Age of Adepts

Half a year later.

A small floating ship docked briefly over the Throne of Flame, then left without a word half an hour later.

Inside the ship's cabin, Grim was happily talking to a middle-aged, white-robed wizard.

The one who came to pick him up was also an acquaintance, Laurion, the head of the Scatterland Talyn Association's Correctional Department and a 3rd rank sorcerer.

"His Excellency Grim has never been to Keslin Castle since his promotion to wizard, right?" Compared to the last time, this time Laurien was all smiles, and his attitude was as kind and auspicious as a kind elder he hadn't seen for a long time.

But Grim knew full well that since the other party was the head of the disciplinary department, his hands must be stained with the blood of the sorcerer, how could he be so easy to talk to as his appearance showed.

Moreover, the last time the two of them met for the first time in Lehne City was not very pleasant, so the other party's attitude is likely to have factors to ease the relationship between them.

Returning the favor, Grim had a gentle smile on his face as well.

"Yes, after advancing to Sorcerer, I was either busy gathering knowledge or searching for resources, not to mention the three major powers, even the Scattered Tallinn, I haven't been to more than half of the regions, I'm really sorry."

"Then Your Excellency will have to take a good browsing tour when you come to Keslin Castle, it's a place that produces the best wands and magic servants. If His Excellency Grim doesn't mind, I can personally accompany you to take a look..."

If that moment just now was just a polite pleasantries, then at this moment the Laurien wizard saying those words again could be a bit of a stammer to please. Although he did not know why the other party was trailing off so much, Grim still had to express enough gratitude.

Seemingly sensing that Grim's attitude was moderating, that Laurien leaned close to him and smiled hehely: "Your Excellency Grim, you will meet some old friends this time to Keslin Castle, you should be prepared..."

With that said, there was no further conversation, and instead, they talked about some interesting things that happened all over the Scattered Tarin.

As he casually dealt with the self-made Laurien wizard, Grim silently tried to fathom the word 'old friend' in his heart.

At their level, wizards below level 3 were no longer able to take the word 'friend' seriously. This also meant that the other party was hinting that Grim might 'meet' a certain familiar 3rd rank wizard in Keslin Castle.

Who would that be?

After quickly filtering through all the 3rd rank witches he knew in his mind, the chip ended up projecting only one image.

A dense, impossible to see through purple mist.

It was her....

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

Kathryn Castle.

Located in the central part of the Scattered Tallinn, Kirthlin Castle is not part of any wizarding family or organizational power, but rather a nearly completely independent and neutral region.

This is because the headquarters of the Scattered Tallinn Association is located here.

Nearly a thousand miles of land around the center of the castle belonged to the private property of the association, which was jointly controlled by fourteen 4th rank witches in the entire Shattered Tallinn region, and had a completely independent witch team and training system.

When the floating airship was slowly landing at a mooring point near Keslin Castle, a large group of guys in colorful witch costumes were already waiting here.

Grim walked slowly down the wooden plank accompanied by the Laurian wizard.

"Head, you've finally returned... This is that famous and legendary Fire Witch Lord Grim, isn't it!" The one who greeted us first was a huge and strong man with a face full of horizontal flesh, a slightly balding head, and a loud voice, giving him a strange feeling of being full of extreme explosive power.

"Come, come... I'll introduce you. This is my second-in-command, Tito, a 3rd rank Body Refining Sorcerer... Tito, this is the Lord Grim you've been talking about for a long time!" Laurion was all smiles as he introduced each other, and for some reason, his bite was especially heavy when he mentioned the other's identity as a 3rd stage Alchemic Sorcerer, as if he was reminding him of something.

"Hehe, all these years, thanks to Lord Grim, all the Alchemy Sorcerers can hold their breath! Why, it's the first time we've met today, let's shake hands!" That barbarian Tietopi welcomed it with his mouth, and even took the initiative to extend his bony right hand, sneering with a face full of mischief.

In the wizard community, there had never been such a ritual as a touching salute.

Witchcraft was a thousand and one strange things, and the devil knows if the wizards one encountered had any curses or compulsions of the sort cast through physical *body* contact. So, most witches mostly touch their chests in greeting, and rarely touch someone else's body.

And when the other party did so, it clearly contained a contest inside!

The sorcerers who gathered around and clustered around the area were all smiling, as if they were waiting for the outcome of the contest between the two.

Grim was slightly startled, looking at the other party's rough-skinned, bone-like hands, the elemental vision could even see the terrifying sorcery power converging on the other party's right hand.

To have an elemental sorcerer of his own to compete with an alchemist sorcerer in power, it seemed that this was also an arranged downfall for the other party!

Grim smiled indifferently, as if unaware, he extended his right hand and clasped it with his opponent.

Grim's own base strength had reached 20 points, and with the 5 points of strength attached to the Soden Holy Ring and 2 points from the Flame Set, his individual strength was even higher at 27 points. Such a power level might not be enough for a hard fight with a 3rd stage Body Tempering Sorcerer, but there shouldn't be any problem with just a simple handshake.

What's more, as a 3rd stage Fire Witch, the flame force field lingering outside of Grim's body was not something an ordinary person could endure.

Thus, when Grim and that Tito's hands shook, both sides could not help but instantly look ugly.

It was like sticking your right hand into a blender, and the violent and unparalleled terrifying giant force easily crushed Grim's paltry 27 points of power. In the next half a minute, this huge force was like a lathe that kept churning, changing methods of grinding and destroying Grim's fragile finger bones and flesh.

No need to use the chip to scan, Grim could tell from the excruciating pain that most of his hand bones were covered with cracks, while the flesh and tendons that served as a buffer were crushed into an unrecognizable puddle of blood.

But what was rare was that the other party did not damage the surface skin of Grim's right hand even with such a huge crushing force. On the outside, it appeared to be intact, but on the inside, it was twisted and shattered beyond recognition.

However, Grim was not someone who would take a beating and not fight back!

The layer of invisible and transparent flame force field dense on the surface of the right hand had risen to a staggering level. While the opponent was crushing himself with power, Grim's flame force field had penetrated into the opponent's skin, roasting and charring the flesh and blood on the opponent's right hand in a way that no one else expected.

Of course, in order to maintain superficial decorum, Grim didn't damage the skin of the opponent's right hand in the slightest. But the flesh, confinement, and blood vessels beneath the skin quickly turned red and reddish, then purple and black under a furious and unparalleled extreme heat.

The right hands of both sides were clasped tightly, with a joyful smile on each other's faces.

However, the right hand of one side faintly emitted the crackling and popping of finger bones, while the other's right hand drifted out a faint aroma of roasting flesh as it rapidly turned black.

Both sides were struggling to maintain a superficial harmony and friendliness, and so both of their expressions were becoming somewhat grotesquely distorted.

"Alright, alright... don't be so enthusiastic upon meeting. I still have to take Lord Grim on a tour of the entire castle, so you can stop right there!" Laurien, who had been watching the battle with a smile on his face, finally stepped in to round out the situation.

After all, Grim was a guest invited by the association, so of course there was nothing wrong with giving him a harmless dismantling. But if he squeezed someone's right hand at the first sight, it would also seem like the association was too harsh and nasty.

The two sides accosted each other and let go of each other's right hand.

Grim, without missing a beat, put his right hand into his robes and turned to nod his head in greeting with a few of the surrounding 3rd rank witches.

"How about it, how is the power of this Fire Witch?" Laurion also didn't move to secretly send a message to Tito.

"His power of 27 points is already very high among elemental witches. I've crippled his right hand, and he won't be able to get it back to normal without three to five days of work..."

"Haha, good boy, well done no..."

"But my right hand is ruined too!"

"Uh..."

"That guy's flames are so overbearing that they've cooked the flesh and blood inside my right hand..."

"Well then, go down and heal your wounds, and I'll receive him myself."

Naturally, the scene that took place at the meet could not be circulated, but would only be passed on to an extremely small circle in the upper echelons of the association.

According to Tito's assessment, the legendary fire witch possessed 27 points of strength and 24 points of physique, such figures undoubtedly seemed a bit too high for an elemental witch.

After all, elemental sorcerers relied on mental energy to feed, and spending a lot of time on physique and strength was undoubtedly a huge waste of resources.

Usually a 3rd stage elemental sorcerer could have a strength and physique of 10 points or more, which would be enough to handle most battles and harsh environments. And only the top-tier sorcerers cultivated by the big powers could pile up the remaining few physical qualities to such a high level due to no shortage of resources and a reasonable cultivation and training system.

And like Grim, who was obviously an elemental sorcerer, but had a strong body and sorcery ability that was no weaker than that of a bloodline sorcerer, it was no wonder that he was able to resist the violent battle power of a 4th rank sorcerer, draining his stamina raw.

Of course, one of the biggest contributors was the 4th stage Magic Puppet Dragon.

However, if Grim didn't have the support of such a perverted physique, it would still be near impossible to do that!

After meeting each of these Association Wizards who had made the trip to greet him, Grim finally stepped into the long-famous fortress of Kathryn, accompanied by Lauryn.