Age of Adepts

"What Fire King Groms is looking for is a Lightfire stone."

"It's an exceedingly rare magical material, only born where light and fire energy is very dense and concentrated."

"I believe that Groms is searching for the Lightfire stone to correct some of his fire laws. If he can convert some of his fire energy into light energy, his movement speed would undoubtedly increase tremendously."

"A while ago, an adventuring party from the Adept's Association found an ancient ruin in another world. The Lightfire stone was one of their spoils. It is now in the hands of a Fourth Grade adept of the Adept's Association known as Olivia."

Greem couldn't help but frown when he heard Alice's explanation. "If Maysa wants to coerce Groms, why doesn't she keep the stone with her rather than let it end up elsewhere?"

"Because that's her modus operandi!" Alice smiled and said, "She's a Seventh Grade Great Witch. She has woven and manipulated the powers of Fate for tens of thousands of years. The web that she has woven around her must be incredibly complex, so much so that it is hard for anyone to imagine.

"Everyone knows that Witches of Fate have no combat power! Then what is it that Maysa relies on to mobilize and manipulate so many powerful individuals? The mysterious and wondrous Fate!

"She uses Fate to peek at powerful individuals. When she discovers what they badly need, she will do everything in her power to push Fate in the direction that would deny them what they want. In doing so, the individual would not be able to get it, and their only choice would be to turn to her and obey her instructions.

"It is through such a method that Maysa has woven a terrifyingly large web that engulfs individuals from all over the universe. Everyone is only a puppet, a node on this giant web of hers.

"I dare say that the reason the adventuring party was even able to discover the ancient ruins was definitely because of Maysa's intervention. Just by leaking some information, she would be able to keep the Lightfire stone completely out of Groms' reach without lifting a finger."

"World of Adepts, Adept's Association; Groms might be a Fifth Grade Fire King, but his name alone is not enough weight for that adept called Olivia. Even though Groms knows precisely where the Lightfire stone is, he has no option but to ask for Maysa's help."

"This is so complicated!" Greem listened silently and sighed. "Alice, you are not going to turn into a crazy Fate-peeking pervert like this in the future, will you?"

"What are you thinking about," Alice sighed. "If this behavior of hers worked, she would never have incited backlash from the world consciousness of the World of Adepts. An individual who toys with Fate is destined to be despised by Fate!"

"So, you became her gravedigger and inherited the world consciousness' will to deal with her?"

"Not precisely dealing with her. The best I did was destroy her plans of manipulating the river of Fate in the World of Adepts. I am protected by the world consciousness in the World of Adepts and shielded from her schemes. However, if I step out of the World of Adepts, things will become increasingly complex and out of my control."

Greem shook his head and chuckled. "This is probably the problem with all you Fate Witches. You are only willing to take action once you have perfectly grasped every single cause-and-effect of an event and controlled every possible variable. Meanwhile, an eighty percent odds of success is already more than enough for me to take the risk!"

Alice replied sternly, "Greem, you must not think like that! The reason we only act when we have 100% certainty isn't out of a pursuit of perfection. It's because of the unpredictability of Fate. An event that has a 99% chance of success for you, should it ever fall in the hands of a Fate Witch, could be made to fail with that mere 1% probability of failure."

"For Fate Witches, there is no such as 99% and 1%. There is only 100% or nothing at all- there is no gray area!"

"That serious?" Greem was rendered speechless for a moment. "I never felt that Maysa was that unstoppably powerful!"

"That is because we are protected by the river of Fate in the World of Adepts. She can't peek at any of our secrets. The things that she thinks she sees have all been distorted and obscured by the river of Fate. That is why she always had an incorrect judgment of your abilities and why, instead of eliminating you, she has mistakenly helped you grow in power."

"And this time? How should we try and get that Lightfire stone?" Greem had just heard plenty of unimaginable things, but he still had an optimistic outlook.

"I don't know!" Alice turned her palms upwards.

"Don't know?" Greem's eyes opened wide. It was the first time he had heard these words from Alice's mouth. "How could you not know?"

"There are too many suspicious things behind this. The entire thing is shrouded in dark clouds. There are many things where I can't even properly see the flow of Fate.

"Firstly, Maysa has dozens, if not hundreds, of other alternatives if she wanted to hide the Lightfire stone from Groms. Yet, she sent the stone to the World of Adepts and had it fall into the hands of the Adept's Association. I can smell conspiracy from this alone!"

"You mean to say that she has already predicted this situation and is trying to incite conflict between the Adept's Association and us?" Greem narrowed his eyes, his expression turning solemn.

"That is obvious! Because of the self-destruction incident last time, the Adept's Association already has pre-existing tension with you. In addition, the rapid rise of the Crimson Clan is also drawing the attention of the three major organizations and making them wary. If you go try and negotiate for that Lightfire stone, the Adept's Association won't be nice to you at all."

"Will they attack me with numbers?" Greem scratched his head and asked.

"Well, definitely not! The Adept's Association is one of the three major adept organizations, after all. Blatantly surrounding and killing a high-grade adept of another region is a significant taboo!"

"Then, what am I afraid of?" Greem smiled, his strong confidence beaming through his words. "The best they can manage is a duel. As long as they aren't afraid of marring their own reputation, I won't mind accepting their challenge."

Alice sighed and extended a hand to caress Greem's face as she said, "Greem, Greem…what is it that has given you such confidence that even a colossal organization like the Adept's Association doesn't scare you?"

Greem proudly said, "My power, of course…and your support!"

Alice sighed, "It's best if it doesn't come down to a war…warmongers die young. Make too many enemies, and it will come back to bite us one day."

"I understand. Don't worry. I will properly manage the relationship between the Crimson Clan and the Adept's Association!"

Alice finally nodded after receiving Greem's assurance.

…………

Greem only stopped at Fire Throne for a few days after returning from the Northern Lands. He then boarded a floating ship headed for the east.

Before he left, he sent all the Third Grade fire cores he got from the Fire Elementium Plane to Meryl, giving her a pleasant surprise. To deal with any unexpected incidents along the way, Greem brought Billis, who had advanced to Third Grade.

This way, he could leave most troubles along the way to Billis while he focused on researching the newly established template of a Fifth Grade fire creature. In his spare time, he also modified the Fourth Grade Molten Fire Crystal into a Molten Fire Beast golem.

The golem was far weaker than Shadow Demon, but it was still a Fourth Grade golem, after all. It was more than enough to deal with most situations.

This place was a floating ship belonging to the Adept's Association. As was standard regulation, it was manned by a Second Grade adept and five First Grade adepts. Paired with the runic arrays carved on the ship, they were more than well-equipped to deal with the magical creatures they would run into along their journey.

The floating ship looked like a black and brown sailing ship. It rose from the Minsel Skyport and steered towards the Black Forest, carried by an intense surge of wind elementium.

Second Grade Adept Ralph, who was in charge of protecting this ship, patrolled the deck as was his habit. After discovering nothing out of the ordinary, he prepared to return to his room, satisfied.

However, when he turned, his eyes unintentionally swept past two figures standing silently at the end of the deck. He couldn't help but stop in his tracks.

The only ones who could travel between Zhentarim and Adept's Association territory were proper adepts or human nobles of incredibly high status. Neither of these individuals should have been able to avoid Ralph's spiritual senses.

For some reason, when Ralph's gaze landed on those two hooded figures, he felt his skin jump. It was almost as if it weren't two adepts standing there, but two ferocious monsters that could devour every morsel of his being.

Ralph remained dazed for a moment. His right hand immediately gripped the runic crystal that allowed him to control all the arrays on the ship. He silently pulled up the information stored within.

With his Spirit as a Second Grade adept, he almost instantly managed to scour the list of passengers and found the information on these two guests.

Green and Billy. Two ordinary, inconspicuous names.

However, noted beneath those two names were two bright red words: Crimson Clan!

The Crimson Clan? That clan had been on the rise in Zhentarim recently. Why were they going to Association territory now?

The fact that they could avoid his spiritual senses and the ship's scans meant that they were very likely high-grade adepts in disguise. But all the high-grade adepts of the Crimson Clan were well-known. They……

Ralph pretended to survey the geography beneath the ship while secretly evaluating the two adepts.

For some reason, the more twisted and unusual of those two figures was familiar to him.

Suddenly, his eyebrow jumped. He knew who it was.

Bug Adept Billis. To think, one of them was the most frightening Third Grade adept of the Crimson Clan.

What was he going to the Adept's Association for?

Ralph couldn't help but frown and start thinking to himself.