The Archmage Tower, which occupies nearly one-tenth of the city of Neo, is not protected by towering stone walls like castles. Surrounding the towers are several circles of golden chain flowers, golden flowers bloom in summer, clusters of hanging between the leaves, and the flowers fall like rain when the wind rises, also known as "golden rain", which is one of the scenery of Neo City. However, now that autumn has arrived, the long pod-like fruits that hang between the branches and leaves have begun to turn black, and at first glance, they look like they are full of intestines.

The trees were not densely planted, and the towers lined in the shadows of the trees were clearly visible, but it was impossible for outsiders to reach the other side of the grove without being invited. Forcing a breakthrough by any means will immediately trigger a warning, and the invaders will face unscrupulous battle mages and mercenaries - the Archmage Tower is an extralegal zone, and the laws of Neo City are not regulated.

There are only two entrances to the tree wall, one facing the city and one facing the sea. On the other side of the sea, as the gate, there were two very normal statues - two mages, their cloaks pulled up to their heads, their robes hanging down to their feet, the old one with long hair and beard, holding a book in his arms, his eyes drooping with mystery and wisdom, and the younger one holding a staff and looking into the distance, his round face full of pride and enthusiasm.

It seems that this is exactly what people think of a mage as they should be. For some reason, it made Ed feel a deliberate pandering.

He walked past the statue, feeling the ripples of magic rip across his skin like water. If he was uninvited, what would greet him?—— for a moment he was a little curious.

But Stobel's eyebrows twisted into a knot that could not be untied, and he looked preoccupied and stressed. Ed opened his mouth, but still didn't ask the inappropriate question.

Walking through the square that is too empty and unpretentious at the entrance, the noise is blowing in your face. Ed looked left and right, and only felt eye pain - almost all the houses here, even if they only had one floor, had to be equipped with a spire, and those high, high, low, large and small all kinds of spires showed a strange beauty in the chaos. And the flow of people shuttling around is not much less than the streets and alleys outside, and it is not quiet and solemn in Ed's mind at all...... Or a slightly eerie, abandoned, library-like place.

Naturally, the majority of people wear robes, and many of them look like ordinary people. On the roadside fruit stand, fresh strawberries were piled up with strange fruits that Ed had never seen before, the purple skin was covered with fish scales, and the sign diagonally inserted in it was black, and the text that shimmered with magic light read "Dragon Egg Fruit", and the last stroke floated up triumphantly in a few circles, looking gorgeous and unbeatable.

The corners of Ed's eyes twitched uncontrollably.

"The black sign indicates that this is something that was cultivated by a mage and did not grow naturally. Stormbell glanced at it and whispered to him, "Some just look strange, and some may have useful uses that even the breeders themselves don't understand...... Can this kind of thing be eaten, or can it be used...... It depends on the buyer's luck. ”

Ed turned his head silently, and met a purring eyeball—only one, set between a pair of black wings made of unknown metal, hanging outside the door of a shop...... This is the sign of a material store.

On the other side of the road, a young mage was shouting for the magic potion he had made: "...... Just one drop can make a pot of boiled turnips full of meat......"

The exaggerated tone was like that of a rat medicine vendor on the streets of Ton Buch.

Ed felt the corners of his mouth twitch as well, but he couldn't help but want to laugh. Even Stobel's tense lips had a faint smile.

"Archmage Tower is inhabited by nearly a thousand mages. "A lot of people almost never go out. Some mages have simply started all sorts of businesses...... After all, as a mage, there are so many places to spend money. ”

And the lucky ones like them, who were born without worrying about money, are a minority after all.

Everything in front of me was strange, but it was also full of life—it was vivid that could not be seen from a distance. Unconsciously, Ed's fear and rejection of the Archmage Tower seemed to have weakened a lot. But as they walked through the outer street market and entered the center of the Archmage Tower, the noisy voices disappeared behind them, and the tower, which shaded out the sun, cast huge shadows on them, and their hearts began to beat heavily, and they couldn't help but be a little more careful in their breathing.

The Tower they were going to was located in the middle of the entire Archmage Tower, and it was also the first tower to be built—at first, the three founders, including Santo the Stone Shaper, did not expect the Archmage Tower to grow to its current size.

What they wanted to build was a tower that would protect, study, and pass on knowledge about magic, but now, I'm afraid not many people still remember this original intention. Even the original name of the "Mage Guild" has died in name only, and it is more like an independent kingdom that only plays by its own rules.

The Tower of Supreme has no defenses, and the mages in the tower are the best deterrent. The owner of the Tower, Rosen Verona, was nearly eighty years old and the only disciple of Harold, the longest-lived of the three founders of the Archmage Tower.

Harold the Silver Scepter was very learned and calculating, but he was not easy to get along with. Verona, who had been by his side since childhood, had a personality that was worse than that of his teacher - cold, withdrawn, and uninterested in anything other than magic. After the age of seventy, he almost never left the Tower of the Supreme and rarely participated in any affairs, but his unfathomable power, and the legacy of Harold the Silver Staff's many years of operation, allowed him to influence the entire Archmage Tower to a considerable extent.

From a closer distance, the Supreme Tower bears some resemblance to the Three-Storied Tower. There are no sculptures on the surface, only a variety of incredible turns and protrusions, as if the naturally growing rocks have been eroded by wind and water. Considering Santo the Stone Shaper's connection to Doron "Mage King" Bofford, this doesn't seem surprising.

The moment he stepped into the tower, Stormel relaxed and walked slowly and calmly. Even if it was a deliberate gesture, Ed was impressed - the Tower wasn't empty, at least on their way to the circle where they teleported to the top, too many pairs of eyes with different thoughts wrapped around them like spider silk, cold and sticky.

But there was no whispering in their ears. The mages here didn't seem to communicate with each other, and the deathly silence sent chills down Ed's body than it was in the midst of the dead.

The undead's greed for flesh and life still at least made him feel like a living man, the sight of these mages...... But it made him feel that he was already a corpse lying on the stone platform, being peeled off inch by inch.

.