CH252
Helag nodded. "Yes, Lord Parker mentioned before that he recommended I wait until I become a second-level wizard before participating in the conquest wars."
Pruis agreed. "Lord Parker is right. A first-level wizard faces considerable danger in such wars. In fact, the reason we deployed the airship this time was to deliver some special equipment to Lord Parker and reinforce the troops. Picking you up was just a side task."
Helag nodded again. "That makes sense."
He had initially thought it was a bit excessive to send such a large airship just to pick up a few people.
The value the three of them could generate as first-level wizards over the next few years wouldn't even come close to the cost of running the airship for a single trip.
Helag had suspected the airship had another purpose, and now his suspicions were confirmed.
There was no way Seranthiel would go to such lengths just for a few small-time wizards.
The fact that Seranthiel had deployed such a large airship meant that whatever they were transporting was significant, and the additional personnel were likely important as well.
The natives of the Elven Plane, who were facing off against Base 27, were probably in for a major blow.
But for now, that had nothing to do with Helag.
He glanced out the window, where the airship had already entered the clouds. Occasionally, he could catch glimpses of the land below through gaps in the clouds.
Before they knew it, the airship had ascended into the cloud layer.
About two hours later, Helag noticed that the clouds below had given way to a vast mountain range.
However, there was something strange about these mountains, though Helag couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.
Reese, who was also peering out the window, muttered, "These mountains look so strange."
Pruis poured himself another cup of hot coffee and smiled. "They do seem odd, don't they? Have you noticed how unnaturally uniform the mountains are?"
"Uniform…" Helag suddenly realized what had been bothering him.
The mountains below were too orderly. Normally, mountain ranges have peaks of varying shapes and sizes, and their arrangement is random and natural.
But the Ten Thousand Mountains below looked almost like they had been copy-pasted, with each peak identical and arranged in a perfectly straight line.
It gave off an eerie, artificial feeling, as if the mountains had been carved by hand.
And in fact, that was exactly the case—these mountains were man-made. It was just that their sheer size made it hard to immediately realize they were artificial.
Thanks to Pruis's reminder, Helag, Reese, and David all marveled at the sight of the Ten Thousand Mountains outside the window.
Helag couldn't even begin to imagine the kind of power it would take to create such a massive mountain range.
"Do you know why the wizards of the Land of Dawn created the Ten Thousand Mountains?" Pruis asked with a smile.
"Why…" Helag thought for a moment before answering, "I've heard it was to prevent wizards from the Barrens from entering the Land of Dawn, so they created this natural barrier."
Pruis smiled but didn't say anything. After taking a sip of coffee, he replied, "That's true, but it's not the whole story. The barrier against wizards from the Barrens is just a secondary function. The main purpose was to stop the spread of the Wasteland."
"The Wasteland? What's that?" Helag asked.
Reese and David also looked confused, not understanding what Pruis meant by the Wasteland.
From Pruis's tone, it was clear that the Wasteland was no trivial matter. Otherwise, the wizards of the Land of Dawn wouldn't have gone to such lengths to create such a massive mountain range.
Pruis thought for a moment before explaining, "You know that the Wizard Plane is just one of many planes, and there are others far more powerful than ours. The Abyssal Plane is one of them."
"The Abyssal Plane…"
Reese and David nodded slightly. They had heard of the Abyssal Plane in various stories and legends, though they had never encountered it themselves.
Of course, they didn't know that the bloodline of the person sitting next to them, Helag, contained power from the Abyssal Plane.
In many stories from the Barrens, the Abyssal Plane was depicted as an immensely powerful place, home to all sorts of terrifying and powerful creatures.
Now that Pruis had mentioned the Abyssal Plane, it seemed likely that the Wasteland was connected to it.
Pruis continued, "A long time ago, the Abyssal Plane launched a large-scale invasion of the Wizard Plane. It was a war that lasted many years, and countless powerful wizards died in the conflict."
"We paid a heavy price, but we eventually managed to repel the invaders from the Abyssal Plane. Many lives were lost, and it took years for the population to recover. I'm sure you've heard of the rule in the Barrens that forbids the mass slaughter of ordinary people—that rule actually dates back to that time."
"Wizards are incredibly powerful, and a single strike can kill many ordinary people. Long ago, ordinary people were treated no better than livestock. But after that war, the wizards realized how important ordinary people were to the Wizard Plane, so they established the rule forbidding their slaughter."
"Although we managed to repel the invaders from the Abyssal Plane, many lingering issues from that war remain unresolved to this day."
"I'm sure you've seen maps of the Barrens. This is the current map of the Land of Dawn."
Pruis pulled out a map and spread it out on the table.
Helag, Reese, and David leaned in to take a look. After a while, they finally found the Barrens on the map.
On this map, the Barrens was just a small corner of the continent, extending into the sea. It was so insignificant that if it weren't labeled, Helag wouldn't have been able to find it.
To the north of the Barrens were the Ten Thousand Mountains, and beyond the mountains lay the territories of the six major wizard organizations.
Seranthiel was located in the south, closest to the Ten Thousand Mountains, while the other five wizard organizations were spread out in different directions.
In the center of the six organizations was the Central Zone.
This was the full extent of the Land of Dawn. Seranthiel alone was several times larger than the entire Barrens.
When you added the other five wizard organizations and the Central Zone, the Barrens seemed pitifully small by comparison.
But this wasn't the entire map.
The map of the Land of Dawn only showed the territories of the six major wizard organizations and the Central Zone. Beyond these areas lay vast, uncharted regions.
Compared to these unknown regions, the Land of Dawn was just a small piece of land.
"Did you know that before the Abyssal Plane's invasion, these areas were all part of our active territory?" Pruis pointed to the vast, unknown regions on the map.
"Why aren't they part of our territory anymore? What happened?" Helag asked.
Pruis smiled bitterly. "Those areas have become death zones, filled with strange, eerie phenomena and powerful, mysterious entities."
CH253
"The Abyssal Plane has many powerful beings. When they invaded the Wizard Plane, they left behind a lot of pollution, even though they eventually retreated."
"This pollution is terrifying. It can turn entire mountain ranges or kingdoms into dead zones. Not only that, but the polluted areas spawn all sorts of strange, powerful entities. Even a third-level wizard who enters these areas would face certain death."
"The Wasteland is the most widespread form of this pollution. Compared to other types, it's not as immediately dangerous, but it covers a vast area."
"As of now, aside from the Land of Dawn and the Barrens, all other regions have been consumed by the Wasteland. Fortunately, the Wasteland doesn't extend into the ocean, so it hasn't affected other continents."
Helag asked, "What happens to places that are polluted by the Wasteland?"
"Life can't survive in areas polluted by the Wasteland. All living things die, underground rivers dry up, and the land becomes barren for miles. Worse, if a living being dies in the Wasteland, over time, it will transform into one of those strange entities."
"The stronger the creature was in life, the more powerful the entity it becomes in the Wasteland."
"So, if wizards from the Barrens recklessly cross the Ten Thousand Mountains and die in the polluted areas, they'll become a significant problem."
"The Ten Thousand Mountains were created to stop the Wasteland from spreading further. The great wizard Monsa nearly exhausted his life force to create this mountain range, which blocks the Wasteland's advance."
"His death gave us the last piece of pure land in the Barrens. If the Land of Dawn ever falls, our only option will be to retreat to the Barrens."
Pruis spoke in a somber tone.
At this point, Helag fully understood the significance of the Ten Thousand Mountains.
The Barrens and the Land of Dawn were the only unpolluted regions left on the Karag Continent.
As for why they didn't move to other continents, the reason was simple: the other continents had very few resources for wizard cultivation.
Helag, having come from the Carlson Continent, knew this well. The resources there were extremely scarce, almost nonexistent.
Helag hadn't been to the other continents, but he assumed they were similar, which was why the wizards were forced to remain in the Land of Dawn and the Barrens.
Helag asked, "The Barrens are protected from the Wasteland by the Ten Thousand Mountains, but how have the cities in the Land of Dawn survived?"
He was puzzled. The Land of Dawn was too large to be surrounded by mountains, so there had to be another method.
"The Wizard Towers," Pruis replied.
Helag was familiar with Wizard Towers.
Wizard Towers served not only as residences but also as laboratories, libraries, treasuries, defensive fortresses, dungeons, and even planar portals.
They were more than just living quarters; they were essential production facilities.
However, Helag hadn't known that Wizard Towers could also block the spread of the Wasteland's pollution.
Seeing Helag's confusion, Pruis explained, "I'm not talking about the personal Wizard Towers owned by individual wizards. I'm referring to the defensive structures in every city of the Land of Dawn. These towers can block the Wasteland's pollution and reduce the radiation's impact on ordinary people, allowing them to live in wizard settlements."
"Ordinary people can live in wizard settlements?" Helag was genuinely surprised.
In his experience, it was nearly impossible for ordinary people to live alongside wizards.
The stronger a wizard became, the more radiation they emitted, which had a severe impact on ordinary people.
That was why wizard organizations in the Barrens were located far from human settlements—to avoid harming ordinary people.
This created many inconveniences. The wizard population was too small, and only a tiny fraction of people had the potential to become wizards.
But wizards needed a lot of people to handle various tasks in their daily lives. Wizards alone weren't enough.
This meant that some ordinary people had to be involved, but those who did rarely lasted long. They either had to be replaced regularly or died early, which was highly inconvenient.
However, in the Land of Dawn, ordinary people could live in wizard settlements, which was a significant development.
These ordinary people formed a large population base. If they grew up in an environment steeped in wizard culture, the chances of producing talented wizard candidates would naturally increase.
If a talented individual emerged, they would almost certainly be discovered in such an environment.
In this setting, talent would shine, and no one would go unnoticed.
Unlike in the Carlson Continent, where Helag had come from, even if someone had the potential to become a wizard, neither they nor the people around them would know.
Even if someone had perfect aptitude, it wouldn't matter because they would have little chance of encountering a wizard.
Even with the wizard's Law of Attraction, only a very few would ever embark on the path of wizardry. Most would live and die as ordinary people.
But in the Land of Dawn, as long as you had potential, you would be discovered.
If your talent was good enough, someone would invest resources to nurture you.
This was likely why the Land of Dawn had grown so powerful, while the Barrens lagged far behind in terms of talent cultivation and discovery.
Pruis continued, "That's right. In the Land of Dawn, most people are still ordinary. Wizards make up a small percentage of the population. But within the range of the Wizard Towers, ordinary people aren't affected by radiation and can participate in the city's various activities."
The airship flew slowly over the Ten Thousand Mountains, the massive rumbling echoing through the mountain range.
The group continued their conversation for several hours, and by the end, Helag and his companions had a basic understanding of the Land of Dawn and Seranthiel.
Outside the window, darkness had fallen. Night had descended.
Looking out the window, Helag saw nothing but pitch-black darkness.
He remembered that when he had flown on airplanes in his previous life, he could at least see the lights of cities at night.
But here, there wasn't a single light—just an inky black void and silence.
Pruis smiled. "I didn't realize we'd been talking for so long. Let me show you to your rooms. You can choose any room you like. The airship is large, but there are only about sixty people on board right now, so there are plenty of rooms available."
"Only sixty people?" Helag had been so engrossed in the conversation that he hadn't had a chance to explore the airship.
To him, an airship this size, like a floating city, should require at least a few hundred people to operate.
Including passengers, it could easily hold over a thousand people, so he was surprised to hear there were only sixty on board.
Pruis explained, "Most of the people got off at Augustus Academy. They're reinforcements from various wizard organizations, heading to participate in the conquest wars. Now that we're on the return trip, there aren't many people left—just the three of you."