Age of Adepts

She couldn’t help but giggle when she saw Greem’s severe and solemn expression.

“What are you so tense about? Could you be here to fight a war?”

Greem raised an eyebrow and spoke with a double entendre, “I am here to fight a war!”

Alice froze for a moment first, before breaking into a laugh.

All these years of luxury, authority, and experience had caused Alice to lose her past naivety quickly. She had become more mature and beautiful while also having learned how to keep her thoughts to herself.

As she let out unrestrained laughter, the palm-sized elementium fairy, Helen, emerged from Alice’s hair.

She immediately beat her small wings and flew to Greem’s face when she saw it was him. She put a hand on her waist and pointed at him with her magic wand as she shouted, “I knew it was you! You must be here to brag because you think you are powerful now. Hmph! Let me tell you, while I, Helen, am here I won’t let you bully Alice.”

“How did you know I was here to bully Alice?” Greem asked with exaggerated surprise.

Alice immediately blushed. She glared at Greem with a pout on her face and started grinding her teeth.

“Very good, very good. You big bad bastard, I knew you had wicked intentions toward Alice. Just you wait; I will let you taste some pain.”

Before she had even finished, Helen waved her wand as a light, magical radiance entered the stone wall beside her.

Greem grunted as he felt his surroundings weigh down upon him and a powerful force tugged at him from beneath. It was as if the tower wanted to press him against the ground.

Gravity manipulation?!

If this were a gravity spell cast by Helen alone, it would have been impossible to attempt to subdue a Third Grade adept. However, Helen was very smart. She took full advantage of her tower authority and took out part of the tower’s magical power to suppress Greem.

It was what made feel a tremendous weight as if a mountain upon his shoulders!

Greem was not a body-refining adept who trained in physical strength. His advancement might have allowed his Strength to be at the level of beginner Second Grade body-refining adepts, but a body supported with elementium was not as beneficial as a body obtained through rigorous training.

Greem grunted, and his expression changed. He tugged at the collar of his robe and saw a strange flashing rune on his shoulders.

Greem couldn’t help but be secretly surprised.

As a Third Grade adept, it wasn’t just his offense and defense that had improved. The massive amount of elementium energy, life force, and mental consciousness that he possessed was enough to distort the life forcefield around him slightly. Ordinary spells would have a tough time even hitting him.

However, this little fair Helen was indeed an elementium fairy. She could inflict the magical effect directly on Greem’s body through the life forcefield.

Only an elementium fairy could so easily use such an unusual ability!

However, now was not the time to discuss their strange abilities.

Being struck with a gravity spell of as much as three hundred points without any preparation was too much for Greem, even with his twenty points of Strength and twenty-two points of Physique.

Greem could only wildly gather his fire energy to resist the effects of the increased gravity.

Trying to square off against an entire adept’s tower with the individual’s power was still a little insufficient.

As the gravity on his body gradually increased, Greem’s face turned even redder. Magical flames shot out of his black eyes, and creaking sounds started coming from his trembling knees.

Only defending and not retaliating wouldn’t help him with this ‘naughty’ little fairy. Thus, Greem grabbed at Helen, and a large cloud of flame emerged from thin air and engulfed her. However, these magical flames did not erupt. They simply trapped the fairy and did not hurt her.

If it weren’t for Helen being Alice’s contracted creature, Greem would probably have retaliated with the Burning Domain the moment she attacked.

This place might be the Tower of Fate, and Helen might be a fairy with elementium powers, but the attacks of a Third Grade fire adept were still not something she could endure.

“Dispel the gravity spell, or I will have barbecue fairy for dinner tonight!” Greem threatened the fairy with a mean look on his face.

Unfortunately, this elementium fairy who was not at all experienced in the affairs of the world was also a real piece of work. Though she was crying from Greem’s mean face, she was not letting go of the magic wand in her hand at all.

“You...you’re bullying me. I won’t let you go so easily.”

Even while surrounded by magical fire and trembling in fright, Helen was still waving her wand with all her force, drawing the magical energy of the Tower of Fate into that strange Rune of Gravity.

The next moment, tragedy befell Greem!

The gravity on his body suddenly multiplied, causing his barely enduring knees to give way. He almost kneeled on the ground.

Greem had no other choice left to him. He let out a furious roar and the Burning Domain, raging with explosive fires, shot out of his body.

To avoid harming Alice and the little fairy, Greem had to carefully control the size of the Burning Domain and not engulf them within. With the magic energy isolating ability of the Burning Domain, the gravity effect acting upon Greem was instantly weakened by half. It was only then that Greem lightly wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead and stood up straight.

“Alright, Helen, stop messing around!” Alice shook her head and said with a bitter smile, “If he weren’t letting you have your way, you would already have been injured! Do you still want to continue making trouble?”

Elementium fairies were very powerful, but their power was built upon the might of their host.

Magic Recovery, Lessened Magic Consumption, Elementium Resonance, Elementium Shackles, Exceptional Resistance, Spirit Focus...

Most of the magical abilities they possessed were supportive in nature. The stronger their host, the more powerful the host would be after being enhanced with their magic. However, an elementium fairy could not possibly be the match of a Third Grade combat fire adept in terms of pure dueling ability!

Alice grabbed the still ranting Helen and cut off her resonance with the elementium pool of the tower. She then flicked her on the forehead as punishment, and this meaningless ‘battle’ finally came to an end.

“This isn’t some opening act the two of you came up with ahead of time, is it?” Greem couldn’t help but scratch his nose as he asked with a bitter smile.

If his power were even slightly weaker during that short ‘battle,’ he would have been forced to kneel on the ground. When that happened, he would be a bit lacking in confidence to come here and conquer Alice.

“Well, you’re the one who wanted to come and bully me after you gained some new abilities,” Alice complained with some resentment on her face.

Greem couldn’t help but be slightly surprised, “You...already know my purpose in coming here?”

“Hmph! Isn’t it to make Alice your little lover? You wish.” The little fairy Helen waved about her fists furiously in Alice’s grasp.

If it weren’t for Alice, she would probably have charged forward and treated Greem to a full martial combo.

Greem smiled awkwardly.

That was indeed his primary purpose in coming here!

Greem was not at all interested in whatever fancy romance and dream-like courtship there was out there. His only thought now was how to get Alice into bed and turn her into his woman.

Alice might have shown a lot of feelings for him over the years, but no amount of ‘spoken’ romance could be more firm and solid compared to an actual relationship of the flesh. That was why Greem had indeed intended to establish their relationship under the guise of sending news of his advancement.

This way, he would no longer need to spend time guessing at the nature of their relationship!

With the power of fate at her fingertips, Alice knew perfectly what Greem had been thinking. She was both shy and angry, but there was also a trace of sweetness contained within the anger. Alice couldn’t get used to this complicated feeling. In the end, she could only glare at Greem wickedly and helplessly said, “Come with me! There are some things I should make clear to you now.”

“Don’t go with him. That lousy guy’s just waiting for the chance to pounce on you!” The little fairy stretched her neck and shouted out loud.

Two blushes of red flashed on Alice’s face. She once again flicked Helen on the forehead before whispering a few words in her ear and letting go.

Helen stopped making trouble. She glared at Greem before beating her wings and disappearing into the distance, leaving behind a trail of fairy dust.

“You come with me!” Alice sighed softly and led the way.

Greem followed behind her. He couldn’t help but be enchanted when he saw her swaying hips as she walked in front of him.

Alice might not be as sexy as Mary, but she was a rare beauty as well.

These years of nobility, authority, and luxury had caused Alice to cultivate a unique charm and style. There were the innocence and passion of a young girl, yet also the maturity and sturdiness of having experienced the world. The various bewitching aspects to her personality would cause someone to fall in love unknowingly.

Unfortunately, and to Greem’s disappointment, Alice didn’t lead him to her room, but the astrology platform at the top of the Tower of Fate.

It was currently the time when the golden sun was at its brightest and most blinding. The astrology platform was now a sea of gold, and nothing was obstructing the vision when looking out from here.

The mysterious array embedded beneath the floor of the platform had slowly activated after sensing Alice’s arrival, turning the surrounding walls transparent. It allowed the person conducting the astrology ceremony to see all the stars above with a single glance.

It was the first time Greem had come to see Alice’s astrology platform. He couldn’t help but be stunned in awe.

He could imagine the sight of Alice, standing alone on this astrology platform in the dead of night when the stars were at their brightest. That mesmerizing silence, that immeasurable depth of the skies above, and that strange feeling of being thrust into that endless space. It must be very, very lovely!

Still, regardless of how beautiful the platform was, it couldn’t possibly be a good place for romance, could it?

Greem grumbled angrily.