Age of Adepts

After he handed the task of guarding Mary over to the Fire Lord, Greem finally had some time to clean up the battlefield.

The spiritual connection with Alice had broken long ago, and the reason was unknown. Greem had a vague feeling that something was happening in the outside world.

To prevent him from being at a loss of what to do later, Greem thought it was better to first adjust his condition to the best he could; only then would he leave this place.

He had took back the storage waist belt that had been taken away by Anderson, together with all of his magical equipment. But it was a pity; since he had become an official Adept, this Apprentice Adept level equipment was no longer useful to him.

At this moment, some rubble not far away started to roll about, revealing a short, vague figure of green.

"Master, master! You've really become an Adept! This is excellent! Congratulations my master…"

Greem looked at the goblin, whose face was kindled with joy mixed with flattering expression; he couldn't help but be surprised. During the devastating war that had happened not long ago, the raging magic spells had nearly plowed through the entire isolated inter-space. Even the bloody altar, protected by magical arrays as it was, had collapsed and disintegrated. Yet, this goblin slave who didn't have much self-protecting ability actually survived?

It looked like this fellow also had some secrets that nobody else knew!

With a smirk, Greem snorted coldly and said, "Go search that place. Anything left over by those apprentices is yours!"

"Thank you, master! Thank you…" Snorlax was so happy that even the voice of its cheer had changed.

In this major war, although Snorlax hadn't contributed any combative strength, just the fact that it had forced itself to disguise as Alice was worthy of praise. Therefore, Greem waved his hand and gave the right of looting the battlefield to Snorlax.

After all, the apprentice level equipment and items were no longer something of significance to him. In addition to that, there was another important task that he needed to attend to right now!

Greem strode forward, and soon he came to a pile of rubble. An explosive fireball was thrown over, blowing away all of the wreckage and rubble, revealing a dark robe that showed signs of movement underneath.

"Acteon, do you think that I'll forget about you? It is time for us to settle the score between us!" Greem said with a cold voice.

Since the primary enemy had been defeated, this 'ally' who had always harbored evil intentions toward him couldn't be spared as well.

A Magma Fireball wrapped in raging flames was tossed onto the dark robe. The exploding elemental flames immediately ripped the cloth apart. Amidst the scorching flame towering into the air, countless black scorpions screamed, cried, and eventually burned to ashes.

Greem focused his mind and sensed around, making sure that he didn't leave out anything. Only then did he turn around and leave this sea of flame which had turned into a mini lava pool.

At the same time, Mary had long sucked dry the last drop of blood inside of Adept Anderson's body. She was now hovering in midair, three meters above the ground, fully naked, with her head buried between her knees and her arms wrapped around them. Tiny threads of crimson waves kept rippling out from inside of her body.

The dead body of Adept Anderson was lying flat on a pile of rubble. His withered skin was clinging tightly to his bones, and not much flesh could be found in anywhere on his body. He had totally turned into a mummy.

She had enjoyed Adept Anderson's fresh blood all by herself. For a vampire who lived on blood, it was definitely the rarest nourishment. It was especially true when she was at the critical moment of advancement. It had simply become the strongest aid to help Mary become an official Adept.

A powerful yet subtle wave of condensed air suddenly burst out from Mary's body. At the same time, she unfolded and stood tall, her body still in midair. She threw her head back and let out a crystal clear cry that pierced everyone's ears.

Her skin was silky smooth and glittering; her body was curvy and well-shaped; her fair, long legs were slim and slender; she had a pair of crimson eyes that shone like rubies; and her long, bright red hair was hanging loosely down her back… When her naked feet stepped on the ground, a red mist immediately climbed around her body.

A few moments later, when the red mist faded away, a perfect, luxurious crimson armor had appeared on Mary's body. She was giving Greem a dimply smile.

"I really have to thank you for this time. If not for this, it would have been extremely difficult for me to become an official Adept."

"Are there any side effects?"

"Trying to control an Adept is not something easy. When I was forming my blood core just now, I wiped away all of the restrictions on my soul. From now on, I'm considered totally free!" It was obvious that after succeeding in becoming an Adept, Mary was in an extremely good mood. After she had a few words with Greem, she couldn't bear it anymore and started to examine her transformation after the advancement.

With just a light push of her feet, Mary started to dash around at lightning speed and in a ghostly manner. While running around, she used her toes to kick gravel as large as a milling stone into midair, and with a flash of her body she pierced through from the center of it.

After she passed through it, behind her was a pile of small stones and dust.

Greem simply picked up a broken piece of gravel and examined it. The edge was flat and smooth; obviously, just in offensive strength alone, Mary had taken a qualitative leap. There was something even more extraordinary. With just a gentle squeeze, the broken gravel shattered and turned into dust that fell to the ground. It was corroded by Mary's Blood element energy and crumbled with a squeeze!

Mary's body flickered and flashed around. Her soft and agile body actually left behind numerous vague afterimages in the air. Sometimes she would transform into a tiny bat and fly inches above the ground; sometimes she would transform back into human shape and run at high-speed. At the same moment, there were six to seven afterimages of different postures appearing in the scene; each of them looked so real and condensed, no one could differentiate which was real and which was just an afterimage.

Taking the opportunity, while Mary was examining her overall strength, a blue light flickered within Greem's dark eyes. Very soon, he had gathered enough data.

As a result, the latest of Mary's body attributes after becoming an Adept were projected into Greem's mind.

"Mary. First Grade Bloodline Adept. Vampire. Expert in Blood Element. Strength - 2.6, Agility - 4.7, Physique - 2.6, Spirit - 0.7."

While reading through Mary's data, Greem's mind was fully filled with envy.

Without the help from the transformation of the Flame Fiend, his body attributes were in no way comparable with Mary. Although Bloodline Adepts only mastered few magic spells, they owned an intrepid body that could perfectly match their magic spells.

It was fortunate that Greem still had the backup of his golems; or else, if he was to fight Mary alone, there wouldn't be any advantage left for him!

Since Mary had succeeded in her advancement, there wasn't any real reason to keep staying in this isolated inter-space. Greem called Mary and Snorlax, held their hands with each hand, and walked toward the edge of this space.

While walking, a burning hot flame started to emerge from Greem's body. After becoming an Adept, Greem was more proficient in controlling Fire Elementium. Under his command, a glowing red fire pillar hit the spatial barrier, and very soon it melted out a large hole that allowed them to pass through.

Though the fire pillar radiated a frighteningly high-temperature, it didn't bring any harm to Mary and Snorlax, who were standing so close to it. Judging from this alone, one could tell that Greem had made significant progress in his Fire element innate talent.

As for where exactly this isolate inter-space was located, none of them had any idea. But presumably, as Adept Anderson wanted to obtain the enhancement provided by the Swampy Tower, it was impossible for him to build it in a remote place. It was certainly still within the boundaries of the Magical Swamp.

When they melted through the barrier and squeezed out from the secret space, they found themselves standing inside of the earth.

Greem closed his eyes and sensed for a brief moment. Their current location was merely twenty meters below the surface. After telling Mary about it, Greem's body exploded into a flaming torch and shot right up into the soil.

Right after they disappeared from the scene, some changes suddenly happened within the emptied and quiet, secret underground space.

After Greem and others had cleaned up this place, besides the rubble that was scattered all over the ground, the only thing left was the extremely frightful looking dried corpse of Adept Anderson. However, right after Greem's aura disappeared, the largest pile of rubble found in the center of the secret space suddenly collapsed. A swarm of black scorpions burst out from within.

Compared to when they were at their peak, there were less than one hundred of these black scorpions left. It was indeed miserable. Right at the heart of these scorpions, on the back of a black bug who looked bigger and stronger than others, a miniature face of Acteon actually showed up.

Looking at the edge of this secret space starting to collapse slowly as the integrity of the structure was damaged, Evil Bugs Acteon let out a hateful bug cry.

"Trying to kill me? Greem, you'll never succeed in your lifetime. Hmph, since you don't want this dried corpse, it will serve as my war trophy. Once I swallow it and become an Adept, it will also be the end of your happy days!"

While roaring furiously, Acteon commanded his bugs to cover Anderson's remains.

Soon, the only sound left in the scene was the dreadful noise of biting and crunching!

…………

The once mysterious and gruesome Magical Swamp had now completely turned into a real death zone.

Covered by the thick fog, a fireball suddenly soared up high into the sky and exploded from within an abandoned garden located in a remote corner.

The fireball came in fast, and it faded away just as quickly.

When the flame dispersing in all directions finally vanished into thin air, three strange figures of different heights appeared from the center of the fireball.

Because it was the first time he had tried the Fire Teleportation, Greem still didn't have a precise control over the distance. As a result, the position where the trio appeared was ten meters above the ground.

For Mary, hovering in midair was a piece of cake; but obviously, it was a different story for Greem.

Therefore, a faint cry was heard, as Greem took Snorlax with him and fell to the ground like a heavy rock.

On the ground, a Baby Demon was dragging its body and wandering around aimlessly, but it was suddenly frightened and startled by the fireball that exploded over its head. Just as it was staring blankly at the few bizarre figures who had suddenly appeared, their bodies started to grow bigger and bigger while moving closer to it…

The Demon Baby let out a sharp cry as it woke up, and prepared to run away from where it had stopped. But it was too late!

In the next few seconds, a muffled boom burst out, as Greem fell and landed steadily on the ground, throwing up a huge amount of dust.

"Garden of Whispers! It is surprising that Anderson actually built the secret space underneath the Garden of Whispers. Surely he was secret enough!" Mary gradually descended beside Greem. Her crimson eyes were cast over to the Swampy Tower, barely visible within the misty fog in the far distance.

As both of them were exchanging glances and puzzled over the quietness surrounding this place, light and shadow suddenly flashed through their eyes and their heads started to feel dizzy. In just a brief moment, they actually reappeared back inside the fifth floor of the Swampy Tower. In front of them was an old man, clad in a black robe, who had a cold and arrogant expression.

"Both of you have made the breakthrough and become Adepts? Where is that Anderson?"

Though he didn't say much, the terrifying pressure of a high-grade Adept instantly startled Greem and Mary, and Snorlax simply laid flat on its stomach on the floor, trembling violently without being able to stop.

He was a Second… Second Grade Adept!