Age of Adepts

Billis' life was exceptionally dull.

Ever since he decided to convert his body into an insectoid form, his thoughts, likes, dislikes, standards of beauty, and life had been upended.

Wine, food, beauties, uncontested authority- none of these things attracted him any longer. The meaning of his life had been twisted and distorted beyond recognition by that ugly, evil Queen Bug. He had lost interest in everything else apart from high-energy meat.

Billis' unique traits turned him into the most lonesome and conspicuous figure in the Crimson Clan.

He conducted missions alone, ventured into the Black Forest alone, lived in a shelter alone. Even when he was within the clan's towers, he kept to himself, never interacting with anyone else.

Even so, the terrifying name of the Bug Adept Billis had still spread far and wide.

His ugly, vicious insectoid body, his ferocious, cruel army of insects, and his phantasmal movements made outsiders more curious and fearful of him.

As a veteran core adept of the Crimson Clan, Billis' fighting power was at the top among Second Grade adepts. He had even, at one point, been the core fighting force of the Crimson Clan when they went to war. However, with the gradual rise of the Crimson Clan, more and more high-grade adepts began to appear. The core of the clan started to shift from Second Grade to Third Grade and was now showing signs of moving entirely to Fourth Grade.

Under such conditions, Billis, who had practically exhausted all his innate potential, was slowly beginning to fall behind!

First were the few vampires under Mary who reached Third Grade. Then Meryl, who once had practically no fighting power, had mysteriously advanced into a fire dragon adept.

Beginner Second Grade…intermediate Second Grade…advanced Second Grade.

Step by step, Billis had witnessed as Meryl rapidly grew in power. She was now at peak Second Grade and only one step away from Third Grade. Apart from her, there were also many weaklings in the clan that Billis had once looked down upon who were now quickly gaining on him. It seemed like they would surpass him any day.

Such incidents occurred over and over. Naturally, it provoked Billis tremendously.

For his own sake, and for that frustrated, restless insect heart of his, Billis had secretly visited Greem in hopes of finding an opportunity to advance through his master. Unfortunately, as a Fourth Grade adept, Greem had been too busy. He was so busy he had no time to think about the Second Grade bug adept who tirelessly waited for his attention.

Billis had just returned from the Black Forest's depths and had further increased the scale of his insect army. At this point, Bug Adept Billis was an advanced Second Grade adept with a horrifying army of insects.

He now had over two dozen intermediate Second Grade Voidreavers, over a hundred advanced First Grade magical mantises, and thousands of insects at his command. If it wasn't for his 'weak' Spirit holding him back, Billis could extend his command to a legion of insects larger than a human kingdom.

After returning to the clan headquarters, Billis immediately went to his room.

He had no apprentices or teaching assignments. Apart from his mission and room, Billis never went anywhere else or participated in anything else, let alone those crowded banquets.

In all honesty, growing stronger and evolving were the only two things that held meaning in Billis' world!

However, before he could return to his usual, dull silence, a glowing fire rune appeared before his eyes and hovered silently in the air.

Billis' heart moved when he saw this strange fire rune that represented Greem. He might not know what Greem had in mind for him, but hope rose in his heart.

After a brief moment of hesitation, he reached out with his strange insectoid arm and touched the burning rune.

Even though the rune clearly burned with bright golden flames, Billis did not feel his hand sear when he touched it. The golden flames roared, and the rune quickly extended to his arm and spread all over his body.

Billis was still confused when the golden flames completely engulfed him. Lights flickered before his eyes, and he could feel space tremble around him. When he once again regained consciousness, he realized that the golden flames had dissipated, and he was now in a wide hall.

Greem stood there across the hall, staring unblinkingly at him with his black eyes.

This place was Fire Throne!

Billis immediately understood.

The clan leader had used some sort of mysterious spell at that moment and had instantly teleported him here from over five thousand kilometers away.

Billis' unusual, insectoid eyes only glanced at Greem before looking away.

It had only been an instant, but Billis had felt his eyes hurt as if they had been burned by fire. Greem had not even been actively using his powers.

Billis couldn't help but feel his heart go cold at this.

Once, he had been one of Greem's most powerful 'assistants,' closely following at his side. Now, even staring directly at his brilliance inflicted backlash on him.

The difference in power between them couldn't help but make Billis dejected!

"Billis, do you know why I called you here today?" Greem's voice was clear and crisp. His words lingered in the hall as if resonating with the environment.

"I don't know! Please tell me, clan leader." Billis hurriedly bowed, fearful and respectful.

"Take a look at this first!" Greem tapped his staff, and a rift appeared in midair. Half of a powerful creature's corpse slowly flew out of the rift.

Those light green scales, those white, holy wings, and that terrifying aura that remained even after death. Billis gulped with some difficulty. His sickly green eyes fixated upon this strange corpse as an irrepressible voice within him was shouting, roaring 'Devour it…devour it.'

It was the corpse of a high-grade magical creature. Even though the body had been split apart and only half remained, its overwhelming, domineering aura was still as strong as ever.

Billis couldn't help but guess wildly in his heart when he saw this corpse. Was it Fourth Grade? Or Fifth Grade?

A power that Billis could not fully comprehend, so tremendous and profound, remained in the corpse, intimidating all who dared to approach it. However, as overwhelming as this power was, a dead creature was a dead creature, after all. The lifeless inactivity of the body was plain for all to see.

"My lord, this is…" Billis' heart beat wildly. He suppressed the restlessness in his heart and behaved even more subservient that before.

"This is a spoil of war the clan brought back from the Seawoods Plane. It is the only native god of Seawoods Plane. It used to be Fifth Grade, but it fell to Fourth Grade due to specific reasons, which was why we were able to kill it!" Greem looked at the corpse calmly. "I called you here to ask you a question. If…I let you devour this corpse, how far could you go?"

Billis felt his entire mind go blank when he heard that, as if a bolt of lightning had blasted him on a perfectly clear day. After several minutes, he gathered his thoughts and focused once more.

"My lord, since this divine creature once reached Fifth Grade, it must possess an immortal body. If I devour it, my potential will rise from peak Second Grade to Fourth Grade. When that happens, my chances of advancing to Third Grade will be 100%, and my chances of reaching Fourth Grade will also be as high as 60%."

Greem listened silently. The Chip's assessment agreed with Billis' evaluation.

Billis' most significant problem currently didn't lie with himself. It lay with the Queen Bug that had assimilated with him. The Queen Bug's limit was once intermediate Third Grade. However, the forceful reversal of its assimilation with Acteon had caused its potential to fall to peak Second Grade.

With the corpse of this divine creature, it could raise its potential once again. That was well within the Chip's calculations.

Greem had thought of asking the Death Witches to turn this corpse into an advanced Fourth Grade undead creature. However, the Chip had determined that an advanced Fourth Grade undead creature could not match the value of two future Fourth Grade subordinates!

That was why Greem had opened the doors to his treasury and used these resources to create loyal, high-grade fighters for the clan. Billis might be inferior to Arms when it came to individual fighting power. However, his unusual method of manipulating swarms to devour his enemies often had unexpected effectiveness in certain situations.

No other Fourth Grade adept would dare waste such resources on their subordinates before they could confirm their own advancement. Only Greem had such absolute confidence in himself that he dared to bestow his juniors with Fourth Grade resources, creating so many individuals with the potential of reaching Fourth Grade in the clan.

Even though it was a bit of a waste to hand over half of a divine creature's corpse to Billis, a mere advanced Second Grade adept, it wasn't a big deal. A small loss in benefits at the moment was more than worth it for the future of the Crimson Clan.

Greem controlled Arms through the dragonsoul contract.

Greem had to find a method of doing so for the bug adept as well. However, before he even came up with an idea, Billis had already hastily offered up a suggestion.

Bloodsoul combined with a Primal Voodoo Curse.

Methods of control that remained effective at higher grades all had to do with the soul.

This suggestion of using Bloodsoul and Primal Voodoo Curse from Billis was a combination of two spells that affected the soul directly. Judging from this, Billis didn't seem opposed to having another person control his soul.

Greem had walked too easy a path. He had no idea of the despair and agony that Billis had felt for all these years, the pain of never being able to improve. Without Greem's help, Billis alone would never have found a way forward.

That was because the resources and items that could solve his problems were not things he could come into contact with at his level!

Rather than stay trapped at his current level and die of old age as a Second Grade, it was better to present his value and become a loyal subordinate beneath a powerful adept like Greem. Handing over his soul and offering up his loyalty with both hands was the best way to gain Greem's trust!

Thus, it wasn't a matter of Greem finding a way to control Billis; it was Billis trying his best to offer himself up to gain Greem's favor.

In all honesty, a single word from Greem would have plenty of individuals willing to offer up their souls for the chance to advance to Fourth Grade. When that happened, Billis would no longer have such an easy opportunity to gain such valuable resources!