Age of Adepts

“Master Ryan, why do I have a feeling that those other items aren’t ordinary things too?”

Ryan leaned his face forward and gave those items a careful look. Indeed, it was as the servant had said. He discovered some rather uncommon characteristics among them.

“Croaking Frog, Elven Boot, Treant Branch...”

For every name he called out, the crowd would gasp in amazement. And when the name of Treant Branch was called out, a few apprentices who were experts in plant element magic spells couldn’t help but place their palms against their chests, as if they couldn’t withstand the intense shock with their heart breaking into pieces.

At the same time, fatty Sam was wearing an unsightly expression. He was portraying a look as if his heart had died, much like the look one would have if their father had just passed away.

As for the other few team leaders, they had totally given up their intention of owning these treasures. They called their men back and walked away from the stall, becoming one of the bystanders instead. They had a clear judgement. If a beginner apprentice was struck by luck, it was possible that he could find himself a tier-3 magical item. But if this beginner apprentice was able to take out a couple of tier-3 magical items together, then it wasn’t luck anymore.

Only a beginner apprentice who was backed by a powerful clan or one who was exceptionally powerful could do so. Either person was not someone they could afford to offend. Perhaps it was only Ryan, who was blinded by his own greed, who could not see such a simple fact!

Indeed, upon seeing so many tier-3 magical items, Ryan could no longer maintain his calm. He immediately stretched his arms forward and tried to snatch all of them away.

Pap!

A large hand reached out from the side and grabbed his wrist.

“Mister, I don’t think you have the right to forcibly buy my items!” Greem could no longer stand the lousy show this clown was putting on, so he decided to stop this man from continuing to behave recklessly.

“Why? You dare to disagree with me? Every single apprentice who lives in this Adept Tower knows that all tier-3 magical items are traded solely by us, the Murphy Association. You’ve already violated the rules for trading in this place, so you better be careful or else I’ll put you into custody!”

“Haha, mister. I think the agreement signed between your Murphy Association and master Adept himself is only limited to the members of this Adept Tower, right? However, I’m not an apprentice of this place. Furthermore, these items weren’t produced by your Adept Tower. Therefore, what gives you the right to forcibly buy them off me?”

“Kid, don’t try to fool me. If you’re not a part of this Adept Tower, how did you enter this place? Hmph. You better let go of your grip, or else...”

“Or else what?”

“Or else, I’ll take you to Enforcement Quarter and teach you a good lesson!”

“Hehe, if you really plan to do so, you should prepare to be humiliated!” Greem laughed through clenched teeth. He was finally unable to take it anymore and was completely pissed off by this idiot.

“What? Are you going to assault me?”

While saying that, Ryan slapped on his waist. In that instant, black and thick hairs suddenly burst out from his once fair and clean face, and his body vaguely started to expand.

Beastialize!

A frown appeared on Greem’s face. He took two steps back, and swiped his fingers across his waist pouch, taking out two summoning crystal cores.

Right when he was hesitating about whether or not he should really fight, a cold voice could be heard from the middle of the crowd.

“Stop right there!”

The voice sounded familiar to Greem.

Greem immediately recognized him after being hinted by the Chip.

A thought came over him, so he clenched his right palm tightly and didn’t throw the summoning crystal cores out.

To be honest, this place wasn’t suitable for the Demon Alligator Hunter to fight. Firstly, there wasn’t any clay in the public hall. The only way to get the Earth Elementium was to try and absorb it from the surrounding air, however, this wasn’t an easy task. Also, as the Demon Alligator Hunter was his trump card, the better he kept it a secret, the better the result would be in a real fight. Thus, unless it was a critical moment, he didn’t want to expose this secret.

Right when both men were confronting each other aggressively, a man strode out from the crowd. Judging from the way the crowd parted to make way for this man, it was obvious he was quite well-known.

“Master Kevin!”

......

One after another, the apprentice Adepts bowed and greeted the man. Soon, Blackhand Kevin, the advanced apprentice who Greem had run into once, arrived next to both the men.

“Master Kevin, why are you here?” Ryan, the blue-robed law enforcement, nodded while bowing towards Kevin.

The young, yet prestigious, Kevin wouldn’t even bother responding to Ryan. Instead, he nodded his head at Greem. He then squatted in front of Greem’s stall and examined the items.

“Elven Boot, Croaking Frog, Treant Branch... good stuff, they’re all tier-3 magical items. No wonder these guys are so crazy about it. But, I thought I heard someone say that there was a pair of Recovery Earrings here?”

“That... that... master, the Recovery Earrings are here!” Ryan hesitantly handed over the Recovery Earrings.

“Alright!” Kevin took over the earring and tossed it back to the stall. Then he assumed a serious attitude and grabbed the magical notes. He gave it a few flips and briefly read through.

Finally, Kevin raised his head and lightly sighed.

“Just as I came back, I received news that the Demon Vine Lady was killed in the underground world, but I didn’t believe it. I’d never have thought that you’d even brought back her notes about magic spells. I suppose these items are taken from her, too? You’re really one of the younger generation who is worthy of respect!”

“Demon Vine Lady? Are you referring to the girl who can transform her body? She was killed by Master Mary, and it was her who ordered me to sell these equipments!”

“Mary? The girl who can transform into a vampire?” After pondering for a few moments, Kevin chose to believe Greem’s explanation. After all, no matter how he looked at it, it was impossible to believe that a beginner apprentice would have the ability to kill a notorious advanced apprentice Fallen Adept. “Pack up all your things and follow me! You won’t find anything you want here. I’ll bring you to the place you’re supposed to go!”

After finishing speaking, he helped Greem roll up the cloth before striding away. Throughout the entire process, he simply ignored the existence of Ryan.

After both men finally disappeared from the sight of the crowd, an uproar once again broke out from the public hall. The few team leaders even dragged fatty Sam to a corner to thoroughly question him about the background of that mysterious young man.

But those questions had lost all meaning to Greem. He was totally struck dumb by what he saw now.

Kevin had brought him to a small training camp outside of the Adept Tower. In order to reach the camp, they had to fly. Therefore Kevin led him to a flying demon beast. For the first time in his life, Greem had the chance to ride on a flying demon beast. The demon beast Kevin had led him to was referred to as a ‘Socrates Condor’.

Socrates Condor was an advanced apprentice level Wind Element demon beast. It stood three meters tall and had a full wing span of five meters. It had a big, strong body and possessed the ability to cast Wind Blade, Wind Vortex and a few other basic Wind Element magic spells. It was a rare flying creature that dominated the forest region.

Because of its great physical strength and incredible flying speed, they were often captured by Adepts and tamed into excellent flying vehicles.

It was the first time he had the opportunity to fly on a demon beast, so he was rather nervous about the experience.

When the majestic looking condor soared up into the sky, its golden feathers sparkling in the sun, Greem couldn’t help but grip the soft feathers behind the condor’s neck. He felt like his heart was beating so fast it would jump out of his chest.

Whilst riding on the other condor, and leading the way, Kevin looked over his shoulder. He saw Greem’s nervousness and simply let out a loud laugh. Clearly, this wasn’t the first time he saw someone behaving like this.

Greem had his eyes closed tightly. It was only when the condor stopped its acceleration, and started to cruise steadily in the bright blue sky, did he finally let loose of his sweaty palms and tried his best to open his eyes.

For the first time, Greem felt like he was so close to the sky. Those pure white, fluffy clouds were hovering over his head like cotton candy. Below him were steep and tall mountains, valleys and woods that rolled through the land, and a dense forest littered with wild animals. From time to time, he could even see some birds chirping on treetops...

All of these had brought light to Greem’s mind, who had been spending too long in a dark and treacherous world. To be honest, after staying for a while in that gloomy and bizarre Swamp Tower, Greem had felt his body and mental state become rotten. He could no longer retain the relaxed and easy-going attitude he had when he just arrived in this world.

Following the relaxation of his mind, the feeling of nervous he felt from his first time flying gradually subsided. Greem folded his legs and sat on the back of the condor. He started to enjoy the magnificent scenery he saw underneath the condor.

It was lucky he wasn’t afraid of heights! Or else, if a future great Adept was afraid of heights, it would become lasting stain on his mighty reputation.

The training camp wasn’t far and was located approximately thirty miles from the Adept Tower. It was situated right in the middle of a serene valley.

The two Socrates Condors flapped their wings and slowly descended from the sky. Although Greem still had a pale face, his performance descending was much better compared to when he was ascending.

After getting off the condor, Kevin casually tossed out a magic crystal. His condor immediately grabbed it with its mouth and swallowed it. At the same time, the condor ridden by Greem was staring at him with a cold gaze.

This was probably the fee for riding this flying creature!

Greem copied Kevin and tossed out a magic crystal, which made the condor previous anger turn to joy. After swallowing the magic crystal, it slowly walked to an empty field beside them.

“Let’s go. I’ll bring you to a real circle of friends. We and those people in the public hall are from two different worlds! You’ll get nothing good by hanging around with them. Besides, what you really want can never be found in that place!” Kevin spread out his arms and said, “Only here can you find the true value of yourself. And this place is the future that belongs to all combat Adepts!”

Ugh... what a dramatic opening speech! But too bad there wasn’t a round of applause. Instead, there was a rather awkward silence.

But before Greem could think of a way of handling such a situation, a haughty laugh was heard coming from a far distance.

“Cheesy Kevin, you’re giving the same speech again. Who are you trying to fool into your team? Quickly bring him to me, the bald Hulk, and let me have a good look!”

The fervent and excited Kevin’s enthusiastic expression was completely crushed. While cursing under his breath, he and Greem walked towards the man who just undermined him.