Age of Adepts

Two pretty witches that had just been exchanging friendly words had struck each other with everything they had at the moment of contact.

If the Polymorph had managed to affect Snowlotus, she would have died in the Tyrant’s follow-up attack. However, her Substitution Doll had absorbed the transfiguration effect. Snowlotus, the Dancer of Ice and Frost, was able to act and defend against the Flame Pillar.

Crack, crack, crack.

Snowlotus barely avoided being consumed by the flames after many of her ice shields shattered. When she finally escaped from the Flame Pillar, still shrouded in smoke, she crashed right into Alice, who had just broken free of the ice.

One had been charred black, with burn marks all over her body. The other had light blue frost all over her shirt and her eyebrows as she coughed out black blood from her tiny mouth.

Both of the wicked witches had been severely wounded in their instant of inattention.

Sworn enemies were fated to a brutal battle when they fought!

Seeing that their greatest opponent had yet to die, both of the witches immediately started their next round of attacks without any regard for their wounds.

Aaaaaah!

A desolate witch’s cry rang out, and the five-meter wide and three-meter tall corridor instantly filled with many chilling currents that could freeze one to their bones. Several ice blades and snow swords were hidden in the dire winds, lashing out and cutting everything in this tiny space.

Alice’s face dropped. She immediately attempted to retreat into the distance without hesitation.

However, her feet wouldn’t move despite struggling several times.

Alice looked down, and her expression became even more solemn.

She didn’t know when, but her red deer hide boots were once again covered in ice and frost.

Just then, a blazing stream of crimson fire blasted from above her head, forcefully deflecting the whistling blades of ice.

Ice and snow clashed right above Alice’s head. The waves of heat and cold surged all over her body, causing her tremendous agony. One moment she felt like she had been thrown into a furnace, and the next her body shivered from the cold.

However, the Infernal Tyrant’s ability was more than enough to dominate a newly advanced adept like Snowlotus. Soon, the contact point of the flames and the ice started to push back towards Snowlotus.

The Dancer of Ice and Frost went pale as she continued to channel her powers. She glared at Alice. Her prey was right in front of her, yet she could do nothing about it. Snowlotus turned to leave, giving up on this pointless battle!

The Infernal Tyrant’s stream of fire immediately gained the advantage. It vaporized the ice crystals in the air and crashed against the Ice Wall that Snowlotus had set up in her retreat. When the fire finally melted the ice and spread to the wooden door behind it, Snowlotus was nowhere to be found.

"Dammit, I can’t let her escape! After her!" Alice had the Tyrant melt the ice on her feet and hastily gave an order to the Tyrant.

With the Tyrant in front and Alice behind the golem, the two of them chased after Snowlotus by tracing the cold aura in the air.

However, just as the three were engaged in the pursuit and ravaging the arcane halls of the ground floor, something happened. The Tower trembled as if some subtle change had occurred.

At this moment, it wasn’t just Alice and Snowlotus that stopped their fighting. All the candidates at the bottom of the Tower had finished as well. They examined and looked for any changes around them with caution written all over their faces.

The ones that managed to survive until now were either strong people or lucky ones. All of them were extremely perceptive to any changes in fate that could affect their futures. Right now, a dense aura of destiny filled the entire Tower. Their prided intuition and fate senses were frantically warning them.

It was as if... there was some terrifying, unknown danger slowly marching towards them!

"What happened? Why can’t I sense my future anymore?"

"Yeah, my divination spells seem to no longer work."

"Something’s wrong. It’s like someone is manipulating us from behind."

"What should we do?"

The fierce enemies that had just been tearing into each other a moment earlier all hesitated. Without fate’s guidance, none of them knew what to do next or where to go.

A blinding white light appeared beneath the candidates’ feet during their flash of panic. A semi-translucent runic array appeared and engulfed everyone within its radius.

The weaker candidates didn’t even have a chance to struggle. They all disappeared into the white light. Only five or six of the witches managed to break free of the array and were not teleported away.

"Short-distance teleportation arrays?" Alice mumbled to herself after breaking free of the runic array with the Tyrant’s help.

The energy aura surging through the array was very familiar to Alice. It was the unique frequency of spatial teleportation.

Someone had initiated spatial teleportation within the Tower. That meant that someone had obtained part of the authority over the Tower’s controls. This news was not a good thing from any perspective!

Perhaps it was indeed time to have a truce with the other two and do away with this mysterious competitor first.

Alice started to contemplate this possibility as she led the Tyrant toward the next floor of the Tower.

She sensed it very clearly. All the candidates that had been teleported away had gathered somewhere upstairs. The mysterious candidate was scheming something in doing this; she did not mean well. Most likely, the girl wanted to interrupt Alice, Sofia, and Snowlotus’ hunt.

It could not be allowed! It didn’t matter what the mysterious girl’s intentions or plans were. They could not be allowed to come to fruition. Otherwise...

The other witches that hadn’t been transported believed the same as Alice. They paused for a second before following different paths and making their way toward the second level.

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

Everyone that had been teleported felt their vision go black.

However, they quickly regained sight before they could panic.

The silence in the air broke. A tide of clamoring noise came from all around the group.

That was the sound of cheering, loud as crashing waves. The noise ferociously dug into their ears. When everyone finally got used to the blinding light and the deafening cheers, they lifted their heads and saw where they were.

It was a large plaza!

No, more accurately, this was a filled arena. And the candidates were like pigs and lambs to be slaughtered for the entertainment of the audience.

The light from above was far too intense. The glare made it impossible for them to see the faces of the audience. Still, all the candidates already knew that those weren’t actual people, but images projected through the use of magic!

Although no one knew what was going to happen next, the intense feeling of danger in their hearts sent a clear signal to them: death was inevitable if they stayed here!

"I am not going to wait around in this place!" A witch took out a flying broom from her storage tool and took to the skies as she shouted.

Not all adepts knew flying or teleportation spells. If there was no such spell in their innate elementium talent, flying brooms and magic carpets were the next best alternative.

The other witches also had similar tricks up their sleeves. However, most of them were extremely cautious. Now that someone was testing the waters, the witches suppressed their desire to escape and watched the reckless witch that flew further and further into the sky.

There was no chance the enemy would let them escape so easily after transporting them here.

Everyone was smart enough to know this. However, only a few were able to bear the intense pressure and act according to logic in this moment of danger! Most witches would act like this witch, controlled by their fear and moving without hesitation.

As expected, a blinding electrical blast came from the skies under everyone’s watchful gaze. The witch fell like a stone, smashing a tiny crater into the ground.

Her body had been thoroughly charred black. Even her robe had shredded into ribbons under the force of the electric currents.

"Let’s drag her back and treat her! We might need her help later." A witch with a sinister appearance gave out an order like that.

Most of the people gathered here were apprentices. Two of them immediately went out and grabbed the witch. They then had her drink potions and healed her with plant-attribute healing spells. In the end, they managed to save the witch.

As the apprentices were busy doing this, the eleven other witches had gathered together and silently looked at the stands. They were not sure, but they all had a feeling. The wicked person behind all this was hiding within these projections, quietly enjoying everyone’s struggle and agony.

"I have tried. We can’t teleport out of here." A witch said resentfully.

"We can’t leave through the ground either!" Another witch added.

"It seems the only way out is through force," The witch with the sinister appearance grit her teeth and spoke, "But before we act, all of us here must swear with the cruelest of curses! We are not to fight among ourselves until we get out of this goddamned place!"

"Naturally!"

"I agree!"

"Agreed!"

The gates of the arena in the distance suddenly opened as they discussed the issue at hand.

Metallic clanging rang out throughout the field, and row after row of metal animated statues marched out of the gates with uniform steps. They pressed on like a wall composed of metal.

Ten steel statues stood in a row. There were ten rows in total. That meant that their enemies were a total of a hundred steel statues.

All of the witches and apprentices paled with fear!