Herag stood outside the city wall, contemplating whether to enter.

At this moment, the sky had gradually darkened, and it wouldn't be long before it completely turned to night.

The city was vast, covering an extensive area.

Herag glanced along the traces of the city wall on both sides; the wall stretched endlessly, with no end in sight.

He was not surprised to see this city.

Because there were many similar cities in the pollution district.

At the time of the pollution spread, people could leave, but the city could not.

Once people left, these cities gradually fell into ruin and decay, until they became desolate ruins, utterly lifeless.

In the Land of Dawn, there were occasional legends about these cities.

Some stories spoke of certain eerie existences inside, quite frightening.

Others said many treasures were hidden in these cities because people didn't have time to take everything when they left, leaving them in some corner of the city.

Some even reported sightings of people in these abandoned cities, claiming these people lived there and had been reproducing since that era.

Yet many scoffed at such claims.

If you're fabricating stories, at least make them logical.

How many years have passed since the pollution first occurred, how could anyone survive and multiply in the pollution district, it's simply preposterous.

Herag used to gather information whenever he had time, so he knew quite a bit about these matters.

Looking at the dilapidated city before him, Herag finally decided to enter and spend the night inside.

At least in the city, one could find shelter, allowing room for maneuver if anything happened.

Outside the city, there was no shelter, making one too conspicuous.

Moreover, there was no such thing as a safe zone in the pollution district; it was the same everywhere, so it was better to stay inside the city.

Night had fully fallen, plunging into complete darkness.

Herag walked into the city, moving along the wide road.

The road was piled with dust and gravel, as well as some strange debris.

There wasn't much in the way of weeds.

Due to the spread of desolation, these abandoned cities weren't overtaken by vegetation.

If other cities were abandoned for so many years, they'd be overgrown with weeds, resembling a primordial forest.

However, precisely because of this, Herag could still make out the original appearance and general structure of the city.

From the collapsed buildings, Herag could see the architectural style was entirely different from today's.

"It must be... several tens of thousands of years ago."

Herag recalled that the era before the spread of desolation was called the Era of Radiance.

After the desolation spread, now commonly referred to as the Dawn Era.

The implication being that after successfully repelling the Abyss Plane invasion, the Wizard Plane would someday return to the pollution district, completely eradicate pollution, and usher in a new era for the Wizard Plane.

As for how long ago the Era of Radiance was, Herag had yet to find detailed historical records, only knowing it's calculated in tens of thousand years.

Herag always felt the historical books he read in the Land of Dawn were somewhat problematic, unclear, seemingly tampered with.

He shook his head, choosing not to think about these matters for now, as they had nothing to do with him.

Using Shenlan for environmental scanning, Herag observed his surroundings, finding few intact buildings.

After walking along the main road for a while, he finally found a room that seemed relatively intact.

Judging by the surrounding ruins and current appearance, this must have once been a large mansion, though now the walls were completely missing.

The main hall of this mansion was very tall, and was constructed of massive stone blocks.

The type of stone was unknown, yet after all these years, it still maintained high hardness.

The main hall was essentially built of these large stones, relying on their inherent hardness to keep the hall's main structure from collapsing.

Herag entered and found a room where he planned to spend the night.

The floor was covered in thick dust; just a few steps sent clouds of dust swirling.

With limited conditions, Herag couldn't ask for more, it was fortunate to have a place sheltering from the wind and rain.

There were several chairs in the room, all wooden, which crumbled to dust at the slightest touch.

Herag gathered some Wind Elemental Energy Particles to blow all the dust out of the room.

After a bit of cleaning, he finally had a spot clear enough to sit.

Once the dust settled completely in the room, Herag took out some dry rations and drinking water to replenish his strength.

He calmed himself and began meditating to restore depleted Magic Power, while adjusting his condition.

His mind was already filled with liquefied Spiritual Power, unable to increase further.

If he wanted to move forward, he would have to compress the liquefied Spiritual Power into a crystal, embarking on the Crystalization Wizard Stage.

Once entering the Crystalization stage, the limit of Spiritual Power increased substantially.

As the Spiritual Power of a Crystalization Wizard grew, the crystal would enlarge a little.

Typically, a significant amount of Spiritual Power growth is required before the crystal shows any tangible size change.

For most wizards, there will be minimal change in the brain's Spiritual Crystal until they promote to Level 2 Wizard.

Many wizards stagnate at the Crystalization Stage their whole lives, dying with their Spiritual Crystal nearly the same size as it was initially.

The needed Spiritual Power to increase the crystal's size is simply too much.

Most wizards meditate their whole lives, and the amount of increased Spiritual Power is just enough to maintain, without making the crystal particularly large.

Herag still hadn't started compressing his Spiritual Power, instead relying on meditation to recover Magic Power, adjusting his condition.

While meditating, he suddenly noticed a shadow hundreds of meters away on a large street.

That entity could only be described as a shadow because it was an entirely pitch-black humanoid creature.

Herag, upon seeing it, immediately realized what it was.

He had come across related records and descriptions in a found diary, identifying it as a common Demon in the pollution district known as the Crawler.

Crawlers are mostly transformed from people who died in the pollution district; these might have been Wizard Apprentices or Knights in life.

They possessed a certain level of strength, though not very strong.

Crawler strength varies between individuals, but generally falls around Third Class Wizard Apprentice or Knight Level.

Crawlers are said to be immortal, without any lethal weaknesses.

Even if you decapitate them, they continue to move freely, unaffected.

Wizards typically deal with Crawlers using Fire Magic, completely burning them to ash.

If only hacked into parts, each would continue moving independently, extremely eerie.

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