Greem has successfully advanced to Fourth Grade.
Even though no one intentionally spread the news, this information still dispersed throughout Zhentarim like a plague.
For a moment, the Crimson Clan’s status rose uncontrollably, its position within Zhentarim slowly improving. The low and intermediate-grade adepts that came to join the clan, as well as worldly merchant groups and nobles, were endless. They nearly wore down the hinges of the Crimson Clan’s door.
The clan higher-ups also took the opportunity to start several adept wars, as hinted at by Greem. In doing so, they obtained several territories around Ailovis that were rich in resources. Not only did the Zhentarim Association completely ignore this aggressive expansion by the Crimson Clan, they even sent representatives led by Vice-Chairman Adept Mirva to congratulate the Crimson Clan.
The Crimson Wing.
Ever since the Crimson Clan rose to power, they had built this large adept’s tower in the very heart of Ailovis. Naturally, the grand celebration they hosted in honor of their clan master’s advancement to Fourth Grade could only be held here.
Adept clans and organizations all over Zhentarim sent out representatives of their own to Ailovis to congratulate the birth of the new Fourth Grade adept in Zhentarim. Meanwhile, the adept clans who were standing right in front of the Crimson Clan’s eager blade sent out the powerhouses of their clans to begin constructive, though difficult, ‘negotiations’ with the Crimson Clan’s leaders.
They either became subordinate forces to the Crimson Clan, traded resource sites and treasures for a temporary truce, or invited the Crimson Clan to cooperate in the development of a lesser plane. To avoid being yet another sacrificial victim to the prodigious rise of the Crimson Clan, these other clans had no choice but to grit their teeth and offer humiliating ‘terms of cooperation.’ It was only through this method that they could protect the foundations of their group and prevent it from being devoured by the Crimson Clan.
The Third Grade clan leaders that arrived even had to lower themselves in front of Second Grade Gargamel and Meryl. They didn’t dare to offend these two individuals, who held much of the authority of the Crimson Clan.
If their attitude was unsatisfactory, or the resources, treasures, and lesser planes they offered were too little for the Crimson Clan’s appetite, what awaited them would be an unending army of magical machines marching through their lands.
In all honesty, some adept clans were unfortunate even in this regard. It didn’t matter how humble or cooperative they were. If they possessed something that the Crimson Clan desired above all else, then they would undoubtedly be the first sacrifices in the next wave of expansion.
It was not something that could be decided by their attitudes or efforts. Their fate was determined based on the Crimson Clan’s own needs and their plans for short and long term development!
The appearance of a Fourth Grade adept would necessarily bring about a change and shift in political circumstances, regardless of which region of the World of Adepts this Fourth Grade adept had appeared.
Greem had been a famous legendary fire adept even before advancement, and he had been the most powerful Third Grade adept of Zhentarim, acknowledged by all. Now that someone like him had advanced to Fourth Grade, his glory and power would probably overshadow even the veteran Fourth Grades.
At the very least, Zhentarim would experience unprecedented political turbulence for the next hundred years. Adept clans and organizations that were protected by Fourth Grade adepts were not in much danger, but those without protection would experience a crisis of survival far harsher than ever before.
The big fish would eat the small fish, the little fish would eat the shrimp, while the shrimp would have to eat the dirt.
When a new Fourth Grade arose in the Central Region, they would most certainly obtain a space large enough for them in the crowded realm of Zhentarim. The clashing and compression between the territories of the larger clans would always first affect the weaker organizations that existed in the gaps between them.
When this happened, every single group would have to keep their eyes open, making or breaking alliances as they saw fit. They had to both protect their adept legacy that had existed for the past hundred years, while also trying to tear off pieces of flesh from the others to further develop themselves.
For the foreseeable future, Zhentarim would be engulfed in conflict. It would be trapped in a fearsome tide of war, disagreements, and mutual consumption.
It was only a battle for survival as harsh and heartless as this one that could eliminate the irrelevant and hopeless adept legacies. It would allow the strong adepts to become stronger and the large adept clans to further stretch and expand.
As the source of this turbulence, the Crimson celebration was undoubtedly the best place to make and unmake alliances. Many large and intermediate forces who smelled the blood in the water hurried to the Crimson Wing, along with many smaller organizations desperate to protect themselves. They were all here to look for the so-called ‘opportunity!’
An adept’s celebration was far less grandiose and luxurious as a worldly banquet, but they often had an incomparable sense of ‘humble extravagance.’
The banquet hall was a wide hall of over ten thousand square meters.
There was a large fountain of delicate design in the center of the hall. The best musicians of the sea folk were playing their hearts out, accompanied by the singing of a deep-sea mermaid.
Their instruments were made from strange sea objects, such as shells, corals, and seaweed; each had their own uniquely beautiful sound. The mermaid was an unparalleled beauty with a pretty face. She had the body of a human female and a golden fishtail.
She wore a diamond tiara on her head, with two strands of long, wet hair flowing down her smooth face to cover her chest. Her two-meter-long tail was wrapped around a rock protruding from the water as her beautiful voice spread through the hall.
That wonderful singing almost felt like it could reach one’s very soul and sway one’s heart at the very core.
Deep sea mermaids were a species with innate principle powers. Their singing voices naturally carried a slight seduction effect in them. Creatures who heard their singing would unknowingly be absorbed in the music, incapable of freeing themselves from its grip regardless of whether they understood the lyrics.
However, just as they were powerful because of the trace of principle power they possessed, their fall was also for the same reason.
The deep-sea mermaids became nobles and monarchs of the deep-sea world with this unusual talent of theirs. However, this ability of theirs made them the best singers that adepts enjoyed hunting and adding to their collections.
However, most adepts hunted them for their mermaid blood and tears. These ingredients allowed them to enchant their magical equipment with a powerful illusion spell. Only adept clans of great wealth could look past their value as magical ingredients and extravagantly train them as singers instead.
Greem even borrowed the five elementium fairies from Alice for the sake of this banquet. They served as waitresses during the event.
The appearance of elementium fairies was so unique that all adepts recognized them at first sight.
They beat their thin, nearly translucent wings and pinched their tiny, match-like wands as they flew about the banquet. They were continually waving their hands and casting brilliant and pretty stardust into the air.
Adepts who were caught by the stardust quickly found that they had been enchanted with multiple beneficial spells. For instance, Replenish Stamina, Energized, and Unending Stream either increased stamina or aided with the regeneration of strength and energy. All of them were incredibly practical magical spells.
It was important to note that most adepts easily spent weeks in their labs when they began significant projects. During this time, they could not move, nor did they have the time to eat and drink. They could only sustain themselves with magical potions. The exhaustion of stamina and Spirit in doing so was massive.
If they had such an elementium fairy in their own labs, the difficulty and amount of work they would have to deal with would be reduced drastically. They would have a much easier time.
Most of the adepts looked at these little fairies with envy and desire in their eyes.
Some adepts who were interested in these fairies even waved their hands and asked for some wine or dessert. The fairies only needed to wave their wands. A small shower of lights would fly out, and what the adepts wanted would automatically fly towards them.
Apart from the elementium fairies, there were also many handsome or pretty apprentices in the banquet hall, waiting on the adepts in formal attire. There were many forest elves, blood elves, grass elves, and succubi amongst these waiters.
Meanwhile, the Crimson adepts wore all sorts of different clothes, depending on their professions and preferences. However, they all wore a clan emblem with the symbol of a burning fist on their chest. Magical aura lingered on these emblems, a visible sign that they had been enchanted with some powerful magic.
For the sake of this grand celebration of the clan, the Gargamel Faction, the Meryl Faction, and even the Goblin Faction went all out. All of them were putting their all into serving the adepts at the banquet. A strange fellow that appeared quite similar to Split-Brain Gru was among them. It was a giant, squid-like brain inside a metal shell protected by a layer of glass.
He wasn’t Gru, but Sock, a new split-brain that Gazlowe had only just created recently.
Meanwhile, Gru was announced to the clan as having been executed internally due to his part in instigating Princess Vanessa’s rebellion, having been tempted by a foreign influence.
After removing this bad apple, the relationship of the Capital of Eternity with the clan became tighter and more intimate!
As the one thousand adepts waited in silence, the protagonist of the banquet finally entered the room, accompanied by the veteran Fourth Grade Vice-Chairman of the Zhentarim Association, Adept Mirva.
It had been some days since the public last saw this legendary fire adept. His appearance had changed ever so slightly.
His long black hair ran down his back, tied together with a golden ring. He had black eyes, white skin, and a young and handsome face, as well as a tall and muscular body.
Even without the intangible spotlight of being a Fourth Grade adept, Greem was still an extremely charismatic young adept whose very presence would draw eyes upon himself!
