Deeply Rooted in the Hearts of the People

Mel followed the information she had gathered and arrived in the northern part of Exile Land.

The farther north she went, the more she could feel the temperature dropping. The cold wind swept across the barren land, and the black branches stood rigidly in the wind.

It was a lifeless place. She truly could not understand why anyone would choose to settle somewhere like this.

Still, judging by the roads built across the ground, there should have been quite a few people coming and going.

When she reached the northern coast, she was rather surprised to find that this place was not covered by the wind barrier. It seemed the Carros Empire's territory had not originally extended westward.

The sea breeze carried threads of coldness. Before her stood a black stone city, its low walls only two meters high and clearly not meant to defend against enemy attacks.

A tall tower stood at the center of the city.

"Do mages in this world really like living in tall towers that much?" Mel looked up at it.

The black stone city seemed rather quiet at the moment. Apart from the sound of the sea wind passing through, there did not seem to be a single living person around.

However, considering it was nighttime and most people were resting, that was normal enough.

Mel activated her simulated perception and scanned the entire town. There were around thirty people.

It truly seemed to be only one of the Geckert tribe's gathering places, except that the tribe's shamans and scholars had all gathered here.

There was only one Hall-level powerhouse, while the rest were Gold-level or Platinum-level.

Mel slowly examined the city.

With a creak, the door of the tower behind her opened.

An old man stepped out. His purple hair had already faded