Age of Adepts

“Bastard! What happened?”

Even the white bear could no longer stay calm. He roared furiously, “How did the principle powers attack us?”

The jellyfish was the only one who had escaped unscathed, having erected a translucent barrier just in time to prevent the searing will from reaching it.

Without the searing will to guide it, the Undying Flames regressed into ordinary magical flames. They were extinguished with a few simple frost rays.

The jellyfish ignored its two flustered companions. Instead, it stared into the distance, silently sensing the mild but unmistakable fluctuations in the principles.

After a long pause, it let out a dejected sigh, “I’m pulling out from the invasion plan this time.”

“What did you say, you old monster?”

“Are you serious? You were the one that initiated this operation. The two of us came here at your invitation.”

The other two rulers immediately started making a fuss. The attack earlier had frightened them, but giving up on a potentially highly profitable operation because of that one incident was being far too cautious.

The jellyfish was clearly the oldest magical creature in the Black Forest’s western regions, and the most ancient. It turned around abruptly and warned the two young rulers solemnly.

“Never forget, the two of you, this world remains that of the adepts! We can ambush and assault the human settlements during the magic surge when the adepts are occupied with other more urgent matters; we can obtain what necessary resources we need. As long as we don’t go overboard, the high-grade adepts will have no choice but to turn a blind eye to our actions.

“However, should a ruler emerge amongst them, that ruler will be incredibly aggressive and radical to maintain their dignity and glory. To provoke such a ruler at this time will spell disaster for our western region.”

The two newly risen rulers of the western region couldn’t help but frown and hesitate when they heard the jellyfish’s advice.

It was such a rare opportunity!

Due to the Black Forest’s expanse and the separation caused by the few major human settlements, the Black Forest could roughly be divided into four regions: the north, south, east, and west.

Each region contained its own powerful magical creatures. These powerful creatures would often become the rulers of their respective regions, reigning over hundreds of thousands of kilometers of land.

The western region of the Black Forest was caught between the Central Lands and the Silver Union. They had had to face repeated exterminations from the adepts because of this. Consequently, there were very few Fourth Grade magical creatures, and even fewer capable of becoming rulers.

Under such circumstances, raiding adept territory for resources was the perfect chance for the magical creatures to grow stronger secretly.

If they gave up on this opportunity, an explosive development would remain no more than a fantasy among the magical creatures.

After all, magical creatures lacked the adepts’ organized power system, alchemy system, and legacy system. Every single resource they required for evolution in their lives had to be slowly discovered somewhere in the Black Forest. That was far too difficult for the inhabitants of the Black Forest, who had neither an industrial nor commerce system.

“How powerful is this adept powerhouse that appeared out of nowhere?” Harpy Queen Filoxi asked solemnly.

It was a very crucial question!

If the opponent was just a peak Fourth Grade powerhouse, they still had a chance of fighting back with their powers combined. If they could lure the adept to the few death zones that could be found in the Black Forest, it might even be possible to kill the adept.

The jellyfish replied coldly, “Judging from the principle aura I could sense, that fellow’s probably even more powerful than an ultra-powerhouse. In a certain sense, we should treat him as a Fifth Grade adept!”

“How is that possible? Isn’t the upper limit of power in this world peak Fourth Grade? Why is there an exception like this?” Filoxi couldn’t help but let out a piercing cry.

Horror and frustration appeared on the white bear’s face.

“This is bad. Bad…without those magical crystals, only a few of those cubs back at home will be able to grow up properly.”

“Hmph! That adept has already announced the Central Lands as his property. Feel free to provoke an ultra-grade adept if that’s what you want. At any rate, I won’t be joining you,” The jellyfish snorted. “The reason I have managed to live so long is that I’ve always been able to tolerate when it was necessary. You guys are thinking of fighting an ultra-grade adept in their own world. Hmph! Sick of living?”

Having said that, the jellyfish turned and drifted into the depths of the forest.

Its semi-translucent body glowed with a strange blue light as it started flickering through the trees, rapidly vanishing into the darkness.

The white bear watched in dumbfounded silence, then burst out in a series of curses. However, in the end, he did not give the order for the stampede to advance.

Just as the white bear was about to leave in frustration, Harpy Queen Filoxi beat the blue wings on her back and flew over.

“Bernie, you aren’t thinking of giving up as well, are you?”

“What is it? Do you still intend to attack?” Bernie the white bear rebutted angrily.

“The Central Lands are a definite no, but we might have chances in the other regions, no?” Flioxi flexed her sharp tongue as she said, “Don’t forget. The western regions border the Silver Union as well. While those over at the southern regions are attacking the Silver Union, we can hurry over with only our most elite subordinates. Maybe, just maybe, we might be able to get our share of the spoils.”

Bernie couldn’t help but hesitate after hearing Filoxi’s suggestion.

“Those bastards from the southern regions have dibs over that area. Will they try and get revenge on us if we run over and join them?”

“Hmph! You want the spoils from war, yet you are fearful of everything. How can you hope to strengthen your family like this?” Filoxi clicked her tongue and mocked. “If you miss this magic surge, you won’t have enough magical crystals to hasten your tribe’s growth. How long will it take for them to mature and grow powerful with just time alone to help? It’s all up to you if you want to take a risk.”

White Bear Bernie was a brave but straightforward bear. It instantly made up its mind.

“Alright, count me in. I need to go back and make some simple arrangements in the west. I will regroup with you later. As for the little fellows we’ve gathered here? Just let them move freely! As long as we don’t show ourselves, the adepts have no reason to come find trouble with us.”

After a simple discussion, the two rulers left the camp in their own way.

Before they left, they gave the order for the massive stampede that had gathered from the surrounding thousands of kilometers to charge out of the forest, rushing toward the closest human settlement.

However, the figures of the intermediate and high-grade magical creatures had vanished from the rumbling stampede. That undoubtedly made the stampede much more chaotic and disorderly.

Correspondingly, they became far less of a threat!

…………

The Ahlden Mega-Rift.

Greem finally managed to let out all the anger and resentment seething in his heart through this plane announcement.

He stood silently at the edge of the mega-rift. He used his Burning Domain to wash away the abyssal aura that lingered on the earth.

It was a principle power from another larger planar world. Every trace of the abyssal aura contained the savage, violent, chaotic, evil will, and power of the Abyssal World.

What he needed to do now was to neutralize the abyssal aura with his fire energy. He could then wait silently for the World of Adepts’ planar laws to regain control over the land.

Even if he didn’t do so, the World of Adepts’ world consciousness would eventually regain control over the land in the absence of the demons. However, with his aid in defeating the demons and banishing the Abyssal will, the world consciousness had a much easier job regaining control over the land.

Consequently, with every inch of land that the World of Adepts regained, Greem could feel pure life energy surging into his soul.

It was clearly the planar consciousness rewarding him for righting all wrongs!

This reward might be minuscule, but as he continued to purify the land, the stream of life energy slowly gathered in his soul, improving his Spirit slightly.

More importantly, it purified Greem’s soul, making him feel a warmth, as if he was within his mother’s womb. It was incredibly relaxing and comfortable.

The Chip’s notification continued going off in his mind.

[Detecting assimilation of high-purity life essence. Estimated to improve host’s Spirit slightly.

[Detecting assimilation of high-purity life essence. Estimated to improve host’s Spirit slightly.

[……]

Due to the constant notifications, Greem ignored them and treated them like background music. He focused all his attention on the three-dimensional human model projected in his mind.

As the planar feedback continued to surge into his body, all his bodily attributes improved slightly. Even the red bar that represented his fire affinity and talent was experiencing an unusual change. The sliver of gold at the top of the bar was slowly extending downward, as if mixing in with the rest of the bar.

Greem had forcefully converted his bloodline, changing from an elementium adept’s development path to a dual path of elementium and bloodline. This shift in his development had left some subtle wounds in his soul.

Now, nurtured by the purest life energy, these wounds hidden in his soul were slowly mending. The devouring-fish bloodline he had just assimilated was also growing quickly and merrily.

It was now that Greem thoroughly understood why so many adepts were willing to ‘exact justice’ in the name of the planar consciousness, even at the cost of damaging their own clan’s might.

To think that the planar consciousness’ feedback could deliver such tremendous benefits to an individual!