Age of Adepts

Lucia, holding a stack of thick books, hurried through the Hall of Mysteries, squeezed through the corridors, and rushed headlong into the Occult Academy.

A short distance ahead of her was the Hall of Knowledge where she attended her daily lectures, and today's lecture was given by Her Excellency Brown, the 2nd Ring Arcane Master whom she respected and admired the most. Thus, she was even more reluctant to give up.

However, as soon as she arrived here, she was suddenly stopped by a male apprentice who rushed out.

It was a handsome and upright-looking noble youth who looked to be only 15 or 16 years old, yet he was wearing a well-cut Austrian robe with exquisite patterns depicted on it with runic gold threads.

According to the rules of the Austrian Empire, no one who had not applied for an Austrian level appraisal at the Austrian Appraisal Institute was allowed to wear the robes of an official Austrian. But the young nobleman in front of him with an arcane atmosphere was clearly just an apprentice status, but he was blatantly overstepping the rules by wearing the arcane robes and uniforms.

It would be a major crime to be caught by the law enforcement team and have his apprentice status revoked!

And behind this noble youth, followed by a dozen or so cheeky guys, by the looks of it, they all seemed to be students inside the Olympic Academy.

"Soren, you've overstepped the rules again!" Lucia was first shocked when she was stopped by the other party, then couldn't help but frown, "If you're caught by the academy's law enforcement team, beware that you won't be able to keep your apprentice status anymore. Don't you think that having a grandfather who is a 3-ringed arcane master can do anything in the academy..."

The young apprentice named Soren looked arrogant and waved his hand to keep the 'followers' behind him farther away before he boldly set his eyes on Lucia's youthful and beautiful face.

"Lucia, I'm going to ask you one last time today... will you be my lover!"

Lucia's beautiful face showed a hint of anger, looking at the dynamic light blue eyes stared at the other side, one word: "Soren, you have harassed me many times, this time my answer is still only that, you will never dream of this life! My life belongs to the arcane, my soul belongs to the arcane, and I am not interested in anything else but the arcane!"

The young girl's tone was unprecedentedly firm, and the words also revealed a maturity and persistence that was highly inappropriate for her age.

"You...you...you don't know yet, I'm afraid!" Soren was obviously enraged by Lucia's 'determination' and took a glance around and found that no one could overhear their conversation before stepping forward and whispering hatefully in his ear, "The Empire is already planning to give up this war and is organizing a retreat... ..."

The little girl's body trembled slightly.

"The Empire is limited in the number of retreats it can give, even my grandfather can only take two. I'm definitely going to take one, and you... if you're willing to become my lover, I can beg my grandfather to take you as well..."

Lucia's face instantly turned pale.

Although she was extremely reluctant to admit everything that the other party had said, but with the identity of Soren's grandfather's 3-ringed arcane master, this news was most likely true. And if this news was true, wouldn't it mean that the Empire had abandoned all of its people and lower ranking members and was plotting to 'escape'!

Lucia's hand that grasped the thick arcane treasures had become protruding finger bones due to excessive force, and the color of blood was all gone. However, with just a slight bow of her head, she once again looked up and stared into Soren's eyes with a resolute, "Don't worry, Soren, even if the world is about to be destroyed tomorrow, I won't agree to your request. From the day I stepped into the Academy, I have made up my mind to dedicate everything I have to the great study of the arcane. You don't need to be delusional anymore!"

Soren seemed to be enraged as well, and likewise whispered in an unusually resolute and cruel voice, "Don't worry, I won't keep pestering you. There's still a month's worth of work from today until the final evacuation, and I'm sure you'll 'seriously' think about this. You know where my residence is. As long as you can come and spend one night with me before the evacuation order is issued, I can take you away. Otherwise, you'll stay here and wait to die with the Floating Sky City!"

With that, the other left laughing all the way to the ground, leaving the pale Lucia in her place.

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

The small town of Maplewood.

This was an unassuming human town.

The town is located near a canyon, surrounded by a dense forest of yellow-green trees.

Due to its proximity to the mountains, the fog here is dense and wet, making it difficult to see the red sun on the gray sky even at midday.

Grim nodded in satisfaction as he stood near the entrance of the town and looked around, not finding any signs of arcane energy running.

"Let's just rest here for the night today! The nearest human city to this town is also 110 miles away, and there aren't any arcane buildings nearby, so it's perfect for us to settle down."

The other three had no choice but to shrug their shoulders and also strode into the town in faith.

The town had a population of about a hundred or so households, and nearly a hundred somewhat dilapidated wooden houses lined up in a staggered fashion, outlining three or two streets and a small central square.

At this time it was the setting sun, the residents of the town had set up cooking fires and were cooking dinner.

The smoke from the pipe and the faint mist muddled together, making the place dark and gloomy.

The inhabitants of the town were amazed at the intrusion of the strangely dressed Grim and others, and came out of their houses, kitchens, and barns, gathering and pointing, as if they were adventurers wandering around and making their way.

Shani, the dark witch, apparently didn't like being watched and pointed at, so with a snort she intended to make a move, but Grim held out his hand to stop her.

"We're witches, not monsters. Unnecessary killing is better avoided as much as possible!" Grim said calmly, then turned to Mangus, "Mangus, leave it to you!"

"No problem!" Mangus smiled heedlessly and quickly handed control of her body to Kewlissa.

As Qiu Lisa's head moved to the central position of her neck, her eyes instantly opened wide.

Mangus was good at wrestling, while Kewlissa was good at mental sorcery.

So as Qiu Lisa opened her eyes and snapped her fingers lightly, all of the town's inhabitants closed their eyes for an instant and stood in place, snoring distinctly from their mouths and noses.

"Okay! All of them have been hypnotized. Until we leave tomorrow, they won't wake up on their own and won't remember us... "Qiu Lisa smiled slightly.

Spiritual sorcery was her field of expertise, so she was an absolute authority in this area!

"Come on, let's find a place to settle down. I haven't had a bath in days, and I'm feeling a little moldy!" The Holly Wizard nodded in satisfaction and headed towards the tallest and most luxurious house in the town in one piece.

Not only was the house clean and tidy, even the maids and servants inside were dressed much better than the town's residents.

At the entrance of the house, Qiu Lisa once again snapped her fingers.

This time, all the people inside the house stopped sleeping soundly, but still did not break out of the dream world, so they remained in sleepwalking state, regularly lined up in two rows in front of several witches. Looking at the costumes, there was also a middle-aged noblewoman with a decent appearance mixed in there, as well as two noble ladies with flashy outfits.

"We're all hungry, let's prepare dinner immediately! Also, boil some more hot water, and we'll need a nice soak after we eat. By the way, remember to clean the bedroom and change everything for me..."

With Qiu Lisa's series of commands, these people with their eyes closed and in a sleepwalking state immediately began to get busy, quickly setting up the first floor dining room properly.

In fact, with the super strong constitution of Grim and the others, they would not die of hunger and thirst even if they did not eat or drink for half a decade. But as human sorcerers, deep inside they still regarded eating as a rare pleasure and relaxation. Therefore, under Qiu Lisa's arrangement, Grim and the others each took their own side of the table, scarfed up their scarves, picked up their knives and forks and began to enjoy the wonderful dinner in the otherworldly world.

After all, Maplewood Town was only a remote and extremely small village town in Ryan Province, so naturally the food here couldn't be that wonderful. However, in a completely unfamiliar foreign realm, it was enough that four 4th rank wizards could politely and elegantly gather together to enjoy a sumptuous dinner, and there was no need for those so-called delicacies to enhance the atmosphere of this place.

Those foolish and ugly servants and cooks were all driven outside by Qiu Lisa, and those who were able to enter the restaurant to serve the witches were naturally the noble lady and her two young daughters.

Fortunately, the several witches were all respectable people, and did not have any strange hobbies themselves, so they ended the dinner in a seemingly friendly interaction.

And as they ate and drank, Grim frequently greeted that dark witch Shani with a glass of wine in front of him, but they all ended up unheeded.

During the last battle, the dark witch didn't show up at all, but only popped up after the battle was over.

If it had been any other witch captain, he would have been enraged by the other party's wanton recklessness.

But Grim was like nothing, not only did he not have any anger, but he looked as if he was looking at the other party. And this was exchanged for Qiu Lisa's bowed smile and Holly Witch's thumbs up, as well as Shani Witch's indignation.

But Grim paid no heed to her display of indifference and anger, instead teasing it even more clearly.

"I'm full!" Pushing aside the barely touched food, Shani, the dark witch, stood up and pointed at the noblewoman, "You take me to the washroom."

With that, she left the restaurant with her head held high and proud.

Looking at the other party's tall and graceful figure, a hidden smile finally appeared on Grim's face.