Age of Adepts

There was a hidden cave deep in the mountains.

It was dark and deep.

A fearsome, solemn, and sinister aura lingered in the air.

Suddenly, a dark light shone in the absolute darkness, temporarily illuminating all hundred square meters of this underground cave.

Most of the cave was empty, with the exception of a stone pond that had been dug up at the very center. Viscous and pungent black liquid rippled within the pond.

A strange sloshing could be heard as an ashen female face emerged from the black liquid, followed by her pale body and disheveled hair.

This woman abruptly opened her eyes upon rising above the water, revealing a pair of brown eyes filled with endless hatred and anger. Judging from her appearance, it was Dark Witch Shani.

"Good, very good. Greem, I've remembered your name. This grudge of ours is will never end. You shall never find peace for eternity!"

After cursing furiously to vent her anger, Shani finally stood up in the pond. This newly formed body was weak and frail. She couldn't help but shiver in the cold and damp air of the cave.

Her previous body had already been destroyed at the hands of the legendary fire adept. This body was just recently formed from the soul energy pool. It had zero magic resistance and was as frail as the body of an ordinary human girl. That was why Shani could not even endure the chill winds of the cave.

However, this was not the focus of her attention.

Shani lowered her head and looked at her bare chest. Her eyes opened wide in surprise.

Where was the Orb of Shadows? Did she not bring it back with her when her soul escaped after her 'death'?

Shani looked all over herself and found no trace of the Orb of Shadows. It was at this point that she finally blew up. It didn't matter if she lost all of her other equipment and items, but the Orb of Shadows was the origin 'magical equipment' much treasured by the Dark Witches.

Shani couldn't help but shiver at the thought of having lost the Orb of Shadows. She didn't dare imagine what awaited her upon returning to the clan.

"Greem…I hate you!"

An angry scream reverberated throughout the dark underground cave, echoing over and over again.

…………

"Hmm? Wasn't she a Fourth Grade witch? Why were her resistances so weak? Even the shadow assassin lasted for a dozen seconds. How did she get done-in in less than five seconds?"

Greem clicked his tongue and exclaimed as he quickly swept through the battlefield.

Obviously, the first thing he made sure to get his hands on was the Orb of Shadows. Dark Witch Shani had turned to ash almost instantly beneath the golden fires once the defensive forcefield had shattered.

Naturally, the Orb of Shadows was left behind!

Even though Greem was already a Fourth Grade adept, he could still feel a stinging pain in his palm when he held the Fifth Grade Orb of Shadows in his hands.

It was because he had sufficiently high Physique and magic resistance to endure the corrosion of the pure shadow energy radiating from the Orb of Shadows. A Third Grade adept's arm would probably have been corrupted into shadow substance if they held the Orb of Shadows in this manner!

The massive dark core had quickly collapsed and disintegrated with Shani's death and the Orb of Shadow's change of ownership. The pseudo-shadow domain engulfing Maple Forest Town also began to disperse slowly.

Without the Origin Tower of Darkness to guide and pull the planes together, the natural repulsion between Morrian Plane and the Shadow World would force them apart. However, as an area that had once overlapped planes, a portion of shadow energy would still be left behind in the town.

It would take a long time for the chaotic planar laws here to fully repair themselves.

Moreover, with the disappearance of the pseudo-shadow domain, the laws of Morrian Plane finally regained control of the land. The domain power that had been hanging over Adept Holly's and the two-headed adept's head dissipated.

Adept Holly and Cherisha slowly extended their spiritual senses. They immediately knew of the result of the battle when they came into contact with Greem's mental consciousness.

Greem was still present, while Dark Witch Shani's aura had vanished without a trace. Could the result of the battle be any clearer?

"Congratulations, Sir Greem!" Adept Holly was the first to send a magical message to Greem.

"I knew that sinister woman could never be your match, Sir Greem. Congratulations, indeed!" Naturally, Cherisha also made similar flattering comments.

Even though the two adepts were making light of the situation, their hearts were in tremendous turmoil.

Who was Shani? An intermediated Fourth Grade Dark Witch that had advanced five hundred years ago!

Her powers were already frightening, not to mention all the preparations she had made in advance of this battle. The two adepts had both witnessed all of her preparations last night. If they were in Greem's position, they would be thoroughly dead even if they had ten lives to spare.

Yet, after one night's sleep, the Dark Witch had vanished, and only the legendary fire adept was left. The implication behind this was obvious. Even the prideful Adept Holly couldn't help but lower his head to demonstrate his goodwill towards Greem.

After all, in the World of Adepts, powerful individual ability was the fundamental guarantee for influence and wealth!

The so-called influence and wealth were nothing but papier-mache without the backing of power.

Greem continued to assess the precious 'heritage' left behind by the Dark Witch, even as he dealt with the pleasantries of the two 'passionate adepts.'

Through this battle, Greem had obtained a Fifth Grade Orb of Shadows, a Fourth Grade Shadow Diamond, two pieces of equipment, and one piece of magical equipment from the Dark Witch, all of which he had picked out of Shani's ashes upon her death.

Unfortunately, all the other magical equipment had been thoroughly destroyed, clearly unable to endure Greem's violent attacks.

"Chip, is Shani actually dead?" Greem pinched a magical earring in front of his eyes and frowned.

[Beep. Detecting no soul aura remnants in current location. Initial calculations suggest opponent has been reborn in a different region through the use of a soul energy pool!]

Greem was not at all surprised by the Chip's reply.

The Dark Witches' most significant unique trait was their immortal soul. However, this 'immortality' wasn't true immortality, but a gimmick realized through the use of soul energy pools.

The Dark Witches left their soul brands in a soul energy pool in a safe area before they went on excursions. In doing so, they could use their special shadow magic and have their soul escape back to the soul energy pool when they faced a mortal threat.

It would only take a few weeks for their bodies to reform, and they would be reborn in a new body.

The only question now was whether Dark Witch Shani's soul had escaped back to the World of Adepts, or was being reborn somewhere in Morrian Plane. If it were the latter, then Greem would have to remain on guard for sudden ambushes for the rest of the journey.

In all honesty, a hidden and determined Fourth Grade Dark Witch was still a formidable threat towards Greem, even without any equipment or tools.

Greem chuckled coldly to himself as he imagined Shani's frustrated appearance. Meanwhile, he was also analyzing the three times in his hands with the Chip's help.

Two pieces of Fourth Grade magical equipment and one enchanted tool.

As expected of a core member of the Dark Witches, the quality and quantity of equipment on Shani's person was significantly superior to the lone-wolf adepts of Zhentarim. However, all of this wealth now benefitted Greem instead.

[Item Name: Shadow's Breathing

Item Categorization: Magical Earring

Item Attribute: Dark

Item Grade: Fourth Grade

Basic Attributes: +3 Agility | +2 Spirit | +2 Physique

[Item Unique Effect: Holder is able to freely enter and travel through regions with shadow energy, unaffected by any magical barriers. While the holder is within shadows, their injures will continually be healed, and they will be shielded from divination probes.

[Item Abilities: Shadow Assault (Form a lightless dagger to attack the target of choice continuously. Duration: 75 seconds. Offensive Power: 300 points. Cooldown: 40 seconds.)]

Greem couldn't help but lick his lips when he read the description for the magical earring. He silently cheered for the ability contained within it.

Shadow Assault was an excellent means to deal with an enemy. All you had to do was cast it at an enemy. A dagger formed from shadow energy would persistently attack the target, never stopping until it is destroyed or its duration is over. The 300 points of offensive power weren't very high. It was barely harassment against a Fourth Grade enemy. However, it was more than enough to deal with Third Grade enemies that Greem himself couldn't be bothered to deal with.

Moreover, the duration of Shadow Assault was seventy-five seconds, while the cooldown was forty seconds. That meant Greem could summon a free beginner Third Grade assassin every forty seconds. It was a decent effect.

Unfortunately, the attribute of the earring was not compatible with Greem. He would have to look for dark adepts to recharge the equipment whenever the shadow energy within was depleted. However, Greem now had the Orb of Shadows in his possession. Why would he be worried about a lack of shadow energy?

Greem put away the first item in satisfaction and carefully started appraising the second item.

[Item Name: Ring of Shadows

Item Categorization: Magical Ring

Item Attribute: Dark

Item Grade: Fourth Grade

Basic Attributes: +2 Agility | +1 Spirit | +1 Physique

[Item Unique Effect: Duration of all dark curses doubled. All shadow damage doubled.

[Item Abilities: Shadow Summon (Summon a beginner Fourth Grade spirit shadow assassin.)]

Yet another piece of Fourth Grade magical equipment of decent quality that was also tremendously compatible with Shani's own attribute.

It wasn't hard to imagine how much thought Shani had put into the crafting of these two pieces of origin magical-equipment. Unfortunately, they had both now become Greem's spoils of war!