Age of Adepts
chapter-812

The injury to the dragons during the battle at Stonetalon Mountains was indescribable!

The despicable nature and cruel means of the adepts had struck fear into their hearts.

After a headcount, the dragons confirmed that as many as thirty-four dragon lords had died at Stonetalon Mountains. That was nearly one-third of their total number. Moreover, the only spoil they obtained was a horrifying graveyard made of molten metal and dragon corpses.

As the tattered dragon corpses were already covered in the cooled molten metal, breaking apart this metal coffin to find every single body would be an impossible and heartbreaking task.

The two Fourth Grade Great Dragon Lords had to excavate the crater beneath the metal fortress and bury the fortress ruins alongside the metal graveyard. They then assigned an army of Dragon Cultists to guard the site.

The furious dragons tore the fortress apart, but they still found no signs of the adepts. That meant that the damned adepts had also successfully escaped after tearing a hefty piece of flesh out of the dragons.

As for whether they escaped back to the World of Adepts or remained in Lance? No one knew the answer to that!

However, the very thought of such a ferocious villain hiding near them sent chills into the hearts of all dragon lords. Every one of them swore to themselves to properly clear out the areas surrounding their territory.

The dragonflight remained at Stonetalon Mountains for two long months. They scoured every piece of the mountain and every inch of the ground. Still, they did not find a single trace of the adepts. They all had their own territories and subjects, and, naturally, they were concerned about thieves going after their hoard if they were absent for extended periods.

Thus, from the third month onwards, an increasing number of dragons started to leave the mountains and return to their territories.

Fourth Grade Great Dragon Lords might command immense authority and respect, but they could not forcefully have their subordinates do their bidding indefinitely. Thus, after several fruitless searches, the two Fourth Grade dragons could only roar and take to the skies, leaving with their respective subordinates.

As Great Dragon Lords, their territories were several tens of thousands of kilometers away from here. If it weren't to exact vengeance for Fourth Grade Krille, the dragons would never have traveled so far, especially with how lazy they were.

Now that they had left, it meant that there was no longer a Fourth Grade dragon keeping the enemy in line within this massive area of over five thousand square kilometers. All the First, Second, and Third Grade dragons here would have to pray for their own fates if those adepts were to return!

Meanwhile, the adepts couldn't care less about the dragon lords shivering in their lairs. Just the internal matters of the clan were enough to keep Greem busy with work.

The new stretch of mountains that Gazlowe had chosen as their base was also an area with abundant metal reserves.

The belly of the mountain that had just been excavated was only a hundredth the size of the original metal fortress. Meanwhile, Gazlowe had gathered all of the metal ingots from before and was working day and night to infuse them with the magical energy from the magic generator furnace.

Right now, Gazlowe controlled the massive magic generator furnace, while Gru controlled a new, miniature magic generator furnace. This was Greem's compensation to Gazlowe for all the effort he had put in over this time!

With two magic generator furnaces constantly working to transfer magical energy, a small metal fortress was starting to shape up. However, to avoid the sounds of excavation being heard from the outside, Gazlowe had to reduce the size, scale, and the number of mining machines at work.

Furthermore, to avoid the black smoke from smelting metal attracting the attention of the native tribes, the sly Gazlowe even sent out a magical machine army to trigger a catastrophic volcanic eruption in the depths of the mountains. He took advantage of the changes to the environment to exterminate all intelligent lifeforms near the camp in a targeted manner.

Judging from the current situation, Gazlowe needed at least seven months to restore this base to the scale of the original fortress.

It couldn't be helped; Lance was on full alert right now. A swarm of Dragon Cultists would investigate any odd occurrences in an area. If these Dragon Cultists were defeated or killed, then dragonborn scouts and dragon lords would personally make the trip to investigate the matter.

Consequently, Greem brought his dragon 'subordinates' back to the World of Adepts while the new fortress was under construction.

Greem had originally intended to place these dragons, who were unwillingly taking shelter with him, in the Goblin Plane. However, that was a low-magic plane. The magical aura was heartbreakingly thin, and the dragons immediately refused.

Greem had no choice but to bring them back to the World of Adepts, placing them in both Fire Throne and White Tower.

The Crimson Clan wasn't wealthy enough to construct towering dragoncliffs for these dragons. As such, the dragons had to be placed near the two towers. As long as they didn't fly fifty kilometers away from a tower, and had the magical emblem of the Crimson Clan on them, they would not need to worry about being abducted by adepts of the other clans.

The emerald dragon beauty Iritina seemed to have developed a bit of dislike for Thunder Dragon Arms, and the two Third Grade dragons decided to stay in separate places. Iritina led the seven green dragons to stay in a forest thirty-five kilometers northeast of White Tower and started a relatively carefree life. Meanwhile, Thunder Dragon Arms temporarily stayed at Fire Throne and lived the life of a hermit of some sort.

The arrival of these dragons undoubtedly spread the name of the Crimson Clan. Many clans and adepts who were in a rush to obtain dragon resources hurried to the Crimson Clan to find out about the price of the dragons.

After all, dragons might not be the most powerful amongst all wild magical creatures, but they were definitely the most famous and awe-inspiring of them all!

Even Greem couldn't help but consider promoting dragons as the leading brand and product of the Crimson Clan when faced with this overwhelming response.

While Greem was silently giving his all to the management of the clan, the battle between the Crimson Clan and Kamala Clan raged on.

As the Crimson Clan lacked any other clan properties and territories apart from their two adept's towers, the Kamala Clan had no targets to attack. It forced them to remain on the defensive resentfully.

Moreover, the Crimson Clan had sent the powerful Second Grade Bug Adept Billis, who was an army on his own. A few blood elves also assisted him. Their pervasive, mercurial attacks allowed them to raid all of the Kamala Clan's territories, villas, cities, and resources sites over and over again. Many adepts guarding these resource sites had also been killed.

Yet, every time the Kamala Clan attempted to counterattack, they failed to catch the trail of the bug adept and vampires. Even when they sent out the Second and Third Grade powerhouses of their clan, they could only slaughter the apprentice adepts of the Crimson Clan.

And even in this endeavor, the bug adept could beat them ten to one.

The Kamala's means of murder were too conventional and straightforward compared to Billis, who had a swarm of countless insects.

…………

Misty Valley.

Fifteen kilometers away from Stonefield City was a narrow valley that remained cloaked in a dense mist all year long.

It was said that there was a strange magical creature within the valley who could breathe out the mist. This creature had taken the place as its lair. As long as no living being entered the area and disturbed its slumber, it would never wake up. However, once it awakened, it would not be satisfied until it ate at least ten humans or more.

Such rumors spread throughout the nearby villages and cities, causing countless merchants and civilians to fear for their lives at the very mention of the Misty Valley.

Of course, this was only the information that ordinary civilians could know of.

Only some nobles in Stonefield knew the truth.

There were no magical creatures in Misty Valley. It was only a First Class resource site that the Kamala Clan had secretly placed there! As for all these ridiculous rumors, they were only stories that the nobles had spread to prevent the civilians from interrupting the peace of the resource site out of curiosity.

Of course, any resource site would be defended by powerful magical arrays, and apprentices and adepts alike.

Span was one such apprentice adept in Misty Valley!

Span was fifteen this year and an intermediate apprentice. His talent and background were mediocre. HIs father was an ordinary tailor in Stonefield, while his mother was just a cooking maid helping in a noble's kitchen.

His lowly parentage didn't provide him with handsome looks or exceptional ability. However, when he was discovered to have elementium talent by a Kamala adept at the age of seven and brought into Misty Valley, his life changed completely.

He might only be an ordinary intermediate apprentice in Misty Valley, but in the eyes of the Stonefield nobles, he was a worthwhile investment that had emerged from among the locals.

From the moment he entered Misty Valley, his father became a small official subordinate to the city lord and was gifted a small mansion with two levels and a garden of its own. His mother also left behind the tough life of working and cleaning. She too became a noblewoman who could order a maid around.

Span obviously noticed the changes to his family, which caused the youth to mature rapidly.

In the second year since entering Misty Valley, he became a beginner apprentice and in the fourth, an intermediate apprentice. Now, troubled by his innate talent, Span couldn't wait to become an advanced apprentice.

As one of the apprentice adepts stationed at Misty Valley, Span's daily mission was to patrol the few 'flowerbeds' at the edge of the valley. The soul-eating flowers and killer trees here were all low-grade magical plants that weren't much of a threat to apprentices like himself. However, they were extremely dangerous for any ordinary person who wandered into the place.

According to the agreement between the clan and the Stonefield nobles, the city would send over a group of death row criminals every month to serve as food for the magical plants.

Yet, today, despite waiting from sunrise to sunset, Span did not see that familiar black prison carriage.