Chapter 6

A simple Burning Hand magic spell

wOuld require Greem to expend

approximately 20 Adept energy points,

which meant that Greem could cast four

Burning Hand spells in a row. But, of

cOurse, that was just in theory, as it was

extremely difficult to achieve that in

reality.

When an Adept had a ful| 'Energy Pool',

his mind was performing at its best. No

matter whether he was pondering over

hard questions or casting spells, he

would perform the best when his Energy

Pool was ful, but when an Adept's

Energy Pool was at its max, his mind

would become fatigued. The most

significant expression of this would be

dizziness and the swelling of certain

tissues in the brain, causing the Adept to

feel sick and start throwing up.

If he tried to cast a spell at that moment,

even a spell that would normally only

take him five seconds, he might not even

be able to cast it in ten seconds, and

there was a god chance he might not

even be able to cast it at all.

Therefore, when any Adepts were

required to frequently cast spells, they

did their best to conserve a portion of

their Spirit energy so that they could

avoid all the negative side effects of

Spirit Fatigue.

From the symptoms Greem was having,

it was clear that his Energy Pool was at

less than 5%, and thus he was suffering

from Spirit Fatigue. The only solution for

this was to get a good night of sleep.

After all, sleep is how a brain relieves

itself.

The Chip was great, but it consumed a

large amount of Greem's Spirit energy

when it was operating. Hence, once he

realized that he was suffering from Spirit

Fatigue, Greem struggled to his bed,

threw himself onto it, and immediately

fell asleep.

The rest of the day passed as he slept,

and the darkness of night settled over

the swamp Now the moon had raised

itself high up into the dark sky, though its

face Was rarely seen through the dense

clouds and fog. A deep silence reigned

over the quiet Swamp Tower as many of

its residents went to sleep.

During this time, a tall and bizarre dark

shadow suddenly appeared

appeared beside Greem's bed, bending over him and quietly staring down at him.

As the result of nausea from his severe

Spirit Fatigue, Greem didn't sleep well.

Even though he was in a sleeping, his

brows were tightly knitted in a frown and

his face was filled with distress.

The bizarre looking human figure had its

back toward the moonlight, so its entire

body was immersing in an indescribable

darkness. No one would be able to

clearly see its face, but no one could

ignore the pair of blood red eyes

flickering on this unseen face. These

eyes would make anyone who saw them

shiver in fear.

"Blood... blood... l need blood..."

The dark shadow tremblingly stretched

out both arms, as if to grab Greem's neck,

but, for some unknown reason, it always

retracted back, as if it was reluctant to do

whatever it was trying to do. Its behaviors

seemed to to suggest that it was

experiencing a fierce mental battle within

itself. Also, it kept mumbling the same

words over and over again, showing the

intense struggle happening within.

After a few minutes, it seemed to gain

control of itself. It paused for a moment,

then stared at Greem, who was completely unaware as to what was going on around him. A few moments later, it

turned around and jumped out of the

window.

This window was on the outside of the

tower. This meant that there was a

formidable Magical Formation attached to it, which would make it impossible for any outsider to roam freely in this place. But, strangely enough, when this dark shadow grabbed onto the tower wall outside Greem's room, it never actually triggered the magical formation surrounding the tower.

If Greem had seen this, he would have

realized that this being was an Apprentice

Adept, as only Apprentice Adepts had the

Magical Talismans which would let them

freely travel through the magical formation.

The dark shadow was climbing around

the outside wall of the Adept Tower at an

extremely fast speed. Its movement was

swift and agile, yet seemed effortless as

the shadow flowed around the vertical

face of the tower. This was an impossibly

impressive feat of strength and dexterity,

and would have stunned anyone who

witnessed it. Surprisingly enough, it

seemed like it purposely moved through

the dark corners of windows and ledges,

where moonlight couldn't reach. This

made its movements even more

impressive, yet also hard to see.

Its movement was swift and graceful, and

it didn't make any noise over the course of

its journey. Also, it seemed like it was

searching for something specifically, as it

purposely avoided the rooms which were

still lit by candlelight. After searching for a

while, it seemed to finally find whatever it

was looking for.

It hung on the side of a narrow window,

tilting its head slightiy to one side and

listening for a moment. Only after making

sure that the sound of breathing coming

from inside the room was stable and

lengthy did it carefully climb through the narrow window.

For a while nothing could be seen or

heard inside the room. After a few

minutes, i finally let the room, the faded

smell of blood hovering around its body.

It was obvious that the dark shadow was

satisfied with itself. Before it sneaked

away, It squatted on the narrow window

and casually tuned its head upward and

looked at the sky. Right at this moment

the clouds cleared just enough for the

moon to shine through, pouring its silver

light down from the sky above, and

lighting up the face of the shadowy figure.

What was seen was the youthful face of a

teenage girl. Her face was fair and

beautiful, but if one looked closely, they

would see two sharp incisors sticking out

slightly from her upper lip, and if they

looked even closer, they would see blood

staining these teeth.

The beautiful young girl used her tiny

tongue and gently licked both teeth clean.

When she withdrew her tongue, she

pursed her ips, as if she were tasting a

delicious line wine. Only after sitting there

for a moment did she leaped Out from the

window and disappeared into the dark

shadows below, where moonlight could never reach.

.....

The next day, Greem was woken by a

rapid knocking at has door.

Greem shook his head, which still felt

dizzy, then he got up and opened his

door o his surprise, he found three

people standing outside.

Apprentice Leader Anksorus, Apprentice Lien, and Apprentice Fenrir.

The position of Apprentice Leader was personally assigned by Great Master Anderson, and Anksorus was the Current Apprentice Leader. Therefore his status was supreme amongst all the Apprentice Adepts. Most of the time, he would perform Apprentice management duties on behalf of the Great Master, managing

all the Apprentice Adepts inside the Tower. Also, as he possessed the strength of an intermediate Apprentice, thus all lesser Apprentices had to obey his orders. If someone antagonized him, he could

easily play put that person on a path to death, and they would never know that they had been set up.

As for the other two men, Ellen and Fenrir they were just beginner Apprentice Adepts, just like Greem, but both of them were good at butt kissing, and they had followed Anksorus day in and day out, licking his boots. Hence they were considered the trusted followers of

the Apprentice Leader.

So wherever Anksorus appeared, these two flatterers would always be there. The relationship between them was similar to the symbiotic behavior between the Killer Trees and the Bloodsucking Rattans. Two flatterers needed help from Anksorus. Only then would they have the privilege to choose safer daily tasks. Meanwhile, Anksorus would need these two Apprentices' help in order to hold back those idealists who desired position.

Greem had an unsociable and eccentric character, and thus he rarely made contact with others. Therefore, the relationship between him and this group was not good, but not bad either. That's why he felt really Surprised when he found out these guys standing outside his

room.

Apprentice Leader Anksorus was a young man in his mid-twenties. He had a hawk nose, a pair of thick brows, and sharp eyes. Although his facial features didn't make him look fierce, it still gave an imposing air to anyone who stared at him. The moment when the wooden door

opened up, Anksorus flashing glance immediately fell on Greem's face, indistinctly making Greem feel as if his skin had been burned.

Greem felt a small shock in his heart.

He knew that his was an anomaly that only happened when one's Spirit energy overflowed, and was a signal that this guy's overall power had reached to a very high level.

Among all the Apprentices of the Tower, there was actually very strict divisions which wee based on he power of the Apprentice.

Those who had only mastered one or

two magic spells and possessed a spirit level of 10 or less where all beginner Apprentice Adepts, considered to be the lowest ranked among he Apprentice Adepts in this tower. As for those who had mastered three to four magic spells and had a Spirit level of 11 to 15 were classified as Intermediate Adepts and

were considered to be fairly strong power.

Finally, those who mastered five or more magic Spells, and had a Spirit level of over 16 were the elite of the tower: the Advanced Apprentice.

Once an Apprentice's Spirit level reached 20, then he had gained the qualification to become a Pseudo Adept, and the Great Master Adept would give him a special treatment, preparing himself for the ceremony which would mark them becoming an official Adept.

One must note that, currently, there were no real Pseudo Adepts in this Swamp Tower!

As for this Anksorus, although it was unknown how many Magic spells he had mastered, but, with the help from Some unique Magic items,nSometimes he was able to unleash a power which not weaker than that of an Advanced Apprentice. Within the Tower, there were only three people who had reached the level of

Advanced Apprentice: Hawkeye, Evil Bugs, and Madwoman.

Of course, these were not their real names, but nicknames.

Hawkeye Was clutha, a frightening

guy from the West Coast. ln order to

strengthen his own power he actually replaced one of his eyes With a

hawk'seye.his gave him some bizarre abilities.

Evil Bugs was Actaeon. He was even

more bizarre than Hawkeye. He went as far as raise a swarm of horrifying bugs with his own blood and flesh. When fighting with him, a single careless mistake in battle would end with being eaten by thousands of

bugs!

As for the last one, Madwoman, she

had an immense thirst for violence.

Using a huge steel sword, which was

taller than your average human, she was undefeated among all the Apprentices. She was so violent and terrifying in battle that no one dared to challenge her.

The three of them had mastered some Magic tremendous power or possessed some bizarre and unique abilities. No matter what, they had long ditched the status of ordinary Apprentices and all become candidate who had the potential to break through and attained the status of Pseudo Adepts.

Thus, when facing with the flaming glance from Such a powerful Apprentice Adept, Greem's spirit was clearly not enough to support him, and his mind was suppressed by the person in front of him.

"Greem, something happened in the Tower last night! Do you know anything about it?" Apprentice Leader Anksorus was still staring coldly at Greem without saying anything. It was Ellen who was doing all the talking.

"What? Something happened? Was Someone killed in a Magical experiment?" Obviously, Greem had no idea what wNas going on.

"There were no issues with any magical experiments. Someone was murdered right inside his room!" Finding that Greem's puzzled eyes and shocked expression didn't seem fake, Anksorus spoke slowly, but his eyes were still focused on Greem's face, making sure he missed nothing of Greem's expression.

"Murdered?" Greem was startled, but

he immediately became freaked out

and said, "Who died? ! ?"

Although from time to Apprentice Adepts died in accidents in this Swamp Tower, most deaths happened while on dangerous time missions or from accidents in bizarre Magical experiments. Not once had an Apprentice Adept been murdered by someone before. After all, every single Apprentice Adept was a precious treasure for Great Master Adept Anderson, so he would never allow his Apprentices to murder each other.

Once something like this discovered

by him, those who violated his will

would definitely be severely punished.

"Muret."

Greem frowned.

He knew this Muret. That guy was just an ordinary Apprentice who had only mastered one magic spell... that was all he knew. The only other thing he could remember was that this guy had a face full of freckles, and was younger than him.

"So why are you guys here...?"

"We need to check your room. This is

not out of spite against you, as we

are checking every apprentice's

room." Anksorus said with a cold

manner.

"That's right, we have to check

everyone's rooms. Move aside

quickly, or we will tell the Great

Master that you are to blame for this

murder.. Do you think you will live

long if that happens?" No doubt

Fenrir was the biggest nuisance here,

spitting out threats against Greem.

Greem felt anger well up in his heart,

but he gritted his teeth and slowly

pressed it down.

They were checking everyone's rooms?

Would you have the guts to check

Hawkeye's room? How about Evil Bug's room? Or maybe Madwoman's room. You guys would turn around and walk away if Madwoman was standing in front of you!

Though his heart was full of rage,

Greem simply frowned. He hesitated

for a short moment before finally

moving aside and letting them enter

his room.