Age of Adepts

No one would ever agree to such unfair terms.

However, the significance of the Orb of Shadows to the Dark Witches was simply too great!

As unwilling as they were, Circe had no choice but to agree to this unfair trade.

After getting her hands on the Orb of Shadows, Circe shot a hateful glance at Greem and turned to leave. However, Greem extended his hand and stopped her.

“What do you want?” Circe was surprised and immediately prepared for battle.

It was the first time a deep sense of danger had appeared in her heart since she arrived.

This place was Alice’s Tower of Fate, not the Black Mystery of the Dark Witches.

Alice, Greem, and Shadow Demon had a pretty good chance of taking her down if Alice had ill intentions. So even though she knew that Alice would never betray the Northern Witches, Circe still felt her heart tighten.

“Our transaction isn’t over yet, Lady Circe. Why the rush?” Greem coughed lightly. His Spirit’s weakness was still as evident as ever.

“Isn’t the transaction complete? What else is there for us to trade?” Circe asked cautiously.

“So, you mean you don’t want her?” Greem smiled slightly and drew a circle in the air. The red elementium gathered into a mirror, revealing a young, restrained witch.

Judging from her appearance, her dress, and her emblem, she was a Third Grade Dark Witch.

“Karin,” Circe’s expression lightened slightly. She feigned surprise and said, “Lord Greem, why have you imprisoned one of our clan’s young witches. This...is hardly goodwill, is it?”

Greem was well-prepared for Circe refusing to acknowledge her orders.

“I didn’t run over to Dark Witch territory to catch her. I captured her in my adept tower. Do you really not know anything about what she was doing?”

Seeing as Greem’s tone wasn’t severe, it seemed like there was room for negotiation. Circe hurriedly replied, “She’s a young witch from our clan that we sent to Zhentarim to venture and train. She must have ignorantly and mistakenly entered your territory. How about this? Any losses that you have suffered, we Dark Witches will be willing to compensate. That should be enough, is it not?”

Greem had no intention of being cordial to these Dark Witches. He tossed a parchment at Circe that had a list of a dozen valuable high-grade resources. These were rare resources that were urgently needed for the blood ritual that the Crimson Clan could not put together within a short time.

Circe wanted to reject the offer and keep Greem frustrated over having to find these resources. However, the value of a Third Grade Dark Witch to a clan was indescribable. That was especially so in times like these, where the clan had just suffered significant losses. Losing a Third Grade witch just for ‘a few’ resources undesirable. Even with her authority and influence, Circe would be reprimanded and questioned by the clan for her decision.

Circe lifted her head once more. Her eyes looked through the mist and stared at Greem. Finally, she spoke.

“Let go of Karin and allow her to return to her outpost in Zhentarim. I will send all the resources you require to your hands as soon as possible.”

The leader of the Dark Witches had made a promise. Greem could still trust the word and honor of someone of her position.

Without wasting any time on pleasantries, Greem waved with one hand, and several fire runes entered the mirror.

Soon, Witch Karin was escorted out of Fire Cave by a squad of high-grade magical machines under the directions of the tower spirit. Karin took a long while to get up from the ground after her magical bindings were removed. She shot a resentful glance at this terrifying place that had humiliated her before turning and vanishing into the shadows.

Circe nodded silently and hurried away from the Tower of Fate.

Once she had left, Greem looked at Alice and asked in a concerned tone.

“Can this Moonspring help you recover your life origin?”

Alice was touched when she saw his worried expression. She chuckled, “More than enough. Don’t forget. I just advanced to Fourth Grade. My lifespan’s already been extended tremendously. With the Moonspring to replenish the life origin I lost prior to this, I should have no problem regaining the lifespan of a Fourth Grade adept!”

After getting an affirmative reply from Alice, Greem was finally relieved.

After flirting with Greem slightly, Alice’s gaze drifted towards the Orb of the Fire God and the Moonspring. She took a sudden step forward.

As she stepped forward, the complex array carved onto the floor of the astrology hall slowly lit up, illuminating the room and making it appear as if they were in a tiny boat amidst the endless sea of stars.

The light in the hall abruptly dimmed as powerful starlight energy burst forth from the bright stars in the night sky. The hall had become a mysterious and beautiful world of stars and light.

Alice was somehow fully equipped now.

She held the Staff of Divination in one hand and the Hourglass of Time in the other. The Witch’s Mask was on her face, and the Mercury Accessories were attached to her belt. Many pretty cards floated around her, the contents on their faces shifting and changing.

Fate Witches gained unique and unusual abilities upon reaching Fourth Grade.

Though they still weren’t excellent combatants, they could be considered extremely powerful individuals in an auxiliary capacity!

Alice transformed, her body rapidly growing in size. In just a few seconds, she had turned into a beautiful and mysterious goddess that stood several hundred meters tall.

She focused her attention on the enchanting starlight and raised her Staff of Divination. She chanted profound words and pointed at the two artifacts in the room. Two gentle beams of light shone from the night sky, turning into intricate starlight chains and wrapping around the artifacts.

Greem instantly felt the Orb of the Fire God and the Moonspring fade from his senses.

At the same time, two furious mental fluxes abruptly burst forth from the depths of space.

One was bold and furious, the other cool and indignant. Both were equally angry.

Now that the artifacts had been sealed, the connections with their masters had been obscured.

This way, both Fire God Sinai and Moonlight Goddess Meve had lost their connection with their divine tools.

Even if they managed to get the help of the God of Divination, they would not be able to find the location of their artifact any longer!

Alice motioned with her hand, and the Orb of the Fire God drifted in front of Greem.

“I have sealed the divine aura on the orb. It will prevent any trouble coming from the Fire God. You will have to create a separate, isolated space if you wish to examine it. Do not bring it outside of that space before you have gained complete control of the orb. Otherwise, the Fire God will be able to sense its location and your soul aura! When that happens, the Crimson Clan will be in deep trouble.”

Greem smiled bitterly.

Was he not in enough trouble already?

He already had the Libram of Wisdom in Fire Throne. That was also a spoil of war that could never see the light of day. Should the God of Wisdom ever sense Greem’s soul aura through the Libram of Wisdom, he would track him down the moment he left the World of Adepts. He would teach Greem an unforgettable lesson.

As they say, you can’t break an already broken jar!

Greem was already shouldering plenty of grudges on his back.

Honestly, the hatred from a Fire God could hardly scare him. If worse came to worst, he would just stay inside the World of Adepts for a few hundred years. He didn’t believe the gods would remain on the alert for a ‘mere’ artifact.

Moreover, the ones that robbed the Fire God were the Dark Witches. If anything, they should be the first ones he found trouble with.

With this in mind, Greem felt a lot more confident about possessing the Orb of the Fire God.

Even though he wanted to stay and get intimate with Alice, the orb was very, very tempting. He couldn’t wait until he had gained complete ownership of it.

The Orb of the Fire God was not like the Orb of Shadows.

The attribute of the Orb of Shadows was incompatible with Greem. In fact, using the Orb of Shadows for an extended period would even contaminate Greem with shadow energy. It was not worth what it offered in exchange. Meanwhile, the Orb of the Fire God was a Fifth Grade fire artifact that perfectly matched Greem’s needs.

As long as he could wipe away the divine brand left by Fire God Sinai, Greem would obtain an origin artifact that genuinely belonged to him.

Even a Fifth Grade adept would go mad with envy if they knew he possessed such a treasure!

After all, Fifth Grade artifacts and equipment were so rare that not even Fifth Grade adepts would necessarily have one in their possession, let alone a Fifth Grade artifact that perfectly matched the adept’s attribute. The value of such an item was immeasurable!

After bidding Alice farewell, Greem excitedly returned to Fire Throne with the orb.

The first thing he did upon returning was creating a unique, isolated space inside the adept tower.

With the endless supply of energy from the tower, Greem tore a spatial rift in the air. He then stabilized it and slowly expanded it until the space was a dimension about a hundred square meters in size.

If needed, Greem could further expand this space. However, this would also take up more energy from the adept tower and was hardly worth it.

Thus, Fire Throne was now an anchor for two independent dimensions. One was used to hold the Libram of Wisdom and the other to store the Orb of the Fire God. These two items were Greem’s most treasured objects at the moment.

After visiting the two dimensions and his own laboratories, Greem began working hard to convert the arcane knowledge he had obtained a while ago into practical spells to fill in the gaps in his magical arsenal.