Chapter 404
Chapter 404 Wandering Adepts
A distance of a hundred and fifty kilometers was nothing to adepts.
They would have crossed that distance in two or three hours if it wasn’t for the Black Forest.
There were rules when in the Black Forest. Even ten lives weren’t enough if you wanted to fly through the skies recklessly.
Most powerful magical creatures couldn’t be bothered to deal with those bugs that snuck past the edges of their borders. However, if you were to boldly fly across their heads, that would be a direct provocation!
The five manticores were native beasts of this place. They had a perfect understanding of all the hunting areas of the various magical creatures along the way. They didn’t fly high. Instead, they stuck to the forest canopy and wound through the place, trying their best to avoid the territory of powerful magical creatures.
Thus, the four adepts safely crossed this stretch of the forest and reached the conspicuous Plaguewood.
“The consequence of this would be a complete lack of time to meditate or improve my abilities. Since I became an adept, I have already spent most of my time on the pointless concoctions of numerous potions. And that was how my body has slowly deteriorated over the years.”
Gargamel was only eighty-nine years old. He wasn’t even considered middle-aged among the adepts that often lived to two or even three hundred years. However, his body and his face were about as bad as those ancient adepts at the end of their lifespan!
“Aren’t there still plenty of high-grade adepts amongst the esoteric adepts? You…” Greem was somewhat confused.
“Master, you are referring to the Silver Union adepts, aren’t you?” Gargamel cackled coldly, “The adepts that a large organization like them would invest in and waste resources to allow advancement are all their own people! All of them are descendants of the higher-ups of the organization! They would never be willing to do so for outsiders. After all, the resources you sink into an untalented esoteric adept such that he may advance to Second Grade would be more than enough for you to make two or three Second Grade combat adepts. They would never part with so many resources if it wasn’t one of their own.”
Greem had felt this disparity in improvement rate himself.
Within the Sarubo Clan, Ferrier was a potions master, and Keoghan was a voodoo beast master. Both of them had a support specialty. However, their combat abilities were so poor that Greem didn’t even regard them as a threat. The speed at which their powers increased was like a tortoise’s crawl when compared to Greem.
Greem had barely seen them three or four times a year ever since they returned from the knight’s plane. Most of the time, they spent their days in their labs. They would only come out for a walk every few weeks. Sometimes, they even ignored their meals and relied on nutrition pills to sustain themselves.
The extended periods without exercise, the exposure to harmful materials, and the failure to care for their Spirits had a significant impact on them. Their Spirits would even wither and waste away if they didn’t properly care and maintain them.
In fact, it would be a miracle if their powers didn’t diminish in such an environment!
However, compared to the deterioration of their powers, what was even more unbearable was the loss of their freedom.
A specialized adept painstakingly trained by the clan would never have the chance to go on adventures and explore on their own. No group would ever let their precious esoteric adepts wander with some strangers or journey on random adventures for the sake of some insignificant combat experience.
Even when they had to go on explorations, the clan would send a large group of strong escorts along with them. The esoteric adept would be well-guarded as they went to explore those low-risk ruins and hazard zones.
It made it impossible for the esoteric adepts ever to get a chance to train and improve themselves!
Greem finally understood why Gargamel would rather become a wandering adept than join a clan.
Adepts might look like a proud and glorious group on the outside, but if one were to delve deep into the workings of their organizations, they would find a despairing amount of internal oppression.