Above the mage

Chapter 230 Ambition

The conditions at Duo'er's side were quite ordinary, but this dinner was very sumptuous, and it was the best meal Gao De had eaten during this period.

After all, he had been living a life of hardship and sleeping outdoors for some time, and it was already a rare treat for him to have a hot meal and be full. Now, the fresh, hot food with seasonings was something that Gao De thoroughly enjoyed.

Especially the freshly grilled musk beef, which is incredibly tender and juicy.

The wild vegetables and fruits that were foraged and picked from under the snow, although slightly astringent, were surprisingly a perfect match for grilled meat, helping to cut through the greasiness.

Gathering wild plants, hunting, fishing, and raising livestock—this is the unique and primitive way of life for humans living in the North.

However, those glacial lakes with abundant fishery resources generally belong to large tribes.

For small tribes like the Duerbian tribe, with a population of less than a thousand, their main source of food is still hunting.

While enjoying their meal, God and Chief Shemo inquired about some basic information about the North.

What exactly is the structure of the Northern Territory? What are the levels of mages? What is the distribution of ley lines? What is the strength of ley line creatures? What are the distribution and characteristics of tribes? What precautions should be taken? What are the geographical features?

These are all things that Gaode Maps urgently needs to know.

Because the North is isolated from the outside world, it is very difficult to find out about these things. Before this, Gao De only knew the general situation of the North.

More detailed information can only be obtained by actually entering the North and gaining the trust of the Northerners.

And now, Gaode Maps happens to have these conditions.

Although the border tribe of Dor was just a small tribe, and Chief Ximo was only an Iceborn equivalent to an early-stage first-ring mage, he was still an "indigenous person" after all, so he could still answer most of God's questions.

The Northern Territory is extremely vast, occupying more than a third of the Nolan Continent, a fact that Gao De had already learned in his "Geography of the Nolan Continent and Geography of War" class.

But it was from Chief Shemor that God learned that the vast North was actually divided into three regions: the West, the Central, and the East.

The western region is close to the Plantagenet Dynasty, separated from this powerful ancient dynasty only by the Irwinaya Mountains.

The population distribution in the North is extremely uneven.

According to Chief Shemor, over 90% of the people of the North live in the western region, while the rest of the region is sparsely populated.

The eastern region is still inhabited by the ancient Frostguard tribe, the oldest Iceborn tribe in the North, while the central region is almost devoid of Northborn inhabitants.

The reason is simple: from the western region to the eastern region, the overall direction is an upward diagonal line, that is, from southwest to northeast.

In the north, the further north you go, the lower the temperature gets.

By the time you reach the central region, the temperature has already dropped to a level that even people from the north cannot bear.

It is said that in the eastern region, the general temperature has reached an extremely deadly level of minus 100 degrees Celsius, and in some areas it is even lower.

At such temperatures, it is impossible for ordinary humans to survive except for those of the Ice Age – once the temperature drops below minus 100 degrees Celsius, the water in an ordinary person's body, including their blood, will freeze rapidly after just a few seconds.

But if they can withstand such low temperatures, the eastern part of the North will become a treasure trove.

Because in such extreme environments, the probability of "pure ice" forming increases significantly.

True Ice is the most unique and rarest treasure in the North.

This is a unique, naturally formed treasure that never melts and can enhance the power of the Iceborn.

There are several theories about the origin of Zhenbing, but two points are certain.

Firstly, pure ice can only form in extremely low temperatures, specifically minus one hundred degrees Celsius.

Secondly, True Ice only exists in the North. Even if there are areas of minus 100 degrees Celsius in other regions, True Ice will never appear there.

So far, Zhenbing has never appeared outside the North, and the specific reason is unknown.

The most widely accepted theory is that the Northern Lands possess some kind of magical power, which is one of the necessary conditions for the formation of True Ice.

True Ice can be used to forge powerful weapons and equipment.

Weapons and equipment made from pure ice are not only incredibly powerful, but also contain potent ice elemental magic.

However, while the True Ice weapons are powerful, in reality only Iceborn can use them.

Because Zhenbing constantly emits a bone-chilling cold, only the Iceborn can withstand this cold.

"This should be called the 'Iceborn Exclusive Weapon,'" Gao De couldn't help but think after listening to Chief Shimo's introduction of the True Ice weapon.

In the western region, where the population is most dense in the north, there are countless tribes of all sizes.

Every day, tribes are destroyed, and new tribes are born.

Of all these tribes, only three can be considered large tribes: the True Ice Tribe, the Frostwolf Clan, and the Winterhammer.

The Zhenbing tribe is the purest Iceborn tribe, and was once the tribe of Boreas, the Queen of the North.

In ancient times, Boreas, relying on the powerful ice bloodline within her, unified the North for the first time and was known as the Queen of the North.

The Zhenbing tribe naturally became the most powerful tribe in the North.

However, with the death of Boreas and the inexplicable decline of the Iceborn bloodline, the True Ice tribe, which had unified the North with Boreas's powerful individual strength, was no longer able to maintain its unity in the North.

The North fell apart once again and has never been unified again.

But no matter how much the Iceborn bloodline has declined, the True Ice tribe's foundation remains, and it is still the most powerful tribe in the North, possessing the most Iceborn secrets and knowledge.

"It is said that Sunefa, the new war mother of the True Ice tribe, has found the weapon of Queen Boreas of the North, the Blizzard, and has awakened True Ice magic."

"Many in the North believe that she may be the reincarnation of Boreas, destined to reunify the North once again," Chief Shemor said.

"If that's the case, it might be a good thing for small tribes like ours in the border region of Dor," he remarked. "At least under unity, we won't have to worry about attacks from snow wolf packs."

Small tribes have very low risk tolerance, and Shimo might want to find a powerful tribe to join.

The problem is that the border region of Dor is too weak, and the powerful tribes don't even look at them.

Food is always limited, and taking in such a small tribe is a completely disproportionate exchange between the effort and the reward.

"The Winter's Hammer is also from the Iceborn tribe, but it was originally called the Winter's Claw."

"In ancient times, there were three major Iceborn tribes in the North. Later, for reasons unknown, the Iceborn bloodline began to decline inexplicably."

"The Frostguard tribe, one of the three great Iceborn tribes, led by their War Mother, migrated to the eastern region of the North and never appeared again. Only the True Ice Tribe and the Winter's Claw remain of the three great Iceborn tribes."

The Claws of Winter, as a traditional Iceborn tribe, quickly lost their former glory after the decline of the Iceborn bloodline.

At its weakest point, they were almost wiped out.

In order to restore its former glory, the Winter Claw War Mother left her tribe alone and headed east, seeking refuge and support from the Frostguard tribe, which had fled to the eastern region.

In the end, she did not bring back reinforcements from the Frostguard tribe, but instead brought back a hammer.

No one knows where this hammer came from.

But under the power of this hammer, the Warmother of Winter's Claw, despite possessing the bloodline of the Iceborn, miraculously gained control of the power of fire.

Relying on this hammer, Winter's Claw, though unable to regain its former glory, has finally managed to continue its legacy.

That hammer was called the Winter's Hammer by the people of the Winter's Claw tribe.

Later, the Winter's Claw tribe simply changed its name to Winter's Hammer.

As for the Frostwolf Clan, compared to the established power of the True Ice Tribe and Winterhammer, they are considered a rising force in the North.

They don't have a glorious past or a long-standing tradition.

They started as an ordinary medium-sized tribe, originally called the Frost and Snow Clan.

The nomadic area of the Frost Snow Clan happens to be close to Snow Wolf Ridge, where snow wolves are most concentrated.

Therefore, they faced extremely frequent harassment from snow wolves.

However, in the long-term battles with the snow wolves, some genius-like members of the Frost Snow Clan gradually figured out and mastered a method for taming the snow wolves.

The Frost Clan worked diligently to improve their breeding methods, eventually forming a systematic set of secret techniques. With this, they rose to prominence, growing from a mid-sized tribe to one of the three major tribes alongside the True Ice Clan and the Winter's Hammer.

To other tribes, snow wolves are among the most hated enemies, and are wicked bandits.

But for the Frost and Snow Clan, the snow wolf is their tribal totem and their best companion.

To express their love for snow wolves, the Frostwolf Clan even changed their clan name to the Frostwolf Clan.

Overall, the combat strength of the North is not on the same level as that of the world outside the North.

After the decline of the Iceborn bloodline, the strength of the Northerners has been weakening. Now, it seems that the strongest among them is only at the level of a fifth-circle mage.

That's about it.

Therefore, Gao De, as a first-level mage, still holds considerable value in the Northern Territory.

At least, the strongest fighter in the border region, Chief Ximo, is at this level, and in a real fight, he might not even be a match for Gaode, who has only recently advanced to the first ring mage.

Without a doubt, the only place Gaode could choose to plant trees was in the western region of the North.

Because apart from the western region, the other two regions are not just uninhabited, but should be called forbidden areas for humans.

Humans are social animals, and Gaode would not isolate himself from the world just to plant trees.

He began to think about the best location to plant the trees.

"Initially, we definitely need to find a place where no one lives. This is to ensure that after Yugathira is planted, it won't be coveted or disturbed by those with ulterior motives during its most vulnerable seedling stage. However, we can't choose a so-called forbidden area. This uninhabited place should have a convenient geographical location and a habitable landscape."

It takes a full year for a seedling to grow from a plant.

During this year, Yogg-Sarah is extremely vulnerable and needs God's utmost protection.

A person's strength and energy are always limited. If the tree planting site is located in a place where people gather, the probability of an accident will greatly increase, and Gaode Maps will likely be unable to take care of it.

Therefore, the initial tree planting sites must be chosen in uninhabited areas.

But according to Flora, after the seedlings sprout, Yugathira will gradually display her divine abilities.

These include the ability to identify hostile creatures and protect oneself, to draw power from surrounding trees to accelerate one's growth, and the special ability to transform the surrounding land into a spiritual land.

In other words, after passing through the initial stage, Yugathira no longer needs to worry about its safety as it did at the beginning; instead, it needs to worry about planting as many trees as possible.

Planting trees is both physically demanding and time-consuming. One person's efforts seem somewhat inadequate in the face of such a large-scale project.

If trees aren't planted, Yogg-Sarah's growth rate won't be fast. Although Yogg-Sarah might not care about this, God does.

In his mind, the work of planting trees would definitely require manpower, and with Yugathira's ability to transform the land into a sacred place, he could completely defy fate and create a habitable place on the frozen tundra of the North.

According to Gaode's current preliminary plan, based on this habitable place, he will have the resources to cooperate with those northern tribes.

Furthermore, if many tribes rely on the habitable lands created by Yogg-Sarah for their livelihood, could he wield significant influence in the North, potentially even forming a fourth large tribe?

Considering this aspect, the "potential" of the tree planting site is also very important, which is somewhat similar to the selection of a site for relocating the capital in ancient times, where various factors need to be taken into account.

After all, once a tree is planted, it's not easy to move it.

In the past, Gaode would not have had such an "ambitious" idea.

However, after his imprisonment, his mindset has quietly changed.

Moreover, even putting all that aside, it is obvious how important it is for a mage to have their own faction.

The moment this idea popped into Gaode's head, it spread like wildfire through his mind.

After the bonfire party ended, Chief Himo tidied up his tent and made it available for God to rest in.

Without a doubt, this is the most "luxurious" and "warm" resting place in the entire border region of Dor.

As soon as you enter the tent, a warm current rushes towards you.

That was the heat emanating from the hearth in the very center of the tent, an important facility used by the people of the Duerbian tribe for warmth.

Beside the hearth were beds carefully made of animal hides.

Surviving in the North is no easy task; there's a lot to learn at every turn.

Just sleeping at night isn't something you can just do by pitching a tent and laying out a blanket.

The biting wind and bone-chilling cold of the snowfield rise up from the ground.

A safe resting place requires a series of complex engineering projects, such as digging a pit, filling it with soil and laying grass, and it also needs to be close to heating facilities, otherwise you might suffer from rheumatism or even paralysis.

Although Gao De doesn't need to worry about these issues, having already evolved a "Primary Ice Protection Body," he is completely immune to these chills.

However, he never complains about having a comfortable resting environment.

"What is Lady Flora thinking about?"

Gao De noticed that Flora had a thoughtful expression all night, as if she was troubled by some problem.

"Master, that tea tastes awful."

"Yes, that's true."

The ginger tea is spicy and stimulating, and the taste is somewhat like ginger tea from a past life.

How many kids actually like ginger tea?

"Then why are you still drinking?"

"Not poisonous."

"It tastes awful!"

"But this is the best they can offer. Even if you don't like the taste, you can't complain, otherwise they'll be upset," Gao De explained patiently.

"Oh! Did Lady Flora upset him just now?"