Age of Adepts

Editor Note: So life is getting busy for me on May 1st, and I will be unable to continue editing AoA. (Don't worry, FruitFly is still translating). However, all of this just goes to say that UntouchableFly will soon be in need of an Editor. If you have any interest in this, please either leave a comment below, or email me at [email protected]

Several hours later, when Greem exuberantly rushed back to his room, he found an Apprentice Adept was waiting for him.

To his surprise, after putting out the 'item for sell' notice, the first person who came to see him was actually Anm, the administrator of the Magic Practice Room. Though Greem barely had contact with anyone, he had heard that this Anm hadn't managed to squeeze himself into the ten man list for the mission of guarding the Swamp Tower.

This also meant Anm, who was an Intermediate Apprentice, had to face the risks brought to him by the approaching compulsory missions.

"I heard you have an egg of a Giant Lizard in your possession?" Upon meeting Greem, Anm didn't hide his objective of being here. As the clock was ticking, all beginner and intermediate Apprentices were filled with a sense of crisis, thus they were seizing every second they had to strengthen themselves. As a result, the items which were very useful for small scale battles between Apprentices, such as potions and scrolls, had their prices skyrocket. They were so expensive that even the richest Apprentices felt a heartache when purchasing them.

If not for this, Greem wouldn't have nearly gone bankrupt just because he purchased a few one-time use spider webs.

But this was not a bad thing either.

From the 'blackmarket' list provided by Danny, Greem saw many rare materials that he could hardly find during normal times. These items were definitely the treasures of other Apprentices, many of which had been set aside to be used when they broke through to the next level in the future.

But too bad… due to this compulsory mission, which was a matter of life and death, they were forced to give up their futures, selling these treasures in exchange for items that would instantly increase their combat abilities.

Greem politely invited Anm into his room.

As Anm came into the room, the strong smell of blood and the pungent smell of formalin filled his nose. Glass jars of all sizes could be seen placed on a shelf in the corner of the room. They were filled with light green liquid, and all kinds of demon organs could be seen floating in these jars. Hearts, gastric pouches, brains, eyeballs… many of them still had blood in and on them. Clearly, they were freshly harvested.

An excited frog croak rang through the air, which came from Anm's companion beast, the Poison Dart Frog as it suddenly appeared on his shoulder, restlessly croaking at these materials. When Anm finally calmed it down, it crawled beside his ear and starting to whisper something.

"Looks like you have come across some fresh materials. Why don't you sell them to me?" Anm quickly threw out a demand.

"All of these materials were harvested from the Giant Alligator King. I think that there are guys who can't wait to improve their ability that wouldn't mind implanting the heart of the Giant Alligator King in their body. If you really want to buy it, you better give me a good price!" Greem remained calm and reminded Anm.

In this unique period, anything that could improve an individual's battle ability could no longer be traded at a reasonably normal price. As for how much the price was increased, it was actually proportionate with the quality of the item, and also dependent on how much of a hurry the individual who trying to purchase it was in. Therefore, when faced with an urgently needed item, anyone would have to prepare to go bankrupt.'

"The Giant Alligator King? That's even better!" What Greem said made Anm feel his heart burn with desire, but then he stopped, baffled. He stared at Greem, asking, "You were able to kill the Giant Alligator King?"

Greem briefly shook his head and pointed his finger at the wall between his and Mary's room.

Anm quickly realized what this meant and nodded his head.

When a Beginner Apprentice tried to challenge the Giant Alligator King, it was no different than courting for death. But if it was an Advanced Apprentice, who was also a Vampire, trying to do so, that was a whole different story. Although he still felt uncertain, it wasn't something that was difficult to accept.

Over the next few minutes, the two Apprentices bargained hard with each other. Although one of them was eager to purchase, and the other was impatiently trying to sell off his items, neither was willing to give up their bottom line so easily. Finally, after two hours of intense negotiations, Greem sold all his organic materials in exchanged for seventeen Knowledge Points, three Magic Crystals, one 'Screaming Tree Branch', and one Invisibility Potion (weak).

As for the back scales, fangs, and claws of the Giant Alligator King, Anm showed no interested in them. Nonetheless, Greem considered selling them to some of the Apprentices who were preparing to take the path of Body Refining Adept.

If not because times were so rough, Greem had actually planned to extract the backbone and tendons of the Giant Alligator King, as both of them were in great demand among Body Refining Apprentices. But if he really rushed back to the scene, perhaps the corpse of the Giant Alligator King would have long since been cannibalized by the other Giant Alligators.

It took Anm a few trips to move all the materials, and once he was done, Greem immediately rushed to the library with his freshly obtained Knowledge Points.

He was looking for a good Fire Elemental defensive spell.

……

Inferno Force Field, a basic Fire Elemental defensive magic spell capable of forming a high-temperature field around the body, toasting any enemy that entered the region, and causing them to suffer a rapid loss of body water content. Effective circumference: 10 meters. (Note: This is a prerequisite magic spell for Ring of Fire, an advanced Fire Elemental defensive magic spell.)

……

Fire Blast, a basic Fire Elemental defensive magic spell capable of laying Elementium orbs that spin around one's body. Any enemy who touches the Elementium orbs will suffer a Fire Blast that inflicts 3-5 Fire damage. Effective circumference: 8 meters. Numbers of Elementium orbs: 17.

……

Inferno Body, a basic Fire Elemental defensive magic spell capable of temporarily transforming part of one's body into Elementium to avoid a deadly offensive attack. Significantly improved Fire Elemental resistance for the caster. Effective circumference: 0 meters. (Note: This is a prerequisite magic spell for Fire Elementium Modification.)

……

Fire Shield, a basic Fire Elemental defensive magic spell capable of forming a small fire shield in front of the caster's body. It is able to block most long-range magic spells and melee attacks. Any enemy who attacks the shield will receive 1-2 Fire damage. Effective circumference: 3 meters. Defensive strength: 35 points. (Note: This is a prerequisite magic spell for Inferno Shield.)

……

Inferno Shield, an intermediate Fire Elemental defensive magic spell capable of forming three spinning fire shields around the caster's body. Before the shields are broken, it is able to block all long-ranged and melee attacks. Inflicts 3-5 Fire damage to melee attackers. Effective circumference: 5 meters. Defensive strength: 80 points. (Note: Requires Fire Shield as a prerequisite magic spell.)

……

Ring of Fire, an intermediate Fire Elemental defensive magic spell capable of using a large amount of Fire Elementium to form a ring of fire around the caster's body. Inflicts 5-7 points of fire damage every second to any enemy who enters the ring. Effective circumference: 15 meters. (Note: Requires Inferno Force Field as a prerequisite magic spell.)

……

……

This dazzling array of Fire Elemental defensive spells posed a difficult choice for Greem. All these magic spells had their own pros and cons, hence, in order to pick a suitable spell, he needed to carefully identify their differences and measure them against each other.

Also, as most of the defensive magic spells came in a set, some intermediate and advanced defensive magic spells required a caster to master certain prerequisite basic defensive magic spells. So, if he chose the wrong spell, and wished to learn other advanced spells, it would take him more time and energy.

Inferno Force Field and Ring of Fire were each a part of sets, and they were both field control spells. They didn't provide any substantial defense to an individual, hence they couldn't block against any long-ranged attack. But when faced with melee attacks, field control was pretty effective.

Especially the intermediate spell, Ring of Fire, which could inflict 5 to 7 Fire damage every second, for those enemies who only possessed melee ability, it was nearly impossible to face. Take Greem as an example: currently, he only had 14 Health Points. If he entered the Ring of Fire, perhaps he would be burned into a charcoal within three seconds.

And, what could he do within three seconds? If he hadn't solidified any magic spells, perhaps, before he could cast any spell, he would be killed by the fire damage.

Imagine this: within a group of Beginner and Intermediate Apprentices, a Pseudo-Adept who had mastered Ring of Fire suddenly appeared, cast the Ring of Fire magic spell on these rookies, putting them in intense pain. Not only that, he might not even need to attack personally, as just the Fire damage would be enough to kill all rookies who had no Fire elemental resistance.

Whenever he thought of this breathtaking scene, Greem just couldn't control himself and trembled in excitement. But, when he recalled that Ring of Fire couldn't stop an enemy from attacking, his excitement quickly turned to dislike.

By contrast, Fire Shield and Inferno Shield were rather low profile.

Forming a shield of dense Fire Elementium and making it hover around the caster's body in order to block any possible direct magic spells and melee attack, and if there was an enemy that dared to get closer before the shield completely broken, it could also inflict some nasty Fire damage.

Generally speaking, it didn't have any obvious offensive abilities, but possessed excellent defensive abilities.

Therefore, as expected, Greem borrowed two magic spell books: Fire Shield and Inferno Shield.

In this place, it required fifteen Knowledge Points to purchase the Fire Shield magic spell book, but it only cost three Knowledge Points to borrow it once. So, most Apprentices preferred to borrow it a few times and take their time copying it rather than spending so many of their precious Knowledge Points purchasing a book.

It was time for the Chip to shine.

Greem just needed to borrow the book once, and the Chip would be able to scan all the content it and store it in his mind. Then, he could spend his own sweet time studying them, thus saving a huge amount of Knowledge Points, which he could use to borrow more books.

Also, he couldn't master a defensive magic spell by reading just this. He still needed to do a lot of preliminary studies. Gritting his jaw tightly and steeling his mind, Greem borrowed all the required books in one go.

……

'The Influences of Fire Elementium Density Toward the Effectiveness of a Magic Spell'

'Elementary Fire Control Techniques'

'Analysis on the Usage of Fire Shield'

'Characteristics of Fire Elementium Distribution'

……

……

Carrying a tall stack of borrowed books, Greem once again rushed back to his room. As he reached his room, he heard the door of his neighbor open up and saw Mary's cool and elegant face poke out from behind the door.

"Where is my present?"

"Ugh…"

Suddenly, Greem was struck dumb and felt glued to the floor.

As he was busy with his summoning core, he actually completely forgot about Mary!

Staring at Mary's gloomy face, and realizing she was going to rampage soon, Greem quickly let out a loud cry.

"One hour… just give me one more hour. The present is going to be ready soon!"

After that, he ran into his room.