Age of Adepts

There were requests for resources, research proposals, applications for leave, routine task reports, job duty summaries...

In just two or three days, a thick stack of documents from the clan headquarters and its various outposts had been placed on Greem’s wide wooden table. Given the thickness and height of this stack of papers, Greem was worried they would kill him when they collapsed onto him.

Gargamel and Meryl had managed most of this stuff in the past.

Now, Eva had dragged Gargamel away by the ear as the two of them worried over Emelia’s mutation. He had set the internal matters of Fire Throne aside for the moment. Meryl seemed to sense tremendous pressure from within the clan as well. It appeared many were dissatisfied with her remaining an intermediate First Grade adept despite having advanced several decades ago.

Thus, she tossed the clan matters to Greem and ran into the Black Forest for some training.

With his two most essential subordinates on leave, Greem was buried in work.

If it weren’t for the Chip’s help, he would have been driven mad by these two weeks of ‘diligent work.’ It was a good thing he only needed to repeat the words that the Chip had come up with onto the documents and put on his stamp after it was done.

Fortunately, Meryl had left the excellent assistant Vanlier before she left, or Greem might actually have gone insane.

The successful activation of the Fourth Grade magical machine golem dragon was undoubtedly excellent news. Vanlier immediately presented it to Greem. Greem couldn’t help but narrow his eyes and think for a moment after taking a good look at Deserra’s report.

The appearance of the Fourth Grade golem dragon was very timely, making up for the fatal weakness of the Crimson Clan– their lack of a top-tier fighting force. However, the actual deployment of the dragon also required extremely high political finesse and strategy.

Apart from this, Gazlowe also submitted a report, pushing for the six promised magic generator furnaces. Though Greem had already pledged to provide Gazlowe with the generator furnaces, how it was done and when were all matters of consideration.

Gazlowe was not a trustworthy individual. Greem was concerned that Gazlowe would take over Lance and cast the Crimson Clan aside if he managed to strengthen the power he held beyond a certain degree. It was these concerns that kept Greem from ever permitting Gazlowe to lay his hands on the golem dragon and the Iron Titan.

On the other hand, Thunder Dragon Arms, Emerald Dragon Iritina, and their flight of green dragons were an additional force he used to intimidate the brain monster and keep his ambitions in check. As long as Gazlowe didn’t put on the flag of rebellion and cut off the Crimson Clan’s connection to Lance, Greem would allow him independence.

However, if he hoped for more and reached beyond what he was given, Greem didn’t mind giving him a small lesson!

If this had been in the past when Greem had yet to advance to Third Grade, he could only try his best to console the brain monster and keep him on his side. However, now that he had the power of a Third Grade, he possessed the ability to punish Gazlowe at certain key moments.

That was why Greem’s attitude toward Gazlowe was in a very delicate balance now.

That said, Greem was not focused today and was somewhat dismissive of all the crucial matters of the clan. Instead, his attention was focused on a particular spot in the higher levels of Fire Throne.

Mary had not emerged from her room for many days. She had even activated her room’s defensive arrays and isolated herself from all outside information. Even Greem, with his tower authority, could only barely sense her soul flux remaining active, though it fluctuated with severe intensity.

Mary had already reached the peak of Second Grade half a year ago. Moreover, the experience from the battle at the Tower of Fate had provided her with plenty of insight. She had shut herself in her room upon returning.

According to Greem’s estimations, she wouldn’t be as foolish as to attempt advancement now.

After all, advancing to Third Grade was a significant step for adepts.

Those below Third Grade could only be considered of lower and intermediate grades. You were only a high-grade adept once you were Third Grade and beyond. The changes to an adept’s soul origin from this process was shockingly immense.

Greem had already made a series of preparations for Mary, including sealing a Third Grade vampire and putting it in Mary’s hands. Still, this stupid woman should at least have told him before she attempted advancement to give him time to prepare himself mentally!

Greem could only shake his head regretfully when he thought of Mary’s personality.

Impulsive, brash, impatient, and prone to anger; these were the most distinctive traits of Mary’s personality!

Though Mary appeared to be extremely happy over Greem’s advancement to Third Grade, the stubborn will and pride deep in her heart were clear to see.

It was obvious from how passionate and explosive she was in bed!

Right now, she also had the chance to advance to Third Grade. The fact that she had suppressed her impatience and stalled her advancement until now was already praiseworthy.

That was why Greem did not take a single step out of Fire Throne, even when such tremendous changes had occurred in the Goblin Plane. He wanted to stay within Fire Throne, guarding the tower, guarding the room, and keeping the outside world from disturbing Mary’s advancement.

He counted with his fingers. It was almost about time that something came out of Mary’s advancement!

............

Inside the secret room.

The chamber had now turned into a crimson sea.

Pungent blood bubbled from the massive blood pool in the center of the room, filling every corner. When the crimson mist washed against the walls, it would be pushed back by a shimmering magical barrier.

The blood in the pool bubbled, pungent and viscous, while the energy aura within was so speechlessly dense. Several dragon souls bound by the magical arrays would occasionally manifest in the forms of dragons, rearing their necks and letting out tragic cries of anger.

Unfortunately, they could not escape the pool of blood or their tragic fates of having the essence of their blood slowly absorbed into the enemy’s body, regardless of how they struggled or roared.

An elderly noble in fancy clothes was bound above the pool with five silver chains. The coarse chains pierced through his collarbone, ribs, shoulder blades, and ankles, chafing against his skin and flesh. The wounds would never be able to heal.

Drops of sticky, dark red blood dripped down into the pool beneath him. Every drop of blood would cause a terrifying blood storm to ravage the pool.

A figure could be vaguely seen lying at the bottom of the deep pool, silently absorbing the overwhelmingly charged blood energy.

The leap from Second Grade to Third Grade was a leap in one’s very essence; a massive reconstruction of the essence!

If First Grade adepts were only cannon fodder in a plane war, then Second Grades were powerhouses amongst the cannon fodder. Meanwhile, Third Grades were fully-fledged soldiers of a planar invasion.

Though they were still far from being the ones to issue commands, they were no longer cannon fodder that could be cast aside!

Moreover, the vampire bloodline that Mary possessed was known for its speed of advancement, only restricted by the limits of the bloodline shackles. Without Greem having captured Haines Vik, Mary would have had almost no chance of advancing to Third Grade.

What Mary needed now was to drain Haines of all his blood, using it to purify and cleanse her own bloodline to break the bloodline shackles and allow her to advance to Third Grade.

If she were to absorb all the blood directly, the power contained within a Third Grade vampire’s blood was very likely to turn the tables and devour her instead. That was why Mary needed this high-quality blood pool to purify and cleanse Haines’ essence blood of all traces of his soul. It was only then that she could gradually absorb and assimilate all that belonged to him.

The blood coffin that Greem had carefully made for her was also prepared in the corner of the secret room.

Once she had absorbed everything from the old vampire, as well as all the blood energy within the pool, she would get into the blood coffin and fall into a prolonged sleep. With the aid of the mysterious and profound magical arrays on the coffin, Mary could successfully go through with her advancement in her sleep.

This process of advancement was something that Greem had personally customized for her. It was entirely different from other vampires.

Greem had used his understanding of Mary and the old vampire to design this nearly idiot-proof advancement process that eliminated all possibilities of human error.

As long as Mary’s innate talent wasn’t absolute trash, her chances of a successful advancement through this process was as high as 89%.

However, when Mary would emerge from the coffin was still an unknown. Greem could only silently keep guard over Fire Throne, waiting for her good news.

This wait lasted for seven years.

............

Seven years later.

Inside the secret room.

The blood mist in the secret room had entirely dispersed.

The blood pool on the ground had already dried up. No blood could be seen anymore. There was only a thick layer of black dust at the bottom of the pool.

The old vampire bound by the silver chains was long dead. All the flesh was gone from his body, leaving only a broken set of bones and a torn robe hanging in midair, unmoving.

Meanwhile, the strange blood coffin that had not moved in seven years trembled slightly with a slight creak.

A short moment later, the movement from the blood coffin became increasingly prominent.

As the person in the coffin struck with all her strength, the tightly shut coffin lid moved aside, revealing its contents.

A white and slender female hand grabbed the edge of the coffin.

Perhaps fed up with the dirty air in the coffin, the owner of the slender hand slightly waved in a fit of anger. The nearly half-ton coffin lid flew away and smashed heavily into the opposite wall.

The naked Mary sat up from the coffin, grabbing her head as she moaned softly.

Who am I? Why am I here? Where is this?

A tide of memory and emotions surged out of her body, allowing her to find herself once again.

I...I am Mary.