Age of Adepts

The campfire had been lit in the middle of that temporary camp. The thick smell of stew lingered in the air of the Stoney Wilderness.

Because of the earth elementium core from that afternoon, Adept Ragu was in an exceptional mood. He had a rare smile on his thin and yellow face.

The rugged-looking Jack put on as big of a smile when he passed the stew and a soft loaf of bread to Adept Rage, as he asked a question.

“...my lord, my little kid Tom has always been a smart kid. He’s always been able to pick up anything he’s taught. Unfortunately, he’s never been able to meet a teacher willing to teach him. That is why...I was hoping......”

“Every child under ten will have their talents examined by someone from the clans. Does your child not have a talent for magic?”

“No...of course he does. But...according to the adept that tested his talent, our little Tom has recessive talent. He needs to activate his talent before he reaches ten, or that talent will be lost forever.”

“Recessive talent,” Adept Rage couldn’t help but shake his head.

Every ten years, adepts would travel all over to search for children with magic talent. They would then be gathered together and sent to adept towers for further training. However, the situation in Zhentarim was a bit different. Every clan had its own territory and civilians. Typically, you wouldn’t be allowed to recruit apprentices from clans other than your own.

That was why adept clans and organizations without their own private territory would lose the chance to gain fresh blood. If such a situation was allowed to persist, it was only natural if their legacy was cut short!

While these messengers were traveling all over searching for apprentices with magical talent, they would unavoidably come across individuals with recessive talent. These individuals’ magical talent was sealed away the moment they were born. If this recessive talent wasn’t activated through special means before they were ten years old, then their talent would assimilate with their bloodline and become forever inaccessible.

Adept clans without sufficient power and resources would often give up on these individuals with recessive talent. They refused to invest any resources in them. The reason was simple. The Awakening Potion required to activate such recessive talents was worth a hundred and twenty magical crystals, while an apprentice with awakened talent was not any stronger than an ordinary apprentice.

If the awakened apprentice could not advance to become an adept, then the clan would take a loss.

Not many adepts were willing to spend a hundred and twenty magical crystals to bet on an apprentice with unknown talents. That was the fundamental reason they were cast aside!

Without the investment of a clan, an ordinary family had no means of paying the massive price of one hundred and twenty magical crystals.

It was important to note that magical crystals were the hard currency of the World of Adepts. The adepts entirely monopolized them. Without an adept connection, an ordinary family could not purchase any magical crystals regardless of how much gold they had.

After all, all adepts traded in magical crystals and never accepted gold coins.

“Have you managed to accumulate enough magical crystals for an Awakening Potion? If you have enough, I can help you purchase a vial!”

“I should have enough by next year. I heard they are recruiting adventurers to go exploring in the Black Forest over at Dagon. They will be paying ten magical crystals for each mission. I want to try my luck there.”

A mysterious and faint smile appeared on Adept Ragu’s face when he heard what Jack had said.

“On account of how well you have served me these past few days, a word of warning. Do not go to Dagon, no matter what. Do not leave Ailovis regardless of how generous the remuneration promised. Perhaps one day in the future, you will find that the only safe place in the world is Ailovis.”

Adept Ragu stopped speaking entirely after that.

The matter of the magic surge was limited to the adepts only, after all. All adepts had signed non-disclosure agreements with their clans and would never reveal the truth to the mortals. That was why this simple warning was the best Ragu could do for the mercenary captain.

If Jack insisted on leaving Ailovis for Dagon, he and his family just might be caught in the danger when the magic surge erupted.

Meanwhile, Ailovis was the headquarters of the Crimson Clan and home to Horton Magic Academy. The clan’s tremendous power would keep this place safe. Regardless of how ferocious the magic surge would be, Ailovis would remain the safest and most peaceful place in the Central Lands.

Without any doubt.

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

Fire Throne.

Greem sat calmly on his red throne, listening to Meryl and Emelia’s report through the magical mirror.

“...with all these years of hard work, one hundred and fifty square kilometers of living space have been opened up in the Black Forest of White Tower. Doverand City also stands in front of the Black Forest. The magical creatures will not be able to make it past.

“Doverand City currently has a population of twenty thousand, with over a hundred active mercenary groups. A twelve-man adept party is also stationed there. I plan to construct another medium tower in Doverand City soon to ensure that our efforts in the past two hundred years won’t be washed away by the magic surge.

“I have enough workforce here to deal with any contingencies, but I still lack one high-grade adept...especially since the adept tower that will be built at Doverand City will have to be manned by a high-grade adept. I can only count on Teacher for this.”

Greem appeared calm and composed after hearing Meryl’s report. He tapped the ceramic cup in his hand, watching as ripples spread across the surface of the liquid. The fragrant steam of the tea rose into the air.

“I know you want me to send Billis over. However, the situation in the Central Lands does not allow for that. He has to remain here,” Greem lifted a hand to stop Meryl from saying anything more. “You do still need help, so I will be sending Iritina and her green dragon flight over. You shouldn’t need to worry about manpower on your side now!”

“Yes, my lord!” Meryl’s face blossomed into a smile when she heard that it was Emerald Dragon Iritina and her green dragons that were coming. All these years of acquaintance had made her and Iritina rather close friends.

Moreover, the bloodline of dragons flowed through their veins. That sense of intimacy that came from the depths of their souls was irreplaceable by any bonds!

Now that Meryl had finished, it was Emelia’s turn to speak on the matters of Ailovis and Crimson Wing.

“Lord clan leader, with all these years of expansion, the Black Forest to the east of Fire Throne has fallen under the clan’s control. Medusa Dana has gathered a relatively strong army on her side, helping the clan maintain order and authority over the surrounding lands.

“However, we still lack a firm foothold there. Currently, our scouts have reported three locations appropriate for an outpost– Eaglehead Mountain, Splinter Valley, and Spider Forest. I intend to construct a small city at Splinter Valley to serve as a forward outpost. When the magic surge erupts, we can send two Motherships and Golem Dragon One over as guards. They will not have much trouble dealing with the stampede there.

“With regards to the matter of potential spatial rifts within our territory, I have mobilized all Crimson adepts and apprentices to scour Ailovis, marking out and sealing every spatial singularity and rift they come across.

“We are sealing the spatial weaknesses that are less of a threat. As for those that run the risk of turning into spatial rifts, we will construct war towers in accordance with their danger levels. With these policies in place, I believe that the threat of the magic surge to Crimson territories will be at its minimum.”

Greem listened quietly. After confirming that there were no flaws in the arrangement, he turned and looked at Snorlax, who was standing in a screen in a corner.

Snorlax immediately jumped up in excitement and started speaking when he saw it was his turn.

“My lord, the new Golem Dragon Two will be available for combat very soon. What do you think......”

Greem finally smiled when he heard this news.

“And the Motherships? The clan only has ten Motherships at the moment. It’s not quite sufficient for our purposes any longer. I hope to have twenty Motherships before the magic surge. That should be no problem, am I right?”

“Twenty Motherships?” The gleeful Snorlax immediately clamped up. He gulped as he said, “My lord, you should know that the ore reserves of the Goblin Plane are running dry after all these years of excavation. Even if I mobilized all the goblin engineers and worked without stop, we can’t do it without enough magical alloys!”

“Don’t you worry about the magical alloys,” Greem immediately replied, “I found a whole mountain of metals in space. All you have to do is send goblin engineers over to build a smelting factory and refine all the ores you mine there.”

“In space,” Snorlax felt his legs twitch at the mere mention of that terrifying place. Space was a land of death. Even a Second Grade could not survive easily in space, let alone goblin engineers, with their lack of power and means to protect themselves.

“Don’t worry. I have got everything arranged over there. Gazlowe will be responsible for the safety of the goblins sent there. They just have to focus on their work!” Having said that, Greem turned to a different topic, “Moreover, I don’t intend to mobilize all ten of the newly constructed Motherships. Leave half of them in the Goblin Plane to protect your world.”

“The Goblin Plane was a low-magic plane, to begin with. Even if you had portals leading directly to the Goblin Plane, there wouldn’t be too many opponents willing to go there. Five Motherships and three thousand of the newest models of magical machines, as well as Golem Dragon Two. That should be enough military force to protect the entire Goblin Plane!”

“Yessir, understood, very well. I thank my lord’s care and generosity in the place of all goblins!” Snorlax and the other goblin leaders standing behind him in the magical mirror smiled in relief.

“However, I will need the goblin machinist-sorcerers waiting in Ailovis as a mobile force. The Central Lands are far too big, after all. Any gap in our security could result in a disaster. That is why I need a sufficiently powerful and mobile response squad!” Greem gave out new instructions after handing out the carrot.

Snorlax and the other goblin leaders acknowledged his orders and gave no objections.

The magic surge was right at hand. If the Goblin Plane tried anything funny during this time, the Crimson Clan would be in a difficult position. That was why Greem had to take measures to keep the goblins in check, even if he really trusted Snorlax and Gonga.

This three-thousand strong army of goblin machinist-sorcerers was the essence of the Goblin Plane, accumulated over the years. It contained almost all the goblins who had any talent for combat.

If anyone among the goblin leaders wanted to break free of the Crimson Clan’s rule, they would have to consider the three thousand goblins held ‘hostage’ in Greem’s hands.

The Goblin Plane could not bear to shoulder such losses!