Age of Adepts

The sacrifice ritual had come to an end, and the Will of Fire was slowly dissipating.

Greem seemed to remember something all of a sudden. He asked in a loud voice, “Great Will of Fire, what would I need to sacrifice to you if I wish to become a Fire King?”

“A Fire King? To obtain my approval and become one of the rulers of this world, you must at least sacrifice twenty fragments of divine authority. Of course, if you have more of those that are fire divine authority, fifteen fragments will be enough!”

Twenty fragments of divine authority…wouldn’t that be all the power of a Sixth Grade god?

To have a mere beginner Fifth Grade fire adept like himself take apart a Sixth Grade god and preserve all their power at the same time. Greem could never imagine himself doing something so ridiculous, even if he had ten times the arrogance and confidence!

Greem put away the Orb of the Fire God when he sensed the will had vanished. However, he did not leave. He stood there and waited silently.

The sacrifice ritual had gone too smoothly and too ordinarily. It seemed to be at odds with the strange feeling and premonition Greem had earlier. Were his senses off, or did he miss something during that whole process earlier?

Greem thought in silence as he continued to scan the area.

While Greem was filled with doubt, a mysterious mental message rang out in his mind.

“Hey, kid, you got any more treasures of that level in your hands? If you do, sacrifice them to me. The stuff I can offer you will definitely be way better than what the Will of Fire can!”

Greem’s expression changed drastically when he heard this voice. Shock and surprise appeared on Greem’s face, and a hint of something that suggested he expected this to happen.

Greem closed his eyes and scanned his surroundings even more meticulously. However, he still couldn’t find the source of the mental message. He only knew that the voice had just abruptly appeared in his mind.

“Kid, there’s no need to keep looking for me. My actual body is long since gone. Only a fragment of my soul remains roaming this land. If I were to be more direct, I would say that you’re stepping on my body, kid!” This mysterious spiritual fluctuation that had appeared out of nowhere was incredibly weak. Given the aura that it was giving off, the entity didn’t even have a First Grade’s power.

“You must be that powerful Eighth Grade Fire Hierarch of the history, aren’t you? The one that died. Did you find a way to come back to life?” Greem never dared to underestimate those high-grade existences.

Each one of those old monsters possessed mysterious abilities and taboo techniques.

Greem wouldn’t be surprised if you told him that even an old monster that died tens of thousands of years ago could come back to life. On the contrary, he would treat that as a matter of course.

“You…you know me?” The spiritual fluctuation turned a little more intense.

“I don’t know much! That said, given that I had the guts to choose this place as my territory, I’ve definitely done the prerequisite investigations. Isn’t that right, Lord Gomanreas?” Greem said, half in jest.

All of a sudden, the mental voice vanished entirely. It was like someone holding their breath. The spiritual fluctuation was gone.

Greem wasn’t surprised at all. Instead, he waited silently.

Time slipped by. Perhaps it was a minute, or fifteen, or even an entire day and night. Greem waited patiently and quietly. Finally, the mental voice abruptly rang out in his mind again.

“You’re still here…why, kid?”

A victorious smile appeared on Greem’s face when he heard the voice in his head again. He chuckled and said, “Because I’ve been waiting for you to come to a decision!”

“A decision? A decision on what?”

“On whether you will choose to go down this path of revival that has no return!”

“Kid, you don’t have much in the way of power, but you’re quite bold, aren’t you? To think, a mere Fifth Grade fellow like you dare intervene in a conflict between Eighth Grade entities! Huh! I wonder if I should call you ignorantly courageous, or unbelievably brave?”

“The latter, of course!” Greem smiled. “I know very well the consequences that might arise from working with you. However, if I remain your only point of contact, then we won’t alert those former enemies of yours, will we?”

“Enemies? My enemies aren’t in this plane. Moreover, I’ve been dead for ten thousand years. It’s a question of whether they even remember my existence at this point!”

“Good, very good. Now, the biggest problem that stands between our cooperation is what exactly your relationship with the Will of Fire is? Can it…tolerate your revival?”

The mysterious fluctuation suddenly went silent. It then started to undulate once more after a long pause.

“Kid, my enemy isn’t the Will of Fire, but those Titans. Those damned bastards tore me to shreds and cast my soul to the winds under the banner of sweeping away the toxic elements of the various planeworlds. They forced me to slumber for so many years.”

“Revered Lord Gomanreas, your enemies are too powerful. I am only a mere Fifth Grade adept. Under ordinary circumstances, I would never be willing to get involved in all your grudges and ties. That is why I need a clear answer right now…what is the relationship between you and the Will of Fire?”

“What could it be? Of course, we are not involved with each other at all!” The mysterious entity suddenly paused for a moment before saying, “I used to be one of the Fire Kings. At my highest point, I attained the level of Fire Hierarch and was only one step away from becoming the Ruler of Fire. Unfortunately, it was then that the damned Titans came knocking.

“They would never allow a true Ruler to be born in the Elementium Planes. That was why they killed me and destroyed all traces of my existence. Still, I was once the most powerful entity in this world, after all. My soul aura permeated even the principles of this world; that is how I’ve finally managed to reform my consciousness from the principles powers after ten thousand years. However, recovering my power will require an exceedingly long time.

“The Will of Fire won’t intervene in my freedom, but it will no longer help me either. It allows my consciousness to remain cooped up around the Molten Altar and does nothing about it. If I have the opportunity to revive and become a true Ruler of Fire, it will have the chance to overwhelm the other three Elementium Planes and become the strongest of them all. That is why it will be happy to see me rise to power once more!”

Dammit! Ruler of Fire, Elementium Rulers…what was all this stuff?

He was just a mere Fifth Grade adept. When did he get mixed up in all this nonsense?

Greem complained in his mind while severing his connection with the mysterious entity. He turned and walked down the altar.

He had no interest in participating in the grudges of these cosmic figures. As a Fifth Grade adept, Greem couldn’t even be considered a pawn in the scheme of things. If he were actually foolish enough to get involved with this former Fire Hierarch, he would probably find himself dead without even knowing how.

“Don’t be in a hurry to reject me, kid. We can talk,” This mental voice was peculiar. Greem had obviously cut off his connection with it, but it could still appear in his mind.

Greem promptly cut off the connection again.

“I can provide you with benefits.”

Disconnect.

“I can give you better stuff than the Will of Fire.”

Disconnect.

“I still have remains from the treasury of my god kingdom,” The mental voice seemed to have been driven to the brink of insanity by Greem. It finally shouted those words out loud in his mind.

Strangely enough, this time, Greem didn’t cut off the connection.

“Remains from the treasury of a god kingdom,” Greem couldn’t help but mumble.

This being was a former Eighth Grade Fire Hierarch. His god kingdom had been destroyed and his body disintegrated, leaving behind only a fragment of his soul. However, if even a tiny bit remained of this god kingdom’s treasury, then even the most meager of scraps would be enough to show up in Greem’s fantasies.

Greem knew that accepting an offer like this was risky enough to put him in mortal danger. However, the greed and desire from the very core of his soul caused him to stop in his tracks. He lowered his head and started to weigh his options.

“Work with me, kid; I promise you won’t lose out. The Will of Fire only gave you that tiny bit of stuff after you sacrificed two fragments of divine authority. If it were me, I would have given you much more than that!” The mental voice immediately started working its tongue and tempting Greem upon seeing a chance.

Greem lifted his head abruptly and betrayed a disdainful smile. He then ignored everything that Gomanreas had to say as he walked toward the teleportation array in the distance.

“Hey, come back…kid, get your ass back here!”

The voice seemed to be furious. Tall waves rippled out within the lava lake.

Unfortunately, no matter how it raged, Greem simply walked away and left without a care.

Finally, as the bright light of teleportation shone, the Molten Altar returned to its former peace and quiet!

…………

The World of Adepts, the Crimson Wing.

It was the twelfth year since Greem’s departure.

Zhentarim, which had undergone numerous changes in its ruling structure, had finally settled down. It was gradually starting to rise to prominence in the Central Lands under the Horton Magic Academy structure, which was itself led by the Crimson Clan.

New and more ambitious Crimson adepts began to climb the ladder of hierarchy. The ‘old ones’ who couldn’t keep up with the clan’s pace were replaced and became stepping stones for the clan’s continued development.

Great Goblin Sage Snorlax lay on a soft bed in a luxurious and extravagant room on one of the clan tower’s top floors. His entire body almost seemed like it was being devoured by the soft silk sheets.

An entire roomful of goblins was gathered around him.

Some were goblin adepts holding staffs, while others were magical mechanics with tiny golems squatting on their shoulders. There were even machinist sorcerers radiating stern and bloodthirsty auras. However, the majority of them were association chairmen and presidents dressed like merchants.

An elven priest with long ears stood up and concluded the examination of Snorlax’s body. The elf looked around the room at the goblin factions’ various leaders and shook her head bitterly.