemental that had emerged from the ground.

It was a three-meter-tall humanoid earth elemental. Its body was formed of shattered rocks and pebbles of various shapes and sizes. Find sand flowed slowly between the stones.

“Who disturbed my slumber? I smell the smell of adepts. Human adept, why have you broke into the home of Baccarat?” The tall earth elemental’s head was formed of a single rock with a chipped edge. The two dim spots of yellow light were its eyes. It had no mouth, but it could converse with Ragu telepathically.

The sudden appearance of the elemental undoubtedly terrified the four human mercenaries. They cast aside their tools and pulled out their weapons, protecting Adept Ragu.

“Baccarat? Your name is Baccarat? Hehehe, who would’ve thought a sentient earth elemental could have appeared in such a remote place. It seems like this place does have some research value, after all!” Compared to the anxious mercenaries, Adept Ragu appeared much more composed.

After all, this earth elemental was no more than a beginner First Grade when classified according to its energy level. It was far from a substantial threat to him!

“Baccarat, I hereby declare to you that the land you reside upon belongs to the Crimson Clan. As a Crimson adept, I possess the authority to banish you back to your elementium world. Speak, would you prefer to kill yourself or hand over your life brand and submit as my servant?”

“No…we earth elementals are always free. I refuse to be bound! We shall fight! Baccarat will crush you to death.”

Adept Ragu’s declaration had clearly infuriated the earth elemental. It roared and rushed toward the mercenaries, raising a wave of earth as it did so.

Jack and the mercenaries could only meet the elemental in combat, as reluctant as they were.

The mercenaries were out of their league. The earth elemental had no weaknesses and was incomparably strong. In just a single blow, the wooden shields of the mercenaries had been shattered to pieces. The mercenaries could only dodge the rocks hurled toward them while circling around the elemental. However, none of them dared to get too close.

Aware that these mercenaries were no match for the earth elemental, Adept Ragu took out a silver insignia. He waved it, and a three-meter-tall magical machine appeared.

The machine whirred as it raised its arms and unleashed a volley of energy fireballs from its cannons.

Rocks scattered everywhere, and dust rose into the air.

The magical machine instantly ground the earth elemental that had been wreaking havoc earlier into dust. The elemental turned into an ordinary pile of rocks and scattered to the ground.

The seemingly scrawny Adept Ragu made his way across the rocks, digging through them until he found a fist-sized stone within. The stone glowed with an earth-yellow light. He sealed the stone with some simple spells and put it away.

It seemed like the spatial singularity here had existed for quite a while, such that a First Grade earth elemental had actually been born. With this earth elementium core in his possession, he could refine it slightly and turn it into a Rock Mark. It was a fine idea to summon an earth elemental as a servant every so often.

It was important to note that a First Grade Rock Mark like this could easily sell for eighty magical crystals. It wasn’t a lot, but it was still money!

Adept Ragu never expected to make an unexpected catch like this while out on a clan mission. A satisfied smile appeared on his face.