Age of Adepts

After paying the entry fee, Grim easily blended into the city of Zora.

After spending half a day walking around the city, Grim's heart immediately became extremely disappointed.

There was indeed a Holy Light Chapel in the city, but it was a thousand times smaller than the one in Harkans. And inside, Grim only perceived a 2nd rank energy scent, the rest were all 1st rank or minor characters of no interest.

Grim hesitated, but finally gave up his intention to besiege this chapel of holy light and instead went to a tavern on the edge of the East End.

Wine and Roses.

That was the name of the tavern, which sounded silky and elegant, but when Grim pushed open the two old and dirty doors and stepped inside, he was immediately struck by the pungent and cheap aroma of grease and powder, the smoky stench of sweat, and the characteristic fragrant aroma of oatmeal.

It's not even dark yet, and it's already overcrowded in here.

Grim was still dressed as a swordsman mercenary, and his 2-meter tall head made him look strong and powerful, standing in front of the dimly lit tavern, with an implied sense of unruffled power.

A couple of strong men who were hooking up and wobbling to get out of the house had a run-in with him, and as soon as their drunken, barely open eyes met the two cold glares cast from the tall shadow, they immediately struck a nerve and sobered up halfway.

These strong men could all be members of the Willy Brotherhood in the lower city of Zola, they were usually all fierce and savage, and were famous thugs in the neighborhood. But today, for some reason, as soon as they encountered this tall figure whose face they couldn't even see, their hearts began to throb wildly. In the end, they even honestly retreated to the side, giving way to the path leading to the counter.

Everywhere Grim passed, whether it was the drunken men who were in a hearty mood, or the maids who were dressed up in flashy outfits with plates of food in their hands, or the black-clothed men hiding in the shadows of corners whispering in whispers, all of them turned pale and hid aside in panic.

And many of the guys who boasted of their bravery also dodged instinctively, which was when they suddenly realized their cowardice. But when their hearts were on fire, and they wanted to come up to look for trouble in the name of alcohol, as soon as their eyes fell on that tall and majestic back, the little 'agitation' that they had just drummed up vanished in a moment.

The barrel-looking tavern owner wiped the beads of sweat that rolled down his face with the greasy towel in his hand, forcing a 'smile' on his fat face.

"This...my lord, I wonder what you'd like?"

Looking at Grim's outfit, he looks like a wandering, down-and-out mercenary by all accounts. However, when you actually stand in front of him and meet his eyes, an indescribable spiritual pressure comes over you, almost suffocating you.

The difference in life levels between the two sides was too great, and even though Grim had done his best to contain all of his overflow energy and mental pressure, these ordinary people were still unable to calm down in front of him.

"I need some information..."

Grim wasn't going to hide what he was doing, and threw out a small cloth bag as he spoke.

The cloth bag landed on the pitch-black counter, and the sound of crisp, appealing gold coins clinking inside it made the tavern owner's face instantly become hyperactive and enthusiastic.

Wiping across the counter with a fat right hand with a super-fast agility that didn't match his chubby size, the heavy cloth sack disappeared in an instant. The other party's movement was so fast that Grim was secretly wondering if he also had a part-time special occupation like 'divine thief'.

The tavern owner's face leaped with fat and immediately piled on a flattering smile.

"My lord, do you see that skinny guy over there in the corner, his name is Locke, he's the little intelligence leader of this Zora City. If you have any questions, feel free to ask him...secretly, he's a senior member of the Dagger Society!" Listening to the tavern owner's fury of introduction, Grim gave a slight tilt of his head and saw the so-called Locke in the dark corner.

It was a skinny man dressed in all black, with an ordinary appearance and no distinctive features, except for a pair of dripping eyes that showed his flexible and cunning mind.

As soon as Grim entered the tavern, the guy named Locke had noticed him, whispering to a few of his companions while sneaking peeks at him out of the corner of his eye. When Grim cast his gaze over at the tavern owner's prompting, this Locke's face twitched.

Before Locke could think of any way to sneak out of here, Grim's tall body was already pinned in front of the wooden table. The huge shadows he cast even made the table's faces change dramatically, and sweat traces appeared on their foreheads.

"You're Locke? I need to find you for some information!" Grim said single-handedly and coldly.

Hearing that it was for Locke, the rest of the guys who were similarly dressed to Locke immediately fled the wooden table, giving the secluded space to the two of them.

"So you're here to buy information... That's good, that's good..." the Rock finally put his mind at ease, and a flattering smile appeared on his sharp, thin face. "I wonder how this lord is called? What kind of information do you plan to buy?"

"I'd like to know what happened there in Harkans."

Hearing Grim's question, the smile on Locke's face instantly disappeared, changing into a masked astonishment and horror. Whirling his suspicious gaze around Grim, he whispered, "This lord, this content you want to know can be top secret information, and the Imperial Intelligence officials have warned us that we are not allowed to pry into it..."

"What do you mean...you don't know anything at all?" Grim's tone was cold.

"Hehehe... this lord, you should not underestimate our Dagger Society either. We still have all this information you want in our hands, it's just that we're limited by the imperial side and can't sell it to the outside world!"

Before he finished speaking, a white crystal the size of a fist rolled down the table to his eyes.

Even though this place was located in the darkest corner of the tavern, and the light cast by the few kerosene lamps hanging on the walls was mostly blocked by the corridor columns, it was still unable to cover up the white crystal's unique magical luster. The dim light cast on this crystal clear white crystal instantly triggered the resonance of magical power, making it dazzlingly luminous in no time, illuminating half of the tavern as bright as day.

The white crystal was originally the magic gemstone that was best at absorbing, condensing, and amplifying light, and was also the best treasure for Paladins to create high-grade holy weapons, thus it was definitely valuable in the Enwik Dimension.

Only then did the dazzling white light slowly dissipate, leaving the place in darkness again.

The tavern was silent for a moment, and all the guys whose eyes were dazzled by the white light rubbed their eyes as they peeked into that corner.

"Enough is enough... my lord, this is definitely worth enough! But..." explained Locke through gritted teeth, "The Empire has also taken care of us, asking us to keep an eye out for what kind of characters would be interested in this information. So, if I don't know who you are, I..."

Locke's words came to an abrupt halt.

With his back to the tavern crowd, the tall figure raised his right hand in front of his chest, and a tiny cloud of milky white light slowly emerged. The white light was so pure, so divine, that Locke couldn't help but say a few prayers to the holy light in secret, confessing the crimes he had committed.

"So you really are a lord! That's easy, I'll never hide anything you want to know..."

In the Enwik Plane, Paladins possessed a tremendous influence that surpassed all worldly powers. The many Paladins who were noble in character and willing to walk all over the world to eradicate fierce beasts, punish sycophants, and save the dead and wounded, made this group the most accepted holy profession among all social classes.

Even a grey character like Locke, who walked in darkness and shadows, met a Paladin with reverence and respect.

"My lord, I can't take what you have. How about this, if you want to know anything, just ask, I will do my best to help you..."

Grim shook his head, and instead of retrieving the white crystal that was covered in black cloth, he whispered a quick question and answer to it.

Half a quarter of an hour later, Grim nodded in satisfaction, gave a slight jaw at the other party, turned around and left the tavern.

From Locke, Grim had gotten the answers he wanted, so he didn't stop in Zola, bought two tall, sturdy horses, procured some food and water, and also left the south gate to blend in with the crowd and head south.

The Small Dagger Society was worthy of being a famous intelligence organization in the Zambis Empire, and although it couldn't be said that it knew everything that had happened in Harkans City, it had a general understanding of it.

One had to know that the Zola City where Locke was was nearly 800 kilometers away from Harkans City. And now it was only four days since the first battle in Harkans City, and they were able to probe the information there to this extent.

For an underground organization wandering in the dark, this was already invaluable!

So in this way, Grim was able to verify the credibility of the information from Locke's mouth. And what he really wanted to know wasn't actually the city of Harkans, but the whereabouts of the remaining two fraudulent witches.

They had broken into the Enwek bit together two months ago, and had to be dispersed due to the 'unexpected factor'. And from Locke, Grim had found out that it seemed that there had been some major chaos in the western part of the Empire a month ago as well, with reports of witch sightings.

The Chapel of the Holy Light there had also sent a large number of Paladins to participate in the siege, and seemed to have surrounded the other party in a place called the Dark Forest.

Whether or not the other party was that Lena, Grim felt the need to make a trip there!