Numerous temple buildings could still be seen within this small city, their overall style remaining unchanged from that seen in the ruins of Vastva.
It was majestic, yet also remarkably simple.
Arka and his companions surveyed the city.
They were surrounded by Vastva people, observing them with curiosity.
Arka could see that most of the civilians looked a bit thin.
They clearly showed signs of malnutrition.
Even some of the people who had just arrived with the Great Elder were in this situation.
Only people like Kavala and Wata appeared somewhat normal.
Soon, the hunched old man, whom they called the Great Elder, led Arka and his companions into the tallest building in the city.
"This is the Tower of Autumn, the last of the four towers still intact," the Great Elder introduced them.
Lucille, sitting on Alka's shoulders, turned to survey the tower's exterior.
It was clear that the tower was very old, but the structure and layout inside suggested that in its heyday, it must have been extremely sturdy and possessed considerable power.
The walls revealed numerous exposed magical pathways and carved, though now worn, incantations.
"Is this one of the Towers of Seasons?"
"It seems you're quite knowledgeable about the culture of Vastva. So, are the Tower of Winter and the Great Temple truly outside?" The Great Elder asked, resting his cane beside a table and slowly taking his seat.
Alka nodded. "If the map is correct, the extended corner is indeed outside."
With that, at the Great Elder's gesture, the others sat down at the table. There were still a few people standing around, likely leaders of the surviving Vastva people.
Then the entire room fell silent.
The Great Elder coughed twice before slightly raising his head to look across at Alka and the others.
"I'm asking for your help. We hope to leave this place with our people. In exchange, we'll give you everything the Vastva people have."
The Great Elder spoke with absolute resolve, and the others behind him showed no sign of stopping them, clearly sharing their resolve.
Hearing this, Alka glanced at them, then waved his hand and said, "Of course, you're free. If you want to leave, I can open the door."
Hearing this, the Great Elder and the others behind him beamed with visible joy.
"Thank you, thank you."
Alka looked at them and said, "I don't want to say it out loud, but I don't think you'd survive even if you got out."
"What do you mean?" A tall, thin man behind the Great Elder asked with a frown.
Their joyful expressions froze.
"You should know exactly how many years you've been trapped here, right?"
At Alka's question, the Great Elder nodded.
"Of course, we'll always remember. According to records, we were trapped in this world in the 4143rd year of the city's founding.
And now, 36,826 years have passed."
"Over 36,000 years?" Even knowing they'd been trapped for that long, Alka couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive when he heard that length of time.
What kind of an absurd length of time would that be?
Honestly, Alka couldn't even imagine it; it was beyond his comprehension.
In his mind, hundreds or even thousands of years was already an inflated length of time.
But when he actually saw the Vastva people trapped in this place for over 36,000 years, he couldn't help but feel sympathy for them.
He had to admire them; they were truly a resilient race.
They hadn't been destroyed in such a long time.
"But according to speculation, the War of the Gods only lasted over 30,000 years," Simon suddenly said.
"So, the destruction of the Vastva city-state actually occurred thousands of years before the War of the Gods ended?" Sofia thought for a moment and asked.
She found it a little hard to believe what she said.
So, the War of the Gods had been going on for so many years?
Or, in fact, at the time of Vastva's destruction, the War of the Gods hadn't even begun yet?
That was unknown.
"We'll discuss these matters later," Alka said, interrupting their conversation.
If the Vastva people's history was truly well-preserved, they might have witnessed the events of that golden age in detail.
But the current focus clearly wasn't on that.
He turned to the Great Elder and the others, addressing them sternly, "You've been trapped here for so long. Let me tell you about the general situation outside since you were trapped."
The Great Elder nodded, and the others behind him pricked up their ears slightly.
They really pricked up their ears slightly.
Just as Alka and the others were curious about how these people had survived here for 30,000 years, and what happened 30,000 years ago, they were equally curious about what had happened outside during their 30,000 years of captivity.
"I'd like to confirm that, while you were trapped here, your understanding of the outside world was that the gods were engaged in a war."
Hearing Alka's question, the Great Elder turned to look at someone behind him.
That was a slightly younger woman.
Meeting the Great Elder's gaze, she nodded, took a step forward, and, looking at Alka and the others, said, "According to the historical records we have preserved, we were defending ourselves against a large-scale invasion by the God of War.
But at this time, the Reckless Mider led his troops to attack us. During that sudden attack, the High Priest at the time closed our spatial connection to the outside world.
But then, the Reckless Mider used his power to forcibly destroy the temple and the area where the Winter Tower was located, which were shutting down the connection.
This caused a rift between the inside and the outside. Initially, we thought the gate would open soon, but when it stopped opening, we knew something had happened."
Alka nodded. "Was the war between the gods intense at that time?"
"It was only slightly more intense than usual."
I see, the early stages of the war. So, wars between the gods are actually normal?
It's just that this time it continued to escalate and grew in size. "Well, after you were imprisoned, the war between the gods intensified, until it shattered the world."
Hearing this, the Great Elder and the people behind him began to lose their composure.
After tens of thousands of years, they finally waited for the dawn, only to find that the outside world had already shattered.
"Okay, listen to me."
"When the world was shattered, the surviving gods fled. In the end, only four chose to remain. They began to use their respective abilities to repair the shattered world, barely piecing it back together.
These four gods are the Holy... Stone Mother, Sea God, Wise One, and Life."
After speaking, Alka looked at them.
It was the woman who had stood up again. She frowned. "I know Stone Mother and Sea God. But what are Wise One and Life?"
Clearly, she had never heard of the latter two gods. "It's normal they haven't heard of it. Maybe they changed their name.
After all, it's been over 30,000 years, hasn't it?"
If Alka had called the Stone Mother the Holy Mother, they might have been confused about who she was.
In other words, the only one who hasn't changed their name since ancient times is the Sea God.
"Finally, this world became a world based on the ocean, with the fragments that once existed pieced together on top, forming various islands.
So now the outside world is an ocean world."
"How is this possible? The world should have its own consciousness. If it's all broken, it's dead. Even if it's pieced together, it should be broken and destroyed."
The man, who looked middle-aged because of his thinning hair, frowned and said.
He seemed a little confused about how this broken world could be maintained.
Hearing this, Alka became cautious.
It seems the Vastva people also have some understanding of the world's consciousness.
"Then I don't know. Anyway, this is how the world works now, and it has been for tens of thousands of years."
Some people nodded at Alka's words. They would only understand this after they got out.
"So what do you mean by mortal danger?" one of them asked, looking at Alka.
Alka pointed at Kavala and the other man who had come up with them.
"Did you see the allergic reactions on them?"
Some of the red spots on the two men still hadn't completely faded, and they could still see the signs of the allergy.
"High magic syndrome, an allergic reaction caused by exposure to excessive magic power," a woman said.
Alka nodded. "Indeed, if the magic contained in the magic mist I spread has caused you to develop these allergic symptoms, then can you truly survive in the outside world, which is filled with magic in the air?
Every breath, every object, every movement—everything around you is saturated with magic."
Alka felt that even in the deliberately low-magic environment of the Home Sea, they wouldn't necessarily survive; they would surely be utterly weakened by the environment.
Let alone the Infinite Sea, where the high-magic environment would invigorate the magic within even the most ordinary mortals.
Even ordinary people living in the Four Seas would die if they were suddenly exposed to such an environment due to the overactive magic within them.
These people before me would have allergic reactions to even the slightest contact with high magic. Breathing in a few breaths outside might actually trigger an internal allergic reaction, leading to all sorts of problems.
"Is the outside world truly filled with magic?" the woman who had just explained the symptoms muttered to herself. They had already experienced a serious disconnect with the outside world, as well as problems with their worldview and cognitive attitudes.
Then he looked up at the Great Elder and said, "Great Elder, if this is truly the case, we absolutely cannot leave rashly. We simply cannot survive outside."
"You've been here for over 30,000 years. The environment here has long since altered your physical condition." After such a long time, some changes are inevitable in order to adapt.
The Great Elder held his face in pain, feeling somewhat unsure of what to do.
Staying here meant waiting for death; leaving meant immediate death.
Looking at them, Alka suggested, "If you don't mind, you could tell me about your difficulties. I think I could be of some help."
Hearing this, the Great Elder and the people behind him exchanged glances, and then the Great Elder looked at him.
"If that's possible, thank you so much."
"It's just a piece of cake."
He couldn't really watch so many people die in vain.
"The biggest problem we face now is that we're running out of food. We've almost used up all the magic here."
The most basic food requirement?
According to what they knew, there were still tens of thousands of Vastva people left. Feeding so many people would be a considerable expense.
But for them, it was actually quite acceptable.
After thinking for a moment, Alka stood up and said to them, "If you don't mind, take us on a tour of your city. I want to see the problems you face firsthand so I can come up with a solution."
"No problem." The Great Elder then selected two people from behind him and led Alka and the others out of the tower.
The rest of the group remained inside the tower to discuss what Alka had just said.
Alka was giving them a process for discussion, so that they could have a better conversation later.
"First, let's take a look at your food preparation process," Alka said.
He had previously gotten a general idea of their food when he spoke with Waku outside. Now, he simply wanted to see it for himself. Leading them were the woman who had just recounted the history and a man who hadn't spoken much.
"You can call me Rabbert," the male Vastwa said.
"My name is Afia." "The female Vastva, who seemed well-versed in history, introduced herself.
Alka and the others nodded and followed them.
As they chatted, they arrived at what seemed to be the outskirts of the city.
It was an ordinary house, but there were patrols patrolling the area.
They were armed with simple sticks.
It was obvious that they were only on guard against thieves from their own tribe.
Everyone looked at Alka and the others with curiosity, which was quite unusual.
After entering, the room was not large, except for the storage area. Alka saw It was the same kind of magic storage battery they'd seen before, but this one was larger and more robust.
Arka took a look at the magic inside and found it was roughly equivalent to the magic power of a toucher less than the second stage.
It really wasn't much.
The magic power flowed into a funnel-like machine, with a complex mechanical structure in the center and within.
Then, a nearby worker, a little nervous, tossed in some grayish-white, but seemingly emerald-green plants.
"These plants are the reason we settled here. Back there is the only remaining piece of land capable of growing plants." "Labert explained.
Then the others saw various plant roots coalescing in the magic, a brown-green liquid flowing from below.
It exuded a faint fragrance, but it clearly didn't look very appealing.
It looked more like medicine than food.
"Then you can produce this nutrient solution, formed by combining magic and plant nutrients," Labert explained.
Then he handed the nutrient solution to Alka.
Alka took a look and passed it to the others behind him.
"Honestly, aside from providing some nutrition, this can't really be considered food," Simon said, looking at the item in his hand.
Alka nodded, confirming it.
But if you understand the current situation here,
That's understandable.
But Juanlu must not see this thing. He might start studying it strangely, and who knows when he'll let them taste it.
"What about water? How do you say water?" Alka asked.
"Use magic power and then use the water-making spell to create water," Afia, standing next to him, said directly.
That's much simpler and more direct.
"So, the magic power consumed in creating water should be the bulk of your consumption, right?" Alka asked.
But that doesn't quite make sense. After all, these people don't have a strong odor.
If water is such a valuable resource, then they obviously wouldn't bathe if they could.
"That's right, but we have a magical artifact that can create a large amount of water with a very small amount of magic power."
Hearing this, Alka nodded in understanding.
The so-called magical artifact probably means a treasure.
After all, they knew from some records that the Vastva people should indeed have several treasures.
For example, the three seasonal treasures left behind—spring, summer, and autumn—as well as many unrelated treasures.
The Hidden Eye should each possess a treasure.
Of course, this was just speculation, as the world and power systems of that era were different.
"The treasures should have a lot of energy, right? You're unlikely to be so worried about magic power," Simon asked, suddenly realizing something.
"Artifacts? We've drained most of the magic power from them."
Is that really outrageous?