Age of Adepts

One month later, Mary finally woke up.

Because the energy level of the blood she had drunk was way beyond her vampire grade, she had been forced to continue her sleep in order to digest such powerful blood energy. Of course, this was also an innate ability unique to the vampire!

If it were any other creature devouring so many different mutated energies in one go, it would be very easy to contaminate the direction of its own bloodline. But it was a completely different case for the vampire. No matter how many different mutated energies they were fed, after digestion, they would all become nourishment for the vampire's bloodline. Their bloodline being contaminated would never happen.

But this time, her evolution was clearly different. After she woke up from her deep sleep, Mary felt like she was dying of starvation.

The feeling greatly frightened her.

In the past, when she devoured some blood energy and went to sleep, she would always have the feeling of repletion and satisfaction coming from her bloodline upon waking up. But for some unknown reason, after devouring all of the blood from an Adept level demon, she actually felt hungry when she woke up. She was so hungry that her stomach was beginning to gurgle.

Also, the feeling of hunger was coming from the deepest part of her body, from the source of her bloodline. As if… as if, after this evolution, the progress of her bloodline was greater than the progress of her body constitution, and in a more radical manner.

Could there be a factor that stimulated the growth of bloodlines hiding within the blood of that Fairy? Bearing the heavy question in her mind, Mary moistened her lips and opened her eyes.

This was not her room! There was somebody else in this room!

Without making any noise, Mary sat up on the bed. Her bloodshot eyes stared straight at the back of a stalwart figure.

She was in Greem's room. However, the figure sitting in front of the writing table and reading a book quietly was obviously not him. The broad and ripped body was rather strange to her. But the familiar soul ripple and the familiar aura emanating from the body… eh, something was not right! Why was there a pungent smell of sulfur mixed with that familiar smell?

Mary drifted into the air noiselessly. In a flash, she arrived at the back of that familiar yet strange figure. The nails on her fingertips stretched out with incredible speed, and with a crimson glow, they turned extremely sharp. Meanwhile, her bloodshot eyes were on the figure's neck. She could give it a ferocious bite any time she wanted.

Following Mary's movement, two objects that had been placed on top of her body fell to the ground, producing a crystal clear noise.

Alerted by the noise, the burly figure turned his head. When he saw Mary, a delighted smile immediately emerged on his face.

"You've awakened?!"

It was a sincere smile; a smile full of delight!

Mary stopped her leaping movement. She narrowed her bloodshot eyes, asking with a cold voice, "Who are you? Why do you smell like Greem?"

Looking at how nervous and panicked Mary was, an expression wavering between laughing and crying appeared on Greem's handsome face. It looked like after her long period of sleep, both of them had changed a lot, resulting in Mary suspecting her own eyes.

Greem stood up from the chair. In the past, he used to be as tall as Mary, but now, he was a head taller than her. With his burly body, when both of them stood face to face, the pressure unintentionally caused by his body actually forced Mary to take a step back.

"To determine the real identity of a person, the best proof is his soul ripple. Mary, can you sense my soul ripple now?" Greem asked in a calm manner.

At the moment, he didn't want to overly provoke Mary, because she was like a strictly vigilant leopardess, looking as if Greem did something wrong, she would leap onto him and give him a fierce bite. Although his increased overall strength had given Greem more confidence, when they were in a tiny room with limited space, even five of him tied together would not be enough to hold against the ripping of a Pseudo-Adept level vampire.

Yes, as Greem was very sensitive, he could tell that Mary was a Pseudo-Adept level vampire now! According to the classification of Vampires from the books he had read, Mary should possess her own noble title now.

The titles of Vampire nobility were not the rankings used by ordinary mortal kingdoms. They were a form of hierarchy used by the Vampire clan based on the overall strength of their members. Due to the fact that vampires loved to stay hidden within human society, they disguised themselves as human nobles to conceal their true identity. Therefore they had adapted the same rankings used by human nobles.

With Mary's current level, perhaps she could be given the title of Baron!

Vampire, Knight, Baron, Viscount, Count, Marquis, Duke, Grand Duke, Prince! These were the noble titles used by the vampire clan. Yet sometimes, the grade of their bloodline was not accurately reflected by the grade of their overall strength.

For example, Mary's current grade of bloodline made her a Baron, but her overall strength was Pseudo-Adept. If she were met with a vampire who owned the best blood of the orthodox vampire family, it was highly possible that his overall strength would only be Intermediate Apprentice level, but he had already been given the title of Viscount.

For any race other than the vampire, the title didn't carry any meaning. But within the vampire clan, it would bring tremendous benefit. At least, for that Intermediate Apprentice level vampire Viscount, when he was faced with Mary, it was highly possible that he would use the suppressive effect coming from the bloodline and force Mary to become his slave. As to whether he would succeed or not, that would depend on the level of suppression from the bloodline and the fight between their wills.

Mary once again stared at Greem's face wonderingly. She couldn't stop sniffing the smell coming from Greem's body. It was indeed Greem's soul ripple! After making sure of this, the nervous expression on her face finally eased up a little bit. But, where did that pungent smell of sulfur and the feeling of sweetness come from?

Once again, Mary brought herself closer to Greem's body, opened up her juicy lips, ready to give him a small bite so that she could taste his blood. But just as her tiny fangs approached Greem's neck, a small fireball suddenly exploded and blew her away.

With just a small swaying movement in the air, Mary returned to Greem's side. She stared right at a small flame that had suddenly burst out from Greem's neck.

It was a golden flame the size of a human thumb, quietly hovering on top of Greem's skin and burning soundlessly. It did not produce the crackling noise of ordinary flames. After five seconds, perhaps not sensing any foreign hostility or intention of attack, the golden flame simply submerged into Greem's skin without leaving a trace.

Now Mary finally understood. The fireball hadn't been summoned by Greem using a magic spell, but was a self-defense mechanism put out by the instincts of his body.

Curiously, Mary stretched out a finger and pressed the spot where the flame had emerged from. But this time, though she pressed and stroked Greem's skin with her silky smooth finger for quite some time, no flame appeared. Mary startled for a brief moment. After that, she seemed to have learnt something.

A shivering killing intention suddenly filled the air, and crackling noises were heard as Mary's nails started to grow longer. Filled up with Blood element energy, the tip of her nails became extremely sharp. Nearly at the same moment, right at the spot Mary had her finger pressed, a golden flame burst out and ignited her finger.

Her mind filled with curiosity, Mary brought her hand to her face and looked at it. The flame actually detached from Greem's body, stubbornly burning her fingertip and continuously causing damage to her.

A blood red beam shot out from Mary's fingertip. Very soon, the Blood element energy neutralized and annihilated the flame. After that, she turned her head and looked into Greem's face.

"What exactly is this? It looks pretty amazing!"

"The combination of Inferno Body and Fire Shield."

"Where did you get that smell of sulfur on your body?"

"It is the aftereffect of soaking in underground lava. I'm looking for a way to get rid of it."

"Soaking in underground lava?"

"You know, you've been sleeping for 32 days without waking up!" Greem spread his arms helplessly and continued, saying, "During this time, many things have happened and you need time to understand them all!"

"Then tell me from the beginning!" Mary's furrowed her brows and curled her tiny lips. "I want you to tell me while I'm eating!"

Within two hours, Mary had swallowed five magical energy set meals continuously. Only then was she able to barely stop feeling the hunger from the depths of her soul. Meanwhile, Greem sat by her side, watching her wolf down her food, and he started to tell her what all had happened.

Of course, Greem only told her what had actually happened. As for those speculations and doubts he had derived at the cave, he said not a word. After all, they were at the Adept Tower, which was controlled by others. Who knew if that Second Grade Adept Andre was watching them secretly. Therefore, to be on the safe side, he decided to keep the secret to himself!

When Mary finally stopped eating, Greem brought out the two presents and gave them to Mary once again.

Touching the exquisite Rose Armor and magical bow that she only had a vague impression of, Mary tilted her head up and waited for Greem's explanation, puzzled.

"Both of them were the Fairy's magical items, but I've modified them. Now you can use them with your Blood element energy. In the past, you were lacking a long-range offensive approach. Now with these two magical items, we've fixed your weakness!"

Greem had always complained about Mary's simple approach to using her bloodline power. Although she had such an amazing innate talent, she still fought like a mad dog, trying to hurt the enemy by risking herself at the same time! If she was faced with an enemy who had the ability to stop her bloodsucking and regenerating ability, her fighting style was simply an act of courting death!

Now, with the Rose Armor, her vulnerable defense had been patched up. And with the crimson magic bow, her lack of long-range offense had also been repaired. With both magical items, she could make use of her high agility, fighting with guerrilla style and slowly biting away the enemy's offensive and defensive approach. If she was required to fight close-range, she could also put away the magic bow, change her weapon into her cruel claws, and lock the enemy in a close fight.

Essentially, not only was she well-equipped for long-range and close-range battle, she also now possessed the necessary defense. With all of these, Mary's full combative ability was able to be unleashed!

During this period of time, Greem had also been working busily on something else.

After he completed the modification of Mary's magical items, he spent all of his time mastering Fire element magic spells and restoring his golems.

The Inferno Body was just an elementary threshold on his path to the Focused Fire Element. Although it didn't give any direct combative ability to Greem, it was the best foundation for all Fire element magic spells. For example, the combination of Inferno Body and Fire Shield had given Greem the self-defense mechanism that triggered automatically upon touch. Any behavior that would harm him at close-range would immediately be countered by the self-activating flame, and it brought three to five points of damage.

Although the damage inflicted by the flame was not strong, it didn't require him to cast any spell, and it also didn't consume any of his Spirit. It was considered a pretty nifty self-defense ability!