Age of Adepts
chapter-311

Szzzzzz.

Violent acid splashed against the human-faced door. It destroyed the face before the magic arrays could even activate.

The four apprentices winced as they looked at the mess before them. They took a look at the strange slime golem that Alice had just summoned and howled silently in their hearts.

Christ! Why didn't you summon an adept-level golem earlier if you had one? You had to wait for us to get all beaten up before sending this out to take out the trash!

Of course, the few apprentices might have been cursing all they wanted in their hearts, but they were even more respectful when talking to Alice now.

Of course, they had to! Anyone would probably act like them if they were faced with a pseudo-adept that could summon an adept-level golem at any time. If she didn't like them, she could send an Acid Spray their way, and their bodies wouldn't even leave bones behind!

The Decayer's 50 point acid attack destroyed even the magic door and its secure defenses. They probably weren't even enough for the Decayer to swallow in a single bite.

The following exploration was much more comfortable with the help of the Decayer.

Sak might have been a veteran elite adept, and his traps might have been deadly and well-hidden. However, without Sak's control, or the aid of the system within an actual adept's tower, the traps were merely inanimate objects. They couldn't possibly stop the violent destruction of the Decayer.

It didn't matter whether it was a magical door or trap, or even a pocket-dimensional sealing spell. The Decayer just threw a little green spit their way. Everything would then turn into white smoke amidst the sizzling sounds of corroding acid. Naturally, the traps no longer worked after that.

The party found Sak's lab, treasury, and study room at the end of the corridor.

Alice puffed her chest and led the Decayer into the room first. She took a look at everything in the lab and waved her hand.

"Go, find everything of value in this room. This Lady will naturally reward you if you bring back enough items of sufficient quality. Go, go, go…"

The four apprentices behaved with a frenzied glee once Alice delivered her instructions. They excitedly shouted as they rushed to each corner of the room. After all, this was a magical lab set up by a veteran elite adept. Any discovery was more than enough for them to utilize.

The good stuff naturally belonged to Alice. They would be content with all the insignificant treasures here!

Alice stood unmovingly on the spot. She put her hands behind her back and closed her eyes as if she were waiting for something.

As expected, an indescribable feeling of danger crept up in her heart as the party was happily searching for and splitting the resources and treasures they found.

Yes, it was this feeling!

Alice's heart tremored. A sharp brilliance gleamed in her eyes.

She had felt this sudden unease back in the forest camp earlier. They were attacked right after that. Alice couldn't be more familiar with this feeling!

For the first time in her life, she, Alice, a mere pseudo-adept, had felt real helplessness when faced with a powerful enemy!

Spatial Barrier; forcefully crushed by the serpentine adept!

Spatial Cut; diverted to who knows where by that stupid illusionist.

The bird cage; not even enough to break through the defenses of the two adepts.

She had been about to run away from the camp when that strange Eye of Petrification hit her. The overflowing energy of petrification ravaged through her body, quickly numbing her legs and turning them into lifeless stone.

Alice had been left with no choice but to escape with Snorlax even as she resisted the corrosion of the petrification energy.

Sadly, the two adepts had prepared for the situation. They were able to accurately locate Alice's position every time she teleported and kept up a heavy pursuit. On the other hand, most of her powers had been used to suppress the petrification. The frequent use of spatial energy had caused more and more of her body to be petrified.

In the end, Alice had to leave Snorlax alone and escape in a different direction. It still wasn't enough to elude the enemies behind her.

After one last teleportation, Alice had no longer been able to control the petrification energy in her body and slowly turned into a statue with her face frozen in fear.

What kind of feeling was that?

She had felt every inch of her body losing their senses. She had felt her organs become hard and heavy. She felt her body lose control and her consciousness fade. She had wanted to scream, but her vocal chords had turned to stone. She had wanted to cry, but she couldn't even let a single tear flow out.

A petrified body but a still-existing soul had looked on in terror and agony as the last fragments of her consciousness faded. The experience was incomprehensible for anyone that hadn't experienced it for themselves!

The two adepts had hurried over to find her wholly petrified body.

The serpentine adept had wanted to crush her with a simple strike and complete the mission. However, the female illusionist suggested otherwise. Once Alice's soul had dispersed entirely, this would be a decent collection item!

Alice's petrified shell of a body had trapped her. She had cursed and cried and begged and despaired countless times as the two adepts had waited. Sadly, Alice had been a lonely prisoner in her dark mental world. She could not break through or convey her voice or thoughts to the outside world.

She had absolutely no idea of what had transpired next.

The call for help from the Bloodhand Butcher might have saved her. The two adepts had hurried away and failed to detect the trace of spatial flux from within her body.

That was the power of the spacestone!

It had been a long, long time before Greem's familiar mental flux pierced through the dark and deathly silent mental world. It was then that Alice had cried out loud.

It was only then that Alice had thought of the ability to cry when she wanted to as a blessing in and of itself!

Perhaps Alice might only have been sealed shut in her cold and dead mental world for a single night, but the significance of that one night was unprecedentedly enormous for her. It had been an incredibly long time in her mind. Long enough to make her go mad. An eternity that had caused her to hover at the brink of a breakdown.

She had called for help, but none came. She had been afraid, despairing, crying, howling. But none of this had any meaning! She had been the only one in her cold and desolate world!

The spatial talent that she had always relied on appeared to be so fragile and useless. Don't even mentioned saving her; she hadn't even been able to use her talent to kill herself.

Her mind had undergone countless changes and browsed through many thoughts in the dead darkness. She hadn't been able to keep track of all of it herself. When Alice had given up on her pride and gave up on the temporal strength of the outside, she, for the first time, religiously and diligently used every bit of her soul's power to pray and pay respect to the one thing that could bring her hope.

Fate!

She had prayed zealously.

No longer trying to negotiate with fate, no longer trying to ask for something from fate.

Alice had been willing to become a believer in fate and shoulder her mission and become…

Greem's mental flux had suddenly broken through her dark cell like a deity descending upon the mortal world, right as she had recognized the true nature of her powers and strength.

Alice had desperately wanted to cry at that moment, yet she had smiled silently in the darkness!

Naturally, Greem had no way to know of this subtle change in Alice's mind.

After all, he also had been too busy dealing with the corrosive petrification energy and the rampaging of his abyssal aura at that time. He could only hurry and rush Alice and Snorlax back to the Feidnan City. There had been no time for him to think about any changes that had happened to Alice.

Greem had only realized that Alice had changed when she was designing her magical tattoo for Greem.

The usually violent and sly Alice had willingly given up on the components that could strengthen her spatial talents. Instead, she had asked Greem to enhance the sensitivity and insights of her Spirit.

This request had been entirely out of the blue and was far beyond Greem's expectations. It was at that moment that Greem realized the change that had happened to Alice.

Alice had honestly started to believe in fate. She was willing to put her faith in fate. It was a difficult thing to do, but she did it!

After all, a spatial talent was a tangible thing. Greem only needed to strengthen it a little, and Alice's combat prowess and survival skills would increase exponentially. Fate, on the other hand, was intangible, unseen and mysterious. No one had any idea where it came from and no idea how to train and cultivate it.

Throwing resources at such a thing was considered a massive waste!

At least, that's how most adepts thought of the issue.

However, Greem didn't belong to this group of adepts.

Honestly, Alice's spatial talents were very desirable. Still, they couldn't compare to the title of the Witch of Fate. Only thirteen witches possessed titles in the World of Adepts. They were the core and the skeleton that held together the large group that was the Northern Witches.

After tens of thousands of years, the thirteen branches of the Northern Witches had all experienced their own prosperities and declines. The chapter of the Witch of Fate was undoubtedly part of the groups that had gone extinct.

However, as long as the legacy laws of the Witch of Fate were still part of the will of the World of Adepts, their legacy would never wholly go extinct.

Numerous inheritors of the Witch of Fate and her considerable talents indicated the revival of the Fate branch after a thousand years of silence!

The leaders of the Northern Witches had sent out many guides to bring these inheritors back to the Tower of Fate because of this.

The Battle of Fate would happen eight years later, as was scheduled!

It didn't matter who lived. That person would successfully become the true Witch of Fate. A new branch would rise among the Northern Witches.

The people that were so stubbornly pursuing Alice at this time were most likely preparing for the Battle of Fate.

It could be that an overbearing force backed one of the candidates, and this force was trying to help her get rid of the competitors. Or perhaps some influence within the Continent of Adept didn't want to see the Northern Witches continue to grow in strength. That was why they might have sent attacks to interrupt the inheritance ceremony of the Witch of Fate.

It was the first time Alice had so clearly felt the danger she was in!

The trip to Wylick Castle was a risk that she had taken. More importantly, it was her going fishing!

Still.

If she was the bait, who was the fish?