Taking the Mafia to the Magic World

Listening to the group's conversation, Vicente looked at Layla with an interested expression. "The Skull City? Have you ever heard of such a place?"

"I think it's a ruin on the border of the Seidel Kingdom and the Chutha Dynasty." She said, trying to remember what she had read about such a place.

The Congregation of Revelations had information about many things in Polaris Realm. Since Layla had served this organization in the Seidel Kingdom and had the freedom to travel around the kingdom, she had already studied a lot about the local geopolitics, maps, ancient history, areas to avoid, and so on.

As a result, she knew many things that someone with Vicente's simple background didn't.

"Are you interested in visiting this place?" She asked him. "If the place they talked about is what I think it is, then this place is not easy at all.

There are reasons why ruins like this exist. If they were places where anyone could enter and collect opportunities, such places would disappear soon after information about them appeared.

But The Skull City has existed for at least 800 years..."

"I wonder... It must be dangerous to go in there, right?" He asked as the two stood still, and the group of six had already moved away from them.

"Most people who enter places like this are weak people looking for opportunities. Most of them die before they achieve anything. As for those who succeed, they often don't have the chance to take everything they find along the way."

There were two types of ruins in this world, and only one of them became famous as The Skull City.

The first type was formerly inhabited places that were partially destroyed by some kind of phenomenon. Such a place would be abandoned and become a ruin with its dangers and opportunities. But usually, such a ruin didn't have any extraordinary magical phenomena, which meant that someone strong enough would eventually appear to clean up such a ruin.

The second type was more memorable. It would be 'born' in a similar way to the first type, but for various reasons, it would develop a series of special phenomena and beings that would make it very difficult for living beings to enter or stay in there.

Some places simply wouldn't 'accept' the entry of magicians stronger than a certain level. In contrast, others would limit the number of gains one could make. In other words, after a certain number of victories, one would be expelled from the ruins somehow.

In short, there were several options for the second type, and they were often known as magic ruins, the kind of ruins that became famous on the continent and lasted for long periods of time, bearing fruit for magicians who challenged them.

This type of ruin was almost perpetual, as most of the people who entered them died, leaving their resources for the next people to collect.

The more time that passes since the discovery of such a ruin, the more corpses there will be in it, and the more resources from those corpses will be available to people who succeeded in such places.

Thus, The Skull City was not a place where one could simply enter, be successful, and take everything in their path.

Layla commented on what little she knew. "If I'm not mistaken, this ruin does not allow Sovereigns to enter. That's why the Mage they were talking about left at the level of a High-level Mage. I also say this because there are no reports of Sovereigns going in there, and surely someone like that from the kingdom would try their luck there if it were possible."

Even if such a ruin only offered opportunities for people weaker than Sovereigns, it might still be interesting for someone at the 4th stage to enter it and collect its resources. After all, almost everyone had subordinates, family, friends, associates, or even the need for coins.

Therefore, if such a place existed in a kingdom where there were Sovereigns, it was a clear sign that not everyone could enter it.

"In addition, this is a ruin where there is a strong presence of negative elements and possibly special magical beings. In particular, I imagine that there are necromancers and ghosts there." Layla added, trying to show Vicente the dangers they would face if they went to such a place.

But she didn't know Vicente had an elemental affinity for darkness and was naturally interested in such places. 'Perfect! If I can nurture Torne's soul in such a place, I'll already have a significant improvement, even if I can't use the resources there to advance to the 4th stage.' Vicente thought to himself.

Torne knew the location of the Cataclysm Order altars and the places where Vicente could find special resources for him and his family.

The ghost's return to help Vicente was crucial to his growth and Lauren's eventual rescue!

Seeing that Vicente wasn't afraid of facing ghosts and necromancers, Layla frowned and narrowed her eyes. "Do you want to risk yourself in a place like that? You might get nothing for yourself there. You're already at the peak of the 3rd stage. Do you want to risk your life for something that won't make you stronger?"

The fact that The Skull City didn't allow Sovereigns didn't mean that the dangers in that place were harmless to people at the peak of the 3rd stage. One thing did not affect the other, and that place could have deadly dangers for High-level Mages!

Vicente smiled at Layla as he pointed with one of his fingers. "You can improve. If we can raise your level to the peak of the 3rd stage, it will be worth the risk."

She opened her mouth in surprise, not expecting Vicente to want to take the risk of a ruin to help her.

"You... Are you serious?"

"Of course. You're my companion. If you're stronger, we'll be able to deal with my enemies in the Chutha Dynasty faster and easier. That will mean fewer problems for us in this state." He smiled as he touched one of the gray-haired woman's shoulders.

"Very well. Then let's go to The Skull City." She blushed as she turned her face in the opposite direction. "We are already close to the border of the Chutha Dynasty, so we can get close to such a ruin in about ten days. We won't have to change our route much, so getting there won't delay our original plans. Only the time we spend there will be wasted."

"Don't worry, my revenge coming a few days sooner or later won't make any difference. Unfortunately, my mother is already dead, and her situation can't be changed."

With these words from Vicente, they left this place and headed for their new destination within the Seidel Kingdom.