Age of Adepts

Chapter 316 Alice's Choice

Alice trembled as she extended her hand towards her stomach.

It was almost as if there was a strange light source within it. Odd silver energy continuously flowed out from that part of her body. The silvery power seeped into her skin, flesh, bones, and tendons, dyeing every part of her body a silver-white.

Alice could see through her semi-translucent stomach. Her intestines and stomach were exposed to the naked eye. There was also the liver, the gallbladder, and several other organs she couldn't name. These internal organs also started to turn transparent under the effect of this mysterious energy. Even her blood vessels and the blood surrounding her body parts had begun to become translucent.

Alice's hand landed on her stomach. She trembled in shock.

Her hand went right into her stomach as if there was nothing there to stop it. She didn't feel anything.

Her skin, her stomach, her flesh; everything was visible to her eyes, but she couldn't touch them. It was like those parts of her body were in a different dimension from the rest of her body.

"I…what's happening to me?" Alice's face was flushed white. She turned and stammered a question at Greem.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that question?" Greem frowned, "After all, spatial energy is your area of proficiency."

Honestly, there was far too little reference knowledge when it came to time and space magic.

Greem could only tell that this was a backlash from Alice drawing upon the spacestone's power. However, it was hard for him to understand, describe, or explain the reasons and mechanisms behind the occurrence.

"What happens if this spatial energy completely pollutes me?" Alice quickly calmed down and asked the most pressing question.

"According to my evaluation, you would most likely be turned into a sort of space creature or spatial being!"

"Then we must stop this merging process. I'll use my spells to remove the spacestone now!"

"Don't be in too much of a hurry, Alice. I already checked your body for you earlier. Merging with the spacestone isn't necessarily a bad thing. With how much power you have accumulated, it would ordinarily take you another three to five years to advance to an adept. However, if you took proper advantage of this assimilation, you don't need to wait for that long! Advancement should happen soon!"

"Really?"

Alice immediately went from upset to excited after hearing Greem's words.

Alice was finally unable to tolerate the puny fragility and weakness of an apprentice after all that had happened in the past couple of weeks!

Adepts ruled this world. If Alice wanted to earn the necessary respect of those who roamed this world and protect her interests, she would have to advance to an adept.

It was foolish to assume how influential Alice might have been from her position and status among the apprentice adepts. She received envious looks from everyone wherever she went. However, as long as she had yet to advance to an adept, she would not be able to enjoy real freedom and liberty.

The massive difference in status between her and an adept was enough to cause her to stop breathing when she faced one. That was why there was no need to discuss dignity in a fight against an adept.

That was also why she so desperately wanted to advance to an adept!

"What do I need to do?" Alice's small face was agitated, but a passionate glow gleamed in her eyes.

"Adjust your physical condition." Greem thought for a moment, "Don't interrupt the assimilation process with the spacestone. Try to take hold and gain control over this power. I will arrange your advancement ceremony as soon as possible. When that happens, you will take advantage of this spatial power to complete your advancement to an adept."

"What about the side-effects of merging with the spacestone?"

"An insignificant issue. As long as you can advance to an adept, there are plenty of ways to make up for it retroactively!"

Alice gave it a little more thought before nodding in acknowledgment.

Greem left the room to Alice and went to a small lab he had built.

Many long tables and wooden boxes had been arranged in a row in the middle of the hall, along with several experiment platforms and a small alchemical platform.

Greem no longer needed to head to the alchemical lab to create his lower-grade golems. He could quickly craft them right here in his room. This arrangement prevented schemers and enemies from being able to see the process and secrets of his golem creation!

Greem walked to a stone platform and took off the black cloth covering it. A fifty-centimeter tall glass bottle laid before him. A mysterious blue solution filled the container. A pair of unique magical gemstones floated and bobbed about in the liquid.

These were a pair of amber-colored magical gemstones the size of an egg. Dirt-yellow clusters of energy circled around the center of the of the gems and looked just like the eyes of a peerless wild beast that had just been opened wide.

A numbing and paralyzing sensation would overwhelm the body even when looking through the solution and the container.

A substantial and oppressive force of earth energy weighed down on Greem.

The Eyes of Petrification!

These eyes were the most significant spoils that Greem gained from killing Sak.

Of course, Greem had also managed to discover some books and notes relating to bloodline evolutions in the opponent's storage ring. However, with the lack of a sample of the giant serpent bloodline, he had no means of investigating or researching it, despite his desire for the strength of a bloodline power. Greem was much like a skilled cook without the necessary ingredients right now.

These bloodlines were extremely important to the bloodline clans, and they kept a close guard on them. Any individuals that possessed bloodline powers were written down in the clan's records the moment they were discovered. It didn't matter whether these people died in an ordinary fashion or an accident. Their clan would always send people out to investigate and ensure that the clan's bloodline wasn't leaked to outsiders.

Greem's decision to completely cremate Sak was the right one.

If he had kept Sak's body intact, the Ximan Clan would likely have even risked war to retrieve Sak's corpse.

Thus, this pair of Eye of Petrifications could be considered the most valuable parts of his body. Greem had been researching magical statues and magical puppets. He lacked this sort of magic gemstone with unique abilities. Thus, he used an organic protective solution with biological properties to preserve the Eyes of Petrification in their best state.

A layer of red light appeared in Greem's eyes and cut off the petrification energies emitting from the Eyes of Petrification.

Honestly, these energies had caused him tremendous trouble in the previous fight. If it weren't due to the Flame Fiend's exceptional resistance to all basic elementium, he would have been turned to stone as well.

He might have won that fight and turned Sak into ground meat paste and grey ashes, but the extraction of the petrification energy had caused him a lot of trouble as well. The energies had even mixed with the abyssal aura at one point and created a massive mess for him to clean up.

Greem had put a lot of thought into how to use this pair of eyes as well!

He once again covered the container with the black cloth, and the slight feeling of numbness faded away as well. He didn't look down on this black cloth because of how inconspicuous it seemed. It was also a magic-enhanced item that obscured all traces of magic covered by the fabric.

Greem walked to the second platform. The variety of metallic parts and mechanical constructs were strewn across this one. However, most of them were only semi-finished products. Even if someone were to put them all together, it was just enough to create the metallic arm of an animated statue.

These pieces were Greem's handiwork and his preparation for the magic-powered war golem he was attempting to make.

After this period of research and discovery, Greem had finally been able to gain a thorough understanding of the knowledge he had brought back from the Silver Union. He had also discovered some oddities because of this.

Ancient adepts had defined the magic golems as metallic golems that could aid the adepts in combat when they first brought these entities into existence. The initial motivation for creating them had been for battle!

This line of thought had caused all sorts of elegant and precise designs to become unsuitable for a golem. This reason was why magic golems were rarely ever outfitted with precise and delicate components similar to that of a human's body. The adepts had made the magic golems to be as practical and straightforward as possible so that they could be qualified meat shields and vanguards.

Ordinary metallic golems often only had two clumsy and dense metal pillars as legs. They had none of the complicated parts of a human body, such as a divide between the thigh, leg, feet, and the toes. The more precise and the more delicate the design of the metal golem, the weaker its resistance to blows. It was far more practical just to forge a lump of metal using a magical alloy with the highest toughness.

This simplicity was why most of the metallic golems that Greem had seen were incapable of complex battle techniques. They could only roll over and crush enemies with their impenetrable bodies and terrifying weight.

The adepts weren't necessarily wrong in their thought process!

After all, they only trusted their own powers. Creating golems was just to provide themselves with a way to be covered while they cast their spells. Most adepts built their golems per their needs, and never honestly treated the golems as an aid nor dedicated their efforts to research and refine their potential.

Greem took a wooden box from a corner of the stone platform. He opened the box and revealed five crude wooden golems placed within.

He took one of them out and assessed it.

The wooden golem had with the rough anatomy of a head, a torso, and four limbs. All of this was carved out of hemlock timber. The different parts of the body had been fixed together with iron nails. Coiled wire composed the more delicate components such as the hands and feet.

Greem even created a pair of wings out of wood flakes and snowrabbit fur on the back of the golem. He had merely pinned the fur to the back side.

Frankly speaking, Greem's woodwork skills were non-existent.

According to the golem creation manuals, a proper wooden golem had to be carefully carved by a professional workman, using specialized timber, to be considered a qualified and accepted product. The wooden golem in front of Greem had clearly not undergone any method of polishing either. The surface of the wood was rough, and a crack had appeared on the right leg. Anyone would be able to tell that this was a defective product.

The creator of this golem had used too much strength when pinning the wire feet into its legs.

Greem could only shake his head in disappointment at his craftsmanship.

Well. It was meant for practice anyway. It was okay, even if it was a little shoddy!