Age of Adepts

Dragon Devourers needed to completely devour an entire dragon to effectively improve and obtain the dragon’s bloodline, physique, magic resistance, and soul.

Would the dragon still be whole if it were split into four pieces?

Oliven was extremely frustrated and upset right now.

Yet, when she tried to give the matter some serious thought, she couldn’t find anything wrong with Greem’s words.

It was only natural that she got a quarter of the dragon when all four of them had worked together to defeat the dragon, mainly when there wasn’t much difference between their contributions and power in battle. Still, this was too far beyond the expectations she had been holding onto this whole time!

"You don’t intend to give me a dragon leg or a dragon wing every time we slay a dragon, do you?" Oliven furiously squeezed this query out through her teeth. Two dangerous clusters of fire lit up in the depths of her jade green eyes.

"Of course not!" Greem was still smiling brilliantly, "From what I know, only dragons with whole bodies and souls can allow you to strengthen your powers. Why would I ever do something so mean to you?!"

"Then what’s your plan?"

"There are only two options currently. One, I give you your spoils after every battle according to your contributions. However, this way you will only be able to get one-fourth of a dragon every time."

"Just talk about the second option."

"Two, you give up on your choice this time and accumulate your contributions. Then, the next time we successfully slay a dragon, you will be able to get an entire dragon; one-half of it at least!"

Oliven’s face fell apart once more.

"You mean to say that I have to help you capture four dragons to obtain one complete dragon?"

"That’s how the situation is! After all, we are only allies. I can’t possibly give you advance payment just to please you when we are only engaged in such a temporary alliance of common interest. So..."

"So I’ve turned into your free labor and cheap assistant, answering to your every beck and call, all just for the sake of a damned dragon that I might get in the future." Oliven turned increasingly furious as she spoke. An unconcealable rage filled her jade green eyes.

Greem spread his palms and shrugged.

"If you had the ability to hunt a Second Grade dragon alone, you wouldn’t need to be bound to me in this manner. Sadly, wind dragons run fast, fire dragons live too far, frost dragons are too annoying, water dragons aren’t easy to find, lightning dragons can teleport; you really need to put in some effort if you want to catch them."

Oliven’s anger quickly subsided when she heard Greem list out the terrifying aspects of the various pure-blooded dragons. Her eyes were filled with helplessness instead.

She might possess the title of dragon devourer and would always hold the advantage in a fight against a dragon of the same grade.

However, being able to defeat a dragon wasn’t the same as being able to capture one!

The dragons might all have different attributes and different fighting styles, but they all had one commonality– that was, they all knew how to fly.

It didn’t sound like much, but the ability of flight, when bestowed upon the dragons, was incredibly hard to deal with.

The dragons had robust Physique and Strength that they prided themselves over. They also had sharp fangs, lethal wings, and a long tail in close combat, while also simultaneously having Dragontongue magic and dragon breath for long ranged combat. All these factors already made them incredibly powerful and troublesome to deal with. Throw into the equation their ability to fly, and the dragons now also possessed the right to choose where and when they wanted to fight!

They could dive downward and engage in a ferocious fight if they could win the battle. If they couldn’t win, then they could simply turn around, take to the skies, and leave.

What amongst ordinary magical creatures could deal with such a harsh and annoying piece of meat?

Oliven might be known as a dragon killer and possess the dragon-slaying abilities, but even she couldn’t force the dragons to stay if they fled the moment they saw her.

That was the main reason why she had actively sought out Greem!

Greem knot only possessed tremendous power, but also the manpower required to realize his plans. Only someone like him could carry out a well-planned operation and trap a dragon lord in a situation with no escape.

That was why Oliven was no more than extra help and an extra layer of insurance for Greem when it came to slaying dragons. However, Greem was an irreplaceable and extremely significant factor for Oliven and her ambitions.

Their standing had never been equal from the very start!

Every time she remembered that she needed to help Greem defeat another three Second Grade dragons to obtain an entire dragon, Oliven felt herself getting frustrated again. She couldn’t calm down.

Still, someone who could wander the multiverse alone was no angel either. Oliven rolled her eyes and immediately swapped out her expression with a smiling face.

"Sir Greem, could you truly bear seeing a lady get caught in such suffering?"

Oliven had changed her strategy. She instantly turned into a sad, mourning, and dejected lady, slinking toward Greem with graceful steps as she held her hands over her chest as if she was heartbroken.

In all honesty, there weren’t too many people who could resist such seduction, especially when it was a beautiful lady with a dynamite figure who was trying to charm you. Still; this was a matter of a dragon, every one of which was worth over a million magical crystals. There was no room for negotiation even if God himself came down to speak.

Greem immediately betrayed a lewd expression. He extended an arm and wrapped it around Oliven’s soft and slender waist before bending down to her ear and whispering, "If Lady Oliven’s willing to visit my adept’s tower tonight, I can pass you my portion of the dragon. How about it? That’s one-half of a dragon in total, you know."

Mary’s cold snort came from not far away.

Oliven couldn’t help but feel chills run down her spine when Greem placed his hand on her.

She couldn’t wait to use her claws to add a few more holes in this wicked adept’s body if it weren’t for the alliance. Even though Oliven had been the one to attempt seduction, she was the first to fall apart when Greem responded with a perverted expression.

Oliven twisted her waist and quickly got herself out of Greem’s grasp with her skills as an assassin. She walked away without looking back.

"Keep my portion of a dragon for me. However, you won’t hear the end of it if even one gold coin is missing from my portion of the hoard." Having said that, Oliven quickly vanished from the scene.

The very next second, the tender flesh on Greem’s waist was pinched and twisted by a pair of snow white hands.

Three times to the left and three times to the right. There wasn’t much force in the pinch, but that intense pain still went straight to Greem’s heart.

"You’re not allowed to hook up with that girl!" Mary wickedly left this sentence behind and went without looking back, much as Oliven had. Her slender waist swayed like a willow in the wind as she walked. Every step tempted and plucked at Greem’s heartstrings, causing lust to rise in him. He couldn’t help but lick his lips.

He had been too engrossed in the organization of the Crimson Clan and the excavation of Lance over these past few days. It seemed to have been a long time since he last had some ’proper communication’ with Mary. He had also unlocked a couple of interesting moves lately. He could probably consider letting loose for just a bit.

Sadly, before Greem could put the thoughts in his mind to action, a goblin engineer swiftly ran out of the flying ship while waving both of his hands. The goblin had a piece of note in his hand.

A guest has arrived. Return ASAP!

This was the brief message that Gazlowe had sent over via the communication device aboard the flying ship. It was vague and inconclusive, as if Gazlowe was intentionally leaving the matter a mystery.

It shouldn’t be an enemy. Otherwise, the cowardly and fearful Gazlowe would take a much more urgent tone.

But a guest?

Greem was slightly surprised.

He didn’t seem to have any acquaintances here in Lance. It couldn’t be that some adept that had wandered here from the World of Adepts was visiting him, could it? No, wait. It seemed it was possible, probable even, that he had an acquaintance here in Lance.

A flash went off in Greem’s mind. He had a vague idea of who the visitor was.

Good. It was about time to have a proper talk with him.

After hastily cleaning up the snowy mountain, Greem boarded the flying ship with all his subordinates. The vessel then slowly took to the skies and started on its way back to the metal fortress.

Lonepeak Snowmountain had to hold something special about it, given that Frost Dragon Aruntini had chosen it as her lair. Abandoning the mountain this way was a bit of a waste. Still, the Crimson Clan had to keep their fist held tight if they wanted to expand their forces in Lance while remaining hidden. They absolutely couldn’t spread out their strength and have the enemy slowly snap each one of their fingers.

All the adepts retreated to the metal fortress after the battle to avoid any unfortunate incidents from happening. Yet, they couldn’t easily forsake an excellent base like this either. Greem left one goblin engineer, two goblin technicians, five construction machines, and ten combat magical machines in the ice palace.

The task Greem gave them was to do a comprehensive and detailed survey of all the creatures, minerals, and plant resources within the frost dragon’s territory, with Lonepeak Snowmountain as their temporary base. They were not to start any conflicts with the large-scale native tribes unless absolutely necessary. They were to do their best to figure out the distribution of resources within the frost dragon’s territory.

The goblin engineer that acted as the temporary captain had to maintain long-distance communications with the metal fortress every three days to report their findings. The metal fortress would also send out resources, logistics, and reinforcements at important times using the flying ship.

Once everything had been arranged, the flying ship rose into the clouds and quickly flew toward the Stonetalon Mountains under cover of night. Due to the lack of special alloys, the engine room of the flying ship was still the old space furnace; the newest magic generator furnace hadn’t been installed.

Greem had already exhausted a third of the Queyras alloy dug out of the ruins of the Steel Capital to construct a powerful magic generator furnace that could sustain the entire metal fortress. The remaining Queyras alloy could, at best, be used for three to five miniature magic generator furnaces.

However, the blueprints of the miniaturized magic generator furnace were still being calculated and optimized. They couldn’t be used to sustain the explosive growth of the magical machine army in the short term.

Ordinary magical machines could get by with improved versions of the magic energy batteries. The ones that genuinely needed miniature magic generator furnaces were the elite magical machine warriors. The performance of the Goblin Shredder and the Goblin Bomberman during the battle of the Swamp of Sorrows were the most eye-catching of them all. They were also undergoing improvements and optimization.

Once the newest Second Grade magical machine warrior was completed, it could be paired with Tigule, who was known as the Goblin God of War. When that happened, it was very likely that another combat unit with Second Grade power would emerge within the Crimson Clan.