Age of Adepts

It was a majestic city built against a mountain.

All the buildings inside the city were built with local blacksteel stones, which were pitch-black and harder than steel. Black city walls, black buildings, black castle. The entirety of Blackmountain City was as harsh and tough as the people were.

The natives living near Blackmountain City were all diligent and honest people who had adapted to become exceedingly brave and ferocious in this harsh environment. They typically tilled the fields, barely harvesting enough food to fill their stomachs. When the farming season was over, they would form groups and go to the mountain to hunt. The prey they killed became the main source of meat for the mountain people.

It was this unusual life of both farming and hunting that forged the sturdy bodies and incredible will of the mountain people. Every person that walked out of this mountain was an excellent warrior. As such, they were also the most welcome group of individuals in the imperial army.

Perhaps, when it was constructed, the architects of Blackmountain City had never meant for it to be a beautiful mountain city with scenic views. Perhaps they only wanted to make it the most hardened and impenetrable fortress in the world. Consequently, the buildings within the town had none of the softness or extravagance of other cities. They were all castles, forts, and watchtowers that could be used for military purposes.

Rena’s ‘room’ was located on the highest level of a stone tower at the back of the main castle.

The room was not only spacious but also had an excellent view of the outside world. Tall but narrow slits could be seen on all four walls. As there weren’t any windows, the howling mountain winds could rush into the hall freely, whisking away any unsecured objects before escaping from the slit on the other side.

Of course, they would always take the last trace of warmth in the room away with them as well!

When night fell, the hall would become unusually cold. Even the hardy mountain people would freeze to death in a single night if they didn’t have the proper gear.

Yet, at this moment, Rena was curled up on the icy floor in the center of the hall. She was dressed in rags, and her unkempt face was buried between her knees as her frail body shivered uncontrollably. Every time she tried to move, the cold alloy cuffs on her legs rattled.

The alloy cuffs connected to a thick silver chain the size of a baby’s arm. The chain wound about the room and went deep down into the building through a small hole in the center of the floor. If the chain were to be pulled taut, it would be just enough distance for Rena to reach the stone slits of the hall.

Rena also wore an iron mask on her face to prevent her from spitting out the rock in her mouth. There were a pair of fingerless iron gauntlets on her hands. The countless sharp and cold spikes inside the gauntlet were already embedded within her flesh. Any slightly large movements Rena made would cause the spikes to tear open her wounds and cause the blood to flow.

Rena only wore an incredibly ragged black cloak despite how cold and open of a space she was in. Without the ability to gather magical power to warm her body, the only thing keeping her alive was the extraordinary Physique of an adept.

Rena might not be a body-refining adept, but even she had 11 points of Physique after advancing to Second Grade.

Her body might not look like much, but it contained a vigorous life force and regenerative power comparable to wild beasts in the woods. An ordinary, weak woman would have died countless times if subjected to the same torture Rena had endured. Apart from her pitiful appearance, the fire of life still burned hot inside Rena’s frail body.

There was never a moment in her life that Rena had ever wanted power and influence more!

A flame blazed in her chest, constantly burning her soul.

Rena’s previous life had been incredibly indulgent and hedonistic, and she had risen to her position by way of her mother. She had enjoyed all the luxuries of the world, from sweet wines to handsome men. Yet, at this point, all that she had done in the past had only become sins upon her shoulders.

To survive, to keep living, she had committed so many acts of betrayal against her sisters.

Despite all she had done, five years had passed by without any reinforcements coming to rescue her; she felt nothing but despair now.

Rena knew that her talent as an adept was not very good at all. Her mother had exhausted a large number of resources and still only barely managed to push her to Second Grade. That said, she was indeed very fortunate. She had unexpectedly gotten pregnant after a wild orgy and gave birth to Snowlotus, who had an excellent talent for ice magic.

Believing that she had completed her calling in life, Rena became even more indulgent, participating in all sorts of hedonistic banquets daily, and spending her days in the arms of multiple handsome and pretty men. Even the magical abilities that she relied on as an adept had regressed to a pitiful state.

Otherwise, given the might of a Second Grade witch, she would never have been so easily captured alive by the planar natives!

As she was wallowing in self-pity, she lifted her head and looked into the dark skies of Blackmountain City through the tall, narrow slits with her purple eyes.

Her body might be severely restrained, but her extraordinary ability to sense elementium was still present.

Just now, she suddenly sensed a weak gathering of wind elementium in the skies above the city. Moreover, the cluster of wind elementium was slowly roaming through the air.

A natural formation, or...?

Rena leaped up from the ground without hesitation, ignoring the blood spilling out from the wounds caused by the spikes on her restraints. She lunged at the stone slits and stared at the distant and empty horizon.

Her sudden actions caused the silver chains to rattle and attracted the attention of the holy knight keeping watch on her.

The metal boots clanged against the stone steps. An Iron Knight walked into the hall from the spiral staircase in the corner of the room, followed by three guards.

The first thing he saw was Rena grabbing the stone slit tightly, the silver chains pulled tight, and her black blood streaming down her arms and legs. Bloody footprints had been left on the ground from her moving towards the open window.

“What are you doing? You are not allowed near the window.” The young holy knight shouted. His gaze towards Rena was filled with unconcealable disgust and hatred. The three guards beside him took out whips wrapped with iron threads from their waists and started lashing at Rena’s frail back.

Aaaaaah!

The whips whistled through the air, slashing apart Rena’s black robe and leaving long lash marks on her grime-covered back.

Rena continued to hold onto the windowsill tightly, raising her neck to let out screams of agony.

As her scream contained a trace of her Spirit, it continued to reverberate around the tower for some time before scattering in the air.

The strange cluster of wind elementium floating in the sky seemed to have sensed her scream and started to drift towards the tower.

The wind cluster wasn’t a natural formation. It was being controlled by someone.

Seeing that Rena was not moving yet, the three guards started to pull on her chain and forcefully dragged her away from the window. As the chains tightened, the spikes in Rena’s cuffs dug into her flesh, slicing into her bones.

However, Rena was in a state of extreme excitement right now. She couldn’t feel the pain in her body at all. Instead, she lay on the ground like an insane person, all of her muscles twitching violently.

The three guards marched forward and starting raining down lashes upon her body, beating her flesh into a pulp and causing blood to splatter everywhere.

“Stay here quietly and repent your sins. Your meal for today has been cancelled. Act up again, and you won’t have anything to eat for tomorrow, either!”

The young holy knights chosen by the Holy Light Chapel to watch over Rena were all ones who held extreme hatred towards the witch. They had either been persecuted by the witches in the past or had lost a family member to their actions. Only such knights could ignore Witch Rena’s seduction abilities and loyally accomplish their tasks.

The wounds inflicted on Rena meant nothing to her. These injuries would heal in a single night. It was what the holy knights were most concerned about, but also what they were most envious of!

After punishing Rena viciously, the young holy knight led the three guards back into the tower.

It couldn’t be helped. The hall at the top of the tower was simply too cold. Even the Iron Knights could not endure the severity of the mountain winds. As such, the holy knights and guards on watch were typically stationed inside the watchtower. They would only come up and punish Rena when she created trouble.

As for escaping– after having most of her magical power neutralized, Rena was no more than a witch with a slightly stronger Physique. She had no means of removing the spiked cuffs and mask made of special alloy metal. There was no chance for her to escape.

When the hall returned to silence, and only the harsh winds could be heard, the strange cluster of wind elementium arrived outside the room. It almost appeared as if it wanted to enter through the window.

“Don’t come in!” Rena barely propped herself up from the ground and communicated through mental messages, “A holy light array has been hidden beneath the floorboards of the hall. Any cluster of elementium power will sound the alarms.”

The shapeless cluster of ‘wind’ seemed to have understood Rena’s warnings. It stopped in the air outside the window.

“Who are you? Tess, or Italil?” Rena asked with a dejected expression.

She had also heard somewhat about what had happened to her witch sisters.

After all, the holy knights would unavoidably reveal some degree of information about the witch remnants when trying to interrogate her for their secrets. Naturally, she knew that the holy knights had brought her here to Blackmountain City to capture the last two powerful Third Grade witches.

“Hehehe. Lady Rena, it has been a while!”

What Rena never expected was for the mental message from the wind spirit to be a male’s voice. That familiar voice and tone caused Rena to be overjoyed.