Age of Adepts

Lucia woke up dazed and confused.

The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was a world full of pretty, floating light ribbons.

These ribbons of lights danced beneath the dark ceiling, flowing freely in the air like dreams and poetry. Lucia almost thought she was in an entirely illusory world.

Lucia's consciousness refused to awaken for a while. She only stared mindlessly at these ribbons with their shifting colors and shapes. A teardrop unknowingly rolled down her cheek.

That was because she sensed a trace of familiarity in the ribbons of light- the feeling of a mother.

Moreover, as her consciousness slowly surfaced in her mind, that familiar aura slowly faded away like a kind and gentle mother saying goodbye to her child.

That warmth, that aura, and that feeling lingered around Lucia's heart. It was unforgettable!

Morrian Plane had been destroyed.

After a long time, Lucia finally got up from the stone platform. Her gaze landed on a pretty woman in a purple starry robe.

She was an incredibly beautiful lady, one whose appearance you would not forget once you laid eyes on her!

She had soft, silk-like silver hair and a gentle, quiet face. However, her bright blue eyes that turned upwards at the corners gave her an unusually mysterious and seductive charm.

Meanwhile, a tiny and pretty humanoid fairy with a pair of thin, glowing wings sat on her shoulder.

When Lucia's eyes landed on it, the fairy tilted her head, put her finger in her mouth, and looked at her with an equal amount of curiosity.

"Who are you people? Where is this? I…how did I come back to life?" Lucia spoke fluent Morrian when she opened her mouth. Obviously, Alice and Helen couldn't understand her.

Alice smiled slightly and lifted one hand. A small star flew out of the ribbons of lights around them and entered Lucia's body. Some mysterious and unfamiliar knowledge immediately surged into Lucia's mind.

"What did you do to me?"

Lucia was also surprised to be hit in the head by a tiny star. She took a few steps back and looked at the woman warily. However, Lucia was shocked the moment she spoke. She realized that what she said wasn't the language she had always spoken, but an entirely new language.

An answer naturally appeared in her heart.

The language of the Adepts.

She was speaking the language of the adepts! If that was the case, then this place was the World of Adepts!

Just as Lucia realized this, an endless river of knowledge fragments suddenly burst forth from the depths of her mind, instantly drowning her weak and frail soul.

Lucia clasped her ears, hugged her head, and squatted down. She lifted her head and let out a howl of agony.

For an instant, countless figures flickered before her eyes, myriad voices blared by her ears, and countless emotions rushed through her heart. Lucia felt like she was going to explode from all the things that were being crammed into her mind. She screamed in pain and despair.

In her moment of absolute despair and terror, a small and cool hand touched her forehead, instantly dispelling all those weird sensations.

Lucia regained her peace. She kneeled on the cool stone floor, unfazed by her naked and exposed body. She stared at Alice.

"Are you willing to be my disciple—" Alice gently said.

Unfortunately, Lucia interrupted her before she could finish speaking.

"I don't!"

"—and inherit my…" Alice stopped speaking.

It was her turn to stare at this weak and frail girl.

"Why?"

"Because I have already sworn that my life will belong only to the arcane! Only the arcane arts are worth my eternal pursuit!"

"But…but I'm the one who saved you!"

"You are free to take my life back if you want to!"

"I saved you! Do…do you not intend to repay me?"

"I can repay you in my own way."

"What is that?"

"When I avenge the Arcane Empire in the future, you will not be one of my targets of vengeance!"

Alice was utterly speechless.

She stared straight into Lucia's firm and determined eyes. She could sense that every word the girl said was genuine, with no lies or hesitation.

However, these words of truth were a little too crass and direct, weren't they?

As expected of the purest soul of a plane. Their unique quirks were so hard for an ordinary person to understand and accept.

Alice cast away all thoughts of 'convincing' the girl to her side. Instead, she began to negotiate with a different method.

"I am Alice, leader of the Fate Witches, a branch of the Northern Witches in the World of Adepts. Weren't you curious why I brought you back to life just now?"

"It's for the Fate power of Morrian Plane, isn't it!" Lucia lifted her head and stared at the dancing ribbons with eyes filled with sentiment. "You used my identity to abduct such tremendous Fate power from the Morrian Plane. Isn't it for the planar feedback that the World of Adepts will give you?"

Alice was surprised again.

Lucia was no more than an arcane apprentice, with the power and talent of an apprentice. She should not have access to such deep and profound knowledge of the planes. The only explanation for this was that the dying Morrian Plane had projected not only its Fate power during the astrology ceremony, but also fragments of knowledge.

When the dying planar consciousness realized that the calamity was unavoidable, it had generously given away all it owned to the fleeing natives of its world. In this process, there was no doubt that Lucia obtained more than any other person due to her identity as the heir of the plane.

As such, at this moment, there was no doubt that Lucia's potential and talent was superior to that of any genius currently in the World of Adepts. The consciousness of the World of Adepts had created such a 'monster' by Alice's hands. But what for?

At this moment, it wasn't just Lucia. Even Alice was confused!

"As long as you understand!" Alice continued to speak calmly, "I brought you back to life to use your identity to 'abduct' a portion of the Morrian Plane's Fate before it is destroyed. Now, I have the Fate power I wanted. As such, you do not need to thank me nor feel like you owe me anything. There are no debts between us!"

She didn't expect Alice to be so honest in acknowledging her motives, and Lucia was stunned for a moment. Finally, she looked straight at Alice and said, "Thank you!"

"Since you've brought me such tremendous benefits, I will naturally not neglect to take care of you. How about this; you can be my disciple in name only, and I will not interfere with whatever you want to do next. You are free to browse the books in my tower and use the resources here. Everything I have here is open to you!"

Now that Alice had already promised her such generous benefits, Lucia thought for a moment and nodded her head in agreement. She wasn't foolishly stubborn.

After reaching an agreement, Alice waved her hand once again. A sea of magic energy gathered around Lucia's body, forming into a pretty purple robe that covered her beautiful figure.

"Elementium energy materialization." Lucia bit her lips lightly in envy.

A great deal of mysterious, ancient knowledge and experience had suddenly appeared in her mind, giving her some understanding of the workings of this world. However, due to her bodily limitations, most of this information was too advanced for her. They were not things that she, with her body, could bear with her current grade.

Thus, having shelter—a place where she could quietly grow to assume power—was invaluable to her!

After all, Alice has already been very clear. Now that Alice had obtained the Fate power she had sought, Lucia had next to no value. At this moment, a mere arcane apprentice like herself had to make ends meet to survive in this other world.

Alice watched as Helen led the beautiful girl out of the hall before finally turning around to deal with the Fate power that had gathered in the Tower of Fate.

She could sense that the planar consciousness of the World of Adepts was favoring her and clearly expressing its boundless joy at this new pool of Fate power. Moreover, the planar consciousness also seemed to be paying attention to the girl known as Lucia. It expressed intentions of assimilating the girl into the world.

It was precisely due to these changes in the planar consciousness' movements that Alice tried her best to keep Lucia at her side. Keeping Lucia with her was equivalent to keeping the planar consciousness's blessing with her. It was incredibly beneficial for a Fate Witch in many, many aspects.

However, Alice required more observations and meditations to figure out the true intentions of the planar consciousness. Alice's main focus for the moment was to deal with the Fate power here first.

Alice released the limitations on the Tower of Fate, allowing the ribbons of light in the hall to spread out, silently dispersing into the skies of Dragonblight.

It was almost as if a hole had been poked in the sky. A trace of warm sunlight pierced the constant clouds above Dragonblight. It introduced endless warmth, light, and positivity to the Tower of Fate.

The entire tower trembled as it basked in the sunlight and reflected its brilliant radiance!

Along with the light came warmth and an indescribable feeling of enlightenment. Every single individual in the Tower of Fate, apprentice or witch, could feel their Spirit slowly grow in power and their soul consciousness basking in a wonderful and warm sea.

At the same instant, many witches in the tower advanced instantly. Even more apprentices gained an in-depth experience of the existence of Fate's powers.

With this experience, they would only need a bit more time to accumulate their Spirits; they would have no trouble advancing to become witches.

Berserk Witch Sofia advanced. Second Grade.

Icelady Snowlotus advanced. Second Grade.

Samantha advanced. Second Grade.

……

……

Alice, Leader of the Fate Witches, advanced. Fourth Grade!